Disclaimer: Me no own!

Author's note: This is a variation of a chapter in my Firefly/Castle crossover "Connection". It does, I believe, stand on its own as a pure Firefly tale, so I'm going to post it here (with most of the crossover content removed). I'm really proud of this story, and I want to share it with Firefly fans, so here it is. Please, tell me what you think.

Trying desperately to catch her breath, Rina huddled against the back wall of the tiny cave. She hadn't the foggiest idea how the purplebellies had gotten behind them, much less how any of her platoon had escaped with their lives. Hell, she wasn't even sure what side of the Valley they had ended up on. In fact, the only thing she knew for absolute certain was that her new Sergeant was certifiably insane.

"What is this 'Verse coming to Zoe, when a man can't mount an unauthorized search-and-rescue mission, to save a platoon trapped behind enemy lines, during a tactical retreat without it going all to hell?"

"I wouldn't know sir. That usually falls under your area of expertise."

He chuckled. "That it does Zoe, that it does." He switched to his command voice before barking, "OK, listen up! Everybody get good and comfortable because it looks like we're gonna be here awhile. For those of y'all who don't know me, I'm Malcolm Reynolds."

"How's your nut Sarge?" someone she didn't recognize yelled from the darkness.

"My nut is just shiny Earlman, my heart, however, is a bit bruised from hearing that my favorite platoon got itself into a firefight without me," Mal said.

"Not our fault you got yourself thrown in the med tent before the battle even started, Sir!" someone else said.*

"I suppose that's the truth of it," Mal conceded. A few chuckles bounced off of the walls. He grew serious. "Did anybody see what happened to the Lieutenant?"

"Which half of him?" Rina croaked, unable to erase the image of Chang's bisected body splattered across the clearing.

"Well, that answers that question," Mal replied. "Now I ain't fond of speakin ill of the dead, but really, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." Rina could hear the grin in his voice. What a wacko. When he began asking about supplies, she tuned his voice out. She didn't have anything. Unfortunately, that caused her to focus on the entirely too large piece of metal sticking out beneath her collarbone. As the adrenaline wore off, her pain began to grow. She failed to notice his approach. She had to suppress a gasp when he addressed her directly.

"You must be new," he said, much more gently than before. "What's your name?"

"Rina," she breathed.

"Now that's a right pretty name," he said, kneeling beside her. "You're from the Core ain't ya?"

She nodded tightly, even though she was pretty sure he couldn't see it. "New New York, on Londinium."

"Yeah, I figured it'd be somethin like that." She couldn't hold back the small scream when he patted her on the shoulder.

"Gorramn it girl," he swore. "Zoe, get the med kit over here!"

She finally gave into the urge to pass out.

It was still dark when she came to. The temperature had dropped considerably, but someone had managed to dress her wound while she was out. She felt a bandage wrapped tight around her left shoulder. Her back was pressed against something warm and solid, and her stomach roiled when she realized who it must be. Chang. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone? Figuring it was better just to get it over with, she turned her head to meet his scaly lips with a kiss. The lips she found were quite a bit softer than she had expected, and a surprised squeak emerged from them that Chang could never have managed.

"Darlin', whatinGodsnamedoyathinkyerdoin?" not-Chang sputtered.

She blinked. Oh right, Chang split down the middle, the clearing, all that blood, Sargent Mal. Wait, what? "What are you doing sir?" she asked.

She could feel the full body blush overtake him, but he didn't let her go. "Well, uh, ya see...you've been out a long time, and it was gettin' kinda cold and you bein' such a little wisp of a thing, and hurt besides..." he gulped and started again, gaining a bit of composure in the process. "We can't light a fire, obviously, so I had everyone double up to stay warm." he finished, nodding towards several dark shapes littered about the cave.

"Let me guess," she said dryly, "nobody wanted to partner up with me?"

"I think it's more like they forgot, you bein' so quiet and all," he consoled. Nervously he asked, "If it makes you uncomfortable, I can get Zoe..."

"No, thank you." she stated. After a short pause she placed her right hand on his thigh and offered, "Are you sure you don't want me to..."

He tensed and the sputtering came back, "Good Lord girl! What makes you think I'd want..." she heard him lock his jaw as he worked it out. "Chang," he said, followed by a long string of Chinese, she didn't quite catch the individual words, but she could certainly draw some meaning from his tone.

He was furious.

"I'm sorry!" she said, frightened. "I didn't mean-I know it's against the rules-I just thought that..." She struggled to get up.

"Darlin', it ain't you I'm mad at" he said. He took a deep breath, calming somewhat. "That hudan is just lucky he's already dead is all." He ran a hand through his hair. "How old are ya anyway?"

"18," she said immediately.

He shook his head. "I ain't your recruiting officer, and you ain't gonna get in trouble; so tell me, how old are you really?"

"15," she whispered.

"Thought that might be it." He didn't seem to notice that he had started patting her hair. She didn't mind. "How didja make it all the way out here?"

"My parents thought I should be a Companion," she explained. "I disagreed. A man I used to babysit for helped me get off world. He even gave me some money to get me started, although most of that was stolen. You remind me of him a bit."

"How so?"

"He was a good man."

"Oh," was all he said.

They sat in silence for a while, until a sharp wind ripped it's way through the cavern. She tried to cuddle closer to him without jarring her shoulder. She almost managed it.

"They don't really have seasons on Londinium, but I thought it was supposed to be springtime here," she said. "Is it supposed to be this cold?"

"Well, Hera's a cold world, and it's early yet." He sighed. "Not like where I'm from."

"Tell me about it?" she pleaded, sounding more like a little girl than she had in a long time.

"Well," he began, adopting the cadence of a natural storyteller, "my world...has a steep axial tilt. Almost thirty degrees, so the seasons were pretty distinct from one another. When it was winter, you knew it was winter and Summer couldn't have been anything else." He smiled. "Spring, on the other hand, spring was a thing of beauty. After three long months of blizzards and ice storms, spring came like a gift from heaven. The ground would be covered in more flowers than grass. The whole face of the world was reborn. The air was so warm and soft that you hardly needed clothes, even at night. There was this one time, when I was fourteen..." he stopped and shook his head. "No, I shouldn't tell you that. That story is wildly inappropriate."

"I won't tell anybody," she teased.

"Well..." he pretended to consider it. "Alright, but, I don't want to be hearin' it from some stranger in the mess tent a week after we get back, dong ma?"

She giggled, then nodded.

"I'll hold you to that, girly," he threatened playfully. "See, I grew up on a ranch, cattle mostly. It was just me and my Ma so we had to hire help. Most of the hands were full grown, but a few weren't much older n'myself. I looked up to them a bit more than was exactly wise, and one night they convinced me to sneak a jug of my Mom's best apple brandy from outta the root cellar.

She grinned. "They got you drunk." It wasn't really a question.

"As a skunk," he confirmed. "I don't quite recall whose idea it was to remove our clothing, but I do remember it was Kirkland who dared me to ride the horse."

"You didn't."

"I did," he replied. "We didn't have many horses but there was this one old bugger, mean as sin he was. We called him Red, on account of his temper."

"What happened?" she breathed.

"I made it near on half a mile afore he bucked me off," he paused for effect,"right into the largest patch of blackberry bushes on the whole damn ranch." He snorted.

"I don't understand," she said, thoroughly confused,"wouldn't that break your fall?"

"Bein' from the Core, I can see how you would think so," he said, "but you see Darlin', blackberry bushes don't only have berries on 'em, blackberry bushes also have thorns, thousands of 'em. Not only did it take me most of the night, but it also it cost me a good part of my hide to get free."

She tried to hold it back, but she laughed hard enough to pull at her wound. She didn't care. Joy filled her heart. How long had it been since she had last laughed like that? She couldn't recall. Behind her, she felt his deep chuckles reverberating through his chest. Wrapped in his arms, it occured to her that she had never in her life felt so safe. "What happened then?"

"By the time I made it back to the house, the sun was already up...and so was my Mother. She told me later that she had never seen a sorrier creature her whole lifelong than me dragging my gangly ass up that porch. She didn't even have the heart to whup me." He shook his head at the memory. "Kirkland didn't get off so easy."

"What happened to Red?" she wondered.

He sighed. "He'd never go near me after that, not that I blame him. He was still kickin' about the ranch when I left."

"Well, maybe he'll forgive you when you see him again."

He stiffened behind her and said quietly, "That ain't like to happen, not in this 'Verse anyway."

The realization struck her like a mag-lift train. "You're from Shadow," she gasped.

He nodded sadly.

"And your family?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"All of them?"

"Every last one," he whispered.

Her heart ached for the man. She knew what it was like to lose almost everything, but her grief was nothing compared to his. Her parents, her home, still existed somewhere, even if she could never set foot there again. She had never considered that a comfort until now.

She couldn't help but ask, "How do you bear it?"

He took a deep breath. "I gotta tell you girly, it ain't easy." His hand fingered something at his neck. "See, I figure that Shadow was just too damn perfect to exist in this 'Verse. When it...died...God musta just swept it up whole and added it to heaven, and that's where they all are, my Ma, Kirkland, even old Red," his voice only cracked a little when he added, "and it's always Spring."

"I think I'd like to go there when I die," she said wistfully, her eyelids drooping.

"The last thing she heard was his voice saying, "I'm sure you will darlin'. I'm sure you will."

Zoe found Mal curled around the girl's body some hours later. He hadn't slept, that much was obvious. She could have chastised him for doing this to himself, again. She told him last night that the girl was dyin', and at least he had had the sense not to argue. It hadn't kept him from cradling her like she was his very own babe all through the long night, however. She could have pointed out the futility of the act, how he needed to conserve his strength for the days ahead...but she didn't. Mal was Mal, just about the stubbornest sumnabitch in the 'Verse, and nothing she said was ever gonna change that.

All she said was "It'll be dawn soon."

"Get the men together," he ordered, pocketing the girl's dog tags before scrambling to his feet. "Let's get the hell out of here." He turned his attention back to the girl. Bending down, he placed a chaste kiss on her temple. Zoe thought she heard him whisper, "Say hello to Red for me."

But it could have been her imagination.

I think I got Mal's voice right. It's hard, because I don't want to make him sound too country, but I do want him to still sound like Mal. Do you think I managed it?

Also, my apologies if you have read this before, I did clean it up a bit though.