Simon tugged at a suture in Jayne's arm, trying to make his work as sturdy as possible. Jayne wasn't one to actually listen to warnings to take it easy. Nor was he one to fret about a day's events the way Simon was. He thought about the battered and exhausted Mal he'd just finished treating and the proud little smile on his face when he'd thanked Simon for his part of the mission.

The man I least want to become is proud of me. Now that's a disturbing concept. He satisfied himself that the hole in Jayne's arm was well enough repaired, and started tending to his more minor injuries, lost in thought.

Jayne's head jerked suddenly, and Simon felt the man's body convulse in panic. "You're okay," Simon said calmly. "You're back on Serenity, and you're going to be fine."

Jayne relaxed, looking around in confusion. "What happened? How'd we get out?"

___________________________________________________________

Wash lay in Zoe's arms, finishing his tale. "-so there's me, doing the world's worst job pretending like I'm not scared out of my mind while this go tsao de hwoon dahn ties me to a post, and Mal looks over all worried-like and tells me if I'm gonna to take up stripping, I'd better find a shinier pole and come up with some better dance moves."

He closed his eyes, the memory causing him to tremble slightly. "I was wound so tight, it seemed like the funniest thing in the world, and I start giggling. Can't stop for the life of me, and that proved a mite irritating to this unnaturally large fellow with a club. He landed the thing right smack in the side of my head, and that's pretty much the last thing I remember."

Zoe kissed him, poking lightly at the bandage on his head. "He was just hinting that you needed a better sense of fashion. You really do look stunning in white gauze."

Wash kissed her in return and wigged closer, relishing the feeling of being wrapped safely in Zoe's strong arms. The two snuggled in silence for several minutes as Zoe tenderly massaged his back,