The Return Home – Part 21

Mal ordered Wash to take it slow toward Haven, giving the crew time to rest and deal with the death of Book. Mal staggered off the bridge, the sudden peace and quiet, the presumed lessening of danger, all of it caught up to him and he couldn’t even remember the last time he had slept. He managed to make it as far as Inara’s shuttle and then when he entered and saw her on her bed, he just collapsed into her arms and she held him for a long time, Mal finally letting his emotions over everything come out, and thankfully sleep washed over him and brought a momentary respite to the burdens of command.

In the infirmary Kaylee sat on the bench as Simon wrapped her ankle with a heavy bandage. Kaylee’s eyes were red with her tears and lack of sleep and Simon wasn’t in much better shape. The infirmary was a mess of blood and discarded bandages, needle wrappings, sponges, and rubber gloves. Simon finished wrapping her ankle and then looked at Kaylee and they both just reached for each other and held on for a long time.

Zoe tried to sleep but couldn’t and after tossing and turning she got up and dressed and went to the bridge and collapsed in the co-pilot’s seat.

Wash reached out and held her hand. “Hey baby. How you making it?”

“I ain’t so good,” she admitted, knowing she could be herself in front of her husband. “Too much has happened. Can’t sleep. Too many images in my mind.”

“We all need a break. Somewhere quiet, no worries, no Alliance and definitely no Reavers.”

“Maybe we should avoid Haven then.”

“Got us a cargo to call on, remember?”

“Maybe they ain’t even alive anymore.”

“Guess we’ll find out. Mal got his mind set on making Serenity a legit cargo carrier. We can get us a real transponder and finally not worry about what the Alliance does.”

Zoe was thoughtful for a moment. “What about the Kovalev Drive and all that stolen Earth stuff we still got?”

“I say we dump the drive. If Mal’s instincts are right, no one but Cutter knew about it.”

“But we did flas