It was just a dream...

[Hoban "Wash" Washburne]

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There they were, the entire crew, floating in space through the middle of Reaver territory, and knowing full well that the Alliance were waiting for them on the other side of the Ion clouds. Wash knew this was a suicide mission and yet he still went along with it, the whole damned thing. He made the call to Mr Universe, Hell he was even sat at the helm of the ship now, cruising along with next to no power, his heart rapidly beating as he saw the mass army of Reavers that he was cruising threw as if they were no threat.

He was scared, he was pretty sure they all were, but all of them could prepare for the worst, they could all prepare to be boarded with their shiny guns and their seemingly endless bullet supply whilst he had to sit pretty at the helm, steering the damned thing, and that’s what frightened him. He had nothing but his wife to protect him there, and if anyone or anything should harm her, he wouldn’t know what to do; she was, indeed, his everything, his one worldly possession that he couldn’t bear to lose, not now or ever.

He watched as one of the Reaver ships began to follow them, his eyes closely scowering it, waiting to give the order, and as its claws crept out, he found himself shouting the word “Now!” down the intercom at Mal, who had been waiting on top of the ship with the gun they had attached earlier that day. As Mal shot at the Reaver ship, some little inkling in Wash’s body confirmed that now was a perfect time to start running towards the Alliance, considering now they had an entire Reaver fleet on their tail.

He sped off ahead of them, straight for the Ion cloud without a moment’s hesitation. The quicker they got away from the Reavers the happier and calmer he would be. He wanted his wife out of harm’s way more than himself, his love for her ran deeper than his fear of the Reavers and that was worth something, even out in the black. The crew, and his wife, came before him, even his Captain came first, simply because he was a worrier, and was happiest when everyone was safe, even if he wasn’t quite safe himself, like the time with Niska. He never knew he could get so angry about anything that was happening to Mal, but he did.

His vessel sped through the cloud, like there was nothing there at all, not even the pretty flashing lights that Mr Universe had promised them, and out the other side, to be greeted by none only than the Alliance fleet Wash had been expecting. But he headed towards them like nothing was wrong, but of course, everything was wrong, they were running from a fleet of Reavers, only a slight chance of survival right into an Alliance fleet, and that was something Wash never thought would happen, it had been completely improbable.

He saw the main Alliance cruiser right in the middle of the windshield, not caring to alter course no matter how close he was getting to it, not until the Reavers were out of the Ion cloud and not until he was close enough to spit on it, before diving underneath the base of it, dodging all the missiles that were heading his way, even those from the Alliance. “I’m a leaf on the wind… watch how I soar.” He muttered before turning to dive through a gap in the battling ships, unaware of the Reaver ship that was still on his tail.

There was a loud clunk on the side of the ship as some debris from the fighting smashed into Serenity, Wash felt the yoke try to pull away under his hands but he wouldn’t let it, his eyes fixated in front of him at his goal. “It’s okay! I’m a leaf on the wind!” He pulled hard on the wheel, pulling it away from another hurtling piece of debris, heading straight for the planet below them, right to where they needed to be, and they were one step closer to getting to Mr Universe.

“Yes… Yes!” He shouted at Mal as he dodged another piece of debris, and straight into the middle of the firing zone, trying to lose the Reaver ship that was closely behind them, watching as the lazers shot past him after breaching atmo. The second laser hit one of Serenity’s engines, Wash beginning to panic as he felt his control disappate. “We’re fried, I’ve got no control.” Serenity began to spin at a sickening rate, Wash scrambling to press as many buttons as he could to at least boot up the back up in time for him to be able to make a crash landing.

He knew it was no good when his wife told him that the backup read at twenty percent, there was no way he would be able to land Serenity properly, he was just going to have to risk it all and land her properly. Shaking his head in defeat he gulped hard before finally speaking. “I’m gonna have to glide her in.” He ignored everything, his brain completely shutting off from everything everyone was saying, so that he could concentrate on gliding her into the bay below, which was coming up way too fast for his liking.

His face strained as he pulled hard on the yoke, pressing a couple of buttons to release the landing gear, the ship shuddering underneath him with the strain of the pull. He knew that the gravity from the planet below was ten times heavier than the pull that came from himself, a small yet semi-muscular man. He knew it had been pointless as soon as he started tugging, but he had to try, for the crew’s sake, he had to think of some amazing stunt he could pull just to keep them all alive when they landed.

That’s when it happened, the bottom of Serenity landed with a loud smack and a screech as it tried to stop the ship from bouncing all the way down the runway, Wash’s hands flying off the wheel, feeling his body lift from the chair, and smash straight back down into it, knowing that he would be bruised an achy once the ship had come to a halt. According to his calculations, wouldn’t be too long now as he saw the end of the runway approaching them fast, with no signs of stopping, no matter how hard he pulled on the brakes.

One of the engines caught on a piece of scaffolding, ripping it straight off and sending the entire ship spinning out of control down the runway. Panic ran through every bone in Wash’s body, unable to find the strength to pull himself from his chair and grab hold of the wheel again, as if there was some unknown force holding him back. He needed to do something, he couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, considering he didn’t really even know what was at the end of the runway, and he didn’t know how everyone was from the crash landing either.

It didn’t matter though, he found out soon enough where the runway ended as the back end of the ship slipped off it, and down into an entrance, enough so that the door of the craft could still open and let everyone out, an easy escape for them all. He’d done it, without even really doing a thing, he felt a sudden relief inside as he realised he’d managed to get everyone down and safe on the ground, even if the landing wasn’t exactly how they had planned it, but then again, he hadn’t expected to have been continuously followed by that Reaver.

All the lights when out in the cockpit, a red glow coming from all the warning bulbs in the area, and Wash sat there with a slight smile of relief on his face, thankful that his wife, his captain, and the crew were safely on the ground, with no casualties. He looked back at his wife, before looking before him; back out into the runway, feeling slightly more at ease as he couldn’t see the Reaver craft anywhere, hoping that by some miracle he’d lost it on his way down.

“I’m a leaf on the wind… watch how I-“ those were the last words he ever spoke as the Reaver ship, shot a large wooden harpoon right through him. But he didn’t die, not right then, not even with the amount of pain soaring through him, the will was too strong to die, the will to hear his wife’s voice just one last time before his life was ended. He heard her call his name that one last time, the fear and panic ringing in her voice. He so desperately didn’t want to leave her, but the will of living, and the tug of death were no match…he felt his life slip away.

Wash shot up from his bed with a cry of “Juh Shi Suh Mo Go Dohng Shee?!”, sweat dripping from his face, his hand clutched to his chest where the harpoon had previously been. He looked down at his hand, looking around to see his beautiful wife, laid asleep next to him, worn out from their previous day of hard work and even harder play. He had to admit that dream had felt painfully real, the whole thing of it, and he still had the pain in his chest, a duller version of what he had experienced in the dream.

He sighed quietly, slipping himself out of the bed, looking back towards Zoe as he slipped some boxers on. She never looked as good to him as she did now, sleeping ever so peacefully, a smile stretched across her face, unaware of the night terror he’d just experienced. He didn’t need to trouble her with such things, not right now, not when she looked so happy. He wasn’t going to spoil that, not for all the bribery in the world, not even if she stood up right now and let the quilt fall from her naked body, no, especially not even if she did that.

He slipped on a clean shirt and pair of pants, tucking them into his boots, as if he was getting ready for another working day, but he knew that the rest of the ship would still be asleep, and by the time the rest of them woke up, they would find a relatively exhausted Wash at the helm, and even though he couldn’t even think of going back to sleep, he knew he would later from exhaustion, whether he liked the idea or not.

He trundled over to the ladders leading up to the rest of the ship, only looking back as he heard his wife stir slightly, but he hoped that she would not wake. He climbed up, his boots clanging on every step, his whole body cringing at every sound knowing that if anyone heard him, they would be less than impressed at him waking them up in the middle of the night. Wrapping his big warm jumper around him, he shuffled as silently as he could past Kaylee’s quarters and up into the cock pit, his eyes taking in the beautiful sight the fell over Serenity.

He’d never really taken the time to appreciate the stars as a pilot, not as much as he had wanted too, but that was because he would normally be asleep right now, but as he stood there, he took in the whole sight ever little bright light woven onto the silky blackness of space. It’s design intrigued him now, slowly taking his mind off the dream he had, had not quarter of an hour ago, simply for the simplicity of it all. It made him picture a life where everything was simple, where there were no complications and nobody to tell him what to do, and no Reavers trying to kill him.

There, he’d done it again, he’d reminded himself of the dream he had had and he cringed at the thought, slightly annoyed at himself, but scared all the same, like he should have been when he dreamt. He shouldn’t have let his guard down; he should have got up and moved out of the cock pit as quickly as he could instead of praising himself for something. It was sloppy and unprofessional of him, and from previous experiences he should have known better than to hesitate in a moment like that.

Sighing, he slumped down heavily into his pilots chair, leaning on the dashboard and looking out into the night sky, his brows furrowed as he tried to take his mind of the dream again, but it was no use, he really had done it this time, he’d royally messed up by reminding himself of the god damn Reavers. “Meh, tah mah duh hwoon dahn” he muttered under his breath, slamming his fist on the dash in annoyance, his dinosaurs bouncing up off it just as Serenity had done down the runway of Mr Universe’s.

Hearing the small chink as one of them fell over, he stared at it for a moment, contemplating what to do next about his little situation. There wasn’t much he could do about a dream, not really, not when there wasn’t anyone worth talking about it to, except his wife, who, was all warm and tucked up in bed where he would have been if his mind hadn’t decided to take a little trip down death lane. His dreams had always been so full of life, so happy, and he couldn’t understand why this once he’d had a night terror, and for a moment, he feared that it might happen again.

Yet, that was all it was, a night terror, it was never exactly ever going to come true, not in a million years, hell he couldn’t even remember why they’d wandered into Reaver territory in the first place, it wasn’t like he was having premonitions, that was River’s job. He was just the pilot, not a damned psychic, and that’s the way he liked it; he liked being behind the wheel, steering the ship to the next job and hopefully getting paid most of the time, and even when they didn’t, he’d just fly them off to the next place.

He picked up the small figurine T-rex in his hand, scowling at it slightly as if he was examining it, but he wasn’t, he was merely contemplating why he’d kept the toys in the first place. Were they there as a distraction? A symbol of his childish side? He didn’t even remember why he’d brought them on board in the first place, but as long as he was in here, and they were on the dash, he couldn’t resist the temptation, like a child who had been told not to press the big shiny red button.

He picked up the other figurine from the dash and turned towards the radar, a dinosaur held in either hand as he bit his lip, trying to think of something witty to say. Shaking the stegosaurus in his hand he whispered “I was betrayed once, but never again shall I fall into the hands of a vicious lizard such as this one over here.” His eyes twitched over to the T-Rex held in his other hand, “but I am a kind, and gentle creature.” He hissed quietly, before looking back over at the other dinosaur.

“Ahh well then my friend, you can help me rule over all this land!” the stegosaurus cried, bouncing along the radar as if there was nothing wrong with approaching his impending doom. As the Stegosaurus came closer to the T-rex, Wash laughed evilly under his breath before forcing the T-rex up onto the Stego, and began to make munching noises as if it was being eaten, as if flesh was being ripped off the other dinosaur for the T-Rex’s dinner. Growling lowly under his breath as he chucked the stegosaurus to once side, he let out a pretend burp, and chuckled evilly.

He didn’t know why, but for some reason, this whole dinosaur eating dinosaur thing had always been somewhat of a comfort to him, as well as a boredom killer. They were the only real material things he had besides his large Hawaiian shirt collection, and his wife, whom, he was bound to by God, and but soul. He truly did love her, and no matter what other woman tried to get in the way of that, he always found he had the strength to say no to it. There was something about the curvaceous warrior woman that Wash knew he would never get bored of.

He smiled, leaning back in his chair as he thought about the magnificent naked woman lying back in his bed, keeping it all warm for him should he even think of returning to it before they all had to rise again for work. He pictured the sheets folding beautifully over her to reveal all her curves, folding over the area between her back and her legs that he always loved. The thought of those powerful shapely legs that she had just made his smile widen even more, like nothing in the world was wrong.

He reminisced about why he’d married her, even though they hadn’t exactly gotten off on the right foot, considering, he could tell from the moment he met her that she had a slight disliking for him, but he’d changed that, rather well actually and for that he was proud. He’d even shaven off his moustache for her even though he thought it made him look particularly manly, but she had a high loathing for it. It was strange what a man would do for a woman, who would potentially never fall in love with him, but she had, and for that, he was eternally grateful.

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Translations;
Juh Shi Suh Mo Go Dohng Shee? - What the hell is this crap.

Meh, tah mah duh hwoon dahn - Mother effing son of a bitch.

[Zoe Washburne]

It took her all of about three seconds to figure what it was that had stirred her from her slumber. The bed, complete with tangled sheets and throw blanket was missing one very vital thing – her husband. A quick scan of the room revealed that he wasn’t simply making use of the utilities, and with his shoes gone from his side of the bed, it was clear that he hadn’t had any intention of immediately coming back. Her brow furrowed a bit, as she stretched outwards, working the last residual kinks from the muscles in her body, as she stared at the empty pillow beside her, her hand resting on the spot where his cheek would’ve been. She would have expected to have heard him, when he rustled awake and made his way out, but then again… they’d danced fairly well the night before. Her lips curled into a faint smile as she checked the chronometer – the same night, she realized. It was the middle of what should have been their sleep cycle. She wondered what had disturbed him. If it had been a ship’s alarm, no matter how soundly she’d been sleeping it would’ve stirred her from her sleep, she reckoned. Maybe an attack of the midnight munchies, she mused, rolling over onto her back, her eyes staring up at the cool gray ceiling above her, her hand resting on her stomach absent mindedly trailing across the wrinkled in the sheet across her navel. Come to think of it, she could do with something her own self, and it wasn’t likely she’d be able to fall back asleep without at least making sure the ship was secure at this point anyhow.

Tossing the sheet back off of her, she rolled up and to her feet with ease, and it took only a minute or so for her to drag on her clothes, and boots, the gun belt wrapped around her waist and strapped to her thigh as a force of habit. It wouldn’t matter if she was only up and about for a few minutes or a few days, she’d learned long ago that there was no way to anticipate what might happen and being caught unprepared was the fastest way there was to end up dead, or to get somebody else killed. Hauling herself up the ladder out of the crew quarters, and popping open the door to the hallway, she pulled herself into the hall, her hands rising to tie off the unruly strands and latch them into a ponytail at the nape of her neck with a leather thong. Passing on to the kitchen wasn’t much of an effort, the good thing about a ship like Serenity is that one side to the other didn’t take much more than a half exerted sprint. The kitchen was void, though, only the scent of fresh brewed tea indicating anybody at all had been in it near recently enough to worry over. That left, pretty much, only one other place to look.

Fetching a bottle of recycled water from one of the latched cupboards, she made her way back, cracking the lid and raising it to her lips, taking a sip of the liquid even as she strode up the steps to the catwalk that would lead to the cockpit, and as she suspected, the familiar sight of the back of her husband’s blonde-covered head. She slipped up to him, her hand sliding along his shoulder, even as she ducked down, a low murmured greeting escaping against his cheek. ”Well, hello there, sailor,” she offered, with a chuckle and a small smirk as she pulled back, settling her weight against the edge of a blank console, one long leg crossing over the other at the ankle. She took another sip of the water, before offering it out to him, her dark gaze wandering over him and his features, trying to take a minute to get a feel of his particular mood. ”Everything all right?” she questioned sedately, not wanting to push if he didn’t particularly feel like talking about it, whatever it was, but that wasn’t to say that she wasn’t exactly curious about what’d dragged him outta their bed in the middle of the night.

[/justify]