"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."

She relaxed against her restraints, letting loose a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. They'd survived. Serenity had fallen from the air, through an armada of reavers and alliance, and they'd survived. All thanks to her husband.

She glanced over at him as he disengaged his trembling hands from the wheel.

He grinned back at her. "I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I..." The windshield shattered as a giant spike blossomed from his chest. His head lolled forward, already dead.

"Wash! Baby!" She tore the straps from her body and rushed to the pilot's seat. "Baby, no! C'mon, we gotta go! No!"

Mal pinned her to the floor as more spikes flew overhead.

Zoe Washburne woke, shaking, and reached out to the other side of her bed. She sighed in relief as her hand found warm flesh.

Shepherd Book and Mr. Universe she could mourn, but losing Wash would've been too much to handle.

Zoe awkwardly clambered out of the bed, her hugely pregnant belly making it a chore. Wash mumbled, but didn't stir beyond that. She grabbed her robe and left their temporary quarters in Shepherd Book's old room, heading to the kitchen. Maybe a nice cup of tea would soothe her troubled mind.

The battle had been over eight months ago. The spike had flown over his head, impaling itself in the wall behind him. He'd then struggled out of the chair and dropped to the floor with the rest of them, going into battle beside Mal and the others. They'd gotten the word out about Miranda, cleaned Serenity back up, and were back in the black once more.

She reached the kitchen to find she wasn't the only one having sleeping problems.

"Cap'n." She didn't pester him about why he was there. With the things he'd seen, things they'd all seen, a nightmare or two wouldn't be much of a shock.

"Zoe." Malcolm Reynolds looked at his Second's haggard face and wordlessly passed his newly made cup of tea her way. She accepted it gratefully, and settled into one of the worn chairs with all the grace of a landed whale. He stood and went to make another mug.

"So do you really think we'll find something on this moon? The information is kinda..." She shrugged, "old."

"Doesn't mean it's not good." He took the seat across from her. "We gotta hope we can find something to help our River. Her brainpan can't stand much more of it, and neither can I."

Zoe considered the conundrum that was River Tam. Genius pilot, deadly fighter, scary accurate reader, and more than a little insane. She took a sip of the tea. Maybe they'd get some information to help her at this place. They'd find out tomorrow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

Chell leaned against the solid surface of her cube as she kept an eye on the door. It hadn't moved for days, not since GLADoS had set her free. Thrown her out, really.

It had felt like success, stepping out of that lab. She'd felt the sun on her face, tasted the fresh air. She even had her companion cube, a surprise gift from GLADoS. The fields before her were filled with promise. So she'd picked up the cube and started off, ready to leap back into society.

That had been assuming society still existed. She had no idea how long she'd been in stasis, but apparently life on this moon had been destroyed. She found ghost towns, filled with the scattered remains of what seemed to have been a fairly rural civilization.

"...even in the event of environmental, social, economic, or structural collapse."

The pre-recorded message echoed through her mind. Apparently Aperture had been more right than they'd realized. Whoever had lived here, they were long gone now.

After a day of wandering around, she'd realized what she needed: a weapon. Her cube was great for support, but far too unwieldy to smash things with. And best of all, she'd been well trained in the use of weapons. One specific weapon.

So here she was, watching the door for any sign of movement. The plan was to break in tomorrow, find the portal gun and possibly a crowbar, and get back out. Alive.

There was the hitch. GLADoS wouldn't want to lose the portal gun. It was unique, the only one not welded to the arm of a robot. But Chell needed it to survive.

So she was going back.

Author's Note!

So this is a random idea I had. I'm planning on continuing it, but I'd love to know what you guys think. Many thanks to Lezlarr for being my beta :D