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F: Between
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: Mal/Zoe
Warnings: Angst
Rating: PG
Summary: Mal and Zoe work best together under pressure. For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fifi225, for Christmas.
It was very, very dark. Mal wasn't sure whether that was because there wasn't any light, or because he was blindfolded, or perhaps because his eyes had finally given out after he'd been hit in the face one too many times. He wasn't even sure if the last was exactly possible, all things considered. All other senses still seemed intact -- he could still hear, at least, as he found when he moved and his handcuffs or chains or whatever they were clinked. He could also hear someone else's breathing. "Zoe?"
"Here, sir," she said. Her voice sounded a little thick and hoarse, like his own had -- like she'd been hit on the head and dragged into a cell, chained up and left without food. He figured that was pretty much exactly what had occured.
"Is it dark, or have I gone blind?"
"Dark," she replied, rather helpfully. Mal shifted slightly until he wasn't quite so uncomfortable, realising that it was a good idea it was dark. He could feel blood trickling down his face and the floor was rough metal with patterns in it that had undoubtedly engraved themselves on his cheek. He probably looked like an idiot and if she couldn't see him, he could at least pretend he felt just shiny. He hauled himself up properly and by dint of some guesswork, found the wall, leaning against it heavily.
"Any idea where we are?" he asked, none too hopefully.
"None."
Helpfulness ended there, apparently, but he generously decided that wasn't her fault. He also decided he might have a cracked rib, because it was kind of hard to get a proper deep breath without an odd stabbing feeling, but Simon would be the best one to ask about that and he wasn't there. He was back on Serenity -- possibly planning a rescue attempt, but possibly just sitting there wondering what was to be done. "Shit."
"That's about my assessment of it, too, sir."
After a minute, he reached out for her, not quite wanting comfort but still wanting some kind of solid, warm, human contact. He found her already fumbling for his hand in the dark. It was an oddly comforting feeling, to feel her strong fingers closing around his. He gave her hand a bit of an awkward squeeze. "We'll be alright."
"Of course we will," she said, and meant it, too. That was the annoying part about Zoe, sometimes. She trusted him far too much. He decided that he was starting to be more or less able to see in the dark, and he smiled in what he hoped was her direction, hoping she could see him. He thought she was maybe smiling back.
Yep, she definitely trusted him too much.
---
"I don't know what they want to know," he said, in what he fervently hoped was Zoe's direction, but of course his eyes weren't used to the dark again yet, "but they're pretty damn determined to find it out for me. They even tried asking nicely, once. I think."
She reached for him, as best as she could what with the chains, and helped him down. He realised he was free now -- free of the chains, at least -- but that it didn't really mean much, because he hurt too much in far too many places to want to move far, and the door was far, and the door was also locked, barred and heavily guarded. He left Zoe pull him closer and decided her shoulder was a comfortable enough place to rest his cheek for a moment.
"I think I lost some more teeth," he said, in disgust, deciding that he was about sick of silence. He probed around with his tongue and spat out one tooth, feeling the sharp edges of a broken one. "Reckon Doc'll have to turn dentist when we get back."
He thought she maybe smiled at that one.
"They'll be along for me soon, then," she said, quietly. He wiped an irritating trickle of blood from his face and hoping he wasn't bleeding all over her somewhere he couldn't feel it. If he was, well, she might yell at him a bit when she realised what the warm dampness was.
"And I'll be going again instead."
"You can't do that, sir."
"Can," he said, and grinned in her direction in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "I'm your captain. And," he winced at a throbbing pain or so, "I'm your captain. 'Sides, what'd I say to Wa -- oh, wo de ma, I'm sorry, Zo'."
He wasn't quite sure what the expression on her face at his slip was. He imagined it might be anger, or hurt, or that dead closed up expression that'd seemed her favourite for so long after what'd happened to Wash. He hated himself for saying it -- and in the middle of being a gentleman and trying to save her pain, as well. When she spoke, he could hear the old pain in her voice, but maybe not as much of it as he'd expected and feared. "Don't be, sir. I imagine you'll have to answer to my husband in the afterlife, assuming there is one and you go to the same place. I won't let you do it, anyway."
He wasn't sure if he should be feeling that rush of relief at her words. "What then? Fight?"
She shifts slightly. "Fight."
"Shiny," he said, with more energy than he thought he'd had. He managed to get to his feet, somehow, using the wall for support, and decided he felt better standing up. "When they come in, I'll take 'em, and we'll get you out of those chains. First, though..."
"Sir?"
"Let's decide on a deity and start praying for luck. I'll even stretch to promisin' to attend a service."
She got to her feet at his side, and her shoulder bumped his in a reassuring fashion. "We'll be okay, sir."
She still trusted him too damn much. He wouldn't trust anyone as shaky on his feet as he was just then.
---
The man hit the floor with a satisfying thud. Mal had his keys off him almost before he'd finished passing out, and had Zoe's chains unfastened a few minutes later. He threw the chains back into the room and shut the door, without much hope of foxing anyone for long. Zoe was looking at him. He grinned at her. "What?"
"You're a mess, sir."
He shrugged slightly, and cursed as that jarred something that he had a feeling really shouldn't be jarred. Just when a doctor would be so wonderfully useful... "Come on, we need to get going."
"We need to get you cleaned up a bit or you'll be leaving a trail," she said, and he gave in. He didn't entirely give in, of course. He cursed at her a bit in Chinese and English, and added a bit of Japanese and Welsh he'd picked up somewhere, for variety. She was rough-gentle with him, trying not to hurt him, but not tiptoeing around the hurts. He decided that was something he liked very much about her.
"I was thinkin', this'd be one sticky situation where our good doctor'd be very much appreciated," he said, more to break the silence than because he really meant it. She pressed a little, experimentally, on one of the cuts on his face, and wiped away from blood when he cursed again.
"I think we could use his sister's superpowers a mite bit more, right now," she said, pulling away from him and kneeling down to tear one of their guards' shirts into strips. He leaned against the wall and watched her, starting to feel a bit detached from proceedings and knowing that while that was much more comfortable, all things considered, it was also a bad sign. He let her bandage him up roughly without too many complaints, staying silent now except for the odd hiss of pain.
When she stopped bandaging him up like a mummy, he opened his eyes. She was rather close to him, reaching up dab blood away from his cheek. Her eyes were rather softer than he'd like, almost tender. He tried to joke. "Guess we'll have to make do with good old Mal-and-Zoe powers."
"Yes, sir," she said, almost gently.
"You sound a bit happy about that."
"I like it this way, sir. I like it better when you aren't bleeding all over the place, though."
"Agreed," he said. For a moment, he looked at her, getting the feeling that he'd rather like to -- well, he'd like to kiss her, he knew that. He'd felt the urge before, mostly in situations like this, but he'd never thought of actually following through. There'd always been reasons against, and now... She was close to him, her eyes softer than he'd seen them in a while, her hand resting against his chest lightly, as if she'd forgotten to step away and left it there by accident.
"Zoe -- "
"Yes?"
He looked at her for a moment, almost reaching up to touch her cheek, and then he let the moment pass him by, straightening up. "Time to get out of here, I think. I'm getting sick of this particular patch of space."
"Always moving on," she said, quietly, in agreement. She fell into step beside him. "Can you -- "
"I'm fine."
---
"Oh," Jayne said, looking at them both as they stepped out into the brightest lit hallway they'd seen so far -- the main hallway, as they'd correctly guessed. "I was almost lookin' forward to playing the hero of the rescue."
River was at his side. He was kitted out with enough guns for a regiment and by stark contrast, she carried nothing. Mal gave her a critical once over. "If you're the heroic rescue, why's she not carrying a damned thing?"
"I dunno, Mal, she might have grenades in her knickers or something. She said she wanted to come, I wasn't about to argue."
River gave him her best you're too stupid to live look. It passed neatly over his head and Mal felt a sudden warm welling of affection for the both of them, even if Jayne was a little stupid sometimes and River was a little too clever most of the time. "Well, River, figure your brother will be reconstructing my face for the rest of today. You should've known to stay with the ship, ready to get us out."
"Not necessary," she said, in her I know everything tone. She looked at Zoe, looked at him, looked back at Zoe. She smiled. "Stronger together," she said, then, reaching up to pat his shoulder in an almost sisterly gesture.
They looked at each other, then, remembering that moment between the dark and the light. And then they laughed.
"Of course," Mal said, wobbling a bit on his feet and trying not to let Jayne see that. "She's my second in command. Always has been."
He wasn't quite sure whether the look in River's eyes was understanding or exasperation, but he decided to take it as the former and imagine she approved. Not that he needed her approval, just -- well. It was a nice thing to have. He cleared his throat.
"So, shall we get back to Serenity? We'll even say you got a guard or two -- just so you get to play the hero, Jayne."
"I'd prefer an extra cut of the -- "
"No," Mal and Zoe said, simultaneously, and River laughed and led the way back to Serenity. Mal and Zoe never looked back.
Pairing: Mal/Zoe
Warnings: Angst
Rating: PG
Summary: Mal and Zoe work best together under pressure. For
fifi225, for Christmas.It was very, very dark. Mal wasn't sure whether that was because there wasn't any light, or because he was blindfolded, or perhaps because his eyes had finally given out after he'd been hit in the face one too many times. He wasn't even sure if the last was exactly possible, all things considered. All other senses still seemed intact -- he could still hear, at least, as he found when he moved and his handcuffs or chains or whatever they were clinked. He could also hear someone else's breathing. "Zoe?"
"Here, sir," she said. Her voice sounded a little thick and hoarse, like his own had -- like she'd been hit on the head and dragged into a cell, chained up and left without food. He figured that was pretty much exactly what had occured.
"Is it dark, or have I gone blind?"
"Dark," she replied, rather helpfully. Mal shifted slightly until he wasn't quite so uncomfortable, realising that it was a good idea it was dark. He could feel blood trickling down his face and the floor was rough metal with patterns in it that had undoubtedly engraved themselves on his cheek. He probably looked like an idiot and if she couldn't see him, he could at least pretend he felt just shiny. He hauled himself up properly and by dint of some guesswork, found the wall, leaning against it heavily.
"Any idea where we are?" he asked, none too hopefully.
"None."
Helpfulness ended there, apparently, but he generously decided that wasn't her fault. He also decided he might have a cracked rib, because it was kind of hard to get a proper deep breath without an odd stabbing feeling, but Simon would be the best one to ask about that and he wasn't there. He was back on Serenity -- possibly planning a rescue attempt, but possibly just sitting there wondering what was to be done. "Shit."
"That's about my assessment of it, too, sir."
After a minute, he reached out for her, not quite wanting comfort but still wanting some kind of solid, warm, human contact. He found her already fumbling for his hand in the dark. It was an oddly comforting feeling, to feel her strong fingers closing around his. He gave her hand a bit of an awkward squeeze. "We'll be alright."
"Of course we will," she said, and meant it, too. That was the annoying part about Zoe, sometimes. She trusted him far too much. He decided that he was starting to be more or less able to see in the dark, and he smiled in what he hoped was her direction, hoping she could see him. He thought she was maybe smiling back.
Yep, she definitely trusted him too much.
"I don't know what they want to know," he said, in what he fervently hoped was Zoe's direction, but of course his eyes weren't used to the dark again yet, "but they're pretty damn determined to find it out for me. They even tried asking nicely, once. I think."
She reached for him, as best as she could what with the chains, and helped him down. He realised he was free now -- free of the chains, at least -- but that it didn't really mean much, because he hurt too much in far too many places to want to move far, and the door was far, and the door was also locked, barred and heavily guarded. He left Zoe pull him closer and decided her shoulder was a comfortable enough place to rest his cheek for a moment.
"I think I lost some more teeth," he said, in disgust, deciding that he was about sick of silence. He probed around with his tongue and spat out one tooth, feeling the sharp edges of a broken one. "Reckon Doc'll have to turn dentist when we get back."
He thought she maybe smiled at that one.
"They'll be along for me soon, then," she said, quietly. He wiped an irritating trickle of blood from his face and hoping he wasn't bleeding all over her somewhere he couldn't feel it. If he was, well, she might yell at him a bit when she realised what the warm dampness was.
"And I'll be going again instead."
"You can't do that, sir."
"Can," he said, and grinned in her direction in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "I'm your captain. And," he winced at a throbbing pain or so, "I'm your captain. 'Sides, what'd I say to Wa -- oh, wo de ma, I'm sorry, Zo'."
He wasn't quite sure what the expression on her face at his slip was. He imagined it might be anger, or hurt, or that dead closed up expression that'd seemed her favourite for so long after what'd happened to Wash. He hated himself for saying it -- and in the middle of being a gentleman and trying to save her pain, as well. When she spoke, he could hear the old pain in her voice, but maybe not as much of it as he'd expected and feared. "Don't be, sir. I imagine you'll have to answer to my husband in the afterlife, assuming there is one and you go to the same place. I won't let you do it, anyway."
He wasn't sure if he should be feeling that rush of relief at her words. "What then? Fight?"
She shifts slightly. "Fight."
"Shiny," he said, with more energy than he thought he'd had. He managed to get to his feet, somehow, using the wall for support, and decided he felt better standing up. "When they come in, I'll take 'em, and we'll get you out of those chains. First, though..."
"Sir?"
"Let's decide on a deity and start praying for luck. I'll even stretch to promisin' to attend a service."
She got to her feet at his side, and her shoulder bumped his in a reassuring fashion. "We'll be okay, sir."
She still trusted him too damn much. He wouldn't trust anyone as shaky on his feet as he was just then.
The man hit the floor with a satisfying thud. Mal had his keys off him almost before he'd finished passing out, and had Zoe's chains unfastened a few minutes later. He threw the chains back into the room and shut the door, without much hope of foxing anyone for long. Zoe was looking at him. He grinned at her. "What?"
"You're a mess, sir."
He shrugged slightly, and cursed as that jarred something that he had a feeling really shouldn't be jarred. Just when a doctor would be so wonderfully useful... "Come on, we need to get going."
"We need to get you cleaned up a bit or you'll be leaving a trail," she said, and he gave in. He didn't entirely give in, of course. He cursed at her a bit in Chinese and English, and added a bit of Japanese and Welsh he'd picked up somewhere, for variety. She was rough-gentle with him, trying not to hurt him, but not tiptoeing around the hurts. He decided that was something he liked very much about her.
"I was thinkin', this'd be one sticky situation where our good doctor'd be very much appreciated," he said, more to break the silence than because he really meant it. She pressed a little, experimentally, on one of the cuts on his face, and wiped away from blood when he cursed again.
"I think we could use his sister's superpowers a mite bit more, right now," she said, pulling away from him and kneeling down to tear one of their guards' shirts into strips. He leaned against the wall and watched her, starting to feel a bit detached from proceedings and knowing that while that was much more comfortable, all things considered, it was also a bad sign. He let her bandage him up roughly without too many complaints, staying silent now except for the odd hiss of pain.
When she stopped bandaging him up like a mummy, he opened his eyes. She was rather close to him, reaching up dab blood away from his cheek. Her eyes were rather softer than he'd like, almost tender. He tried to joke. "Guess we'll have to make do with good old Mal-and-Zoe powers."
"Yes, sir," she said, almost gently.
"You sound a bit happy about that."
"I like it this way, sir. I like it better when you aren't bleeding all over the place, though."
"Agreed," he said. For a moment, he looked at her, getting the feeling that he'd rather like to -- well, he'd like to kiss her, he knew that. He'd felt the urge before, mostly in situations like this, but he'd never thought of actually following through. There'd always been reasons against, and now... She was close to him, her eyes softer than he'd seen them in a while, her hand resting against his chest lightly, as if she'd forgotten to step away and left it there by accident.
"Zoe -- "
"Yes?"
He looked at her for a moment, almost reaching up to touch her cheek, and then he let the moment pass him by, straightening up. "Time to get out of here, I think. I'm getting sick of this particular patch of space."
"Always moving on," she said, quietly, in agreement. She fell into step beside him. "Can you -- "
"I'm fine."
"Oh," Jayne said, looking at them both as they stepped out into the brightest lit hallway they'd seen so far -- the main hallway, as they'd correctly guessed. "I was almost lookin' forward to playing the hero of the rescue."
River was at his side. He was kitted out with enough guns for a regiment and by stark contrast, she carried nothing. Mal gave her a critical once over. "If you're the heroic rescue, why's she not carrying a damned thing?"
"I dunno, Mal, she might have grenades in her knickers or something. She said she wanted to come, I wasn't about to argue."
River gave him her best you're too stupid to live look. It passed neatly over his head and Mal felt a sudden warm welling of affection for the both of them, even if Jayne was a little stupid sometimes and River was a little too clever most of the time. "Well, River, figure your brother will be reconstructing my face for the rest of today. You should've known to stay with the ship, ready to get us out."
"Not necessary," she said, in her I know everything tone. She looked at Zoe, looked at him, looked back at Zoe. She smiled. "Stronger together," she said, then, reaching up to pat his shoulder in an almost sisterly gesture.
They looked at each other, then, remembering that moment between the dark and the light. And then they laughed.
"Of course," Mal said, wobbling a bit on his feet and trying not to let Jayne see that. "She's my second in command. Always has been."
He wasn't quite sure whether the look in River's eyes was understanding or exasperation, but he decided to take it as the former and imagine she approved. Not that he needed her approval, just -- well. It was a nice thing to have. He cleared his throat.
"So, shall we get back to Serenity? We'll even say you got a guard or two -- just so you get to play the hero, Jayne."
"I'd prefer an extra cut of the -- "
"No," Mal and Zoe said, simultaneously, and River laughed and led the way back to Serenity. Mal and Zoe never looked back.
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