Disclaimers: Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex stood in front of the small sink in her room, splashing her face. She looked into the mirror at her sweaty countenance, tangled hair, and the long gash across her left cheek and the bridge of her nose. The gash was from a low-hanging branch she had swiped galloping full-bore through the woods to get back to Serenity. She came through her confrontation with the three station guards unscathed. It was after the fact that she had managed to get hurt. She sucked in her breath as she applied a wet cloth to the wound, trying to stop the oozing blood, and stared at the face looking back at her from the mirror. What in a thousand moons had she been thinking to do what she had done? Her hands were shaking as she dabbed at her face. Have I lost my mind? “Might ought to have the doc look at that.” She whirled, startled, to see Captain Reynolds standing in the doorway. She had not heard him approach. “Hi,” she said uncertainly, her voice sounding hollow and shaky in her ears. He observed her quietly for a moment before he spoke again. “That was quite a move out there. Where’d you learn to shoot like that?” “Are you mad?” she asked, shifting uneasily. He chuckled dryly. “Well, not mad exactly...” He paused and shook his head, his face growing solemn. “But you coulda got yourself killed real easy.” She dropped her eyes and nodded. “You can’t be riskin’ your neck like that, ‘least not so soon—your family needs you alive, remember?” She smiled faintly. “How can I forget?” He was quiet another minute, making no move to either enter the room or walk away. She couldn’t read his expression. “So...” he finally continued, “what made you...why’d you jump in like that?” “Saw you from the bridge. I was up there with Wash and Book. We saw Jayne get taken out, then we saw the three guys on the horses. We knew you couldn’t see ‘em from where you were.” “Okay, but what made you decide to come runnin’ out there?” he persisted. “I’m really not sure,” she confessed. “I—I’ve never done anything like that before. Testing myself for the prison, maybe? I don’t know. My feet just carried me.” The captain shook his head again. “You got quite a pair, I’ll give you that. I coulda shot you just as easy as they coulda.” “I know,” Alex said, rinsing out her washcloth. She smiled at him hesitantly. “You’re really not mad?” He regarded her silently for another beat, his features softening somewhat. “You can’t be doin’ stuff like that, not while you’re a passenger on my boat,” he said quietly. She dropped her eyes again. “I am sorry. It won’t happen again.” He nodded slowly. “All right. Then I ain’t mad.” “What about the rest? Should I just stay in my room ‘til we get to Zargon?” One corner of his mouth went up in a half-smile. “No, ain’t necessary. We’re all here in one piece—well, ‘cept maybe Jayne. And we’re one step closer to gettin’ paid. That makes it a good day. So, no, nobody’s mad.” He started away, then came back and popped his head in again. “I am curious, though—what about the three horsemen? How’d they fare?” Alex smiled into the mirror, relieved, as she combed the leaves out of her hair. “They’ll live. But they might ought to see the doc themselves.” The captain chuckled again and walked away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go to Chapter 13. Back to Chapter 11.