Zoe walked into the infirmary just as Simon was pulling the bullet from Mal's leg. She had the Captain's gun, forgotten in the cargo bay, in her left hand and the one Josephine had used tucked into her belt. "Is it bad?"

Simon looked up from his work, glancing quickly at the woman before turning back to Mal. "He's seen worse, just lost more blood than I'd like. He'll be fine."

Nodding at the Doctor, Zoe placed Mal's gun on the counter before walking to the Captain's side. He was laying back, face pale and eyes half closed. Her gaze wondered to his hands, where he still had the diamond clasped in them firmly. Gently, she put her hand on the diamond and looked a question at him. At his nod, Zoe unwrapped his fingers and took it from him. Gingerly, she held it up in front of her. The diamond was sticky with blood from where the Captain had tried to stop his leg from bleeding, but somehow it still managed to sparkle under the harsh lights of the infirmary.

"Put that somewhere safe," Mal said, his voice gravely.

Zoe smiled down at him. "Don't worry, I'll keep it away from Jayne."

Mal started to laugh, but it quickly turned into a cough, and Simon looked at him sharply. "I'm going to give you something to help you sleep, before I start closing it up."

"Sounds good, Doc. I could use a little rest."

Simon pulled a syringe from the drawer near him and turned Mal's arm with the underside up, pressing the needle into it firmly. The Captain felt his eyes get heavy almost immediately, but fought to keep them open.

"Zoe?" She had retreated to the side of the room, but was at his side again at the sound of her name.

"Sir?"

"Where did she get that gun?"

Dropping her eyes from his, Zoe looked a bit embarrassed. "It's one of mine. I gave it to her when I put her in the shuttle."

Mal patted her hand. "No need to feel shame about it. That decision mighta saved my life." Inside, he was surprised Zoe would trust Josephine with a gun so readily. That just weren't like his first mate. He let himself relax back into the table, the drug taking over, making his voice groggy. "Where are we headed?"

"River's just putting some distance between us an Acorus, no destination set. I figure we should drift for awhile till we can find a buyer for this." She held the diamond up and Mal nodded.

"Good, good. Soon as I wake up we'll get on the cortex, look up the usual people..." his voice trailed off and Zoe watched him sigh before giving in and falling asleep.

Simon worked in silence after Zoe left, probably to lock up the diamond somewhere safe he assumed, quickly stitching up the small hole in the Captain's leg.

"How is he?"

The Doctor looked up, startled, to see Josephine hesitating near the entrance. "He'll be fine, he's just sleeping."

Looking relieved to hear that Mal was out, she stepped through the doors and walked quietly over to Simon. "Can I help?"

"Well I'm almost done... but if you want," he gestured to a small basin of water and a cloth, "he's got a lot of blood on his hands, and some on his face."

She gave Simon an odd look. Jo was fairly sure Mal would not appreciate her cleaning him up, she felt the intimacy of the task was better reserved for a friend or lover. All the same, she picked up the basin and cloth and moved it closer to the Captain. She saw Simon watching her out of the corner of his eye as she did. Clearly, he didn't think she would do as he said. But she owed Mal that much, at least. Not many would let her, or even insist, she stay on the ship knowing full well her story and the trouble it would bring. She dipped the cloth in the cool water and raised one of his hands, stroking gently across the palm. As she rinsed the blood off, she stole a glance at Simon. Of course, she figured Mal had done this sort of thing before. The way he refused to tell her about Simon and River, about their past. Those two had brought their own special brand of trouble to this ship, she assumed, and yet they were still here.

Sighing softly, she rinsed the rag again and went to change the water in the basin, now tinted pink from Mal's blood. When she turned back, Simon was hovering near the door, staring at her. "I'm all done here." His eyes were cautious, as if he didn't want to leave her alone with the Captain, but not wanting to make her leave. "You going to be alright in here?"

"I'm just going to finish this and then I'll go."

Simon nodded. "Shut the doors behind you."

Jo watched him walk away, before turning back to Mal. He looked so peaceful, not at all like himself, while he slept. She picked up his other hand, and the blood was more stubborn now, as though it had dried on this hand and not the other. She rubbed with more force, watching the flakes of blood fall softly and float on the surface of the water. She realized suddenly that she hoped she never had to do this again, never had to watch blood fall from this man. Not because she wouldn't, but because he simply didn't deserve to be bloody. There was only one man she knew of who deserved to be covered in his own blood, and Jo sincerely wished to be the one to make him so. No, Malcolm Reynolds was a good man, and she had no idea what to make of him because of it.

"Are you tryin' to rub the skin off?"

She gasped and her elbow hit the basin, sloshing water on the floor. She dropped his hand suddenly, cheeks burning as she realized the blood had all come off awhile ago, but she had continued to rub his hand until the skin was red.

"Oh diyu, I'm sorry!" He watched, slightly amused, as she disappeared under the table to wipe up the water.

"It's fine." He raised his hand, examining it, and his eyes widened. She'd given him quite the little burn sore by her rubbing.

"I don't know what I was thinking," she said as she stood back up. She stared at him, a small smile playing on her lips, for a long moment, making him fidget uncomfortably.

"What?"

"It's just a nice change. Not being the one on the table," she explained as she reached the cloth up to his face.

His hand closed around her wrist, stopping her. "What are you doing?"

"You've got blood on your face."

"Oh." He released her hand, but looked at her dubiously. "You're not gonna rub the skin off my face, are you?"

She smiled down at him. "I'll be careful." She touched his face lightly, drawing the cloth over his right cheek. He winced slightly as she passed over the bruise but remained silent, eyes on her face. "That's going to be some bruise," she spoke softly.

When she was finished, he watched her dip the rag in the basin, squeezing the blood out. "That's not all mine is it?"

"No, some of it was Marco's."

He looked at her again. "You shot him." It wasn't a question, but it seemed important for him to hear her say it, as if he wasn't sure somehow.

"I did." Her voice was soft and she turned to empty the basin.

"Where did you learn to shoot?" She could here the surprise in his voice and smiled at him as she walked back.

"Come on Mal, I spent six years of my life on a farm with a bunch of old cowboys," she answered him, amused at his interest. "There weren't many girls so I spent a lot of time with them, Caroline would have said too much time. But they taught me how to shoot when I probably should have been learning needle point, or some such thing." Her smile widened. "Just don't ever ask me to sew anything, cause I wouldn't know where to begin!"

"Duly noted," the Captain spoke quietly as he watched her closely, a puzzled countenance, as if he wasn't exactly sure what to make of her either.

Her smile faded as he stared at her and she began to fidget. "Well... I should let you rest. Your people are probably anxious to fence that diamond, and they can't do that without you." She turned to go.

"Thank you." She almost didn't hear it, but she turned back to him.

"It's no problem, believe me I don't want it. I'd much rather you get some money from it."

"That ain't what I meant." He raised himself until he was sitting up and looked at her again. "Thank you for saving my life."

Jo dropped her gaze to the floor. "Don't..." she whispered.

"Why not?"

When she looked back up, Mal was surprised to see that her eyes were moist. "Because your life didn't need saving when I wasn't here." She hurried from the room before he could agree with her.

"It's called the Catharsis Stone, because it's supposed to bring who over holds it to peace, a load of goushi if you ask me. Bryce owns in technically, but it stayed mainly in a museum on Persephone." The crew sat around the oak table, listening to Josephine. "It's known all over, which is going to make finding a buyer hard." She looked around at each of them, eyes finally resting on Mal. "But something tells me you've dealt with worse."

He nodded at her. "We know some people."

"Sir?" He nodded at Zoe, telling her to go ahead.

"I think we should sell it at a flat rate to one of our contacts, get it off our hands quicker. Then they can haggle with the buyers."

The Captain leaned back in his chair. "Makes sense. Anyone have any ideas who might want this rock?" He gestured to the diamond, sitting in the middle of the table.

Jayne looked at the gem as though he'd very much like to keep it for his self, before turning to Mal. "What about Badger?"

Mal shook his head. "He's the one that got us the job with Rawley." He glanced at Jo. "He's too close. We need to be thinkin' farther out."

"Well..." all eyes turned to Simon as he cleared his throat. "You're not going to find a buyer for it on any of the outer planets or moons, they couldn't afford it, nor would they have any need for it. We'll have to go closer to the core."

Mal nodded, impressed with the Doc's reasoning, before he spoke. "And it'll have to be someone flashy, someone who tries to impress..." he turned to Zoe, an idea on his face. "Fanty and Mingo," he spoke as though he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before.

"Who are they?" Jo looked around the table.

"Brothers. Twin brothers who hail from Beaumonde," Mal began. "Annoying cusses really, but they fancy themselves sophisticated. They won't be able to pass this up."

The others nodded their heads in agreement and Mal and Zoe left to send the twins a wave from the bridge. Jayne muttered something about lifting and left shortly after. Josephine watched Simon and Kaylee sitting closely together, touching each other gently. Kaylee whispered something in his ear coquettishly, and they said their goodbyes soon after. Jo looked across the table at who she was now alone with. River. She hadn't seen the young pilot much, but she sensed there was something off about her, as she stared, unblinkingly at Jo.

"Would you like a refill?" Jo asked as she stood up with her own glass. River ignored her, choosing instead to continue staring at her. Josephine could feel her gaze as she walked to the kitchen and back.

Jo sat down again, somewhat rattled by the young woman's attention. She looked down at herself, making sure she hadn't sprouted any extra limbs before looking at the young woman again. "Shenme?"

Tilting her head to the side, River regarded her a second more before speaking. "So much pain, but she doesn't run weeping. So much strength, but she can't stop it. Body and mind."

Jo paused a moment, her mouth open in shock. "Riiiight. Listen River, I..."

"Do you cry?" River interrupted.

"Everyone cries."

"But you don't cry enough, for what has happened. It's all bubbling up inside you. To come out in your dreams. Nightmares." River's voice was matter of fact, and Jo got the impression that she should listen to her. She knew that what River said made sense, but it didn't make it any less frightening at hearing it said by a perfect stranger.

They sat silently for a few more minutes, River still staring at Josephine curiously, before Jo couldn't take the scrutiny anymore. Mumbling goodnight, she left the kitchen quickly.

Mal walked back in as she was going through the door and he looked at River questioningly.

Smiling, River stood up and walked over to him. "I took a look around. I think it scared her."

"Well of course it would, you shouldn't do that! Or at least keep it to yourself when you do, dong ma?" She nodded, still smiling, and Mal sat back down at the table. "Good. Set a course for Beaumonde."

River turned to head for the bridge but he called her back suddenly. "Albatross?"

She turned back to him, that innocent smile still on her lips. "So... does she think I'm handsome?"

The young psychic could sense that he was only half joking and her smile became a grin. "No." Giggling inwardly at his frown, she left for the bridge.