Archangel – Chapter Four

Author owns no part of the Firefly ‘verse, and writes only for his own pleasure, and hopefully that of others :)

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It had been a year since Miranda. A year since the crew had ventured into reaver space, lost two of their own, and so many more, besides. A year since the operative had cleared their warrants, and done what he could to protect Simon and River Tam.

The year had been a hard one, for all concerned. Zoe was almost consumed by grief that she refused to allow out. Mal was absorbed in trying to keep his ship flying, and protect his crew.

River was immersed in her new job as a pilot, and her newly found sanity. She still had the occasional rough spot, but somehow the release of the Miranda wave, discovering the source of her madness, had restored her sanity. Simon couldn’t figure out how that had happened, and spent endless hours studying blood tests and scans, looking for the answer.

Kaylee focused on her engine. She and Simon had briefly got together after the Wave, while they were all busy re-building the ship. But his obsession with River’s sickness, and now with her cure, took more and more of his time. Finally Kaylee ended things between them. She was sad, but she realized that she would always play second fiddle to anything related to River or her health.

Inara had remained with the crew, taking leave from the Guild to be with Mal while he recovered. Once Mal was on his feet, he had, from nowhere, asked her to stay. Their relationship was still a bit rocky at times, but they were working on it. And Inara had helped rebuild their list of business contacts after so many had perished at the hands of the Alliance.

And Jayne, well, Jayne was quiet. He had withdrawn into himself, somewhat, after all was said and done. He made no vulgar comments, engaged in no rough pranks. He turned moody, and quiet. Occasionally he would lash out, unexpectedly, furiously. Never at them, but at objects around him. He would later mumble an apology, and fix or