Alone again? Choices made. [narrative]
The conversation with Captain Jack had been...it'd been a conversation with Captain Jack. And, if Zoe had known what she was going home to, she might have stayed and let the captain drink her under the table. If she had known.
The Amazon stopped by one of the stores open later in the evening and picked up a few things, just a few, including some mints to cover the smell of alcohol. It probably wouldn't work to cover the taste, but she'd try. She hadn't really explained Captain Jack to Wash, not yet. Perhaps tonight was a night for it; she had a feeling she'd be explaining quite a bit tonight.
The apartment felt a little empty once she got in, and she worked against that feeling by whipping up a meal. Wash didn't get those very often on Serenity, which meant he'd probably be suspect of this one. He'd have every right to that feeling, too; Zoe wouldn't be too angry about it. Of course, it might lead to a fight, but fighting could lead to other, more enjoyable activities. The Amazon smiled slightly at that thought, her fingers working the dough for the buns.
It was a few hours later that saw the meal fixed, the kitchen cleaned, and Serenity's first mate picking out what she might wear for the night. She'd decided to go for drop dead gorgeous. At first she didn't notice that the closet seemed a little bigger. She hadn't even noticed that the drawers felt a little less cluttered. But, as she went to get her shoes, really sort of pointless seeing as they were in their own apartment, she realized that hers were the only shoes to be found.
Zoe could have panicked, but that really wasn't what Zoe did. She stood up slowly and thought it through. The City must have moved him to Serenity, or he moved himself there. She really did need to get used to that, or maybe she'd talk him into living on land. The idea of starting a family was going to have to wait, maybe. The dress was set to the side, and the warrior woman quickly yanked on the usual gear. She supposed she could beat two birds with one stone: Mal and Wash.
So, she headed to Serenity, poor thing still landbound, and amazingly the City let her find it with only a few detours. That should have told her something; it should have warned her, but she supposed it was more her desire to get this over with than to prolong the waiting, the uncertainty. Again, there was that feeling of emptiness, that feeling of incomplete, that she'd felt in the apartment. Her lips thinned as she started searching the ship, calling out to her husband first then her captain, trying not to wince at how hollow it sounded. She checked the bunk she shared with Wash - none of his things were there. Nothing. Not even the few toys she let him keep on the limited shelf space. She tried the Captain's quarters, and it looked as if he'd been gone for some time.
They were gone. He left her...again.
Zoe didn't cry. She didn't exactly get angry. She went back to her bunk and sat in the larger berth, quietly staring at her hands. She said a soft prayer for her man, and then one for her captain. Then without another word, without more thought, she headed for one of the City's tallest buildings.
It wasn't necessarily what she'd do; she thought she'd changed, no more hiding when she fought. She'd thought she'd be different, and in some ways she was. Alfred looked a little sad when he realized what she was there to do; he understood more than anyone the tolls this would take, but the City needed someone to protect it. Perhaps this young woman could do the job Master Wayne could no longer do.