Zoë made herself get out of bed. She sat on the edge gazing into the darkness of her room. She rolled her neck around to work stiffness out of it. She could hear the crackles her neck made as she rolled it. She sighed and got dressed slowly. Her back was aching, but she pushed back the physical pain. Before she worked her way up the ladder she kissed the capture of her husband. “Morning, dear.” She said quietly.

When she reached the top she was greeted by Mal. “It’s just gonna be me and you.”

She didn’t respond just looked back at the cockpit. She starred in it for a moment as if she wished hard enough he would appear. But, she knew better than to wish.

“She ain’t runnin’ right.”

Kaylee’s voice snapped Zoë out of her trance. She didn’t even realize that Kaylee and Mal were talking.

“She’s runnin’ right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well’s that’s good enough.”

“But, Cap’n…” Kaylee whined.

“We ain’t got the coin Kaylee. We’ll see… Just work With what you got.” Mal gently brushed by the disappointed Kaylee. Zoë followed him out.

“Sir.” Zoë said quietly.

“Don’t want to hear it. We’ve had this discussion before.” Mal stopped at the last step leading down to the cargo bay.

“Saving it for a rainy day.”

Zoë arched her eyebrow. “A rainy day sir? We live in space. There’s no rain in space.”

Mal smiled slightly. “Always a cynic.”

“I supposed.”

Jayne joined them at the foot of the step. “Mule’s ready. Sure you don’t want me to go along?”

“No, need you here on the ship. Need some muscle to clear out the cargo bay.”

“You ain’t payin’ me to play maid, Mal.” Jayne said sharply.

Mal and Zoë ignored Jayne and hopped on the mule. “We’ll be back in a few hours.” Mal said as they drove off.

“Jack ass.” Jayne closed the doors to the cargo bay.

Mal parked the mule behind a bar in an alleyway. The smell of piss, vomit, and all the other niceties of a disreputable dark alley hit them both hard. “What do you suppose this says about our character that we meet most of our clients in dark, smelly, alleys?”

He knocked on the