Matthew Mitchell Reynolds
This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole
ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a
court of law.
To borrow a phrase: Firefly no mine......no money, no sue, please?
Wash estimated they had another two or three days till they reached wherever it was they were going. Mal was starting to get antsy. He kept going through the ship, checking ammo, harassing Kaylee, and generally being annoying. Morgan shared his feelings of anticipation with a sad knowledge that only Inara noticed. Morgan did a good job of being as cheerful as possible, which for her was the usual soldier stolidness. But she couldn't hide how worried she was about her son. Most of the crew was sympathetic. And many of them were curious to meet their Captain's son.
Morgan was fitting in nicely with the crew, though she's always been able to slip into even the closest of groups.
She was looking for her raven in the cargo hold. Mal had sworn it had come aboard with her, creating a ruckus. But Morgan hadn't seen the thing since and she wanted to make sure it was okay. Despite its cattish indifference to her superior humanity, it had been with her for half her life and she genuinely couldn't think about it being gone.
"Raven?" she called softly, trying to peer around some crates. Instead of finding a black bird, though, she found a black head.
"River" she smiled calmly, "You shouldn't be playing back there. The create could fall, it's dangerous" River came out from behind the crates. She seemed to be in one of her more lucid states, the ones where she was shockingly profound. Morgan knew it must be hard to deal with her sometimes. And dangerous. Mal had told her about the incident with the bounty hunter. But Morgan knew that incident had cemented the strange girl in the Captain's very noble heart, and deal he would.
"Life is dangerous" River replied. Morgan nodded.
"Yes, but that's why we must be careful"
"You won't be careful. You're going to get shot" River replied.
"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Morgan asked.
"No. Not going to tell" River promised. Morgan put a hand on her head.
"Good girl" she said, "Want to help me look for my raven?" She let go of River and moved on to the next set of crates, the younger girl trailing along.
"They broke me, you know" she said.
"Well, Simon will fix you" Morgan assured her casually, as if they were talking about a lamp or something.
"He tries" River admitted, "But he can't find all the cracks"
"Well, Matthew will help him. The thing about big brothers is that they never give up" Morgan replied.
"Is Matthew to be my brother?" River inquired. Morgan gave up on her raven and turned back to the empty cargo bay.
"He can be if you want" she answered, "He's always wanted siblings"
"We don't have the same parents" River pointed out.
"Blood and DNA aren't everything" Morgan told her, "But if it makes you feel better, I'll adopt you. If you're my daughter, then you're Matthew's sister"
"And Simon" River reminded her new mother.
"Yes, and Simon's sister too. Can you handle two brothers, do you think?" Morgan asked with a funny face. River grinned back.
"I think I can manage, but they do take so much looking after" she replied. Morgan chuckled.
"Good. Why don't you go see if my raven is in the kitchen? I'll go check the engine room" she ordered. River laughed and bounded up the steps, running into Simon on her way up and laughing happily at him.
"Hey, River" he replied with a grin of his own, happy to see his sister happy, "What did you say to her?" he asked when he got down to Morgan.
"I was talking about Matthew" Morgan told him.
"I see" Simon said, although he didn't really.
"She's very fond of you, you know" she told him, following him to the infirmary, "And proud too"
"Is she?" Simon shook his head, "Sometimes I feel like such an idiot around her"
"Doesn't matter. Even if you really were an idiot, it wouldn't matter. You're a hero in her eyes" Morgan told him. The Doctor smiled humbly.
"Mal likes you too, you know" Morgan continued, "Well, he thinks you're prissy, but"
"I never would have guessed" Simon said sarcastically.
"But he admires your dedication and determination. You've even displayed some guts when it became necessary." Simon regarded the woman as if she'd just told him his favorite professor had complimented him.
"He told you that?" Morgan laughed.
"Please. He won't even admit it to himself!" Simon's eyebrows fell back to reality.
"Doesn't change the fact" Morgan added more seriously.
"Well, I hope I can live up to everyone's expectations" Simon admitted. The Captain's.....wife....smiled reassuringly at him.
"Never doubt, dear Doctor" she replied, "I have faith in you" She left him in his infirmary, wondering if his sister wasn't the only crazy woman on the ship.
"She still had to find her raven, though, and so she headed off to the engine room as she'd told River she was going to.
She smiled at the hammock Kaylee had slung, just as she'd smiled at the girl's Christmas lights. At first glance, the room seemed empty, but suddenly Kaylee appeared from behind the great machine.
"Morgan!" the girl greeted her excitedly, "What ch'ya doin here?"
"I'm lookin' for my raven" Morgan answered and before Kaylee could tell her it wasn't there, it came swooping from some hidden niche to land on one of the unmoving parts of the engine.
"Ah! There you are!" Morgan smiled and brushed a finger over the cap of its skull.
"I didn't even know he was in here!" Kaylee exclaimed, getting closer, lifting her hand and drawing it back. Morgan nodded at her though and she gently brushed her own finger over the sleek feathers.
"Well, it's good at hiding. Went through the whole war, my Alliance incarceration, my University job, all of that and was never found" Morgan let a hint of her pride in the strange creature show off.
"Sometimes, I wasn't sure where it found food, but it did. It's a faithful creature"
"I can't believe you were a General in the war" Kaylee admitted. She was enchanted with this woman, almost as much as she was with Inara. Kaylee had a habit of turning people into heroes in her own mind, and Morgan represented a very strong, and romantic, image already.
"I probably wasn't much younger than you at the time" Morgan said.
"Oh. I couldn't do anything like that" Kaylee gushed.
"You'd be surprised what you can do, Kaylee" Morgan objected, "Mal says you're the best mechanic he ever heard tell of"
"Yeah? Oh, well. I don't know why. Engines just talk to me" the girl replied, never tired of talking about what she considered to be her only talent.
"Well, it's a great gift. I'm no good with an engine. And Lord knows neither Mal or Zoe are either"
"I bet you could do it!" Kaylee objected loyally. Morgan smiled and watched her raven take off, tired of the attention it had been getting.
"Well, maybe you could teach Matthew" she suggested, "I think he's really going to like you. And he loves learning"
"I can't believe the Cap'n has a son" Kaylee admitte.d
"Neither could I at first" Morgan agreed, "But there's no doubting Matthew is Mal's son"
"Everybody used to say I was just like my Dad" Kaylee told her.
"Probably everyone is a little bit like their parents" Morgan observed.
"Simon says he used to be just like his Dad too" Kaylee added. Morgan left a pause and then coyly said:
"He seems like a nice boy" Kaylee nodded.
"Sometimes I can't tell whether he's comin' or goin', though!" she said. Morgan put an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the engine room and toward the kitchen where River was probably still looking for the raven.
"I'll tell you a secret about men, Kaylee-love" she said, "Men, especially men Simon's age, are stupid. You know, the first time Malcolm kissed me, he was burning me for being crazy. It takes them time to learn to say the right thing at the right time. But it's worth it" Kaylee smiled at the woman's sage advice, and being called "Kaylee-love."
They entered the kitchen and stopped. River was standing in the middle of the table. She looked down at them as they entered and very seriously said,
"The raven is not here, Mother"
"Mother?" Kaylee repeated, looking at Morgan.
"I adopted her" Morgan explained.
"So Matthew can be my brother" River added, "What about Kaylee?" Morgan shrugged.
"Why not? Matthew could use all the help he can get. And Mal always wanted a big family" Morgan's arm was still around the girl's shoulders and she squeezed just a bit of a hug out, "What do you say, Kaylee-love? Want to be my daughter?" Kaylee laughed her girlish laugh, indulging the child that was never far from her surface.
"Okay!" she agreed and something in Morgan settled.
"River!" Malcolm exclaimed as he, Zoe and Wash entered from the cockpit, "Get off that table!" River looked at him while he spoke, then turned back to Morgan with an exasperated look.
"Captain says I can't stand on the table anymore"
"It's all right, River. It's almost time for supper anyway. Kaylee, help your sister down" Morgan replied.
"Okay" Kaylee giggled, "Mom" And she went to help River down. Meanwhile, the adults were beginning to set the table.
"Mom?" Wash repeated.
"She's at it again, sir" Zoe said mischeviously.
"Morgan, why do you have to go and turn everyone into a family?" Mal asked jokingly as he set a plate on the table while she dispersed silverware.
"Over compensation for an only childhood and early death of parents" River rattled, putting napkins down.
"There you have it!" Morgan smiled.
"Who's over compensating?" Inara inquired as she entered with Shepard Book.
"You may not want an answer to that" he told her with a grandfatherly look.
"Answer to what?" Jayne asked gruffly as he entered as well, Simon on his heels. The mounting confusion struck Mal, Zoe and Morgan as very funny and they started laughing.
The night lived and ended in that sound.
To borrow a phrase: Firefly no mine......no money, no sue, please?
Wash estimated they had another two or three days till they reached wherever it was they were going. Mal was starting to get antsy. He kept going through the ship, checking ammo, harassing Kaylee, and generally being annoying. Morgan shared his feelings of anticipation with a sad knowledge that only Inara noticed. Morgan did a good job of being as cheerful as possible, which for her was the usual soldier stolidness. But she couldn't hide how worried she was about her son. Most of the crew was sympathetic. And many of them were curious to meet their Captain's son.
Morgan was fitting in nicely with the crew, though she's always been able to slip into even the closest of groups.
She was looking for her raven in the cargo hold. Mal had sworn it had come aboard with her, creating a ruckus. But Morgan hadn't seen the thing since and she wanted to make sure it was okay. Despite its cattish indifference to her superior humanity, it had been with her for half her life and she genuinely couldn't think about it being gone.
"Raven?" she called softly, trying to peer around some crates. Instead of finding a black bird, though, she found a black head.
"River" she smiled calmly, "You shouldn't be playing back there. The create could fall, it's dangerous" River came out from behind the crates. She seemed to be in one of her more lucid states, the ones where she was shockingly profound. Morgan knew it must be hard to deal with her sometimes. And dangerous. Mal had told her about the incident with the bounty hunter. But Morgan knew that incident had cemented the strange girl in the Captain's very noble heart, and deal he would.
"Life is dangerous" River replied. Morgan nodded.
"Yes, but that's why we must be careful"
"You won't be careful. You're going to get shot" River replied.
"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Morgan asked.
"No. Not going to tell" River promised. Morgan put a hand on her head.
"Good girl" she said, "Want to help me look for my raven?" She let go of River and moved on to the next set of crates, the younger girl trailing along.
"They broke me, you know" she said.
"Well, Simon will fix you" Morgan assured her casually, as if they were talking about a lamp or something.
"He tries" River admitted, "But he can't find all the cracks"
"Well, Matthew will help him. The thing about big brothers is that they never give up" Morgan replied.
"Is Matthew to be my brother?" River inquired. Morgan gave up on her raven and turned back to the empty cargo bay.
"He can be if you want" she answered, "He's always wanted siblings"
"We don't have the same parents" River pointed out.
"Blood and DNA aren't everything" Morgan told her, "But if it makes you feel better, I'll adopt you. If you're my daughter, then you're Matthew's sister"
"And Simon" River reminded her new mother.
"Yes, and Simon's sister too. Can you handle two brothers, do you think?" Morgan asked with a funny face. River grinned back.
"I think I can manage, but they do take so much looking after" she replied. Morgan chuckled.
"Good. Why don't you go see if my raven is in the kitchen? I'll go check the engine room" she ordered. River laughed and bounded up the steps, running into Simon on her way up and laughing happily at him.
"Hey, River" he replied with a grin of his own, happy to see his sister happy, "What did you say to her?" he asked when he got down to Morgan.
"I was talking about Matthew" Morgan told him.
"I see" Simon said, although he didn't really.
"She's very fond of you, you know" she told him, following him to the infirmary, "And proud too"
"Is she?" Simon shook his head, "Sometimes I feel like such an idiot around her"
"Doesn't matter. Even if you really were an idiot, it wouldn't matter. You're a hero in her eyes" Morgan told him. The Doctor smiled humbly.
"Mal likes you too, you know" Morgan continued, "Well, he thinks you're prissy, but"
"I never would have guessed" Simon said sarcastically.
"But he admires your dedication and determination. You've even displayed some guts when it became necessary." Simon regarded the woman as if she'd just told him his favorite professor had complimented him.
"He told you that?" Morgan laughed.
"Please. He won't even admit it to himself!" Simon's eyebrows fell back to reality.
"Doesn't change the fact" Morgan added more seriously.
"Well, I hope I can live up to everyone's expectations" Simon admitted. The Captain's.....wife....smiled reassuringly at him.
"Never doubt, dear Doctor" she replied, "I have faith in you" She left him in his infirmary, wondering if his sister wasn't the only crazy woman on the ship.
"She still had to find her raven, though, and so she headed off to the engine room as she'd told River she was going to.
She smiled at the hammock Kaylee had slung, just as she'd smiled at the girl's Christmas lights. At first glance, the room seemed empty, but suddenly Kaylee appeared from behind the great machine.
"Morgan!" the girl greeted her excitedly, "What ch'ya doin here?"
"I'm lookin' for my raven" Morgan answered and before Kaylee could tell her it wasn't there, it came swooping from some hidden niche to land on one of the unmoving parts of the engine.
"Ah! There you are!" Morgan smiled and brushed a finger over the cap of its skull.
"I didn't even know he was in here!" Kaylee exclaimed, getting closer, lifting her hand and drawing it back. Morgan nodded at her though and she gently brushed her own finger over the sleek feathers.
"Well, it's good at hiding. Went through the whole war, my Alliance incarceration, my University job, all of that and was never found" Morgan let a hint of her pride in the strange creature show off.
"Sometimes, I wasn't sure where it found food, but it did. It's a faithful creature"
"I can't believe you were a General in the war" Kaylee admitted. She was enchanted with this woman, almost as much as she was with Inara. Kaylee had a habit of turning people into heroes in her own mind, and Morgan represented a very strong, and romantic, image already.
"I probably wasn't much younger than you at the time" Morgan said.
"Oh. I couldn't do anything like that" Kaylee gushed.
"You'd be surprised what you can do, Kaylee" Morgan objected, "Mal says you're the best mechanic he ever heard tell of"
"Yeah? Oh, well. I don't know why. Engines just talk to me" the girl replied, never tired of talking about what she considered to be her only talent.
"Well, it's a great gift. I'm no good with an engine. And Lord knows neither Mal or Zoe are either"
"I bet you could do it!" Kaylee objected loyally. Morgan smiled and watched her raven take off, tired of the attention it had been getting.
"Well, maybe you could teach Matthew" she suggested, "I think he's really going to like you. And he loves learning"
"I can't believe the Cap'n has a son" Kaylee admitte.d
"Neither could I at first" Morgan agreed, "But there's no doubting Matthew is Mal's son"
"Everybody used to say I was just like my Dad" Kaylee told her.
"Probably everyone is a little bit like their parents" Morgan observed.
"Simon says he used to be just like his Dad too" Kaylee added. Morgan left a pause and then coyly said:
"He seems like a nice boy" Kaylee nodded.
"Sometimes I can't tell whether he's comin' or goin', though!" she said. Morgan put an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the engine room and toward the kitchen where River was probably still looking for the raven.
"I'll tell you a secret about men, Kaylee-love" she said, "Men, especially men Simon's age, are stupid. You know, the first time Malcolm kissed me, he was burning me for being crazy. It takes them time to learn to say the right thing at the right time. But it's worth it" Kaylee smiled at the woman's sage advice, and being called "Kaylee-love."
They entered the kitchen and stopped. River was standing in the middle of the table. She looked down at them as they entered and very seriously said,
"The raven is not here, Mother"
"Mother?" Kaylee repeated, looking at Morgan.
"I adopted her" Morgan explained.
"So Matthew can be my brother" River added, "What about Kaylee?" Morgan shrugged.
"Why not? Matthew could use all the help he can get. And Mal always wanted a big family" Morgan's arm was still around the girl's shoulders and she squeezed just a bit of a hug out, "What do you say, Kaylee-love? Want to be my daughter?" Kaylee laughed her girlish laugh, indulging the child that was never far from her surface.
"Okay!" she agreed and something in Morgan settled.
"River!" Malcolm exclaimed as he, Zoe and Wash entered from the cockpit, "Get off that table!" River looked at him while he spoke, then turned back to Morgan with an exasperated look.
"Captain says I can't stand on the table anymore"
"It's all right, River. It's almost time for supper anyway. Kaylee, help your sister down" Morgan replied.
"Okay" Kaylee giggled, "Mom" And she went to help River down. Meanwhile, the adults were beginning to set the table.
"Mom?" Wash repeated.
"She's at it again, sir" Zoe said mischeviously.
"Morgan, why do you have to go and turn everyone into a family?" Mal asked jokingly as he set a plate on the table while she dispersed silverware.
"Over compensation for an only childhood and early death of parents" River rattled, putting napkins down.
"There you have it!" Morgan smiled.
"Who's over compensating?" Inara inquired as she entered with Shepard Book.
"You may not want an answer to that" he told her with a grandfatherly look.
"Answer to what?" Jayne asked gruffly as he entered as well, Simon on his heels. The mounting confusion struck Mal, Zoe and Morgan as very funny and they started laughing.
The night lived and ended in that sound.