Lyrics belong to Mr. Mathers (what a nice, clean boy he is...), characters belong to Mr. Whedon and the rest is mine. Mine, I tell you!

p.s. MINE!!!

Wash watched as his wife, his beautiful Amazon wife, always so strong and powerful, slept peacefully beside him, breathing deep and slow. A tendril of golden tinged hair curled across her cheek and she smiled slightly in her dreams. She let out a murmur that could have been his name and shifted her shoulders into a more comfortable position.

Tentatively, he reached towards her hand, trying not to wake her. Lord knows she didn’t get enough sleep as it was without him getting her up for the selfish reason that he wanted to touch her. His fingertip brushed her palm and instinctively, she wound her fingers around his. She sighed happily and cuddled into his side. Lifting an arm around her shoulders, he looked up at the ceiling of their bunk and listened to her breathing. He whispered into the dark:

And when I'm gone

Just carry on

Don't mourn

Rejoice

Every time you hear the sound of my voice

Just know that I'm looking down on you, smiling

And I didn't feel a thing

So, baby, don't feel no pain

Just smile back…

*

*

Zoë wrapped the Hawaiian shirt tighter around her body and looked around the infirmary. Where was he?

Her husband had been blindsided earlier that day while driving the mule through the streets of Persephone and knocked unconscious. Since being brought back to Serenity, he had lain prostrate in the surgery with a gash across his brow and a purple-and-green egg-sized lump on his forehead. She had been sleeping by his side and when she woke, he was missing.

Moving through the ship, she searched the corridors, cargo bay and engine room anxiously for him. She stepped into the mess and caught sight of a familiar jumpsuit at the far end of the corridor and her breathing eased slightly. Then she was annoyed.

He had sent her running around the ship like a madwoman while he sat and played with his dinosaurs. Striding forwards, she