Increscunt Animi by Proxii Bleu
VIII
"How is she?" Mal looked up from River and over at Simon was was standing in the entrance to the captain's quarters. Reynold's let River's hand drop like a hot rock as he stood up hastily from the side of his bed. Tam just gave him a funny look, and went over to examine his sister. Shaking Mal rubbed the back of his head which was now throbbing harder than it had before. He'd had headaches in the past, but this one- Mal paused, and then looked back at River who was trying to explain to her brother what was wrong, but without much success.
"She's been feverish most of the day." said Mal idly. Ever since River had been on board, he'd had an increase in his migraines. Normally he had maybe one or two in a month, and could go for long periods of time without even having one. But since the arrival of the siblings, he had one almost every day, and lately since River had begun to stabilize they had been getting worse.
"River are you in any pain?" His sister just looked at him.
"How many times have I told you?" Simon sighed, and looked over at Mal for help. Either he was completely oblivious to the expression on the older man's face, or was attributing it to Mal's propensity for having strange moods.
"She's had a stomachache for a few days, last night she said it felt like she was being gutted."
"Okay." Simon ran his hands over his sister's midsection, the action causing her to hunch over in pain. Forwning, Simon took a syringe out of the bag he had with him, and with some cajoling managed to get a sample of blood.
"I think I know what's wrong with her, but I'm just going to run some tests first to be sure. I'll be right back." Simon left, Mal sitting down on the bed as soon as he was gone.
"You've been trying to get in my head, haven't you?"
"It's like cracking a coconut."
"River, stay out of my mind. You ever think I might not want to share?"
"I stayed out of Jayne's mind, and he wanted to throw me to the wolves. He got stupid, the money was too good." Mal flinched slightly at River's word-for-word recitation of what the mercenary had said when he had been in the airlock when Mal had been deciding on whether or not he was going to kill him. Apparently, River knew more about what had been going on than he'd originally thought.
"I can understand that River, but not everyone is out to get you. Sometimes you just have trust people."
"And you do?"
"No, but I don't go digging through their minds!" Hissed Mal as he checked to make sure that Simon wasn't back yet. The last thing he needed was the doctor catching this conversation.
"You could have killed Wash."
"He isn't dead."
"He isn't awake either!"
"You have to wake him up! They're coming!"
"River just because you sense something God knows how far away, doesn't mean you play puppet with my crew!" River closed her eyes as she focused on something for a minute, and then turned her attention back to Mal.
"I wasn't playing puppet. Do you think I understand how to be this way? I cannot be as everyone else, it's not in my DNA to be like everyone else."
"Look River, I know it would be great if there were some ground rules for this, but for now could you just keep it to yourself?"
"Fine."
"Good."
"I have some bad news." Simon stepped into Mal's wurters, took a look on the expression on his sister's face, and wondered what the hell had happened in the last twenty minutes while he was gone.
"What is it Doc?"
"I think River has appendicitis, which means that-" River let out a high shriek, and bolted out of the room. Simon let out a defeated sigh as her yells echoed through the halls. "She has to have it removed."
"Oh great, and we all know how much River loves medical attention. What the hell can go wrong next?"
"Sir?" Mal looked up as Zoe peeked around the corner of the door.
"Yeah?"
"It's Wash, he woke up."
"And?"
"I think you have to see this for yourself."
***
Between the time Zoe had left, and the time it took for her to get Mal and come back Kaylee had wandered into their quarters where the man sat writing something on the wall. He'd been out for at least two hours, but he didn't seem to even be tired as he continued to scrawl strange symbols on the wall with a stub of a pastel that he'd picked up behind River. The mechanic came over to where he sat, and peered at his doodles.
"Whatcha drawing?" she asked midly as Wash continued to work. He frowned for a minute as he contemplated the question. What was he drawing, and why? He wasn't quite sure, but for some reason his hands kept following the intructions in his mind. Up around, smudge, and blend.
"I don't know," he said finally. "But I have to finish it before they come."
"Who?" asked Kaylee.
"Wolves." Kaylee frowned at the answer, and just continued to sit next to the pilot. Eventually Zoe returned with Simon and Mal in tow. The three stood there and stared at the pilot's drawing, their faces containing the same confusion as Kaylee's as they watched him.
"Uh, Wash are you okay?"
"Great Mal, just drawin'."
"Drawin' what?"
"He doesn't know." said Kaylee. "He said he just has to finish it before the wolves come." Zoe's mouth turned down at the corners as she looked hard at Simon. She could tell by the look on the doctor's face that he knew as well as she did which member of the crew was always ranting about wolves coming to get her.
"Wash would you mind if I examine you?"
"How about later?"
"How about now." said Mal walking over to where the man sat. Wash shrugged, and continued to scrawl on the wall. His hands rubbing one corner hard for a second, before he finally stood up and let the piece of pastel fal from his fingers.
"Its done." Everyone looked at the wall. On it Wash had drawn a perfect replica of a Reaver ship, underneath was a series of numbers and letters drawn so close together that they looked like gibberish, but as Wash examined his handiwork a small idea began to form in the back of his mind.
"Wash why did you draw that?" asked Zoe anxiously. Wash had the artistic skill of a two-year-old, the best he'd ever drawn was stick-figures in a card he'd once given her. Again there was only one person present who was capable of drawing with that level of realism and accuracy.
"I don't know, I just needed to."
"Why?"
"'Cause the wolves are coming." he replied. The tone of his voice revealing that he had abosulutely no idea what he was talking about, or even why he was thinking about it. The only thing he was sure of was that for some reason there were images in his head that didn't belong there. Something that also confused him, because he didn't remember how thay got there. It was as if someone had put them in his head. Mal walked over to where Wash stood, and looked at the string of numbers. Bending down, he stared at them for a minute, before putting his hand over a few sections. Swearing he stood up.
"Wash are these coordinates?"
"Huh?" The pilot looked down at his handiwork. If he put a space there, and there- "Yeah, funny huh?"
"Okay Simon, this isn't going to sit well with you, and Zoe I don't want you going crazy but I think River did this."
"Obviously." said Zoe. Simon shook his head.
"Look we know that River is capable of sensing the minds of others, but this? You're giving her to much credit."
"Really?" said Mal turning to look at the younger man. "Then I guess she was lying when she told me straight out she did this." Simon turned a shade, and looked at the floor.
"Why. If, and I mean 'if' she did this then why?"
"Because she picked up on a Reaver ship, and this was the only way she could warn us?" Everyone looked at Kaylee.
"Excuse me?" said Zoe.
"Well see most of my family are Readers, and once though we had a cousin who was a Seer and she could talk to people with her mind 'cause she was kinda like River."
"What do you mean?" asked Simon.
"Well she had this thing where she was real smart, but she couldn't do things except a certain way. The doctors called it awfulism or something."
"Autism." mumbled Simon. "You said you had a cousin, what happened to her?"
"Fever." There was a moment of silence as everyone took in what Kaylee had said, before turning back to the matter at hand.
"Look," said Mal." River did this, I already talked to her about it, but if she did pick up on something then I want to know about it. Wash are you right yet?" Wash scratched the back of his head, and thought for a minute.
"I guess so, but..."
"Simon and I will take care of River. Zoe, you going to be all right?" Everyone turned to see an empty spot where Zoe once stood. Mal had a very bad feeling start low in the pit of his stomach, and settle there. Yelling in frustration, he stomped out into the hall.
"Wash run the sensors at those coordinates, Simon go get medbay ready, and Kaylee start looking for River."
"What are you going to do?" asked Wash. "Something stupid. I'm going to get between River and Zoe."
***
Zoe walked through the ship with her mind set on finding Simon's sister. The strange behavior she could understand, the fact that the girl wasn't right she could accept, and her ability to read everyone's mind she could tolerate. But Wash was another matter. No one, absolutlely NO ONE touched her husband.
Pausing in the middle of the hallway, Zoe looked down the corridor to her left, and then the right. Heading down to the cargo bay, she started hunting around the crates, and looking under the shelves.
"You're going to kill me aren't you?" Zoe looked up to see River sitting between two boxes. The shadows making the dark circles under her eyes look even worse. From where she was standing Zoe could see the fine sheen of sweat on the girl's skin, and smell the sickly-sweet sweat of illness.
"Maybe."
"The why doesn't matter as much as the how does it?"
"Not really." The two stared at each other for a few minutes. The silence stretching between them for what seemed like an eternity.
"I didn't mean to hurt him, I was only trying to warn him."
"Ever think of words?"
"Ever think that I have tried, but found that they are met with deaf ears?"
"That's not my problem."
"When the wolves eat you and your baby it will be." Zoe paused for a beat. Damn, leave it River to say something that would hit a nerve. The girl had a point, on the one hand she was trying to warn them, on the other no one liked having their personal thoughts intruded on.
"If I knew, I never would have done."
"Do you ever stop? I mean really do you ever stop for a minute?"
"I can't stop!" cried the girl from her shadowy corner. "If I could I would not be broken, I would not be still an ocean without water. Just holes where completeness once was!"
"You don't do this to Mal!"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"You know, I'm wonderin' that myself." Both looked over as Mal walked into the cargo bay. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked at Zoe, and then at the boxes where River was hiding.
"Now, what say we work this go se out once and for all?"
VIII
"How is she?" Mal looked up from River and over at Simon was was standing in the entrance to the captain's quarters. Reynold's let River's hand drop like a hot rock as he stood up hastily from the side of his bed. Tam just gave him a funny look, and went over to examine his sister. Shaking Mal rubbed the back of his head which was now throbbing harder than it had before. He'd had headaches in the past, but this one- Mal paused, and then looked back at River who was trying to explain to her brother what was wrong, but without much success.
"She's been feverish most of the day." said Mal idly. Ever since River had been on board, he'd had an increase in his migraines. Normally he had maybe one or two in a month, and could go for long periods of time without even having one. But since the arrival of the siblings, he had one almost every day, and lately since River had begun to stabilize they had been getting worse.
"River are you in any pain?" His sister just looked at him.
"How many times have I told you?" Simon sighed, and looked over at Mal for help. Either he was completely oblivious to the expression on the older man's face, or was attributing it to Mal's propensity for having strange moods.
"She's had a stomachache for a few days, last night she said it felt like she was being gutted."
"Okay." Simon ran his hands over his sister's midsection, the action causing her to hunch over in pain. Forwning, Simon took a syringe out of the bag he had with him, and with some cajoling managed to get a sample of blood.
"I think I know what's wrong with her, but I'm just going to run some tests first to be sure. I'll be right back." Simon left, Mal sitting down on the bed as soon as he was gone.
"You've been trying to get in my head, haven't you?"
"It's like cracking a coconut."
"River, stay out of my mind. You ever think I might not want to share?"
"I stayed out of Jayne's mind, and he wanted to throw me to the wolves. He got stupid, the money was too good." Mal flinched slightly at River's word-for-word recitation of what the mercenary had said when he had been in the airlock when Mal had been deciding on whether or not he was going to kill him. Apparently, River knew more about what had been going on than he'd originally thought.
"I can understand that River, but not everyone is out to get you. Sometimes you just have trust people."
"And you do?"
"No, but I don't go digging through their minds!" Hissed Mal as he checked to make sure that Simon wasn't back yet. The last thing he needed was the doctor catching this conversation.
"You could have killed Wash."
"He isn't dead."
"He isn't awake either!"
"You have to wake him up! They're coming!"
"River just because you sense something God knows how far away, doesn't mean you play puppet with my crew!" River closed her eyes as she focused on something for a minute, and then turned her attention back to Mal.
"I wasn't playing puppet. Do you think I understand how to be this way? I cannot be as everyone else, it's not in my DNA to be like everyone else."
"Look River, I know it would be great if there were some ground rules for this, but for now could you just keep it to yourself?"
"Fine."
"Good."
"I have some bad news." Simon stepped into Mal's wurters, took a look on the expression on his sister's face, and wondered what the hell had happened in the last twenty minutes while he was gone.
"What is it Doc?"
"I think River has appendicitis, which means that-" River let out a high shriek, and bolted out of the room. Simon let out a defeated sigh as her yells echoed through the halls. "She has to have it removed."
"Oh great, and we all know how much River loves medical attention. What the hell can go wrong next?"
"Sir?" Mal looked up as Zoe peeked around the corner of the door.
"Yeah?"
"It's Wash, he woke up."
"And?"
"I think you have to see this for yourself."
***
Between the time Zoe had left, and the time it took for her to get Mal and come back Kaylee had wandered into their quarters where the man sat writing something on the wall. He'd been out for at least two hours, but he didn't seem to even be tired as he continued to scrawl strange symbols on the wall with a stub of a pastel that he'd picked up behind River. The mechanic came over to where he sat, and peered at his doodles.
"Whatcha drawing?" she asked midly as Wash continued to work. He frowned for a minute as he contemplated the question. What was he drawing, and why? He wasn't quite sure, but for some reason his hands kept following the intructions in his mind. Up around, smudge, and blend.
"I don't know," he said finally. "But I have to finish it before they come."
"Who?" asked Kaylee.
"Wolves." Kaylee frowned at the answer, and just continued to sit next to the pilot. Eventually Zoe returned with Simon and Mal in tow. The three stood there and stared at the pilot's drawing, their faces containing the same confusion as Kaylee's as they watched him.
"Uh, Wash are you okay?"
"Great Mal, just drawin'."
"Drawin' what?"
"He doesn't know." said Kaylee. "He said he just has to finish it before the wolves come." Zoe's mouth turned down at the corners as she looked hard at Simon. She could tell by the look on the doctor's face that he knew as well as she did which member of the crew was always ranting about wolves coming to get her.
"Wash would you mind if I examine you?"
"How about later?"
"How about now." said Mal walking over to where the man sat. Wash shrugged, and continued to scrawl on the wall. His hands rubbing one corner hard for a second, before he finally stood up and let the piece of pastel fal from his fingers.
"Its done." Everyone looked at the wall. On it Wash had drawn a perfect replica of a Reaver ship, underneath was a series of numbers and letters drawn so close together that they looked like gibberish, but as Wash examined his handiwork a small idea began to form in the back of his mind.
"Wash why did you draw that?" asked Zoe anxiously. Wash had the artistic skill of a two-year-old, the best he'd ever drawn was stick-figures in a card he'd once given her. Again there was only one person present who was capable of drawing with that level of realism and accuracy.
"I don't know, I just needed to."
"Why?"
"'Cause the wolves are coming." he replied. The tone of his voice revealing that he had abosulutely no idea what he was talking about, or even why he was thinking about it. The only thing he was sure of was that for some reason there were images in his head that didn't belong there. Something that also confused him, because he didn't remember how thay got there. It was as if someone had put them in his head. Mal walked over to where Wash stood, and looked at the string of numbers. Bending down, he stared at them for a minute, before putting his hand over a few sections. Swearing he stood up.
"Wash are these coordinates?"
"Huh?" The pilot looked down at his handiwork. If he put a space there, and there- "Yeah, funny huh?"
"Okay Simon, this isn't going to sit well with you, and Zoe I don't want you going crazy but I think River did this."
"Obviously." said Zoe. Simon shook his head.
"Look we know that River is capable of sensing the minds of others, but this? You're giving her to much credit."
"Really?" said Mal turning to look at the younger man. "Then I guess she was lying when she told me straight out she did this." Simon turned a shade, and looked at the floor.
"Why. If, and I mean 'if' she did this then why?"
"Because she picked up on a Reaver ship, and this was the only way she could warn us?" Everyone looked at Kaylee.
"Excuse me?" said Zoe.
"Well see most of my family are Readers, and once though we had a cousin who was a Seer and she could talk to people with her mind 'cause she was kinda like River."
"What do you mean?" asked Simon.
"Well she had this thing where she was real smart, but she couldn't do things except a certain way. The doctors called it awfulism or something."
"Autism." mumbled Simon. "You said you had a cousin, what happened to her?"
"Fever." There was a moment of silence as everyone took in what Kaylee had said, before turning back to the matter at hand.
"Look," said Mal." River did this, I already talked to her about it, but if she did pick up on something then I want to know about it. Wash are you right yet?" Wash scratched the back of his head, and thought for a minute.
"I guess so, but..."
"Simon and I will take care of River. Zoe, you going to be all right?" Everyone turned to see an empty spot where Zoe once stood. Mal had a very bad feeling start low in the pit of his stomach, and settle there. Yelling in frustration, he stomped out into the hall.
"Wash run the sensors at those coordinates, Simon go get medbay ready, and Kaylee start looking for River."
"What are you going to do?" asked Wash. "Something stupid. I'm going to get between River and Zoe."
***
Zoe walked through the ship with her mind set on finding Simon's sister. The strange behavior she could understand, the fact that the girl wasn't right she could accept, and her ability to read everyone's mind she could tolerate. But Wash was another matter. No one, absolutlely NO ONE touched her husband.
Pausing in the middle of the hallway, Zoe looked down the corridor to her left, and then the right. Heading down to the cargo bay, she started hunting around the crates, and looking under the shelves.
"You're going to kill me aren't you?" Zoe looked up to see River sitting between two boxes. The shadows making the dark circles under her eyes look even worse. From where she was standing Zoe could see the fine sheen of sweat on the girl's skin, and smell the sickly-sweet sweat of illness.
"Maybe."
"The why doesn't matter as much as the how does it?"
"Not really." The two stared at each other for a few minutes. The silence stretching between them for what seemed like an eternity.
"I didn't mean to hurt him, I was only trying to warn him."
"Ever think of words?"
"Ever think that I have tried, but found that they are met with deaf ears?"
"That's not my problem."
"When the wolves eat you and your baby it will be." Zoe paused for a beat. Damn, leave it River to say something that would hit a nerve. The girl had a point, on the one hand she was trying to warn them, on the other no one liked having their personal thoughts intruded on.
"If I knew, I never would have done."
"Do you ever stop? I mean really do you ever stop for a minute?"
"I can't stop!" cried the girl from her shadowy corner. "If I could I would not be broken, I would not be still an ocean without water. Just holes where completeness once was!"
"You don't do this to Mal!"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"You know, I'm wonderin' that myself." Both looked over as Mal walked into the cargo bay. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked at Zoe, and then at the boxes where River was hiding.
"Now, what say we work this go se out once and for all?"