Disclaimer and Notes: Joss Whedon's toys, my sandbox. :-) Set after "Serenity".

In the Stillness

by Raine Wynd

It's not quiet in the evening on a ship like Serenity. River hears more than she should, hears the way the engine labors to turn, one piston just a fraction off, not enough to be yet a problem, but it will, oh it will, and she bites back the need to say anything. She knows by now Mal will push on until the repair's absolutely necessary.

The crew leaves her alone to steer while they sleep; she does not mind. Alone, she is free to listen or not listen as she chooses. Sometimes when they have passengers, she listens more than she knows is proper, but manners are something she pulls out only when reminded. She knows she will never be a lady, and sees no point in being one. She is not a Companion; she has no desire to be even if she understands the value of Inara's knowledge and skills. She was designed to be more than she knows, and even she scares herself; she doesn't need to hear the wary appreciation the crew doesn't think she hears, late at night, when their thoughts are louder than their voices.

Yet here, sitting at the helm, Wash's dinosaurs for company, her hands steady on the wheel, she is everything she wants to be.

finis 9.25.07