Title: Stability

Author: Ana Sedai

Rating: PG

Character(s): BDC (Big Damn Crew) (again)

Prompt: 020 - Still

Word Count: 967

A/N: 19/100 for Mal/River Joss100.

Summary: Everything else swirls around her, but Mal remains still.

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Another day, another ill-advised caper. They were on Beaumonde, scheduled to pick up some slightly less-than-legal contraband from Badger’s contact, a factory owner who didn’t hold a very high opinion of the local economic laws. Serenity was in her usual pre-job state of controlled bedlam.

“Hey, has anyone seen my auto-adjuster?” Kaylee was making last-minute modifications to the Mule, since this cargo was supposed to be a tad bigger than most. Her tools normally were quite well-organized. But, she had been a mite distracted lately…

“Where in the ‘verse is my autoclave?” was Simon’s frustrated yell as he marched into the bay. He was trying to take stock of the infirmary supplies, on the not-so-off chance that something would go wrong that required a stitch or twenty.

“I ain’t tryin’ to be difficult. But no way am I goin’ out again with no grenades!”

“It’s a factory, Jayne. It’s a factory filled with lots of things that go boom. One grenade of yours gets loose, and we’re gonna be among those things.”

Zoe and Jayne were having a rather heated discussion about his tendency to enlist slightly more firepower than was strictly needed for the job at hand. This was assuming that job wasn’t the takeover and subjugation of a small moon, of course.

Mal stood in the middle of the cargo bay, arms folded, a simultaneously affectionate and amused expression on his face as he watched the antics.

And River watched Mal.

She had perched herself on the catwalk above the bay, enjoying the swirl of color and movement as everyone went about their business. Or is that ‘busyness’? she thought, and smiled. She watched the patterns of movement and voices, saw ho