Sorry for the delay, Christmas and all. But here's chapter 4 please read and review.

Chapter 4: Drinking

Simon rolls the dice, grins and collects the pile of cash from in front of him. He is betting high, but not sky high and certainly not enough to bankrupt him. He moves back to stand with Mal and Wash, Jayne is still in the thick of the action. He tucks the money away in a pocket.

Wash sighs. "Why isn't that me? I need the money, mouths to feed. Snake eyes were round my neck like a weight."

"So let me get this straight," Mal begins, ignoring the pilot, "you're some hotshot gambler and I never exploited this?"

Simon grins at him. "I have to have my mysteries captain."

"And why is this place called Icarus?" Wash says.

"Because we all might fly too close to the sun and melt our wings." Simon adjusts his hat a little lower on his brow. "Trick is to be the one who gets closest and doesn't fall to his death."

Jayne whoops loudly from the huddle of people and his fist goes into the air. A ripple of disapproval goes around the room. The locals don't like outsiders winning. Simon can just about get away with it his manner keeps him secure but Jayne. They see Jayne as an oik. He doesn't deserve to walk out of here with their money.

"Are you sure we don't want to let Jayne fall to his death?" Wash says leaning back against the wall.

Mal sighs slightly drunkenly, "We can't. River would kill us."

Simon nods. "You do not want to make her angry."

Wash doesn't know where to look. He flits his eyes wildly round the room. Trapped. Nowhere to run to. He glances at the others at the table. Simon is staring in a very focused manner at the tabletop, twisting his hat between his hands in his lap. Wash notices his ears have gone pink. Mal is watching fairly intently but has a slightly bored expression on his face, his hat pushed back on his head, his tie loosened and his collar undone. Jayne's eyes are practically out on stalks, and Wash doesn't want to look closely enough to see if he's drooling.

Wash sighs and signals to a scantily clad waitress and orders another round of drinks. He thinks that they'll need them. When he turns back to the table he finds a semi-naked girl gyrating on it. He catches Simon's eye – who looks like he might expire right there and then – and mouths the word, "Bar?"

Simon looks grateful as they relocate, and lean against the bar with their drinks. "Thank you, this wasn't my idea," he says. "If Kaylee knew…" he shakes his head and takes a slug of his drink in the way only drunk men can achieve.

"What makes you think the girls aren't doing exactly the same?" Wash blurts out.

"What?" Simon chokes on his drink.

"Oh I'm sure they're not, just dinner." Wash amends this with a slap on Simon's shoulder. "Relax. Have another drink."

"Looking for a good time sailor?" the girl lays her hand against Wash's chest, and smiles up at him seductively.

Wash removes her hand gently, tries very hard not to stare down her ample cleavage but fails. "I'm married."

"Doesn't matter," she purrs.

"Does to me," Wash says firmly.

"Is your friend married?" she presses herself against Simon who flushes scarlet. "Hi, I'm Candy."

Wash stifles a laugh with his glass and looks back over to the table. He sighs deeply. Maybe now is the time to be heading for home.

"Stay here," he says, turning to look back at Simon. Who he finds with the girl draped all over him. Wash grits his teeth so as not to say anything. "Wait. Here."

Simon salutes him drunkenly with the glass.

Wash sighs again as he heads for the table. Mal isn't there and Wash needs his help. He finally finds him, leaning against a wall with his arm around a dark haired girl. His glass is at such an angle that the whisky threatens to slop out.

"…You know darling' I got nothing against your whoring. But you got to stop teasin' me so…"

"Mal."

He looks round blurrily. "Yeah?"

"Want to help me?" Wash jerks his head back to the table.

Jayne is standing on the table dancing with the stripper. He is writhing about drunkenly and grabbing at the laughing girl.

As they approach they hear his slurred voice say, "You know your breasts…"

"Jayne!" Mal snaps. "That'll do."

"Aww Mal," he slurs turning to face them.

He wobbles for a seemingly endless moment before smashing face first to the floor.

"Ow, now that just hurt," Jayne groans from the floor.

Mal leans over and hauls him to his feet. He looks at Wash. "Where's our doctor?"

Wash leads them back to the bar.

Mal coughs pointedly.

Simon looks round, and flicks his hat up with one finger. "I'm busy."

Candy giggles annoyingly from her draped position around Simon and Mal shoots her a look. He is starting to sober up even if the others aren't.

"No you're not," Mal says firmly and grabs Simon's arm. He pulls him roughly towards him. "We're going." He grins slowly and evilly. "Or do you want me to tell Kaylee where your hands just were?"

Zoë knew those last shots were not a good idea. This was beyond terrifying. Not a single one of them should have been reduced to this.

"First I was afraid, I was petrified…."

Inara could never hold her drink. Posh girls never could. It was a statistical impossibility that Simon had never got laid on this skyplex back in the day. Zoë knew what Kaylee could be like but this? And River?

"But then I spent so many nights thinkin' how you did me wrong…"

All three of them are standing on top of a table belting out the words to a 'verse wide popular song. Sam is gamely playing along.

"I grew strong, and I learned how to get along…." Inara belts loudly.

"So now you're back, from outer space," Kaylee sings at the top of her voice.

"Inara? Kaylee. River?" Zoë pleads.

This can't be happening. Whose idea was this? Did they even know what they were doing?

"Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no not I! I will survive!" River sings, "As long as I have love I know I'll stay alive…"

Wash calls out to the others, "Hang on a minute," as he disappears down an alleyway.

"Hurrup!" Simon yells after him, slurring his words together. "We ain't waiting for ya!"

Simon shouting is confusing enough to Wash without the drunkenness and lack of pronunciation to add to it.

Mal is holding Jayne up as he can hardly walk.

Wash whistles softly while he relieves himself against the back wall of some building. He readjusts his clothing before heading back out to the street.

"Guys?" Not only have they not waited for him, they are no where to be seen.

Wash looks up and down the street helplessly. Even between them, Mal and Simon couldn't have gotten Jayne far and at this time of the morning the street is pretty much empty. That meant only one thing for this crew – they'd been taken. By who didn't matter. Gorram knew where the girls were, meaning he was on his own in this one.

He sighs again and pulls his hat to a more flattering angle over his eyes and heads down the street.