Life on this boat. A Firefly story. #fanfic

You learn something new every day

Nathan Fillion posted the above picture on social media yesterday. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it and my fangasm lasted for hours.
I am still smiling!
Bless these guys... Alan has the best smile on the planet!
Anyway. Back to my little story.

Late one evening, Mal was at the helm. Lou had gone to bed but found sleeping wasn't going to happen so she went up to see the stars.
"Hey," she said in the doorway carrying two cups of coffee.
"Hi there Lou," Mal said with a smile.
"Can I come in here for a while?" She asked.
"Sure, but shouldn't you be resting like the rest of them?" He asked.
"Couldn't sleep so I thought I'd make the captain a cup of coffee and see if he'd let me look at the stars," she said.
"Ooh, thank you," he said taking the cup from her.
Lou sat down in the co pilot seat and curled her legs up under her and held the cup in both hands.
Mal turned and studied her for a moment.
"Anything specific keeping you awake?" He asked.
"Not really. Just thinking about Saffy and Brooke... and Danny," she sighed.
"You miss them, huh?" Mal asked.
"Yeah," she said.
"Can't do a lot about Danny, but I am going to try getting the girls back to you," Mal said.
"Thanks Mal. That means a lot," she said. "I'm just worried that they might not recognise me. Or that someone has done so much to them that they won't be my girls anymore."
"We will get to that when we get there," Mal said.
Lou sat there for a little while, studying the stars, pondering the ways of the 'verse.
"I've been meaning to ask... when Duggar said the girls are just as insane as their parents... any idea what he might have meant with that?" Mal asked.
"I've been wondering about that myself. Danny wanted them safe, so both girls are ferocious fighters. Saphire could shoot a gun and Brooke could climb practically any surface. I'm guessing some pirates have received bitemarks and bruises along the way," she said.
"He taught them to fight?" Mal asked.
"Yeah. I was sceptical but Saffy was a real daddy's girl so she went with him everywhere from she could walk. He had a punching bag in the barn and she loved hitting that thing with him," Lou said with a sad smile.
"I wish I could have seen him as a dad," Mal replied.
"I do too," Lou said.
"What was he like when he came to your rock?" Mal asked.
"Trigger happy. Tough skinned. Didn't go anywhere without his gun. Went to town to get drunk as often as he could. He was a mess!" Lou smiled.
"Did he ever speak of his life before?" Mal asked.
"Only after a few years and only when I asked. He had nightmares about he stuff he had done as a pirate, but he never wanted to tell me about it. I think he told Book some, but the preacher won't tell me on account of it being a confession before God or some such arrangement," Lou said.
"Some things are best not known," Mal said.
"What was he like as a child tho?" Lou asked.
"He was a rascal. I was older by five years and that flamin runt would not leave me be. I used to call him "Danny dog" on account of him always being on my heels," Mal smiled. "When we got older, we rode out on the horses herding cattle with the cowboys our mom hired to work the ranch. It was us, our mom and the 40 farmhands plus a million acres of blue sky."
"Sounds like a good childhood," Lou smiled.
"It was," Mal replied.
"How 'bout a dad? I never heard him speak of his dad," Lou asked.
"There wasn't much of one," Mal answered. "I suspect a farmhand was granted entry to the house or that my mom met someone at a local barn dance. I didn't know my dad either. Never missed having one with all them hired men always around."
"But your mom was married once?" Lou asked.
"She must have, coz she had a maiden name, but she never spoke about it," Mal replied.
They sat in silence for a while.
"Tomorrow will be the last day of fresh bread for breakfast," Lou said sadly.
"Is it?" Mal asked.
"Yeah. The last little bit of flour is hardly enough to keep my yeast alive," she told him.
"I think you might wanna look in a cargo crate marked as toilet cleaner," Mal commented dryly.
"Toilet cleaner?" Lou asked.
"Yeah. Backup foodstuffs in case someone becomes a glutton or River does something to the food we've got. Should be 'bout a full sack of flour in there. I'll get some more on Pandora," Mal said taking a sip of coffee.
"You truly are a remarkable man, Mal Reynolds," Lou smiled.