Something Borrowed by Agape Love

Time it took us
To where the water was
That's what the water gave me
And time goes quicker
Between the two of us
Oh, my love, don't forsake me
Take what the water gave me

Chapter Two: Time

As if it wasn't enough that Wash was suddenly not dead when he definitely should be, the equally-should-be-dead- Shepard decided to join in on the action as well, sitting upright like lightening the same way Wash had done, except with a yell instead of a gasp. Jayne and Simon shouted even louder in terror, scrambling away from the two should-be-dead-but-aren't men as the girl on the floor whimpered and the girls in the other chairs remained extremely unconscious.

"The reavers!" shouted Wash, jumping out of the chair, his eyes bright. "Where the hell am I?"

And then he retched all across the floor. Book was looking around, clearly dazed, shaking his head, and the girl on the floor was trying to pull herself to her feet. She looked like she was either very drunk or very sick or maybe a strange combination of both. Simon and Jayne had backed into a corner, both of them terrified in a way neither of them could remember ever being before. As if the confusion of two dead men sitting up and three unconscious girls who seemed very off wasn't enough, Mal at that moment sprinted around the doorway, grabbing the door jam and skidding to a stop and then his eyes fell on Wash and then Book and he didn't even seem to see the girls, but he stopped dead in his tracks, looking like he'd seen a ghost.

He looked to Wash, and then to Book, more emotion on his face than Jayne had ever seen, and he took a stumbling step forward, a hand outstretched with fear and tremulous hope on his face.

"You're dead," he said to Wash, and Wash's face contracted in confusion.

"No, I'm not."

The conscious girl had levered herself up and was clinging to the chair that held the brunette with the freckles like her legs were jelly. Mal had glanced at her but that was all he'd done and he took two giant steps forward, pulled Wash away from the chair and crushed him in a hug with tears in his eyes just as Zoe came running into the room. Simon moved forward to Book and put a hand on the older man's forehead; Book seemed dazed and didn't respond. Zoe froze where she stood, eyes brimming with tears, and whispered her husband's name.

"Wash?"

Wash stepped away from Mal and towards his wife.

"Zoe?" he said, his voice layered with confusion, his brow furrowing. "What's going on? Why am I in here?"

Zoe blinked, mouth opening, tears spilling out of her eyes and over her cheeks.

"You don't remember," she said, her voice very quiet and breaking as her eyes shone. Wash looked even more confused than he had before.

"Remember… what?"

"You died," said Jayne with his usual absence of tact and Wash stared at him.

"No I didn't."

"You did," said Zoe.

The girl who was conscious made a quiet noise of pain and the attention shifted from the two should-be-dead's to the four girls.

"What the hell, Simon," said Mal suddenly, turning the full force of his glower onto the young doctor. Simon put his hands up.

"Jayne found them."

"Yeah, operative word bein' found," Jayne snapped at Simon before turning his attantion to Mal. "I didn't do it to 'em."

"Well now, that's a relief," said Wash, and Zoe suddenly launched herself at him, grabbing the back of his head and kissing him fiercely. Even the barely conscious blonde girl looked somewhat surprised at the ferocity and desperation and sheer joy of the kiss.

Jayne raised his eyebrows.

"Damn," he said.

Kaylee joined the chaos next and River was right on her trail and questions circled round and round, questions no one could answer. No one paid the slightest attention to the blonde girl for a full five minutes, all of them shouting in that tiny, sterile white room, frustrated because they were happy and didn't know why. The unknown girls were of little to no consequence until River, who was mostly sane these days, stepped up to the blonde girl, her hand outstretched and her head tilted slightly to the side. Wash elbowed Zoe and they slowly fell silent as River approached the blonde girl and the blonde girl stood frozen, looking as though she was straining to stay standing. She looked dizzy, her eyes barely focused and (Jayne still couldn't help noticing) very, very blue. Her hair was a lion-like mane around her round face and she was clinging on to the counter like it was a life boat in the middle of the ocean.

River's outstretched fingers met the girl's cheek and she inhaled sharply, a surprised smile twisting at the corner of her lips.

"You are time," she said to the girl. The girl looked as confused as the rest of them felt.

"Excuse me?" said Mal, clearly thinking that River had slipped back into her old insanity.

"You've been taken out of Time and now… now you are Time," River elaborated, though she was clearly speaking only to the blonde girl, her fingers still touching her face.

"You brought them back," River continued, smiling still wider. "You touched them and the Time flowed through you, Time flowed into them. You were pulled forward in Time and Time moved backwards around you."

"What is she saying?" Kaylee asked Simon quietly, her worried eyes fixed on River.

"I… have no idea."

"It's simple," said River, letting her hand fall to her side, fixing Kaylee in that sharp stare of hers. "Something pulled her through Time. And moving through Time is like moving through water- it flows back around a disturbance. And when time flows through something- through a conduit into something else- then Time turns back."

She turned to look at Wash now, but her hand rested on Book's shoulder. "That's what happened. She touched Wash- touched the Shepard- and Time flowed back around them."

River beamed at the blonde. "You are Time."

"Well," said the blonde, very weakly, "I've been called worse."

And then she collapsed onto the ground.

000

The doors to the infirmary were locked and bolted and the crew of the Serenity had gathered in the kitchen to discuss the highly intriguing events of the past hour.

"I still don't understand that time thing," said Jayne, gesturing loosely with his hands, fixing River in a look that has half stare, half glare and entirely Jayne.

"I still don't understand dying," added Wash, his eyebrows raised.

"I am fully okay with admittin' that I'm confused by this whole situation," said Kaylee, looking around the room with wide eyes. Everyone seemed to be waiting on River to elaborate, but River seemed perfectly to sit in silence with that blasted smirk on her face and let them all stew.

Sometimes Jayne thought he'd liked her better when she'd been crazy.

"You gonna tell us what happened or what?" Mal asked River bluntly, his tone making it clear he was in no mood for riddles or poems. She glanced at him and shrugged.

"I can tell you what I know."

"Oh, please," said Jayne impatiently. "We all know you know everything."

"That girl- and her friends, I presume- were pulled by an outside force through time. No, I don't know what," she said sharply, her eyes flashing to Mal as he opened his mouth to speak. He blinked and slowly closed his mouth again.

"That created a ripple in time," continued River, hers eyes flicking to each other them in turn. "A ripple around those three women, a ripple moving backwards. When she touched Wash and the Shepard, that ripple moving backwards pulled them back. They moved back in their own timelines; that's why they have souls as well as their bodies healing. For them, time was turned back."

There were a few moments of stunned silence as everyone tried to stare at Wash and Book in a polite, tactful way. They all failed miserably.

"Time travel's a myth," said Mal bluntly, turning back to River. "A fairytale."

She gave an odd smile, something very dark behind her eyes. "So are Readers and soldiers hand crafted by governments and then covered up by conspiracy. And yet, here I am."

"She does have a point," said Inara, raising her dark brows.

"Do you think it might have been the Alliance that brought them here?" asked the Shepard, looking to every face.

"I don't really see who else it could be," mused Simon.

"Then let's dump them back out and leave before they get here," said Mal, levering himself off the wall. "C'mon, Jayne."

"Wait," said River. Her voice carried a quiet authority; a command not even Mal could ignore. Grudgingly, the captain turned back.

"Yes, darling?" he said, his voice layered in sarcasm hidden behind sincerity. River didn't acknowledge this and folded her arms across her chest.

Jayne watched her cleavage.

"If these four are worth enough for the Alliance to pull them through time," she said, her dark eyes fixed on Mal, "don't you think they might be worth protecting?"

And, like it was a tennis match, every head turned back to Mal. His eyebrows furrowed and he straightened up, staring at a spot above one of the cabinets, clearly thinking hard.

"She has a point, Mal," said Inara. Mal either ignored her or didn't hear her.

"Yeah, cause takin' on fugitives has always gone so swimmingly in the past," said Jayne sarcastically, and Simon and Kaylee both shot him withering glares. River, as usual these days, ignored him. Jayne felt a little slighted.

"We can at least hear their stories," said the Shepard in his calm, placating voice, and at that, Mal's eyes snapped back into focus and he gave a tight smile.

"Alright," he said. "Let's go awaken the sleeping beauties."

"Am I gunna have to kiss somebody?" Jayne asked. Wash gave a melodramatic shudder.

"Yes, what every girl dreams of waking up to. Beard mouth."

"And how would you know?" Jayne shot back. Wash glared at him defensively.

"I've been to… parties."

"On that very disturbing note," said Mal, his back already to them as he headed in the direction of the infirmary, "let's go."

TBC...

"What the Water Gave Me" by Florence and the Machine

A/N:

Thanks to everyone who checks this story out! I hope it's at least semi-entertaining. I'm having fun with it, just goofing off. The chapters will get longer, I'm kinda just posting them at good stopping points for now cause I'm not always sure when I'll be able to write again next. Also, there IS a plot here, it won't just be a collection of snippets or anything like that. There is actually a story. The reason Wash and Book are a live is very simple: I am not okay with them dying. At all. This is how I grieve.

Anyway, i hope this finds everyone well. Please review if you have the time!

AG