Wash was doodling around with his dinosaurs in the cockpit again.

"Master T-Rex, what are we going to do??? Our planet is being bombed by giant cats! You pathetic little Spiny! We're going to blow their heads off of course! But Master, we don’t have any more grenades!"

"Ask Jayne, he’s got plenty of 'em," Wash spun around in his chair, startled by Ana's sudden presence.

"God, you scared me!"

"Sorry," her smiled was apologetic and teasing at the same time.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, if you're not too busy being bombed by giant cats, I gotta ask you a question," Wash turned pink from ear to ear.

"I think they've laid off the bombings for now," he said bashfully. Ana smiled again and sat at the other piloting station, riding shotgun as the ship cruised smoothly through space to Paquin.

"Kaylee let somethin' slip 'bout the Cap'n taking me along with y'all on this latest job. So I'm here to probe you for information," She raised an eyebrow. Wash shook his head.

"I was afraid she'd tell. Yeah, Mal wants you to go. He said as a gun hand, but to tell you the truth I think he’s been researching you,"

"What the hell is that s'posed to mean?" Ana’s face grew serious.

"Well… it said in a profile that you were a spastic psychic. Like River, but not anywhere near as strong. I think it sort of took to his head," He pointed a finger at the side of his head. "But in any case, if you've been doing like us and getting a way from the Alliance, then you've about got to be a good shot. And we could always use help on this boat," Ana was looking at the controls in front of her with a creased brow and set jaw.

"Thanks for not bein' a pain in the ass and makin' me guess around, Wash," she said, getting up and stalking off to the engine room. Wash watched her go, as did Zoë, who had been heading towards her husband as Ana exited. They eyed her curiously.

"What's got into her?" asked Zoë, going into the cockpit and looking at Wash with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not really su