Disclaimers : Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation.

**Mousing over the Chinese should reveal the English translations on most browsers. If not, translations follow the story.

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“Mal, I am so sorry.” Inara looked anxious as she followed Mal through the cargo bay, up the stairs and into the dining area. “I was told it was just transport—I’m sorry to get you into something complicated.”

“Inara, really, it’s no problem,” Mal insisted in his attempt to reassure her. He turned, put both hands on her shoulders, and looked into her eyes. “This is what we do. Why are we still talkin’ about this?”

Inara continued to look worried.

“I know it’s what you do,” she replied. “But, Mal—I misrepresented the situation, and I feel badly about that.”

Mal turned and continued into the kitchen, grabbed a cup and poured himself some coffee.

“You can’t help it your source withheld certain information from you,” he said. “It’ll be fine; we just need to work out the details.”

Inara hesitated, started to say something, then stopped.

“What?” Mal inquired, seeds of impatience beginning to stir.

“Well, I—” Inara hesitated again, then plunged ahead. “I don’t think...Mal, you’re not yourself right now, and I don’t know if it’s a good time for you to take on this job.”

The words came out in a rush, and then Inara stood silent, waiting for the inevitable ornery objection.

It came.

“What...not...whaddya talkin’ about, not myself? I’m...shiny...and any time we need money, which is always, is the right time to take a job!” He snorted and looked away, mumbled something in Chinese, sipped his coffee, and then said, also to himself, “Again, with everybody makin’ a fuss!”

Inara moved around so she was in his line of sight.

“Mal, listen,” she pleaded. “You look exhausted. You’re pale, you’re irritable, and Kaylee says you’re not sleep—”

”Kaylee’s a...I’m puttin’ an ad out for a mechanic and t