Mal sat in the Med Bay, not really knowing why he was there. Jayne was still doped up and unconscious. At least he was breathing normally again and not through the neck. The doc and everyone else were in the galley. He looked at him again, the man had changed so much since he had first come on board. He had gone from a self-serving mercenary to what he was now, a man who would lay down his life for another without thought for his own. Mal knew it was not his doing, it was Serenity and everyone else on board that made him into the kind of man his momma would be proud of. Everyone had changed, except maybe him and Zoe.

“Somethin’ on yer mind, Mal?” slurred Jayne. Mal raised his head and then stood up.

“How you feelin’?” he asked. Jayne shook his head, he did not want to answer that question at the moment, he wanted something else to concentrate on. Mal made sure he was in the man’s view so he did not have to move too much. “Got somethin’ to tell you.”

“To do with the fact that Karl ain’t bin in here to see me?” Mal’s eyebrows shot up and Jayne tried to smile and failed. “Doc’s a poor liar.” Mal took a breath and told Jayne, keeping to the point as he still looked groggy.

“Karl stayed on Greenleaf to look for Bane. Our cargo was Thornberg’s daughter. We’ve just dropped her off at Boros. We were going to head straight back to Greenleaf, but Inara needs rescuing – she’s been expelled from the Guild and has lost everything. The distance to Sihnon is the same as the distance to Greenleaf.” He paused long enough for Jayne to but in.

“You wanna know who to choose?” Mal shrugged one shoulder, but said nothing else. Jayne broke his gaze and starred at the ceiling awhile. “Can’t make Captain-y decisions for yer, Mal, but I reckon Inara’s a sight more vulnerable then Karl and Bane.”

“That’s what Zoe said.”

“Then why’d you not listen to her?” asked Jayne, annoyed.

“I did,” Mal said, smiling a little. “I jus’ needed to know that you were okay with it too.” Jayne rolled his eyes, he could