At first he thought he was dreaming.

Gabriel had been slipping in and out of sleep for the last few hours, trying to no avail to just relax. It seemed that even the blinking glow of his clock seemed too bright for him, and the his pillow seemed to have developed some very interesting lumps since he had slept on them last. The sleeping pills he had taken before were obviously not doing their job, and he also seemed to be developing a headache.

But after the third muffled something, he knew he wasn’t hearing things.

Gabriel swings his legs over the side of the bed and blinks into the darkness. He automatically looks over to check on Reagan but remembers she went to sleep in her own bedroom on account of the fight they had that evening. Wrapping his robe around him, he stalks stiffly down the hall, wincing as his knee twinges with pain. He reflected with some grimness that he was getting old.

He walks past Reagan’s door and listens carefully even though in his heart he knows it’s not her. Reagan’s not the sort of woman to stay awake over a fight. Much too undignified and it’s not like she would take the trouble to cry over him. They’ve been together too long for him to affect her like that.

Besides, she sleeps like a log. Though she’d never phrase it like that because it wasn’t something particularly ‘ladylike’. She snored too, but he would never tell her.

There’s a shuffling, something dropped on the floor and then more shuffling. He continues down the hall and doesn’t quite believe his eyes when he sees light glowing from the bottom of the door of Simon’s study room.

He slides the door open slowly, and finds her sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room, staring intently at the soap opera playing itself out on the screen on Simon’s wall. She’s muted it, but for some reason she looks as if she’s listening to them.

“Hi daddy…” she says not looking at him.

“What’s wrong River?”

River shakes her head, “It’s stupid…”

Gabriel pads softly forward and forgetting he’s angry with her, folds her close to him. She stiffens at first, but instinctively snuggles in. He looks down and sees the remnants of the tears she wiped away quickly.

“Why are you still up?”

“Can’t sleep…”

“Why…Nightmare?”

River doesn’t answer, but she turns her head into his shoulder.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She is silent again.

“It was just a dream bao bei…you shouldn’t let it get to you like that.”

It’s like her voice has disappeared.

Gabriel rubs her arm through the blanket she’s wrapped tightly around herself and stares at the advertisement which has so many flashing lights that Gabriel is surprised he hasn’t had a seizure yet.

Fruity Oaty Bars… He almost rolls his eyes. What utter trash are people feeding their children these days? The advertisement finishes and the soap opera comes back on. Gabriel watches with his daughter in silence for awhile, before the crappy storylines (or what he can discern from the various close ups, passionate kisses, and fake looking slaps that make up the majority of the film) get too much for him.

“River, why are we watching this?”

“Takes my mind off…things.” River replies, still not looking at him. She doesn’t add that being in Simon’s room gives her more comfort than she cares to admit. It reminds her of the times when she had her older brother to cling to.

This puts Gabriel in mind of something, “Do you remember…when you were little, and I used to tell you stories whenever you had a bad dream?”

“…Yes,” comes the reluctant, uncertain answer.

“You used to love it…” he chuckles softly, “Cowboys and smugglers and criminal masterminds. Gunfights, heists gone wrong…you and Simon used to get carried away and bring dinosaurs into the mix…”

“And pirates…” River lifts her head, smiling slightly, “I always wanted to be a pirate.”

He looks back at her, “Do you still want to be one?” He’s half-joking but the question’s a loaded one. Just needs someone to pull the trigger.

River’s smile fades and she turns her eyes to look at screen again, “Depends…”

“On what?”

“You.” She doesn’t look at him, but he does at her, “Would you let me be a pirate?”

Gabriel thinks for a moment. He’s not phased by her question. But he’s worried about his answer. He exhales.

“Depends…”

“On what?” River asks without missing a beat.

“You. Would is be appropriate, for Captain ‘Peg-Leg’ Tam to have a father who works for the Alliance?”

River’s eyes move all around the room but they never settle on him. She doesn’t see the humour in what he says.

“Conflict of interest…” she murmurs, but then says in irritation, “You can’t answer my question with another question. That’s not how you play the game. You have to follow the rules or else it doesn’t make sense…you told me that.”

“I say a lot of things River…too much…at times. And sometimes it’s better if things don’t make sense.”

There’s a moment of silence. Like she’s thinking hard on his answer. Gabriel readies himself for the emotional bombshell he knows it coming up. Gabriel feels River tense in his arms. He begins to ask her what’s wrong. But before he can, she says something which takes his breath away.

“Pirates have parrots…”

Gabriel frowns. “What?”

A moment and she lifts her eyes up to stare into his. Suddenly she’s six years old again and looking up at him with wide-eyed childish hopefulness. She takes a little breath as if to ready herself.

“Daddy…” Gabriel feels his stomach drop to his feet, “I want a parrot.”