For the first time since Rose arrived, River had to go on a job. Rose had been on a few, merely the ones that seemed easy and boring, so she definitely wanted to join them on this one. It was risky and huge, as the payoff could kept their boat running for months to come. Simon argued that they couldn't take River, but he knew that he always lost that fight since she destroyed a room of Reavers on her own at the age of seventeen.

So, Rose hovered in the cargo bay to bid River a temporary farewell. "Come back with all your parts."

"Will be fine. This is child's play for River. You're captain of this vessel now."

"Captain Suspenders left Kaylee in charge."

"She'll listen to you. Not captain material," River gave her a hug that lasted longer than a friendly embrace, and her lips brushed Rose's ear. "Captain Bad Wolf is."

Rose ignored the fireflies in her chest. She hadn't eliminated that word from her mind yet, so she made a mental note to stop fireflies whenever thinking of River. Effective immediately. A smile still crossed her face as she pulled back to look at those brown eyes.

"Don't get put on a stake again either."

"Promise. Be back before you know it."

River pecked Rose on the cheek, and the former time traveler got moths fluttering in her chest. I have to forget anything with wings, Rose grumbled in her head. Yet, as she watched the crew leave the cargo bay for their job, she felt hornets in her gut. If River came back with as much as a scratch, she would be beside herself.

"Hey," Kaylee's voice startled her. "Wanna help me with the engine?"

"Yeah," she figured that a distraction was welcome. "Be right up."

After slipping into an old sweater from Simon and pulling her hair back, she was ready for grease and a nip of engine wine. After an hour of just sitting in the hammock and gossiping about things like who didn't clean the dishes well enough and the activities that took place on their last pit stop, they finally got to work. Kaylee wasn't done talking. Unsurprisingly.

"You said you were trying to get back to a fella," she hummed. Rose had yet to provide details to anyone other than River. "Who was he?"

"The Doctor."

"A doctor? Well, we got something else in common. Wrench."

She passed the wrench. "No, he wasn't a doctor. That was his name. The Doctor."

"Funny name."

"He wasn't human."

"What?"

"He was an alien. We have aliens in my reality. But, he looked like a human. He acted like one. Sometimes. He had two hearts."

Kaylee found this strange yet fascinating all at once. "What'd he look like?"

"Tall. Slender. Great hair. Really great hair. Short and brown. Big brown eyes. Handsome face. Always in a suit. With trainers, though. Well, that was his second body."

"…second body?"

"They can do this thing called regeneration. Instead of dying, they get a new body. His first one was broad. In a leather jacket and a jumper. He had really short black hair. Huge ears and a huge nose. Blue eyes. He was a bit different. Harder. Sort of damaged when I found him. Well, when he found me…"

Her emotions were bubbling, so Kaylee gave her shoulders a hug. "I'm sorry, Rose. How long has it been?"

"Three years now. I still miss him."

"You loved him a ton, huh?"

"Yeah. I did," she stopped herself. Did? Past tense? "I mean, I do. I still do."

"What was he like?"

"Brilliant. He's the smartest man I've ever met. I couldn't follow half of what he said. I swear that he talked ninety miles an hour. That was a nightmare when he was trying to explain something to a girl from Earth. We'd work it out eventually, though. Sometimes afterI'd already done the opposite of what he said. That's usually when we'd have to run for our lives. We did that constantly. He had to find trouble or he'd be bored out of his mind. It was impossible to get him to slow it down for more than five seconds. He brought hyperactive to a whole other level."

"Sounds like you had your hands full. Hold this."

Rose held onto a bundle of wires and hoped that she wouldn't get electrocuted. "I did. I had to practically babysit the man. Of course I didn't mind it. I loved every second that I was with him. He could be so charming. I loved his sense of humor. Kind of random. A bit weird. Very weird. His head was in a completely different place than everybody else in that reality."

"So, how long did you two go out?"

"We didn't really date or anything. We traveled together for a couple years."

"You mean, you and this doctor were never a thing?"

"Not exactly, no. I loved," she stopped. "I love him and I think that he loved me too. We just didn't take it there."

"Why not?"

"He's thick," she saw the confused look on Kaylee's face and remembered that River was the only one privy to her lingo. "He was oblivious to humans and human relationships sometimes. I mean, he got it, but he still wasn't human. He wasn't good about sharing emotions and understanding emotions and acknowledging emotions. It was hard for him. He could do it. But, sometimes…he just wouldn't."

"That must of been hard.Hold onto that tighter. Let me know if the wires give you a little jolt."

Rose sent a glance. "You sure this is safe?"

"You should be fine."

"Should be? I should be? Maybe I should have gone on the job with everybody else. It could have been safer than helping you."

They laughed at Rose's lighthearted words, but Kaylee had a serious look on her face. "It's safer in here, though. That job ain't something to play about with. We dealt with them before and the Cap'in came back all sorts of banged up."

River. River was on that job. River had to be in danger. Rose pushed away her anxiety.

"Anyhow," Kaylee's voice got her attention. "I know that we don't have aliens around here or any of that, but are you liking it okay?"

"Well, yeah. Yeah, it's been all right. Serenity is quite the ship."

"I love my girl," Kaylee patted the engine with a fond smile. "Speaking of that, you and River—"

"What?"

How did Kaylee leap from I love my girl to you and River? Now, Rose's anxiety was back and gnawing at her bit by bit. Rose's startled mind forgot that her hand was on the wires, so she received a tiny shock and nervously stepped away from the engine.

Kaylee glanced at the small red mark on her palm and smiled. "Careful there, sweetie. Wires ain't so friendly. I was saying that you and River should have some flying lessons. You've got the engine down, all the smuggling nooks and the like, and Simon's taught you enough Chinese that you can read most of the screens now. It'd be shiny if you could fly our girl here. And, the more you know, the more the Captain has to keep you around."

"Oh, flying lessons," Rose laughed in a strangled sort of way.

"What'd you think I was talking about?"

"Nothing. Just. You know. About me and River. Being mates. Or whatever."

Smooth cover, Rose. Very smooth.

"Aw, that is true, though. You and River are so sweet together. It's nice to see that she's got a friend like you. You took to her quick, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Pretty much right when we met."

"Just a spark, huh?"

Butterflies, butterflies, butterflies—

"Something like that."

"That's great 'cause she's, you know, different."

"That's my favorite thing about her. I'm used to being around different people. The Doctor wasn't exactly normal, you know."

"Bet that's why you get River so much. Funny how that goes."

"How what goes?"

"Well, I mean you're dropped in some far-off place. You've ran around with this Doctor for years, and he's really smart and different. Then, the first person you meet here is River. Who's a genius psychic assassin that nobody on this boat—or I've met—can understand. But, you get her right away. And she gets you. It's like the Doctor was training you to understand people like him. Like River."

Rose paused. She hadn't thought of it that way, and it unnerved her that it almost made sense. It did make sense. She didn't want it to make sense. Rose Tyler knew a thing or two about fixed points in time, so she knew that some things were meant to happen. There was no avoiding them. She also knew that the TARDIS took them to where they were supposed to be, not necessarily where they wanted to go. Maybe a certain reality jumping watch had a similar talent…

"Rose," Kaylee must have said her name more than once already. "Can I get the engine wine?"

She picked up the jug and took a hefty swig before passing it. "Here."

"I like how you are," Kaylee giggled. "Most of us do."

"Really? You think so?"

"Of course! They just won't say it. Cap'in doesn't count. River's probably working on him. Trying to get him to stop being such a crotchety old man. Trust me when I say that she'll get through to him. She always does. I mean, she usually gets what she wants somehow."

"And, it's for the best," Rose mumbled and held out her hand. "Can I have some more of that wine?"

Kaylee smirked and allowed Rose another swig. She didn't feel too much of a buzz, but she didn't feel much of anything except agitation. She thought about what Kaylee said, what Simon said, what the Captain said, what Jayne said, what her own mind said…

"What time is it?" Kaylee asked.

Rose checked and saw why Kaylee asked. "They should have been back from their job by now."

"I thought so. How late are they?"

"An hour," Rose darted through the ship to the bridge, officially taking over the role of Captain Bad Wolf. She had to contact them. "Captain, you out there?"

Static.

"Zoe, can you read me?"

More static.

"Jayne, is your filthy mouth working?"

Static.

Rose had saved this attempt for last, as she feared the answer. "Rivy?"

More static—

Wait, wait, wait. Something. There was something. Rose listened closely and hear shouting voices, a scream or two, and several gunshots. It sounded like someone was trying to contact her.

"This is Rose. Who's out there?"

"We're comin' back," Mal's breathless voice answered. "Get Simon ready. We've got injured folk."

"Who?" Rose panicked. "Mal, who's hurt?"

The line was dead.