PART 2:

The crew was all lined up like sardines in a can, trying to steal warmth from each other as they slept. Zoë, River, Simon, Kaylee, Inara, and Jayne. Mal had taken first shift to watch over them. There was no fire, but every now and then, Mal would furtively rub twigs together to attempt one. They’d built their line around Kaylee who seemed to have no intention of moving until absolutely necessary. She and Jayne were the only ones sleeping soundly at the moment. Mal knew Zoë was too light a sleeper to not stir every time River jerked awake. Simon sat up with his sister, getting her to the edge of the woods every time she was sick, getting her water after, and keeping her as warm as possible. Kaylee treated his coming and going as commonplace, and Mal wondered how common it was. Each time Simon returned, Kaylee lifted and arm and snuggled instinctively closer to him. Inara, Mal could tell, was not sleeping at all. He’d been watching her for awhile now, and never once had her breathing fallen into a restful rhythm. Every now and then, she’d open her eyes and gaze skyward. She’d been quiet all day – even when Mal left himself open to some fairly good burns. Jayne had his arm slung around both Inara and Kaylee, resting in such a way that Mal vowed to come between them as soon as his shift ended. Inara didn’t seem to mind, though. In fact, she nestled a little closer to Jayne than Mal would’ve expected. Mal rubbed his hands together, trying to restore circulation to his fingers. His shift was nearly over, but he was holding off waking Zoë, because his first mate had been disturbed enough by Simon and River moving about. Standing and circling his crew, Mal knelt by Inara and placed a hand on her cheek. Her eyes opened immediately, not at all tired or disturbed. Just surprised. “You need to sleep,” he whispered. “There’s plenty of time for thinkin’ when we’re walking tomorrow.” Her face suddenly scrunched like she was trying not to cry, and her icy hand fell over his. Gently, soothingly, he grazed his thumb over her fingers. He couldn’t remember ever touching her and having her hold on. Inara always pushed his hand away. Always. “I can’t …” she whispered hoarsely, then choked, her hand finally retracting from his. Mal didn’t let go. Instead, he reclaimed her hand and rubbed warmth into her fingers, as if that was his original motive for reaching out to her. “Don’t have to hold onto me,” Mal told her softly. “I’m holding onto you.” Breathing life into the words, Mal woke Zoë for her shift, and then burrowed in between Jayne and Inara, getting the merc’s hand firmly off the women. Jayne hardly seemed to notice, and he pressed close to Mal, his arm falling lazily over Mal’s hip. It didn’t take Mal long to realize why Inara had huddled closer to Jayne. The man was a gorram furnace, to the point where Mal briefly imagined all of them sleeping around Jayne like they would a camp fire. The notion nearly made Mal laugh outright, but the fact was Jayne’s arm resting on him was as warm and an electric blanket. Mal wasn’t quite sure how to rest his own arm comfortably. It felt odd to flop it over Inara and Kaylee the way Jayne had done, but even odder to rest it on his own side. Inara finally decided for him, pulling his arm around her waist and tucking it between her belly button and the small of Kaylee’s back. It was a cozy spot and kept his fingers warm. Inara leaned easily against him and was asleep within minutes. Mal must have fallen asleep very shortly after that, because the next thing he remembered was the sudden swoop of cold air against his back when Jayne got up for his shift.

*~*

Mal awoke to the sweet smell of Inara’s shampoo and the hideous sound of River dry heaving. Inhaling a mouthful of Inara’s hair, Mal raised his head from the rocky ground and squinted into the dimness of sunrise. Simon sat on a rock, still as a statue, silhouetted by the morning light, watching his sister tiredly. River crawled along the perimeter of their camp, her muscles trembling, and her body unwilling to stop. Inara, Kaylee, and Zoë slept soundly in a line. “Where’s Jayne?” Mal asked Simon, trying to disentangle himself from Inara without waking her. Simon looked at Mal, his eyes glazed with exhaustion, then pointed downstream. “He went hunting about an hour ago.” Stretching his muscles, Mal stood and took stock of their surroundings. The area was significantly more exposed than he had suspected in the darkness and their unlit firewood was covered with frosted dew. He glanced again at River, who hadn’t looked so shaky since she’d crawled out of her box that first day on Serenity. “How is she?” Simon shrugged. “Suffering withdrawal.” “So she’ll get over the symptoms?” Simon nodded, his eyes floating between River and some distant land far from here. “These symptoms, yes. But then we’ll be left with ones far worse.” Mal nodded, all the more concerned with getting the group walking again. He and Zoë had pinpointed the location of a city the night before and he had no intention of making his crew sleep on the hard, frozen ground a second night. “Don’t worry, Doc,” Mal said. “We’ll find her somethin’ by tonight.” Simon didn’t seem to hear. He simply watched helplessly as River prowled in circles like a caged, sick tiger. Kaylee was next to wake, stretching lithely and slithering out of the space between Zoë and Inara without disturbing either one. She crawled to the water’s edge and took a few tentative sips before sitting back on her ankles and sighing. With a weak but rested smile, she turned to Simon and Mal. “’Morning.” Mal couldn’t help but smile back. Kaylee hobbled back toward them, the limp sourced either from blistered feet or cramped muscles, Mal couldn’t tell. She patted Mal’s arm appreciatively when she passed, but focused her attention on the exhausted Simon, rubbing his shoulders until he closed his eyes and leaned against her. Mal turned away from the happy couple, wondering when Jayne might be coming back, and filling the time by surveying the crew. He could tell by the scrunch of Zoë’s eyelids that she was not fully asleep, but he vowed to let her rest as long as possible. Inara blinked tiredly, and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Without standing or crawling, she scooted to the water’s edge, taking slow sips. It wasn’t until she started rinsing her feet that Mal noticed she wore open-toed sandals. He’d been worried about River, but it was Inara who was practically barefoot! “River,” Simon choked tiredly, making Mal turn in search of his little Albatross. River had nearly disappeared into some brush at the forests edge. Simon tried to stand, but Kaylee pulled him firmly back down. “Captain’ll get her,” Kaylee told Simon, shooting Mal a look. Without even thinking, Mal obeyed the implicit order. “River,” Mal called softly, squatting near River, worried he might startle her. “I found it,” River whispered back, her face near the ground. “Found what?” “Fire.” Mal looked where River’s face hovered and sure enough, she’d uncovered a small patch of blue-grey flint stones. He reached to collect a handful of the sharp stones, moving tentatively, as if they might disappear. “Now all we need is some steel,” Mal whispered. “What kind of boots are you wearin’?” “Soft leather,” she smiled. Suddenly her head dropped and her breathing became labored. With a tender hand on the small of her back, Mal guided River back to the circle, then rushed to the stream to get some water for the girl. Kaylee was sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped around Simon, who had fallen asleep against her chest. It eased Mal’s mind to know they would worry about each other, so he needn’t bother. Kaylee’s hand lightly stroked Simon’s hair, soothing him easily. River crawled over, rested her head on Simon’s thigh, and looked ready to fall asleep herself. “You should’ve taken a shift last night and let him sleep.” Kaylee shook her head, smiling gently. “Oh, he won’t sleep more than twenty minutes,” she assured. “Not with River like this.” “We got a long walk ahead of us.” “He’ll have it easier than anyone,” Kaylee said, admiring Simon. “Unlike the rest of us, he ain’t addicted to caffeine.” Mal suppressed a groan, suddenly identifying the source of that low-throbbing headache he’d originally attributed to the concussion he’d gotten the day before. For her part, Kaylee cooed happily over Simon, who smiled lightly in his sleep. Those two, he wasn’t worried about at all. “Ready for sushi?” Jayne called, appearing a little ways down stream, coming toward them with a skewer full of fish and crawdads. “Always,” Mal answered, his mouth watering in anticipation. “No luck on the fire?” Kaylee asked, her nose scrunching. “Not unless one of you has steel-toed boots.” Jayne reached into his boot and pulled out a small utility knife. “I got this.” Mal’s jaw dropped, not even caring how Jayne had kept hold of the little knife when all the rest had been stripped of their weapons. He took the flint from his pocket, took the knife from Jayne, and a good thirty minutes of swearing later, they had a fire.

*~*

Part 3