(no subject)

[flybywash]

It's taken five days, but the first hints of land-craziness are finally starting to prickle his skin.

Tomorrow, Wash thinks. The pain's dropped down to little more than the occasional twinge if he moves too sharply, and he's walking (okay, hobbling) further and further without feeling like he just ran ten miles at a dead sprint. Tomorrow morning he'll go up to room 76 for a while; tomorrow night, hopefully, he'll see about going back to Serenity.

Even if it's only for a couple hours.

He sits on his side of the bed, crosslegged, and flips through Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle #45.

Comments

[righthandwoman.livejournal.com]

Zoe stays where she is for a few moments.

Then, she crosses the room and lowers herself onto the opposite side of the bed.

Her hands are in her lap, and she's looking steadily at them, rather than him.

[flybywash]

"Great plan," he mutters. "Let's all talk about it. Yeah."

Raising his head abruptly, pleading, "You see what I didn't want to?"

[righthandwoman.livejournal.com]

Zoe's still not looking up.

Low, "You really think goin' back to work without havin' any of that out would've been better?"

[flybywash]

"Least I would've gotten a couple extra days to try and give that wild and wacky 'tact' thing a try."

[righthandwoman.livejournal.com]

There's a long pause before Zoe says anything.

Then, "We coulda not done it. He couldn't've forced us."

[flybywash]

A low, bitter laugh.

"Right, because getting a bullet to the gut would've been a much more pleasant way to go."

[righthandwoman.livejournal.com]

"It wouldn't've come to that."

Zoe's tone is forceful. Whether that's certain forceful or trying-to-sound-certain forceful isn't clear.

"He'd've tried to do it on his own, maybe--but he wouldn't've forced us to do it if we'd truly set ourselves against it."

A pause, and she finally looks up at him. "I ain't sayin' that makes what we did any better. Just--it was our choice to go along with it. It ain't fair to pin it all on him."

[flybywash]

"And who is it that's always been telling me we gotta listen to the captain because he's the gorram captain?" he demands.

But it's unfair, and he knows it. Wash cups his forehead again, eyes squeezed shut.

"I'm sorry."

[righthandwoman.livejournal.com]

Lots of unfair things, these days.

Zoe reaches out and lays one hand on his arm, almost hesitantly.

"So'm I."

She still thinks making them get this over with will be better, in the long run.

That doesn't make it hurt any less right now.

[flybywash]

He doesn't hesitate before reaching for her hand, covering it tightly.

"Could've gone so different."

[righthandwoman.livejournal.com]

Zoe nods wordlessly, moving closer.

"It's hard between you an' Mal right now. I know. There's a lot still to get through that's gonna be hard."

Her other hand moves toward his chest, where the scar can still be clearly felt through his shirt, and her face twists.

"But you're here. An' we can get through it together. An' if that ain't enough to keep you an' Mal from actin' like this--"

[flybywash]

"Zoe, I -- "

He moves her hand away, taking both of them between his. His voice wobbles again.

"What am I supposed to do?"

[righthandwoman.livejournal.com]

"I don't know."

Zoe's voice is bordering on unsteadiness, itself.

"It just...don't seem like fightin's worth it right now. Not even about this. Ain't there been enough fightin', the past few weeks?"

[flybywash]

Wash can't speak.

He just nods, after a time, helplessly, and leans against her.

[righthandwoman.livejournal.com]

Zoe pulls her hands away, but only to put her arms around him.

She doesn't know what else to say.

[flybywash]

Having her there is enough, for now.

There are things destroyed, and things nearly lost, and several things lost outright. There are so many ways it could've gone.

But there's also the way it did go.

It can't fix everything. Not this fast.

But it helps a hell of a lot.