Post-Serenity fic: "One Man Down"

Title: One Man Down
Author: corellianjedi
Disclaimer: Not mine. It’s all Joss’s, I swear.
Words: 603
Rating: PG
Summary: Zoe’s not the only one who misses him; everyone else does, too.
Author’s Notes: Post-BDM, so beware of spoilers. Y'all get fic 'cause I'm super bored. Yaye for stuff to pass the time.


Mal had always liked Wash well enough. Ace pilot, good for a laugh once in a while, didn’t cause too much trouble. Well, ‘cept when he up and married Zoe. He learned to forgive Wash for that after the trouble with Niska. Mal never even minded those stupid dinosaurs on the console; so long as Wash would always be there to get them out of dodge when the time came, he could have as many toys on the dash as he wanted.
But Wash isn’t there to get them out of trouble anymore. Even still, Mal can’t find it in him to move the dinos.

+ + + + +

Whenever Inara used to come back from an appointment, meet back up with Serenity on some moon they had dropped her off at a few weeks earlier, Wash always made a point of telling her they missed her. She’d get the same from Kaylee, with a hug and a smile, but there was something about the way Wash always reminded her that she was one of them that made her appreciate the kind goofiness of the man.
Now, when she comes back in her shuttle from picking up supplies for the crew or swindling some young, rich man in ways that made Mal proud, she can’t help but wish that someone was there to tell her they missed her before she got inside.

+ + + + +

Wash was the only one besides Kaylee who had genuinely worried about Simon. Everyone else was worried about being caught with Simon. Simon remembered back to his first days on the boat, when the Captain was going to leave them on Whitefall and Wash gave him advice about asking Mal for a different drop spot. Simon hadn’t had anyone worry about him in years, not since his parents disowned him for looking for River.
He kinda liked it. Now he kinda misses it.

+ + + + +

Kaylee had three “big brothers” on the ship: Jayne was the one who made her feel smart, Mal was the one who made her feel like she was always protected, and Wash was the one who could never fail to make her laugh. He was the only one who ever got why she hung a hammock in the engine room, why she painted flowers on the kitchen walls, why she hung lights around her bunk door. Sometimes, when she would be up late tinkering with Serenity, she would stop by the bridge before heading to bed; Wash was always happy to let her join in his little dinosaur reenactments.
She can’t even look at the dinosaurs anymore.

+ + + + +

Jayne always figured Wash was the only one on the boat who wasn’t scared of him in the slightest. He had Zoe and his jokes to hide behind. Jayne found it kinda disconcerting, knowing that there was someone whom he couldn’t scare into doing what he wanted. Wash flaunted it, too: made jokes, teased Jayne like nobody else would. While Jayne never enjoyed it he had to admire it.
Little man had balls. Jayne likes that.

+ + + + +

Wash never treated River like a burden or a freak. Mostly because he didn’t know how to treat her. He kept to himself and left her alone, but River could always tell that he was concerned for her. Wash was nothing if not easy to read. Always worried about her brother, and River liked that; Simon was too busy worrying about her that he needed somebody to worry about him once in a while. Hoban was a good man. She thinks he still is.
River doesn’t miss Wash. He teaches her how to fly in her dreams at night.