A/N: Yeah, this chapter is ridiculously short, and it was a long wait...I must seem like such a buzz-kill...Sorry folks! I brought some insight into Badger's predicament, and wrestled my way through another River POV. Hopefully, I made some amount of sense in this chapter, as it's mostly a reflective info dump. My next chapter will indeed be longer and less abrupt, and I'll hopefully be able to share it with you lovely people a lot earlier, too. the drama production I was a part of has now concluded its show week, so I'm a free human being for a little while again.

I hope you enjoy! And as usual, please R&R! I know for a fact that significantly less than 1% of the people who read my stuff don't leave behind any feedback; critique or no. I'mma be a brat and demand that you tell me SOMETHING you liked/didn't like about my story, because I want to grow as a writer and I can't do it without input from you folks. :P

Disclaimer: Nothing here is mine. I wish everything was, but it isn't.

Revelation

A half hour had allotted since River had clocked Badger. The bloke was undeniably in dire need of sleep, since he never came to. River estimated that he would regain consciousness again by early morning if he maintained a steady sleep. She'd hit him hard enough, she doubted he would make a surprise awakening. Softly, she lifted his head and cushioned it with a small, lumpy pillow. He'd have enough of a migraine the following day, there was no sense in making it worse by not giving him a soft place to rest his stupid head. Carelessly she draped one of his crocheted blankets over him. The motion of the blanket scooted Badger's pin (which had been released from his grasp once he hit the floor) against the floorboard and caught River's attention. Eyes fixated, she walked around Badger's sprawled body and squatted down in front of the pin. She plucked it from the ground and stood up, continuing to study the thing.

The pin permeated whispers of memories back to River, stronger and more forceful than it had when she first analyzed it earlier that evening. Already, she could tell that the injection from the smoothers she swiped from Simon were beginning to wear off. The drug had managed to maintain her lucidity and dampen the white noise of incoherence rather well. While it lasted, she had savored the silence. Direct thoughts were harder to hold back, but at least the hum of ambiance and idle thoughts weren't bombarding her. But the drugs had run their course, and River found herself gradually returning to her abject state of hypersensitivity.

She couldn't afford to inject another dose tonight; having smoothers be applied this late in the hour would inevitably cause her to fall asleep. And she refused to be pulled under as a victim to her constant nightmares. Her nightmares were slightly more bearable for her when she was awake, because then she was at least in a position where she could attempt to ward them off.

She closed her eyes and focused on meditating; blocking out everything that tried to encroach gradually into her mind. She hummed an old ditty, forcing herself to focus on one thought, rather than the multitude of lingering memories that were impeding into her own. Crowded...so crowded.

One thought ferociously overpowered all the others, latching on to River's mind with a sudden intensity. The presence of the recollection hit River with such aggressive force, that she fell against the wall. She began to tremble at the impact that the memory bestowed. Badger had succumbed to an emotionally driven dream, and was unknowingly pulling her along. Even when she was awake, she couldn't seem to keep someone else's nightmares out of her own...Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she slid weakly down the wall, losing her own battle. Darkness clouded her vision, and she was pulled under...

"...Slave trade, doctor...Don't make me remind you again." I respond; a threat to get her to stop asking questions. She can't afford to know the secrets I have harbored from this girl. No one can know. It would cost me everything if anyone knew the girl's whereabouts...even her true name is dangerous to exploit. I can't risk it.

The doctor takes the hint. "Understood. Sorry, sir." The door seals shut, leaving the young patient and I in complete darkness.

"Well now, luv. Care to tell me why you's so upset?"

The girl continues to tremble, staring painfully at her hands. "Dark...swollen stings. They won't stop...always charging and buzzing...malicious, indignant. On the hunt...no pollen for the taking. Must...retaliate..." Each of her words comes out more frantic than the ones before them. She continues shaking, likely on the verge of another seizure. Her black hair is dripping with sweat, clinging desperately to the frame of her face, mirroring the urgency and panic she demonstrates. I near the girl, kneeling carefully before her. I cover her hands with mine, gentle and cautious. "No one's 'ere to harm yeh, poppet. We gotcher safe'n'sound down in the burrow. Haven's yer next stop, once we gets ya a mite better."

She tries writhing her frail hands free from my grasp. My grip goes from tender to unrelenting. I need to get her calm. If meds couldn't do it, then by God, I would make sure that I would. I have to.

"Fallon, look at me." I tighten my grip slightly, "look at me."

Fallon obeys, struggling to keep her green eyes focused on mine. "...On the brink...Rung Tse Song Di Ching Dai Wuo Tzo...they took the flower. Plucked it with the thorns still on it. Didn't expect a scar." she says, her eyes brimming with tears. She tilts her head back, rocking herself as she does so.

I reach forward and place a consoling hand on the side of her face. "Now, what wouldjer mam say to that?" I brush a thumb gently across her cheek, wiping a stray tear. "Talkin' such nonsense...She'd right have my neck if she saw me allow them tears of yours ta fall."

At the mention of her mother, Fallon's features soften. For a glimmer of a moment, she is her old self again. Nostalgic at whatever memory sprang. Her eyes are euphoric. Then, just like that, her childlike expressions are cast off almost as quickly as they had appeared. Her face contorts in pain once more.

A glimpse of my eight year old Fallon...that is all I needed to know that my niece isn't as far gone as she had first appeared to be.

My eyes sting with sudden, unexpected tears of my own. I blink them back stubbornly. This is no time to be bleedin' over emotional. "Dontchu worry, poppet. I'm gonna get you outta this nightmare o'yours, best I can. Soon you'll be free an' happy with your folks again. On my honor: I will make sure those barstids'll pay fer what they did ta you and yer brother." My voice betrays my anger. I pause, collecting myself before continuing. " I needja to be strong fer me just a while longer yet, Fallon. I can't do it without yer help, luv."

Fallon nods, stiffly and erratically. She struggles to regain her composure, but the effort is visible enough for me to love her all the more for her strength and determination. She definitely inherited the family's stubborn streak.

I smile sadly back to her and plant a small, tender kiss on her forehead. "Thank you, poppet."

River gasped back into consciousness, as if she had been drowning in Badger's subconscious state. How heart wrenching...River touched the side of her face curiously. She had shed the tears that Badger had failed to express. Her curiosity transitioned to sheer unrestrained joy. She wasn't the only one who had managed to escape the Academy! At last, there was someone else in the outside worlds who could truly understand her.

River glanced back down at the pin. Images of Fallon danced into her mind like wisps of smoke; hazy and faded. It appeared that Fallon and the pin shared some sort of connection for Badger. Was this young girl the real reason he agreed to work with the Alliance? River knew Badger was involved with the purple bellies, but she had no idea he was in so deep...In many respects, he wasn't so different from Simon. This new bit of information would undeniably heighten the risk factor in having Badger aboard Serenity. Who knew how much the Feds knew of Badger's true loyalties?

River couldn't help feel a bit guilty for being so cruel to him. But she wouldn't dare express that. Badger had no idea that River was another escapee. Having Badger know of River's true identity could do one of two things: Since he harbored a fugitive of his own, he would either make for a reliable and trustworthy ally, or he'd sell her out to maintain his cover story to keep a favorable position in the eyes of the Alliance. Once someone became a double agent, he could be trusted by absolutely no one until his true motivation had been fulfilled.

River curled against the wall, hugging her knees. The temperature had dropped during the night, leaving her absolutely frigid. She forced Badger's lucid dreams out of her own head, with every effort she could conjure. Instead, she had herself focus intently out at the window across the room, willing the sun to appear. Unfortunately, even geniuses can't accelerate the nature of time.

Luckily, enough time had passed, that another injection would be possible. Morning was due to arrive soon, and she needed to ensure that she was in a (more or less) rational state when Badger awakened. Weaving her fingers through the tangle of her silken clothes, River fished for the pocket that held one of the smoothers she brought along (the rest were hidden in Inara's shuttle), and hastily stuck herself with the shot. The relief was blinding. Blankness seared her vision, steadily muting the stray thoughts that ricocheted in her mind. She leaned her head back, lustily savoring the return of the fleeting silence.

*TRANSLATIONS*

Rung Tse Song Di Ching Dai Wuo Tzo - Merciful God, please take me away