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If All the World

Part 1/1

By Philomel

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Disclaimer: These characters and this universe are not mine, I didn't create them, and their owners still own them. I'm just borrowing.

PLEASE do not archive, print, or post anywhere else without permission. Please e-mail me and ask first. Rated PG-13.

Author's Note: This is my first Firefly fic, and it's fairly rough--it's pretty much fluff with Zoe and Wash thrown in there.

Feedback: If you have any comments, positive or negative, I'd be more than grateful to hear them.

Thanks for reading.

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He bothered her.

It wasn't so much about anything in particular, or even anything in general. He was just ...

Too irreverent, too glib, too compassionate, too ...

Maybe it was the insouciant smile, or the incessant quips, or those silly dinosaur toys that littered the bridge.

Maybe it was his ability to make a damned fine cup of coffee, or his need to always be in on every joke, or the slightly insecure quaver in a voice that was always rock-solid in a crisis.

Maybe it was the way he looked at her.

He just bothered her, was all.

Mal thought she was being ridiculous, and ignored her various complaints, until she kept quiet about them. He was the pilot, she was the first mate, and they had to find a way to work together. That was that.

And then it changed.

It changed on Sisyphus, a small planet just off the Core, terra-formed but mostly not too bad off, where they'd had their third major job. Wash had been their pilot for just over six months, Kaylee had been with them for almost five, and Jayne had been crew for not more than a few weeks. That much crew, the job had to be better paying than most--Mal had been worried about keeping Jayne happy--and then this contract just kinda fell into their laps.

It had been billed as a milk run, but it had paid really well, and it had been practically legit