"Tucker," Wash practically sighed his name, the exasperation and impatience packed into just one word so damned familiar by now.

Now, Wash could have dug his heels in could have stood his ground and Tucker could have pulled on his armor until his arms fell off and the Sim trooper wouldn't have budged him so much as an inch.

But after a moment's hesitation, the former Freelancer let himself be tugged inside the room though he at least had enough common sense to shut the door behind them. "Only if you promise to turn down the music a little, okay?"

He didn't know why he was letting himself get dragged into this mess, all he wanted was to crawl into his rack and sleep for a couple of years, but he was concerned about Tucker. And Wash had always been the type of guy who let the squad come before his own personal wants or needs.

"About as well as you can expect it. Then she made it abundantly clear she wanted to be left alone and I wasn't going to force the issue."