Disclaimer: I own nothing; Harry Potter and the elements of his universe all belong to J.K.Rowling. Firefly/Serenity and the elements of its universe all belong to Joss Whedon. I'm just borrowing the characters to play with for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER FOUR – Things Get a Little Doggy

"Run!"

"Piece of pie, the man says," Mal sarcastically yelled while the group of four was sprinting towards their mule.

"Gos se! I rutting hate guard dogs!" Jayne insisted. "Gos se!"

"Why did we leave the gorram mule so far away!" Zoe gasped as they huffed towards it.

Harry peeked over his shoulder. "Aren't those fluffy little fellers going to jump on the mule with us in the time it takes to start the mule up?"

"Jien tah-duh guay!" Mal demanded. "That's it. I'm shooting them."

"Good idea!" Jayne replied with a thumbs-up over his shoulder. "I'm still running."

"They're just happy dogs!" Harry pleaded with Mal.

Mal turned, aimed, and fired. "I missed." Mal stopped and looked at his gun. "How did I- Owww!" He screeched in pain as a particularly vicious looking poodle clamped down onto Mal's forearm, making him drop his gun. "I can't believe that little hwin dan… Oh gos se!"

Harry hurriedly tugged Mal's good arm and the pair started sprinting after Zoe and Jayne. "Run!" Mal called out. "They're armed!"

Jayne took a moment to look over his shoulder and see Mal and Harry hightailing it their way, while the rabid pack continued to chase them. A few bursts of speed and Harry and Mal had caught back up with Zoe and Jayne.

"This is kind of fun," Harry said with a smile, though he seemed to be alone in that feeling.

"Sir," Zoe said as she saw the mule in the distance. "We won't be able to start up the mule if they're tearing the flesh from our bones."

Mal nodded. "Soon as we're a little closer, I'm going to lead them away. You start up the mule, get it up to speed and swing around. I'll jump on, dong ma?" Mal explained and he began to veer off to the left. "And don't you even think of leaving me behind!"

Jayne saw Mal head towards the left and seem to slow down. "Stupid dogs are still following us!" Jayne exclaimed.

"I'll try and lead them towards Mal." Harry stated before taking a sharp left and running straight for the Captain.

Jayne and Zoe relaxed a bit to see the entire pack veered off and followed Harry. They made it to the mule and fired up the engine.

"You forgot to bring the dogs with you, Captain," Harry yelled out as he caught up with a now wide-eyed and once again sprinting Mal.

"I noticed that, Harry," Mal said. "But you seem to have managed to correct my oversight. You'll forgive me if I don't thank you for putting me back in the line of the vicious killer balls of fluff and rage."

Harry looked over his shoulder at the yipping poodle, with the stain of Mal's blood standing out in stark contrast to its white curly fur and wide open drooling mouth. "I think she likes you."

"Hey Harry," Mal pointed straight ahead as he watched the dogs following them. "You do realize we're now heading back towards the town, right? With the museum? That you just robbed?"

"Hmm," Harry said in between his slightly labored breathing. "That's probably not good. Let's split up. You go right, I'll go left. Break." Harry called out and took a sharp left towards an item in the grass that caught his eye.

Mal just saw Harry turn and turned as well. Mal had only gone a few dozen feet before he realized, "They're all following you!"

"Gorramit!" Harry yelled out and turned again before sprinting to catch up with Mal.

Mal was smiling and half-chuckling at the sight of Harry being chased. It took Mal a few moments to realize Harry was headed straight for him and bringing those killer beasts with him once again. "Gos se." Mal turned and began to run again, only to be passed by a quicker than he looks Harry.

"I saw you smiling there, Captain. I know you're enjoying this," Harry stated when he saw Mal keeping up with him.

Taking their sweet time on the mule, and now up to speed with big smiles on their faces riding right next to the two sprinting men were Jayne and Zoe. "Aren't your legs getting tired?" Jayne asked.

Mal only now noticed them and leapt over into the mule. Once he cleared out of the way, Harry leapt in right after him. The pack of rabid dogs was keeping up pretty well and every once in a while one would jump up onto the side of the mule only to be pushed back off.

"These are some very persistent dogs," Mal exclaimed. "This thing goes nearly twenty-five, and they're keeping up. It's like they can smell the Lassiter."

Harry's head perked up at the mention of the word smell. All of a sudden he smacked his own forehead. "Of course!" Harry exclaimed. He stood up in the mule, reached into one of his pockets and chucked a handful of smelly pink bits over the side. The pack of dogs all stopped chasing and had themselves a minor feeding frenzy where the bits landed.

"What was that?" Mal demanded seeing how easily the dogs gave up.

Harry shook his head. "I completely forgot those were in my pocket. That must have been why the dogs kept chasing us."

"That was why?" Jayne snapped. "What the gorram was that?"

Harry just sheepishly shrugged and bowed his head.

Mal closed his eyes and sighed, "Those were ham cubes, weren't they?"

Harry nodded with a small guilty smile.

Zoe was driving the skiff and turned her head slightly to look at Harry. "You carry ham cubes in your pocket?"

"Not usually," Harry admitted. "That's probably why I forgot they were there."

"Ham cubes?" Jayne questioned. "Does that make sense to anyone?"

Harry tried to explain. "Well, I-"

"Anyone normal," Jayne interrupted angrily.

Harry shut up quick and just frowned. He pulled out the Lassiter and made sure it was okay. When he was satisfied, Harry put it back into his inside coat pocket. "I think that went well."

"Well?" Mal snapped. "That went well?"

Harry nodded. "We got it, without having to shoot or hurt anyone."

"I lost my gun!" Mal retorted. "And got mauled!" He lifted up showing his barely bleeding forearm.

"That's right," Harry said reaching into another of his coat's pockets. "Your gun, Captain." Harry presented and returned it to Mal.

"Oh," Mal calmed a little. "Thanks. And why didn't you break out your little-"

"On those sweet little puppies? No thank you, sir. They were just being doggies," Harry said. "Here, let me look at your arm."

Mal was frowning but let Harry take a rag out and clean the blood off his arm. He couldn't tell what Harry was whispering, but his arm seemed to be tingling a bit. "What are you doing?"

Harry's quiet mumbles halted for a moment and he explained, "Just cleaning the blood off to see how bad it is. See? It's barely a scratch. Just the blood made it look worse."

Mal looked down and would have sworn the cut from the bite had been larger and deeper than that. "Thanks," he reluctantly admitted again.

They were still a few minutes out from Serenity and Mal asked, "Piece of pie?"

Harry chuckled. "Be fair now. There was no way to know they added specialized security."

Mal rolled his eyes, but had to admit it hadn't been too bad. "We ain't got paid yet."

Harry nodded.

"River, honey?" Zoe called into the com. "We're about two minutes out. How're things looking on your end?"

"Quiet and uneventful," she replied. Kaylee's voice came over the com too, "No chatter, no alarms, no surprises. We're all shiny here."

"Alright," Zoe explained. "Doc might want to take a look at the Captain's arm."

"Oh no! Is he okay?" Kaylee called back.

Zoe couldn't keep the smile off her face. "I think he'll live."

The skiff drove right up the waiting ramp of Serenity, and Jayne hurriedly closed the cargo bay doors.

"River, get us out of here," Mal called out into the intercom. "Harry, go play nice with her."

Simon had his bag with him and hurried up to the Captain. "Oh wow," Simon said looking up at Mal's hurt forearm. "If we act fast, I may not even have to amputate."

"A doctor and a comedian," Mal grinned humorlessly. "That's fantastic."

Simon had a dead serious look in his eyes and commented, "I hope you shot the thorn that did this."

"Hey now," Mal defended. "It was a rabid attack dog."

"Clearly," Simon nodded. "This certainly isn't the work of just a poodle."

Zoe was just snickering as she walked back towards her bunk.

Simon heard Zoe's snickers and asked, "It was a poodle, wasn't it?"

"It was big and vicious!" Mal insisted.

Harry walked up to the bridge and found Inara seated in the co-pilot's chair, while River was flying them up out of Hornshoot's atmosphere.

"Afternoon ladies," Harry announced.

River was pouting silently so Inara returned Harry's greeting, "Hello Harry. Is Mal going to be alright?"

Harry nodded. "Just a little scratch."

"What happened?"

Harry leaned against the wall since both chairs were occupied. "By the Captain's description, it was a big and vicious rabid attack poodle."

Harry was watching closely and saw River smother a smile. Inara had no such reservations and snorted eloquently. "An attack poodle?"

"Yup," Harry nodded. "Took his gun from him too."

Inara giggled happily and even River genuinely smiled. But only until she realized Harry caught her smiling.

Harry grinned triumphantly. "You know, Inara, these first few moments are the most crucial ones to get in mocking the Captain for his brush with death."

Inara knew a hint when she heard one and asked River, "You going to be okay?"

River nodded and gave Harry a cold look. "Piece of pie."

Inara smiled at River's obvious dislike. She got up and announced, "I think I may have a leash that will fit Mal." She caught her own double entendre a moment too late given the brief look of surprise on her face as she swept from the room.

Harry just smiled, making it quite clear he saw Inara's slight blush. He sat himself down in the co-pilot's open chair. "Hello, River."

River momentarily glanced at Harry before returning her focus straight ahead. "Hmph."

"You think you'll be able to work with me?" Harry asked genially.

River stared straight ahead, refusing to give Harry the courtesy of looking at him. "I don't like you. You're a freak."

Harry leaned back and turned straight ahead as well. "You know, there was a time, a comment like that would have really hurt me," Harry admitted. "But now, I take it as a compliment."

"Hmph."

Harry grinned just staring into the vastness of space in front of him. "I know you didn't mean it as one, but I don't let that stop me." Harry sighed and sat in silence for a few minutes. "You know where we're going?"

"Forward," River condescendingly answered.

"I suppose it's hard to argue with that."

An uncomfortable silence settled between them as they stared straight ahead into space. River was stealing glances at Harry and quietly cleared her throat again. "Hmph."

Harry still hadn't even looked towards River. He quietly began, "I know a bit about what they did to you."

River stiffened in disgust that someone she disliked so much would know something so personal.

Harry continued. "I won't pretend to know what you're constantly going through, but I do have a better idea than most."

River still wasn't looking towards Harry either.

"If you'd like me to help, I can." Harry offered. "I would have to ask that you keep this between us though."

River was thinking it over for a moment and asked, "I thought you couldn't help me anytime soon."

"I can't teach you too soon," Harry corrected. "But I can help you."

"What do you mean?"

Harry tried to think of an analogy that wouldn't be misconstrued. "Think of it as a dam," He began. "Your gift coupled with some of the Alliance's experimentation has you leaking. Now I'm going to eventually be teaching you how to plug the leak on your own, but if you'd like, I can sort of jam my own mental thumb and plug the leak with a little effort on my part. It weakens to the point of barely working if we're not in the same room."

"A dam?" River asked.

Harry nodded.

"And that makes you the little dutch boy holding the flood back?"

Harry chuckled. "I suppose you could say that."

River turned her shoulders to face him. "Alright," River insisted, acting a little angrier than she felt. "Let's see what you can do."

Harry just raised an eyebrow and slowly turned towards River with a smile. He watched the emotions swirling in River's cold stare. He smirked at her, "Try not to freak out."

Kaylee, Simon, and Inara were sitting around the table taking turns making fun of Mal. He was accepting their barbs with a smile and secretly plotting his revenge. They all looked up as River came sprinting into the room shrieking in glee.

"That was amazing!" River exclaimed in unbridled joy.

"What's that?" Mal asked hoping for a change of conversation.

River waved her arms up and down while she span in circles. "Harry said I was some sort of dike, so I let him stick his thumb in me."

Simon began cough uncontrollably.

"It felt wonderful," River sang. "Him just filling me up and plugging my leak."

"River!" Simon shouted aghast.

"Okay," River smiled brightly and nodded. "I'm going to go have him stick it back in." She used one hand to clap a wave goodbye and spun right around to sprint back towards the bridge.

Simon seemed to be rapidly going from pink to red to purple with rage.

Inara was mumbling, "I'm sure it's not…"

Mal was stuttering, "Th- th- that couldn't have been…"

Kaylee was grinning from ear to ear. "Like I said, Harry's kindly."

Finally, Simon began to snap out of his brief catatonia. He flailed his arms and jumped up from his seat. He opened his mouth to exclaim something before snapping it shut and just running towards the bridge.

Kaylee and Inara both jumped up to chase after him, but Mal tried to stop them. "Don't get in that man's way. This is his sister."

"We're not going to stop him, poodle slayer," Inara cheekily bit out.

Kaylee nodded and added as she left the table, "We're going to watch and see what happens."

"Oh," Mal realized and hurried to follow the girls.

Harry looked up when Simon came bursting into the room. "What's up, Doc?"

River was in the co-pilot's chair practically writhing in happiness.

Simon took one look at his sister and stormed up to Harry. "You and me! Outside! Now!"

Harry leaned forward with a frown and turned to River. "That's not exactly keeping it between us."

"Sorry," River giggled, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

Harry looked at how furious Simon was and calmly looked back at River. "And just what did you tell them?"

River grinned and mocked a deep serious voice. "I told them about how I was a dike, and you jammed your thumb in me and fixed me."

Harry had to clench his eyes shut to contain his initial guffaw. After he had composed himself, he opened his eyes and replied, "Something like that, yeah."

Three different laughing snorts were heard from just outside the door to the bridge.

Simon bristled and blustered his way through no recognizable words.

"Listen, Doctor Tam," Harry explained. "You know how River's always sensing more than even a normal reader does? When she's near me, I can sort of mute the sensations that normal people wouldn't pick up on."

"What?" Simon snapped in angry confusion.

River turned to her brother. "It just feels so good."

Harry clarified, "I think your sister took my analogy a bit more literally than I intended."

"What?" Simon repeated in a more calmed controlled confusion.

Harry tried again. "You know how she feels around me and hates me for it?"

"Yeah," Simon agreed.

"Well now, it's not just me, but everyone and everything."

Simon paused and deflated. "So she's going to hate everyone?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's exactly it. She's all fidgety and moaning over there because she's filled with hatred."

"Really?" Simon questioned standing up straighter.

Harry sighed. "No, not really."

Simon stopped and stood there for a moment. He finally found his voice again and asked, "What?"

Harry turned around tiredly and stated. "It's making her feel better and in more control than she probably has since before the Alliance got hold of her. Nothing else matters as much beyond that."

Simon turned back to his sister. "River?"

River smiled brightly at Simon. Without warning, she sprung up out of her chair and jumped at her brother, wrapping her legs and arms around him in a tight hug. She squeezed him tightly and whispered in his ear, "You're the best brother a girl could ever hope for." She clenched him even tighter and genuinely added, "I love you, Simon."

Simon, undoubtedly emotionally exhausted and drained, hugged her back as his eyes began to water. He happily reciprocated, "I love you too, mei-mei."

Harry gave them a few moments before loudly adding, "Her elation and euphoria is a bit more severe than I was expecting, but it will pass."

River lifted her head from Simon's shoulder and snapped a frown at Harry. "Shut up, doody head."

Harry ruefully grinned back towards the space in front of him. "Yup. The elation could pass at any moment."

River winked at her brother with a triumphant grin.

Harry entered the dining area, River following dutifully behind him. Harry announced, "We're probably two days from Bellerophon. I'll give Durran a shout once we're a bit closer."

"Sounds good," Mal nodded.

"How's the arm?" River asked with a small smile.

Mal frowned and rolled his eyes. "It's fine. So this thing, Harry's doing with his thumb-"

"It's not my thumb," Harry interrupted.

"Whatever," Mal continued. "But it's helping you?"

River nodded.

"Not really," Harry argued.

"Yes, really," River insisted.

"Okay fine," Harry admitted. "It makes things better right now, but as soon as I stop, you're right back where you started."

"Then don't stop," River explained as though Harry were a small child.

Mal was fighting a smile watching his two pilots bicker. "So then this ain't the helping you said you could give River?"

Harry shook his head. "No, it isn't. I was talking about teaching her to do sort of this same thing, but to do it herself. What I'm doing now, is more like I'm doing it for her. It takes a little effort and conscious action on my part. When she understands it, it will be purely instinct, subconsciously maintained, and far more effective. Even when she's asleep. What I'm doing now weakens the further from her I get."

Mal was watching River, who seemed more playful than he remembered her being in quite a while. "So I take it, you're going to be following Harry around everywhere?"

River nodded resolutely. "Even to the bathroom."

"Excuse me?" Harry yipped in disbelief, turning to River. "I don't think you-"

"And I sleep on the right side of the bed," River added looking thoughtful. "Just warning you."

"Now hold on a minute," Harry retorted.

"Wow, Harry," Mal grinned. "You really have worked through River's hate quick like."

Harry just frowned at Mal, while River calmly explained, "No, Captain, I still hate him."

"Thank you, River," Harry smiled tiredly.

"But if it means getting him to jam his thumb in me," River insisted firmly. "Then I won't let hating him stop me from sleeping with him."

Jayne walked into the room just in time to catch River's declaration. He raised an eyebrow, "Now that there is an attitude I could get to liking."

"Oh?" Inara asked joining the group. "What attitude is that?"

Jayne smiled while Harry was just looking down in frustration. Jayne replied, "You ever let something as tiny and insignificant as hating a person, stop you from sleeping with them?"

"Excuse me?" Inara asked dangerously.

Jayne raised his hands in deference. "I was just asking if…" Jayne paused and seemed to think for a moment. "You know what? You're just going to hit me. So never mind." Jayne took his drink and left the room.

Inara just watched him go with a curious look.

Mal was shocked. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that was surprisingly mature of Jayne."

"Where's he going?" Simon asked as Jayne brushed by him on his way out.

Inara smirked happily. "He's scared of me."

"Right," Simon said in disbelief. "And why is Harry banging his head on the table?"

"That I don't know," Inara asked noticing Harry was slowly thumping his head.

"If I were to take a guess," Mal began.

"You really don't have to," Harry pleaded without looking up.

Mal smiled and ignored him. "I'd say it's because Harry also prefers the right side of the bed."

Harry looked up and was frowning harshly at Mal.

River suggested. "It could be that he's worried about sleeping naked with me." River shrugged. "But I sleep naked too."

Harry turned to Simon who looked both confused and horrified. "Please tell your sister she can't sleep naked with me."

Simon turned to his smiling sister and stated clearly, "River, you can't sleep naked with Harry."

"There's room in my bunk!" Jayne called out from the next room.

Simon quickly corrected, "You can't sleep naked with anyone. Jayne and Harry most of all."

Mal was grinning happily and pointed out, "Don't you think this should be River's decision?"

"I'd like to think I have a say in this matter!" Harry insisted.

River waved Harry off, "You'll be asleep."

"Not if you're naked in my bed!" Harry hotly retorted.

"I should hope not!" Jayne called out.

Mal was openly chuckling by now and Harry just got up shaking his head. Harry left the room explaining, "I'm going back to the bridge."

Simon pointed at his sister. "And you and I need to have a little talk."

River sprung up from her seat joyfully. "Okay, let's go talk on the bridge," she explained and hurried after Harry.

Simon followed right behind her. "That's not what I meant, I meant in private."

Mal watched them leave and was still enjoying himself. "This is kind of fun."

Inara smirked, "Oh yes, it's all fun and games until someone gets mauled by a poodle."

Mal didn't think it was quite as much fun anymore.

It took about an hour of confusing discussion, but Harry and River reached a tentative compromise that Simon kept arguing over. Harry and River decided to sleep in turns on a cot there on the bridge, so that one of them was free to pilot, while the other slept. That way Harry could do his job and give River a taste of a more controlled sleep. And River could do her job, and repeatedly wake Harry to reapply his mental thumb.

Harry only agreed because he expected her to tire of the idea after a few nights. Or so he desperately hoped. Because early the next morning, when it was Harry's turn to sleep, River kept shaking him awake every half hour and demanding, "Dam me, big boy."

Harry would tiredly renew his magic and roll back over to sleep damning her the whole time. It was not particularly restful. Especially when after only three hours of frequently interrupted sleep, the entire ship lurched to a great stop and began to slowly spin out of control.

"Je shr shuh muh lan dong shi!?" Mal demanded as he ran to the bridge.

Harry tiredly rubbed the crust from his eyes. "No idea what you just said, but it wasn't me. I was asleep."

"Not me either," River explained standing up. "But there's something wrong with her. Let's ask Kaylee."

"Kaylee!" Mal called out loudly into the intercom.

"I'm on it, Captain," Kaylee called back. "You might want to come back here."

Mal swore to himself as he stormed from the bridge.

Harry slowly went to follow him, and saw River was still tagging along wherever he went. "You're sure we didn't hit anything or get shot?"

River frowned but sweetly replied, "Yes, I'm sure you huh choo-shang tza-jiao duh tzang-huo."

Harry saw River's smile and knew she was mocking him in Chinese because he didn't speak a lick of it. "I'm doing you a favor here. Be nice."

River smiled cheekily and nodded. "I happen to think I was being nice."

"Hmph," Harry replied as they reached the engine room.

"What's the damage, Kaylee?" Mal asked while the girl was slid underneath a massive panel of exposed wires and parts.

"Oh dear," Kaylee quietly replied though only her legs were sticking out from her current position. "It's not pretty Captain."

"We humped?" Jayne asked as he and Zoe entered the room.

Mal winced, "I don't know if it's all that-"

"We're humped!" Kaylee called back from the ground, startling Jayne.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Mal looked at Harry curiously. "You know anything about engines?"

"It's the port-side grav boot, Captain," Kaylee called out. "Lining's stripped, attenuator's all out of whack. It's a mess in here."

"Can you fix it?" Mal asked.

Kaylee nodded, "Seeing as we don't have another, yeah. I'm going to have to." She re-emerged from below and stood up holding a doohickey that Harry would have called technological cauliflower. She walked over towards the heart of the engine and pulled a large lever powering everything down. "But we need to conserve while I do. This is going to take a while."

"How long?" Mal asked tiredly.

Kaylee winced. "I'm going to have strip, recoat, and rewire every connection here."

Mal looked up at her and repeated, "How long?"

Kaylee shrugged. "At least a couple days. Maybe more."

"Jen dao mei," Mal said with a shake of his head. "This is lovely. Steal something expensive and then spend a few days floating in the black helpless. How far are we from Bellerophon?"

"Another day at full burn," River weakly answered.

Mal looked over at Harry curiously.

Harry tentatively spoke up and suggested, "I may know a… trick that could help us."

"You?" Kaylee asked doubtfully. "Know how to fix this?"

"Sure," Harry insisted with a smile. "I know all about poor sight graph boots."

"Port-side grav boot," Kaylee corrected.

Harry nodded. "Them too."

Kaylee just handed the doohickey to Harry who immediately dropped it when he tried to hold on to a loose piece. "Whoops," Harry explained. "The uhh… thing is…" Harry saw he didn't have a whole lot of their confidence. "I need to go outside to do it."

"You need to go outside?" Mal asked. "In space?"

Harry nodded seriously. "Alone."

Mal turned to Kaylee. She just waved Harry on. "Hey, I'd love to not have to try and fix that hunk of fei-oo."

Mal saw Harry looking at him expectantly. Mal shrugged with a small shake of his head, "Suit up."

River began to follow Harry as he took the doohickey and prepared himself for the airlock.

"But what about me?" River begged with a terribly sad frowning face.

Harry shook his head. "You got on alright for years before you ever met me. I think you can handle a few minutes."

She pouted but stayed nearby while Harry put on the largest spacesuit they had and kept the doohickey inside the suit with him.

Simon had by now joined the others and they all just stood there watching Harry. None of them were all that sure why they were bothering with this. Mal waited until Harry was beyond the airlock and stated what everyone was thinking. "God he's weird."

Harry made it outside and crawled around out of sight from all the windows. He briefly tried to recall just why he said he had to go outside rather than just do this in the privacy of his bunk, but he couldn't remember.

Harry pulled both of his arms out of the space suit sleeves and was pushing inside the suit on the abdomen trying to give himself some room to work. He reached into one of his special homemade holsters that kept the wand in constant contact with his arm. It offered him some measure of controlled focus even without drawing it. He pulled out the wand that was the most compatible with him and gave it a few experimental waves. He knew he'd need as much control as he could on this one. He was trying to look down and see what was going on, but it was nearly impossible in the suit. He placed the tip of the wand onto the doohickey and focused as best he could on a simple repairing charm.

Harry grabbed the doohickey and felt around it. It seemed like the charm had worked as the grav boot had clearly changed. Just to be on the safe side, he cast the repairing charm two more times, until he was finally satisfied. He was about to put the wand back into the holster, but hesitated before casting one last spell, a conjuring spell that was easily one of his all-time favorites. His work completed, he once again holstered his wand and disillusioned it to look like a high-tech gauntlet in case he ever lost his sleeves. He made it back into the ship and saw everyone was standing around waiting for him.

Harry flashed them a thumbs-up and removed his suit's helmet. He unzipped the front and pulled out the doohickey. "Kaylee, sweetie, please check this out. But I do believe it worked."

Kaylee took the grav boot from with a wide-eyed look of surprise. "Lao tyen yeh! You even cleaned it."

Mal was whipping his head between the shiny grav boot and Harry's goofy smile.

"So it should work?" Harry clarified.

Kaylee shrugged, "Only one way to find out, but I'd swear this was a brand new grav boot if I didn't know better."

Simon was watching Harry doubtfully and asked Kaylee, "Are you sure it's not a new one?"

Kaylee had taken it with her and was headed towards the engine room. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Harry!" River whined.

"Sorry," Harry admitted and reapplied his mental thumb.

It was a moment later the power came back on and Kaylee's shriek could be heard quite easily. "That's crazy!" Kaylee yelled at the top of her lungs.

Mal turned to look at Harry. "Crazy doesn't even begin to describe it."

Harry grinned brightly. "If you think that's nutters, you won't believe what else I found out there."

"What?" Jayne asked curiously looking over Harry's shoulder out the window to the airlock.

Harry reached further into his suit and pulled out a medium sized pink box. "Doughnuts!"

"You found… doughnuts?" Simon asked. "In space?"

Harry nodded.

Zoe saw no one else moving and hurried forward. "I'll take one." Zoe reached right in and grabbed herself a glazed twist. She bit right into it and moaned in delight. "Dear God, they're still warm."

Harry bit his tongue preventing himself from saying anything he might regret and silently offered the box towards the others.

"I want one!" Jayne whined and began digging through the box. He took the two with sprinkles.

"Jelly-filled?" River asked.

Zoe peeked into the box and nodded an affirmative.

Harry looked at the ones left. "Captain?"

Mal was just watching his crew eating the mysterious doughnuts in confusion.

"Captain," Harry repeated. "There's a chocolate-covered here with your name on it."

Mal's angry doubting stare finally broke and he smiled like a kid in a candy shop. "Oh alright."

Harry held out the box for Mal, who looked in and saw the chocolate covered cake doughnut. "Hey!" Mal asked in surprise. "Why the hell is my name on this doughnut?" He asked pulling it out from the box and seeing clearly Mal stenciled into the frosting.

Harry shrugged. "You know, if you eat it, then it's not a problem anymore."

Mal bit into the doughnut, relishing the taste. Minutes ago, he was wondering how much food they had for them to live off while stranded in the middle of nowhere. But now Serenity was fixed and he had a pastry that he suspected he didn't want to know the origins of. He replied with a grin, "You can't solve all your problems that way, Harry."

"Really?" Harry asked swallowing the last bite of his doughnut. "No wonder I'm no good with kids." Harry saw everyone seemed to take his last joke a bit too seriously given the looks of horror on some of their faces and the fact that they had all stopped moving to stare at him. An unfortunately timed loud doughnut belch came rumbling out Harry's unprepared mouth. "Excuse me."