Chapter Two

disclaimer: still don’t own ‘em

A/N Chapter two. This chappie has a lot of exposition. Lots o talk, no action, as it were. That should change in a chapter or two, but let me know if this is a bad direction to go in, and I should skip my stupid philosophical, pseudo-psychological ramblings. I’m all for participatory writing. This is, after all, fan fiction. At this point I am assuming that I will write 4 more chapters after this (To Strive, To Seek, To Find, And Not to Yield). After all, this is way more fun than what I should be doing.

an explanatory note on the use of ‘G-d’ . Don’t worry, the ‘o’ key on my computer works just fine. Its just that Jews prefer not to write the name of the Big Girl upstairs, and while I may not have that much faith, I do believe in the ordering powers of ritual and tradition. So, to maintain my sense of rootedness, I respect the power inherent in the name. So G-d it is.

River’s literary allusions. Not too many this time. Just the state motto of VA (I thinks its VA. Anyone out there from VA?), a couple of poems by e e cummings and one by Walt Whitman. If you are curious about the ‘Olaf’ reference, I have included the entire poem by cummings at the bottom of the page. Its one of my favorites. So is ‘my father moved through dooms of love,’ the other poem used, but that’s too long to put here.

on with the story

But Strong in Will

***

Serenity’s crew stood gathered outside the locked door to the infirmary, peering in through the large panes of glass at the unconscious form within. Varying levels of concern and fear were evident on each face.

‘You sure you took all the knives and needles and such out of there, Doc?’ Wash asked incredulously. ‘You remember what happened the last time we had a survivor in there. What with the forking of his own tongue, skin mutilation, and general homicidal tendencies.’

‘I checked three times. And I gave her double the normal dose of sedative for a person of her body weight.’ Simon sounded as though he wa