Disclaimer: Firely and these characters (and indeed some of the dialogue) belong to Joss Whedon, but the weirdness is all my own!

Warning : Spoilers for “Jaynestown”. And if Mal's not sly, he isn't exactly plain either. PG-13

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Trauma Medicine: Chapter 11. Gave up everything.

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“Captain ... who's Bain?”

Mal doesn't jump. He's too stunned for that. Instead he just stares blankly at Simon. Where the hell'd the boy get that name from? Zoe? Don't hardly seem likely ... He swallows hard. “Huh? What?”

One corner of Simon's mouth lifts. The Captain seems distinctly uncomfortable. “It's something you said,” he explains. “When you were coming round from the Goodnight Kiss.”

Mal forgets to blink. “I – uh- say anythin' else?”

“Nothin' sensible, Sir,” Zoe states crisply from behind them as she steps down into the galley. Mal glances up and a look passes between them. She's got this one. He nods.

“Cody Bain was from Shadow. Enlisted with the Independent forces same time as the Captain,” Zoe tells the medic, placing the empty mugs she's carrying down on the counter. “The three of us fought together for a couple of years.”

“I see.” Simon stands up. He senses that neither Zoe nor Mal want to talk about this. Then a terrible thought occurs to him. “Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't think. Was ... was he killed?”

Zoe presses her lips together and shakes her head. “No. Nothin' like that. Though not for the want of tryin'.” She really shou'n't elaborate but the whole thing still rankles with her. “Nearly got the Captain killed too.”

“It wa'n't like that Zoe,” Mal can't help but interrupt before clamping his mouth tightly shut again under the fearsome glare she's directing at him.

“Anyhow -” she turns back to Simon. “Bain got posted some place else. An' we got posted to Hera. So it turned out real shiny for all of us.” She folds her arms over her chest, indicating this conversation is At. An. End.

Simon rinses out his glass and leaves.

“Thanks,” Mal says