Disclaimer: Firefly is owned by Joss and Mutant Enemy. Just playing with the characters while waiting for the BDM.

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River awoke to the sound of screaming. Only after hearing her own panting breath did she realize that the screams were only in her head. Whimpering, she backed up on her bed until she was scrunched up in the corner of the room.

At first, she never heard the screams of the others. Her pain and disbelief at what was happening had been too raw and new. Later, she could feel what was to come from the older "academy students" and the fear from the "freshmen" who slowly realized the brochure had been a lie. She envied the classmates that were able to give in to the despair – the men in the blue gloves were always upset to learn that another subject had escaped from their own head. Her hope that Simon would come for her kept her attached to her own body and pain. Whenever she tried to release that hope, her memories of her childhood and his smile would prevent her from taking the last step into the black nothingness that beckoned with its empty promises of no more pain.

The Hands of Blue had once attempted to let the subjects socialize to determine if interaction would help the mental state of their students. It was a mistake that they never repeated. A boy who might have been older than River had been the first one to react. The guards had been assured that all the children were too drugged to offer resistance and had been surprised by the child's desperate strength. He had quickly gained a gun from one of the guards, but even then River had felt no worry from the observing Hands of Blue. After all, the guards only possessed sonic weapons which would not cause any lasting damage. The boy had taught them something new that day: a sonic blast to the temple caused much more damage than their needles could ever hope to replicate. Many of the other children had tried to ge