A.N.: 325-word drabble. Pre-movie, mild spoiler, but not if you've seen the trailer.


Her eyes open suddenly. She looks at nothing in the ceiling, until slowly, she gets up. She goes to open the door. It doesn't work; it's locked. That's right, Simon locked it. He was trying new meds on her, didn't want her to get out in case something went wrong.

No matter how accepted she is, they're still scared of her. "Concerned," Simon would say. He is, Kaylee is, Wash is, Inara was. Zoe sees her as an equal. Mal sees her as anothermember of the crew. Book looks at her with concern, but not the same kind that everyone else does. Jayne is still scared of her (River doesn't knows why; he's weak-minded and she doesn't care about people like him).

She opens the door anyway (the doorknob is broken, so is part of the door; Mal will be angry). Everyone on the ship is awake; it's early morning and the people are stirring.

Book is in his room, saying his morning prayers as usual. There's still something wrong with his bible, but he won't understand that.

She looks into Simon's room. The bed is made and he's not there. She knows where she is.

In Wash and Zoe's room, she can hear them talking softly. They're arguing. That's not new.

Mal's room is silent. But she knows he's awake. He's brooding (everyone knows why, no one wants to say anything about it. She wonders how Inara's feeling).

In the engine room, she finds Simon. He and Kaylee are asleep in the hammock. She walks up to them. They look happy. Simon's smiling. She wishes that he'd do that around her more often.

And then, her brain freezes up. She screams and Kaylee and Simon wake up just like she did. They say her name over and over as she falls to the floor. She can see the man, see his face.

Her eyes open again and she says one word, "Assassin."