Firefly, Serenity, and all related proprietary characters are the intellectual property of Joss Whedon and corporations with whom I have no affiliation. Said property does not belong to me, and the fictional story below is of my own creation. (I don’t own ‘em, just like to play with ‘em!)

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Serenity had certainly seen better days – the crash landing on Mr. Universe’s moon caused damage to almost every major electrical system, as well as significant scarring on the hull. The crew fared no better – aside from Jayne and River, everyone had sustained injuries leaving them hospitalized for at least a week. The bullet that pierced Jayne’s shoulder had gone through cleanly and River’s wounds were mostly superficial lacerations, but the others had not been so fortunate. The darts which struck Kaylee carried a strong toxin, leaving her temporarily paralyzed from the neck down until the poison could be cleansed from her blood. The Reaver’s weapon that sliced through Zoë’s back was coated with a similar toxin. Simon had been shot in the stomach, and the bullet caused significant internal bleeding. Inara broke four ribs during her encounter with the Operative at the training house, and re-aggravated the injury in the fight at Mr. Universe’s moon. Worst of all the injuries were the ruptured spleen and kidney, and the broken wrist and arm, suffered by Mal at the hands of the Operative; the two surgeries to repair the tears and breaks took the better part of two days, and Mal was supposed to be confined to bed-rest for at least three weeks, although Mal being Mal, said bed-rest would end up being nine or ten days.

Jayne was completely unnerved, but at the same time, he knew it was time for him to do right by the people who had done right by him. The very first thing he did after his shoulder wound was stitched shut was find the Operative. Standing on top of a building overlooking the crash site, the Operative seemed to know who was approaching without turning to face the mercenary. “My qu