Taking My Leave

by Flash Foreward

A man who spent years traveling the galaxy as merely a nameless face is finally stepping away from that life. His dream has been destroyed, and it's time for him to see the 'verse from another point of view. This is the beginning of Derrial Book.

Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly.

A/N: A look at Shepherd Book.

Taking My Leave

"I am Derrial Book," I said, watching in the mirror as my lips formed the words. The name was strange to my tongue, especially after the years I had spent without one. The Alliance's strong security measures had forced me to give up any sense of my former identity, leaving me without rank or name; without a face, in essence.

For all intents and purposes, I did not exist.

All those years with the Alliance, it was hard to finally turn my back. But it was necessary. I had seen their vision as it changed. At the start, it had been a masterpiece of ideology, but over the years their goals and desires had mutated. They stopped dreaming of a way to better mankind through their governing and thought only of furthering their control over the galaxy.

Their dream had died, my dream, and that meant it was time for me to once again exist.

I am Derrial Book.