Disclaimer: all things Firefly/Serenity are the property of Whedon et al. I'm not making any money off this, just playing with the toys.

For the prompt "snow".

Thanks to hisgoodgirl for the beta!

*****

Serenity bucked and kicked at the storm she was descending into. Cross winds were causing navigational havoc and it took all of River’s physical strength to keep the yoke more or less steady on their intended landing site. Mal could see the light perspiration that glazed her face as she repeated a strange mantra on silent lips. He grasped the co-pilot controls to help her once he had informed the crew of the rough landing they were facing. He could feel the ship now, her energy pulsing through into his hands and he felt his knuckles blanch.

The landing zone was less than fifty klicks away, but he wondered if they might not overshoot it with the push of the backwind now assaulting the ship. They needed to get her nose up some to cause more drag. Chancing a glance to his pilot, he saw that she’d closed her eyes, her entire body an extension of the ship. Mal panicked only a little at this. The girl had been their pilot going on eight months now and although this was the worst she’d ever taken them through, he knew that she would make it. He, however, might need a change of pants before this was done. Quickly pushing two buttons and flicking a switch, he felt the landing pads drop.

Without warning, an updraft caught the nose and pushed the bird straight up. Mal felt his dinner rise into his throat and had to swallow hard. The front panel filled with white as the blizzard continued around them. Dishes and other bits clattered in back of the ship, but Mal couldn’t think on that. If they didn’t get control very soon, as in twenty seconds ago, the ship was just as like to fall right out of the sky.

Pushing the controls down, he saw from the corner of his eye River doing the same. He cut aft thrusters to half causing the tail to level out, but now he had to lay on the side steering jets to keep the wind from pushing them into a lateral spin. River had it, he noted with relief, and was able to compensate before too much spinning started.

The view panel had less white and Mal could see the large forests dangerously close to the bottom of Serenity. He gulped a dry throat. “Little higher, darlin’,” he croaked. The lack of response from River was more than petrifying, but he didn’t have time to worry. With the insistent beeping of the warning alarm, Mal was losing his calm as fast as they were losing altitude.

“Kaylee!” Mal licked his lips. “There’s something yelling at me. You best shut it up!” He sucked in a breath, hoping like hell that she heard down the corridor to the engine room. And hoping like hell she’d heard him and it was something that she could fix.

“Aft thrusters are gone, Cap’n,” her tinny voice returned. “Port’s are down to twenty.” He could almost hear her gulp. “Engine’s running too hot!”

Go se! Ta ma de blizzard storm outside with all the cold a body could want and she tells me the engine’s overheating. “Well, just... do something about that!” His arms were shaking from trying to keep Serenity flying. “Up to you, Albatross.”

River’s mantra stopped and she opened her eyes. “Going down the slide head first. Gonna hurt at the bottom.”

Fuck.

And then they hit dirt. And snow and ice. If the crew hadn’t been strapped in, they surely wouldn’t be after this.

The ship hit the thickly snow-covered ground and bounced like a rock skipping over water. They bounced twice more, with the third time coming to a sliding, grinding halt, the nose pointing decidedly down. The lights and electrical were out, only the red emergency lamps giving any light at all.

Mal blinked, feeling the ache in his shoulders from their impact against the seat harness. Gingerly, he unlocked himself from the seat and took stock. It was an eerie quiet that he he’d hoped he’d never experience again. Hastily, he looked to the front panel expecting to see a Reaver harpoon being aimed, but there was nothing but white debris. He swallowed, then took a deep breath.

“River?” he called.

He caught her movement as she leaned back from the shoulder straps that kept her from landing on top of the control panel. “Not harmed permanently.” She ventured a weak grin before her expression changed. She quickly undid the straps and bolted from the bridge. “Simon? Simon!”

Mal stood, listening to River’s fading cries for her brother. He placed his hands on the control panel and breathed a sigh of relief that at least the ship had remained intact. A crunch and prolonged squeal came from overhead as a primary buffer panel slowly slid down the viewport before landing on the ground.

It was going to be a long night.