based on the world of Firefly by J Whedon

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I can feel them....I can feel them hunting....

It's dark on Serenity. Something I'm still not use to. Everywhere I've stayed, the lights have been bright. My cage was never dark. My creators too afraid that I'd find a way to use it to my advantage. Funny how well they knew me.

Something to my left as I lay suspended in the rough hammock Mal let me string up in the corner of the bay. It's my space in the dark, a spot to go when I needed silence, needed the security of the ship's engines and nothing more. Even high above, I could still hear everyone. Kaylee moaning for Simon to take the baby tonight, River dancing on the floor as Jayne cleans, yet another of his prize weapon's. Mal is in the pilot seat, the gentle rising and falling of his breaths telling me he has yet again fallen asleep. Kitty lays in my bed, the one room Mal gave me to store the research we have gathered over the months. In the kitchen, I hear Zoe and Inara, talking though I don't eavesdrop. The delicate scent of tea leaves pours over me for a moment.

Batha lay next to me, a feat I have still yet to learn as to how her mammoth form manages the jump, but she does. Her big paw bats the red hair that falls across my shoulders and I feel her low tail teasing the skin on my left leg. Everyone is content, everyone has found their place.

A presence, gentle and strong touches my inner self, and at first, I think it's River. She has gotten stronger and now can almost find where I hide the ball in my head. Last time, she had also brought out the beast in me. Thankfully, we have found a peaceful medium. I've found with Mal, blood and fights go with anything that's even remotely considered a job.

I feel it touch me, soft and first, exploring my memories, my thoughts, and then even the darker things that lay hidden. At those, I growl back a warning. River wouldn't dare go there. She had been told once before that those were left for me and me alone to k