River’s quarters were lonely. Simon was sleeping with Kaylee, and no one else really dared coming in her area. Good thing too, cause she was mentally spying on her brothers affairs. She felt guilty every time she did it, but it was so... rewarding. River tossed and turned, moaned and grunted, feeling the effects of sex from two different angles. “Fun, isn’t it?” River jolted up out of her trance. She looked left, she looked right. Hell, she even looked up, but there was still nothing. Then the boy popped up right infront of her. “Boo,” he said tonelessly, and River jumped. She was not good with suprises. She usually knew what the person was going to do afterwards, but since Mr. fancy mindo boy came on the ship, she was getting more suprises than she had since... never. Huh. “So... what are they doing tonight?” he asked. River blushed furiously. He smiled. “Eh... it’s ok. If it makes you feel any better, I do it too.” This did not. “Anyway, I thought we might be able to continue out story, but if you would rather go back to your new past time...” “No,” River said, almost too quickly. She wanted to spend more time with the boy, figure him out. She had never met anyone like this. “Righto then. Now where were we?” River thought. Something about... “Wash, and the message,” she informed him. “Oh, right. Well, the teachers apparently thought something had gone wrong with my mind. All I remember after that day was that horrible chair. They did things to me their. Tried to cure my “disease”, but were really doing things that they didn’t mean to. Hell, for three days they caused me to say nothing but swear words, which made them do even more meddling. After it was all over and they thought I had been cured, I had an early sense of what my true class was. I could already lift pencils with some struggle. I never told them that though. I never really got a chance. Just about 1 month after the “repairs” ended, they started me with the SDT. That’s what I call it at least- Subtle Dream Training. Some kind of... hellish thing they put you through to train you bodies physical-” “I know,” River interrupted. “Oh... right. Anyway, I don’t remember much of that. Then something happened. Some girl had managed to get out. I am assuming it was you. Security tightened, and I lost all hope of ever getting out of there. Then my sister came. About three months later, a whole boatload of professionally trained mercenaries came storing in, killing everyone who tried to resist. I was scooped out of their faster than you can say Xenocide 5. Unfortunately, that was the easy part. We all got onto the boat and left the system. Susan took us to some planet, I am not sure which one, to hide out. It looked like we were going to be ok. It seemed like there was nothing to worry about. Then They came. Centurion agents. They are worse than Reavers. Those damn sticks, God, the Damn sticks. None of the mercs stood a chance. My sister took out a good 20 of them, but those green bastards just kept coming. I was trying to get out of the safe room I was in to help her. Even though I would have been as useless as a dog at that time, I would've rather-” For the first time, River saw all the way into the boys mind. The images that she absorbed were horrific. The mercenaries deaths, bloody, but not as bad as the picture of a beautiful girl screaming. Slowly, she seemed to melt in a pool of her own blood, just a contorted outline remained. The horror she then felt, the utter agony of it all, the absolute- and she was blocked again. “Sorry...” the boy apologized. “Sorry you had to see that.” He looked down. She looked afraid. She finally knew why she feared them, what she took all the anesthetic what she was trying to avoid. “It’s ok,” she reassured him. “I have a question though. Why was the man on the ship’s hands black, the people who came in a pair blue, and the people in your memory green?” He looked up, happy to be off the topic... sorta. “It’s a rank,” he explained. “Black is on of the most deadly assassin. Blue are kinda the special people who use technology more than fighting, and green are the pawns. If you ever see purple though, shoot yourself right there. Purple aren’t even agents. They have no human thoughts whatsoever. They have been totally reprogramed to have no mercy. Even... like, anti mercy. They are basically more organized Reavers. Horrible things. They can have all their limbs chopped off and they will still try and kill you. But off that topic and back to the plot... if there is a plot. Is real life a plot?” He looked at River. She shrugged. “Right. Anyways, after I was all alone, they were trying to get in. I, by this time, was either very pissed or very delirious. I couldn’t tell. I also, unlike now, had no clue what my abilities were. I attacked them before they knew what was happening. I was just hoping for a quick death. Had no clue what I could do. It only lasted about five minutes. I broke all the little Sticks and just fainted after that. I woke up about a day later. One of the mercenaries beepers was buzzing. I picked it up and identified myself. The voice on the other side was more soft then anything. He told me transportation would be coming within the hour. It came, I got on, and nobody was on there. It was but a one person ship. With a very... very slow engine. They got it there so fast because it was dropped off by some other ship. Still not sure why I wasn’t allowed on that one. After I figured out how to fly the damn thing, the voice uploaded coordinates and rest stops. It was supposed to be a four month journey. Along the way, I learned. I learned everything I could about the Alliance, the Academy, and about myself. Unfortunately, 3 1/2 months into my journey, the ships engines went critical and I had to bail out. I landed on-” “Buoleban,” River finished. “You were the big fireball everyone was afraid of.” “Why, yes... yes I was. When I saw you guys entering atmo, I thought I would check it out. I found you, snuck aboard, hoping to steal one of the shuttles, and found some really good food. Considering, all I had to eat the past three months was protein packs and canned milk, it was a delicacy. And then I found you. I could sense you probing the first day, and I was amazed. I had to put up a pretty strong shield to keep you from getting into my head! God, your better than ANYONE in the old Academy. Sexier too, but that’s besides the point.” River, for the first time that she could remember, blushed. No one (except Jayne) had ever applied that word to her before... This was cool. For the first time, she realized that the boy really did look a little but like wash. Red hair, skinnier than most, with a gentle side too. And of course crude humor... can’t forget that. “So Zoë is your Aunt?” River asked, trying to start up conversation again. “Second Aunt, yes. Well, I think she is at least. She is some sorta Aunt, never really figured out the firsts or seconds beyond food...” River smiled at the thought of Zoë knowing that there was a family member onboard. “Butterflies,” she said without thinking, not knowing why. She was suddenly in complete bliss. “What?” the boy asked. What the hell was she blabbering about- Uh oh. “They’re everywhere. Butterflies and birds. So pretty...” “River... River. Look at me. Tell me what they are making.” “A person. He looks like you. He is coming closer. So fun, so happy, Just go fly with bittersweet rivalry. Nothing to see, I can see it though...” “Shit!” The boy cursed. Without further ado, he punched her hard across the jaw. She suddenly came to life, looked at him like she were gong to kill him, and fell over onto her bed. The boy sighed in relief. “Damn... that was too close,” he muttered, and sat down next to River. “Still gotta learn up on this part of the cycle. Why me...” He looked down, and then a thought came into his head. hoho!