A/N: Happy National Hangover Day ^_^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*FLASHBACK*

She struggled.

She clawed and screamed and gasped, crying for help, crying for them to stop. However they said nothing, they did nothing but continue.

"River." He called out, Dr. Mithias, she knew his name, she fixated on the little calligraphy of it embroidered on his smock. it was the only thing she could focus on, for his face frightened her as he reached out and stroked her hair as if to soothe her.

It did the opposite.

"River, relax, I want to fix your problem." he reassured, standing by her head as the surgeon applied an anesthetic. Reaching out, as if empathic he held her hand. "River you said it hurts, it's uncomfortable, just relax."

One slid the needle into the IV port and dispersed the drug, it burned through her veins, it relaxed her muscles, yet it did not dull her senses.

She would feel, see and hear it all, without being able to react.

They took it out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was in her mind.

They put her there, on the outside she was in a chair, things strapped to her, monitors buzzing, scientists buzzing as well like an intellectual hive. However in her mind, in her mind she was free. Free and floating through other pcyhes, gleaning, knowing everything that was occurring.

There was a connection.

She found herself in a white room, it glowed as she stood there in a uniform that hugged her skin. Suddenly in front of her was a girl. As young as she, plain, yet scared.

River Tam's eyes narrowed.

A barefoot step forward, then the other. She circled the girl projected so clearly in her mind, studying her, knowing her. Plain and simple. Not a reader, nothing special, ordinary and scared as her hands fidgeted and she followed the Tam girl with wide, scared eyes.

A connection.

River stalked up close, learning everything.

Slave.

Expendable.

Vessel.

The slave girl, in her sterile smock, trembled as the reader was so close their noses nearly brushed.

River's head cocked to the side, curiously, a wave of hair falling into her face like a sable hood. Eyes narrowing, she reached out a pressed her palm to the slave girl's stomach, feeling a slight swell.

Just the vessel.

Carrying apart of her.

Carrying the future.

"...just relax..."

The slave shut her eyes and shuddered.

River's eyes snapped open, and she gasped. Back to reality, back to the scientists and Mithias, monitors beeping and drugs blurring what she had learned.

*END FLASHBACK*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The dark eyes of River Tam snapped open and trained on what was before her.

Li Ten forced his mind upon her, to keep her away.

Her mind became an inviolable fortress as she fixated on the child her past enemy was shielding.

The shards that had made her bleed came together, and she realized it all.

The boy gazed upon his mother for the first time.

As did the mother with the child.

From him, she moved on and felt the tendrils of the rest of the picture. She felt Niska, his plans and black heart, and her muscles flexed to the news. Her mind touched another reader's and she turned to see the woman with reddish brown hair being held back by other students, and she knew Natasya's link to her life, as well as Simon's. Cognizance of the past made her stronger as she also battled her master, her teacher, a man that had tried to make her separated from the world by slaying her own flesh. As well as separate her from her dreams. Those dreams, she suddenly realized as well.

The sword clattered to the ground.

The Operative glanced up from his huddled position.

Turning, she faced Li Ten, and eyes glowing with hatred and power that she had never felt before. There was a current running through her, fueled by rage.

"River," He began.

She thrust a hand out and reached up, able to grab his chin by the hair of it and pull him down. With her rage, came a surge of energy unlike ever before, beyond what she had done to the officer back at Miao De Qian Shan. for she was far more stronger since then. Reading his mind, his motive, his conviction as to why she must separate herself from the rest of the universe and sacrifice herself, her muscles pulled taunt against her bones.

Li Ten fell to his knees in pain, for she felt stronger than he, a man that was at the highest plateau of a Long, and she felt as if she was draining his mind dry.

Forcefully, she shoved him away, baring her teeth. "Wo shi fou ni taoni." She announced, her voice becoming deeper and more projected.

What everyone at the temple saw after that, was not of the physical realm.

But of the mental.

Her body began to glow, and it erupted into flames as the Great Li Ten felt his brain ignite on fire and his followers drop in pain. The frame of the young reader burned away into ethereal light, and from the light came forth a Chinese dragon. She was young, as tall as a pachyderm, with scales like a clear river current under sunlight. Eyes of lacquered mahogany, claws of ivory, a mane and tail plume of sable and horns of black pearl. Long and elegant, muscles rolling under the shimmering scales, fearsome and beautiful.

The operative grabbed the boy and quickly retreated to Tasya's side as she gawked in awe and horror.

Her front paws touched the ground, and her back arched as flame flickered from the back of her throat. "I am not clay." The young she dragon growled, a hint of River Tam's voice in the deep chasm of the creature as it circled Li Ten, the plumed tail flicking as the claws clicked against the icy ground. "I am not to be molded into a martyr, nor to fight the battles you have created in this universe. Wo jiang bu mie fushizhiwu yeshou nin ba, that has lay waste to this system." The teeth were like sabers, the breath hot and melting snow as she circled around Li Ten tighter and tighter "I am not clay, I am not matrix, I am not of your perverted ways." She stood in front of him, poised tall on it's front legs, chest puffed out as she gazed down upon him like an insignificant sack of flesh. "I am the unencumbered sky that will never be shackled, I am the current cutting a new path amongst the rocks, I am INSURRECTION to you and everyone else that oppresses my kind and threatens my kin." The she dragon roared as Li Ten felt his brain slowly cooking from inside its casing. "I am RIVER TAM, the Dragon of Insurrection." Smoke curled from her wide nostrils as she announced her name. "I know my place in this universe, I know my purpose. And it is not of your mind."

He drew back as it leaned in, snout mere inches from Li Ten as blood trickled out of his ears.

"I will rattle the stars with my roar, and I spirit the children of my brother and I away, and I will not spare you Li Ten. For you do not deserve to draw breath for you past actions."

His eyes widened in terror. She was beyond what he had ever imagined, power above his own.

"And no one touches my son." The last sentence was clearly River's voice as the dragon pounced on him, jaws gaping wide, claws pulling him asunder as the dragon burst into the light of an aurora, making those watching shield their eyes.

The Operative was the first to look up. As the light died back, he saw the body of Li Ten still intact. It was sprawled upon the floor, with blood coming from his ears, eyes, nose and mouth. He would not know, but the brain of one of the greatest readers of all time had been turned to a slurry, leaving in the courtyard an empty husk.

Standing above it was River Tam.

She stood bold, her stance wide and powerful, though her shoulders were slumped, and her chest heaved. Eyes were bloodshot, with dark rings of weariness underneath, and her nose bled as the winter wind twisted her hair about her face. There was purpose in her mien, there was a square of her shoulders as she straightened her spine and caught herself from weaving with exhaustion, her fists clenched as she turned pale from the use of energy. Dark eyes gazed up at the group she had not inflicted pain upon, and she took a step their way, weak from the moment, but sure and driven. "We're leaving." River announced, once in the hall.

The Operative, clutching the boy for dear life, opened his mouth to ask where as Tasya clustered warily next to him.

"Home." She clarified. *** *** *** DEFINITIONS/TRANSLATIONS Miao De Qian Shan: A temple on Sihnon composed entirely of Readers. River trained for a handful of months there. The monks are comparable to the Shaolin monks of China. Vegitarian, peace loving, only using their superior fighting skills in absolute defense as well as constantly meditating and training to hone their skills. Wo shi fou ni taoni: I am not your clay Wo jiang bu mie fushizhiwu yeshou nin ba: I will not slay the beast you fathered

*****As always, the writer appreciates all comments whether they be positive, negative, or suggestions.**