Chapter 2- Show you
Summary: Tension rises and River is determined to show them

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Simon found River sleeping curled up across Mal with her face nuzzled in his neck. He found it strange that the captain had allowed her to do that.

He cleared his throat loudly to rouse them. Mal opened his eyes slowly and blinked several times before the blurry room became clear again.

"Hey doc," he yawned.

"Hello Captain."

River slowly woke up and looked between the two men. She realized that she was on top of Mal and she quickly rolled off.

"Sleep well?" Simon asked innocently.

They both chose to ignore the question.

"I should go get cleaned up," Mal muttered as he got off of River's bed. She watched him go. He turned back to her before leaving, sending her the message mentally.

I'll be back soon.

He went up through the kitchen where everyone else was eating breakfast.

"Damn Mal, you look like hell!" Jayne laughed.

He glared and kept going towards his bunk.

"What's his problem?" Jayne frowned.

"He's upset because Blue Sun is changing his favor flavor of tea from lemon to lemon with lime," Wash said sarcastically.

"Really?"

"Aya laotian ye, yige zhizhang chou shi congming yu ni!"

Zoe laughed. "Calm down, husband. He was just born this way."

"This isn't something to be calm about," Inara agreed. Wash nodded in thanks.

"She was doin' so well too," Kaylee sighed.

"Who?" Jayne asked.

"Amphictyonis, the goddess of wine. She was doing so gorram well with her wine enterprise, but then when she decided to go corporate with her business accounts-" Wash growled.

"River," Shepherd clarified.

"What does wine have to do with moonbrain?"

"NOTHING! I WAS BEING A SMARTASS!"

"What's the shoutin' for?" Mal asked when he reentered.

"We're just a little tense, Sir…" Zoe took Wash's hand.

He nodded and started walking back towards the passenger dorms.

"That's it? No update on River? No coffee? No breakfast?" Kaylee asked.

"She was up 'til past two and woke up off and on with nightmares. And no and no."

He went down the steps and to River's door. He tapped twice before they called to him to enter.

"Hello," Simon said politely. She was drawing again. "Back so soon?"

"Yeah well. It's a few days 'til we reach Lazarus and I don't got much to do."

Simon looked at him skeptically. "Thank you, Captain, but you've done enough already."

"It's no trouble."

River patted the empty space beside her. Mal crossed the room and sat down heavily.

"How is she?" Mal asked.

"She is in the room," River snapped.

He chuckled. "How are you then?"

"Bamboo beneath the finger nails. Never forget. Can't talk. Must work."

Mal looked over at Simon. He was still hovering in the corner.

"You can go, doc. I conjure little Kaylee is missin' you at breakfast."

He was about to protest, but River stopped him in his tracks.

"Go. She's fine."

He grunted and left them alone.

****

"I don't get the big deal. That girl has always been off her rocker. She's always been crazy like this. So what if she's babblin' more again? Just makes the boat all sorts of loud again," Jayne shrugged.

"She's a reader, Jayne. She can sense things. If she's bad again, things might get bad…" Zoe explained.

"And she's our crew, our family…" Kaylee added.

"She's just yours 'cause you're ruttin' with her older brother," Jayne snarled.

"Jayne!" Inara cried.

"What?"

Shepherd wasn't in the mood for a shouting match. He got up and left, passing Simon in the corridor.

"Watch it, son. There's about to be a fight in there," he warned him.

Simon went in and sat beside Kaylee anyway.

"All I'm sayin' is that this ain't new or out of the usual. We're fussin' over a crazy witch."

"Zhukou ni yongsu yuan!" Wash spat.

"You wanna go, little man?" Jayne growled as he slammed his chopsticks down on the table.

"You don't seem to understand that we're a family here and it's really bugging me," Wash snapped.

"She ain't my crew or my family."

"Watch it," Simon warned.

"Shut it, doc. This is between me 'n him!" Jayne yelled.

"Please, both of you!" Inara cried.

"I didn't mean to yell. I just didn't appreciate the way he was talking about my yao feixiang niuniu."

"I-"

"Jayne," Zoe interrupted. "Leave the room."

He cursed and stalked off.

"Don't mind him," Kaylee told Simon lovingly. "The rest of us love her."

****

Mal sat beside her all day. Kaylee showed up with Simon around dinner time and took Mal up to the table by force while Simon stayed with River.

"I see you're joining us," Shepherd smiled as Mal took his seat at the head of the table.

"Yeah. My mechanic kidnapped me."

Kaylee shrugged. "I gotta do what I gotta do, Cap'in."

"How is she?" Inara asked.

"She's been drawin' since she woke up. She wouldn't even stop to eat."

"Why has she been drawing?"

"She keeps sayin' that she has to show me like they showed her. I don't know what it is, but she thinks it's gorram important."

****

"You need to eat," Simon said sternly. She ignored him and focused on the sketch pad.

"We came all this way for you."

She started drawing faster to block them out.

"We intend on bringing you back."

The pencil dug into the paper, tearing a new hole with each quick movement.

"No one will come for you."

-RipRipRip-

"No one will know where you are."

Her fingers were bruised and swollen from the constant drawing. Blood dripped down the pencil onto the paper.

"It's a secret."

"Mei mei? You're bleeding! Stop drawing-"

"And no one tells our secrets."

-Snap-

The pencil finally broke, but she picked up the shattered end with the tip and kept going. The broken wood cut into her already injured hands.

"We make sure of that."

Simon reached across the bed to grab the shards from her. Her elbow connected with his chest. He stumbled back, breathless from the powerful blow. He tried again. Her free hand caught his wrist. She twisted his arm and kicked him in the chest, all the while still drawing.

"RIVER!" Simon shouted angrily. "PUT THE PENCIL DOWN! YOU'RE HURTING YOURSELF!"

Mal heard the shouting and raced down the steps. He sped up once he heard Simon say that she was hurting herself. Most everyone followed to see what had happened this time.

He tore the door open and saw Simon edging towards River with his hands in a defensive position.

"River," Simon said calmly. "Put the-"

"Can't! Have to…show you…" she replied through shaky tears. She felt him. He was there.

Mal saw the blood coming from her hands and impulsively pushed Simon aside and sat beside her. He reached for the pencil.

She knew that her training would kick in and she'd have to hurt him if he tried. She was so close to finishing it…

He grabbed the end of the pencil. She tried to fight back, but he ripped it out of her hand.

"You gotta stop, sweetheart. You gotta stop," he whispered as he held her tightly against his chest, partly to keep her from trying to do anything and partly because it seemed like that's what he should do.

"Had to show you," she explained into his neck. Simon had left to get some things from the infirmary and had returned.

"Let me see your hands," he ordered, already in doctor mode.

She held them out. Mal winced at the sight. Simon took care of them—luckily she didn't need stitches—and then gave her a shot in case the pencil sent any toxins into her bloodstream. She stayed in Mal's arms the entire time, slowly regaining some sort of stability.

"I see them. I hear them. They're coming. Had to show you," she muttered against his shirt.

"You've done plenty of that for one day. Get some rest," he said evenly. He looked at Zoe, slowly shifting his eyes to her box of pencils. She nodded.

Simon got River situated, meaning he gave her something to make her sleep, and Zoe and Mal cleared the room of anything she could use to write or draw with.

"Mal," Inara called. He walked over to her and away from everyone else.

"What is it?"

"I'm concerned-"

"We all are."

"No, I'm concerned about how…dependant…she is on you."

"Dependant?"

"It seems like every time something has happened, the only thing that was able pacify her was you."

He paused and folded his arms. "Your point?"

"We're landing tomorrow. You have a job. You can't be here every moment of every day. If she has another moment-"

"I think you're makin' too much of a fuss. Simon is the one-"

"The last two times she hasn't responded to Simon! She's responding to you."

"Fine. Then you deal as best you can 'til I get back."

"But-"

"What do you suggest then?"

She fell silent.

"If any of my crew needs me, I'm there. You know that. It just so happens she's needin' me right now. So that's where I'm gonna be."

He went back into her room. Inara sighed. It's like talking to a brick wall…

(Aya laotian ye, yige zhizhang chou shi congming yu ni- oh heavens, a retarded buffoon is smarter than you

Zhukou ni yongsu yuan- shut up you filthy/dirty ape

Yao feixiang niuniu- youngest/tiny fly girl)