He couldn’t sleep. Again. Sighing heavily, Mal pushed himself up off his bunk and grabbed his shirt. He considered going up to the bridge, but River was up there and he didn’t feel like having her read his thoughts tonight. Especially tonight. Maybe some of that bad-tasting sleepy tea Inara had brought on board would help.

It had been a month since Miranda. Things still weren’t back to normal and Mal was starting to wonder if they ever would be. Zoe was still Zoe, but the light in her eyes was out. And he never saw her smile anymore. Simon and Kaylee were just about driving him up the wall with all their sneaking around for quick makeout sessions…turnin’ his engine room into a gorram sex playground. Hell, even Jayne was actin’ different… grumpier than ever and goin’ stir crazy what with the fact they ain’t had no work since their little run in with the Alliance over the PAX.

And Mal ain’t had a good night’s sleep since…well, since before he brought River back on board after the Maidenhead incident. Now, with no work to be had…hell, there wasn’t a soul who would hire the crew of Serenity after all their recent “publicity”. They were on their way to Persephone to try their luck with Badger, but Mal wasn’t hopeful. Truth to tell, after the Operative’s rampage on Serenity’s known contacts, he didn’t even know if Badger was still alive.

‘You know that ain’t why you’re not sleepin,’ a voice inside his head grumbled as he stepped down into the galley. He went over to the stores and started flipping through the packets till he found what he wanted. No, what really had him on edge was Inara. She was plannin’ on debarking at Persephone. Leavin’ again. And it was drivin’ him crazy. After the closeness they had shared on Miranda, it hadn’t taken long for Mal and Inara to start trading barbs again and that small window where it had seemed possible for them to reach some kind of understanding…well, it had slammed shut.

Earlier this morning, whatever question there might have been about her sta