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Monty had never pretended to know who exactly was on Reynolds's crew--he preferred it that way and so did every smuggling or salvage crew he'd ever known. If he was stopped or if Reynolds was stopped and questioned, it was easier to pretend you didn't know who was working the job if you actually didn't know. He did know that Zoe was still with him and probably would be forever, and that they had a damn good pilot she'd married. There was a big man with a goatee who did a lot of cargo lifting and once or twice Monty had caught sight of a very young woman in coveralls, but otherwise he didn't even try to pay attention. That changed when Mal suddenly stopped showing up to meetings.
The first time it was Zoe who walked down the ramp to shake Monty's hand over the deal, he wasn't especially worried. He liked Zoe well enough, and while he couldn’t joke with her like he could with good old Mal, she got the job done and she was courteous.
The second time he dealt with Zoe alone, he started to feel uneasy. The crew was smaller these days; everyone knew that their run-in with reavers had been rough. Monty had heard that Zoe herself had lost that smiley pilot husband of hers, but as far as he'd been told, Mal hadn't died.
The third time he worked a smuggling job with Zoe running the deal, he had to ask.
"Mal's alive," Zoe told him. "He just ain't in fighting shape these days. He's with one of our contacts on a moon right now; needs the time to recover somewhere without having to climb a ladder in and out of his bunk six times a day."
"Hopefully he isn't going too stir crazy," Monty said, "cooped up planetside and all. Give him my best," Monty said, and Zoe managed a smile.
"I will."
She looked sad in a way that Monty had thought she'd permanently shed once she and Mal got that ship. Zoe had always been stoic during the war--no nonsense where Mal would sometimes goof off, quiet and reserved where Mal would go off hooting and hollering at a particularly spectacular grenade flash. For a little while, they'd both been sunk in despair before she'd clawed her way out of it, but now…she wore the grief for her husband like it was a blanket soaked in mud. It made Monty wish he'd had the chance to get a beer with the late pilot. Must've been a hell of a guy. Probably pretty funny, too.
Mal eventually waved him once, mostly to confirm that yes, he was still alive. The whole crew crowded around the vidscreen and after Mal said goodbye they tried their best to guess where he'd been. A cathouse, looked like, considering the pretty young women and men in flashy clothes who peered over his shoulder to wave hello, though someone in a big fleece sweater had walked behind him holding a toddler for a brief moment.
Nearly a year on, Mal was still nowhere to be seen and Zoe walked down Serenity's ramp accompanied by one of the most beautiful women Monty had ever seen. She wasn't quite dressed like a hired gun, but she had a weapon on her, and she stood quietly and listened to Zoe and Monty discuss the deal.
"This is Inara," Zoe said after everything was settled. Inara stepped forward to shake Monty's hand.
"Howdy," Monty said. Inara smiled.
"Pleasure to meet you."
"She's serving as first mate right now," Zoe said, and there was just the barest hint of a proud smile.
"Well, you're in good hands for learnin'," Monty said, and that was the end of their little interaction. He watched them walk up the ramp into Serenity and just before he turned to re-board his own vessel, he caught a glimpse of Zoe taking the other woman's hand in hers.
Apparently the rest of his crew had noticed too.
"Moved on pretty fast from that husband of hers," Englesberg muttered. Monty rounded on him.
"How can you say that?"
"Well, I mean…I just don't hear nothing about him from her."
"What kind of something did you wanna hear, huh? Details on how he died? Excuse me, Mrs. Washburne, could you give me the run down of exactly how you became a widow? Go ahead, try asking her that the next time we run a job with her."
"Engles is just mad he can't pull a Companion," Iwasaki muttered.
"How do you know she's a Companion?" Monty asked him. Iwasaki shrugged.
"Talked with their mechanic once and she told me."
"It's been near on a year," Rhodes pointed out. "Engles wanted to see Washburne mourn like those high society ladies on Londinium."
"I didn't! And that's just a myth, besides."
"Listen! Life keeps moving," Monty told him. "Can't stay stuck in the past forever. We mourn and we keep on marching. Wouldn't expect a border planet boy who never saw combat to understand that, though. No one oughta begrudge the corporal for finding some happiness."