They were gone. At least there was that. He tried not to think about the growing cold, about the lessening levels of oxygen. He tried, but there wasn't much else to think about. They, his crew, were gone, and that was what mattered. He had known he would die alone, but he thought it would be years ago, when he fought for freedom and rights and other morally righteous things he couldn't quite remember right now. He stumbled over the edge of his blanket. What were the chances the shuttles would be rescued? Wrong thought, Mal, that's no way to think. There goes the life support warning. Not again. He was tired of that, a feelingless reminder of his impending demise. Repetitive, never stopping, it would keep going long after he was gone. He wished it would stop. But now there was another alarm; he didn't recognize this one, it sounded like a vworp, vworp. And then, quite suddenly, the strangest box appeared in front of him. Funny, he could have sworn mirages were supposed to come from extreme heat, and he had never been one for hallucinations. There appeared to be a door. He noticed, as it opened, it said police box. Alliance? Brilliant, he could be executed instead of dying from cold. A man stepped out, wearing a trench coat, Mal felt a bit irritated by that, trench coats were his thing.
"Malcolm Reynolds?" The man asked, not in an unfriendly way.
"Who's asking?" Mal may be half dead, but he'd be damned if he was going to surrender without something of a challenge. He could deal with teleporting boxes later; this hallucination was rather odd for final thoughts.
"I'm the Doctor. You appear to be in need of a bit of assistan-"
Mal interrupted curtly "I'll never need assistance from the Alliance."
The man ignored the interruption and carried on, "If you'll be kind enough to step into the TARDIS with me, then this will go more easily for you. You're about to faint from hypothermia, if you aren't aware. We can talk in there." He didn't say anything to contradict that he was Alliance, but he had a point. If Mal didn't step inside, the man could just as easily wait for him to faint and drag him in. Might as well step in of his own accord.
"Talk? In there? Hate to break it to ya, Doctor, but that's hardly big enough for you, let alone for us to sit…And Doctor Who?"
He could swear this "Doctor" smirked. "You'd be surprised. Shall we go in?" Fine. He'd go. He forced himself to move forwards towards the strange man and his stranger alliance box. The man opened the door, and indicated Mal should enter first. He was more eager for the warmth he could feel emanating from the inside once the man opened the door. He stepped inside and what the bloody hell was going on.
The Doctor stepped in behind him and he was definitely smirking now. Mal was not in the mood to be toyed with. "What the hell is going on here? When did the Alliance get this technology?" The room was definitely bigger than the box had been on the outside.
"Who exactly said I was Alliance?"
"You're not?"
"No. I'm the Doctor."
"But who are you with?"
The Doctor looked almost sad for a brief moment, but that was gone almost immediately. "Myself."
"So what is this? And who are you, that you have it? And, since you're answering questions now, how did you get in my ship anyway?"
"The TARDIS, I have her because she's mine, and I got into your ship because she took me there."
"You didn't answer a single question."
"Yes I did, you just didn't ask the right questions to get the answers you wanted. Also, I believe there are 2 more places we need to visit before I get to the answers you want."
"What?"
"Two shuttles, two visits. I take it you want your crew to survive as well."
"Yes, but a, how would you get to them and b, most importantly, why should I trust you?"
"Because I saved you, because I have a ship that can take me anywhere I want, and," The Doctor, who had been fiddling with controls while talking with Mal, turned around, and this time, there was no warmth in his expression. "Because you don't have a choice. I am the only chance you have. Now, hold on, first stop, we're going to visit some of my favorite people in the universe." He smiled sadly. "Companions."