Disclaimer thingy: Firefly/Serenity are owned by other folks and not by me, though I appreciate being able to write some stuff purely for fun inspired by the Firefly 'Verse. All constructive comments and feedback from you shiny readers out there much appreciated!

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The journey to the prison complex was uneventful and a muted calm settled on Serenity and her crew. Mal woke from a blank and dreamless sleep to relieve Zoë on the bridge, telling her to get her head down. She departed with no protest or comment, leaving Mal to take a largely redundant watch as Serenity cruised on autopilot to their destination. After the first few hours he elected to go on autopilot himself, pulling a blanket out of one of the storage lockers and cat-napping in the pilot’s chair, rousing periodically to check on the ship’s progress.

The ship was quiet, the rest of the crew asleep, when readouts signaled that their destination was less than an hour away. Mal sat up, the blanket slipping to the floor; then rubbed his eyes and looked at the monitor screen. “Uhhm.” He flexed his head carefully from side to side, wincing at the stiffness in his neck.

“That chair doesn’t look too comfortable for sleeping in.” Inara’s voice came from behind him and he turned, startled. She walked softly into the cockpit, giving him a quiet smile. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

“No.” He shook his head, then bent to pick up the blanket that had fallen to the floor. She looked at it as he rose and stowed it back in the storage locker. “You haven’t been sleeping up here since yesterday, have you?”

“No.” He smiled as he sat back down, reaching out to touch a control. “I ain’t. Got my head down in my bunk for a few hours. Then I took over from Zoë a spell back, so she could do the same.” He glanced at the chronometer set into the control panel. “She’ll likely be rousing and comin’ up sometime soon.”

Inara sat down in the co-pilot’s chair, looking out first at the stars, then at the cont