River doesn't pull away from the Liberator's touch. Mostly it's Simon or Inara putting placating hands on her, pulling her close when the nightmares are too dark to see, Kaylee taking her hands and pulling her back to the warm lights and hum of Serenity. People she trusts.

River's always been a good judge of character.

Did she get revenge? She thinks of the counselor she gutted with his own pen. She thinks of how she still shudders at the color blue. She thinks of her escape, how she knows Dr. Mathias' days are numbered. She thinks of Jubal Early, the immoral bounty hunter. She almost saw herself in him. A monster. She thinks of him floating off into space to eventually suffocate in his own suit.

"Little ways. Prodding with a needle. Hurts, but the pinpricks, they're reparable. Always a peg to replace the empty slots."