Let's face it, you already know what I'm going to say. I'm going to either say something witty or I'm going to intersperse names with nonsense, but either way, it will still be a disclaimer proclaiming my non-ownership of the Firefly universe and that Joss and Mutant Enemy could pwn you with their little toes, so I see no reason to waste my time typing something of that nature up.

Warning: PG-13 for mild adult situations, be advised that continuing is at your own discretion. Also, the following contains slash, so if you're not into that, you might want to rethink reading beyond this point.

***

"Can she be your escape?"

Zoe hadn't heard her come in, she'd been too occupied staring off into space. So, when the girl spoke, it startled her quite a bit. She turned to look at the reader, a little confused by her words, yet at the same time, intrigued. "River?" She wondered what brought the girl to her bunk so late at night.

River advanced a step or two toward the bed, the crystalline depths of her eyes filled with a sense of loss and sadness, but there was hope there too. "Saw you weren't asleep, thought maybe she could help."

A sorrowful sigh left Zoe's lips and she merely shook her head in a rather defeated way. River hated to see her so broken, this wasn't how her warrior woman was supposed to be. She was supposed to be sardonic and deadly and terse. "Sleep don't come so easily these days." Zoe replied, "Ain't nothin' nobody can do about it."

By now, River had reached the bed. Slowly, she slid one knee up onto it, using it to slide herself up so that she was kneeling next to Zoe. It was only now that she was right next to her that Zoe noticed the difference. The girl had an almost frightening depth to her eyes, almost like there were whole other worlds in there-and knowing River, there might have been. But it wasn't just her eyes, it was everything about River. The way she moved, the way she sat, the way she breathed, the way her cheeks were so flushed...

Zoe sat up and drew her knees to her chest, grateful that she was actually wearing a nightgown. River watched this action curiously, tilting her head to the side. "She's making you uncomfortable?" she asked.

The older woman shifted, trying to think of the best way to answer her question. "No..." she said, "Just... wonderin' what you was doin' is all..." Then she realized that River would know the truth either way, so she said, "Well, yes, summat."

River smiled, her hand slowly reaching out to squeeze Zoe's. "Got an ache. I don't like it when you hurt." she said, letting her hand trail slowly back to the bed, "And nothing will ever make it go away, but... if I kiss you where it's sore, will you feel better?"

Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. Of course. She'd known River had understood and could feel what she felt, why should it be so strange that she was here to comfort her? "It helps." she admitted with a small smile, "Thank you for bein' here. For understandin'." Zoe couldn't recall the last time she'd said thank you to River.

The younger woman tilted her head to the side, letting her hair sweep down across her cheek, her shoulders, and-as Zoe just realized-the expanse of flesh exposed by her curiously low cut and translucent nightgown. A small smile was playing at River's lips again, and her eyes had taken on that look she got when she was quietly contemplating something. Finally, she said, "It's more than understanding."

What was that supposed to mean? Zoe managed a smile, still very intrigued by this late night visit. She opened her mouth to say, "Well, then thanks for everythin'." but what came out was, "Some'in you wanna say, sweetheart?" Where had that come from? It was the question she wanted the answer to, but why in the black had she said it?

That adorable little smile that had been toying with River's lips stretched to light up her whole face. "Sure." she said, "Got plenty of things I want to say." she leaned closer to Zoe, "But words get all lost and confused somewhere up there," she gestured to her head, "And never make sense when I get to saying them." The smile grew even larger, if that were possible, "Besides, I'd much rather just show you."

"Show me?" was all Zoe had time to breathe before River's lips were on hers. Without even realizing what she was doing, she kissed River back, losing herself for a moment into the softness and the sweetness of that kiss. It just felt so nice, and Zoe had so missed this feeling. Slowly, she came back to her senses and pulled away, her expression confused, but not angry. Images of Wash began to permeate the fog in her brain and she felt just a tiny bit guilty about allowing herself to kiss someone else. A River-y someone else at that. Zoe wasn't sure whether the second thought was disturbing or appealing.

River just kept on smiling. "Don't worry." she said, "Like you said, I understand." She hopped off the bed, "I'm not looking to take advantage, and I'm not looking to replace. Just didn't want one more secret to hold all by myself. Now you know. And you know where to find me." And with that, she left. For a long time, Zoe just sat there, reeling from all the warring emotions inside of her until, finally, sleep took her.