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Strange Bedfellows
River
River paced Serenity's upper deck, her breathing was loud in her ears, but not as loud as everything else. Zoe's screaming had quieted a bit, but it was still there. It never stopped. Neither did Mal's fear, Mal's regret, but often all she heard in his mind was The Signal, what he'd been ready to die trying to tell the 'Verse. Jayne was hurting, hurting differently, but hurting. Kaylee was fretting for the ship, for Wash, for Book, and scared for Simon. He was more in her mind now, and she was more in his. Simon was just… he was almost numb, he was so tired, but he was angry and sad. He was doing everything he could, and it still wasn't enough. That was hurting him. She'd seen what the Reavers had done to the Alliance in his mind, but now she'd seen something much scarier.
"Eight eights are sixty-four;
"Multiply by seven.
"When it's done,
"Carry one,
"And take away Eleven." She'd been trying so hard all day to block it all out, sometimes she'd even manage it for a while. But she'd seen a face in Simon's head.
"Two by Two, Hands of Blue."
"Two by Two, Hands of Blue." She'd felt one of them die. The other one was still alive, and he'd seen Simon. Most of what she'd felt in him was pain, but she still knew. He'd kill her if he could. Or worse, take her back.
Simon
Simon stood on the wards, there was nobody in sight, no medical staff anyway. Nobody who could tell… He was just out of sight of the nameless man with the blue gloves, Hands of Blue. He'd glanced at the man earlier, he was lying very still, with his eyes closed, panting. His pain had gotten worse. Nobody would think anything of it if a passing Doctor topped up his pain meds. A bottle of it was sitting in the palm of Simon's hand. He'd been using it a lot the past few days. Nobody would suspect anything if he gave the man methadone. Giving opiates to a peritonitis case would be entirely reasonable. It would be painless, even kind; let the man fall in to sedation over the next ten to twenty minutes, he wouldn't even feel it, he'd just feel the pain going away. He had an IV line for fluids, he wouldn't even feel a needlestick. Simon could back it up with hydrozepam or something to make sure the man didn't seize, probably the most painless death imaginable; far, far better than what this man inflicted on his victims, if the screaming at St. Lucy's on Ariel was any indication. He should do it. If River was right, that man had the blood of hundreds, most of them supposedly on the same side as him, on his hands. River was terrified of the Hands of Blue; she'd run screaming from them on Ariel. He'd probably kill River if he laid eyes on her, and he'd kill Simon if he could; probably the entire crew of Serenity with them. It was self-defence. He should do it. He had to do it.
Methadone: One of the most potent painkillers. In overdose, it causes respiratory arrest and occasionally seizures.
Opiates: The class of painkillers to which methadone belongs (almost definitely what Kaylee was high on in the deleted scene of the pilot).
Peritonitis: Inflammation (usually infection) of the abdominal cavity. Horrendously painful and usually fatal if untreated
Hydrozepam: A drug Simon mentions in Ariel. Given it's name, I am assuming it to be a benzodiazepine, so it would make seizures less likely.
I am very curious to see what you make of this. Please review. I have spoken at length with a few people about this chapter, I'd like to speak to more.