Disjunction
Title: Disjunction
Fandom: Firefly/Sandman
Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or Sandman. They belong to Joss Whedon and Neil Gaiman.
Spoilers: None
Pairings: None
Summary: River gets comfort from an unusual source at the Academy.
Rating: PG
A/N: Written for the redux challenge at ff_friday (Prompt 161: delirium… I couldn’t resist). Thanks to non_horation for betaing.
It hurt. Everything about the Academy hurt. During the day, they gave her treatments and asked her questions. At night, she dreamed about it. And she never knew when one would give way to the other.
She assumed the strange girl was another of their tests. No one could get into her room otherwise. The girl just sat there, staring at her with mismatched eyes. A sign of non-disjunction early in fetal development, but no biological explanation for the sparkles.
“You shouldn’t be here,” River whispered.
The girl gave her a smile. “You’re mine.”
“I’m… what?”
She jumped up. “One of mine!”
River backed up. “Who- who are you?”
“I’m me! Except when I’m not.” She jumped up and grabbed River’s hands. “Let’s dance!”
“What?”
She pulled on her hands. “Dance!”
River liked that idea, so they whirled around to the girl’s wordless song. Getting to dance was another broken promise. She threw her head back and actually laughed for the first time since leaving Simon behind.
“Feel better?”
“Wish it could stay.” It was so easy to switch to crying.
The girl nodded. “Always have bad days.”
“This place hurts! The needles and the visions and the people and the questions. Everything hurts! Knowing hurts!”
The girl took River’s head in her hands. “Knowing hurts,” she agreed. “I can help, you’re mine.”
“What does that mean?”
“Shh, shh, already know too much, don’t need more. I can help, can make it not hurt anymore.”
“Really?”
The girl ran her fingers over River’s temple. “I’ll give you what I can. Try to make it okay. Better this way, promise.” She jumped up. “Gotta go now, bye bye!”
River waved silently as the girl danced out through the locked door. She was sure she saw little fish swim along behind her.
Fandom: Firefly/Sandman
Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or Sandman. They belong to Joss Whedon and Neil Gaiman.
Spoilers: None
Pairings: None
Summary: River gets comfort from an unusual source at the Academy.
Rating: PG
A/N: Written for the redux challenge at ff_friday (Prompt 161: delirium… I couldn’t resist). Thanks to non_horation for betaing.
It hurt. Everything about the Academy hurt. During the day, they gave her treatments and asked her questions. At night, she dreamed about it. And she never knew when one would give way to the other.
She assumed the strange girl was another of their tests. No one could get into her room otherwise. The girl just sat there, staring at her with mismatched eyes. A sign of non-disjunction early in fetal development, but no biological explanation for the sparkles.
“You shouldn’t be here,” River whispered.
The girl gave her a smile. “You’re mine.”
“I’m… what?”
She jumped up. “One of mine!”
River backed up. “Who- who are you?”
“I’m me! Except when I’m not.” She jumped up and grabbed River’s hands. “Let’s dance!”
“What?”
She pulled on her hands. “Dance!”
River liked that idea, so they whirled around to the girl’s wordless song. Getting to dance was another broken promise. She threw her head back and actually laughed for the first time since leaving Simon behind.
“Feel better?”
“Wish it could stay.” It was so easy to switch to crying.
The girl nodded. “Always have bad days.”
“This place hurts! The needles and the visions and the people and the questions. Everything hurts! Knowing hurts!”
The girl took River’s head in her hands. “Knowing hurts,” she agreed. “I can help, you’re mine.”
“What does that mean?”
“Shh, shh, already know too much, don’t need more. I can help, can make it not hurt anymore.”
“Really?”
The girl ran her fingers over River’s temple. “I’ll give you what I can. Try to make it okay. Better this way, promise.” She jumped up. “Gotta go now, bye bye!”
River waved silently as the girl danced out through the locked door. She was sure she saw little fish swim along behind her.