Title: He held her hand like it was a mystery
Fandom: Tru Calling/Firefly
Disclaimer: I don't own either Tru Calling or Firefly
Author's Note: Written as part of my alphabet meme for xfirefly9x who asked for the prompt Murder - Jack/River. Title from the song 'Jack and Jill' by Katie Herzig
Her eyes shoot open the second he steps into the room. He watches her sit up slowly, the white sheet covering her body falling into her lap and he staring at her too white skin, bruised with deep cuts and bullet holes and a couple bite marks that don't look very friendly. Her dark hair was falling around her shoulders and down her back and her dark eyes were falling down his form, sizing him up, making him uneasy.
He had never been scrutinized by a dead girl before.
"Take me away from the black, Jack," she says, her voice sounding childlike. Anger blisters at the corner of her eyes and he wants to tell her that, no he's not going to help her. But he doesn't have time before he's being flung back into his apartment after a nap the night before.
He's scared because people had stopped asking for his help. Tru was going to try and save the girl, and he had to stop her. It was his job, his duty as preserver of time. Ten minutes later found Jack still sitting on his couch and someone pounding on his door, and Tru's shouting at him, asking what the hell happened.
Why the hell anyone would ask for him.
He goes down the fire escape to avoid her, and feels a bit proud of himself. Tru thwarted for the time being, off to find the girl and make sure she stays dead.
He goes for coffee. Black, no sugar and tries to remember anything about the girl that would help him find her. She didn't look any older than seventeen. Eighteen at the most. She'd probably been murdered. Gang banged from the state her corpse had been in. He had to blink a few times to get the image of her eyes, dark and hallow and all knowing, burning into him. He even took the time to look over his shoulder when he felt them cutting into his neck. He drinks his coffee in peace and stops in the park to concentrate on anything else. He'd walked in to look for Harrison, thinking that wherever Tru was, Harrison was sure to follow. The morgue was his second stop.
River Tam. He blinks at the memory and realizes that it's her name he's thinking of. He had heard Davis say it into a tape recorder as he took inventory of her belongings. Why Davis hadn't kicked him out the second he walked into the cooler he didn't know, but then remembered that all he could see or hear was River.
Jack could hear music playing behind him and he turns to look over his shoulder, staring in amusement at the people dancing together. One girl stands out among the others and he realizes that she's found him, and she's dancing in a pink dress that swirls around her legs and a pair of combat boots. She's graceful and he's mesmerized. His eyes are filled with the memory of a naked girl and he's slightly embarrassed for a moment, turning his head away to concentrate on finishing his coffee, before standing up and turning back to the dancing and the music.
But she's not dancing anymore. She's staring at him, straight in the eye. Jack feels his breath catch in his throat and he can't take in another. He blinks and she's dancing again, like it never happened. But Jack isn't one to believe in coincidence and his feet start by themselves, heading in the direction of the dancing girl, who will be dead and cold in a few hours.
He stops at the ring of people forming, crossing his arms over his chest to watch, his eyes only on River and she smiles and dances with the difference people with her. The song stops and changes and someone bumps into him and he looks away briefly to catch an apology. His skin crawls and he knows she standing in front of him before his head moves up. She's thin and breakable, but her eyes make him feel small and exposed.
"Jack fell down, broke his crown," she says, her eyes staring unblinking into him. "No one comes tumbling after. The nursery rhyme ends and fades away."
"I'm not sure what-"
"You're a murderer, Jack," she says, her eyes dark and hard. His chest clenches. "You don't help people when you want to."
"Are you talking to me-?"
"Can't lie to me, Jack. I'm Santa Claus."
He doesn't get it, but she doesn't let him, because suddenly she's off dancing again, perfectly in step with the others, not missing a beat. Jack frowns and he's stumbling away from the music and the dancing. Purpose forgotten, all he knows is to get the hell away from her as fast as he can.
But she's there whenever he turns his head. Not dancing anymore, just staring. It scares him enough to look for Tru, making sure that River isn't behind him when he finally finds her and Harrison sitting in a booth at the diner. He slides into the seat next to Harrison, across from the door, keeping an eye on it unless she walks in and tries to read his mind or whatever.
Tru's completely confused by his presence, as is Harrison. He's not at all welcome.
"Shouldn't you be off making sure that girl is getting murdered?" asks Tru and Jack's face pales, and Tru's face turns from annoyed to confused.
"She needs to die"
"How can you say that, she's an innocent person," says Tru. But before Jack can explains the bell above the door goes off and River's standing there, her combat boots are gone and her eyes are looking curiously around the diner. Jack swallows and Tru looks over her shoulder at the girl who catches her eye and holds on until Tru has to look away.
"She can read minds," he hisses over the table at Tru, who rolls her eyes.
"Jack, the ridiculous-"
"Right, and time travel is perfectly normal," interjects Harrison. Jack and Tru both stare at him, clearly telling him to shut up. But before either of them can vocalize it Jack feels eyes burning against his neck.
"People are like chess pieces. You can only follow one pattern," her head tilted in the direction of Harrison. "She knows you lost a bet. It's a redo."
Harrison looks offended, looking at Tru as if to deny it. But she just looks smug, then stops and blinks and looks up at the girl, standing barefoot in the diner. River reaches out to press her finger against Jack's cheek.
"Almost life-like."
Tru's still gaping at River, and Jack's trying not to freak out. She smiles thinly at him and walks away, her bare feet padding against the tiles. Jack looks at Tru and cocks his head.
"See?"
"It doesn't mean she has to die."
"We'll see," Jack slide out of the booth and follows River, minding the distance between himself and her. She turns and he follows. She skips and he follows. She takes him around the same block twice and he realizes she knows he following her and she's just screwing with him. Playing a game. She turns down an alley and he follows and she's waiting and he shoves her up against the bricks, her toes scrapping against the gravel on the ground. She stares at him with her blank eyes and she's not scared, she's angry.
"What the hell are you?" Jack growls and there's a split second when he swears her eyes flicker with something sad.
"A girl," she says, her voice cracking and his arm goes slack and her feet touch the ground, but her eyes keep his, shining with tears and Jack wonders if he did something wrong.
Something clatters at the end of the alley, and Jack's head turns, while River's eyes drop to his chest. There's a group of five men, wearing chains and their hair in their eyes. A few of them leer at River, who doesn't look up. And Jack realizes that this is where River was going to die. Pictures of unkind bite marks fill his eyes and his throat fills with bile. He might not want to keep her from dying, but he'd give his life if she was touched in any way improper.
It takes him a moment to realize that they're talking to him, telling him to get a soda. A few of them laugh. River reaches out her hand and picks at the hem of Jacks shirt, frowning in thought. Then she lifts her head, stares her blank stare and starts forward, picking up a trashcan lid, left abandoned by the wall and bashes it against one of her would be murderers heads. Jack blinks, and does move, watching fascinated as one by one the men go down. River's almost dancing as she sends them to the ground, twirling and striking as easy as if she were breathing.
The silver lip falls from her finger tips as she finishes, clattering against the ground and knocking Jack out of his stupor. He blinks and she's standing in front of him, staring at the ground, picking at the hem of her dress, like she's embarrassed. Jack can't form words to describe his shock.
"Yesterday I died," said River in her childlike voice, ringing inside his head. "Today was yesterday, except today you tried to keep me dead. I remember yesterday and today I remembered you. Today, instead of yesterday, I stayed alive, because that's the way it works. It's the way it was supposed to be."
"You're supposed to be dead," River shook her head.
"He was supposed to meet her," her voice was light and her words didn't make sense to him. But she took his hand and that told him very clearly that he shouldn't think so hard sometimes. He didn't blink, but his head tilted to the side as he examined her face, looking for any signs of weakness or explanation. She pulled her hand out of his and reached up to tap his check.
"Little soul, big world."
He watched her turn away, stepping over the bodies of undead men and turning the corner. Behind him, Tru turned in.
"What happened?" she asked, walking up behind him, staring at the bodies on the ground. Jack didn't answer her, and Tru looked up, staring at his profile as he stared at the spot River disappeared from. "Is she dead?"
Jack managed a sigh and shook his head slowly, making Tru frown. "Then where did she go?"
"She's like a river, she'll go where if flows," Tru's frown deepened and she looked away from him, following his gaze. After a moment she shrugged and gave him a smug look, much like the one she'd given Harrison earlier.
"Guess it's a victory for the good guys."
Jack didn't answer her, ignored her until she left, about the time the men on the ground started stirring and groaning about a ninety pound girl with dead eyes and a pink dress. Jack turned and headed out of the alley, hoping in the back of his mind that he would dream of dark eyes and dancing.