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Sep 07, 2006 07:48

Title: Chapter 8
Series: Lost
Author: Sevangel
Disclaimer: Not mine
Rating: PG-13

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Previous Chapters



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River's giggles fill the mess and bled out into the hallway, warning the approaching crew of her presence.

"Hold still, shui nu shen." Jayne's chuckles join River's giggles. "You're bout the most ticklish thing in the verse and I ain't even tryin' to tickle ya."

"Mmm." River hums, her hands cupping Jayne's face. "Love my Jayne."

The stern look that was on Jayne's face melts and is replaced with a look never before seen by the watching crew.

"Love you too, shui nu shen." Jayne turns his head and kisses River's palm. "Now, I do believe you got a haircut to be givin'."

River kisses Jayne's forehead and then jumps off his lap. She can feel the crew watching them from the doorway but ignores them as she runs her fingers through Jayne's ragged locks. "So long, erstwhile locks, until we met again."

"You're crazy, ya know that?" Jayne closes his eyes and leans back so that she has better access.

"That is the popular theory." River's hands pause. "Still love me though?"

"Yep." Jayne grunts. "C'mon, shui nu shen, still gotta shave, all this hair is drivin' me nuts."

"Then we'll fit." River mutters.

"Hey." Jayne opens his eyes and pulls River's face down to his. "Don't. Understand?"

River nods.

Jayne nips her bottom lip. "Now, get to cuttin'."

River sprays Jayne's hair down with a water bottle she found in the bathroom until his locks are wet. Then she picks up the scissors Jayne found and slowly starts snipping away the overgrown bits, muttering and counting as the hair falls.

Jayne closes his eyes, completely relaxed as his girl cuts his hair. "Ya'll comin' in or ya just gonna stand there watchin'?"

"Just wonderin' if we walked into some other dimension." Mal mutters. "You do realize she's got a sharp object, don't ya?"

"I ruttin' gave it to her so yes, I realize." Jayne replies tensely. "Ain't like she's gonna gut me with 'em or somethin'."

"I seem to recall her slashin' you once and you throwin' a fit over it for months." Mal says.

River's hands pause and Jayne can feel her shakin' from where she's leanin' against him.

"Fuck Mal, you gotta bring that up." Jayne takes the scissors out of River's lax hand and pulls her onto his lap. "Shui nu shen, just ignore the captain, he's bein' a gorram prick."

River rubs her face into Jayne's neck. "Bad words."

Jayne rubs her back. "Yeah, you know me."

"Mei-mei, do you need…"

"She don't need drugs." Jayne interrupts angrily. "She went six ruttin' weeks without them and is fine."

"I'm her doctor." Simon argues. "I believe it is up to me to pronounce her 'fine' and I don't believe she is."

"You just want her to be sick so you can 'fix' her." Jayne growls back. "So I don't give a good gorram what you think."

"She's also my sister." Simon sneers, his arms crossed angrily over his chest. "My underage sister and if I believe she's not 'fine' that it is my…."

"Shui nu shen, you want them drugs of your brother's?" Jayne tilts her head back and rubs his thumbs on her cheekbones.

"NO!" River screeches. "No needles."

"There ya go, doc." Jayne says.

"She's in no position to judge her own mental state." Simon says. "As her doctor, that would be my job."

"Tell ya what, doc." Jayne growls menacingly. "You come near her with a needle or a bottle of pills, and I'll break the hand they're in and the arm for good measure, dong ma?"

"Are you threatening me?" Simon asks in disbelief.

"I don't make threats." Jayne replies. "And b'fore you think bout it, Mal, I am armed."

"Now you're threatenin' me?" Mal bellows.

Jayne stands up and blocks River with his body. "No, I'm just makin' sure my intentions are known."

"Which are?" Mal asks through clenched teeth.

"Keepin' anyone that means her harm from gettin' near her." Jayne replies evenly. "And if that means I gotta kill every ruttin' person in this gorram room to ensure that, then I will. And we both know that ain't a threat."

Mal pushes Kaylee and Inara to the side, seein' the promise in Jayne's eyes.

"Stop it." River whimpers, pushing around Jayne to stand in front of the merc's body.

"Shui nu shen, you get back behind me where it's safe." Jayne orders.

"No fighting." River pleads. "Inara."

"I'm right here, River." Inara steps into the genius's line of sight.

"Nara." Mal warns.

Inara ignores him.

"We will go with you." River says.

"No, mei-mei." Simon protests.

"I can't be her, Simon." River whispers, tears running down her face. "I can't be that girl anymore but you can't accept that. I can only be the girl I really am, the girl only Jayne sees. And if I have to choose, I'm choosing me not the girl that was; the girl that will never be again." She looks at her brother, pleading for him to understand, but he doesn't. She knows he doesn't. She feels her face break and she turns to bury the broken pieces in Jayne's chest. "Take me out of here, please, Jayne, take me away."

"I got ya, shui nu shen." Jayne lifts her up, his left arm bracing under her ass while his right hand reaches out to grab the stuff they left sittin' on the table. "I'll come back to clean up…."

"I got it Jayne." Zoe says. "Just get her out of here."

Jayne nods his appreciation and carries River's sobbing body out of the mess.

"You two are unbelievable." Inara seethes. "Hasn't she been through enough? Do you have to constantly torture her? For Budda's sake, she's your sister Simon and you're looking at her like she's nothing more than an insane whore."

"I am not." Simon protests.

"They could have died, Simon." Zoe says. "In fact, if it would have been someone else with her, she would have died. Jayne kept your sister safe and will continue to protect her in a way you would never be able to but you won't see that."

"Does your father love your mother?" Inara questions.

"What?" Simon sits down, confused by Inara's change in subject.

"Was your father in love with your mother when they were married?" Inara asks slowly.

"Their marriage was arranged." Simon replies. "Why?"

"So your father isn't in love with your mother." Inara states. "Would he kill for her? Die for her?"

"No." Simon replies honestly. "My father isn't that type of man."

"Jayne would." Zoe says. "He just plainly stated he would kill every one of us to keep her safe and I know he wasn't lying. Could you? Could you kill me? Kill Inara? Kill Kaylee?"

Simon shakes his head, looking down at his hands guiltily. "I'm not a killer."

"Jayne is." Inara says. "And, even if you refuse to believe it, so is your sister. She is not the innocent fourteen year old you sent to the academy and no matter how hard you try, she is never going to be again. Her only chance for a normal life, to be a normal girl, is with Jayne. And if you keep trying to pull them apart, you're going to lose her forever."

"Baobei, I've tried bein' on your side but I can't anymore." Kaylee says quietly, drawling all eyes to herself. "She's happy, they both are. And he loves her, didn't ya see the way he was lookin' at her? The way she was lookin' at him? They're in love and it would be hypocritical of me to say they shouldn't be together."

"Kaylee, there's a big difference between what we have and what they have." Simon protests.

"How do you know what they have?" Inara asks. "You refuse to see your sister as the person she is so it is impossible for you to know what kind of relationship she has with Jayne."

"That's not…"

"Watch them together, Simon." Inara says. "Forget for a moment that you're her brother and just watch them."

"I ain't her brother and still…."

"You're just being a liou mahng." Inara interrupts.

Mal's eyes bug out and his mouth opens to yell at Inara when she once again cuts him off.

"You make all these big speeches about how this crew is supposed to be one big family." Inara's hands fist on her hips as she berates Mal. "But instead of even giving Jayne a chance to explain, you start treating him like a common cri….like an Alliance official. You expect his complete trust and loyalty but give neither in return."

Then she turns to look at Book, causing the Shepard to step back from the disappointment shown in her eyes. "Out of everyone here, your disapproval surprised me the most." Her tone softens, just a bit. "Jayne looks up to you and I've seen him more than once go to you for help or guidance. You didn't even give him a chance, you just automatically condemned him. I expected you to at least give him a chance before you passed judgment but maybe I gave you too much credit."

She casts one last look at the crew and then stomps out of the mess.

Zoe leans against the wall, a small smirk covering her lips. "You all sure pissed her off."

-

"Mmm." Jayne murmurs, rubbing his cleanly shaven cheek against River's belly. "Better'n I thought."

River sighs and runs her hands through Jayne's freshly chopped locks. Her fingers slide down his face and trace of his perfectly shaped goatee.

"Miss the beard, shui nu shen?" Jayne asks against her fingers.

"No." River traces his lips and giggles when he playfully nips her fingers. "Like my Jayne gruffy not beardy."

Jayne gives River's belly one last kiss and then lifts her off the counter in the public bathroom. "Thanks for the shave, shui nu shen."

River smiles up at him. "I enjoyed it."

"Glad ya did." Jayne grins back. "I wanna lift a little, see how outa shape I am."

River rolls her eyes. "You're being silly; your muscle mass has not changed."

Jayne hefts River up onto his hip and nips her nose. "Don't you be callin' me silly."

"Silly." River singsongs. "Silly Jayne."

Jayne sets River on her feet with a playful growl. "Ya best be runnin', shui nu shen."

River giggles and opens the bathroom door. She grins over her shoulder at him and then takes off, her bare feet moving quickly over the steel floor.

Jayne jogs after River, a small grin on his face as her giggles flow back to him. "Be careful."

River rolls her eyes and lifts up the bottom portion of her dress as she runs down the stairs.

Jayne runs down the steps four at a time and grabs River's arm before she can make it to the other stairwell. "Told ya to run."

River wraps her arms around Jayne's neck and plasters her body against his. She rubs her belly against him, smiling when he groans. Her mouth traces up his chest as she leans up to whisper in his ear. "Time to improve your muscle mass."

"Hell yeah." Jayne leers and then frowns when she backs away. "You mean liftin' weights, don't ya?"

"Yes." River smiles. "I will help."

Jayne lets River led him across the room, an eyebrow raised at her offer to help. He sits down at her urging and then lays down when she pushes on his chest. He watches her flit around the bench, removing and adding weights, leaving half what he would normally lift. Then to his disbelief and arousal, she lays down on top of him, resting her crossed arm on his chest. "I'm supposed to lift like this?"

"Yes." River chirps, laying her head on her arms to watch him. "I will count."

Jayne shakes his head and grips the bar, tryin' to ignore his arousal as he pumps the weight, River's soothing voice counting each one out loud.

Simon watches from above, his hands gripping the railing tightly. The brother part of him looks away while the rest of him watches in rapt fascination. He doesn't miss the complete bliss on River's face nor the almost adoration that covers Jayne's as the stand closer than he's ever seen River stand with another person. He doesn't miss the way Jayne lets her move him across the room nor the way he lets her push him down. Nor the way he doesn't push her away, instead lets her lie on top of him while he attempts to lift weights.

"Remember once when I had to interrupt one of Jayne's workouts." Mal comments. "He bitched bout it for weeks."

"He growled at me once when I tried to cut in." Wash says. "Growled."

"He would allow me to workout with him as long as I didn't attempt to limit his workout time." Book adds quietly.

Jayne sets the bar back on it's holder and sits up, bringing River with him. "They botherin' you, shui nu shen?" He asks at the pain-filled look on her face.

"No." River grimaces. "My head hurts."

"C'mere." Jayne tugs her closer until she's sittin' across his legs. He combs his fingers through her hair, moving it out of her face, and then gently massages her temples.

River eyes drift close, a small contented sigh leaving her mouth.

Jayne works his way down her face to her shoulders and gently kneads the tense muscles there. "You want a massage, shui nu shen?"

"Yes please." River purrs, her head dropping forward on a moan.

Jayne stands up and then swings River up into his arms. He doesn't acknowledge the crew above them as he carries her out of the bay.

"Yes." Inara comments from the side, causing the men standing on the walks to look her way. "He sure is taking advantage of her. Someone better stop him before he completely corrupts her."

-

Liou mahng: Bastard

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