Templum Bellonae

Mal and River have a difference of opinion. Spoilers for Serenity.

“I just wish everybody didn’t think I was so broken.” This time she didn’t look at him. Her voice sounded small, like it used to.

“You’re not broken,” he said, automatically.

“Tell that to my brother.”

“That’s not why he turned you down.”

“But it’s why you will.”

Mal had no words, only gaped at her.

“Go to bed,” she said, after a long minute.

And he did.

I Fall by Kass

(Link is to the first story in the series.)

This is one of my favourite Firefly fanfics. The whole cast is perfectly themselves. The plot goes AU sometime between Objects in Space and the Big Damn Movie. This story is a good example of how a few small changes can change everything, and it’s also total wish fulfilment for me, changing everything about Serenity that I didn’t love, and leaving all the parts I did. (Not that I would have preferred to see the movie happen this way, exactly, but I’m happy to see it explored in fic.) There are five stories in the series:

1. Two Gorram Days: while the others go off on a rescue mission, Jayne, laid up with a broken leg, is left to look after River. He finds this less difficult and more enjoyable than he expects.
   
2. Kinship: Simon and Inara become friends, River and Jayne get closer, and Mal is in a bad mood.
   
3. Bank Job: an alternate version of Serenity: Those Left Behind, featuring a girls’ afternoon in and the end of the Hands of Blue guys (Say what you like about Joss Whedon, the man can create some seriously creepy villains. Note to self: never watch Hush alone late at night ever again.)
   
4. Miranda: alternate version of the Big Damn Movie, with enough changes to keep you on the edge of your seat, even when you think you know what’s coming.
   
5. Prodigal: after Miranda, they all get to meet the family Jayne left behind many years earlier.

I don’t like Prodigal as much as the others, and there’s some squabbling at the end of Miranda that kind of annoys me (but much less than it would in another fandom, because Joss Whedon’s characters totally would intrude on each other’s private lives in just this way), but overall it’s an awesome series, set in a fandom that doesn’t have nearly enough fic. Dyce hits the characters’ voices perfectly, too.

Horseshoe Nails by Dyce

Silly, but hilarious. An(other) enemy of Mal’s comes up with a scheme to embarrass him and his crew.

In the Box by Dyce

There’s a show in Jayne’s bunk, and Mal’s invited.

Like Describing the Alphabet by Mosca

Simon helps Jayne. Jayne helps Simon. There’s helping. And sex.

“Just don’t think it’s right that I’m running with a guy don’t even own a weapon.”

“Yes, I imagine it’s horrifying,” Simon said. “Do the other mercenaries talk behind your back about it?”

“No,” Jayne said. “Oh, that’s a joke.”

Reconciliation by Inalasahl

Firefly fandom comes up with some of the scariest stories I’ve ever read.

Pieces Tossed Aside by na

So inconvenient when your practically-jailbait lust object is also a mind-reader, isn’t it, Jayne?

Drunken Revelations by Me Interrupted

Jayne wants a gun he can’t afford. Simon’s awfully good at planning heists.

Sometimes, things just go down smooth by na

After Serenity (the movie), Simon and Jayne begin to work together, and find that they compliment each other unexpectedly well.

Eventually, Jayne folds up his letter, sliding it carefully into a cheap envelope. “You ain’t half-bad when you ain’t talkin’,” he says, as he stands.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Simon replies, half-smiling.

An Arrangement of Parts by na

Simon and River, but no CSI.

“There are so many sheep,” River adds, like an afterthought. “Nations of them. They stare at the sky, planning their revenge and the mathematics of the stars.”

Most of the time Simon really does believe that River makes sense on some level, and that it’s maybe just a different one, one he can’t — none of the rest of them can — reach.

Sometimes he doesn’t.

Tourniquet by Pearl-O

Crossover between SGA and Firefly. A bizarre yet strangely perfect pairing.

The Big Bang and Everything After by CGB

Make-believe and Crazy Space Incest.

“Thank you, Simon.”

“Anything for you. Except cannibalism, if it can possibly be helped.”

“Our crew were contaminated in the crash. Cannibalism’s out of the question.”

“Thank you.”

The Edges of Things by Jane St. Clair

Ah, mistletoe.

Noel by Eleanor K.

Pre-series. Is this really a good idea?

“And it has nothing to do with him doing pull-ups in the cargo bay every morning without his shirt on?”

Busted. Not that he’ll admit it. Ever.

“I’m deeply offended that you would entertain that preposterous notion for a second. Sensible woman like yourself. Ought to know me better.”

“Sorry I brought it up, sir.”

“Apology accepted.”

A Good Idea by Eleanor K.

Departs from canon just after Out of Gas. Mal gets drunk and lets something slip, but of course his preferred method of dealing with it is to pretend it never happened.

Things That Haunt Us by Eleanor K.