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

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

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Mal was thankful to Simon for keeping Alex heavily medicated the first few days she was awake. There was a conversation he needed to have with her, and he didn’t want to do it until she was stronger. But he couldn’t bring himself to spend much time with her until he did. If she was drugged, he could keep tabs on her without having to actually speak to her and intensify the mixed feelings he was having.

He was truly grateful she had regained consciousness—it was the one positive thing to come out of the mess so far. He had felt indescribable relief when she looked up from the infirmary floor and recognized him.

But then she had lied.

He wasn’t sure what he had expected from her. He just hadn’t expected her to lie so quickly and easily, before she even fully had her wits about her; before she was confronted with any possible need to lie.

Jayne’s words echoed in his head. Woman don’t tell ya she’s got your kid, it ain’t your problem.

He would be well within his rights to just deliver her home to Boros and be done with it.

But he couldn’t do that. Not with a piece of paper in his pocket telling him what she would not. Whatever her reason, he had to know why she wasn’t telling him the truth. He had been through too much with her— for her. She owed him that much. He would ask nothing of her, and expect nothing of her—except an honest answer. And now that she had been conscious for a few days, and Simon was drugging her less and less, the time was drawing near for that talk to happen.

When Kaylee came to him on the morning of the fourth day, Mal knew it was time.

“Cap’n, Alex thinks you’re avoidin’ talking to her for some reason. Are you?”

M