TITLE: "WATCHING"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "FIREFLY"

PAIRING: Zoe. Mal. Simon.

RATING: PG-13

STATUS: SEQUEL to "REGARD"

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed.

EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "Zoe notices the tentative dance Simon is doing

around Mal when he thinks no one is watching."

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.

"WATCHING"

A "Firefly" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

* * * * *

I see the dance they play, the one hidden from the other. Only those on the sidelines get a glimpse of what is going on under the surface but even then the subtleties are so fleeting. Like ghosts that have no conscious form. Thoughts that will never become actions. The lingering looks from the doctor when no one is watching except I am attuned to the Captain so notice when he becomes the object of such intense, if furtive, scrutiny. He is my dearest friend and I am protective of that most reckless of hearts. Badger called it right when he said he was a man of honour in a den of thieves. A misfit of jumbled pieces none of which make him whole. The doctor is fine enough I'll give him that but he is all sharp angles and high expectations. His body follows the knife edge of his mind and I am concerned that whomsoever he touches will carry the scars for life. And my friend, for all his courage and stern command, is tender hearted in the extreme. Should never have taken the fugies on board, nor given house room to a Preacher whose God he will not acknowledge. Then there's the gorram whore. What in the nine hells was he thinking to let her rent a shuttle? But I know and in my silence am complicit.

Wash thinks I lust after the Captain. That is so rutting funny I could laugh 'cept the tears would choke me. It ai