The Echoes That Surround You, Part 3
Title The Echoes that Surround You, Part 3
Right the tall tale of another fic- I will not bore you with the details, except to say, both parts are able to stand alone, mostly, and somehow, amazingly, my vision and hfleming8(Hez)'s ability to join me in that vision have converged...sooo, here goes the start of a new arc in SushiFic! Hopefully with She of the Fishies blessing...More tales to follow, and someday, we, Hez and I may even tell you all how it began! ;)
Oh yeah, and deadpoetwoffie I got your prompt words into part two...just not fluffy like you may have thought of them.
Disclaimer: Firefly owns me, I own words
Alley is five, then 13, so it spans some time...sorry terimaru pain for you in chronology I know- it was Hez's idea! Really!
Prologue
Zoë and Jayne never really spoke with one another when they worked and worked out side by side. But they rarely exchanged words, so when Jayne cleared his throat and started to talk, Zoë paused in mid set, surprise barely visible under her usual stoic expression.
“I, uh, got a letter from my ma few days back, last time we got mail…and, well…” Jayne mumbled and ummed his way through. “She, aah, well, there is this thing ya see…Ah gorramit…’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter that was dog-eared despite only being two days old.
Dear Son,
I am writing you hoping that you get this letter real soon. Mattie is doing fine with the damp lung- the money you sent has kept him in medicine. But that is not why I am writing you. You need to come and pick up Talia’s boy. We can’t keep him no longer, even with the money you send.
Hope you are staying warm and safe.
Your Mother.
Zoë cocked an elegant eyebrow as she looked up at Jayne after reading the letter.
Jayne was sort of shifting from one foot to the other, wringing a towel between his hands. He didn’t look up from the floor until Zoë started to talk.
“What’s this about Jayne?" Her voice was low, not quite dangerous, but near enough.
“I, well, you remember when I made that rocker for Inara?” Jayne stopped fidgeting and looked Zoë straight in the eye. “I near enough raised my baby sister…she, well, she had a boy about when Inara had Alley…And, I, well, I been sending money home help with payin fer ‘im. But, Ma is getting on in years ya know…and, well…
Jayne stuttered to a stop. He had no way to tell Zoë all the years of hiding he’d been doing. His home had always been something he didn’t speak much about. To many skeletons in that closet.
Zoë stood up from the bench. “Well, you better be asking the Captain.”
They stood nearly eye- to- eye, Jayne backing down first most times, this time he held.
“I won’t be doing that Zoë,” Jayne was rarely definitive in his refusals like that. There was generally a spoilt air to those statements. This time he used none of the petulance Zoë was so used to hearing. She sized that up against her image of Jayne as a man and was surprised. Jayne didn’t often surprise her, and she knew to pay attention when he did.
“I need to be going and get the boy like my Ma asked.” Jayne stated bluntly. “Not gonna be asking permission fer that.”
Zoë and Jayne stood silently, looking at each other, Zoë deciding what to say to this man who was not the Jayne she was accustomed to. Jayne knew he may have crossed that invisible line between Zoë and Mal, but he didn’t care at that moment. He didn’t rightly know what made him say he was just going.
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Zoë flew while Jayne fretted. The shuttle didn’t usually feel small to him, but this time he felt like the walls were brushing against him all around. He couldn’t stand up straight, stretch his legs, the emptiness of the black threatened to come through the thin walls of the little craft.
H e was nervous. He hadn’t ever talked about his sister except that one time he mentioned her at Inara’s baby shower. There was never a time where it seemed right to tell anyone his sister was all gone in the head, might be why he was so uncomfortable around River, she knew about Talia, and knew what had happened. Talia had run away so young, innocent and joyous, come back to them gone, her mind closed, maybe vanished. No one was ever able to reopen that door.
Some years back, a night guard at the home she was staying in, the home Jayne paid for, had done something to her, made her broken even worse. The boy was the surprise at the end of seven and a half months. No one even knew she was pregnant until her body went into labor.
He was born in a home for people who couldn’t do for themselves and was placed immediately into the arms of his grandmother, who would try to do for both of them. Now she couldn’t do for him no more. The little baby boy was growing into a wild child like her Jayne had been. Only back then she had Mattie to help keep crazy Jayne reined in. Now it was Jayne’s turn.
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The shuttle broke atom above the docks on Harvest. Jayne looked out the window at the grim moon he had grown up on. It was a pure mining colony, nothing but dirt and ore, and grime in all directions. He wasn’t even sure you could eat what was grown on this rock and not be sick. Probably explained a lot about the general illnesses that dogged the population.
There was no one to meet them when they landed, just a bored customs official at the lading hall. Nothing but food and medicine ever came here, and the only thing leaving was ore and people. There was no reason to get interested in two folk just dropping in with a shuttle. Jayne and Zoë just walked right on by.
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“No, you’re not taking a shuttle and that’s final,” Mal was angry that Jayne just announced he was going to Harvest and taking a shuttle to do it. There was a certain loss of control happening in other areas of his life, and Mal did not want to be having anyone else tell him what was what. Alley was five and the star of Mal’s eye and his biggest headache, and little Matthew was just beginning to get his legs under him, which meant days spent running herd on two little ones. Last thing Mal wanted to deal with was Jayne getting demanding.
“Sir, I’ll be going with him.” Zoë announced in her usual calm tones.
Jayne and Mal both swung around towards her.
“What…Zoë…you aren’t serious?” Mal asked with that half-snort he used when he was dismissing something out of hand. Jayne just stared, jaw working, but no sound coming.
“I am Sir, and you will be doing a right thing by not arguing it neither.” Zoë just continued without reacting to Mal’s noticeable agitation. “I already prepped the shuttle Sir, got the entry codes programmed. We won’t be gone but a few days.” She looked Mal straight in the eye at that. The look lasted until Mal broke it, he knew there was something more going on here and he didn’t like it. Right then Alley came running by screaming with laughter, River in hot pursuit…
“Gorramit you two! What did I say about not running on the boat! You will trip and fall down and then your mother will kill me!’ He yelled as he turned to follow the two girls.
“You bring my shuttle back in one piece, hear?” he said over his shoulder to Zoë as he went to catch his miscreants.
“Zoë, I ain’t…” Jayne began to sputter.
“Not discussing this with you Jayne. We leave in ten minutes.” Zoë turned on her heel to go to her bunk and get her bag for the trip. She didn’t want Jayne to see the uncertainty in her eyes. What was she thinking going with the big merc to pick up a boy anyways? She shook her head as she walked through Serenity. She heard the laughter of the girls echoing off the walls. That was why she was going. The sound of love was wrapped up in this boat and she couldn’t deny it no matter how much it hurt to not be sharing it with her Wash.
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They came to Ma Cobb’s house after a short transport ride from the docks. It was small and grimy like all its neighbors. There was a time when it might have been a decent area, but time had not treated this part of town well. Jayne stopped and just looked up at the dirty windows, the peeling paint and the broken trim. He didn’t look like the big man he was. He just looked small and defeated. Zoë stood quietly a step back from him, giving him the room he needed to make those last steps home.
“I ain’t been back since I left ya know,” Jayne said gruffly. “I send money, a letter when I can…but I ain’t been home since…’ He turned to look at Zoë with unquiet eyes “I can’t go in there Zoë, I can’t.” His voice was softly pleading with Zoë, he didn’t know what he would say to his Ma, or do when he met the boy. A boy he only barely knew about.
His mother had glossed over the details as much as possible. Jayne knew there was more to it than she ever said, but no one wanted him to come home and start killing people for what happened to Talia. Sides which, she passed in the birth, and so it was a mite late to be exacting revenge for her.
The door to the porch opened as Jayne was facing Zoë, so Zoë was the first to see the little boy. Her heart caught in her throat when she saw him, small, blond hair, blue eyes and a mischievous expression on his face. Her eyes merely opened a little wider, nothing else gave away her inner turmoil. This boy could have been Wash that age was all she could think.
Jayne heard the door squeak and turned towards it. He and the boy looked at each other for a few moments before the boy turned and fled back into the house hollering. ‘Gran Ma, there’s a fella here with a woman!” His voice was high and hoarse, like he had been yelling a lot recently.
Jayne mounted the stairs slowly, Zoë waited on the sidewalk below. An old woman came to the door, eyes heavily lidded, gray hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. Her clothes were old but clean, well repaired. Zoë could see from where she stood that Ma Cobb who took care in what she did. Could also see the woman was not about to let Jayne into the house.
“Ya came then,” was all she said.
“Yes M’am,” Jayne answered softly. He could barely look her in the eye he was being so small.
“You’ll be taking him then, He is just getting his things.’
“Yes M’am.” Jayne still hadn’t looked up.
Ma Cobb turned and yelled into the darkness of the house, “You hurry up hear? Yer Uncle don’t have all day to be waitin on ya.”
She turned back to face Jayne, arms folded across chest, body not softening one bit. She barely looked down at Zoë except to take note that she was there. Zoë hadn’t felt so insignificant since she was in the prisoner of war camp after the end of the War. She wondered what had happened to Ma Cobb to make her so hard to her son. Jayne didn’t look up, didn’t move at all while they waited for the boy.
What felt like hours passed before the child reappeared in the door, dragging a duffle as big as he was behind him.
“Well then, be going now. You listen to yer Uncle then.” Ma Cobb gave the boy a quick peck on the cheek and then turned and went back into the house. The door closed behind him, no further goodbye was going to be coming.
The three of them stood and looked at each other. Zoë was aware of holding her breath, not wanting to be the first to speak but when Jayne said nothing and the boy looked at her, eyes dry, but a look on his face that would melt concrete she decided she had better start talking.
“Hi there, I’m Zoë”. She smiled as she introduced herself.
“Angus Cobb, Gus usually” He answered in a very mature sounding voice. “ You my Uncle's wife?” asked innocently.
Jayne guffawed at that “Hell no! We just fly together is all.” Jayne was grinning from ear to ear at the idea of someone mistaking them as husband and wife. That was enough to take his mind off of his mother’s lack of warmth for the moment.
Zoë was speechless for a moment. Then she grinned broadly as well, “Gus, we are going to be very good friends, mark my words.” Gus smiled as well at that. At about five years old, his world was going to be turned upside down and he would be needing a friend. Zoë could already feel her heart going out to him. She could only imagine what he was thinking and how Ma Cobb had raised him so far. Serenity was going to be a big change. She knew getting him accepted by Mal was the biggest hurdle they faced.
Zoë stopped in her thinking right there. They? When had she become part of this problem? When she had told Mal she was going with Jayne, that’s when. She said a quick prayer in her mind: Husband who watches over me; hope you think I am doing the right thing.
“Come on then, we should be heading home now,” Zoë took Gus’ hand and gestured with her eyes for Jayne to take the bag.
The three walked back to the docks, Gus between them holding one hand in each of theirs. Jayne looked over Gus’ head at Zoë. His face was unreadable for once. He knew that his Ma had reason to be the way she was, but Zoë didn’t bat an eyelash in response. She just picked up whatever pieces that were still there and carried on. He figured that must have been how she got through the War. This was the first time he had seen it in relation to his own troubles though and it unsettled him and calmed him at the same time.
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The shuttle was still warm from their arrival when they fired up to leave again. Gus sat staring out the windows, eager to see space. He had never flown in anything, so this would be his maiden voyage.
“Get down from there boy,” Jayne growled at him when he climbed on the console. He just lifted Gus down and set him on the floor. “There, ya can look out the windows from there.” Gus rolled his eyes at Jayne and then plastered his face against the glass as Zoë flew the shuttle. His eyes grew wide at the sight of Harvest spread out below them the ground receding swiftly.
“Ya gonna see the sunset like you’ve never seen it before.” Zoë quietly said as the shuttle cleared the horizon and the sky lit up with pinks and oranges. Gus’ nearly squeaked in surprise. He had no idea the sky could turn so many colors of the rainbow all at once.
Few hours later Gus was sprawled out on the bunk and Zoë had engaged autopilot. Her and Jayne were sitting having a bite to eat.
“Any plans?” She asked between mouthfuls.
“No, just had to get him like my Ma said. Figured I would sort it out then.’ Jayne answered as he chewed.
“You know the Captain will be wonderin how you plan on doing this.”
“Yeah, I did,” Jayne looked at his boots intently, thinking no doubt Zoë decided. She looked at the little boy on the bed, arms flung above his head, hair mussed. She caught her breath, he reminded her so much of Wash. They had talked about having a baby, even had started trying when Miranda happened. She stopped herself from going back… This little blond boy was here now, and he needed their help to become a man.
Zoë looked at Jayne, contemplating her next comment. It was a tricky situation no doubt, but the merc was in no position to raise a boy all by himself and she was not interested in changing her relationship with Jayne. They worked together, nothing more, nothing less. This would be an arrangement for the boy, not for anything between them. She needed to think on that for a spell before saying anything to anyone.
It was going to be a long flight home for them… to Serenity.
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Continuity
They were engaged in a serious evening of finger-painting, as only children can be. There were signs to be made for the following day’s celebrations. Names and pictures were painted in intertangled loops. Golden fish swam across fields of green with the letters of the celebrants names twining around them.
Birthdays were celebrated with vigor and joy on the Rim, especially when it involved children. Children were a joyous gift in a world fraught with danger and loss. And tomorrow two such joys were having their party.
Alley and Gus were turning 13, still young enough to look forward to a party and feasting and old enough to recognize the good fortune they were receiving. On Avery children were not rare, but everyone knew how easily they could be snatched away either by disease or injury. The residents had benefited immeasurably from the crew of Serenity, particularly the doctor, making Paraiso their home base. And the crew was thankful to have a place in the World to take their ease when not in the Black.
Children from all around Paraiso had come for the night-before party. The big hall near Abel’s store was noisy and crowded with folk enjoying pre-party food and socializing. Jayne was studiously avoiding the latest batch of apple moonshine as he was watching Gus and Alley. Mal didn’t know many of the people expected to attend the pre-party and wanted to be sure the kids were watched over, so Jayne had volunteered to stay behind and make sure everything ran smooth. Serenity was due to return from a last minute run off world later that night -there was no way Mal was missing his little girl’s birthday party especially since Inara was still across the planet with Matthew in a shuttle seeing to a problem with a school she was starting there. Her return was expected the following morning, before the festivities began.
It was nearly midnight and most of the folk had headed off to bed when Jayne heard the scream. He shot to his feet from the bench he had been reclining on, not-quite dozing. His ears were tuned to Alley’s voice from years of listening to her play and holler. This was no playful yelling. He was running in the direction of the sound the moment he heard her scream again. People still in the hall were shoved out of the way without ceremony.
His legs carried him outside faster than he had ever run. He felt his heart in his throat as blood pounded in his ears. Rounding the corner of the building he saw Gus being held by two men, one with his hand clamped over the struggling boy’s mouth. Alley was standing her ground, years of hand to hand combat training with Jayne paying off, her night gown torn from struggling with her attackers. There were three men surrounding her, with a fourth spinning a knife lazily in circles.
With a roar, Jayne was on the men, tackling the fourth and one of the men holding Alley in a bull dozing push. One of the others rolled away from Alley, pulling her to the ground and came up to his feet as Jayne passed by. The three of them circled swiftly, Jayne grabbing two and pounded their heads together dropping them like stones. The third man was of a size with Jayne, but no match for his fury. Gus twisted wildly in the grip of his captors and Alley swept her legs around, grabbing her last attacker in a scissor grip, flipping him with her legs. His neck twisted in the toss, and he landed in a heap, never to move again. Gus yelled for Alley as he finally slipped from the hands of one of the men.
She rolled to her feet and sprang at the last man on Gus, torn gown snapping in the air. She wrapped her fingers in his shirt with one hand and clawed at his face with the other as Gus writhed free from his grasp. Jayne pounded one man’s head mercilessly against the wall of the building, dropping him when he felt the man’s body go limp. He turned to a fist in his face from the man Gus had twisted free from. One hit was all that man got before Gus leaped on his back, throwing all his weight against the man, dropping them both to the ground. Straddling the man’s shoulders, Gus grabbed a handful of his hair and slammed his head into the dirt until he stopped moving.
Alley was still clawing and hitting the last man, when Jayne finally pulled her off his motionless body. Six men lay on the dirt - none moved, two never would again.
“Ya got him baby girl, ya got him.” Jayne held her spasming body in his strong arms, as she struggled to hit the man again. “Ya got him, I’m here…shhhh.” He turned away from the fallen men, holding the now shaking girl.
“It’s all right, it’s all right.“ He cradled her to his chest, drawing the torn gown around her body. He could feel a chill spreading through her, wracking breaths taking her.
Alley said nothing, made no sound, just clutched Jayne’s shirt in her hands, face buried against his chest. Jayne held her gently, carried her like she was no more than a small child.
Jayne’s thoughts were tumbled and confused. How had he lost track of the two kids so easily? Who were those men? He couldn’t recall seeing them before and he had a memory for faces. Why were the kids outside at all?
Gus disentangled himself from the man who had fallen beneath him and followed Jayne. They looked up as the roar of Serenity’s engines split the night and saw the ship descend slowly to land a short distance behind Abel’s house. Jayne didn’t even think of Mal’s response when he found out at. He headed for the Firefly without hesitation, sparing no thought or worry over what Mal’s reaction was sure to be when he found out what happened. Jayne knew that he deserved whatever the Captain would say and do.
The three approached the Firefly as the cargo bay ramp descended. Mal stood just inside, not aware of anything wrong until he saw Jayne carrying his daughter, trailed by Jayne’s nephew, Gus.
“Ta ma de! Jayne, what the shen sheng diyu is this? What happened?” Mal exclaimed.
“Dunno Mal. I lost track of ‘em for a minute…” Jayne stammered out as he went towards the infirmary. Simon was already approaching, eyes wide, hands reaching towards Alley.
“NO! No, stay away from me!” she screamed as Simon touched her, clutching Jayne tighter like she was trying to melt into him and disappear.
Simon stopped, hands held up, away from her. “It’s ok xiâo mèimei, I just want to see that cut on your shoulder.” He answered in a soft, smooth voice.
“She don’t want yer help right now Doc,” Jayne spat as he pushed past Simon. He continued towards the infirmary.
“I don’t want to go there Jayne.” Alley said in a tiny voice only he could hear. He paused in his path, looking down at her, trying not to let her see the fear in his eyes. The anger of the moment had passed and now he felt only fear, fear of having failed another little girl, been not there for her in time.
“I want to go to my room Jayne.” Her face was turned up towards his, eyes were pleading with him to understand.
Mal came around in front of them. “Qin ài de, tiānna . Ni meí shì bà?” He asked the light of his life, his daughter, gently, eyes carefully avoiding Jayne’s.
“Shìde méi guānxi, I just want to go to my room, please Pa?” She looked at Mal, eyes dry, face composed. He knew there was something more going on, but Alley was not letting him in right now.
“Hâo ba, but…” He stumbled over the words, not knowing what exactly to say to his daughter who was still clinging to his mercenary like he was all that was keeping her intact. He finally raised his eyes to Jayne who met his gaze straight, no flinching. Mal knew Jayne was feeling responsible for what happened by that look. There was no attempt on the big man’s part to hide his feelings of failure to Mal.
Jayne carried Alley silently to her room, knowing he was to blame for what happened. If he had been paying closer attention, if he hadn’t been taking the sight of some pretty women folk, he would have seen Alley and Gus going outside and stopped them. Gus was trailing them as Jayne up the stairs to the bunks, stopping when Mal called his name.
“Gus, come here, son.” Mal was using his soft Captain voice, hoping to not scare the boy off. He knew he had to tread carefully with Gus. Gus would just as easily lose his voice and say nothing as breath.
The boy knew he needed to tell Mal what had happened, but he didn’t have the words for it. River used to be the one who was enigmatic and incomprehensible, but she at least used words in abundance. Gus would lose the ability to talk at all, trying for all the world to say what was on his mind, but the words just wouldn’t come. He looked at Mal, eyes wild, shaking his head.
“Son, I need to know what happened.” Mal asked softly, eyes trying to convey understanding, receptiveness. Inside, he was seething, a roiling mess of anger and anxiety.
Gus shook his head, blond hair falling across his eyes. “I…I…th..th…thr…six men… w…w…we…out…” His voice broke and his teeth chattered as he tried to force the words out. Mal stayed very still, trying to wait for the story, but he felt his hands knotting into fists, wanted to shake the boy to get the words to spill out.
“Six men?” He asked. Gus nodded. “Where?” Mal queried.
Gus nodded towards the cargo bay door. “A… at… the hall, out back.” The last words fell from his mouth quickly before he lost them again.
“Good, good son…go with the Doc now”, Mal clapped him on the shoulder and sent him towards Simon who was waiting quietly.
Gus looked towards the bunks, clearly wanting to go with Jayne and Alley. “I just want to check you for any injuries Gus, won’t take but a minute,” Simon said soothingly. He knew himself how it was to care about someone more than you cared for yourself.
Mal turned from Simon and Gus, bellowing upstairs, “ZOË! We need to go, NOW!” Zoë appeared in moments rushing the way only she could without looking like it flustered her at all.
“Sir?” She asked as they took off out of the boat at a run. Her tone only questioned where they were going, not wondering why. That part she knew would become abundantly clear as they went.
“Got a mess to clean up,” was Mal’s curt answer. “Needin to be taking care of some chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo who thought they could have a go at Alley and Gus.” Zoë had served with Mal long enough to know that the job would get done when she heard that voice. There was not an ounce of his sarcastic humor that he used when the stakes were lower. This was all business.
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They found the surviving four men groaning and getting themselves sorted out. The two dead men had already been rolled for their valuables by their compatriots.
Mal grabbed the nearest one by the scruff of his neck and hauled him to his feet. “Ain’t gonna ask you this but once, what are you doing here on Avery?” Mal growled at the man whose face was scratched to the point where one of his eyes was barely in its socket.
“Gûnkāi!” The man spat at Mal.
Mal slammed the man around into the side of the building, fury lending him more strength. The man cried out as his face was broken in multiple places.
“Wait…” the man tried to answer through cracked lips and a sideways hanging jaw.
Mal just looked him in his one good eye and growled low in his throat. Still holding the man by the collar of his coat, Mal punched him in the gut, keeping the man pushed against the wall. He kept hitting the soon limp man until the only sound coming from the body was his fist hitting it.
“Sir, you’re done with that one.” Zoë said mildly. She held her sawed off shotgun on the other three men crouched a little ways away. Mal dropped the body and turned to the rest of the men, they cowered back away from the murderous look in his eye and from what they just had seen. Mal had the ability to let all inhibition go and kill a man with his bare hands, showing no remorse as he did it. He would kill each of these men for what they did or tried to do to Alley, and Zoë wouldn’t raise a hand to stop him. They had been through hell and back together, twice, and weren’t about to let hell find their family again.
Dead of night is when soldiers are their most deadly, no one to see their actions, no reports needing to be filled out later. Mal would have finished the job if Abel hadn’t come to find out what the racket was all about. A man being beaten is not soundless.
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Jayne carried Alley down to her bunk, and tried to put her down on her bed, but she wouldn’t let go of him. She silently clung to him, body pressed against his chest, legs curled up in his arms.
“Baby girl, I gotta put ya down now,” Jayne spoke softly, his voice ragged with the fear he still held.
“No, I don’t want you to let me go.” She pleaded.
“Gorramit girl, I gotta go help Mal…”
“No, stay with me…I don’t want to be alone…” she barely whispered.
Jayne rocked Alley as he sat on the edge of the bed, “Ahh now, baby girl, ya know I can’t be stayin’ here…”
Alley looked up at him with her eyes so like her mother’s, tears finally flowing. “Jayne…” her voice cracked.
He looked down at her, his blue eyes filled with his own fear until he saw hers. Then rage began to course through him. Who would do this to his baby girl? He wanted to run out and find them, tear them apart, hurt them for doing this to his girl. He knew in the recesses of his mind that her father was doing exactly that, but he felt he should be there, helping. He felt responsible for her getting hurt at all.
“Stay til I fall asleep…please?” Alley asks quietly.
“Ok… bâobèi . I won’t go nowhere…” It cost Jayne more than he could tell not to run out into the night and kill those men. But not as much as he earned by staying with the shaken girl.
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Mal returned to Serenity after telling Abel what had happened. He wanted to finish what he started but Abel prevailed upon him to go back to his ship, his little girl. Zoë made sure Mal actually came as he began to turn back to finish the job he had started.
“Sir, I think they will still be here come morning if you should be wanting to finish them then.” She tried to make him see some reason.
“And Alley will be wanting you to come home now.” She finished, knowing that in this case she was skirting thin ice. Alley had a relationship with Jayne as her protector that went deeper than most could fathom. Zoë knew it, but was not sure anyone else knew how much Jayne was trying to atone for and how Alley seemed to know it. Alley never let on that she felt Jayne was her guardian, never took advantage of the big man’s willingness to do anything necessary to keep her safe. But tonight, when he clearly had not been able to, Alley would want to have him reaffirm his presence at her back by having him be there. She was a princess in that manner, and he was her personal guard until death.
Mal went to Alley’s bunk when he got back on the ship, hands still bloody from the beaten man. He dropped down the ladder to see Jayne with Alley curled up on his lap, blanket wrapped around her. Jayne met Mal’s eyes with his own.
"Jayne" he said sharply at first, but let the name fade as he spoke it, the breath going out of him. Mal stood in the silence with the noticeably shaken mercenary cradling his sleeping little girl...Neither man spoke.....
Jayne broke the silence "I..."
Mal held up a hand to stop Jayne's words before they started... "It's...gorramit......we’ll sort this out....." He shook his head and started up the ladder to leave.
“Mal… she’s gonna want you here…”Jayne’s voice followed Mal up the rungs of the ladder.
“I’ll be back, soon.” Mal answered without meeting Jayne’s eyes again and climbed out of the bunk.
Jayne held Alley, softly crooning in his deep gravelly voice, hoping she would remember when he used to rock her to sleep that way. Her head was nestled against his chest, an ear pressed to his ribs above his heart. She told him when she was little that the beat of his heart was the best music she knew. Jayne was always glad he had one person in the ‘Verse who was in no way afraid of him.
He was afraid he couldn’t say that about himself.
chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo (animal fucking bastard)
Gûnkāi (fuck off)
Hâo ba (okay (reluctant)
Ni meí shì bà? (are you okay)
méi guānxi (it's nothing/it's okay)
Qin ài de, (dear, darling)
shen sheng diyu (holy hell)
Shìde (yes/right)
tiānna ((exclamation) Oh God)
xiâo mèimei (baby sister; can be used with someone not related to you)
Right the tall tale of another fic- I will not bore you with the details, except to say, both parts are able to stand alone, mostly, and somehow, amazingly, my vision and hfleming8(Hez)'s ability to join me in that vision have converged...sooo, here goes the start of a new arc in SushiFic! Hopefully with She of the Fishies blessing...More tales to follow, and someday, we, Hez and I may even tell you all how it began! ;)
Oh yeah, and deadpoetwoffie I got your prompt words into part two...just not fluffy like you may have thought of them.
Disclaimer: Firefly owns me, I own words
Alley is five, then 13, so it spans some time...sorry terimaru pain for you in chronology I know- it was Hez's idea! Really!
Prologue
Zoë and Jayne never really spoke with one another when they worked and worked out side by side. But they rarely exchanged words, so when Jayne cleared his throat and started to talk, Zoë paused in mid set, surprise barely visible under her usual stoic expression.
“I, uh, got a letter from my ma few days back, last time we got mail…and, well…” Jayne mumbled and ummed his way through. “She, aah, well, there is this thing ya see…Ah gorramit…’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter that was dog-eared despite only being two days old.
Dear Son,
I am writing you hoping that you get this letter real soon. Mattie is doing fine with the damp lung- the money you sent has kept him in medicine. But that is not why I am writing you. You need to come and pick up Talia’s boy. We can’t keep him no longer, even with the money you send.
Hope you are staying warm and safe.
Your Mother.
Zoë cocked an elegant eyebrow as she looked up at Jayne after reading the letter.
Jayne was sort of shifting from one foot to the other, wringing a towel between his hands. He didn’t look up from the floor until Zoë started to talk.
“What’s this about Jayne?" Her voice was low, not quite dangerous, but near enough.
“I, well, you remember when I made that rocker for Inara?” Jayne stopped fidgeting and looked Zoë straight in the eye. “I near enough raised my baby sister…she, well, she had a boy about when Inara had Alley…And, I, well, I been sending money home help with payin fer ‘im. But, Ma is getting on in years ya know…and, well…
Jayne stuttered to a stop. He had no way to tell Zoë all the years of hiding he’d been doing. His home had always been something he didn’t speak much about. To many skeletons in that closet.
Zoë stood up from the bench. “Well, you better be asking the Captain.”
They stood nearly eye- to- eye, Jayne backing down first most times, this time he held.
“I won’t be doing that Zoë,” Jayne was rarely definitive in his refusals like that. There was generally a spoilt air to those statements. This time he used none of the petulance Zoë was so used to hearing. She sized that up against her image of Jayne as a man and was surprised. Jayne didn’t often surprise her, and she knew to pay attention when he did.
“I need to be going and get the boy like my Ma asked.” Jayne stated bluntly. “Not gonna be asking permission fer that.”
Zoë and Jayne stood silently, looking at each other, Zoë deciding what to say to this man who was not the Jayne she was accustomed to. Jayne knew he may have crossed that invisible line between Zoë and Mal, but he didn’t care at that moment. He didn’t rightly know what made him say he was just going.
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Zoë flew while Jayne fretted. The shuttle didn’t usually feel small to him, but this time he felt like the walls were brushing against him all around. He couldn’t stand up straight, stretch his legs, the emptiness of the black threatened to come through the thin walls of the little craft.
H e was nervous. He hadn’t ever talked about his sister except that one time he mentioned her at Inara’s baby shower. There was never a time where it seemed right to tell anyone his sister was all gone in the head, might be why he was so uncomfortable around River, she knew about Talia, and knew what had happened. Talia had run away so young, innocent and joyous, come back to them gone, her mind closed, maybe vanished. No one was ever able to reopen that door.
Some years back, a night guard at the home she was staying in, the home Jayne paid for, had done something to her, made her broken even worse. The boy was the surprise at the end of seven and a half months. No one even knew she was pregnant until her body went into labor.
He was born in a home for people who couldn’t do for themselves and was placed immediately into the arms of his grandmother, who would try to do for both of them. Now she couldn’t do for him no more. The little baby boy was growing into a wild child like her Jayne had been. Only back then she had Mattie to help keep crazy Jayne reined in. Now it was Jayne’s turn.
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The shuttle broke atom above the docks on Harvest. Jayne looked out the window at the grim moon he had grown up on. It was a pure mining colony, nothing but dirt and ore, and grime in all directions. He wasn’t even sure you could eat what was grown on this rock and not be sick. Probably explained a lot about the general illnesses that dogged the population.
There was no one to meet them when they landed, just a bored customs official at the lading hall. Nothing but food and medicine ever came here, and the only thing leaving was ore and people. There was no reason to get interested in two folk just dropping in with a shuttle. Jayne and Zoë just walked right on by.
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“No, you’re not taking a shuttle and that’s final,” Mal was angry that Jayne just announced he was going to Harvest and taking a shuttle to do it. There was a certain loss of control happening in other areas of his life, and Mal did not want to be having anyone else tell him what was what. Alley was five and the star of Mal’s eye and his biggest headache, and little Matthew was just beginning to get his legs under him, which meant days spent running herd on two little ones. Last thing Mal wanted to deal with was Jayne getting demanding.
“Sir, I’ll be going with him.” Zoë announced in her usual calm tones.
Jayne and Mal both swung around towards her.
“What…Zoë…you aren’t serious?” Mal asked with that half-snort he used when he was dismissing something out of hand. Jayne just stared, jaw working, but no sound coming.
“I am Sir, and you will be doing a right thing by not arguing it neither.” Zoë just continued without reacting to Mal’s noticeable agitation. “I already prepped the shuttle Sir, got the entry codes programmed. We won’t be gone but a few days.” She looked Mal straight in the eye at that. The look lasted until Mal broke it, he knew there was something more going on here and he didn’t like it. Right then Alley came running by screaming with laughter, River in hot pursuit…
“Gorramit you two! What did I say about not running on the boat! You will trip and fall down and then your mother will kill me!’ He yelled as he turned to follow the two girls.
“You bring my shuttle back in one piece, hear?” he said over his shoulder to Zoë as he went to catch his miscreants.
“Zoë, I ain’t…” Jayne began to sputter.
“Not discussing this with you Jayne. We leave in ten minutes.” Zoë turned on her heel to go to her bunk and get her bag for the trip. She didn’t want Jayne to see the uncertainty in her eyes. What was she thinking going with the big merc to pick up a boy anyways? She shook her head as she walked through Serenity. She heard the laughter of the girls echoing off the walls. That was why she was going. The sound of love was wrapped up in this boat and she couldn’t deny it no matter how much it hurt to not be sharing it with her Wash.
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They came to Ma Cobb’s house after a short transport ride from the docks. It was small and grimy like all its neighbors. There was a time when it might have been a decent area, but time had not treated this part of town well. Jayne stopped and just looked up at the dirty windows, the peeling paint and the broken trim. He didn’t look like the big man he was. He just looked small and defeated. Zoë stood quietly a step back from him, giving him the room he needed to make those last steps home.
“I ain’t been back since I left ya know,” Jayne said gruffly. “I send money, a letter when I can…but I ain’t been home since…’ He turned to look at Zoë with unquiet eyes “I can’t go in there Zoë, I can’t.” His voice was softly pleading with Zoë, he didn’t know what he would say to his Ma, or do when he met the boy. A boy he only barely knew about.
His mother had glossed over the details as much as possible. Jayne knew there was more to it than she ever said, but no one wanted him to come home and start killing people for what happened to Talia. Sides which, she passed in the birth, and so it was a mite late to be exacting revenge for her.
The door to the porch opened as Jayne was facing Zoë, so Zoë was the first to see the little boy. Her heart caught in her throat when she saw him, small, blond hair, blue eyes and a mischievous expression on his face. Her eyes merely opened a little wider, nothing else gave away her inner turmoil. This boy could have been Wash that age was all she could think.
Jayne heard the door squeak and turned towards it. He and the boy looked at each other for a few moments before the boy turned and fled back into the house hollering. ‘Gran Ma, there’s a fella here with a woman!” His voice was high and hoarse, like he had been yelling a lot recently.
Jayne mounted the stairs slowly, Zoë waited on the sidewalk below. An old woman came to the door, eyes heavily lidded, gray hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. Her clothes were old but clean, well repaired. Zoë could see from where she stood that Ma Cobb who took care in what she did. Could also see the woman was not about to let Jayne into the house.
“Ya came then,” was all she said.
“Yes M’am,” Jayne answered softly. He could barely look her in the eye he was being so small.
“You’ll be taking him then, He is just getting his things.’
“Yes M’am.” Jayne still hadn’t looked up.
Ma Cobb turned and yelled into the darkness of the house, “You hurry up hear? Yer Uncle don’t have all day to be waitin on ya.”
She turned back to face Jayne, arms folded across chest, body not softening one bit. She barely looked down at Zoë except to take note that she was there. Zoë hadn’t felt so insignificant since she was in the prisoner of war camp after the end of the War. She wondered what had happened to Ma Cobb to make her so hard to her son. Jayne didn’t look up, didn’t move at all while they waited for the boy.
What felt like hours passed before the child reappeared in the door, dragging a duffle as big as he was behind him.
“Well then, be going now. You listen to yer Uncle then.” Ma Cobb gave the boy a quick peck on the cheek and then turned and went back into the house. The door closed behind him, no further goodbye was going to be coming.
The three of them stood and looked at each other. Zoë was aware of holding her breath, not wanting to be the first to speak but when Jayne said nothing and the boy looked at her, eyes dry, but a look on his face that would melt concrete she decided she had better start talking.
“Hi there, I’m Zoë”. She smiled as she introduced herself.
“Angus Cobb, Gus usually” He answered in a very mature sounding voice. “ You my Uncle's wife?” asked innocently.
Jayne guffawed at that “Hell no! We just fly together is all.” Jayne was grinning from ear to ear at the idea of someone mistaking them as husband and wife. That was enough to take his mind off of his mother’s lack of warmth for the moment.
Zoë was speechless for a moment. Then she grinned broadly as well, “Gus, we are going to be very good friends, mark my words.” Gus smiled as well at that. At about five years old, his world was going to be turned upside down and he would be needing a friend. Zoë could already feel her heart going out to him. She could only imagine what he was thinking and how Ma Cobb had raised him so far. Serenity was going to be a big change. She knew getting him accepted by Mal was the biggest hurdle they faced.
Zoë stopped in her thinking right there. They? When had she become part of this problem? When she had told Mal she was going with Jayne, that’s when. She said a quick prayer in her mind: Husband who watches over me; hope you think I am doing the right thing.
“Come on then, we should be heading home now,” Zoë took Gus’ hand and gestured with her eyes for Jayne to take the bag.
The three walked back to the docks, Gus between them holding one hand in each of theirs. Jayne looked over Gus’ head at Zoë. His face was unreadable for once. He knew that his Ma had reason to be the way she was, but Zoë didn’t bat an eyelash in response. She just picked up whatever pieces that were still there and carried on. He figured that must have been how she got through the War. This was the first time he had seen it in relation to his own troubles though and it unsettled him and calmed him at the same time.
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The shuttle was still warm from their arrival when they fired up to leave again. Gus sat staring out the windows, eager to see space. He had never flown in anything, so this would be his maiden voyage.
“Get down from there boy,” Jayne growled at him when he climbed on the console. He just lifted Gus down and set him on the floor. “There, ya can look out the windows from there.” Gus rolled his eyes at Jayne and then plastered his face against the glass as Zoë flew the shuttle. His eyes grew wide at the sight of Harvest spread out below them the ground receding swiftly.
“Ya gonna see the sunset like you’ve never seen it before.” Zoë quietly said as the shuttle cleared the horizon and the sky lit up with pinks and oranges. Gus’ nearly squeaked in surprise. He had no idea the sky could turn so many colors of the rainbow all at once.
Few hours later Gus was sprawled out on the bunk and Zoë had engaged autopilot. Her and Jayne were sitting having a bite to eat.
“Any plans?” She asked between mouthfuls.
“No, just had to get him like my Ma said. Figured I would sort it out then.’ Jayne answered as he chewed.
“You know the Captain will be wonderin how you plan on doing this.”
“Yeah, I did,” Jayne looked at his boots intently, thinking no doubt Zoë decided. She looked at the little boy on the bed, arms flung above his head, hair mussed. She caught her breath, he reminded her so much of Wash. They had talked about having a baby, even had started trying when Miranda happened. She stopped herself from going back… This little blond boy was here now, and he needed their help to become a man.
Zoë looked at Jayne, contemplating her next comment. It was a tricky situation no doubt, but the merc was in no position to raise a boy all by himself and she was not interested in changing her relationship with Jayne. They worked together, nothing more, nothing less. This would be an arrangement for the boy, not for anything between them. She needed to think on that for a spell before saying anything to anyone.
It was going to be a long flight home for them… to Serenity.
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Continuity
They were engaged in a serious evening of finger-painting, as only children can be. There were signs to be made for the following day’s celebrations. Names and pictures were painted in intertangled loops. Golden fish swam across fields of green with the letters of the celebrants names twining around them.
Birthdays were celebrated with vigor and joy on the Rim, especially when it involved children. Children were a joyous gift in a world fraught with danger and loss. And tomorrow two such joys were having their party.
Alley and Gus were turning 13, still young enough to look forward to a party and feasting and old enough to recognize the good fortune they were receiving. On Avery children were not rare, but everyone knew how easily they could be snatched away either by disease or injury. The residents had benefited immeasurably from the crew of Serenity, particularly the doctor, making Paraiso their home base. And the crew was thankful to have a place in the World to take their ease when not in the Black.
Children from all around Paraiso had come for the night-before party. The big hall near Abel’s store was noisy and crowded with folk enjoying pre-party food and socializing. Jayne was studiously avoiding the latest batch of apple moonshine as he was watching Gus and Alley. Mal didn’t know many of the people expected to attend the pre-party and wanted to be sure the kids were watched over, so Jayne had volunteered to stay behind and make sure everything ran smooth. Serenity was due to return from a last minute run off world later that night -there was no way Mal was missing his little girl’s birthday party especially since Inara was still across the planet with Matthew in a shuttle seeing to a problem with a school she was starting there. Her return was expected the following morning, before the festivities began.
It was nearly midnight and most of the folk had headed off to bed when Jayne heard the scream. He shot to his feet from the bench he had been reclining on, not-quite dozing. His ears were tuned to Alley’s voice from years of listening to her play and holler. This was no playful yelling. He was running in the direction of the sound the moment he heard her scream again. People still in the hall were shoved out of the way without ceremony.
His legs carried him outside faster than he had ever run. He felt his heart in his throat as blood pounded in his ears. Rounding the corner of the building he saw Gus being held by two men, one with his hand clamped over the struggling boy’s mouth. Alley was standing her ground, years of hand to hand combat training with Jayne paying off, her night gown torn from struggling with her attackers. There were three men surrounding her, with a fourth spinning a knife lazily in circles.
With a roar, Jayne was on the men, tackling the fourth and one of the men holding Alley in a bull dozing push. One of the others rolled away from Alley, pulling her to the ground and came up to his feet as Jayne passed by. The three of them circled swiftly, Jayne grabbing two and pounded their heads together dropping them like stones. The third man was of a size with Jayne, but no match for his fury. Gus twisted wildly in the grip of his captors and Alley swept her legs around, grabbing her last attacker in a scissor grip, flipping him with her legs. His neck twisted in the toss, and he landed in a heap, never to move again. Gus yelled for Alley as he finally slipped from the hands of one of the men.
She rolled to her feet and sprang at the last man on Gus, torn gown snapping in the air. She wrapped her fingers in his shirt with one hand and clawed at his face with the other as Gus writhed free from his grasp. Jayne pounded one man’s head mercilessly against the wall of the building, dropping him when he felt the man’s body go limp. He turned to a fist in his face from the man Gus had twisted free from. One hit was all that man got before Gus leaped on his back, throwing all his weight against the man, dropping them both to the ground. Straddling the man’s shoulders, Gus grabbed a handful of his hair and slammed his head into the dirt until he stopped moving.
Alley was still clawing and hitting the last man, when Jayne finally pulled her off his motionless body. Six men lay on the dirt - none moved, two never would again.
“Ya got him baby girl, ya got him.” Jayne held her spasming body in his strong arms, as she struggled to hit the man again. “Ya got him, I’m here…shhhh.” He turned away from the fallen men, holding the now shaking girl.
“It’s all right, it’s all right.“ He cradled her to his chest, drawing the torn gown around her body. He could feel a chill spreading through her, wracking breaths taking her.
Alley said nothing, made no sound, just clutched Jayne’s shirt in her hands, face buried against his chest. Jayne held her gently, carried her like she was no more than a small child.
Jayne’s thoughts were tumbled and confused. How had he lost track of the two kids so easily? Who were those men? He couldn’t recall seeing them before and he had a memory for faces. Why were the kids outside at all?
Gus disentangled himself from the man who had fallen beneath him and followed Jayne. They looked up as the roar of Serenity’s engines split the night and saw the ship descend slowly to land a short distance behind Abel’s house. Jayne didn’t even think of Mal’s response when he found out at. He headed for the Firefly without hesitation, sparing no thought or worry over what Mal’s reaction was sure to be when he found out what happened. Jayne knew that he deserved whatever the Captain would say and do.
The three approached the Firefly as the cargo bay ramp descended. Mal stood just inside, not aware of anything wrong until he saw Jayne carrying his daughter, trailed by Jayne’s nephew, Gus.
“Ta ma de! Jayne, what the shen sheng diyu is this? What happened?” Mal exclaimed.
“Dunno Mal. I lost track of ‘em for a minute…” Jayne stammered out as he went towards the infirmary. Simon was already approaching, eyes wide, hands reaching towards Alley.
“NO! No, stay away from me!” she screamed as Simon touched her, clutching Jayne tighter like she was trying to melt into him and disappear.
Simon stopped, hands held up, away from her. “It’s ok xiâo mèimei, I just want to see that cut on your shoulder.” He answered in a soft, smooth voice.
“She don’t want yer help right now Doc,” Jayne spat as he pushed past Simon. He continued towards the infirmary.
“I don’t want to go there Jayne.” Alley said in a tiny voice only he could hear. He paused in his path, looking down at her, trying not to let her see the fear in his eyes. The anger of the moment had passed and now he felt only fear, fear of having failed another little girl, been not there for her in time.
“I want to go to my room Jayne.” Her face was turned up towards his, eyes were pleading with him to understand.
Mal came around in front of them. “Qin ài de, tiānna . Ni meí shì bà?” He asked the light of his life, his daughter, gently, eyes carefully avoiding Jayne’s.
“Shìde méi guānxi, I just want to go to my room, please Pa?” She looked at Mal, eyes dry, face composed. He knew there was something more going on, but Alley was not letting him in right now.
“Hâo ba, but…” He stumbled over the words, not knowing what exactly to say to his daughter who was still clinging to his mercenary like he was all that was keeping her intact. He finally raised his eyes to Jayne who met his gaze straight, no flinching. Mal knew Jayne was feeling responsible for what happened by that look. There was no attempt on the big man’s part to hide his feelings of failure to Mal.
Jayne carried Alley silently to her room, knowing he was to blame for what happened. If he had been paying closer attention, if he hadn’t been taking the sight of some pretty women folk, he would have seen Alley and Gus going outside and stopped them. Gus was trailing them as Jayne up the stairs to the bunks, stopping when Mal called his name.
“Gus, come here, son.” Mal was using his soft Captain voice, hoping to not scare the boy off. He knew he had to tread carefully with Gus. Gus would just as easily lose his voice and say nothing as breath.
The boy knew he needed to tell Mal what had happened, but he didn’t have the words for it. River used to be the one who was enigmatic and incomprehensible, but she at least used words in abundance. Gus would lose the ability to talk at all, trying for all the world to say what was on his mind, but the words just wouldn’t come. He looked at Mal, eyes wild, shaking his head.
“Son, I need to know what happened.” Mal asked softly, eyes trying to convey understanding, receptiveness. Inside, he was seething, a roiling mess of anger and anxiety.
Gus shook his head, blond hair falling across his eyes. “I…I…th..th…thr…six men… w…w…we…out…” His voice broke and his teeth chattered as he tried to force the words out. Mal stayed very still, trying to wait for the story, but he felt his hands knotting into fists, wanted to shake the boy to get the words to spill out.
“Six men?” He asked. Gus nodded. “Where?” Mal queried.
Gus nodded towards the cargo bay door. “A… at… the hall, out back.” The last words fell from his mouth quickly before he lost them again.
“Good, good son…go with the Doc now”, Mal clapped him on the shoulder and sent him towards Simon who was waiting quietly.
Gus looked towards the bunks, clearly wanting to go with Jayne and Alley. “I just want to check you for any injuries Gus, won’t take but a minute,” Simon said soothingly. He knew himself how it was to care about someone more than you cared for yourself.
Mal turned from Simon and Gus, bellowing upstairs, “ZOË! We need to go, NOW!” Zoë appeared in moments rushing the way only she could without looking like it flustered her at all.
“Sir?” She asked as they took off out of the boat at a run. Her tone only questioned where they were going, not wondering why. That part she knew would become abundantly clear as they went.
“Got a mess to clean up,” was Mal’s curt answer. “Needin to be taking care of some chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo who thought they could have a go at Alley and Gus.” Zoë had served with Mal long enough to know that the job would get done when she heard that voice. There was not an ounce of his sarcastic humor that he used when the stakes were lower. This was all business.
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They found the surviving four men groaning and getting themselves sorted out. The two dead men had already been rolled for their valuables by their compatriots.
Mal grabbed the nearest one by the scruff of his neck and hauled him to his feet. “Ain’t gonna ask you this but once, what are you doing here on Avery?” Mal growled at the man whose face was scratched to the point where one of his eyes was barely in its socket.
“Gûnkāi!” The man spat at Mal.
Mal slammed the man around into the side of the building, fury lending him more strength. The man cried out as his face was broken in multiple places.
“Wait…” the man tried to answer through cracked lips and a sideways hanging jaw.
Mal just looked him in his one good eye and growled low in his throat. Still holding the man by the collar of his coat, Mal punched him in the gut, keeping the man pushed against the wall. He kept hitting the soon limp man until the only sound coming from the body was his fist hitting it.
“Sir, you’re done with that one.” Zoë said mildly. She held her sawed off shotgun on the other three men crouched a little ways away. Mal dropped the body and turned to the rest of the men, they cowered back away from the murderous look in his eye and from what they just had seen. Mal had the ability to let all inhibition go and kill a man with his bare hands, showing no remorse as he did it. He would kill each of these men for what they did or tried to do to Alley, and Zoë wouldn’t raise a hand to stop him. They had been through hell and back together, twice, and weren’t about to let hell find their family again.
Dead of night is when soldiers are their most deadly, no one to see their actions, no reports needing to be filled out later. Mal would have finished the job if Abel hadn’t come to find out what the racket was all about. A man being beaten is not soundless.
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Jayne carried Alley down to her bunk, and tried to put her down on her bed, but she wouldn’t let go of him. She silently clung to him, body pressed against his chest, legs curled up in his arms.
“Baby girl, I gotta put ya down now,” Jayne spoke softly, his voice ragged with the fear he still held.
“No, I don’t want you to let me go.” She pleaded.
“Gorramit girl, I gotta go help Mal…”
“No, stay with me…I don’t want to be alone…” she barely whispered.
Jayne rocked Alley as he sat on the edge of the bed, “Ahh now, baby girl, ya know I can’t be stayin’ here…”
Alley looked up at him with her eyes so like her mother’s, tears finally flowing. “Jayne…” her voice cracked.
He looked down at her, his blue eyes filled with his own fear until he saw hers. Then rage began to course through him. Who would do this to his baby girl? He wanted to run out and find them, tear them apart, hurt them for doing this to his girl. He knew in the recesses of his mind that her father was doing exactly that, but he felt he should be there, helping. He felt responsible for her getting hurt at all.
“Stay til I fall asleep…please?” Alley asks quietly.
“Ok… bâobèi . I won’t go nowhere…” It cost Jayne more than he could tell not to run out into the night and kill those men. But not as much as he earned by staying with the shaken girl.
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Mal returned to Serenity after telling Abel what had happened. He wanted to finish what he started but Abel prevailed upon him to go back to his ship, his little girl. Zoë made sure Mal actually came as he began to turn back to finish the job he had started.
“Sir, I think they will still be here come morning if you should be wanting to finish them then.” She tried to make him see some reason.
“And Alley will be wanting you to come home now.” She finished, knowing that in this case she was skirting thin ice. Alley had a relationship with Jayne as her protector that went deeper than most could fathom. Zoë knew it, but was not sure anyone else knew how much Jayne was trying to atone for and how Alley seemed to know it. Alley never let on that she felt Jayne was her guardian, never took advantage of the big man’s willingness to do anything necessary to keep her safe. But tonight, when he clearly had not been able to, Alley would want to have him reaffirm his presence at her back by having him be there. She was a princess in that manner, and he was her personal guard until death.
Mal went to Alley’s bunk when he got back on the ship, hands still bloody from the beaten man. He dropped down the ladder to see Jayne with Alley curled up on his lap, blanket wrapped around her. Jayne met Mal’s eyes with his own.
"Jayne" he said sharply at first, but let the name fade as he spoke it, the breath going out of him. Mal stood in the silence with the noticeably shaken mercenary cradling his sleeping little girl...Neither man spoke.....
Jayne broke the silence "I..."
Mal held up a hand to stop Jayne's words before they started... "It's...gorramit......we’ll sort this out....." He shook his head and started up the ladder to leave.
“Mal… she’s gonna want you here…”Jayne’s voice followed Mal up the rungs of the ladder.
“I’ll be back, soon.” Mal answered without meeting Jayne’s eyes again and climbed out of the bunk.
Jayne held Alley, softly crooning in his deep gravelly voice, hoping she would remember when he used to rock her to sleep that way. Her head was nestled against his chest, an ear pressed to his ribs above his heart. She told him when she was little that the beat of his heart was the best music she knew. Jayne was always glad he had one person in the ‘Verse who was in no way afraid of him.
He was afraid he couldn’t say that about himself.
chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo (animal fucking bastard)
Gûnkāi (fuck off)
Hâo ba (okay (reluctant)
Ni meí shì bà? (are you okay)
méi guānxi (it's nothing/it's okay)
Qin ài de, (dear, darling)
shen sheng diyu (holy hell)
Shìde (yes/right)
tiānna ((exclamation) Oh God)
xiâo mèimei (baby sister; can be used with someone not related to you)