Could you all read this and let me know what you think? I've been working on this for a little bit, and I'd like to know what you all think of it. Is it worth continuing into a more progressive story? I just want to know if you all like my style of writing.

River sat in the pilot’s seat. It was weird for Zoe to come into the cockpit anymore and find the seat taken by the young girl. Wash should be the one driving the ship. Wash should be here making his jokes and keeping every one laughing. But, Wash was gone, and Zoe had to remind herself every day that he wasn’t coming back and no amount wishing was going to bring him back to her.
Zoe came right up beside River, looking out into the vast black. “How far until we reach Persephone?” she asked River, who looked bored as she played with the controls. Zoe could only marvel at how quickly little River had taken to being able to fly the ship as well if not better than her husband.
River didn’t even glance up, as though the controls were far more entertaining than Zoe was. She didn’t answer her right away. Finally, “About thirteen hours out,” she replied, twisting a dial. It wasn’t that the controls were more fascinating than Zoe; it was just that River couldn’t look Zoe in the eyes. Not yet. Not after the Miranda incident having caused her husband’s premature death.
Zoe nodded stoically before turning and leaving the cockpit as silently as she had come. River turned then, watching the retreating back. It was easier this way on Zoe, and that’s all River wanted to do: make things easier.
She knew how much of a burden she was to everyone. She only hoped that by taking the pilot’s seat and using her new found fighting skills, she’d be able to be of use to the Captain and everyone else. Turning back to the controls, she made sure the autopilot was on before leaning back in her chair, letting her long, dark hair fall into her face as she turned her head to the side and closed her eyes.
It was still difficult for her to sleep, so when she got the chance, she welcomed it. The nightmares still came. She still dreamed of what the Alliance had done to her in the lab. All the experiments and tests that had made her into an assassin to do the Alliance’s bidding. Sometimes, she dreamt she killed each and every crew member.
She dreamed of ruining Simon’s life by taking him out the hospital where he would be able to save hundreds of lives. It was selfish of her to hope he’d never leave her. He deserved to be in one the hospitals in the Core planets, like the one on Ariel. He had proven there that he belonged there, and River knew better than anyone how much he missed that life, how much he had given up to help rescue her.
She had nightmares about Book’s and Wash’s death. She hadn’t been there for it, but Mal had explained what had happened once to everyone. In her dream, she was standing over them, able to save them both, but turning her back on them. She had failed to save Book and Wash. Maybe there was another way they could have gone about showing the world what the Alliance had done. Maybe then not everyone would be dead.
Some nights, she had nightmares of how hated she was by the crew for what she had done to them, for what she had robbed them of. Zoe a husband and a future family, Kaylee and everyone else, a friend. Jayne hated her for being so crazy in the head, Mal hated her for disturbing the little family that had taken him years to make.
“I’m not sleeping,” River said, startling Mal as he approached her. She turned her head and looked up at him. Her eyes finding his.
“I just came up to see if ya wanted any company,” he mentioned as he took a seat in the chair opposite River. As he looked at River, he remembered first meeting her and the Doc. If anyone had told him back then that she would be piloting his ship, he would have asked them to kill him then. It was a might bit scary thinking about a crazy girl flying a ship, no matter how genius like her brother made her out to be.
River didn’t seem as crazy any more. She was better after the Miranda incident. She was still a little unstable, and sometimes she said things in code like she used to. However, that was becoming fewer and far between. He was able to hold a decent conversation with her for longer than ten seconds. Her instincts were always dead on, and her reading ability had saved their lives on more than one occasion.
“Deep black,” River muttered to herself as she looked out at the expanse that was space.
Mal turned and stared after her. He loved looking out at space; it was calming and relaxing. Something that he didn’t think he’d ever grow tired of. He turned back to River, “Why don’t ya head on down to the mess hall and get yerself somethin’ to eat?” When River didn’t move, he continued, “We’ve got a long ways to go yet, so you’ll be fine away fer an hour.”
She nodded once and turned, catching Mal’s eye and holding the gaze for several seconds before brushing passed him and out into the corridor that led to the kitchen area.