Title: Bonding

Chapter Title: Lost in Space

Characters: Simon and Wash, mostly

Disclaimer: Nope, these characters aren't mine either. It's all Mutant Enemy's. Not sure who Lost in Space belongs to, but it's not mine either.

Spoilers: Takes place during Out of Gas, in the shuttle with Wash, Zoe, Simon, and River.

"So, what do you think?" Simon asked Wash. "Will anyone find us?"

Wash looked over at him from across Zoe's unconcious body, then shook his head. "I figure it's maybe a 2 chance of even one shuttle being spotted, and that's if another craft happens to be sharing the same space as us."

Simon nodded, then was silent for moment. "You know, after all that I've done to stay off the Alliance's radar, suffocating in a shuttle off in deep space somewhere seems somewhat anticlimactic."

Wash looked down at Zoe, absently rubbing the back of her hand. "How likely do you think it is she'll wake up?" he asked, ignoring Simon's comment.

Simon ventured a glance at Wash, but Wash's gaze was still focused on Zoe. "I really couldn't say," he admitted. "Without the proper diagnostic tools, I can't be sure how extensive her internal injuries are." He refrained from saying that it wasn't likely to matter how bad her injuries were, as they were all a few hours away from certain death.

He didn't want to think about that. As long as he kept feeling sorry for himself, he could almost forget that everyone else was probably going to die too. Mal, all alone on Serenity. Kaylee, heading rapidly farther and farther away from him in the other shuttle. River, who he had gone through so much for and still failed to save. If he just kept ruminating on the irony of dying on his birthday, Simon wouldn't have to think about any of them.

"She'd better wake up soon," Wash said. "I wouldn't want her to wake up and find us all gasping for air." Then he smiled slightly. "Zoe'd probably find a way to get us out of it at the last minute if she did though. She's-"

"Shh! You'll steal the air," came a scolding voice from behind Simon. Both Wash and Simon started, then turned to the source of the outburst. River looked straight ahead, focusing on some point beyond both of them, eyes wide. "Sleeping Beauty needs it. Needs it to get us back where we need to be." After that, the shuttle was silent.