DISCLAIMER: I don´t own anything besides my laptop, please don´t sue me for loving this show and trying desperatly to keep it alive until some other station picks it up and it´s released on DVD!!

It all belongs to Fox and Mutant Enemy

Notes: I try my best to keep up with the story-line that is rapidly developing in me head…..please bear with me. I just hope that somebody enjoys reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!!

Pleae let me know if you like it and/or have any suggestions!!

FATHOM

Bright lights .......too bright!

River screwed her eyes shut , breathing heavily. She was awake , something had woken her up. Voices fighting, whispering in corners …eyes watching.

She fought against the nausea and the confusion as she struggled to lift herself up from the gurney, but she couldn´t …..something was still holding her down.

" Mei- Mei …" Simon was at her side in an instant. " Please, lie still …it´s ok!"

River opened her eyes slowly to not be blinded by the harsh lights again, looking around until her eyes found Jayne. He still stood a few feet away from the gurney staring at her, unsure what to do. She was awake, that had to be a good sign apart from  that he was at a loss…

He could see the short assessing look Simon shot him, before the young doctor´s focus returned to his sister.

River shook her head. " No ….No …..not okay. Take them off …..."

Her throat and mouth were completely dry. Even in her own ears her voice sounded feeble and raw, as though she had only just learned to speak. Her vision was still blurry…..the cold fist of fear that she had felt in the cargo-bay was still there, squeezing her heart…..and then she remembered. River had to bite her tongue, it was all she could do to keep from crying out loud. She remembered the desert, the dark place …..the thing that talked with her voice, the thing inside her, all the things she had  seen …

" Take them off!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, struggling against the restraints.

" River …you need to calm down!" Simon said softly next to her.

Her eyes went back to Jayne who finally stepped up to the gurney, searching her face. He was not sure what state she was in. Did she know what had happened, did she remember ? 

" River…?"

" I can´t ….can´t…. please! Take them off me !" River screamed again, staring at him, her eyes ablaze with defiance and something that he could not quite put his finger on. He could tell something was wrong though, something apart from the obvious …..she looked like a trapped animal ready to gnaw of it´s own leg to escape the trap.

Jayne stared down at her, feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation. Had she heard all the things that had been said? Part of him wished that she had, the other felt completely embarrassed. He did not show his feelings like that, he did not open up to anyone …..that was what kept him sane…..

Her eyes bore into him with an intensity he remembered from his dream.

" Please…"

He nodded.

" Take them off!" he told Simon.

" Have you completely lost your mind?" Simon countered angrily, his eyes wandering between Jayne and his sister. " Don´t you see the state she is in ? This agitation could trigger another seizure ….she could hurt herself."

" From what I can see it´s the restraints that keep her agitated!" Jayne shot back.

Simon looked at his sister ´s face again. It was a mask of fear and confusion, it was enough to make his heart break.

" You think I enjoy this? Seeing her like this? I have her best interest in mind …."

" Take them off doctor."

Both men turned at the sound of Mal´s voice from the doorway.

" But captain …"

" I said take them off!" he repeated calmly. Behind him Zoe entered the lab.

Simon shook his head in anger, but moved to losen the restraints that kept River on the gurney.

River tried to control her breathing….finally able to move her hands she lifted them to her head. She looked around, slowly sitting up.

" There are a few things we need to talk about River…" Mal told her slowly.

She looked at him with a puzzled expression, not quite sure if she understood.

Her feelings were still in disarray, as were her thoughts. So much to tell, so much to consider…there was something she needed to tell them desperately….but she was not sure how to put the things she had seen into words.

River bit her lip, breathing deeply. Without a word she reached out her right hand in Jayne´s direction touching his arm. She could feel the tenseness of his body…..he was completely uncomfortable with all of this. She had put him on the spot and he did not like it one bit.

" I´m sorry …. So sorry "  she whispered hoarsely " I made a mess…..messed up everything. And now the storm is coming and I ….."

Jayne was ready to bolt right then and there, but she had done it once again, enchanted him in some way he could not explain. She looked so vulnerable and so determined at the same time …..and they had come this far…..

He was not going to give up on it now, he decided against his own better judgement.

Like you could , a voice inside of him taunted.

" S´okay, sparrow.." He told her, tugging a strand of her behind her ear carefully at the same time avoiding to look in Zoe and Mal´s direction. He knew where Mal stood now, he was not to sure about Zoe.

Mal could see full well that Jayne was not very comfortable with showing his affection for River with all of them looking on, but the fact that he tried to comfort her anyway, arkward as it might seem, told him an awful lot.

Even the doctor had to see it.

Mal shot Zoe a look that she returned, still in awe. There was Jayne Cobb in what could only be called a public display of affection towards the doctors crazy sister!  It seemed as though they might  all have  misjudged the situation ….

And the fact that Jayne even had a pet name for River……well, the ill-tempered mercenary was never going to live that one down. Once Zoe told Wash……Mal could see all the joking from a thousand miles away.

River gave Jayne the faintest smile. Then she remembered the things she had seen and her face fell.

" They are coming." She whispered, lying back onto the gurney. The nausea became unbearable. She felt her brother and Jayne in close proximity as she closed her eyes again, breathing heavily.

No, no, no …she thought in panic. She could not let the other thing take over. She wanted to be here……but it was not the thing inside of her that made her so sick this time. She could feel it……it was the drugs, the sedative Simon had given her.

" Who, Mei-Mei…. What do you mean?"

Simon put a hand on her forehead, checking for a fever.

River opened her eyes again to see that Zoe and Mal had stepped up to the gurney as well.

" The monsters…….they are coming, coming for us!"

Mal cocked an eyebrow at Jayne, who just shook his head to signal that he didn´t know what she was talking about this time.

Mal didn´t like it, he had heard River say a lot of strange things. But this time it gave him a creepy feeling he couldn´t shake off.

" Shh ..River, it´s ok! They can´t hurt you now. You are safe now, don´t you remember?" Although Simon spoke in a very soft, appeasing tone, his eyes were directed at Mal and spoke another language. He had known nothing good was going to come of this. Now his sister was regressing again!

" It´s just nightmares!"

River felt like screaming, but she felt so sick. She swallowed hard, looking up at Jayne. The concern and confusion in his face made her shake her head.

She needed to make him see…he had understood before. They had to know or it would be too late.

" No!" she said  " No….they are real! Not them from the closet, not the wild things that roam in dreams! The ones that hunt you in the big black where there is no sound…..where not a man can hear you scream! They have picked up our scent, like sharks they are….not human, not for a very long time."

Mal´s eyebrows knitted together. Jayne had been right….if you listened to what she was saying, the things she uttered could make sense! And right now, Mal did not like what she was saying! This was not just the mumbling of a crazy girl and he wanted to kick himself for not noticing that before….

" They lost their souls. They love to prey on whoever comes their way and they will hunt us down….lost our scent for a while, but now they are back on track…..like sharks in deep, dark water."

Zoe noticed that the captain started to look worried.

" River.." he said softly, waiting until she looked at him. " Who is following us?

River looked from him to Jayne, reaching out until he took her hand without a word.

Her eyes focused on Mal again .He could see her struggling for words.

" The monsters, men like beasts….they are hungry. Evil ……evil always survives. It does not breathe, it does not sleep, but it has intent. It travels through the dark waiting for prey …..like the monsters."

Mal nodded slowly, returning her stare.

" Reavers" he finally said slowly. " She´s talking about Reavers!"

Zoe  shot Jayne a look that was amazed as well as filled with worry. Jayne looked down at River, who was squeezing his hand. Her breathing had grown laboured again, she felt as though a mountain had collapsed and the debris was pressing down on her chest.

" Get her off the drugs ,now!" Mal told Simon

" But she .."

" She knows things we need to know! She has to tell us, so get her off the gorram drugs!" Mal repeated menacingly.

" Reavers…" Zoe breathed, her eyes fixed on Mal. " Oh my god!"