TITLE: "ALL'S WELL"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "FIREFLY"

PAIRING: K/S. All the crew plus OC.

RATING: G.

STATUS: Standalone Christmas story

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed.

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

WEBSITE: http://unilelu.net/Alison/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "Inara stumbles on a seemingly innocuous

piece of information that throws the Captain into the kind

of quandry his crew cannot help him with. Meanwhile

the season of goodwill is getting closer and the crew have

plans to make it the shiniest one yet."

The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly'

are the property and gift of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

No infringement of copyright is intended.

"ALL'S WELL"

"Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

Inara Serra hadn't meant to be nosey but with the Captain so quiet and withdrawn she was unsettled. Perhaps if she had been thinking straight she might have respected his privacy and let it be but the recording was still active, just on pause. The logo flashing reminding her this was not a live feed so no one would know if she actually played it again. Checking to make sure Mal didn't catch her Inara carefully eased the door shut and went back to the console. Telling herself she was simply worried about the Captain, Inara hit the play button and watched as the odd little message played out. Short, succinct and more than a little baffling. Why should a recorded message about 'good news' upset the man so much?

The Companion longed to ask, to pry, to trick it out of Mal but knew it was not her place. If he wanted to tell her he would. Pausing the recording so that the image froze again on the logo Inara went to the door, listened for a moment, then eased it open again. It was late. Two in the am and most of the crew were sleeping. Not feeling up to making tea to settle her sleepiness in case she bumped into the Captain, Inara went back