Zoë woke up with a sharp pain in her shoulder. "Sonnabitch."

"She awakes." Wash was sitting on the counter next to her. Zoë got up slowly. "Shouldn't you be flying the ship?" Wash smiled. "I just wanted to see what it was like."

"What's like?"

"You being nice?"

"I was asleep."

"Exactly. You should try it more." Wash hopped up. "Well I guess I should go and fly this thing."

"Try not to fly us into a meter."

"I'll try my hardest. Yao noo First Mate Zoë." Wash took a bow before he left.

Mal past Wash on his way to the infirmary to check on Zoë. "Lovely lady, that one. Gotta try not to fly us into a meter."

Mal looked at his pilot funny. "Call me if you do."

"Yes, sir Capitan." Wash was a smart ass, but Mal liked that. He walked in the infirmary.

"So when's the wedding? Are you going to wear white?" Mal laughed. Zoë just looked at him. "He's a good pilot, Zo. Got us off Eros real quick like."

She didn't say anything as she gathered up her bloody shirt. "Just bothers me."

Zoë left Mal in the infirmary and headed to her bunk. Her shoulder hurt like hell. She was about to go down the stairs of her bunk when she heard singing, it was that silly little pilot.

"Big boy toys, motors and lights. Knobs and switches and spaceships. Flying in sky or space. And when they broke down, I jack them up. Pull out my tools, my pride and joy. Man, you gotta love them big boy toys."

Zoë laugh a bit and headed down to her bunk and rested.

"What was that?" Mal yelled as he ran back into the engine room. There was black smoke. "Bester what is going on?" Bester was running around like a chicken with his head cut off. "Secondary grav boot's shot."

Mal was getting a little tired of things falling about on his boat. This jing-tzang mei young-duh mechanic was not worth as much as he thought. "Gotta land Cap."

Zoë came in the engine room shortly after. "We blowing up, Sir?"

"Not yet, go tell that pilot that we got to land. Bester broke the ship again."

"I didn't break nothing."

Zoë went running to the bridge.

Wash was in his pilot chair playing with his plastic dinosaurs. "No, No, don't kill me." In another voice. "Begging for your life is…"

Zoë interrupted him. "We gotta park, now."

Wash jump up. Zoë rolled her eyes, "We need to park, now, Secondary grav boot's shot." Wash flipped a couple of switches. "Where do you want to park?"

Zoë went over to the console to find a safe place to land. "Here." She pointed to a small moon.

"Shin..." the ship started to shake hard. Knocking Zoë into his lap. Their eyes meet.

"We ain't got time for flirting." Zoë jumped up off of the pilots lap. She looked a little embarrassed. "Where landing on Peros."

"See to that." Mal left in a fit back to the engine room.

Serenity started to shake even worst. But Wash seem to keep his cool as they broke atomo. Zoë was amazed how he could fly Serenity. It was like the Pilot and Serenity where one. She couldn't take her eyes off the Pilot as he landed Serenity. He didn't even break a sweat; he was cool, calm, and collective. The total opposite of what he was most of the time. Always joking. Serenity jolted as Wash hit land. This broke Zoë out of her trance.

"Ha, that was fun." Wash said as started flipping switches, cutting Serenity down.

Zoë looked away at the pilot, hoping that he didn't notice that she was staring at him. "Umm, I should go check on the Captain." Zoë jumped up and left the cock pit.

Wash sat in the pilot's chair pleased with himself. He was wearing her down. He let out an evil laugh as he followed her out to see the damage on the engine room.

"How long till we can get back in the black?" Mal asked as took a look at the damage. Bester let out a long breath. "Umm, a couple of days."

Bester's couple of days turned into four, which turned into a week Mal was loosing his patience with the mechanic. Meanwhile Wash was enjoying his downtime. He was working on his master plan to woo Zoë. Wash went to the kitchen to get something to nibble on, it made a man hungry thinking about wooing a woman, especially a women like Zoë. She was sitting on the crates, they called chairs in the kitchen eating rice that she had made. Wash walked over to the stove. "May I?" He pointed to rice pot.

"Help yourself." She didn't look up. Wash came and sat right beside her with his bowl.

"What kind of name is Wash?" Zoë asked as she went to get herself a second helping of rice.

"Sort for Washborne. Hoban Washborne."

"Hoban?" The sound of her name made her laugh.

"Hoban, is a fine name thank you very much. I was named after my grandfather."

"If it's such a fine name, why go by Wash."

"It's a long story."

"I've got time." She sat back down next too him. Wash grinned from ear to ear.

"Well, it's not as long as you think. Believe it or not, in flight school there was two other Hoban, so I went by Washborne, which got shorten to Wash. So, does the Yao noo First Mate Zoë have a last name?" His diabolical plan to woo Zoë was working. This was the first conversation since he got on Serenity that didn't have to do with Mal or a job.

"Alleyne."

"Gotta a middle name?"

"Yes, but if I tell you I would have to kill you. Captain would be pretty mad if I did that."

"I think I would take offense, if you killed me too."

She smiled. Wash loved it when she smile. Mal had walked back into the room. A young girl followed behind him.

"Wash, Zoë this is Kaylee she's going to be our new mechanic."

Kaylee smiled and waved. "Hiya."

"Sir."

"Bester and I had a difference of opinion so, he had to go."

"Ahh, difference of opinion." Zoë laughed and got up to shake Kaylee's hand.

"Zoë why don't you take Kaylee to her bunk and help get her settled, and Wash take us off this rock." Zoë put down her bowl and lead Kaylee to her bunk.

Damn Mal for ruining his moment with Zoë. Wash didn't know when the next time he could get her alone. Wash decided that it was a conspiracy, that Mal didn't want him wooing her, because Mal had a secret burning desire for his woman. His woman, Wash liked that idea. He took his bowl to the cockpit and prepared for take off.

It had come up once or twice about the nature of Mal's and Zoë's relationship. Whenever Mal would hook up with a woman she always had a problem with Zoë always hanging around. Same problem with Zoë. Her relationship with Mal was the reason that her and Danny weren't together anymore. She had tried to make it work, but he would get so jealous.

"The war's over, Zo. Why are you still hanging around him." Danny was pissed that Zoë had stood him up once again, because Mal had a problem. Zoë was sitting down, tapping her fingers on the table. She was waiting for him to calm down. "Would you stopped that gorram tapping, Zo. It's getting me a headache."

Danny and Zoë had been dating for about a year. He came to visit her in the hospital and he never left her side, neither did Mal. They all went back to Merth. It was hard to find a job, especially if you where a Browncoat. So they took jobs whenever they could didn't matter what. At the moment Zoë and Mal where working as farm hands.

"I mean, you see him all day at work. Don't you two ever get tried of each other. I know… I get tired of you two. It's like I'm dating two people here." Danny had made plans for there one year anniversary. He had got a reservation for a nice restaurant for the two of them. He waited there for an hour before he gave up and went back home to find her with Mal. He had gotten into a scuffle with some people at a bar and showed up at her door bleeding and drunk. Zoë took care of his wounds when Danny walked in on them, the same moment she was taking off his shirt.

"I like Mal well enough…." Danny stopped pacing. He rubbed his fake leg, sometimes it itch where they had the joint connected. "It's him or me Zo. I love you, but I can't do this anymore. You have to choose." He was dead serious as he looked down at her. Danny did love her, wanted to marry her. He asked her once before, but she said no, it wasn't the right time. Mal had been in a dark place since the war ended and it just didn't feel right leaving him.

Danny sat beside her and took her hand. "Zo, I love you." He reached in his pocket and took out a ring. "I want to marry you. But, I can't…"

She stopped him. She looked at the ring. "Danny." He knew what she was going to say so he got up.

Tears were in his eyes. "Fine."

Zoë watched as Danny packed his things and left their tiny apartment that they shared. They didn't speak. He walked out the door not looking back. She just sat there for a moment. She got up and went into the bedroom with Mal and laid down. She woke him up. Mal took her hand and kissed it.

"He, left."

"Yes."

"Sorry, Zoë." They laid there in silence. That night Mal decided that he had to start living again, if not for himself but for her. He knew as long as he was in his funk, she wouldn't allow herself to be happy. There was nothing in this verse that he wanted more. Finally they both drifted off to sleep with Mal holding her.