Zoe watched Mal climb out of her bunk. She’d feigned a need for sleep, but in truth she was worried about where their conversation had been leading. She and Mal had never sat on a bed before, each asking the other if they’d ever considered each other as a lover over the years.

It wasn’t that she was opposed to the idea of being with Mal in a romantic fashion. She’d pondered it before she and Wash had gotten married, but never during. She’d put those thoughts aside after she’d given her heart to Wash.

A few months after he’d died though, when she’d lain awake in the dead of night, listening to the heartbeat of the ship, she’d wondered what would happen if she’d gone to her oldest and dearest friend for some comfort that involved a great deal more than a friendly hug and a pat on the back.

Then there was Inara. She wasn’t sure what was going on there. Zoe knew Mal to be a one-woman man, and he would have nothing less in return than a one-man woman. Inara, for her part, had built her life around being a Companion from the age of twelve. It was more than a job, it was her identity, and there wasn’t much of a market for prudish Companions who wouldn’t spread. Considering the amount of money one paid for a bona fide Companion, a man or woman expected to get more than a pretty lady on their arm for a social gathering. Mal could never share his woman with other people, and Inara would most likely never give up her identity to be with just one man.

Besides, once Mal got his teeth into something, he never let it go. He’d always have the ghosts of the other men and women who’d been with Inara before him haunting his thoughts. Despite his smarts and his bravery, Zoe knew there was a vulnerability inside Mal. He’d always fear he wouldn’t be enough for Inara, even if Inara truthfully told him that he was, and he would never be able to keep her in the luxury and the gold that she was accustomed to having, and he would be self-conscious about that as well.

But what could I give him? Zoe wondered.

All of you, and there would be no one else in your life, she answered herself. But she knew that Wash would always be there. He’d always be in her heart.

Zoe began to doze into an uneasy sleep, her mind and heart still filled with guilt over the idea of being with someone else. A year was a respectable mourning period, but appearances wasn’t what Zoe cared about. Just the idea of giving her body to someone other than Wash felt like a betrayal of their marriage.

She’d just about fallen asleep when the ship gave a violent lurch, knocking her to the floor. The darkness was filled with the sound of groaning joints and clanking deck plating. Zoe struggled to her feet, wondering if there’d been an explosion on board. Perhaps some part in the engine had been ignored too long from a lack of funding to repair it. If she opened the hatch, she could be inviting fiery death, or the void of space to steal her life away. Either scenario promised a quick, painless death.

Like Wash’d had, Zoe thought. She’d be with him again, if somehow her quarters had been spared whole and intact from an explosion that’d ripped the ship apart.

Deciding to risk it, Zoe opened the hatch. No fire, and no cold vacuum of space. Just slightly musty air from an overdue recycle of the atmo. She climbed out and heard footsteps. The emergency lighting was engaged.

“What the hell?” Mal said, sleep still in his voice. River, who was on helm duty that night, gave a high piercing scream from the bridge. Zoe followed Mal up to find the girl standing over the console, her hands clasped about her mouth. “River, report.”

“He’s here. He’ll take what he wants. He always takes what he wants,” she said, babbling incoherently.

“Who’s here?” Mal demanded, looking over the console. The displays were dead. “Did someone fire on my ship?”

“He’ll tire of his doll and then throw her away,” River said. She was looking at Zoe with wide, frightened eyes. “He likes fire. He likes to burn the pretty dolls. Turn them to ashes.”

“River, concentrate,” Mal said, taking her face in his massive hands. “Did somebody fire on my-”

The ship rocked again. Through the viewports, Zoe could see the hulk of a massive vessel. It had closed around them.

“Zoe,” River said. “Run. Run hard when he opens the door.”

“What?” Zoe asked, frowning.

A buzzer sounded as power came back on.

“Power’s up, Cap’n,” Kaylee’s voice, sharp and clear, said from the engine room.

“Good girl,” Mal said. He sat down at the helm and looked at the readouts. It showed Serenity was in the grip of a destroyer-class warship with the signature of the Orion. Serenity could outrun the ship, if it hadn’t been caught in its grip.

“River, when sensors showed them approach,” Zoe asked, “why didn’t you notify the captain?”

“I saw too late,” she said. “I’ve never seen too late before.”

“It’s okay,” Zoe said, a twinge of guilt tickling her stomach. “You didn’t know. Sir,” Zoe said, examining the read-out. “That’s a private vessel, not Alliance.”

“We’re being boarded,” Mal said. “Serenity calling Orion. You wanna tell me why you’re barging onto my ship?”

He received no response, but the signal was cut on the other end.

“Qu tumade!” Mal said angrily, slapping the com again. “Release my ship-”

But the signal was cut again. Mal hit the switch for the intercom and announced to the ship.

“We’re being boarded by hostiles. We’re being boarded by hostiles. All hands on deck.”

“It won’t do any good,” River said. “He’ll kill anyone to tries to keep his doll.”

“Who’s doll?” Mal asked. “What does that mean?”

Zoe heard footsteps approach at a run toward the bridge. They were unfamiliar. She reached for her guns but realized she’d left them in her bunk. She cursed herself for being stupid and turned as a man entered the bridge.

Driving one foot into his gut as hard as she could, Zoe drove the first man back into the second. She moved forward, snatching his gun from his loosened grip, and in one smooth motion cocked it, brought it around, and fired on the other two men rushing the bridge. They screamed as they fell under a spray of fire, but the two men she’d knocked down opened fire on her.

She ducked to the side as Mal and River took cover away from the entrance. They waited, and sure enough, one of the men rolled a flashbomb inside. Zoe stopped it with her foot and deftly kicked it back out, closing her eyes as it exploded, knocking out the men in the corridor outside.

“I knew there was a reason I kept you around,” Mal said, smiling at her, his eyes full of pride. He winked at her, and for the first time in a year Zoe felt an embarrassing urge to giggle like a little girl. Of course, no one would have known that simply by looking at her, but River seemed to give voice to her feelings by giggling softly.

“We should move out,” she said. Mal nodded, and picked up two guns from the men in the hall, handing one to River.

“River,” Mal said, “if you see an opportunity to take any of these men out, do it.”

“You got it, Captain,” she said, just as normally and deadpan, as if she weren’t the least bit crazy. The look in her eyes, however, told Mal that this was nothing more to her than some kind of game. Shaking his head, he followed Zoe down the steps, heading for the cargo bay where they could hear fire.

Looking down, they saw Jayne was pinned behind some crates. He was safe for the moment, as long as the crates held up. River opened fire anyway, taking out five of the ten men below before they dove for cover, but more of them were coming down the steps behind them.

“Kaylee!” Simon’s voice cried out. “Inara, help me get her to the infirmary!”

“Kaylee’s down,” River said, and for the first time she looked upset.

“How bad?”

“Bullet to the back,” River said. “She’s hurting. I feel it.”

“Ah!”

Zoe cried out as something sharp pierced her leg. She looked down just in time to see a dart sticking out of her left leg. She pulled it out but it was too late. Weakness flooded her limbs and darkness was clouding the edges of her vision. She felt herself collapse, along with Mal and River. She cold only watch helplessly as the strangers attacking Serenity surrounded her and began to lift her from the deck.