Title: The Lonely Brontosaurus
Rating: K+
Summary: The dinosaur fell apart from the others. And Wash knows how it feels.
Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly. Or Serenity. Unfortunately.
Okay, this might be bit confusing.
This fic is set after 'Serenity' (the movie) so you would expect Wash to be dead. But, I wrote another one, Serenity Shattered (which I wrote about six months ago!), which (in a nutshell) managed to resurrect him. This is after Serenity Shatteredso I would advise reading that one first. (Although it is pretty long. Sorry.)
But if you can't be bothered, essentially, Wash became a higher being (an Ascended out of Stargate SG-1, if you watch that), then annoyed some people and was sent back as a Reaver, and then was saved by River.
Confused? Sorry.
The Lonely Brontosaurus
The stars whirled around the outside of Serenity, never staying put for more than a millisecond. Hoban Washburne watched them, his blue eyes vacant, his face sombre.
He dropped his gaze from the starscape and studied the dinosaurs perched around his console, his blue eyes darting between them. He reached out, and snagged the scaled brontosaurus, running his fingertips over the ridged spine of the crafted model. He sighed, the only sound on the bridge of Serenity. He replaced the beast on the console top, subconsciously laying it down apart from the others, lying on its side.
"Wash?"
Wash blinked, and glanced back over his shoulder as Mal paced slowly up the stairs. "Hey," he greeted.
"How long 'til we reach Persephone?" Mal asked, seating himself in the co-pilot's seat.
"'Bout five hours," Wash answered softly, absently, his eyes drawn to the black outside.
Mal watched him. "How are you?" he asked.
Wash glanced over at him. "What d'you mean?"
"Well," Mal started, "first there's the whole dying thing. Then there's the becoming a higher being and looking like a glowing… octopus… thingy. And then, of course, you turned into a Reaver, and finally you came back to us on this boat." The Captain smiled slightly at the pilot. "That's all gonna be weighing something heavy on your mind."
Wash nodded slowly. "I guess," he replied. "I'm trying not to think about it though. Kind of mind-boggling."
Mal nodded in agreement. "You haven't answered my question." He studied Wash. "How are you?"
Wash dropped his hand from the controls of Serenity, his forehead furrowed. "I feel like I don't belong," he replied quietly. "Out of sync." He sighed, looking back out at the black. "I don't know what to do; I don't know where I'm going. It doesn't make sense." His eyes were shining with unshed tears. "I'm just spinning in space. I can't stop, and it hurts to keep going."
Mal raised one eyebrow. "We've got ourselves another River," he said in reply, trying not to grin.
Wash laughed shortly, nodding, acknowledging Mal's words. "I suppose so," he said.
"But seriously," Mal continued. "We're all here for you." He smiled. "We may not understand what it feels like, well, our resident crazy person might, but…"
Wash smiled. "I know," he replied.
Mal nodded at the pilot acceptance and moved around to stand next to his friend, studying the console. Wash watched him, his forehead half-furrowed. Serenity's Captain reached out and picked up the lonely brontosaurus, his fingertips mimicking Wash's movements over the patterned surface. He smiled.
The dinosaur was put back down, upright, next to the others.
Mal clapped Wash on the shoulder. "You're not alone anymore," he said softly. "Remember that."
He turned and jogged down the steps, heading for his bunk.
Wash turned back to the stars.
This time, he grinned.
end