Zerri was gazing blankly into space, but said space included Ryan’s head, and he was getting twitchy. “Um, Cap’n?” Peach said, struggling not to giggle at his expression. “Yeah?” “You alright, Captain?” asked Staci. “You were in the war, weren’t you?” Zerri asked. “I know Peach wasn’t, and Kiri was in jail, but were any of you in the war?” “I got shot down my first mission. The Alliance took me POW,” explained Ryan. “I fought for awhile. Wasn’t at Serenity Valley, tho’,” Keith volunteered. “I was at Serenity Valley,” Staci said. “Forced into fighting for the Alliance. They were threatening to kill my family, ‘cuz they knew I’d be such an asset. I would have rather been a Browncoat, even though they lost.” “I was only seventeen,” said Luke. “I was only sixteen when I started fighting,” growled Zerri. “I was only babied by oppressive parents,” protested Luke. Zerri sighed and turned to wander off when Ryan called her back. “I’m picking up a ship,” he yelled, a note of desperation in his voice. “It looks like they’re flying without core containment….Zerri, it looks like Reavers. And they’re headed right for us.” An icicle stabbed through her spine and she stared wildly out of the windshield. “Zerri?” Peach asked fearfully. “What are we gonna do, Cap’n?” Staci demanded. “I’d like to know that myself,” Zerri muttered. *~*

Inara was waiting patiently outside the kitchen, watching Jayne carefully. River was picking carefully through the fruit basket on the counter, and Simon was wolfing down a bowl of noodles. Jayne, on the other hand, was doing his best to make his last three bites of steak flavored protein last longer than Simon’s noodles. Cloaked in shadows, Inara gazed silently as Simon finally stood up, dumped his bowl in the sink with an unceremonious clatter, and kiss his sister on the cheek. Simon brushed right past Inara without noticing, and as soon as he was out of sight, River practically somersaulted over the counter and into Jayne’s arms. They began kissing with a passion Inara hadn’t expected, and she began to listen to their murmured, breathy conversation. She remembered Jayne had never kissed a girl on the lips before. Wondering briefly why River wasn’t calling her out, she realized River already knew she knew, and River didn’t care. “Your brother took forever,” Jayne muttered. “He is such a boob.” “You ain’t thinkin’ on tellin’ him, are you?” “It would be utterly irresponsible and would halt our relationship in it’s preliminary stages.” “Gorramnit girl, I never know what you’re sayin’ half the time.” “It means no. You like what I say the other half of the time.” River tugged her lips from his. “Butterfly with a cork through its wings. Trapped in a glass jar or against a slide. Coming to get her.” She returned to kissing him. “It’s ruttin’ weird, but I’m beginning to understand what you say.” “You always understood what I was saying.” “Am I interrupting anything?” Inara announced her presence, sliding out of the shadows, and Jayne and River sprung apart to opposite ends of the table. “Uh, no, I was just finishin’ my dinner,” replied Jayne, studying his food. “She knows. She has known for a while now, but she’s the only one on board who wouldn’t say anything,” River explained. “I just wanted to talk to you about this…..development, would you call it?” Inara directed to River. “You want to know how he feels about me. Reading my body language is easy, but you’re confused about Jayne. Never would have pictured him interested in the crazy. Turns out that me being crazy interested him.” “How do you feel about her?” Inara asked Jayne, who had been examining the remains of his meal. “I….um, huh, I…dunno?” he said hopefully. “Somehow I doubt I’m convinced,” Inara said dryly. “Heart swells at the sight of me. He doesn’t want to think the impossible, that he might actually be in love with the little crazy one…But he is,” River murmured. “Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,” Inara declared. “This feels like a ruttin’ interrogation,” complained Jayne. “And I ain’t ever said I loved the girl.” “You never said you didn’t,” Inara said sweetly, bearing down on him. “Alright, maybe I do! I love the moon brained crazy!” howled Jayne, and River smiled contentedly. “Keep your voice down. Others will hear,” River warned. There was a clatter at the doorway. “Too late.” Mal came storming in, glaring pointedly at Inara before turning on Jayne. “Since when are you such a great actor?” he demanded, but Wash came flying in, with more important news. “Mal! MAL! I just picked up a distress beacon from a Class-3 Firefly transport named Kleodora. And more than that, I’m picking up Reavers!” Wash was screaming. “Kleodora….Zerri,” Mal said, realization dawning in his eyes. “They picked up the Reavers, too…..We have to get to them first, Wash.” “It’s too late. The Reavers are closer than us,” River said softly. Mal glared at her with pained eyes, pain for the teenage girl he remembered hugging a gun in the Battle of Serenity Valley. *~* Zerri gripped the cold metal sides of the doorway with frustration. “Hey….There’s a ship….Further away from us than the Reavers, tho’…..Serenity,” Ryan muttered. “Serenity? Hell, I thought Mal was farther away than that…..He’ll come for me….God, I hope…,” Zerri trailed off. A warm hand appeared on her elbow, and she looked up into Keith’s cool emerald eyes. “Calm the rutting hell down,” he told her, handing her a gun. Her favorite gun, she noted. “Um, not to alarm anybody or anything, but imminent death and destruction are upon us,” Kiri pronounced. “The Reavers are kinda really close, guys,” Staci complained. “Ain’t there somethin’ we’re supposed to be doing about that?” “What can we do?” shouted Zerri, breaking down completely for reasons only she and Keith knew. “Nothing,” came Ryan’s reply. And so they sat, alone in the Black, waiting for the Reavers to come. Some with words unsaid and some with many regrets. “We are going to die,” said Peach, tears welling up in her eyes. “We are going to die.” **

“Maybe,” whispered River. “But what if she wakes up? What if she decides to fight?”