A/N: Continuation of The Lies We Tell, but this chapter isn't nearly so dark. I think I'm going to run with this arc for a while... it certainly seems like there's a lot of interest in it. Warnings for cannon-level references trauma.

River descends into the belly of the whale. The rusty ribs arch around them, holding them safe within her belly like Charlie in Zoë. All is silent except the steady rumbling of Serenity's heart and River's quiet breathing. Above, the voices are too many and too loud. Anger clashed with fear like towering waves against stone. Below, the waters are calm and still. Or they usually are. Today, they swirl with the turbulent eddies left by a soul in torment. River lets herself be pulled along by the current of screaming until she splashes against the source.

Sam is tucked in an improbably small corner like a little clam startled by her touch. There are tears on his face, and they taste like purity and protection when she kisses them.

"What have I done?" he whispers. In her mind, she can see his soul thrashing on a rack of his own design, slowly but surely torn apart piece by bloody piece.

"The Darkness could not remain chained forever," River reminds her foolish lover. She reminds herself that Sam cannot see the streaks of black that twist through Dean's scars like abandoned fishing nets. They had been growing ever thicker of late, strangling out the good she knows lies deep within like a pearl.

"I can't…" Sam groans as another piece of his soul is torn away. "Wo de tian ah."

"I will be your stone number two until your anchor returns," River offers. She worms her way under his arms and onto his lap. The warm scent of flannel and pine washes over her and fills her lungs. Sam tucks his chin and presses his lips against her hair. She can feel him trembling like a taut line from the strain of staying here and now.

"Ride the waves, my love. You cannot escape this River."

He lets go, and the memories come crashing through the flimsy Wall in his mind like a busted dam and swamp them both.

"Get him to shut up, Doc, or I'm going to!"

"Sam, I do wish you would hold still. There's no need to struggle: it's only a little needle. You'll hardly even feel it going into your brain."

"You shoot me, son. You shoot me in the heart."

"Can't, I can't, please Dean…"

"Kaylee? How goes the mechanical override?"

"...Marcus Colony, this is Mayor Stevens… Are you receiving Mal? Xie xie Yeh Su. It's about time you arrived… but I thought you were flying a Firefly, not an Impala? Doesn't matter, I've got a town full of panicking people and those gorram Reavers hovering over our heads like the Grim Reaper's scythe."

"If you can't save your brother, you're going to have to kill him."

"What have I done? Dean, I thought I was doing the right thing, please…"

"River, help Sam or help break the gou cao de lock on my ship. Don't just stand there like a gorram post."

"Why does Dean have so many boo-boos? Jayne says he was eaten by monsters, but I think he's telling bad stories again."

"Stop scrubbing your hands, ya ijit. You're gonna rub off all your skin and waste all my nice new soap if you keep that up."

"There's so much blood, Dean, why is there so much blood on my hands?"

"Stephens, this is Mal. The guy in the Impala is a buhn dahn who thinks he can take a Reaver ship down solo. Forget about him. You focus on getting as many people as you can inside and keep them quiet. We're on our way."

"Captain, I don't think we should open the door. Not until he stops screaming like that, at least."

"Why can't you just follow orders like your brother? Why must you always make it so difficult? All you do is get other people hurt."

"Hang in there, Dean. I'm gonna fix this. There's gotta be a way."

"Let me get this straight, Zoe. We can go anywhere but where we actually want to go, because that feh feh pi goh wrote some program to keep us from landing on Marcus."

"It's ok, sweetie, I got you. It's going to be ok, I promise. Let's just go to my shuttle and we can lay down and take a nap, ok? I'll light that incense you got me last week and put on that music you like so much."

"Family don't end in blood, boy. You're always welcome here."

"I tried to save them. I did. I tried so hard, but I only made things worse. And now…"

"Bu kuh nuhn. Stevens says one of the Reaver ships just crashed outside of town in a great big ball of fire."

"I got this, Cap'n. Vera will take care of anything that comes through that door. If you weren't so gorram picky about said door, she could take care of whatever's behind it too."

"You just stay in here and keep patching up Baby. I'm pretty sure this is a trap: what kind of Operative has a name like 'Castiel' anyway?"

"Dean, please. You promised. You promised you'd come back."