A/N: Well, because of my incomparable beta - you get one more chapter before Flan!

This is the 2nd to last chapter for the end of this series. I'm toying with a sequel ... what do you all think? I'll only write it if you'll promise to read ... :o)

Please, please, please comment and for all of you attending Flan this weekend - woohoo!

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Best Intentions, ch. 18

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“We done here?”

Mal was testy, there was no denying that, and as Zoe watched him pace up and down Serenity’s ramp, she told him, “Well, I’m guessin’ that depends.” As he turned to regard her, she asked, “You wanna get paid for our trouble?”

With a sigh, Mal rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Of course, Zoe, but I also want to start back towards Sihnon.”

Zoe looked to him again, reading all the signs of his distress with an expert eye. She had known the man for a long, long time, had seen him at his lowest and possibly highest point and she had to admit, the low he’d reached over the past couple of weeks was new, even for him.

Taking a step towards him, she asked quietly, “What exactly did Inara say to you?”

A sharp snap of his eyes to her face and Zoe knew she’d hit the nail right on the head; of course it had been Inara to throw him off his game. Not that Zoe didn’t like the woman; she did, and she felt that Inara was good for Mal, the high times she’d seen in her friend were when he was courting the Companion. But that still was no excuse to put the rest of the crew in danger by having Mal distracted.

“It ain’t ‘Nara,” he told her foolishly, trying to brush her off. “Why are you always thinkin’ my foul moods gotta be ‘bout ‘Nara?”

Pursing her lips at him, she told him coolly, “’Cause o’ somethin’ Wash used to say.” When Mal turned his attention back to her, she elaborated. “If it roars like a dino and looks like one too then chances are-“

“It’s a dino,” Mal finished for her, letting out another heavy sigh. Meeting his friend’s gaze, he confided, “Somethin’ ain’t right,