River Tam was known for a long time only by a number. She was not human, not a real girl. Before then, in the fuzzy days of Simon and exciting new books and brightness only ever marred by the cutting tones of her mother and the silence of her father, she had been called angel, pet, darling, sweetheart, mei-mei, sister but it was only ever these last two things that were uttered with any feeling. Otherwise, it was 'Angel, be a good girl and go upstairs' and 'Don't annoy Mr Johnson now, darling, why don't you run along sweetheart'

Then it was painful and black and River Tam was no more. She was Experiment, Weapon, Dangerous; a Creature of Extraordinary Grace, but a Creature nonetheless.

Now she is the Girl. She has Serenity and family and Simon and Kaylee making fireworks in the engine room and the scars of Miranda that pull tight sometimes and sting, but the pain is mostly gone. She has long and informative conversations with Wash's daughter that makes everybody shake their heads, astounded.

She has a name. She is the Captain's precious, protected and sometimes exasperating Albatross. Except when Captain Daddy gets exasperated with her, she doesn't feel black oil stirring in her belly and spreading across her skin like she is a dirty, worthless little girl who is too clever and too strange to show off to Important People.

When Captain Daddy slowly raises his head and looks at her with wide, horror filled eyes, his mind a white black whirl, he'll look back at their red-faced client and say, very slowly; Ta ma de 'Tro-ss"

She knows then that she has said something she wasn't supposed to and that they are about to fill the air with whizzing lead bees and she will have to dance with her boots in men's faces. As if their overweight client didn't need or want to know exactly how much pressure clogged arteries are exerting on his aorta.

When Mal's roar echoes through Serenity's womb ("RRRRRRRIIIIIVVVVEERRR!") she knows that he has discovered she was testing the resilience of his bunks blankets, should they ever have to use them to bind a prisoner or a lion. She finds them entirely unsuitable for this purpose. She doesn't know why he banishes her to her bunk for a week; he should have been thanking her!

On jobs that go wrong and River ends up swallowing bugs in the escape, the Captain will roar and shout and blow about like a bad-tempered wind storm until everyone is as ruffled and busy as he is. Then he will grab her by the shoulders, tipping her face up to check she is alive, breathing and in one piece and say; "Good job, 'Tross"

Other times he will kiss her head and call her bao bei. There was that one time, out celebrating Zoe's birthday that he used her name in the same tone one would refer to a god or an angel, his pistol in the mouth of a man who was thinking red, hot things at her when she danced.

On long, cold nights when she is sitting in the pilot's chair, talking to Wash's dinosaurs and watching the stars, and Captain Daddy decides to join her, he will stand in the doorway and watch her until she notices him and turns.

"All's well, Albatross?" he'll say, softly because she is precious but gruffly because he doesn't like being caught out.