Title: Night Terrors

Author: Ana Sedai

Rating: PG

Character(s): Mal, River

Prompt: 042 - Monsters

Word Count: 815

A/N: Ninth in my Joss100 Mal/River series. I know I have to start writing these faster!

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Mal was not a heavy sleeper. Years of war and hard living had left him with an overdeveloped sense of hearing, and any little noise that penetrated the walls of his bunk also tended to penetrate his shut-eye. This was occasionally a problem, as when Simon and Kaylee got a bit, er, vocal in her bunk, but overall he was thankful for it. His hearing sounds in the night had saved their asses on more than one occasion.

So when the sound of breaking glass snapped his eyes open, he made sure his gun was in its holster before he left his bunk. Early had been a hard lesson learned.

He headed for the kitchen, tiptoeing a little bit, and poked his head around the corner. He saw River kneeling on the floor, picking up the remains of a cup and saucer. It looked like she hadn’t even been able to start the tea before the accident. Her back was to him, but he could still see her graceful movements as she handled the shards.

“Not polite to spy, you know.”

She said this without turning around, and suddenly Mal felt a mite guilty, then a mite annoyed. He stepped fully into the kitchen. “It’s my gorram ship. I hear something break, I go check it out.”

River didn’t answer. She finished cleaning up, rose to her feet, and dumped the pieces into the trash, all without facing him. Great, now he’d hurt her feelings. Head down, she made to leave, but Mal caught her hand before she could go. Gently, he asked, “Albatross, what’s the matter? Why’re you up so late?”

Finally, she lifted her face, and Mal caught his breath. Her eyes were full of stark, raving terror. Okay, now he was scared. “River, you gotta tell me what’s goin’ on.”

Biting her lip, she answered simply. “Monsters. They won’t be quiet. I hear them when I sleep, when I’m awa