Note: Hi y'all. Succatash wrote one paragraph of a story, then said I wrote it. But what was it about? Well, here it is. It's fresh and has no beta, dong ma? I couldn't just let that paragraph hang there, could I? Even if it turns out like this--a little maudlin and highly melodramatic.

Disclaimer: Firefly belongs to people not me. This is also all Succatash's fault.

Feedback: Hell, yes. And I'm sure there'll be some errors, so really let me have it.

Extreme Unction

Despite the bleeding wound in his groin, Mal stood tall and slowly eyed his crew, one by one. They shuffled nervously before him, avoiding his eyes. He loved them all, though most of them didn’t know it, and probably wouldn’t ever know it, not now. Mal tried to catch Zoe’s eye, but she stared stubbornly down at the floor by Wash’s feet.

It was as if….

It was as if they knew that this was the end. They had come full circle. They were back on Persephone. River was taken. Simon was dead. And no doctor in the verse could help him now, shot in the thigh as he was, bleeding a fountain on the dusty deckplates. Jayne still held his weapon, aimed at some point past Mal’s head, back into the docks. The engines whirred and Wash fidgeted, not liking what he heard.

“Go on! Get outta here.” He felt his heart rip in two as he said it. Then it quartered itself as Kaylee choked back a cry. They stood there in front of him: Book, Jayne, Zoe, Kaylee and Wash. Book’s eyes were shut, his lips trembling a little. “Shut up, Preacher!” Book didn’t open his eyes, even as Mal started to sink slowly to the ground. Jayne roared and Kaylee sank slowly into Wash, leaving only Zoe. Why wouldn’t she look at him?

That morning, only hours before, they had been so happy. A quick stop on Persephone, that was all, before a long-ass run into the black. Get as much space between them and civilization as was possible. See what there was to see on the rim and do what they could to advance the cause of liberty.

When Serenity touche