"Rocks?" Simon echoed doubtfully, more than slightly confused.

"Big like, but just normal rocks mostly."

"Well I guess there won't be a problem then." Kaylee interjected hopefully. Mal looked from Zoë to his engineer.

"Right Kaylee, probably nothing."

Kaylee smiled from face to face, but no one returned her sentiment and her smile faded.

"You think it's a trap Cap'n?"

"Not sure Kaylee, just not sure."

"How long till we get there?" Inara asked, sitting across from Mal and staring at him with bright hopeful eyes.

"We should come into orbit in 'bout three hours, they'll contact us from there. Till then we prepare for the worst. Kaylee, get things ready for some hasty maneuvers. Simon, bring River up to the bridge, we all here know I'm no pilot, I'll be needin' some help and she seems to show some aptitude. Zoë, Jayne, get things ready for an encounter, strap things down and such."

"We're on it Sir." Zoëturned to leave but Mal caught her arm.

"Hold a sec, I want to talk to you." Mal turned back to his crew and waited until all five had communicated their compliance. When he was properly satisfied he turned back to Zoë and motioned her to follow him back towards the cockpit. Both remained silent until they were inside and the doors were closed behind them.

"What is it Sir?" Zoë was as complacent as ever, her hands clasped behind her back, head high, her dark stoic gaze bearing quickly down on Mal.

"I was just wondering if you were going to talk to Simon."

"Excuse me Sir?"

"You haven't been sleeping, or eating for that matter. I want you to do that. Talk to Simon, get some help with this."

"Sir, if you don't mind me sayin it, you're in the same boat as me, and don't think I haven't noticed it."

Mal shifted uncomfortably, what she said was true enough, though he had been trying. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the number of bodies piling up that had his name connected to them. What kind of a leader was he that people under his command kept being killed? It was hard to sleep without being haunted by them. Wash was only the latest victim of Malcolm Reynolds leadership skills. Just happened to be the person to tip the scales.

"I just don't want my second in command dropping on me, dong ma?" Mal was right ready to end the uncomfortable conversation with that, but Zoë stepped forward, bearing down on him with the look on her face reserved for those she was about to terrorize, maim, or kill, occasionally all three. Mal kept his ground.

"Captain, we've got us a job to look to. If I decide that I need to seek help sleeping, I'll do that. But not before. meanwhile I suggest you put it out of your mind and do the same." she paused and raised her eyebrow. "Dong ma?" With that she turned and left, leaving Mal once again alone in the cockpit with nothing but the stars and plastic dinosaurs as friends. He picked up a palm tree and looked carefully at it, all the emotions bubbling up inside him until he felt he could no longer contain them. Angrily he threw the toy against the wall, however the motion did nothing to alleviate his frustration and for a long painful moment, he stared at it lying there before breaking down and replacing it gently where it belonged.

Zoë fully intended to head to the cargo bay, unhappy with how she had spoken to the captain but not sure how to deal with it. Perhaps she would take a leaf from the book of Jayne and work out before they arrived at their destination. She passed River who looked up to her with wide knowing eyes and a quivering lip. Just up the hall from the cargo bay, Zoë suddenly found herself feeling dizzy and was forced to stop and lean against the wall. Close to the engine room here, she could hear Kaylee humming while she worked; not wanting to disturb her Zoë decided that perhaps it would be best to give Simon a visit after all.

The doctor was busying himself in the infirmary and when he heard footsteps behind him he didn't even bother turning,

"River, you should be with the captain now."

"I believe she is." Zoë responded quietly, and Simon spun around surprised. He smiled a little and set down whatever it was he was tinkering with.

"Zoë, to what do I owe this visit?"

"I was just feeling a little," she paused and took a deep breath, considering turning on her heals and leaving before she finished her sentence, but the hollow ache in her head was making no move towards abating and she opted for getting this over with promptly. "dizzy." she finished and Simon motioned her to sit, his concern evident.

"How have you been sleeping?" he asked, looking her in the eyes, she held his stare for a moment before sighing and looking away. Simon didn't need the words to tell him her answer. He bit his lip and shifted uncomfortably, working up the courage to ask her.

"Have you considered that you might be . . . pregnant." he managed finally and Zoë shook her head, still not looking at him, not when the grief would be so visible in her eyes.

"Don't you think I would have checked that?" She whispered and Simon let his face fall, things with Zoë were complicated for the entire crew. No one sure how to react to anything she said or did, how to respond to her, when to look at her and when to look away.

"I haven't seen you at table lately, have you been eating?"

"Here and there, when I got time."

Simon nodded and went to one of his cabinets, bringing back a small cylinder and removing two small circular blue pills.

"First thing, go down to the mess and eat yourself a good meal, if you don't, I'll know, and I'll sick Kaylee on you. Tonight before you sleep, take these." he handed her the pills. "They should help considerably."

"Thanks doc." Zoë pocketed the pills and turned to leave.

"And Zoë," Simon called after her, she turned and their eyes met, both seeing the pain in each other. "I never got the chance to tell you how sorry I really am. We all feel Wash's absence more than can be expressed."

Zoë managed a small smile for him, "Thanks again doc." Then she had disappeared around the door.

"That was right good of you." Wash said quietly. Simon turned and somehow wasn't all together surprised to see him laying there on the table. The pilot's arms were crossed over his chest and his skin was clammy and blue. He wore his usual Hawaiian inspired garb, but there was no joy in his face, the man was dead and Simon had no illusions about it. The body suddenly turned its head and Wash looked into Simons eyes, he seemed to be regaining some color, and he moved his arms off his chest and laid them by his sides.

"No, you can't just come alive again, not after it's taken so long to burry you." Simon hissed. Turning away and trying to distract himself.

"Come on Simon, you of all people should know that the past, and the pain doesn't stay buried."

Simon kept his back turned, but he discontinued his fiddling and slumped against the countertop. "I should be able to block you out, why cant I block you out?" he whined and in the end, he turned to face his visitor. Wash was sitting up now, his feet dangling over the side of the operating table, staring down at his chest and unbuttoning his shirt so that he could properly expose his wound, as though he had come in for a checkup. He poked and prodded at the hole in his body and started whistling as he did it.

"Will you stop that!" Simon exclaimed, making to intervene but changing his mind and turning away again. Wash looked up and stopped whistling.

"You mean that?"

"No! I mean . . . stop . . . touching it!"

Wash looked down at his wound again and shrugged, re-buttoning his shirt and starting to whistle again as he swung his legs. "I just thought you would want to see it is all. Seeing as you're the doctor. Usually doctors ask, "Where does it hurt?" and as a patient, it's my job to show you. That's all."

"Yes well it's a little late for that don't you think."

"Just 'cause the heart stops beating doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." Wash intoned quietly and Simon turned to face him again.

"I can't make your heart stop hurting any more than I can mine." He whispered back emotion choking his voice. "You, Book, my home and my family, I've lost too much here, I've lost too much."

Wash tilted his head and stopped his legs from swinging. "But look at what you've gained Simon." He smiled lopsided, leaning back and forth and making the table wiggle. "You've gained a family, gained a home, and gained your sister I might add. You've set yourself up for a lot of happy memories here, you just have to be willing to make them."

Simon shook his head, "And a lot of pain." He turned back to the cabinets and missed Wash rolling his eyes.

"What kind of way to think is that? You're lucky you have Kaylee to show you the best parts of life."

"Like Zoë had you." Simon whispered, clutching the counter and closing his eyes.

"Yes." He heard Wash reply, "Like Zoë had me. And like you, she'll never regret it."

"Not even when she cant sleep, cant eat, cant think for the pain it causes?"

"Builds character you know. Besides, I don't mean to be a footnote, its right and proper for her to grieve, soon she'll find a way to say good bye and things will get better. And I say that without being bitter." he grinned and started swinging his feet again. "I'll take good care of her until then, which brings me back to what I was saying before. Thank you Simon for taking care of my family, hell, thank you for being part of my family, but mostly thanks for help keeping this boat in the sky." He patted the table he sat on affectionately. "She's all that's left of me now. This may be where I died," he closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the air in the infirmary, exhaling slow and sweet. "But this is where I lived."

Simon softened visibly, taking a good look around the infirmary and feeling the pulsing of the engine through his hand on the wall. Serenity was more than a home.

"Maybe I will take a look at that for you." He said quietly, motioning lightly towards Wash's chest. The deceased pilots face brightened and he unbuttoned his shirt again, lying back on the table.

Simon had only briefly seen Wash's wound before, when they had removed his body from the cockpit and brought it here to the infirmary, getting ready to transport it to Haven to be buried. Simon, injured in the battle, had lain across from it during its brief rest here, and he had had a good amount of time to cry and to dream. Somehow, this didn't feel much different.

The wound went straight through the slight mans body, a dark bloody hollow directly through the chest cavity. Wash had died almost instantly. Yet this was different, Wash's heart was intact within the cavity, visible through the gaping entry wound. As Simon touched it with his slender surgeon's fingers, it began to beat steadily. He drew back his hand involuntarily as he watched the wound appear to heal itself. Every damaged rib, vein and nerve became whole and the wound itself began to close until not even a scar was left to see. Wash smiled up at Simon, his eyes bright with the light they had embodied in life.

"This," he stated very firmly, "is how you will remember me."

And the pilot was gone.

Zoë sat in the kitchen by herself, fiddling with a half eaten potato Kaylee had managed to find her, left over from when they were last planet side. She picked irritably at it, trying to distinguish if it was in fact mold growing on the bottom or not. In the end it was just some kind of foreign goop, but since this did nothing to increase her appetite, she decided she was finished eating for the moment, and pushed away her plate, distractedly spearing the tabletop with her fork.

"Zoë, could you come to the bridge please?" It was Mal on the intercom. Zoë estimated she had been fiddling with the potato for at least an hour so it was quite possible that they had arrived at their destination. Assuming the Captain was no longer angry with her, she suspected he needed her help with something rather than another go at her sleeping habits. Dumping the plate in the sink as she passed, Zoë hurried to her Captains side.

The picture waiting her was not nearly as pleasant as she had imagined it would be. Moreover, she hadn't really imagined it that pleasant in the first place.

They had indeed reached the planet they had been instructed to, but between Serenity and the small blue green orb there stood what appeared to be an entire Alliance fleet. She stared, slightly agape.

"I think they want their rocks back." River intoned quietly from where she squatted in the co-pilots chair. Mal looked from River to Zoë and then out the window again frantically.

"A Judas Kiss Sir?" Zoë suggested, referring to the cargo they had taken aboard. Mal shook his head, then he nodded it, and then he shook it again.

"I sealed those rocks in the cargo hold didn't I?"

"Yes Sir."

"And the Tams aren't all wanted and such now are they?"

"No Sir."

Mal nodded again, sitting back in the chair and scratching his chin as he thought about the activities of the alliance. "Why are they here?" he whispered to himself.

"We'd best hail them Sir. They've already got us on their screens, too late to run."

"Never too late to run." Mal corrected. "Let's get our stories straight, why are we here?"
"To smuggle rocks." River told him helpfully.

"Not helping little albatross. We're visiting . . . help me Zoë."

"We're here to conduct business Sir, same as always."

"Right, right, best to keep the truth in there somehow." He shifted uncomfortably and hailed the fleet.

"This is Captain Malcolm Reynolds of the cargo ship Serenity, requesting permission to pass through to Polaris." The silence that followed seemed to pass through the enormity of space, unbearably slowly, before the com crackled into life and the small voice of a young officer fizzed through the speakers.

"Captain Reynolds, you're free to pass."

Mal let out a long breath full of tension, "Thank you." he managed into the com, "Now let's get out of here, double time."

They passed like a speck of dust through the cloud of alliance ships into the empty space beyond. Polaris sparkled like a blue gem in the dark, most of the surface consisting of oceans and seas, the land making up a very small percentage of the planet. However, what land there was populated and industrialized to the max. The capital, 'North City' was one of the biggest cities on any of the border planets.

Serenity had not been in orbit long before they were hailed as had been promised by the clients.

"Captain Reynolds I presume," the man on the view screen was of a slight build, his walrus mustache seeming to engulf his pointed features, as he spoke the thing bobbed along with the words. His small blue eyes peered out from beneath equally large eyebrows, they folded together in the middle of his forehead and when Mal didn't respond right away, one of them shot upwards in a flurry of unexpected motion.

"Yes," Mal answered, startled by the moving creatures. "I'm Malcolm Reynolds."

"Good. I trust you had no trouble passing the alliance?"

"No trouble. Oddly enough . . ."

"They aren't here for you Captain Reynolds. You have my crate?"

"Indeed I do."

The man pursed his lips under the mustache and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You know the contents?" Mal shifted uncomfortably, but the man interrupted him before he could confess. "Let us hope for your sake that if you do," the creatures lifted, "You quickly forget."

"Forget what?" Mal retorted quickly, inciting a laugh from Mr. Smith, his teeth appearing beneath the mustache, bright white and shiny.

"Good man. I'm sending you the co-ordinates for the drop off. I'll be waiting."

"And payment?" Mal inserted, before the other could close the dealings.

"You will get your money Captain, not to worry." The screen went black.

"River, you've got the co-ordinates?"

"Yes Captain Reynolds." River began to whistle as she imputed the specified numbers.

"Zoë, you, me and River go to the surface."

"River sir?"

Mal glanced over at the girl as she carefully glided the ship towards the planet. "Something aint right, we may need her with us."

Zoë nodded, taking her leave and making her way to their bunk to arm herself. Wash was waiting for her, as he did every day.

He stood in the corner, fiddling distractedly with the drawstrings of his sweat pants. He smiled when he saw her and made to speak, but Zoë silenced him with a look. She knew that if he got talking again there would be no leaving the room for hours. Why wouldn't he leave her alone? All he did these days was remind her of what she had lost. Quickly strapping her sawed off to her side, she exited the bunk without a second glance towards her husband. She was certain he would be there when she got back.

"Where is he?" Mal whispered for the third time. River looked up shortly then went back to drawing pictures in the dirt. Zoë stood by, clutching her gun and looking from shadow to shadow.

The three of them stood at the drop of point some thirty miles out of North City in the middle of the planets only preserved planetary phenomenon. A dessert. Mr. Smith was now officially a half an hour late.

"Where did the ocean go, where did the ocean go" River said quietly in a singsong voice, humming to herself.

"Shhh." Zoë held up a hand and immediately her companions hushed. Out of the shadow of what appeared to be a sand dune four figures began to materialize, all three broad shouldered and heavy set.

"Run." River whispered. "That's what he did."

Mal didn't seem to hear her, or if he did, his only response was to draw his weapon and hold it cocked and ready for action. As the dark forms began to draw nearer, Mal called out to them.

"Mr. Smith?"

"Mr. Smith was not able to make it I'm afraid."

The leader of the group was a muscular middle-aged man with short black hair and a very clean-shaven face. Mal broke eye contact with the man just long enough to glance at Zoë, his orders efficiently conveyed through that ten second bit of nonverbal communication. Zoë moved in front of River who had risen to her feet and looked about as capable to handle herself as the next seventeen-year-old girl. She clutched at Zoë's shirt frantically, whispering repeatedly, "Not rocks, not water, not rocks, not water!"

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds?" The man asked, placing his hand strategically close to the pistol hanging from his belt.

"Who's asking?"

"Your new client, Mr. Smith had an unfortunate encounter with my friend here." he motioned to one of the burly men standing next to him, indicating the long knife still dripping blood that hung from the mans side.

"So, once again, Captain Malcolm Reynolds?"

"I am."

"Where is the crate Captain?"

"Where is my money?"

The man smiled slightly and shook his head. "You are in no position to bargain Captain, you have come here with a woman and a child, and I have come with three specially trained killers. You have come here with no knowledge at all of what you're carrying, and I have just become your boss. It seems to me that it is I who is in charge, no?"

Mal swallowed and smiled back, making a fast decision and replacing his weapon in its holster. "I suppose your right." He allowed, "And I would be happy to show you where your crate is, if only you would pass me my share of the coin, whatever you think is fair."

"Good choice Captain." The man tossed Mal a depressingly light sack of coin; he glanced inside and felt a knot of anger twist his stomach. There was obviously less than half of the promised amount in the bag.

"A problem Captain?"

Mal thought quickly, it hadn't been a difficult job, hadn't taken them too far out of their way, it was take this money, or walk out with possible wounds and less payment. "No problem." Mal smiled again, glancing at Zoë and River, both looking to him for guidance. "I'm going to give you the co-ordinates of the crate, dong ma?" Pulling a piece of paper out of his coat Mal took a step forward and held it out cautiously towards the other man.

It took all of fifteen seconds for the man with the knife to rush forward, grabbing Mals arm with one hand and inserting the knife into his gut with the other. Captain Malcolm Reynolds crumpled into a heap.

Well this was supposed to be two parts, so that the 'closure spots' would be more evenly spaced but I just had to add a plot in there, and you know what plots can be like. I meant to have the job finished quick and easy but then I couldn't figure out what they would be transporting that would be interesting and so I was like, rocks! And then I couldn't figure out how that would be at all relevant without some kind of story attached to it. Sorry folks! Looks like this is going to be a three parter. Next chapter, Mal and Zoë finally get closure, and Zoë and River kick some serious butt, almost done already so it wont be long. Review, and stay tuned! xoxoxoxo

PS. thanx for the lovely reviews for the first part, its really encouraging to read!

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