He could smell her. Inara. That scent could drive him mad...

Mal felt his eyes flutter open. He was expecting to see the curved ceiling of his bunk, but instead saw stone. Concrete to be exact.

“Sir,” shouted Zoe in the distance, “Wake up! We got Alliance bombing!”

Mal shot up and looked in his lap. His rifle from the war was laid against his old uniform. “Gou shi...” He propped himself up and looked over the put together fort. Soldiers were running about, ducking for cover. Low whistles of bombs could be heard in the distance and were growing louder. Zoe was running as fast as she could but tripped over concrete and fell. Not taking any risks, she crawled towards the nearest makeshift shelter, shouting, “I’ll get back to you later, sir!”

“Just protect yourself, Zoe,” he shouted back. He got ready to crawl further into the makeshift fort when he saw it. A flash of red. That scent. He looked back up and there she was. Inara. Standing as poised as ever, looking at the sky. She turned to Mal, tears in her eyes. Mal felt his heart speed up. He knew in his head that it would be dangerous to jump out and grab her, but his head wasn’t ruling his body right now.

Mal climbed over the wall, gun in hand and ran to Inara. He reached out for her hand. “C’mon, we have to get to safety!”

“Find a safe place and brace ourselves,” she muttered as she looked to the sky again. She looked at Mal’s hand and ran her fingers across it before grabbing it and practically digging her nails into his skin. Mal ignored the pain as he pulled her back towards the fort and pulled her down in there. He pulled his rifle close to him as Inara curled into a little ball. “Some secrets weren't meant to be told...”

Mal groaned as he pushed aside his rifle and moved himself in front of Inara. “Well, you picked a good time to start actin’ like the girl.”

Inara’s eyes flashed as she looked at Mal. “What is wrong with you?”

“Me?! You were the one standing in the middle of a gorram war zone!”

Inara kept on talking though. “So arrogant...and he wonders why I left...”

“Yeah, well, I got that down to a science!”

The whistles grew louder and Mal looked at Inara. “Listen, Inara, you gotta get in there. It’s the only safe place from the bombs.”

Inara looked up at Mal, then at the small crawl space. “I’ve always weighed what I've lost against what I left...”

“Stop talking nonsense, Inara! Get in there!”

“Have you missed me?”

Mal stopped and looked at her. “What?”

“Be truthful Mal,” she said,”Just be truthful for once...”

Mal looked at the sky. The whistles were deafening. “I am missing you to death...”

Inara’s lips curled as she nodded. “Be careful.” She then got on her knees and went into the crawl space. Mal grabbed his rifle and started to crawl. The whistle was right over him. A deafening shriek.

Mal jolted awake. The kitchen was lit all around and Kaylee stood at the cabinets. “You alright, Cap’n?”

“Yeah, just a dream. How long was I asleep?”

“’Bout half hour. None of us wanted to bother you so we left you there.”

Just then, a shriek echoed through the ship and something crashed. Kaylee sighed. “Oh no...River’s had a bad dream again. Poor girl.”

Mal looked over his shoulder, down the way of the infirmary. “Yeah...poor girl.”

They call kids like us vicious and carved out of stone But for what we've become, we just feel more alone Always weigh what I've lost against what I left Progress report: I am missing you to death