AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a heads up to all of you lovely loyal readers, the next few chapters may be posted a bit further apart than has been the norm up to this point. Unfortunately I broke my ankle and will require surgery, so my chances to write when I'm not hopped up on pain meds may be limited over the next few days. No worries, though, I am certainly not giving up the story! You just may not see a new chapter after this for a week or so. And for all of you sitting on the edges of your seats wondering when Jayne will awaken, it's coming, and trust me, it will be fluff worth waiting for.

"Mal!"

He stopped short as Inara's voice sounded from the catwalk overhead. Nodding, he indicated that Zoe should wait for him outside the ship. "Just be a moment," he assured her, choosing to pretend that he didn't see the grin spreading across her lips just before she turned and made her way down the ramp. What in the hell does 'Nara want? the small part of him that wanted to get this entire mess over with griped as the silk-clad woman hurried down the stairs to where he stood, arms crossed in irritation at the delay, waiting for her. "Well?"

"Mal, what is going on? Where are you going in the middle of the night?"

"Simon's gone back in on Jayne. Said he's bleeding internally or something. Either way, blood we already got isn't going to be enough. Zoe and I are going back into town to get more." He started to leave her then, but she grabbed his arm, holding him back the same way she had earlier. She ain't even hardly grabbing me. She freezes me just by touching me. I hate how she can do that. He considered the fact that their hands were bare against each other. I also really like how she can do that.

"Do you need money?" she asked simply. When he didn't answer, merely staring at her in consternation, she went on. "I have enough for another two bottles upstairs, so long as you can get the same rate they did earlier today. If it will help, I will fetch it down."

"'Nara," he said helplessly. You're telling me you just keep that kind of money lying around up there? Reckon I know where I'll be sending Kaylee the next time she starts pestering for some new engine part. "That's an awful lot of money to just hand over, you know."

"Malcolm," she said steadily, her hand tightening on his arm to drive home what she was about to say. "If he makes Kaylee happy, I do not care how much it costs to save him. It's only money, and her happiness is worth it. Besides that, I..." She lowered her eyes to the floor. "I owe him."

The captain's eyes bugged out at that. "What are you talking about? How'd you get to owe Jayne money? You don't gamble, at least not in the same ways he does, and I know he ain't got anything worth that much that you'd be interested in buying."

Oh, you silly, stupid man. "I owe him because of this," she hissed, shaking his arm. "I owe him because...because you are standing here with me, alive and able. Mal, I owe him my life as much as you do." Without you, my life would be over. Must I really say that out loud in order for you to understand?

His only immediate response was to gulp audibly. "'Nara," he whispered finally, knowing he was trapped and not caring as she drew a little closer. Change the subject, change the subject, the romantic hermit he'd been nurturing in his mind for years screamed at him. "I-I can't take your money. Not for this."

She frowned slightly at that, but didn't pull away as she realized what his refusal of her offer signified. "You aren't planning on paying for the blood," she said slowly. "You and Zoe are going to rob him."

"He's got more than enough of our hard-earned cash," Mal protested at the disapproval he perceived he was hearing in her tone. "And we sure as hell didn't get the full worth of our coin earlier today. We're just...evening the scales. What's the problem with-"

"Hush," she silenced him, her fingers rising to rest against his lips. "Do you recall me saying that I disapproved of your plan?" she asked quietly.

He blinked at her, the heat from her hand shooting down through his entire body, warming his heart even as it paralyzed him.

"I didn't think so," she answered for him when it was plain that he was too stupefied to speak. Without another word, she kissed him firmly, then stepped away. "Now go on."

He blinked again, then followed her directive, walking slightly unsteadily towards the top of the ramp. "Mal!" she called after him again, just before he stepped out into the dark.

"Uhhh...?" he mumbled, turning back to her as docilely as a well-controlled zombie.

"You had better come back to me whole," she whispered fiercely.

"Uh....uh-huh..." Still completely stunned, he stumbled away with a nod.

She stood staring after him for a long time. If you don't come back, Malcolm Reynolds, she threatened without speaking, chewing at her lip. Hearing a noise above her, she jumped, craning her neck to gaze up at the pair of feet swinging high above her. "...River?" she ventured. Oh dear, how much of that did she see?

The girl's face was pensive, drawn tight as if she had been contemplating a very knotty problem for some time and was only just beginning to sense it's resolution. "Half a being cannot survive," she mused. "It must be whole in order to live." Her eyes met Inara's, and even at a distance the Companion could see the spark that flashed through them. "Jayne lives, Kaylee lives. Jayne dies..."

What? "If Jayne...dies...then what?" she demanded more harshly than she normally would, concern for Kaylee overriding her sense of propriety.

River's expression made it clear that the answer, to her at least, was a simple one. "Jayne dies, Kaylee dies, of course."

No. Mal will get back in time, and Simon...well, Simon was very apologetic. Surely he will do the right thing. Surely he will prove that he meant what he said. Seating herself on the nearest crate, she sighed, wrapping her arms about herself to help ward off the growing chill in the air until he returned to her. Why does it seem like the universe is doing anything except being helpful today? The sooner the day ends and we can move on to tomorrow, the better. I just hope that tomorrow is worth living for, for both Kaylee and I.