He hadn't really expected the rest of the Squad to be thrilled about spending a longer time in a besieged city. "You mean all that HVT-1 wasn't Flag just blowin' smoke up our pì gu," Lawton asked skeptically.

"No," River shook her head. "He was told that is the mission. Problem is that is not all of it. Which he was not told."

"Okay wait," Chato held up his hands. "You mean Waller intended us to deal with the Enchantress all along, but she didn't tell him? Just told him to get HVT-whoever out and that was it?"

"Pretty much," Mal nodded. "Waller likes leverage. She's got it on Flag, thinks she's got some on us. But not as much as she could."

"Why keep him in the dark," Chato wasn't getting it, not that Mal really blamed him. The workings of a mind like Waller's weren't easy for anyone more straightforward to understand. And for all that 'El Diablo' had been a powerful man, he hadn't been known for machinations.

"It's the Enchantress, she's-," Riddick's low voice rumbled like thunder through the air between him and the Squad, drowned out by the sound of what could be actual thunder or another storm of magic.

"Say again," Waylon shook his head. Again, Mal could see the reason for confusion, hell he'd been discombobulated about that himself until River explained. A stand-up, do-right, Alliance officer like Flag wasn't the type to get involved with a criminal metahuman.

"The Enchantress—" River began to explain, Flag's shout interrupting her.

"Dangerous to stay in one spot, let's move out," The Colonel ordered.

Mal looked at the Squad, "We agree? Go along with the rescue? Don't mean we're under his thumb."

"Yeah," Lawton looked at the rest of them and got nods and one bored huff from Harley. "Yeah, let's humor him for a while." He grinned and Mal chuckled.

"Gotta say, like the way you think Mr. Lawton."

She found herself walking beside Chato and Floyd, Waylon behind them, while Riddick scouted and Mal led, the rest of the soldiers spread around all of them. Harley was doing her best to make Flag crazy, much to Leila and GQ's amusement. Digger was wandering in and out of the group, picking up any piece of shiny that caught his eye, sometimes discarding it just as quickly. She understood, more than ever, what Mal meant when he described life as a soldier 'hurry up and wait'. Or as Riddick said, 'long stretches of boredom punctuated with minutes of action and terror'. They'd both agreed and had it in common with the Purplebellies strangely enough, that the worst part of military life was the boredom.

Right now they were walking through hostile territory, but everyone seemed simultaneously alert and relaxed. A known situation, familiar and almost comforting, to understand the part they must all play. The oddities of a soldier's life, River mused with a half-smile.

"So what'd he mean," Floyd asked. "When he said you were more like me than homeboy here?" Dark eyes slanted towards her face curiously.

"You're not a meta," River frowned. All the influx, chaos… getting through the city with the thoughts of everyone, plus the people Enchantress had corrupted… pressure… this would be…difficult.

"No," He waited for her to continue. "Just real good at one thing."

She forced herself to concentrate on the conversation. Maybe that would help keep the rest of the world at bay. The few hours of rest, anchoring to Riddick had helped but it had only alleviated the effects of the breakout and chaos before and after. She'd likely need to anchor to him again once this was over, if she could hold out that long.

"I…" River looked at the two of them. "Mal told you, I'm a genius." She reminded them, uncomfortably aware of the soldiers within earshot. Alliance soldiers wouldn't be enthused or believing of her story, and that could divide the men into 'us' and 'them'. They couldn't afford that. "School… it didn't challenge me, I learned more on my own. My parents began to look for a school that could actually educate me, challenge me… They thought they'd found one, a government run school, it had the most exciting program…"

"Yeah…" Floyd didn't see the point but Waylon's low growl behind her suggested he had an idea of where this was going.

"I wasn't a Reader. Not then," River said flatly. "I was fourteen, with an eidetic memory and an immeasurable intelligence quotient that allowed me intuitive leaps based on reason, observation, all the tells people notice subconsciously… But I wasn't a Reader, not a meta." She took a deep breath, "The school, the Academy, experimented upon the students, played with their brains…"

"On kids," Chato's anger heated the air around them before he reined it in. "That's… Nǐ zài jiǎng shén me pì huà?"

"Not all children, some adults…" She shook her head.

"Oh that makes it better," Floyd rolled his eyes and River continued.

"Experimented on me," She kept her voice steady with an effort. "Operated on my brain, stripped my amygdale so I had no choice but to experience everything…turned me into a Reader. Then, training, for combat, infiltration, and implanted triggers, programming, made me an assassin."

"Gǒu niáng yǎng de," Floyd shook his head. "Miracle you ain't crazy."

"Oh I was, I'm sure some would say I still am," River nearly laughed. "My brother broke me out, sacrificed everything to do it, his entire fortune, career…and went on the run. That's how I met Mal. Simon smuggled me aboard his ship in cryo and I was discovered halfway to Boros."

"What happened then?" Digger asked, caught up in the story of it, forgetting, or not caring, that she'd lived through it.

"We were hunted, by the Feds, Purplebellies, by mercs, and finally a Parliament Operative… Lots of things happened, but primarily, I got better…" River shrugged. "The information in the Miranda wave, I'd Read it out of the minds of Parliament when some of them came to see me 'perform' using my psychic abilities. Reading Tarot cards for them. That's part of what made me crazy. When we finally figured that out I got a lot more sane. And Mal was determined that the rest of the 'verse should know what they'd done. So they couldn't do it again."

"Try to make people better," Riddick's voice sounded to their right, startling everyone in the group but Waylon and River. "What they did to River, only on a bigger scale."

"That's why Reynolds said you're more like me," Floyd realized. "Everything you do, you learned, your natural abilities, balance and genius… that's yours, like math is mine. Shooting is a skill."

"Exactly," River nodded. Thankfully, while the Purplebellies around them were appalled, horrified and sickened by what she'd said, they didn't seem to be denying it. The Miranda Wave had more effect than Mal realized. Alliance citizens didn't automatically believe what their government told them anymore. At least something was going right.

"Bein' a Reader…that make shooting easier or harder," A professional question, curiosity about her skill… Lawton's inquisitive nature rearing its head.

"Both," River gave him an honest reply and elaborated after a moment. "I can shoot with my eyes closed, never miss, but it means I hear them die since I can't stop hearing anything. Truly a double-edged sword."

"Wǒ cào," Floyd shook his head. "Day to day…must make it tiān shā de hard to function."

She sighed, "Can be difficult. Easier in the Black than dirtside. Very noisy, lots of thoughts, emotions…" River half smiled, "Determined ways to regain equilibrium…but not for the faint of heart."

"Yeah?" Chato tilted his head, his expression concerned and thoughtful. "So what helps?"

"She needs an anchor sometimes," Riddick answered while she mentally debated what to say.

"Anchor," Waylon's rumble asked.

"Yeah, something for her to latch onto, another mind, helps her get her mental feet under her," Riddick explained as if she didn't need to do something highly freakish. "Effects people differently though."

"That meditatin'…" Digger had a moment of clarity. "'Cause a alla us an' folk ya didn' know?"

"Yes," River nodded doing her best to keep her dignity. "Spent much time alone in the Black with my partner, difficult to go so abruptly from simplicity to complex." She paused considering how that sounded, "Perhaps more accurately phrased as difficult adjusting from a singular mind to multiple."

"So how's it effect people?" Floyd wondered, "You knock 'em out or something?"

"Nothing so dramatic," She grinned. "It won't work with everyone. It has to be someone at least sympathetic, but whose mind works differently from mine. My brother, and Mal, have both acted as an anchor for me. They described the feeling as an itch they couldn't scratch, it made them irritable."

"The First Mate and gun hand, apparently they near broke out in fist fights when they gave it a try," Riddick chuckled.

"An' you?" Digger's inherent nosiness abounded. "How's it feel ta you?"

She could feel Riddick's grin as he answered simply, "Feels good. Doesn't bother me at all." Truth, one of the most welcome truths she'd heard since escaping the Academy and regaining her sanity, rang in his voice.

"Can ya try it with me?" Waylon asked, his rumble curious. "Me an' Riddick, both got the animal in us…"

"You're thinkin' you could be a good backup if Riddick's busy," Chato glanced at Waylon over his shoulder.

Riddick's growl, quiet fury and possession, must have hinted to Killer Croc just what the Furyan had meant by 'good' and Waylon hurried to speak, "Ain't tryin' to horn in."

"Riddick," River murmured. "It's a good thought. I doubt it would feel exactly the same to him. No two minds are exactly alike. You're Furyan, Spirit Warrior, remember?"

"Think that's part of what makes it work so well?" Silver eyes gleamed as they met hers through the darkness and she nodded. A deep sigh, resignation and he nodded once, sharply, "Give it a try then if you want. Fuck knows you could use some backup, 'sides Mal."

"If you begin to feel odd, please… say something, if I can't tell, I don't wish you to be disturbed by this," River turned and looked at Waylon in concern. She stopped and the group halted around her, Waylon coming a bit closer.

"You got it Shorty," He gave her a grin full of sharp teeth and amusement and she extended her hand. He did the same, allowing her to wrap her small hand around three of his huge scaled fingers with their sharp claws. The link to his mind, anchoring herself to him, sent his body stiff at first at the unexpected sensation.

"KC, you able to talk," Floyd asked as Riddick stood behind River in support, his hand at the base of her spine.

"Yeah… huh," Waylon sounded completely normal and River opened eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed. He stared down at her, his eyes shining faintly, similar to Riddick's in the way a candle was similar to the sun. "Weird."

"Discomfort?" River blinked as his mind enveloped hers, a warm pool where crocodiles swam, and she could simply float in the sun on the water in their midst.

"Naw… warm, like the sun, feels nice," He shrugged. His reaction didn't compare to Riddick's in any way but his comfort. "Kinda makes me wanna just…y'know… lie back an' chill."

River half smiled as Riddick relaxed, Waylon's reaction nothing like what he'd apparently expected. "Easy on her mind," She said quietly. "Similar, but not the same." She let go of his hand and smiled up at him. "Thank you."

The grin she got was surprisingly boyish in his scaly face, "Anytime Shorty."

Harley made a face, pouting winsomely, "Thought I was Shorty?"

Waylon slanted a sharp- toothed grin at her, "Nah, you're Crazy."

River almost giggled, "Usually my name. Loony, Moonbrain, Crazy." And Harley sent her a wicked grin before wandering around the group again, bat at the ready for trouble.

"Try me next," Floyd suggested. "So far, you got two metas and it works good with them. You an' me, we got similar skills, maybe that'll help?"

"Can try," River considered. "Jayne and Zoë … did not react well."

Riddick added, "She told me, it was like their fight or flight responses got screwed with." That seemed to give Lawton some pause but he nodded and held out his hand anyway.

"Try it. Let go if I react bad. Then, if homeboy agrees, try Chato… maybe you anchor better to people who got a little somethin' extra," The assassin shrugged. "Least then we know. You got other folks can help you out and not go crazy."

"Will try," River pressed her fingers to the tips of his and linked their minds, seeking a way to anchor hers to Lawton's and gasping as his mind swirled around hers. "No," She jerked her hand back as he swayed, and Waylon put his big hands on the tall man's shoulders to steady him. "Think too much alike," She apologized.

"Yeah…" Floyd sounded a bit dazed. "Damn that was… like every memory or thought I had talking simultaneously…" He blinked and visibly steadied himself. "Well it was worth a shot," He grinned, regaining his usual sense of dark humor. "So to speak."

Waylon barked a laugh behind him and looked over at Chato, "Gonna give it a try? See if you can help Shorty?"

Chato looked worried but he always seemed worried, "Yeah…but if I hurt you…"

River regarded him with some exasperation, "Invading your mind, using you as an anchor to keep my brain in one piece and you think you will hurt me?" She could feel Riddick's amusement at how she addressed one of the most dangerous metas in the 'Verse.

"Yeah?" El Diablo was a very caring man, for all that his street name meant 'The Devil' in Spanish.

"What's the hold up," Flag had noticed that they had stopped. Finally.

"Makin' sure she's good to go," Waylon growled at the man. "Girl's gotta listen ta alla this…" He waved at the city and everything around them. "Hurts my ears."

"River," Mal had made his way back to them and regarded her with genuine concern. "Lil Albatross?"

"Waylon is able to anchor me, if Riddick is not available, no discomfort for either of them," River told him. "We were about to see if Chato would be able to do so when Flag interrupted."

"I am all for whatever you need to keep functioning on an even keel," Mal nodded and took Flag's arm, nodding politely at GQ and Leila before tugging the colonel away.

"He will explain the hazards of being a Reader and the need for mental equilibrium," River murmured as Harley joined them.

"Don't think my brain'd be much help to ya," Harley kissed her cheek affectionately.

"Chato?" River nodded at his hand and he extended it, his nerves evident in the minute trembling of his fingers.

River smiled and pressed her palm to his, "Deep breaths." She advised quietly. Linking her mind with his… Deep breaths, heat, enveloping, consuming, dancing across burning coals, sparks of light, unbelievable power…and welcome.

"Whoa…" Chato stared down at her in awe.

"What do you feel," Riddick nearly growled the question. River would have rolled her eyes if she'd been able, the man didn't quite understand that his reaction to her was completely unique.

"Peace," Chato's awed voice replied. "Like…my madre is holding me again. And purpose. Like all the rage that feeds the fire is tamed, aimed in the right direction so the flames don't rise."

River smiled and took her palm away from his, "Thank you." She nodded in an abbreviated bow to all three of the men who'd tried to help her.

"Don' wanna try it with me then?" Digger didn't seem exactly eager for her to try though, contrarily, also displeased that he'd been ignored through the process.

"Probably too much alike the gunhand we met," Floyd shook his head "Like I'm a little too much like her. We don't have the time for you to go nuts."

"Very true," River nodded. Even if it wasn't close to the truth she'd rather have lied than even brush against Harness's mind.

Even if she'd had the inclination to discuss it further, Flag's demand as he shrugged free of Mal's grip prevented it, "Enough messing around. Let's move out."

Author's Note: Almost forgot to post this. Sorry! So now we know that River can anchor without ill-effects to the metas of her group. And that will come into play later on. I actually had to start up a second document with notes on how I'm changing this and how I'll manage the ending. But let's just say everything happens for a reason.

Hope you're all enjoying this.

Chinese Translations:

pì gu (butt)

Nǐ zài jiǎng shén me pì huà (What shit/the fuck are you saying)

Gǒu niáng yǎng de (son of a bitch)

Wǒ cào (holy fuck / lit. 'I fuck')

tiān shā de (goddamn)

Spanish Translation:

madre (mother)