moragmacpherson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
moragmacpherson) wrote2009-01-20 02:15 am
moragmacpherson) wrote2009-01-20 02:15 am
Fic: The Lost Age (9/??) (Buffy/DrWho/Firefly)
Title: The Lost Age (9/??)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
moragmacpherson
Rating: PG-15
Timeline: This story takes place during that sixty year block that I glossed over between chapters three and four of "Another Side of the Sky". Buffy's thirty here. In the Firefly universe, it's at the beginning of the movie.
Disclaimer: If it's a character or a place, I don't own it. Some dialogue is recycled from the film.
Archive: Here, TtH. If you'd like it, let me know.
Betas: Depending on the chapter: MissJulie and/or Mishka,
Summary: Buffy, Jack, and the Doctor accidentally land in a system where aliens fear to tread.
Simon watched his sister’s eyes open as a small smile inched across her face. “Hi, brother.”
“Hi mei-mei.” River stretched. “You had us all worried there.”
“Was right to be worried. The desert fire consumed me. Had to let it out.” She sat up, leaning back on her hands. “But then you brought the rains, the storm. Found a second opinion, asked another Doctor.”
“Hello there,” said the Doctor from his position by the wall. River regarded him several moments.
“It’s quiet in here. Did you fix me?”
The Doctor shook his head. “Not quite yet. That’s the Zero Room for you, shields you from the outside, creates a fine psychic static inside, helps quiet things down so that you can have a break from all that noise.” He shifted his weight to his other side. “This way, we can listen to the noise inside.”
River pulled at her hair. “So many voices. Wish I could forget, but even their silences are loud.”
Sensing her agitation, Simon moved to hold her, but the Doctor had seized his hand before Simon even noticed that he was moving. “No touching. Not even the Zero Room can shield her from tactile contact. She’ll calm herself, won’t you?”
River had wrapped her arms around her knees and folded up, but she nodded and began rocking. “Can you make the voices inside stop?” she asked in a tiny, muffled voice.
The Doctor’s response was gentle and breathy. “We’re going to try.”
She stopped rocking. “Good.” This promise evidently sufficed to silence her worries. Simon caught his breath as she sprang up and began spinning and dancing around the room. “White, white, everywhere, white noise around me, white knights, white hats.” She stopped short. “White funerals? No, no!” She pointed to the Doctor. “Lonely God, sturm und drang, answer the preacher man, deliver him from evil. Shepherd the shepherd, thy rod and thy staff, rock and fortress.” She resumed her perambulations.
The Doctor let go of Simon’s hand. “This is how she’s been since you rescued her?” he asked, under his breath.
“Yeah, this is River on a good day. Is she going to have to stay in this room forever? Will I never be able to touch her again?”
The Doctor scrunched up his face, shaking his head. “No, no. Right now she’s just got a lot of borrowed thoughts in her mind, makes it difficult for her own sense of reality to penetrate through. When we get to Miranda, she’ll be able to sort the thoughts from the reality. Should do wonders for her.”
Simon frowned. “Will we have to do this every time she goes into a crowd?”
The Doctor bit his lip. “Buffy and I are going to work on building her shields, even without her amygdala. Teaching her to use other resources, that wonderful, adaptable human brain.” He grinned and tousled Simon’s hair, and somehow Simon wasn’t at all put off by the gesture's familiarity. “Hers being even more wonderful than most. But at the moment, she’s bearing a huge secret, just a massive burden, almost all by herself." His eyes and voice darkened. "This place would have to be a horrible one indeed, to contain another secret so enormously foul. We have to get rid of it, lance the boil, then it can heal.”
Simon felt his mouth go dry. “What’s the secret?”
The Doctor raised his finger, sparkle back in his eyes. “That’s what we’re going to Miranda to find out.”
“Oh. Okay.” Simon rose, feeling his joints crack and pop. That was to be expected though, and it put his heart at ease to see River as calm and happy as she’d been since they’d come aboard Serenity. Sure, she was bearing a profoundly horrible secret about something that no one would tell him about which had driven her insane and for which the government wanted to kill both of them. Sure, she was now some kind of supernatural fighting machine. Sure, he was on an impossible ship with an alien and another one of those supernatural fighting machines on the way to a planet in the heart of Reaver territory, while the girl that he liked and possibly loved was on the other side of the system with a man apparently born without a sense of sexual propriety. But at the moment, he could simply bask in River’s contentment. Either that or he too was feeling the warm fuzzies-effect of the Zero Room. He smiled, then pulled his eyebrows together, turning to the Doctor. “Wait. Did River just call you a god?”
Next
Author:
moragmacpherson Rating: PG-15
Timeline: This story takes place during that sixty year block that I glossed over between chapters three and four of "Another Side of the Sky". Buffy's thirty here. In the Firefly universe, it's at the beginning of the movie.
Disclaimer: If it's a character or a place, I don't own it. Some dialogue is recycled from the film.
Archive: Here, TtH. If you'd like it, let me know.
Betas: Depending on the chapter: MissJulie and/or Mishka,
Summary: Buffy, Jack, and the Doctor accidentally land in a system where aliens fear to tread.
Simon watched his sister’s eyes open as a small smile inched across her face. “Hi, brother.”
“Hi mei-mei.” River stretched. “You had us all worried there.”
“Was right to be worried. The desert fire consumed me. Had to let it out.” She sat up, leaning back on her hands. “But then you brought the rains, the storm. Found a second opinion, asked another Doctor.”
“Hello there,” said the Doctor from his position by the wall. River regarded him several moments.
“It’s quiet in here. Did you fix me?”
The Doctor shook his head. “Not quite yet. That’s the Zero Room for you, shields you from the outside, creates a fine psychic static inside, helps quiet things down so that you can have a break from all that noise.” He shifted his weight to his other side. “This way, we can listen to the noise inside.”
River pulled at her hair. “So many voices. Wish I could forget, but even their silences are loud.”
Sensing her agitation, Simon moved to hold her, but the Doctor had seized his hand before Simon even noticed that he was moving. “No touching. Not even the Zero Room can shield her from tactile contact. She’ll calm herself, won’t you?”
River had wrapped her arms around her knees and folded up, but she nodded and began rocking. “Can you make the voices inside stop?” she asked in a tiny, muffled voice.
The Doctor’s response was gentle and breathy. “We’re going to try.”
She stopped rocking. “Good.” This promise evidently sufficed to silence her worries. Simon caught his breath as she sprang up and began spinning and dancing around the room. “White, white, everywhere, white noise around me, white knights, white hats.” She stopped short. “White funerals? No, no!” She pointed to the Doctor. “Lonely God, sturm und drang, answer the preacher man, deliver him from evil. Shepherd the shepherd, thy rod and thy staff, rock and fortress.” She resumed her perambulations.
The Doctor let go of Simon’s hand. “This is how she’s been since you rescued her?” he asked, under his breath.
“Yeah, this is River on a good day. Is she going to have to stay in this room forever? Will I never be able to touch her again?”
The Doctor scrunched up his face, shaking his head. “No, no. Right now she’s just got a lot of borrowed thoughts in her mind, makes it difficult for her own sense of reality to penetrate through. When we get to Miranda, she’ll be able to sort the thoughts from the reality. Should do wonders for her.”
Simon frowned. “Will we have to do this every time she goes into a crowd?”
The Doctor bit his lip. “Buffy and I are going to work on building her shields, even without her amygdala. Teaching her to use other resources, that wonderful, adaptable human brain.” He grinned and tousled Simon’s hair, and somehow Simon wasn’t at all put off by the gesture's familiarity. “Hers being even more wonderful than most. But at the moment, she’s bearing a huge secret, just a massive burden, almost all by herself." His eyes and voice darkened. "This place would have to be a horrible one indeed, to contain another secret so enormously foul. We have to get rid of it, lance the boil, then it can heal.”
Simon felt his mouth go dry. “What’s the secret?”
The Doctor raised his finger, sparkle back in his eyes. “That’s what we’re going to Miranda to find out.”
“Oh. Okay.” Simon rose, feeling his joints crack and pop. That was to be expected though, and it put his heart at ease to see River as calm and happy as she’d been since they’d come aboard Serenity. Sure, she was bearing a profoundly horrible secret about something that no one would tell him about which had driven her insane and for which the government wanted to kill both of them. Sure, she was now some kind of supernatural fighting machine. Sure, he was on an impossible ship with an alien and another one of those supernatural fighting machines on the way to a planet in the heart of Reaver territory, while the girl that he liked and possibly loved was on the other side of the system with a man apparently born without a sense of sexual propriety. But at the moment, he could simply bask in River’s contentment. Either that or he too was feeling the warm fuzzies-effect of the Zero Room. He smiled, then pulled his eyebrows together, turning to the Doctor. “Wait. Did River just call you a god?”
Next