Disclaimer – I don't own anything

A/N : Well, let's just say it's taken a while to decide the next move!

The White Sun system

With an unconscious Jayne and the ill boy lying on the floor, Mal's hand ran along the metal cylinder, his curiosity growing. He felt his way around it, hoping to find a way to break it open.

Simon, on the other hand, took a more caring approach and investigated the boy in an attempt to pinpoint the illness, hoping they had the right medication to treat it. With Jayne infected as well, Simon had to work fast. And if it was airborne, it could easily transfer to Serenity.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Captain…" Simon said, worried that the Captain's attempts to force the cylinder open might backfire. "Why don't you go explore, look for supplies?"

"Since when did I take orders from you, Doc?" Mal stood over Simon, wanting to reinforce his authority. He hated being given orders.

"I- I, I just think it will give me a chance to investigate the disease, in peace and quiet." Simon chose his words carefully. He preferred to work in silence, but he didn't want to draw too much attention to it. It would only give the crew more ammunition to annoy him with.

It was a while before Mal said anything.

"I think I'll go get some supplies."

"Remember to bring everything back here, before you take it to Serenity so I can disinfect it. I'm sure the last thing you want is for the crew to get sick," Simon said. Mal would take fewer risks if he thought it might endanger his crew.

Mal paced slowly around the ship. It was like no other he had seen before and, if he had never laid eyes on Serenity, he may have chosen this one instead. He found the three living quarters easily, each one decorated differently, just like on Serenity. Mal continued to wander the silent ship, it seemed to have descended into chaos since the breakout of the disease. He found another door that, when opened, revealed a ladder. Each rung he climbed up caused a gentle echo. He was certain it would lead to the captain's quarters. As he reached the top of the ladder, he looked up to see the most beautiful view.

"I need to get me this ship's decorator." Mal stared in amazement at the White Sun system and the thousands of stars shining through the doomed window that covered the ceiling. "I could do with a view like this."

He walked over to an old writing desk, where a rough-looking leather-bound diary sat. The writer's place had been marked by a string, looped around to the front cover and tied in a bow. Mal turned to the page.

I would say the date, but I have lost count of the days. It could be my birthday for all I know. It's been a while since we lost June and her baby. The crew is managing to cope with it, but I'm not. June was like my sister, I knew that she always had my back, and I had hers. That's why I brought Toby along. He may have been a friend that I had known a long time, but he made June happy, and she him. It's not just June that I've lost, Jesse is still waiting on me. I promised him that I would return. I just hope that he is safe and the Authority, or the reavers, haven't harmed him. I'm meant to be in charge, but I am struggling to keep it together. We haven't found a buyer yet, and time is running out for us to give the Authority what we owe them, what I owe them-

Mal couldn't read anymore once he read the word 'Authority' twice. He kept a hold of the diary and climbed back down the ladder, heading back to Simon.

"Find anything? Did they have any medical supplies?" Simon asked as he closed his bag which was now carrying some blood samples as well as his limited medical supply.

"Just a diary which may be an interesting read," Mal smiled. He gently dropped the diary on top of the cylinder.

Simon rolled his eyes. He had hoped that Mal would bring some medical supplies at least. It wouldn't be the first time they had stolen medicine, Mal should know what to look for.

"Anything more interesting?" Simon asked.

"Nah, not really." Mal tried to open the cylinder again, knocking on the edges and faces. "This thing just isn't going to open."

"Maybe it isn't meant to open. Maybe you should leave it until this guy wakes up-"

"Toby, this guy could be Toby," Mal interrupted. "The name was mentioned in the diary."

"I guess it might be helpful then, we can learn more about those on the ship."

Mal's hand slammed into the side of the cylinder. The diary fell to the floor and a photo of a girl and a boy slipped out. Simon saw it and picked it up. It reflected the light from overhead and he smiled.

"She's pretty," he mumbled. "They look happy, but the guy isn't this one."

"I guess…"

Simon held up the photo so that it was beside Mal's face. "She looks familiar. Who do you think they are?"

Mal snatched the photo from Simon, "That's our captain and Jesse."

"Jesse?" Simon raised his eyebrows.

"The diary."

Simon could not stand Mal's insistent knocking on the cylinder and decided to see for himself if there were any medical supplies on board. He soon found the medical bay and started packing away everything they could use.

"If you want a job done well, don't leave it to the captain of a Firefly."

On the Firefly, River was tracing her way around Serenity with her eyes closed. She felt her way through the dinner room. Shepherd and Zoe watched her, not really knowing what to do.

"River, why don't you take a seat?" Zoe pulled out the chair beside her.

"No, empty gestures. I'm training my senses. By eliminating one, the others grow stronger." Her hands glided over the counter where food was prepared. "Nasty smell." River wrinkled her nose.

The door opened and Kaylee stepped in, "How long do you think it'll be before Mal and Simon, and Jayne come back?" She seemed agitated. "I just don't like the thought of them being there, just because- If, if Simon- If any of them were to get sick, that would be real bad."

Zoe nodded. "Come on, sit down, you need to relax. How long have you known Mal? He's strong and he can get through anything. And Simon's the doctor. And Jayne is, well, he's Jayne, a little bug isn't going to stop him. He'll be fine too."

"Yeah, you're right Zoe. I should really stop panicking." Kaylee shuffled around River who was holding onto a wooden column in the middle of the dining room. She leaned back in the chair and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm just going to go check on Wash," Zoe smiled, stood up and tucked her chair in. Almost crossing her arms, she held her elbows.

It wasn't just Kaylee who was worried. Zoe was worried too. If Mal, Jayne, or even Simon got infected, Mal would force the Serenity to detach and put some distance between them.

"Baby, how much longer do you think they'll be?" Zoe asked as she made her way towards her pilot husband. When she was behind him, she began to rub his shoulders in the hope to lose the tension she herself had.

"Zoe… Zoe… You're kinda hurtin' me," Wash squeaked, his shoulders tensing up.

"Sorry, I'm just a little worried-"

Wash knew that Zoe was worried about Mal, and was probably concerned about Simon and Jayne as well, but he didn't like to see that she was stressed the way she was.

"Come on now, they'll be fine. Look, I'll pick up a communicator and patch you through to them. So you'll be in charge up here, which I wouldn't normally allow over people to do. Okay?"

Wash got up and made his way to Serenity's supplies in the hope that there would be an extra communication box somewhere in there. It was a complete mess. Most of the storage crates were stacked on the floor or the table, rather than on the shelving unit in its given spot. To clear up the boxes took longer than Wash thought he would spend to look for the communicator. There was just one left in the box. He switched it on as he walked back to the helm.

"Mal, Mal? Come in Mal?"

Over on the plagued ship, Mal heard Wash's voice emanating from Jayne's pocket. He grabbed it without a moment's hesitation as Jayne started to wake up.

"Wash, we got a survivor. Oh, and the Doc's got med supplies, I think. We've just got to see if there is any food worth taking. You can tell Zoe we're all fine, we're just going to need a decontamination booth set up for when we come back."

Wash passed that job onto his beloved wife, who squinted at him to see if he was telling lies.

On the plagued ship, Jayne had woken up and slowly sat up. Other than a pain in the head, most likely from hitting the floor, he was fine.

Simon noticed Jayne stand up and stopped him.

"Hang on a second." Simon attempted to keep Jayne from standing, but even though Jayne appeared ill, he was still stronger. "You might still be sick, you need to sit still for the moment."

"You think so?" Jayne glowered at the doctor.

"Do you think you can tell if he's got it?" Mal asked abruptly as he peered over the metal cylinder.

"What's in the tank, Mal?" Jayne pressed his ear to the cylinder but could not hear a thing. "Why don't we just wake the kid and find out?"

"You might want to keep your distance from him," Simon said. He stood up and looked at the cylinder himself. "I'm not so certain about this, it could be linked to the pathogen for all we know-"

"But the kid said it was valuable." Jayne grinned.

"Value is in the eye of the beholder," Simon contradicted. "To him, it could be something unbelievably valuable. He said it way valuable to him, but for all we know. It could be, well, horrendous."

"Um…"

"Well, take River for example. To me, she is incredibly valuable, she means everything to me. But to you, maybe less so…" Simon trailed off, hoping that Jayne would understand.

The boy began to mumble. "Medicine," he murmured. "I'll open the cylinder when we're off the ship."

"Hang on, I'm a doctor. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Well, we bought supplies from a merchant and, we started to eat the food. That's when we started dropping. Our doctor died right after he figured out the treatment. I tried to look for it, but we didn't have any. Thyromonoxin. Apparently one dose is enough to clear the system, and unless you ate the food, you're okay." The boy then gestured towards Jayne. "He's just psychologically sick, he's fine. Do you have thyromonoxin?" The boy gripped Simon's suit. "Please…" His body began to shake, like he was shivering.

"I might have some in here." Simon rummaged through his bag. He gave up quickly and emptied out the contents onto the floor. "Here." The boy took a pill and swallowed it. "Take it easy. At least now, we know that the illness is in the food. Mal, Mal?" Simon turned to see if Mal was around.

Mal appeared on cue, his helmet removed and holding onto a plate of food. Jayne leapt up and knocked it from Mal's hands. It smashed on the floor, some of the supplies rolling away down the corridors.

"What in hell's name did you do that for?" Mal yelled. That plate was the only food that he could find.

"The disease is in the food," the boy stammered. He stood up slowly, clinging to the cylinder. "I'll give you- I'll give you this if you- If you let me have the ship. But there's something I need from inside first." He held out his hand to Mal with a smile on his face.

"You got yourself a deal," Mal shook his hand, but only because he was wearing the suit. "Come on Jayne, give me a hand with this." Mal and Jayne grabbed either end of the cylinder and lifted it off the table.

They carried it through the - now unnecessary decontamination Zoe had set up with the help of Shepherd and Kaylee.

Mal and Jayne slammed the cylinder down on the table in the dining room.

"You do realise we eat on this table, right?" Shepherd raised an eyebrow.

The others ignored him.

River started to sniff the cylinder, much to everyone else's confusion. "Life, full of life," she mumbled before skipping away down the corridor.

"So, you going to open it then?" Mal asked.

"I will, when I'm sure that I have your word that the ship is mine. Put it down in writing. Then I will open the container."

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Hehehe! I didn't want to give the game away, so what's in the cylinder. It's pretty big you know!