Disclaimer: These characters and places are owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy... Sadly, neither of those are me.

The rifle clicked ominously. She wasn't playing games anymore. Zoe Alleyne wanted him out and she wanted him out NOW. The first time, she excused it for a mistake, him not knowing Serenity and all. The second time, she had gotten a little testy, and the third time she had become downright indignant. Now she was gorram angry.

Wash's eyes drifted over the blurred image of her wet, naked body through the plexiglass door to the walk-in shower. Then, finding her eyes with his, he gave her a sheepish grin. It was the look a schoolboy gave his teacher when he knows he is in trouble but is going to make jokes about it anyway. "Geez Baobei, you always carry a rifle, even in the shower? There bad guys in there that need shootin'?"

"The only bad guys that need shootin' are the ones that constantly come into the bathroom when people are trying to shower. And you call me sweetheart one more time, you'll know the true definition of bad guy. Dong le ma?"

He grinned, "Yes ma'am." he said with a salute and walked off.

Zoe lowered the rifle, then put it on the shower shelf to keep it from getting too wet. She let the hot water wash away the jitters in her stomach that his eyes gave her, and the blush that was hidden by her dark skin.

***

Wash grinned at himself as he poured a cup of coffee. He had seen the way her hand had shook, seen the darkening of her lovely dark face.

Taking a sip, he resolved that he wouldn't walk in on her in the shower again. At least to not get shot if anything. He was rather fond of his kneecaps and would prefer not to have them blown off.

Sitting down at the table, he thought about what she would look like without a plexiglass door between them. He looked up as Mal walked in.

Mal seemed to be in a huffy mood. Wash soon found out that he had gotten in an arguement with the ship's newest member, a fairly unintelligent, but skilled mercenary, named Jayne Cobb.

"...I swear, the man is so ruttin' stupid, I'm surprised he even knows how to open his eyes in the mornin' and if I do say so myself, it would be a great gift to us all if he didn't..."

Wash snickered into his coffee, "Better be careful Cap'n or his stupid will rub off."

"Damn near." Mal replied, "I swear, I thought you was bad, but at least you're mildly intelligent and have got more sense than a fei-fei duh pi yen." he said, making Wash smile at the near compliment.

Mal was stopped from saying more by the appearance of Zoe, completely clothed with damp hair. "Morning sunshine." He said to the testy, disgruntled look she gave.

Wash grinned to himself, "Well, if we're going to get to Persephone by midday, I guess I'd best be gettin' to the pilotin'. Cap'n, Baobei." he said in farewell and quickly excused himself to the bridge, Zoe's indignant huff audible behind him.

***

The man was moony-brained! Who in their right minds would call her baobei after she specifically told him she would give him a slow painful death if he did. He was driving her insane! It seemed everything he did had a 'let's see how much I can aggrivate Zoe' motive behind it.

So flustered was she by this, that she hardly realized Mal had been speaking. "...honestly asked why the engine was all mechanical if it was supposed to be it's heart when Kaylee mentioned it to him." he stopped for a breath and a drink of coffee. Then he turned to Zoe, who by now was looking at him, "So what's this with Wash callin' you Baobay? You guys got some secret love affair I don't know 'bout?" he joked.

Zoe's face would have been crimson if it weren't chocolate brown. "Don't make me sick sir, I would never- not in a million years- no chance in Hell-"

"Hey now, no need to get aggressive. You seem awfully defensive for something you wouldn't consider." he cut her off with a slight smile.

She huffed at him, "Don't make much outta nothin'." She sidestepped around him, "I'm gonna go check on the cargo."

***

Rubbing the empty space on his upper lip, Wash decided it had been a good idea to shave off his mustache. Still, after two weeks without it, his lip felt naked.

Naked... He wished he could see more of Zoe than her outline in plexiglass.

He sighed and looked out into the black. It was so beautiful, he could only think of one thing in the 'verse that could rival its beauty- Zoe.

Persephone was just at the end of his range of vision, a small brightish orb in the distance. They'd be getting there soon. He picked up the comms talkie, "Attention all crew, we will be docking at the Eavesdown dock on Persephone in little less than half an hour."

Kaylee came onto the bridge, with Jayne right behind her, "No, Jayne, sayin' Serenity's engine is a beatin' heart is a metaphor. It don't mean the engine is a heart in any sense but keepin' the ship runnin'."

"A meta-what?" Jayne asked. Kaylee sighed and Wash snickered. Luckily Kaylee was spared from answering by the arrival of Mal and Zoe.

"Well, we should fence them fast in any case, I don't want them sittin' around burnin' a hole in the cargo bay." Mal was saying.

"I wouldn't want somethin' on my ship that'd burn a hole in it either." Jayne said. Everyone snickered this time.

"Do you even have a brain? How is it possible to speak without a brain? I mean, do you know, because really, I've been dying to know the answer all day." Mal said.

"People function without brains all the time, sir. Speech must be stored in muscle memory." she said glancing at Wash. His face was instantly hot.

Mal sighed, "Anyway, here's the plan. Kaylee, you said we needed a few replacement parts? Well, as soon as we're down, you get 'em. We're gonna get a shiny sum of cash for this and we can afford to take care 'o Serenity. Jayne..." he paused, "You come with me, I don't want you gettin' into trouble. Zo, you're with me too. You, pilotman are gonna stay here and look after the ship. Dong ma?"

He was answered with assent. Then he left to go to the cargo bay to prepare, and Kaylee and Jayne left with Kaylee still trying to explain the whole heart-engine metaphor. Zoe was about to leave when, "Zoe, wait." She stopped, her back still to him.

"Oh, so you decided you valued your life and are going to call me Zoe again?" she asked without turning.

"Look... I'm sorry about this morning. And the last time... And the time before that... and the time before that..." Wash trailed off.

She was so shocked by his apology, that she turned to face him. She thought about it a moment with a stony look on her face. "Apology accepted. But you're still on my list." she turned to walk away.

"Don't you think it's time we stopped this? When we gonna end this banter and admit what we really feel?" he asked.

She whirled on him, "And what might that be?" she was shaking, but the red was visible through the brown.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Life's short Zoe, isn't it time we started living?" He stood up.

"I don't know what you mean." she said, looking away. She couldn't stand the way he confused her, made her unable to think straight. She prided herself in her calm and cool manner.

"I think you do..." he said. "Let's not play games anymore." Before she could say anything in reply, his lips had covered hers in a warm, hungry, passionate kiss.

She flung herself back from him, reeling. Her breathing was labored. "You kissed me!" she said.

He smiled, "You noticed that, huh? Can't get anything past you." She punched him in the stomach. Gasping, he regained his composure and kissed her again. This time she didn't fight back.

Just then the ship beeped that it needed to land and Wash dutifully landed it. The captain announced that they should all get to their jobs now and quit playing with themselves. Zoe and Wash laughed at this.

"Well..." Zoe said, unsure of what to say.

"See you when you get back, Baobei." he said, and then with a evil look from her, he merely kissed her.

She smiled, "If I didn't like you so much, I'd deck you again." and walked off.