Life on Mars/Firefly fic-"Hotel California"

[walkwithheroes]

Title: Hotel California
Author: walkwithheroes
Rating: G 
Fandom(s): Life on Mars and Firefly
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 1230
Disclaimer:  Sam, Annie, Chris, Gene, River, Mal, and Simon do not belong to me. They belong to a lot of rich people who aren't me.
Pairings: None. Maybe really light hints of Sam/Annie. And I mean light hints.
A/N: So, at one in the morning, I got this thought into my head: 'What would Sam Tyler and River Tam talk about?" Having not written River in ages and having never written Sam, I found myself at a cross roads. To write or not to write? Finally, the idea was too good to pass up, so I wrote a little something. It's short, only has a small plot, isn't beta'ed or britpicked, and is most likely average at best. Still, it was interesting to write and I do hope someone enjoys it.
Summary: Sam Tyler wakes up to find a girl in his room. River Tam's dreaming again.

His eyes open to find the figure of a girl standing just to the right of his bed. She should be familiar, but she isn’t. The girl’s a teenager, all dark hair and big eyes. She’s dressed in a light pink dress, which seems soft. Looking at her, he thinks he’d like to touch her hair.

"No touching." The girl whispers. Her big eyes bore into him. "Simon says no touching boys." She pauses. "Or knives. Or guns."

He arches an eyebrow then blinks. "What?"

The girl cocks her head to one side and smiles; for a moment she looks a little like Annie. "Am I dreaming?" He asks, not sure if he wants an answer.

The girl looks sad for a moment. "We all are."

He wants to bang on his head, tell himself to wake up. But, he doesn’t. Instead, he tells her: "I’m Sam."

She smiles again. "River. Rivers flow like time. I flow, move, dance." She gets a far off look in her big brown eyes. "I should have been a dancer."

Sam laughs, almost bitterly. "I should be in 2006."

"Ancient history. Earth-That-Was." River shakes her head. "2006, not a good year." There’s a pause. Then, she smiles brightly. "2010 was better."

He’s supposed to be afraid, supposed to be begging to wake up. But, he’s not afraid and he really doesn’t mind this. It’s an odd sort of dream, and Sam’s fairly sure the girl-River-is just a product of all the pretty girls he used to know, all the odd late night shows he used to watch.

River gives him a look. "Not in your head. You’re in my head. Everyone’s in my head. All the secrets and the lies." She looks around for a moment. "They’re coming."

"Who?" Sam can’t help but look around the flat. He gets out of his bed, and makes his way to the window.

"No!" Sam turns to find River suddenly beside him. Sam jumps. River gingerly places a hand on his arm. "No, don’t want to burn. It’s too bright."

"It’s night." At least, Sam thinks it is.

River turns away from him. "Still too bright. Always too bright, Sam."

Sam’s eyes narrow on the back of River’s head. "What’s going on?"

She turns and smiles like Annie again. The smile makes Sam feel at ease. "Waiting. Someone will come to take me home. Simon’ll come." She smiles softly. "Simon always comes."

Sam doesn’t quite know what to say, so he says nothing. He just stares at her and wonders if he’s dreaming her or if she’s been dreaming him all along.

"Simon’s my brother. He’s a doctor. He takes care of me." River’s speaking causally, trying to bond with Sam while she waits, and they both know it really is a worthless thing to try and do..

"I haven’t got a brother." Sam feels silly just saying that. "I’ve got...I take care of myself." He flops down into his chair, strangely feeling at ease with River. "So, where’d you say you’re from then?"

A look passes over her face, its sad, bitter, happy, and angry, all at once. Sam can’t quite make anything of this girl. "Serenity. Serenity, once you’re there, you can never leave."

Sam laughs in spite of himself. "So, not unlike Hotel California?" He shakes his head, wondering a million different things. River just stares at him, like he’s crazy. Than again, maybe he is. After all, he’s talking to some strange girl in the middle of his flat.

"More like here." River moves closer to him. "Unless someone saves us."

"Mum, the doctors, me..." Sam sighs heavily. "we’re working on it."

He watches River as she moves to him. Sam watches her hand move to his cheek. "Once I..." she trails off, shakes her head. "You might need help. Not a weakness, just a fact."

"I, what?" Sam’s brow knits itself in confusion. "This is by far the freakish dream yet."

River removes her hand form Sam’s cheek, and gives him a hard look. "No, it’s not. There aren’t any Reavers."

Sam wants to ask her what the hell she’s talking about. He wants to wake up. He wants the Guv or Annie or Chris to knock on his door and tell him to get up. He wants to close then open his eyes and find his Mum and Maya sitting by his bed in 2006, even if it isn’t as good a year as 2010.

"Sam?" He glances to River, whose now sitting on his bed. "Simon’s come to take me home." She says it as if she’s telling him that she’s got to go. As if she’s apologizing to him for leaving.

Sam swallows. "Where is your brother?"

River shrugs. "Where I am. We’ll all together."

He smiles in spite of himself. "Dreamin’?"

River laughs, shakes her head. "No, floating." And she smiles again, just like Annie.

 

Sam awakes with a jerk, to the sound of knocking on his flat’s door. A soft, voice calls out: "Sam?It’s Annie, the Guv’s sent me to get you. You’re late, again."

Sam gets out of his chair. "Right." He pads to the door. The first thing he notices when he opens it is Annie's smile. As he reaches for his jacket, he asks: "Annie, you got any Rivers in the family?" Annie gives him a confused look. Sam sighs to himself, shakes his head. "Never mind."

 

"Sam. DCI, DI, Sam. He’s all alone and there’s no one to take him home." River's all curled up in a corner of her room, and she's playing with her hands. Her voice is all nervous and Simon's worried again.

Simon thinks that he shouldn't have put her to sleep for so long. Mal tells him that he had to, that River would have been hurt if they hadn’t put her to sleep. Simon gets little comfort from that. He kneels in front of his little sister and gently brushes some hair out of her face. "River..." he speaks softly, not wanting to scare her. "I'm sorry I had to make you sleep. I won't do it again."

"No." She looks at him urgently. "Can't leave him alone, have to save him from the monsters."

"Who?"

"Sam. He's all alone. All alone, lost, and all he wants is to go home."

Simon smiles sadly. It's another secret, another lie, another delusion that River's made up to keep her crazed mind company. "Where's your friend from?"

River giggles a crazed little giggle that makes Simon move slightly back. "Hotel California."

Simon offers her a sad little smile. "Oh, River." He kisses her forehead, as he pulls her to him in a hug. "There's no such place."

River lets Simon hold her, comfort her. He's wrong, of course. There is such a place. It's inside her head-inside Sam's head-and neither of them will ever be free to leave it.


-The End-

Comments

[neuralclone.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! Two of my favourite fandoms combined. And Sam and River - two such deliciously screwed up people.

I'm glad you gave in and wrote it!

[coaldustcanary.livejournal.com]

That is incredibly odd and more than a little random, but somehow the parallels work for me.

Also, you know, favorite fandoms colliding is always sweet. :)

[hammerxsword.livejournal.com]

Unusual crossover, and yet it works rather well. Poor Sam, trying to stay sane while River has long past remembering what sane was. They do get along well, in a strange fashion.

[kerus.livejournal.com]

Aw - nice...sweet but not overboard. Both of them lost yet being able to draw some comfort from those around them.

(grins) River could become the new test card girl! I'm sure Sam would much prefer her to the old creepy one.

[majrgenrl8.livejournal.com]

That was brilliant.

I've just gotten into Life on Mars (they've been playing it on BBc America) and it's good to see fic out there. It really works well with crossovers, doesn't it?

[culf.livejournal.com]

Very nice! I've been thinking of writing LoM/FF for a little while now, as everything in the world should be crossed over with Firefly. not that I've ever written Top Gear/Firefly. Seems you beat me to the punch. All I managed to do before I read this was a LoM fic that included lots of Firefly quotes.
I really like Sam and River's conversation here, and hope they meet again. Keep crossing Firefly over with random fandoms!