Inevitable
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Unexpected things can happen in the wake of a crisis...
CATEGORY: FICTION TIMES READ: 3612 RATING: 9.0 (G) SERIES: FIREFLY
Written for the 17th Firefly Friday Challenge--100 to 1000 words set during or just after the events of "Serenity" (the pilot).
No archiving, please. The usual disclaimers apply.
Posted because somebody had me feeling a wee bit guilty...
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"Inevitable"
(c) 8/3/2003 HawkMoth
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Inara watched Shepherd Book leave her shuttle with shaky steps, hands clasped and his head still bowed. She turned, breathing deeply to keep calm, moving with careful deliberateness as she cleared away the things she had used to minister to his injuries, and put to rights what had been tossed about in Serenity's desperate flight away from Whitefall.
Only after order was restored and everything was in its proper place did she let her control slip away. She collapsed on the sofa, trembling as she finally allowed herself the release of tears.
We're out of the woods, people.
But they had been so deeply lost, and finding a way out had seemed so unlikely.
Mal had threatened cold-blooded murder. If he had thrown the young doctor out the airlock, more than likely none of them would have been able to cope with his poor damaged sister. Without proper care, how long would she have survived?
Mal had then offered an equally brutal compromise. If he had dumped them both on Whitefall, or any other desolate rock at this end of space, he still would have been responsible for two deaths.
Either way, Inara would have carried out her threat and left Serenity. Whether Kaylee had lived or died, she would have demanded Mal take her back into civilized territory so she could leave. If it had been necessary, she would have stolen her shuttle to get away.
Then the Reavers had returned and everything had changed. She watched Mal shoot Dobson without a moment's thought, and no word of protest had passed her lips. They dumped his body like so much rubbish and she was almost glad to see it happen.
Is this what life is like out here?
Sometimes.
She had given the Shepherd what comfort she could, knowi
You can't take the sky from me
Shiny work HawkMoth!
Guilt is a useful crowbar!!
Keep flyin'
K
no power in the verse
xoxox-fredikayllow-xoxox
Okay, now that I'm done yelling at you...
*sniff*
Beautiful, sweet. Despite Inara seeming so collected in Serenity, I really like this take here that she had been holding together a facade of strength.
I mean wow, you've found a moment of profoundness in something I'd never really given another thought. I like how you've made that moment Inara's turning point as well.
And, best part, it still all fits within the framework of the show, which is a bonus for me.
I'm also liking your use of lines from the show. You did it in at least one other fic that I read, the Simon one, and it really works to great effect.
*does the snoopy dance* I got my Hawkmoth fix!
These lines stand out for me:
"You could plan and scheme and struggle and fight, but in the end you did whatever it took to survive, letting cost and consequence matter later. That was the way of it, the lesson she'd been learning since she had first set foot on Serenity."
And there, ladies and gentlemen of the flaniverse, is the distilled reason we love this show so much. It's our fix of rational behavior!
Thank you, HawkMoth, and prise open the vault a little wider so's we can all gawk at yer pretties!
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