DISCLAIMER:
Fox owns everything along with Mutant Enemy…Except me! I on the other hand don´t own anything, neither these great characters nor this brilliant show!
Notes: NO quotes in this one! Hihihi ……
Thanks again for the feedback, can´t believe this storyline is developing this quickly in my head …don´t worry, this is far from over!!
It was a forceful, massive shove that catapulted River through the open door. She could feel her head snap back while she pivoted through the air. She saw the sky above her, empty and dark without a moon or stars and it almost seemed to her that she fell for an eternity before her body crashed hard on the desert sand.
River felt her teeth rattle from the impact, the taste of blood filling her mouth. In some distant corner of her mind she knew that it was all an illusion……but it seemed real enough.
From the black sand and the wind howling in her ears, tugging at her clothing, River could tell they were on the other things territory now …..the dark place. She´d been here before.
Still dizzy, River tried to pull herself off the ground, but before she could even get up another powerful blow sent her flying again.
Lying on her back, River coughed violently. She propped herself up on her elbows, blinking a few times.
The other thing towered over her with a malicious sneer. It didn´t look like her anymore, the thing had turned back into it´s black, gleaming insect-form as it reached for her with pointed, shiny claws.
" My territory…." It cackled wickedly, mimicking River´s voice.
" ….my rules!"
Simon was at a loss, trying to overcome his growing panic.
For two hours everything had been fine; after he had assessed his sister's status and determined that she was not hurt and that - apart from some dehydration and the obvious catatonia - River was stabile, Inara had ordered them all out while she washed the blood off River.
Afterwards the crew had filed in and out of sickbay, still shaken and edgy about everything that had come to pass, but River´s condition had not changed.
Jayne and the captain had taken turns glowering around with grim faces to no avail. They both seemed nervous and jumpy, waiting for something to happen. Simon could tell they were both not used to waiting, not that he had expected something like patience from Jayne!
Simon still hadn´t gotten used to the fact that Zoë and the captain both seemed to have accepted the fact that the mercenary had a certain right to hang around the lab, due to his indefinable connection to River.
Simon did not like it one bit, no matter what his sister had told him, but he had no time to ponder the thought.
A few minutes ago his sister´s body had started shaking uncontrollably. Simon could not find any medical cause for the seizure, but then again he could not completely determine if she had any imperceptible damage to the brain……..for the hundredth time since he and River had arrived on Serenity Simon found himself cursing the limited medical possibilities the small sick-bay offered.
River´s eyes had rolled back into her head, while her body convulsed.
Simon´s thoughts raced through his head as he went through the different medications and drugs, considering a treatment.
" Gorrammit!" he heard Jayne growl under his breath with an almost frantic look at the captain. Both men were trying to hold River´s shuddering body down, to keep her from falling off the gurney.
Simon´s eyes widened with shock when he realized what had elicited Jayne´s uproar.
A thin, but distinct stream of blood had started to run out of his sister´s left nostril.
Jayne ground his teeth.
She was going to die on them ………gorrammit!
He could almost feel her slipping away.
Ruddin´hell, he thought, don´t do this River …….fight, gorrammit……..you did not survive the alliance or almost being burned to a cinder by a bunch of mountainfolk or the Reavers to die on a ruddin´gurney!
The possibility of losing her after all was unthinkable.
He could not believe that this ruddin´girl would spent all this energy and determination on winning him over just to die on him now, she never gave in …….it wasn´t like River Tam.
He had been wound way too tight ever since they had found the shuttle. When she had started convulsing suddenly, Jayne felt ready to jump out of his skin.
" Gorrammit, do sumthin´!" he yelled at Simon.
Mal´s look went from Jayne´s reserved face too Simon and then back to River.
There was something …a little voice deep inside his mind, something River had said …..something…
You will remember ……
It came rushing back to him like the tide…..the drugs ……she had told him about the drugs, she had known this might happen.
Breathing deep Mal stepped back from the gurney, looking at Jayne again.
"Put her on the ground!"
"What?" Jayne snapped " Have you lost your gorram´mind?"
" I said take her off that thing and lay her on the ground, now!"
Jayne hesitated for a mere second before he scooped her up and carefully placed her still shaking body on the floor.
" Captain…" Simon tried to cut in, but Mal simply ignored him. He distinctively remembered the dream …..Simon might be a problem.
" Hold him back!" he ordered Jayne, before he quickly went to the cabinet where the doctor kept his drugs.
" You can´t do that!" Simon shouted, moving to follow him, but Jayne grabbed him from behind and twisted his arms onto his back. Simon let out a pained yelp, struggling against Jayne´s grasp.
" Wanna fill me in on what it is you´re doing here?" Jayne asked, nervously watching Mal pull up a syringe from different vials.
Now he had no problem with getting a little rough on the doctor, but something about this whole thing did not sit quiet right with him. Mal was no doctor for one and Jayne was torn between complying with Mal´s order and guarding River.
" What are you doing …" Simon interrupted, still struggling to free himself, even though there was no use. Jayne had his arms in steel-grip, Simon could just as well struggle against a rock.
Mal was not quiet sure himself …..what was he doing? He couldn´t even pronounce the names of the drugs he was pulling up, much less did he know how they worked……..but he knew with a surprising certainty how much to pull up.
He remembered……
When he was done Mal moved over to River, kneeling down beside her.
" You cannot do this, you´ll kill her!" Simon screamed hysterically.
" Mal….." Jayne hissed threateningly, but not about to release Simon from his grasp.
Mal looked up from the shaking girl. The blood from her nose was slowly trailing down her cheek, pooling beneath her ear.
" Do you trust her ?" he asked calmly, his eyes fixed on the mercenary.
Jayne could feel sweat beading on his forehead as he returned his captain´s intense stare.
What the gorram hell was going on here…..
" Yes."
" Would you trust her with your life?"
Jayne cast a look over the unconscious girl, her whole body shaking violently.
He nodded hesitantly. Hell yeah …he couldn´t say why but he did trust her. He trusted her with the one thing he had never entrusted to anybody…..something else than his life…..
" Then trust her with her own life!" Mal told him, before his eyes wandered to Simon.
" I´m sorry doctor, but that we have to use force on you…..I don´t like it anymore than you do, but your sister told me you´d never go along with this , so you leave me no choice. What I do here is exactly what she told me to do in this case!"
Simon struggled even more, a more or less feral growl escaped him.
" You don´t know what you are doing!" he spat at the captain.
Had everyone gone insane?
He closed is eyes as the captain held Rivers upper arm still with one hand so the needle would not break from her convulsion when he inserted it.
" You killed her!" he whispered in a tone of resignation.
Jayne released the young doctor the moment Mal put away the syringe.
" You killed her…" Simon repeated, as he fell down on his kness, pressing his right palm onto his sister´s forehead.
The seizure subsided very slowly, in turn River´s breathing grew more and more strenuous.
River tried to breathe but found that she couldn´t. She was lying on her stomach while the thing held her down with what had to be one of it´s knees between her shoulder blades. It was pushing her head down into the sand, trying to smother her.
River thrashed about violently, forcing herself not to breathe. She could not afford to choke on the fine sand. So far all her fighting back was to no avail……and she was rapidly loosing strength.
She could not hold on much longer …….
Suddenly she felt a powerful surge run through her body. She stopped moving, lying very still.
For a second she feared that she had been mistaken, that she had been wrong, but then she felt it again. Like an electric charge buzzing through her, making her whole body hum …..
The drugs ……..it had to be …..this was her one and only chance, it was either now or never…..
River pulled herself together, her whole body still straining for oxygen. She took all her remaining strength and spun around, throwing her opponent off her.
She heard faint laughter as she shakily got back on her feet, pushing her tangled hair out of her faith.
" Ahhh….." the thing said coolly, " …so there´s some life left in you after all!"
River took a few deep breaths.
" I´ve had enough of you!" she answered angrily, wiping the blood from her torn lip.
Still breathing heavily, she stepped forward.
" This is not your playground anymore and I´m done serving as your favourite toy! This is my mind and you are not welcome here anymore, you never were! I want you out!"
The thing moved backwards gracefully, obviously surprised by this new development. River could feel it´s cautiousness. Something had changed, something beyond it´s perception and control, the thing felt it too……..a shift had taken place.
It´s beady insect eyes seized her up with renewed interest.
" Even if you succeed in killing me in here, you cannot win, little sister!" it snarled warningly.
" I´m by far not your biggest problem! Think about the things we could do, what we could accomplish together……we are sisters you and I!"
" Stop calling me that!" River yelled, rushing forward.
The thing evaded her by an inch, quickly moving out of her reach, snickering evilly.
" You are not a part of me, no sibling of mine….not even part of my own mind! I have nothing in common with you!"
Saying that River tried to suppress the thought that there indeed were a few things she shared with her nemesis……the training, the knowledge her mind and body had been conditioned with at the so called academy ……even if she managed to eradicate it, these things would most likely prevail.
" Aw …..family, an overrated concept as you will find out in time. But then again ……
I´m not tied down with emotions like you are. They cut both ways, you know ? Your precious brother who saved the little princess from the dark tower, but failed to free her from the demons that haunt her. He proved to be quiet insufficient when it came to saving you from the monsters that dwell in your soul…"
" There was only one!" River returned coolly. " Only you…….he couldn´t know! It was not his fault!"
" And your parents….your dear, loving, parents who set so many high hopes in you and your brother!" it continued unperturbed.
" Your parents whom Simon implored to help you…….they did not raise a finger, didn´t even inquire after you despite of your brother´s fears."
" They didn´t know better!"
Obsidian black eyes bore into River.
" What makes you think they did not know….."
River gaped at the thing wide-eyed. For a moment she felt unable to breathe……..what the thing was implying was just …….
River couldn´t even draw a single breath, she felt like someone had just kicked her in the gut.
" You lie!" she finally whispered.
" You´d say anything .."
" Do I ?" it answered calmly.
" It seems I might hold some secrets after all."
" Lies …..it´s all lies, just like everything you ever told me!"
River knew that was not entirely true……
She gasped, unable to control the rage boiling inside of her. But this was a lie …it had to be, another deception like the voices. By now she should know better……….but there were things …….it had not lied to her about the Reavers, or other dangers …..it had helped her with Niska´s men and the bounty-hunter …….it had never tried to conceal the fact that it had sent messages ….
She shook her head………it had to be a lie!
" This is just another one of your ploys to stay alive! But I´m done being manipulated by your deceit! I control my own destiny, whatever the alliance wants from me…they´ll never get it! I´m my own master!"
The thing bobbed it´s gleaming, dark head and bared it´s white, pointed teeth.
" Very well …….then this is how it starts!"
River shook her head, marvelling in the buzz the drugs gave her, hoping that her synaptic system could take it.
" I haven´t even begun!" River said grimly. " This is where it ends!"
Next Chapter up soon!!
