The others had been amazed at River's dealing with the reavers, she had killed them all and he had no doubt she'd done it with grace, like it was a dance not a massacre. Mal knew because he'd seen it done before. He knew about reavers because he has learnt from the only woman in the gorram verse stupid enough to seek them out. Or maybe she wasn't stupid because she won.

River reminded him of that woman, she was passion and grace and crazy sayings every now and them, but when she fought she danced and you knew that if that fire in her eyes ever turned your way you'd better make peace with whatever power it is you believe in, because you couldn't run and sure as hell couldn't fight.

He smiled at the thought of the only woman he'd ever really loved. Oh he had feelings for Inara, but it wasn't like that. It wasn't the all consuming love he'd had with her, his Buffy. She was crazy, he'd known that the first time she'd told him she'd lived for over 500 years, that she was born on earth that was. She knew he didn't believe her but she told him stories anyway, stories of growing up on a planet that died centuries ago. She said her destiny wasn't done, that she still had things to do and monsters to kill.

And she did kill the monsters. She hunted them down in the night, she tracked down parties attacking the planets and moons and then she would dance, she would turn the deadliest hunters into her prey and she tore them apart if necessary. She would set traps by flying past them, luring them onto her ship and killing them there and then, and sometimes she would sneak onto theirs. It didn't matter, she wasn't going to rest until they were all gone. He thought idly of the tape from Miranda, 10 of 30 million. That meant there were three million out there to start with, less with her in the verse.

She never meant to let him in, he was sure of that. Still wasn't sure how it had happened, but as soon as he met he knew she was special, and he could be damn persuasive when needed to be. But not persuasive enough, because she had left him, left in the middle of the night with a note that just said good bye. The next day he had bought Serenity, and called Zoë.

Mal smiled sadly as he watched River and Jayne sparring below, Jayne was trying to rehabilitate his shoulder after getting shot, he blamed his shoulder for losing, but Mal could tell River was holding back so much. He smiled, noticing once more the similarities between the graceful fighting teenager below him and his Buffy.

She had been broken too.