Malcolm Reynolds slept restlessly that night, waking up ever hour or so, as though his subconscious were expecting horrible news at any moment. He didn't know what time it was, or how long he'd been trying to sleep when he just stopped trying and pushed the blanket off of him. He pulled his boots back on quickly, and only had to adjust his suspenders because he hadn't bothered to get undressed before his standoff with the sandman. In a matter of moments he was outside the infirmary doors but before he could enter they opened to reveal a startled looking Simon.
The Doctor's eyes were wide, providing Mal with a clear glimpse of the dark circles underneath them. Before he could protest, Simon slid the doors shut behind him, blocking them from Mal.
"She's not awake yet Mal," Simon began tiredly. "We would have come and gotten you if she was. You're going to have to let her rest."
Mal opened his mouth in protest but was cut off by the Doctor.
"I can't let you in there... and no, I have no idea when she's going to wake up. I don't think she slept at all when she was with Rawley, so it may be awhile."
Simon stepped around Mal and made his way to the large cargo bay, forcing Mal to follow him if he wished to continue their conversation.
"You could at least tell me how she's doing..."
Raising a hand to his lips, Simon stopped abruptly and turned back towards the Captain. His arm swept behind him, bringing Mal's eyes to the center of the room where their guests were. Some were clearly asleep, blankets tucked up under their chins, but a few of them, including the old man, still sat upright, eyeing the Doctor and Mal warily.
"She must have nine lives, that one," Simon spoke quietly, getting Mal's attention. "She'll survive, and her leg will be fine in time," he added, a tight-lipped smile gracing his face.
Mal stared at him a moment as the relief washed over him and he opened and closed his mouth a few times as though he wanted to speak. Finally, he reached a hand out and grasped Simon's shoulder firmly, nodding his thanks as he did. Simon's eyes widened slightly at his gesture, but he returned Mal's nod as the hand slipped from his shoulder.
The Doctor looked behind him again before turning back to Mal. "I need to finish checking them out. You should come meet them."
Mal hesitated just enough for Simon to notice. "Well, I was gonna go find Zoe and..." he mumbled.
The Doctor fought the urge to roll his eyes at the Captain. "Do you even know what time it is? Zoe isn't up yet."
Knowing defeat when he saw it, Mal relented and followed Simon to the center of the room.
Simon stopped in front of the old man and looked down at him before turning back to Mal. "This is Mr. Anders."
"It's Efram... if you don't mind," he rasped quietly as he looked at Mal.
"Captain Reynolds."
Simon frowned at Mal's terse reply and tried to keep the conversation going. "Apparently Efram was Rawley's steward."
The Captain's eyes flashed briefly and his hand went automatically to his side where his gun usually sat in it's holster. Mal's palm grasped over empty air and he mentally cursed himself for forgetting his pistol. He settled on making a fist out of that hand and glaring down at the old man.
"How could you work for that shenjingbing hundan?"
Efram regarded Mal silently for a moment, understanding how close he'd just come to being shot. "You don't work for Bryce Rawley Captain... you're owned by him." Efram paused a moment, bringing his hand up to his mouth as a violent cough overtook him. "And you fear him enough to stay in line. Or at least you used to." The old man's face lit up suddenly. "I hear we have you to thank for that..."
"Thank Josephine," Mal said quickly. "She's the one what shot him."
"That may be true... but she never would have had the chance if you and your people hadn't come. Thank you."
Mal fidgeted under the old man's gaze, finally allowing himself a small nod to indicate that he'd heard him.
Simon looked down towards the young woman seated next to Efram. She couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen and she already had a long scar running vertically down the side of her face. The Doctor knelt down in front of her tentatively. "What's your name?"
The young woman stared at him vacantly and Simon reached out a hand towards her face but she flinched and pulled her head out of his reach.
Leaving his hand hanging in the air, Simon turned back to Efram. "What's her name?"
"Mira," the old man said quietly.
"Mira... it's alright, I just want to see if you're hurt. I'm a doctor." Mira continued to stare past him and Simon let his hand drop back to his side. "Can she hear me?"
"I don't rightly know," Efram answered. "She can't speak though, of that I'm fairly certain."
Simon took in the old man's words silently as he stared at the young girl. He crawled on his knees towards her awkwardly, only to have her move away from him again.
"How am I supposed to examine her if she won't let me touch her," Simon asked to no one in particular.
"I can help."
Mal, Simon, Efram, and the two other woman who were still awake jumped suddenly at the unexpected voice and Mal turned on his heels to find River standing right behind him.
"You shouldn't sneak up on a person Albatross."
River ignored the Captain and stepped around him to address her brother. "She talks to me."
Efram's eyes widened as he stared at the ethereal young woman. "How's that? She don't talk to no one..."
River turned her eyes to the old man and tilted her head slightly as she regarded him. After a few seconds she raised her hand to the side of her head and tapped her index finger against it slowly.
"In here."
Efram's eyes got wider in confusion and he turned to Simon for answers.
"She's my sister... she... well she..."
"She has a way about her," Mal answered for the Doctor.
The young pilot knelt down next to Mira and smiled at her briefly before turning back to Simon. "What do you want to know?"
"Just make her understand that I'm not going to hurt her, but I need to see if she's alright."
River turned back to the young girl and simply stared at her. Mal felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle and begin to rise as he witnessed the odd exchange. He cleared his throat quickly and took this opportunity to make his departure.
"I'll leave you to it then. Gonna go see if Zoe's awake yet." He left the cargo bay hastily and made his way towards the passenger dorms and bridge. Despite everything he'd been through with the young psychic, he would simply never get used to seeing her unusual gift demonstrated. Mal seemed to be the only person on Serenity whose skin went cold as though he could actually feel her doing it...
The Captain shook his head swiftly as he made his way up the stairs, trying to shake off the sensation as he looked for his first mate.
Mal found Zoe in the kitchen, starting the day's first batch of coffee, and looking as tried as the rest of Serenity's crew. Kaylee was with her, stifling a yawn as Mal came through the entranceway. In fact, Jayne was the only person he hadn't seen up and about since the night before. The Captain's mouth turned up into a small smile as he pictured the large merc fast asleep in his bunk, oblivious to the happenings above him.
"You been to see the passengers," Zoe addressed him briefly.
Mal nodded and sat at the table with Kaylee. "Though don't know if I'd call them passengers seeing as how they insist on stayin' in the cargo bay. More like cargo we're shipping from one place to another."
The mechanic looked up at him, mouth open in shock. "They ain't cargo Captain. They're people and people are passengers..."
Mal fought the grin that was forming as he stared at Kaylee. "Of course, of course. Just thinkin' out loud is all."
Kaylee made a small noise that sounded like a "hmpf" and accepted the small mug that Zoe laid next to her.
"You alright Sir?" Zoe sat down at the table with her own mug, smiling softly as she noticed Mal's poor attempt to hide his smirk. "You look tired."
"Haven't slept much."
"Maybe you should try... we're still about four days from the training house and you're gonna want to be rested for the... reunion."
Mal frowned at his first mate as her smile widened, but couldn't help but agree with her. He and Inara couldn't be in the same room without some sort of verbal brawl taking place and he wasn't about to let her get the better of him just because he was exhausted. He excused himself quietly and went back to his bunk, mentally preparing himself for a knock-down, drag out fight with the sandman.
The Captain woke a few hours later, relieved that he'd finally won the battle. He picked his discarded shirt up from the floor and pulled it over his head quickly, not bothering to tuck it in. He was hoping Simon had decided to get some sleep, leaving the infirmary unguarded. Mal grumbled under his breath as he climbed out of his bunk. When did I let that boy order me around my own ship, he thought. A small nagging voice in the back of his head reminded him. Around the fourth or fifth time Simon had expertly patched Mal up, or someone Mal loved, the Captain had begun to pay more attention to the Doctor's advise. Sure, he would never seek Simon out they way he had sought the Shepherd's counsel, almost unconsciously, but he had come to respect the Doctor's decisions. If Simon said Josephine needed to rest, then she needed to rest, end of story.
Of course, Mal rationalized, no harm in looking in on her while she rests. He hesitated in front of the infirmary doors, cursing himself silently for stopping to listen for Simon. All the same, he waited until he was sure the room was empty before sliding open the doors and closing them softly behind him.
He stood near the door, blinking in the infirmary's harsh lighting, and wondering how anyone could possibly get rest in the stark whiteness of this room. When his eyes had adjusted he made his way quickly towards the examination table.
Josephine lay on her back on the white table, arms at her sides. Someone, probably Kaylee, had cleaned the blood off and dressed her in some of her borrowed clothes. Her shirt was sleeveless and Mal could see the scrapes and bruises clearly in the absence of blood. He watched her chest rise and fall steadily for a moment as though to reassure himself, before moving his eyes to her face. He watched her eyelids flutter against her face, in the throes of some dream or nightmare, and he reached his hand out to her cheek.
He let his palm hover over it, afraid that he might wake her if he touched her. He settled for brushing his hand against her own before something caught his attention on the other side of the room.
His brown coat that had previously been draped around Jo was now hung over the back of a chair and he moved closer to examine it.
It wasn't until he was practically on top of it that he began to see the stains and cracks in the leather where the blood had dried. He picked it up gingerly, the course material familiar under his hands, to further study the damage. As he opened the coat up he saw that the inside was much worse than the outside, and Mal doubted the blood stains would ever come out.
"I ruined it."
He jumped slightly at the weak voice that came from the table, and turned to see Josephine, her head now turned to look at him.
Mal turned back to the coat in his hands and the genuine sorrow he heard in her voice caused him to do something that surprised them both.
Balling the coat up in his hands, Mal began to laugh until his body was shaking from the force of it.
"Are you laughing?" The shock in her voice only made him guffaw louder and he waited for it to subside somewhat before hanging his coat back on the chair and walking over to her, his eyes shiny and an idiotic grin on his face.
Jo turned her head to look up at him, a small smile beginning on her previously serious expression. "You are the craziest person I know," she whispered quietly.
"Yeah," he agreed. "But you don't know River too well yet."
Her expression turned sober again as she regarded him for a moment.
"I'm sorry about your coat, I know how much it means..."
A small cry escaped him at her words and before she could finish he covered her mouth with his own. He tried for gentle and chaste, but soon Josephine opened her mouth to him and he couldn't help but thrust his tongue between her lips. Their tongues dueled passionately for a moment, before Mal felt her try and fail to lift her head so that he could gain better access. He pulled away from her mouth and trailed feverish kisses over her jaw line, cheeks and forehead, before pulling back altogether.
He settled instead on grasping her hand loosely in his own as he stared down at her, the smile finally gone from his face and replaced with a pained expression.
"I'm sorry too..."
Her eyes widened a bit as she gazed up at him. "Why are you sorry?"
"For not protecting you... for letting him take you," Mal whispered softly.
"It's not your job to protect me and it certainly isn't your fault."
He stared down at her for a long moment before he whispered again, almost inaudibly. "Yes it is."
Josephine used his grip on her hand to pull him back down to her, his head resting lightly on her chest, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his back. If it weren't for the spot of wetness she began to feel on her chest, she never would have known when he began to cry, and she rubbed slow circles over his back as she puller him closer to her.
"See... crazy," she sighed tenderly.
As the days passed, Serenity flew closer and closer to the training house, and Mal found himself spending most of his time in the infirmary. That is until Josephine, and not Simon which Mal found highly amusing, kicked him out. She assured him that there simply had to be much more useful things for him to do and she teased him about letting Zoe do all the work.
Her leg had begun to heal more rapidly than the Doctor had foreseen, and Efram surprised them all when he produced a cane for Jo to use. Still, it wasn't until right before they landed that Simon let her leave the infirmary at all and she gratefully used the cane to help support her on her way out of the small white room.
Kaylee had told her where they were headed on one of the mechanic's many visits and Josephine was surprised to find that she was eager to get a look at the companion Kaylee had told her about.
River landed easily in the valley of the mountains and Serenity's crew and guests stood in front of the cargo bay doors, waiting for them to open. Glancing to her right, Jo saw that Kaylee and Jayne's faces were both shiny with excitement, though she suspected for different reasons. She turned to her left, anxious to see what she would find on Mal's face, but it was a mask of nonchalance, though he did spare her a small smile when he caught her looking at him.
The doors opened and the ramp lowered with a mechanical whir and Josephine couldn't stop the gasp from escaping her lips. She had thought Sydney was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to the magnificent snow-capped mountains and pure blue sky that now greeted her. And nestled in between two of the mountains was the most lavish, elegant building she had every seen. She could tell they were still some ways away from it, and she had the brief thought that if it appeared this large from far away it must be colossal up close. The vibrant colors of the building swam before her eyes, distracting her from the party that had been fast approaching.
"Mal."
A cultivated and confident voice brought her back to the here and now and Josephine found herself staring, open mouthed, into the face of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
"Inara..."