“Captain, we can’t move Kaylee.” Simon was jogging to keep up with the taller man as he hurried down the hall to the examine room.

“Sorry, doc, but we don’t have a choice,” Mal shot back over his shoulder as he pushed the room’s doors open. “Jayne, get her back on that stretcher and to the ship.” The mercenary obeyed without comment. “Doc, grab all the medicine you can and get your sister back to Serenity.”

Simon planted himself between Mal and the door. “No.”

His declaration stopped everyone in their tracks. All eyes turned to Simon and Mal as the captain tried to determine the best way to berate the doctor. “Boy, I don’t think you’re fully comprehending the whole idea of captain.” When Simon didn’t have a comment, Mal continued, “I’m the captain and you’re on my crew. I give an order and you follow. It’s really not that complicated, even for the top three percent.”

“There has to be better way,” Simon told him quietly, still refusing to move.

“Well, genius, why don’t you tell me what it is,” Mal demanded. “Because the only other way I see at the moment is turning you over to the feds and getting the hell off this rock!”

“The young man is right, captain,” Bernard intoned from near the door. He had watched the power struggle in silence and now weighed in with his own idea. “Running doesn’t have to be your only option.”

“All right, pop, I’m listenin’,” Mal told him, giving Jayne a nod. The merc lowered Kaylee back to the bed and waited, with his arms crossed over his chest for Mal to grow a pair, and get them out of here.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve cared for patients with a colorful history,” the older man said, looking to Inara.

In an instant, the companion put the pieces together. “Of course, the tunnels.” Still confused and not pleased, Mal looked between the two of them and said, “The what?”

“Tunnels, Mal,” Inara said, grabbing River’s hand and gesturing to Simon. “You two come with me. Doctor.” With a nod, Inara acknowledged her friend and began to usher the siblings out of the room.

Simon wouldn’t be taken that easily. “Kaylee,” he asked, the question reaching his eyes and focusing on the doctor.

“She’ll be fine, son,” the older man said. “You go with Inara and keep your sister safe. Kaylee will be here when you get back.”

Simon was still not convinced, but Inara’s insistence and Mal’s look of determination spurred him out the door. Taking River’s arm, he let the companion lead them both away.

Mal turned back to the other doctor. “You’d better be right about the safety of those tunnels, old man.” A fire burned in his eyes that Bernie recognized as fear mixed with love.

“Trust me, boy, those tunnels have hidden far more precious treasures.”

Somehow, I doubt that, Mal thought as he studied Kaylee’s still motionless form across the room. Her skin was still blotchy in places where the rash and swelling at not gone down. He crossed the small distance to her bedside and took her hand. Hang on, lil’ Kaylee, he thought. You and me and Inara got a lot of laughin’ still yet to do. Besides, the doctor’s gonna be a might sore with me if you don’t make it through this.

Swearing a particularly violent Chinese curse under his breath, Jayne looked from Mal to the door and back again, his gun cocked and ready in his hand. “Gorramit, Mal, what’da we do now?”

Mal glanced over his shoulder at the hulk of a man and said simply, “We wait.”

For what exactly, he still wasn’t sure.

***

Inara had spirited both Simon and River away quickly. The entrance to the secret caves was barely three feet from the doors to the examine room. As they descended the dirt staircase to the tunnel’s floor Simon’s senses were immediately assaulted by the strange smells and limited visibility. He took in a deep breath and almost choked as the dust and dirt filled his lungs.

Coughing into his sleeve, both his sister and their friend turned to give him a glare and Simon held his hands up in front of him in a gesture of surrender. As they traveled deeper into the basement of the hospital, Simon reached out a hand to gingerly tap the wall. The dirt was hard as a rock and cool to the touch.

Simon didn’t know how long they walked – the tunnels were so dark it was impossible to tell what sort of distance they covered. The whole time he kept his eyes focused straight ahead although encased in total darkness he couldn’t see anything. Occasionally ambient light from the rooms above made its way into the tunnel and he’d glimpse the hem of Inara’s silken robes or the trailing movement of River’s hand. His sister had placed a gentle hand on the side of the cave the moment they had entered, and as they walked, she continued to glide it over the smooth wall, never breaking contact. Simon watched her, not for the first time, in awe.

Finally, Inara motioned them to stop and waved them forward into a hollowed out nook built off of the main tunnel. Guessing it once stored some kind of buried treasure Simon entered the small hovel and squatted, his back to the wall. River followed him in and sat quite contentedly on the dirt floor, her legs crossed Indian style and her hand still pressed, palm flat, against the wall at her side. Inara, with her usual grace, gathered her skirts and sat next to River, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head and back against the wall.

Simon did not like the idea of hiding or being away from Kaylee. He wanted to burst from the tunnel and get her back on the ship so he could get to Hera and get the cure. But he knew, all of that was impossible with the chance of imminent capture. So instead, left with no other distraction, Simon obsessed over Kaylee and her worsening condition. This would be a very long hide-out indeed.

***

It was a full fifteen minutes before they heard the sound of heavy-footed men and harsh voices. Mal had decided they should all stay in one place and that place was the hallway outside Kaylee’s room. The doctor was inside, tending to her condition, trying to stave off the effects of the allergen until they could blast off this rock and get her a cure. Mal hoped the doctor had more tricks than he let on.

When the sheriff and his posse of three men with very large rifles rounded the corner, they immediately stopped short at the sight before them. In their path stood Mal, Zoe and Jayne flanking him on either side. Their weapons were holstered; Mal had no intention of shooting anyone today and had told Jayne he should have no intention either. Despite an awful lot of grumbling, Jayne had replaced the gun to its rightful position against his thigh.

“Well, what seems to be the problem, officers,” Mal asked, with his usual mixture of dry wit and bad manners. “Are we in danger?”

The sheriff, Mal guessed, based on the large and somewhat tarnished badge on his chest, stepped forward, convinced he could stare Mal down. Easily six inches shorter than Serenity’s captain, it was a futile gesture, but Mal would give the man credit for the attempt. “Funny,” he snapped, his face only inches from Mal’s chin. “Real funny.” He glanced back to his men and gestured them forward with a nod of the head. All three moved in unison, one coming around to guard them from behind while the others fanned out to cover Zoe on one side and Jayne on the other. Neither of the crew moved a muscle.

“You know why we’re here,” the sheriff bit out, his none-to-fresh breath wafting up Mal’s nostrils.

Trying not to grimace at the foul odor, Mal said innocently, “No, sir, I surely don’t. Unless you’ve come to get that wart on your nose removed.” He glanced down quickly as if studying the other and then looked back, all kinds of humor in his eyes. “Oh, sorry,” he muttered sheepishly, enjoying the red color that flushed the smaller man’s cheeks.

Without much warning, although Jayne had probably seen it coming, the sheriff sucker punched Mal in the gut, easily knocking the wind from him. Doubling over in spite of himself, Mal’s hand immediately went to his stomach as he coughed and tried to breathe in. Wincing as he stood straight again, he looked at the sheriff and said, “Now, what’da you do that for? It was an honest mistake.”

“Shut up, you, or next time, it’ll be a bullet.” For emphasis, the sheriff cocked his rifle and brought it up to point in Mal’s general direction. “I’ve got some questions to ask.” When none of them objected, he continued. “What’s your business here?”

“Horse racing,” Mal said, never breaking stride. A quick glare from the sheriff and he realized he wasn’t really in a position to keep annoying the man. “One of my crew fell sick about a week ago. I needed a doc and some decent facilities. I love my boat, but it ain’t for caring for sick folk.”

The sheriff held Mal’s gaze as if determining how much of the story he should believe. “And when did you land,” he asked, shifting his gaze to Zoe.

“Two days ago, in the morning time.” The woman gave nothing away and answered true, just as Mal knew she would.

“Who’s sick?” The sheriff had woven his way between them and now stood in front of Jayne.

The big man said gruffly, “Our mechanic. She passed out and we couldn’t wake her up.”

Circling back around, the shorter man was again in front of Mal. “And where is the rest of your crew?”

Mal looked behind him and pretended to count. “One, two, three, and my mechanic makes four. Nope, four, that’s the number. All accounted for,” Mal said, with mock pride at his ability to add.

This time his cheekiness got the butt of the sheriff’s rifle in his gut. Unable to help it, he dropped to one knee, his stomach pounding something fierce and the little bit of food he’d eaten threatening to make an appearance. Before he had time to regain himself, the sheriff grabbed him by the back of the head and snapped his neck back so he was looking him in the eye. “Where are they?” He was angry now, Mal could see it. No doubt envisioning all the reward money he’d been promised slipping away.

“I surely don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mal wheezed as he tried to catch his breath. “This is everybody belongs on my boat.” It wasn’t a lie, Simon and River hadn’t originally belonged on his boat – but they did now.

“So you mean to say, you have no one else riding aboard that rust trap? Not a young doctor and his younger, crazy sister?” The sheriff was hoping to catch him in a lie, but Mal was much too experienced to let that happen.

“Sorry, sir, nobody springs to mind.” Mal was quickly tiring of the entire scenario. He tried to give Zoe a signal, using his free hand to motion in her direction. He couldn’t tell whether she noticed. Well, we’ll know in a few minutes, he thought.

“My, my, my, do I find that hard to believe.” The sheriff clucked as he let Mal’s head drop and started circling again. “Check the entire facility, top to bottom,” he ordered two of his men. In a second they were gone.

Mal had managed to stand again, and the sheriff told him, “We may be a small town, but we still have our pride. If you’ve brought Alliance fugitives here, you and they will be punished.”

“Well, ain’t that a shame,” Mal told him dryly and without warning, unholstered his gun, jamming the butt of it into the side of the man’s head. With a thump, the sheriff dropped to the ground, his gun falling away. Mal turned slightly and saw the other man in much the same position, Zoe’s gun held out at her side.

“What took you so long?” Mal was quickly emptying the sheriff’s gun of its ammunition.

“Sorry, sir,” Zoe stated, matter-of-factly, dismantling the deputy’s gun as she spoke. “I couldn’t be sure what you were motioning for. I figured it was either ‘Knock him out,’ or ‘I have to use the bathroom.’”

Smirking, Mal looked to Jayne and said, “Get Kaylee and get her on the ship.” The merc left and Mal turned to his second in command. “I want you to get that boat fired up. The sheriff may have been overly confident, but he’ll have reinforcements here soon.”

“What’re you gonna do, sir?”

Turning back to Zoe, Mal brought his gun up and unhooked the safety. “I’m gonna save the day.”

***

It was over twenty minutes before they heard footsteps, loud ones. Simon looked up at the sound and had to wonder if this really was the end for he and River. He had hoped that after Miranda, things would be different. The Alliance would see they couldn’t keep the secret that had ripped his sister apart and so they would leave them in peace. They would realize that River had suffered enough and let her finally be a girl. He had apparently put too much faith in a faceless bureaucracy.

Glancing quickly to his sister, she seemed oblivious to the danger surrounding them. She had shifted her position so she now lay flat on her stomach, her cheek pressed to the dirt floor, her hands splayed out at her sides. Her eyes were closed and her lips moved, as though speaking to someone, but no sound escaped. Simon reached over and rubbed her back gently, wishing there was something more he could do to keep her safe.

He caught Inara’s gaze and saw fear in the companion’s eyes, an unfamiliar look on her for sure. Simon had a moment of guilt then; guilt that his inability to cure Kaylee had brought them here and put them all in this position; guilt that after all he’d done for his sister, it still wasn’t enough; guilt that his life could be over at any moment and he’d never told Kaylee how he really felt.

The footsteps above grew louder and more urgent. In a sudden flurry of activity, they heard the sound of scuffling and a single gun shot, then two heavy thuds. Inara’s breathing had quickened, convinced that at any moment Simon and River would be taken away, led to their deaths or worse. And that Mal would be hauled off as a conspirator and she’d never see him again.

There was still someone moving above them. Simon glanced up and then back to his sister. She had sat up straight as a rod at the sound of the gun shot and tilted her head toward the ceiling, as she had earlier, listening. She stood quickly and walked back into the tunnel, gazing up at the wooden floor above. Simon tried to pull her back, but she was beyond his reach, again.

“Found you.” She said it in a loud, normal voice that hurt Simon’s ears after so long in silence.

“Wo de ma,” they heard a familiar voice say above, the voice that belonged to the feet. “That you, my lil’ albatross?”

Simon and Inara recognized Mal’s voice in an instant and both emerged from the small room. They could see a body pressed to the floor above them, the light silhouetting his form as he strained to see them through a crack in the floor.

“Hiya, cap’n,” River said brightly, and with that she turned back they way they had come and started down the tunnel at a dead run. Simon hastened to catch her.

“Everything all right up there,” Inara asked him as she started to pick her way back down the dark hall.

“Right as rain,” Mal answered and then she heard him get up and followed his footsteps back to the tunnel’s entrance.

***

They were back on board the ship and just about to break atmo when the proximity alert sounded and Serenity shuddered. Everyone had gathered on the bridge, save Simon and Kaylee who were in the infirmary, Simon trying to stabilize her condition, as the need for medicine became more apparent. Mal said a quiet prayer that they would get the hell out of here in time.

“What’da we got, River?” Mal studied the sky and the screens and couldn’t see what had jostled them.

“The hook,” she told him, pointing to a screen to his right without ever taking her eyes off the sky. Glancing to his side, Mal swore violently and saw she was right; a grappling hook attached to a nasty little planetary defense gnat that was trying to grab their hide.

“Can you beat it,” he asked her, assuming a position behind her seat and leaning down toward the controls.

“Beat it, whip it, stir it, mix it,” she sing-songed at him and within seconds, Serenity was soaring, flitting about like a leaf on the wind and Mal smiled to himself as he fought to keep his balance. Aw, Wash, he thought, she’s doing you proud. They both are.

Once they broke free of the sky and were again encased in the silvery black, Mal let a sigh escape his lips. He sank into the co-pilot’s seat and studied his lithe albatross. She flipped a few switches and set the course, and in moments, he felt the pull of Serenity’s engines hit full burn as they sped back towards Hera.

“That was some nifty flyin’, darlin,’” he told her, getting up to go check on Kaylee. He crossed the bridge towards her and kissed her on top of the head. “Some nifty flyin’ indeed.”

River just smiled at him, and stayed in her seat, humming something to herself as he left her on the bridge.