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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Leon awoke with a start: his eyes blinked against light, his hand rising to shield his face. For a few seconds he was gripped with dread, catching his breath hard. His muscles tensed and he struggled up onto his elbows, staring around the room. The unthreatening walls of the cabin looked back at him. Slowly his memory caught up with him in the here and now: Not in prison any more. On board that ship. He let out an unsteady breath and pushed himself into a sitting position on the bed, blinking in the light. Guay. Slept in my clothes. He slowly swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rested his feet on the floor: rubbed a hand over his face. Then he looked across the room, to where a stainless steel washbasin was let into the wall. Get it together. Face the day.

He stripped off the borrowed shirt and t-shirt, wincing as he moved his left arm. The sharp pain had almost gone, but lifting his shoulder to shuck off the clothes started a throbbing that made him stop and lean on the washbasin, pressing his lips together. The pain gradually eased away, leaving him shaky and clammy-faced. He ran water into the basin and washed the sweat away, sluicing his head and body until he felt fully awake.

Dried and back in the clothes he’d shaken the worst of the creases out of, he hesitantly opened his cabin door, to look out onto an empty corridor. It was quiet apart from the steady hum of the ship’s engines. Slowly Leon stepped down the corridor, retracing the route he’d taken the night before. He came out into the common area outside the infirmary and stopped: River was sitting curled up in one of the armchairs. Her eyes rested on him in the doorway a