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

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Alex ran into her room and slid the door closed behind her. She stumbled to the bed and sat down, shaking. Apprehension over her impending arrival on Zargon had been growing all day, and she was barely holding herself together. Now any chance of keeping herself collected had basically been yanked out from under her by the crazy girl on the bridge.

And the part where she was crazy wasn’t even the problem.

“If you can get past the crazy, she ain’t often wrong.”

Mal’s words echoed in her head. Alex thought of what River had said before.

“Alex is back home.”

“Looked under the bed and found the pieces she’d been missing.”

Alex’s throat tightened and tears stung her eyes. She fought the feeling, knowing if she started crying she might not be able to stop.

There was a soft knock on her door. She wiped at her eyes and straightened up.

“Come in,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

The door slid open and Mal entered. He saw her demeanor and quickly closed the door behind him.

“Hey,” he said softly, sitting beside her and resting a hand on her shoulder. His eyes were dark with concern.

“Hey,” she replied limply, feeling the lump in her throat again. She sniffed and swallowed it back.

“That—back there,” he began, “It don’t mean...she’s just—”

“What does she see ?” Alex whispered.

He shook his head slowly.

“I don’t know. You gotta be on edge, maybe she’s pickin’ up on that.”

“She was talking about it being hot. Zargon’s an ice moon. What does she mean?”

“Maybe she don’t mean the weather. Maybe she means...I don’t know, the mood of the place, how rough it is.”

Alex was not convinced.

“She was so...frantic,” she said. “I’ve seen her be really odd, but never hysterical like that.”

Mal laughed quietly. “Yeah, well, believe me, it ain’t a first. Girl definitely has her momen