Catching Fireflies (Doctor who)

The Doctor Meets River

Ok so this is going to be it for a while. I've got exams and tons of homework, scholarships and all sorts of stuff. I was just going to give the part I think is so cool. Well, other than the twist in Chapter 19. 'Spoilers' :D

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Once everyone left the room, things started to calm down. Simon was constantly checking on his sister to make sure she was still asleep. Book staid with Kaylee who slept a long while after her surgery. He read his Bible, many times quoting out loud even. This was when the Doctor saw Mal and Jayne walking over to the bunk where they were keeping the officer.

The Doctor followed them and decided to call out when they didn't notice him.

"Um, Mal?" The Doctor said trying to get his attention. Mal turned to face the Doctor, nodded to Jayne telling him to keep going, then faced him again.

"Did you wanna fess us to something also? 'Cause with everything goin' on right now I don't think it's in your best interest to be spillin' your guts." Mal said, irritated.

"Well now that you mention it I do owe you some explaining, but unlike Simon I don't have a long story that goes along with it. Well, one that concerns you at least. But, yes I did want to talk to you, about the officer."

Mal turned away from the Doctor. "You know, I'm already gettin' an ear full from Shepard about this guy and I don't really want a lecture from you wither."

"I'm not here to lecture, I'm here to stabilize. If you go in with a hot head like you are now you'll just insure him that you're going to kill him. What's the point of talking if he's a dead man?" The Doctor said. Mal sighed and turned to look at the wall now. He knew the Doctor was right, although he didn't want to admit it. Mal took in some deep breaths and he could feel the tension lift from him.

"Ok. Now that I have a level head on me, I can get back to-"

"Wait." The Doctor interrupted. "Are you really going to kill that man?" After a couple more breaths Mal replied.

"Not anymore. Just scare him is all." Mal chuckled but the Doctor didn't.

Mal left to go back to scaring the officer giving the Doctor time to roam and think. He didn't like thinking alone so he went towards the infirmary where he expected everyone else to be. Unfortunately it was only Kaylee and Simon's sister in there. The Doctor walked over to Kaylee and put his hand on her forehead. He could tell by the erratic breathing that she wasn't going to make it through the night.

The Doctor didn't want Simon and his sister to be thrown out, so to keep everyone at bay he placed his other hand at her wound and passed on a tiny bit of his regeneration to Kaylee. The was sure to fix her up, the Doctor smile in satisfaction as Kaylee's breathing was now back to normal. The Doctor jumped when Simon's sister shot up screaming again. He had actually jumped, so far that he almost knocked over the tray of medications for Kaylee and the sister. He stumbled over to her, which made him a little confused. He's never been frightened like this.

"Hey, hey." He tried to calm her down. She started to crawl into another ball mumbling random things. The Doctor tried shushing her, looking down at her face. He tried to look at her through her eyes but she was looking around as if she was searching for something, or not sure of what she was seeing. The Doctor crouched down to where she was forced to look into his eyes, and placed his hand on her foot. "Hey." He said again only softer. Once she stopped screaming and she looked like she wasn't frightened as much the Doctor continued. "I'm the Doctor." She tilted her head at his statement and her face scrunched up.

"A Doctor, picking and probing, and hurting 'till there's no pain. He wears white but is covered in so much blood." She began to mumble now.

"Hey, hey. I'm not that kind of Doctor. Ok? Just call me Doctor." He gave a slight smile.

She looked at him still a little confused. "Doctor?" She whispered.

"Yes." He never broke eye contact. "What's your name?" He asked. He obviously knew but he wanted her to introduce herself. She took a while to respond. She looked pained to even remember it.

"River." She said.

"Huh. What a lovely name. Have a friend with that name actually. Well, not really a friend. More like a..." The Doctor trailed off seeing that River was slowly shutting her eyes. He helped her lay back down and covered her so she wasn't cold. Maybe some of the regeneration leaped over and she got an adrenaline rush. Whatever it was, she seemed normal again. Mal then came onto the Com breathing heavily.

"This is the Capetian. We're passing another ship. Looks to be reavers." The Doctor rushed out of the infirmary. "From the size probably a raiding party. Could be their headed somewhere particular, could be they already hit someone and they're full up. So everyone stay calm. We try to run they'll have to chase us. It's their way. We're holdin' course. We should be passing in a minute. So we'll see what they do." There was a small pause. "Zoe you come on up to the bridge."

"Zoe was about to head up the stairs when Simon caught her attention.

"What does he mean?" He asked looking to Zoe then to the Doctor who just arrived.

"You never heard of Reavers?" Zoe asked. Simon shook her head in disbelief.

"Old legends, camp fire stories."

"Well they're not stories." Zoe said. "They're real." Simon paused then because very serious.

"What happens if they board us?" Simon asked.

"Zoe sighed. "If they take the ship, they will rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skin to their clothes. And if we're very lucky, they'll do it in that order." Zoe then left Simon and the Doctor who exchanged looks of worry.

They both went to the infirmary trying not to wake River or Kaylee. It was best that they didn't have to worry either. Simon knelt to his sister taking her hand into his. He cared more about her then he did himself.

The Doctor stood by Kaylee giving Simon time to be with his sister. He noticed how still River was, she looked like she was in a coma. The only thing that moved were her eyes. They were erratic, as if she were seeing something past her eyelids.