The six crew members were under heavy fire. They had constructed a makeshift barricade out of discarded ship parts. The feds were closing on them fast, and there weren't a thing they could do about it.
"Damn it, where did they come from, sir?" Zoe yelled over the roar of gunfire.
"I don't rightly know the whys and wherefores of where they came from, but I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that Mr Tam has somethin' to do with it."
Everyone looked at Simon. "I - It's the sort of thing he'd do."
"Great." Jayne growled.
"Okay, okay, let's not being gettin' down. All we need is a plan on gettin' from here to the ship - Jayne, what are ya doin'?"
"Plannin'" Jayne said as he pulled the pin out of a grenade with his teeth. He stretched his arm back, and flung it over the barricade.
"Cover ya ears!" he yelled, as he lay flat with his hands over his head.
The grenade exploded and smoke filled the air.
"Come on, let's get to the ship while they're otherwise engaged." Mal crawled along on his stomach, waving the rest of the crew on.
"Zoe, you take point, me an' Jayne will watch your backs."
Zoe, followed by Simon, Kaylee and River ran the short distance to the ship. The feds were already coming to their senses, and were scrabbling round for their guns. Zoe was opening the docking bay, when River broke away from the group, weaving and dodging bullets as she went.
This first thing Jayne heard of all this was Simon's anguished cry.
"River!"
He wheeled around, gun pointed forward, when the small body of the crazy girl whacked into him. For her size, she packed quite a punch, and sent him sprawling along the ground.
"Whaddaya think you're doing, girl?" Jayne asked, when he had got his breath back. River lay on top of him, smiling.
"Saving the saviour." she said in her singsong voice.
Jayne stared at her, eyebrows raised. "Okay. Come on, we need ta' get to the ship."
Jayne swung River over his shoulder, and ran to the ship. The bay doors were half open, and everyone else was already in. Jayne passed River to Simon, who pulled her in quicker than you could blink, and then got in himself, with the help of Zoe and Mal.
"Kaylee, close the doors."
"Right you are, Cap'n."
The doors started to slowly close up, and Mal went to pilot the ship. Simon was yelling at River.
"What in the guay do you think you were doing? You could have been killed!"
"Fed was going to make a hole in his head." she said quietly.
"I don't care! He could have made a hole in your head! You should have left Jayne!"
Simon turned to Jayne, "No offence."
"Feelings mutual, doc."
"I don't want to interrupt this touching moment, but where's Inara?" Zoe asked.
Everyone stared at her.
"Isn't she-?" Simon started.
"She ain't on the ship, I looked." Zoe said in a deadpan voice.
"Last time we saw her, she was in the gift shop." Kaylee said, looking worried.
"I'll tell the Cap'n." Zoe climbed the metal stairs to the bridge.
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Inara had circled the village three times, looking for her friends, but were gone. So was the ship, though not without a fight it seemed. The ground was splattered with blood, and littered with used grenades.
"Great." she sighed. Was it possible for Mal not to get into some kind of trouble, even for one trip? Mal... she hoped he was okay. No doubt the doctor would be able to patch up most wounds he might have acquired, but it didn't stop her from worrying. She'd been thinking recently if she'd made the right choice about rejoining the crew. She'd barely had any clients since Miranda, and if she was honest, she didn't care to. She'd left because she knew if she stayed she would never be able to leave, and here she was, back at square one.
A rush of wind blew her hair around her face, and as she looked up, a familiar voice yelled out at her.
"You lookin' for a lift, little lady?"
Mal grinned down at her from the open hatch, and threw a rope down. Inara looped it round her foot and hitched herself up. When she was close enough, Mal grabbed her hand and pulled her in. They were, for a moment, tantalising close to each other, as Mal put one arm around Inara to steady her. But the moment passed, and he let go of her to shout orders to the crew.
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"Okay, I think we need to have ourselves a little meetin'." Mal announced to a full kitchen.
"Firstly, why was your dad on that planet back there?"
Inara gasped, but was roundly ignored.
"I - I don't know. He could have been there for any reason. It's not like I'd know, is it?"
"Well, we may be havin' a problem on our hands, do ya think he'll follow us?"
"Most probably, yes." Simon replied.
Mal pinched the bridge of his nose, "I thought you two would be less trouble, oh, and by the by, I thought you're sister weren't crazy any more?"
"She's getting better Captain, even you commented on that."
"Then why in God's green terra formed 'verse did she knock Jayne outta the way?"
River jumped out of her seat, "I am here you know, you don't need to speak about me like I'm not. I'm psychic, not stupid." With that she stomped out of the room, followed by Simon with Kaylee in tow.
"You can be so insensitive sometimes, Mal." Inara said.
"What? How?"
"Well, however," Inara looked over at Jayne who was downing a pint full of some sort of alcohol, and shoving food into his mouth, "Misguided she may have been, you can hardly have a problem with her saving a member of your crew. God, I wonder how you ever managed to have a meaningful relationship, if indeed, you ever have." She got up gracefully and exited the room.
Jayne started sniggering, "Trouble with the missus, Mal?"
"Oh, shut your gorram mouth, or I'll shut it for you."
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Simon leant against River's door. "Come on, mei mei, I'm sorry and I'm sure the Captain is too."
His plea was met by silence. Kaylee came up behind him, and laid a hand on his back. "Let me." she whispered.
"River, men are idiots, you can't expect 'em to have proper feelins'."
The door opened a crack, and River peered out. "You can come in," she said, pointing at Kaylee, "but you," she said pointing at Simon, "can't."
Kaylee slipped into River's quarters.
"River, the Cap'n and your brother are just worried 'bout you. I mean, why would you do that for Jayne, it's just alittle hard for us normal folk ta get our heads around. Unless... No, that's just too icky."
River grinned, and Kaylee's eye widened in shock.
"You can't like... Why?"
"Ask no questions, and I'll tell you no lies."