7:02 P.M.

January 22nd, 2519

Canton, Higgins' Moon

Five days out of Sihnon, Enterprise's pulse drive had suffered something of a mechanical failure. Though not enough to totally disable the shuttle, it was enough to cause the spacecraft to have to land and seek repair on the closest civilized rock.

There was no red carpet at the Canton Spaceport. In fact, the runway had barely been long enough for Enterprise to land. Atmospheric entry had been particularly rough, enough for Captain Tweedum to express concern about whether they would be able to find adequate materials to properly patch the heat shield for their next planetfall. "I knew people on the Columbia," he had said quietly. "I don't want to end up like that."

As the shuttle door opened, a rather foul stench filled the cabin. "Ew," Sarah said, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah, that's, uh, unpleasant," Casey said.

"Smells like fun!" Bryce replied.

Sarah gave Bryce a look, and then just shook her head. Ever since she had been administered the hormone balancing drug on Sihnon, Sarah had been much closer to normal than she had been for the prior two weeks. Bryce, on the other hand, was developing a rather severe case of cabin fever and had turned into a constantly silly person.

"He's gonna crash sooner or later, and I can't wait to see it," Casey muttered to Sarah as he departed the shuttle.

They had gone maybe a hundred yards from the shuttle when Bryce stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell is that?" he asked, staring at a statue.

Sarah and Casey joined him, and looked closely at the statue. "You know," Sarah said, "if I didn't know better, I'd say that was you, Casey!"

"Nah," Casey replied. "I don't have a goatee or a mustache. It's also not pretty enough."

Sarah cocked her head, a small disbelieving smile on her face. "Rather high opinion of yourself there, Major."

"Let it never be said that I thought I was ugly," Casey replied with a smile of his own. "That dude, though? Ugly with a capital Ug."

As the trio progressed further into town, a growing number of people pointed at Casey, whispering. A couple of locals were so bold as to actually come up to him and ask if he was Jayne.

"No, sorry, you have me confused with somebody else," Casey replied both times. After the second, he asked, "Who the hell is Jayne?"

"If I had to guess, Jayne is the guy the statue is of," Bryce said.

"Oh, fantastic," Casey growled. Sarah opened her mouth to remark on Bryce ending a sentence with a preposition, but then thought better of it. I am such a nerd sometimes, she though.

Five minutes later, Casey was wearing Sarah's ballcap and Bryce's sunglasses. The "disguise" kept people from approaching him, but it didn't stop the whispers.

"I may have to hurt somebody."

transport Serenity

Eavesdown Docks

Serenity had been on Persephone for almost a week now. An interesting week it had been, too.

After Kaylee's proclamation that she was falling in love with Chuck, Chuck had freaked out a little bit. He had driven the Herder back to Serenity, dropped Kaylee off, and then driven off without so much as a good-bye. He ended up spending the night at a motel that was miles from the docks. Fortunately, with the credits he'd gotten for the Herder's GPS unit, he was able to do so in a motel that didn't scream of crime and prostitution.

Around 7:30 the next morning, Chuck's iPhone had started ringing.

"'lllo?" he slurred, dragged out of sleep.

"Good morning, Chuck," came the voice of Malcolm Reynolds, a hard edge to it.

Oh shit, thought Chuck, coming fully awake. "Uh, good morning, Captain Reynolds," he replied.

"Mr. Bartowski, you've got about one minute to explain something to me before I take off and leave your ass on the godforsaken rock," Mal grated.

"Yes, sir?" Chuck asked.

"You can tell me exactly why Kaylee stormed through my ship in tears last night, locked herself in her cabin, and hasn't talked to anybody for over ten hours. If I don't like the explanation, then I'm going to send Jayne to find you and… well."

"No, no, there's no need for that," Chuck hastily stammered. "I can tell you what happened. We were at an Earth antiquities shop, Kaylee told me she thought she was falling in love with me, and I kind of freaked out a little. I didn't mean to hurt her, really I didn't, because I really, really like her a lot. It's just that being told that she was falling in love with me… well, I wasn't really ready for that."

There was silence on the other end. Mal was silent for so long that Chuck thought he had disconnected. Finally, he spoke again.

"Well," he said. "I guess… I guess I can understand that. But I think you still need to apologize to her, make it up to her somehow."

"You're probably right, Captain," Chuck replied, a note of relief in his voice.

"If I may make a suggestion," Mal said, "she's a big fan of sunflowers and strawberries. You might want to see if you can find some for her."

"Oka-" Chuck started, and then stopped. "Waaait… where am I supposed to find either of those here?"

"There's a monastery outside of town that grows both," Mal told him. "Go there, tell them that you're a friend of a friend of Shepherd Book, and they might be willing to help you out."

So Chuck had driven out to the monastery. When he had told them he knew Shepherd Book, they were more than happy to help him. A dozen sunflowers and a small wooden box of the ripest, reddest strawberries Chuck had ever seen later, he was on his way back to Serenity.

The reception he received back onboard was not exactly a pleasant one. River and Inara had both given him looks of death. Zoe had given him one look and shaken her head in disappointment. Simon had crossed his arms and stared at him. Jayne actually growled when Chuck passed him. Only Mal had given him so much as a sympathetic look.

"You didn't explain to them, did you?" Chuck muttered to Mal.

"Oh, no, it's far more fun this way!"

Reaching Kaylee's quarters, Chuck had knocked on the door. Getting no answer, he called out, "Kaylee?"

When there was still no response, he opened the door and ducked his head inside. No Kaylee.

The only other place Chuck could think of her being was the engine room. Heading there, he had to pass Jayne again. This time, Jayne had out a large and scary looking machine gun. He had stripped it down and was cleaning it, and growled at Chuck once more.

Shuddering, Chuck kept on to the engine room. Stepping inside, he had called out, "Kaylee?"

He had heard a metallic clang, and then something caught the glint of the overhead lights – a large wrench, on a ballistic trajectory aimed at him.

"Whoa!" Chuck yelled, stepping out of the way. "Come on, now!"

"YOU DROVE AWAY WITHOUT EVEN SAYING GOOD-BYE!"

The very angry voice of a very angry Kaywinnit Lee Frye echoed off the walls of the engine room and out into the ship. The noise perked up ears throughout the ship, and the crew started to gravitate toward the engine room to see what was going on.

"NOT ONLY DID YOU DRIVE AWAY –" Kaylee stopped to pick up another wrench. "- BUT YOU DID IT IN THE CAR THAT I SPENT HOURS FIXING FOR YOU!"

The wrench came hurtling out from under the drive. Expecting this one, Chuck sidestepped it easily, but the clang it made as it crashed to the floor still rattled him.

"Kaylee," he began. "Look, I know. I'm an ass. I shouldn't have done that."

"Heh," he heard from behind him. Turning around, he saw the entire crew gathered in the doorway.

"No shit, Sherlock," Jayne snarked.

Chuck shook his head in disbelief. He set the sunflowers and the box of strawberries down, crossed to the door, and pressed the "close" button on the control panel. "Bye bye," he said with a fake smile, as the door closed on the crew.

When he turned around, Kaylee had come out from underneath the engine and was standing across the engine room from him, glaring. "You're damn straight you're an ass," she snapped at him. "I told you I was falling in love, and you kicked me to the curb."

"You're right, I did," Chuck admitted, "and that was horrible of me. I just don't do well with this kind of thing. I freak out when people tell me they like me. In your case, I freaked out because I really like you, a whole lot, and I was afraid that I was going to do something to screw it up. Which I seem to have done anyway."

Kaylee's glare softened. "So you didn't just dump me out at the ship because you don't like me?"

"Yeah."

"You kicked me out of the car and drove away because you really do like me and you were scared of screwing it up?"

"Pretty much."

"Chuck Bartowski…"

Kaylee paused, laughed a little, and shook her head. "That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Chuck said. Bending over, he picked up the sunflowers and the wooden box. "These are for you," he told her, holding out the sunflowers.

"I kind of figured that," she replied with a smile. "How did you know that I like these, though?"

"A little birdie told me," he said mysteriously.

"Yeah, a little birdie named Mal, I'm sure," Kaylee laughed. "What's in the box?"

Chuck didn't say anything, just slid the lid off. Kaylee looked inside and gasped. "Oh… my."

Without a further word, she flung her arms around Chuck, hugging him so tightly he thought she was trying to suffocate him. Setting the box of strawberries on the ground, he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I know," she whispered back. "And I love you all the more for it."

She had squeezed him a little more, then released him, pulled back, and looked him right in the eyes. "But if you ever do something like that again, I'm going to find my biggest pair of pliers, and crush your balls."

Kaylee had delivered the line with such a straight face that Chuck actually had a momentary flash of fear, until her lips turned upward in a smile and she started to giggle.

That had been six days before. Kaylee had been extremely busy in the six days since, having discovered a problem with one of the drive converters when she was sulking beneath the engines. The repairs had taken the better part of each day, and each night, she was too exhausted to do much more than kiss Chuck good night, curl up to him, and fall asleep.

Chuck didn't mind. He was happy enough falling asleep each night with his arms around Kaylee. Happy enough, of course, until this night.

For some reason, on the night of the 22nd, Chuck's sleep was troubled. Dreams of the men from Fulcrum marching through the Buy More, wreaking havoc as they went. Dreams of Ellie and Awesome fighting for no good reason. Dreams of Morgan screaming at him, telling him how he hated him. Most chilling of all, dreams of Casey walking toward him, a gun aimed at him.

When Chuck opened his eyes, he was drenched in a cold sweat. He looked down – Kaylee was gone. He turned on the lights. The brightness hurt his eyes, but it also made it evident that Kaylee was nowhere to be seen.

Chuck heard the door opening, and he turned –

To see Sarah Walker entering the room. "Sarah?!" he gasped in surprise. "What… what…"

"I told you we were coming for you, Chuck," she replied. "Did you ever think we wouldn't?"

"No, of course not," he said, confused. "But… when did you get onboard?"

"Does it really matter?" Sarah said softly. "Aren't you happy to see me, Chuck?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "But, I just don't und-"

His words were cut off as Sarah's lips pressed against his. It was just like the kiss at the San Pedro docks, the kiss when she thought they were both going to die.

A little voice in the back of his head told him, This is wrong, wrong, WRONG!, but he told the little voice to shut up as he wrapped his arms around Sarah's back, drawing her closer.

Then the door opened again, and Chuck heard a gasp. Breaking the kiss with Sarah, he saw Kaylee standing in the doorway, her eyes filling with tears.

"Oh God," he said. "Kaylee…"

"You total, utter bastard," she sobbed. "I can't believe I thought I was in love with you."

Turning away, she slammed the door. Letting go of Sarah, Chuck rushed to the door and yanked it open. He looked both directions down the corridor. Kaylee was nowhere to be seen.

"Chuck?" he heard Sarah say behind him. "What's going on? I thought you were happy to see me!"

Ignoring her, he called Kaylee's name. And again. No response.

"KAYLEE!"

And then Chuck snapped awake. He sat bolt upright in his bed.

His quarters were dark, and Kaylee had woken up when he screamed her name. "Chuck?" she asked, her voice filled with concern. "Are you alright?"

Chuck didn't say anything. He just wrapped his arms around Kaylee and pulled her to him. He sat there holding her for a few minutes, and when he let go, he pulled back a little, looked her in the eye, and said, "Kaylee, don't ever let me do anything to hurt you again, okay?"

She smiled at him. "I don't think you will, Chuck."

Kissing him gently, she said, "Now go back to sleep. It's something like two in the morning."

Chuck's dreams were pleasant for the rest of the night.

7:42 A.M.

January 23rd, 2519

shuttle Enterprise

departing Canton, Higgins' Moon

Casey had spent most of the night convincing people he wasn't Jayne Cobb. However, when he found out that Jayne Cobb was on the same transport as Inara Serra, his attitude changed. He was able to find out that Serenity was still on the planet Persephone, and that they were likely to be there for a few more days.

When they returned to the shuttle, Sarah had informed Major Lorenz that if he could get more power out of the engines, they needed it. She was insistent that they get to Persephone as quickly as possible.

Her sleep that night had been troubled. She kept dreaming that she saw Chuck, but when she tried to call his name, she either couldn't make any noise, or he didn't hear her, or he was too far away. In the worst dream of all, however, she called his name, he turned and looked directly at her, and then put his arm around a red-headed girl and walked away from Sarah.

That morning, Sarah was unusually quiet. After the shuttle had lifted off, she went back to the crew rest area. Bryce found her there, half an hour later, running on the treadmill.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Sarah replied shortly.

"Yeah, crap," Bryce replied. "I know you too well for that. There's something going on."

Sarah sighed in frustration. "Have you ever been completely attracted to somebody, and known that it was such a bad idea, but had your brain get completely overridden by your heart?"

"Yeah," Bryce said. "You."

Sarah hit the stop button on the treadmill and turned to stare at Bryce. "I was a bad idea?!"

"Yep," Bryce replied. "Believe me, you were great, but it was an accident waiting to happen. If you hadn't thought I had died, I think bad things might have happened."

"What the hell?!" Sarah said. "What could possibly have made you think that?"

"I don't know," Bryce stated. "It was just a feeling. But you know… why are we talking about me? You're talking about Chuck here, aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?" Sarah asked, unsuccessfully trying to sound nonchalant.

"Well," Bryce began, "I am fairly highly regarded as an intelligence officer. It was pretty simple to figure this out. The way you look at him, the way you talk about him, the way you reacted when I shot him… you really like the guy."

Sarah blew out her breath in frustration. "Yeah, well, the dreams I had last night didn't help."

Sarah proceeded to tell Bryce about her dreams about Chuck, including the last one. "Red headed girl?" Bryce said. "His name is Chuck Bartowski, not Charlie Brown.

"Anyway," he said, "I thought you guys agreed to be friends. What are you gonna do if Chuck does find somebody else he likes? Shoot Chuck? Shoot the girl?"

"Believe me, the thought has crossed my mind," Sarah said darkly.

"Okay, you know, this is part of why I started to think we were a bad idea," Bryce said. "You can't control everything."

Bryce turned to leave, but stopped before he walked out the door. "You're a good person, Sarah," he said. "Chuck's a good person, too. And yeah, he's your assignment. But you've got to let him live his life."

With that, he float-walked out the door, and Sarah was alone once more.