Mal tore apart his room searching for any IOU’s or hidden money, he had to get the money, he just had to. He found a small notebook and opened it quickly, he found a check for $200, not much, but he was getting there. Zoë dropped into his room and stood silently, waiting for him to turn to her.

“Just leave Zoë, I need to find the money” Mal growled, throwing his mattress onto the floor.

“Captain, we need to be out looking for her” Zoë said, slightly fearful of the Captains response while he was in this enraged state.

Mal whirled around and pointed a finger at her, “No Zoë, we need to get the money, if we try and take her back, they ill kill her”

“Captain, Jayne, Simon and River have already left to try and find her, they think that with Jayne’s tracking skills, and River’s…abilities, they should be able to find her” Zoë replied, shrinking back slightly at the sudden fury in Mal’s eyes.

Zoë turned to leave, when a thought struck her, this isn’t what Mal would usually do, this isn’t how Mal would react. This isn’t Mal.

Zoë drew her pistol silently and stepped behind the imposter. “Captain, what planet were you born?” she asked, hoping to catch him out.

“Shadow” ‘Mal’ replied, pulling the sheeting off of his fallen mattress.

Zoë cocked the gun, now she knew for sure this wasn’t Mal, she had known him for more than a decade, and she knew that in this situation, he would order her to get out, and go find Kaylee.

“Alright whoever you are, hands in the air, and turn slowly around” she commanded. The man froze and straightened, he turned to her, smiling. He walked towards her smiling, arms out to his side. He made a lunge for her suddenly, but before he could fully shift his weight forward, Zoë shot him in the knee, causing him to have his leg thrown up from under him, throwing him forward.

The imposter howled in pain, clutching the bloody mess that used to be his knee, “Xiong meng de kuang nian” he screamed in a high-pitched voice.

Zoë kept her gun on him until Inara came down the ladder quickly, “Zoë, what