Our mothers were sisters so we looked a lot alike. I wasn't a genius like the Tam siblings and I wasn't quite the dancer as River was so I didn't have that thin, athletic, statuesque figure. I was a good 2 to 3 inches shorter but we could pass as sisters.

Now I say I'm not a genius but people say I have a gift. My name is Aurora Jean Stark and I'm a telepath. I used to be a medic. Well I guess I still am. Simon and I made a great tag team back then. I would get them in the field and keep them alive until we got them to the hospital where Simon would take over and save their lives. We saved a couple hundred people over those six years.

That's where they found me, the blue hands. I made a particularly miraculous save in the field and someone got wind of it. Seemed like a great opportunity. When they found out I was related to River (who had been at the Academy for around 2 months at that point) they couldn't wait to get their hands on me.

I went through some intense training before they got mostly sidelined by River and the rest of us sort of fell by the wayside to just be brainwashed. Once I learned what they were doing to River I contacted Simon who was already desperate to get River out and had no idea I had gotten sucked in. Though after that they started in on us again and I don't remember a lot until Simon got to us.

The three of us ended up on Serenity. I fell in love instantly. She was freedom and I had craved it my whole life. I was never one for school learning and high society and that made me the outcast in our family at a young age. I was 24 when I shipped off to the Academy. I was 18 when I left home and became a medic. My chosen profession was seen as being beneath me by my family, due to its blue collar nature, and they wanted nothing to do with me. Simon became the only family I had because I saw him in the Emergency Room and he never held by upper class society's distaste for the labor intensive medical services, if you weren't a doctor or a nurse you were looked down on. Simon knew without us there wouldn't be much use for doctors and nurses.

The crew of Serenity became my family. It took a long time to earn that though. It started when I kept a virtual vigil while caring for Kaylee after that Fed mucked everything up.

I still think Simon and I endeared ourselves to Mal when we doped Jayne up after the train job for Niska went south. I took charge of taking care of Jayne while the meds wore off and that got me on the merc's good side.

Serenity wasn't the only thing I fell in love with. Jayne Cobb was a large, crude mercenary and I couldn't take my eyes off him. I almost killed him and he almost killed me, River and Simon but he was always on my mind.

I guess I sort of melted into the shadows when we first joined Serenity as passengers on Persephone. Simon was preoccupied with keeping River and us undiscovered and figuring out what the government had done to River's brain. After that fed exposed us and Mal agreed to us staying aboard provided we pulled our weight, I tried to keep to myself. I was damaged but still functioning enough to not need supervision as River did. I spent most of my time in my room reading and writing things down when my thoughts would jumble. These were always the times River would lose her cool as well. I was used to being alone, had been my whole adult life to this point, so I tried not to ask Simon for too much. He had his hands full with River. I only lost it in front of the whole crew once. And that was a crazy day.

I still don't know what made it happen. I remember actions but it feels like my mind was off. It happened a couple of days after the Alliance released us and blew that transport out of the sky and all the evidence of Reavers. Jayne and I were just putting the last of the boxes back in their places from when those purple bellies ransacked everything. Out of nowhere I just dropped the box in my hands. Jayne stopped and looked up at the clatter. "You ok, Aurora?" Mal called from the catwalk. I turned and slugged Jayne right in the face. He hollered and I caught the back of his large hand across my mouth. I lunged at him and we hit the deck. A couple more punches were thrown and we wrestled around a minute. Jayne got his arms around me and pinned my arms to my side. I came back to myself sitting on the floor in the cargo bay between Jayne's legs with his big arms tight around my torso. I could feel Jayne's chest heaving against my back but I hadn't even begun to lose stamina. But my face got hot and my body lost all tension and I tried to curl in on myself but the merc's arms held fast.

I wasn't normally one for fits of emotions but tears welled up in my eyes and my voice cracked when I spoke, "Jayne I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened." Simon suddenly appeared next to me and began a volley of questions, all of which I ignored. I looked to Mal. "Please don't space me, Captain. Lock me up if you must but please don't space me." "I'm not gonna space ya, girl. Jayne take her to the infirmary so Doc can check ya both. Jayne I ain't askin'." "I'll go. You don't have to hold me down anymore. I won't hit you." Jayne released his grip and I scooted to my feet and started to the infirmary, Simon at my side and Jayne not far behind.

Simon ran every test he could and asked me a million questions. Jayne stood guard at the door. I couldn't meet his eyes.

I spent the next few days self confined to my bunk. I knew Captain had ordered Simon to keep a close eye on both me and River and I didn't want to cause any more trouble.