Warmth Then
(a Firefly/Serenity fanfic - Mal/Wash slash)
written 24 October 2005 copyright © 2005-present James Sanghyun Han (a.k.a. steal this and DIE)
| (a quick list of phrases and terms used: grapple - have sex aiya - ah!/damn!/oh jeez daxiang de piyan - an elephant's asscrack gorram - goddamn hun dan - bastard, ass) - - - - - Tonight he'd be the last one to go to bed. After checking the course to Greenleaf one last time, he clambered off the bridge, making for his quarters. He paused at the ladder though, and made for the infirmary instead. Thankfully the door was left open, which meant he could enter quietly.  Mal was still sleeping, still supine on that hard hospital bed, still smiling like he hadn't almost gone down with his ship. For the first time in months he'd found sleep before the rest of his crew, and all the lines of care he usually wore had dissolved into a smooth serenity.Wash's gaze, not unkind, softened further. They'd grappled frequently those first few months after he was hired, before he'd plucked his autumn flower. All warmth then; now they mostly just fought. Always about Zoë. And now this scare, this flirtation with death that had almost gone too far.He leant down, gave the captain a soft kiss on the lips, and left.The footsteps disappeared. Mal's eyes flew open, examining the ceiling for a long time.* When they came off of Shuttle Two and aboard Serenity herself, the first things Wash noticed were the low, sweet hum of the ship and the fresh, temperate air."There, what did I tell you?" Zoë said quietly from her stretcher after taking a deep, satisfying breath."But why didn't he respond to any of our waves when we were coming back?" Simon asked, worried."Wrong. He wouldn't have done the same," River muttered, simultaneously angry and confused by her own anger.Wash and Simon started calling loudly for Mal as they carefully carried Zoë back down into the infirmary, River trailing along airily in their wake. It was only when they were about to set Zoë down on the hospital bed that they saw the huge, empty syringe on the floor, the general disarray, and too many splotches of an angry, desperate red. A quick scan of the walls and doorway revealed places where handprints had smeared it into a thin, dry layer, but the blood on the bed and floor was still wet.Simon blanched in quiet horror as Wash groaned and Zoë closed her eyes, her features immobile. River looked around in confusion, eyes darting wildly and mouth moving almost imperceptibly."Set me down on the side table and go find him, now!" Zoë barked. As soon as she was settled the doctor rushed out in that headlong way of his, River right on his heels, but Wash hesitated, looking askance at his wife. She smiled impatiently, saying, "I'm fine, baby. Go!" as she shooed him out with one arm, and as if the movement was a trigger, Wash sprang from the room.Huffing and puffing out of urgency rather than from lack of fitness, the airman instinctively made for the bridge. Just as Kaylee and the Shepherd had put their respective stamps on the common area and Inara held court in Shuttle One, the bridge was his territory, but that wasn't why he was headed there. It was just that he was so sure that Mal had at least tried. He had to have! This was Mal!Sure enough, there was the captain, face down on the hard metal and one arm stretching defiantly toward the big red button on the console even though the rest of his body had unconsciously curled in on itself - as if it was trying to flee from the hurt."Mal!" Wash shouted, kneeling and grunting as he turned the man over to see his face. The features were perfectly fine, if drawn and overly pale, but blood - aiya, so much blood - had reduced the front of the captain's shirt to a soppy, wet mess, and Wash could see an angry hole in the fabric."How in daxiang de piyan did you manage to get shot?" the fair-haired man muttered as he stumbled over to the console and found the intercom switch. "Doc, here! On the bridge!" he yelled down the receiver before moving to sit next to the prone body and cradling Mal's head in his lap.It was either the volume of Wash's voice or the fact that he was being moved, or perhaps both, but Mal's eyes fluttered open. "Wash?" he whispered."Mal?" Wash started, his heart dropping several floors at the lack of strength in the captain's voice. He cleared his throat, blinking twice. "Right here, Mal.""Miracle what got here got Serenity runnin' again, but it got me bleeding too. Again. 'verse is bein' a mite too ironical-""Look, Mal, don't talk," Wash urged. Delirium was making the man uncharacteristically loquacious. "The doc- Simon, on the bridge, c'mon!" he shouted down the hallway."You always did look better without that lip ferret," Mal said thickly, one corner of his mouth lifting half a notch as his eyes attempted to laugh and a cold hand came up to stroke the pilot's cheek gently.Wash froze, his eyes widening further than usual. Before the airman could gather enough wits to reply or act, Mal's eyes closed again, his hand dropping back to his side with a hard thud as he surrendered to the bliss of unconsciousness. It was only then that Wash realized that he hadn't been this close to the captain, hadn't touched the captain like this since - well, since he won Zoë over. He stared at the captain's face, at the features that were younger than their age and aged before their time. Carefully, softly, he brushed back the damp hair that fell across Mal's forehead, and the action made memories flood back.He had his nose over Mal's hair, cautiously breathing in the captain's scent, when he heard running feet approaching, and he straightened hastily.Simon and River entered, panting breathlessly. The doctor took one look at the injured body and said decisively, "I'll bring a stretcher. We shouldn't carry him without one-" he was yelling as he ran back out.River stayed behind, kneeling next to the captain opposite Wash. She studied Mal's face for a moment before snapping her head up to stare at the pilot. "Evergreens and berries and dry heat. Maybe a hint of cedar," she said.Wash blinked, partly because the girl rarely spoke to anyone but her own self. "River, what-""Both so proud." Her wondering look pierced through Wash like a thin needle. "Proud that you could make him smile, drop his guard, reveal the need, make him just a man." She returned her gaze to Mal's face. "Proud that he could make you serious, make you want it, kissing stopped your jokes, slick heat-" and here the girl shuddered, hugging herself and closing her eyes defensively. "So much. Warmth then, warmth belowdecks. Bulges, gripping hard, hair between fingers- smooth and rough?" She sounded profoundly confused. "No, breathe. Polite above. Make sure you're at least three paces apart, off the boil. Then her." The girl recovered abruptly, opening her eyes and smiling wistfully at the doorway. "The savior comes."When Simon rushed in a few moments later, he was too fixated on getting Mal onto the stretcher to notice the rare site of Wash's mouth hanging open without any words coming out of it, or the even rarer site of the fair man's face flushed a vivid pink.* Mal cursed silently as he stepped onto the bridge, feeling all manner of stupid as a dull pain pulsed through his torso. Why did the gorram doctor always have to be right?"How's it lookin', Wash?" he called out.Sure enough, Wash swiveled his chair away from the console, looking concerned. "Well, we'll be at Greenleaf within forty-eight hours, but Mal, didn't Simon say you were supposed to stay in bed at least 'til tomorrow?"Mal mustered a casual smile and clapped a hand down onto Wash's shoulder. "Simon says, but he doesn't order, Wash. That's my job," he said in a backslapping tone. "'sides, if Zoë's on her feet I can be too."Wash rolled his eyes, but with resignation. "Zoë didn't lose all that blood, Mal."Mal nodded both in acknowledgment and dismissal. "Yeah. Matter of fact, that's why I came up here. Doc told me about what you did. The transfusion. Was too weak to make full sense of what you were doin' at the time so I just wanted to thank you up front."Wash blinked and ducked his head sheepishly. "Well, I had the right blood type-""So does half the crew; Doc tells me A and O positive are popular on this boat. So no excuses. Thank you." Mal crossed his arms, thoroughly the defiant Browncoat.The airman smiled, nodding. "Sure thing, Captain."Suddenly Mal grinned, raising his eyebrows. "Thanks for the lip action, too. Almost like old times. Should've used some tongue, though.""Wh- What?" Wash was literally flailing. "Mal, I-"But the captain was already stepping off the bridge, chuckling like the hun dan he was, and the last thing Wash heard was "Ahh, I'm a bad man," before Mal walked out of earshot.(END) |