Old War Horses 11

[lit_gal]

Malcolm Reynolds fought for the Browncoat rebels. They wanted their freedom. They lost. James Joseph Womak was a commander for the Alliance, determined to bring justice to the common people. His side won, but he still lost.

Old War Horses

Fandoms: Firefly x Sentinel.
Slash: Jim/Blair, Mal/Jayne
Rated ADULT
Prompt: Taming the Muse: Samuri

Continuing on with the goal of finishing my damn WIPs, I return to Jayne, who's getting a bit whumped on, and Mal, who is very confused about Jayne, and Blair, who just wants to stay with Jim, and Jim who is ready to throw himself on the bomb that is the Alliance just to keep Blair safe.  So, does anyone remember this one?

( Part one ) ( Part two ) ( Part Three )



Jim shifted, Blair’s weight hot against his back. It took him a few seconds to realize why his senses had pulled at him until he woke up. “Blair?” he asked, shaking Blair by the arm. Blair made a muffled grunt and tried to roll over, and only Jim’s quick grab kept him from ending up on the floor.

“Wha?” Blair blinked and threw his arm out, nearly hitting Jim. The bunk definitely wasn’t large enough. “What’s wrong?” he asked, much of the sleep vanishing. Jim could hear his heart start to pound faster.

“Why is Jayne sleeping in the corridor?” Jim asked.

Blair blinked. “He’s what?”

At one point, Jim might have believed Blair, but he knew that his partner could be more devious than a Browncoat spy, and Blair had been poking at Jayne just last night, so he suspected Blair had said some sort of gou shi that had made the merc choose to sleep in a hall. “What did you say to him?”

“Me?” Blair asked with exaggerated innocence that just made Jim even more sure that Blair had been up to his mother’s tricks. Jim hadn’t ever met Naomi, the companion who had chosen to leave the guild and meddle in the lives of men and women in Browncoat territory. However, from the stories Blair had told, the woman could manipulate better than Blair. So, if Jayne had slept on the floor, Jim would put money on the fact that Blair had something to do with it. Blair, though, pushed himself upright and shook his head. “Man, I didn’t say anything that would make him sleep on the floor.”

“What did you say?”

“To him? Nothing.”

“And to Mal?” Jim asked.

Blair didn’t answer, but he did get up and go for the ladder that led up out of their quarters and into the corridors of the ship. Even though Jim expected the door to be locked, Blair pushed it open easily. “Nothing that would lead to Jayne sleeping the hall,” Blair whispered in a tone of voice that implied he thought Jayne should be sleeping somewhere else. Jim closed his eyes and counted to five. Great. Blair had tried to get Jayne into Mal’s bed, with the only problem being that Mal wasn’t sly. Considering that Blair claimed his mother had been some great goddess of matchmaking, her son could get things spectacularly wrong sometimes. Cao. Jim wasn’t even sure Jayne realized he had himself a good case of lust going for Mal. He didn’t seem the most self-enlightened sort.

“Jayne?” Blair asked, and Jim got out of bed and followed his idiot partner. A thump and cry made Jim rush the ladder and practically throw himself up into the ship proper. Blair was on the ground looking dazed and Jayne sat with his back braced against the bulkhead, his head swiveling around like he couldn’t figure out what he was seeing?

“Blair?” Jim asked, ready to hit Jayne just as soon as he had some evidence that Jayne had touched his partner. Jayne must have taken offense at the tone because he frowned and pushed himself up, one hand coming to rest on his gun.

“Whoa, hey, no problem,” Blair rushed to offer, his hand held out toward them in a placating gesture, “You would think after living with Jim I’d figure out that you soldier-types don’t always wake up nice and easy.”

“I ain’t no soldier,” Jayne snapped as he rubbed his left hand over his face, his right still resting on his gun. Jim’s palms itched to get his hand on a good gun of his own. None of these folks were particularly mentally stable, and being unarmed around them was giving him a rash.

“No way, you’re more of a samurai sort than a soldier,” Blair said as he climbed back up to his feet, rubbing his arm. Jim scowled at Jayne as he moved closer to his partner.

“If’n that’s an insult, it ain’t a good one. It’s not like I even know that those hwun dan are.”

“Who? Samurai?” Blair’s face broke into a delighted grin. “They’re awesome. They were incredible fighters. Okay, they’re a little scary in the fact that they were this entire warrior class dedicated to serving their feudal lords and their feudal lords sometimes were on the unethical, homicidal side,” Blair made a face. “But the samurais themselves stand for everything scary and strong and seriously dedicated to being the best.”

Jayne grunted. Rather than let Blair keep going with his impromptu history lesson, Jim interrupted with the bit that actually did matter. “Why are you sleeping out here?” Jim asked.

The question made Jayne shift nervously, and Jim could feel his own stress rise with Jayne’s. Something had the merc off-balance, and the idea of a well-armed and nervous Jayne was enough to make any man a bit uncomfortable. “Captain said to keep an eye on you,” Jayne finally said.

Jim exchanged a confused look with Blair. It didn’t make any kind of sense for a captain to put someone on guard alone, especially when that guard was already running without sleep. Blair seemed to understand that, too, because he looked as confused as Jim.

“What exactly are you watching for?” Jim asked curiously. He’d been pretty sure that Mal had given up any hope of killing him, and the captain had been downright friendly with Blair. Then again, that was before Blair had cornered him for a conversation. Blair might be able to talk a settler out of a horse, but that didn’t mean the settler would necessarily like Blair after. Oh, by the time Blair stopped talking, the settler would insist on giving that horse away and maintain that there wasn’t any other choice-Blair could convince a man to the point that no talking could unconvinced him. However, there were plenty of men who did take a disliking to anyone so capable of making them change their minds on a regular basis.

“Ain’t exactly sure on that point,” Jayne admitted. He also looked a bit on the chagrined side, so Jim figured he wasn’t feeling proud about falling asleep on the job. As far as Jim was concerned, that was Mal’s fault for putting Jayne on guard duty in the first place.

“You see?” Blair demanded. “That is why I say you are a modern samurai. They were famous for following orders, even when they didn’t understand them. They followed their lords anywhere, even if they led through Reaver space-not that Earth-that-was had Reavers,” Blair added quickly. “History says they would even kill themselves if ordered-or if they disappointed their lord.”

“I ain’t about to go ending myself. Not for Mal, not for anyone,” Jayne growled, and from his reaction, he was downright offended at the suggestion. However Blair ignored the emotion and kept right on smiling and nodding as if Jayne were agreeing with him. Some days Jim suspected that his partner was a little touched in the head.

“I hear you. I am right there with you… totally. Only I sided against the Operative, and you sided against the Operative and the entire Reaver fleet,” Blair made this strange face like he’d just seen something so shocking he couldn’t help but look horrified at the sight. “So man, I do not think either one of us has any room to get offended if someone calls us suicidal.”

Jim’s guts tangled into one giant knot. Blair’s words were true enough, but he didn’t like hearing it put that bluntly.

“But man, I think you win on the loyalty front,” Blair said with a sort of feigned sorrow that Jim could see right through. Jayne seemed confused enough for three men, though. “I mean, Jim tells me to do something, and there’s this little part of me that can’t keep but try to figure out a better way or argue or just go behind his back and ruin his plan because I don’t like it. I’ve done that.”

Jim snorted. Blair had done that more than once. Most of the time, he did it when Jim tried diverting some government attention to himself, away from Blair. Looking over, Blair gave him a fond look before turning back to Jayne.

“But you’re loyal enough for about ten men, so you totally win the title of samurai,” Blair said. “We should get dressed.” Blair turned his back on a very shocked looking Jayne and headed for the entrance back to their small room. Blair’s shoes and shirt were still down there along with Jim’s. Jim watched as Blair headed down, waiting until Blair cleared the ladder before following. Jim wasn’t even two rungs down when Jayne spoke up.

“He ain’t exactly the brightest, is he?” Jayne asked with a disgusted tone that made it clear what he thought of Blair’s opinion.

Jim’s first reaction was to verbally strike out at the man for disrespecting Blair, but the longer he was around Jayne, the more he figured the man offended out of ignorance more than any honest malice. Jim considered his answer a mite bit more carefully. “He’s the smartest man I’ve ever met, and I’ve known some good men. Captain Taggart was a Browncoat, but he was brilliant, and Captain Banks knew more strategy than the Alliance has ever managed to write down in a book. Blair makes both of them look like unschooled half-wits.” Jim wasn’t normally that blunt, but subtly didn’t really work with Jayne. Even now, Jayne looked confused.

“But he called me loyal.”

Jim took a deep breath as he realized why Jayne was so disturbed. Blair’s worst habit was making a man reevaluate himself. It could be downright painful at times, and Jayne was suffering. However, Jim had to agree with Blair’s assessment. Jayne was loyal.

“I suppose that any man that would follow a captain through Reaver space, cover his back when the pay was bad and the danger was worse-that’s a man I’d call loyal,” Jim said. Then, before Jayne could get his mouth closed and gather the wits to say something stupid, Jim climbed down the ladder, closing the hatch to the quarters. At the bottom of the stairs, Blair looked up at him with a wide smile.

“Step one-success,” he said with a little bounce.

“One of these days, Chief, someone is going to shoot you for going meddling in their business.”

“Hey, people love me.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Jim said as he climbed the rest of the way down. Blair’s smile got wider.

“They adore me.”

“Uh-huh.”

“They worship at my feet.”

Jim gave Blair a look, and Blair’s smile got wide enough to stretch from cheek to cheek. “This could backfire spectacularly,” Jim warned.

“Totally,” Blair agreed, “but if it goes well, man, that will be two heads removed from two asses. Sometimes you have to give the universe a little help, you know?”

Jim sighed. He’d disagree, but the fact was that Blair’s meddling had gotten Jim out of the Alliance labs. Given that history, maybe meddling wasn’t all bad. Jim glanced up at the top of the ladder as he pulled on his shoes. He just couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Mal and Jayne because having Blair decide that your life needed up-ending… it wasn’t easy. When Blair took a step toward him, Jim reached out and caught his partner’s arm and pulled him close enough to wrap him in a tight hug. “I hope it does work out, and if it doesn’t and they decide to throw you out an airlock, I’ll be right there with you, partner,” Jim promised. His love and his own loyalty were all Jim had to offer anymore. Blair turned and wrapped his own arms around Jim’s waist, and for a time, they stood there, leaning against each other as they stole a few minutes to find strength in each other’s love.

“Okay, enough of the mush. We have River’s big mystery to figure out and the Operative to stop and all this gou shi with Blue Sun. Man, we have work to do.” Blair pushed away, and Jim let him.

“Mush?” Jim asked in his best offended tone. Blair gave him a quick grin, so he hadn’t been fooled. “I think Jayne is rubbing off on you. One comment about my womanly ways, and you will pay,” Jim warned. “I will show you womanly and mushy.”

“Is that a promise?” Blair asked with a quick hip wiggle to make it clear that he wouldn’t mind that lesson at all.

“Just get moving, fengzi.”

“Fengzi? Me? We’re on this ship, and you’re calling me crazy?” Blair demanded.

“I think you fit in with all the other fengzi around here,” Jim said. It was true, and it hurt his heart to even think it, but Blair did fit here. He was with people he understood, who had been on the same side in the war, who he enjoyed manipulating. He had the same bed every night, and they’d gone two days without having to run from the Alliance. Jim’s gut told him that Blair belonged here, and if his heart was breaking… well, Jim was soldier enough to know that sometimes war required sacrifice.

Jim finished putting on his shirt and headed for the ladder again. “Coming?” he asked. He looked over, and all the joy had drained out of Blair. Blair stood looking at him with wide, tragic eyes that made the guilt claw at Jim’s soul. Blair quickly lowered his gaze as he nodded.

Jim wanted to say something comforting; he wanted to lie and say they’d be together forever. Instead he headed up the ladder so they could try and figure out the problems they had some chance of solving.