Necessary Simplicity, PG (Firefly)
Title: Necessary Simplicity
Author: Aeneas
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: PG (language, implied violence)
Summary: Zoe is captured by an old enemy and Mal’s plan for getting her back all depends on Jayne…
Spoilers: Post-Serenity
Pairings: Gen. Slight Jayne/Zoe implied
Disclaimer: All characters (including the ship) are property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, FOX, etc.
Notes: Written as a back-up gift for agilebrit in the random_urges Rare Pairings ficathon. Request was for post-BDM Jayne/Zoe and a gift.
Malcolm Reynolds knew a weapon when he saw one.
River didn’t click like the sound of a bullet sliding into the barrel when she was cocked, but she was primed and ready to fire nonetheless. He knew it the second he saw her in that bar on Beaumonde, had counted on it when he led them all into the hare-brained plan that nearly cost all their lives. And she weren’t the only of his crew that he didn’t always look to as a living, breathing human being with fragile skin that bled when cut. Jayne was a machine or creature of stone, made and bred to violence. Even Zoe.
Especially Zoe.
There were times he forgot that she weren’t just a beautiful, efficient weapon. She was more than that, so much more; his right hand man, his second in command, his only constant in a world of change. Zoe was career military; she could’ve gone where the money was, but she followed him out of Serenity Valley and made sure he didn’t do too much stupid.
The pilot’s chair was empty and silent in front of him and he hated that it was empty, hated the patched up hole in it that shouldn’t be. But right this moment, he was glad of it. Glad that Wash wasn’t sitting there waiting to be told that the job was done and they’d gotten paid enough to buy fuel.
Only Zoe wasn’t coming back this time.
“Mal?” Inara asked softly.
He hadn’t heard her come in and more than anything he didn’t want to face her questions. Didn’t want to see the look on her face when he told her that he’d failed. He’d been helpless; let Zoe slip through his fingers and into a hell he couldn’t bring himself to imagine.
“Jayne’s asking for you. Well, he’s shouting actually, and making it very difficult for Simon to work on him. Perhaps, if you...” she trailed off in that way of hers that meant he was supposed to fill in the blanks himself.
“Doc’s got restraints that work.”
“Maybe if you were there. It wouldn’t hurt.”
Her voice was soft and she was soft; even across the room and with his back turned he could see everything about her that was soft and smooth. From the curl in her hair to the curve of her face, the way her fingertips danced over everything she touched and how she glided along rather than walking like regular folk. There was nothing he wanted more than to bury himself in all of that softness and pray for it to take the edge off of losing the old, familiar weapon he’d taken for granted.
“Mal?”
“I’ll be there in my own time. Tell the Doc to knock Jayne out if he gets to be a hassle.” Once she was gone, he kept staring at the chair. Tried and tried to find a reason he could give the ghost of Wash, a reason why his wife wasn’t on board the ship.
Maybe Book was right and the happy couple were going to be together in heaven and he didn’t need to be standing there trying to explain. Except he knew Wash and his ghost wouldn’t be letting him sleep anytime soon if he couldn’t convince that chair he’d done everything in his power to save her. He wanted to convince the ghost that he’d had no choice but to leave, that Zoe would’ve done the same, and that he weren’t standing there because he was too much of a coward to go back.
Go back so they could bury her beside her husband.
He pushed that thought away quickly and left the chair to wait in silence, heading back to the Infirmary and whatever ruckus Jayne was raising. There were no reasons he could give, no reason in the ‘verse it were Zoe they’d left behind instead of him.
Familiar hollering echoed through the belly of the ship and Jayne was cussing up a storm about the stitches Simon was trying to put into his arm. The rest of the crew was there too, with worried expressions, knowing something had gone terribly wrong for Zoe to not be there.
“Mal! You tell him he can’t give me none of that gorram stuff makes me fall over,” Jayne grunted, still glaring at Simon.
Looking annoyed and exasperated, Simon jerked a little harder on the binding floss. “I need you to hold still.”
“Can’t be knocking me out when we’re goin’ to get Zoe. I’ll be ruttin’ useless.” Jayne finally turned to look at Mal. “We’re goin’ after her, right, Mal? Ain’t no way we’re gonna let that qingwa cào de liúmáng have her.”
“What happened to Zoe?” Kaylee asked worriedly. “Who’s got her?”
Mal didn’t look at her, couldn’t look at her. This weren’t the time to be showing any sort of weakness or uncertainty. They were counting on him to find a way and come up with a plan to get Zoe back. “Chances are he won’t kill her right off, buys us a little time to think. But you won’t be no use to me or Zoe ‘less you can do your job, so stop your squirming and let the Doc do his.”
Jayne winced visibly as Simon tugged on the floss again but stopped trying to get out of the chair. “Just hurry up with that. Got a mind to beat the fear of Jayne into a few of those ruttin’ bastards.”
All eyes were on him and he still didn’t have an explanation. He didn’t know how a simple transport job could go so wrong, didn’t know how they’d been made or how it had all fallen apart so quickly. Do the job, get paid; it was supposed to be simple. Then the bastard with one eye missing appeared out of nowhere and brought Zoe down with a brutal blow to the back of her head. In his mind, Mal could see her hitting the ground, blood on her skin and in her hair. She hadn’t gotten back up or opened her eyes, hadn’t moved a muscle, and gunfire cut her off, forcing them to run.
The possibility that she was already dead felt like a cancer eating away at his heart and stomach. Then he reminded himself of the man who was responsible for the ambush, of what would happen to Zoe if she hadn’t been killed, and he couldn’t convince himself that a quick and painless death weren’t the better option.
“Captain?” Kaylee’s eyes were wide with fear. “Who’s Jayne talking about?”
“Niska.”
***
The sadistic hundan must have known silence would be harder on Zoe’s nerves than torture. She’d seen what his idea of fun was and he knew it. He knew that letting her sit, alone and in the dark, would be a form of torture all its own. There’d been a tone to his laughter when his goon had thrown her into the small, dank room that made her grit her teeth. He was planning on breaking her, whatever it took.
If luck was on her side then they’d be looking to use her for bait for the Captain, which meant keeping her alive long enough for Mal to watch her die. Until then, there weren’t much she could do before Niska decided to start in on the real torture. They’d taken her weapons, none too gentle about it neither, and she was grateful to be left her clothes. Apparently, they were saving that particular form of torment for later.
Relentless aching in her head where she’d been struck made it hard to find a comfortable position in the cramped metal room posing as a prison cell. The wrist that had broken her fall was swollen. She’d wrapped it up best she could with the ripped sleeve from her shirt, but it left her hobbled if she did get a chance to escape. Not that she expected even the tiniest of windows. If Serenity, and by Serenity she meant Mal, could cause just a breath of distraction then she might get her wish.
If they came back for her.
She pushed that thought away quickly. They’d come. Mal would come because he knew if he didn’t, she’d be tracking him down from the afterlife to make his gorram life miserable. Until then, she would sit tight and stay sharp; all she needed was a moment.
Rest and sitting still proved too hard to stomach, even with the pain in her head and wrist. She felt her way around the room instead, finding the edges of the door and the air flow vents, which weren’t big enough to fit more than her boot inside. The control panel was loose but she didn’t have Kaylee’s gift for talking to circuits and she’d be more likely to seal herself inside than get out. Then again, that wasn’t entirely a worse fate than what was waiting for her and it might buy her some time.
The edges were slick and cut into her hands before she realized she was bleeding. Gritting her teeth, she dumped the panel and tried to ignore the stinging in her fingers. Bastard probably made sure the sheet metal was made to do just that. On the inside was a tangle of wires and connectors that went every which way with no clue as to what purpose they served.
Since it didn’t rightly matter which one she disconnected first, not knowing what any of them did, she started in one of the corners and felt her way from wire to wire. Nothing seemed to happen with most of them. One turned off the fresh air coming in, she made sure to put in back into place. Not a one opened the door; that wire was probably on a circuit buried deep and impossible to access. She found one that made a sound like a lock setting into place and hoped that did the trick.
Having done all the damage she could do, she crept back to the furthest corner and eased down with her back pressed against two solid walls. Her skin was flushed and sweaty and the pain spun her about when she closed her eyes. She wouldn’t be no help to the Captain once he found her if she was all worn out, so she laid down and waited for the spinning to stop.
***
“Why can’t we just go in guns blazing like we did when Niska had you?” Jayne demanded.
“He’ll be expecting that this time round; could kill Zoe right off just so we find her body and then grab the rest of us. No sense in all of us getting dead.” Mal desperately wished he could think of any plan at all, but his mind kept replaying the memory of Zoe falling to the ground until he couldn’t focus on anything. “We need a way to get in quiet.”
“How ‘bout supply ships? Skyplex gotta get supplies just like anything else,” Kaylee offered hopefully. “Could sneak inside of one maybe.”
“That’s good thinking, Kaylee. River?”
She was already on her feet and headed for the bridge, answering his unspoken question over her shoulder. “I’ll find out what’s in the air.”
“I could send a wave to the Councilor, see what help she might be able to offer,” Inara said.
“Weren’t much help last time, was she?” Jayne scoffed.
“Send the wave. Need information if she’s got it and a safe place to land Serenity. We can’t hide on the other side of the planet and rescue Zoe at the same time.” That left Jayne, Simon, and Kaylee sitting at the table with him and waiting for him to come up with something brilliant. “Doc, we’ll need you along for sure this time. Zoe was injured ‘fore they took her and I doubt Niska decided to patch her up.”
Kaylee shivered a little. “I know how to hold a gun this time, Captain.”
“We’ll be leaving Serenity in your care, it’ll be your job to make sure no one comes aboard ain’t one of us. Inara flies fair enough and has a place to shelter if needs be. If’n there’s trouble, you two get in the shuttle and get to safety.” He pondered that for a moment, trying to figure out a way to keep all his bases covered without putting any of his crew in more danger than they could handle.
“I can rig the doors no problem,” she said with visible relief.
“I’ll go pack my bag.” Simon left the table and Kaylee went with him, holding onto his hand for comfort.
“You think she’s still alive?” Jayne asked quietly once they were gone.
“Won’t be no fun to him if she ain’t.” Mal hated thinking about that, hated wishing Zoe weren’t alive to suffer what Niska had a mind to put her through.
Jayne grimaced. “We better make damn sure he’s dead this time. He’s gettin’ to be a right pain in my ass, popping up all over with those men of his, hiring folk to be following us around.”
“Believe me, it’s on my list of things to do, right after bringing Zoe home.”
“Mal?” River appeared in the doorway, not so much smiling as looking vaguely like a cat that just cornered a mouse and was looking to beat it to death before taking a bite. “Found something might do.”
***
“Do I need to remind you we’re trying to be stealthy, Jayne?” Mal hissed.
“You ain’t the one crammed into a bitty crate that smells like onions.” Shifting around in an effort to not press too hard on any of his weapons, Jayne tried breathing through his mouth but that just made everything taste like onions.
“No, mine smells of…something else. Ain’t rightly sure what and I ain’t gonna ask.”
“Shhh,” River hushed them both, her voice muffled by the slotted metal and packing sheath between them.
“We there yet?” Jayne grumbled, careful to be quieter this time.
“Estimated time of arrival is two minutes. Plus loading time,” River answered like she could somehow count the seconds and know exactly where they were. Course, Jayne reckoned she probably could. “Wait for my signal.”
He didn’t care much for waiting in particular, it made him anxious for more exciting things to start happening. Making matters worse was the itching in his trigger finger for one good shot at Niska. Bad enough that they couldn’t find a quadrant of the verse that didn’t have folk trying to kill them or just make getting by that much harder; back stabbers, thieves, or just folk with nothing of their own and looking for bones to pick at. But this was personal; this was Zoe.
For damn sure he’d never expected to see Mal fall apart or get sloppy like he was now, like he were half left behind himself. It weren’t the same as he got around Inara; that was a whole different kind of sloppy. Without Zoe, it was like Mal didn’t know what foot to put in front of the other; which was a bad thing since even on a good day he was more than likely to kill them all with one of his piece of go se plans.
“Get ready. Only have one chance before they put us in the stew,” River whispered loudly enough for them to hear her.
“Girl, you’s creepifying even when you ain’t crazy.” Jayne ground his teeth together to keep from cursing when the ship docked, sending them all sliding to the back wall and rattling them about. Weren’t no reason for the docking pilot to care what happened to crates of protein bars and packets of vegetable concentrate grown in a lab.
Once they were latched onto the Skyplex, all food supplies were loaded into the central pantry for storage. There was no reason for a pantry to have more than a light guard at most, nothing they couldn’t handle. It got tricky from there out. Had to find their way to Niska’s inner chambers and go as quiet as they could. If they didn’t have Zoe by the time the shooting started, they risked having only a body to take back home.
He focused on staying quiet while the crate he was in bumped down the loading chute and swallowed a groan when he finally hit the bottom. There wasn’t much light that he could see in the pantry, just enough to highlight the edges of the other crates. His skin was crawling with the struggle of being trapped up in a tiny space.
River gave the signal, a succession of light taps, letting them know they could move. “It’s clear. You can breathe now, Jayne.”
Letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, he twisted enough to reach the jimmied latch and open the top. The air in the storage hold didn’t smell much better than the synthesized onion packets but he could stretch his legs without setting off one of his grenades. He rolled his eyes at the glare from Mal when his holster scraped against the side of the crate; weren’t anyone around to hear it. If he’d had his way, he’d be strapped down with more than just a couple pistols and extra rounds, but he barely fit in the crate even without weapons.
While everyone else tried to get ready and stay quiet, River pressed her ear up to the storeroom door. “Two guards. Not watching the door, be gone soon. One stays behind.”
“Right. We gotta keep us being here to ourselves long as we can,” Mal whispered, looking intently toward Jayne with a gaze probably supposed to mean something.
“Go now,” River ordered softly.
Jayne was out the door almost before Mal and Simon had opened it enough for him to slip through. True to her word, the remaining guard was leaning against the wall with his back to the storeroom. It was a piece of luck that Niska didn’t feel like ponying up the cash to keep his guards in full armor. The unsuspecting guard when down smooth as butter once his head was facing the wrong way. Most noise was from the man’s boots scraping over the floor as Jayne dragged the body back into the storeroom.
The trap was easy enough to set into motion; the guard’s basic uniform fit Mal well enough and once his companion returned, his fit Simon nearly perfectly. That left two unconscious men behind the crates and Jayne and River still in their own clothes. He bit his tongue to keep from complaining out loud as they waited for the Mal and Simon to return with uniforms that would do.
“She’s alive,” River said suddenly, pulling her head away from the wall. “Locked herself in. They haven’t been able to rewire the door.”
Jayne swallowed the itchy feeling lump that seemed to appear suddenly in this throat. Zoe was alive. And she was safe for the time being if River was right about the door. All that mattered was that she was alive. “You got a read on where she is?”
River shook her head slightly. “Distances are fuzzy. The mind doesn’t have depth perception. Only one eye.”
“I’ll take your word on that one.”
“It’s them.” She took a step back only a moment before the door slid open a notch and then all the way, letting Mal and Simon back into the storeroom.
Mal tossed a pile of loose clothing toward Jayne. “We got a general idea of where she is and time to get to her. This gotta go smooth, Jayne, or we lose her.” He had that meaningful look again, but Jayne was too busy pulling on the stolen uniform to pay no mind to whatever River-like brain reading feat Mal expected of him.
Progress was slow. He did his part; kept the metal bits from hitting or brushing against the wall or anything else might make a bit of sound. Footfalls quiet even with sturdy boots and his breathing shallow enough to hang quiet in the air. He crossed things off the list, each line being something that might give them away and cost him Zoe. The wording of that particular thought jarred and stuck in his brain like a wrench caught in a gear. He’d thought about Mal falling to pieces, but he hadn’t actually put to words the gnawing at his gut that was only fixing to get worse if they didn’t get her back.
A hand on his arm, soft and light, startled him out of his confusion. He glanced back to see River watching him, her head tilted in that way of hers. “Wind’s changing.”
Mal glared at the both of them. “What’d she say?”
Her eyes widened for a moment and then she shook her head. “No time to run.”
The muscles in Mal’s jaw set hard. He nodded once and straightened up against the wall. After sucking in a deep breath, he motioned for them to follow before taking a wide step around the corner. A chorus of magazines locking in and bullets sliding into chambers greeted them. No voices; not even a whisper. Within moments, there were guards behind on both sides of them.
“Welcome back, Captain Reynolds.” Niska was smiling that infernally cruel smile of his. “I had hoped you would join us. To whom do I owe thanks for this happy reunion?”
River pulled away all sudden-like and stared at Jayne like he’d just grown another head off his shoulder. She didn’t say a word and she didn’t need to, the look on Mal’s face said everything he needed to know. Even if he could convince them he hadn’t betrayed them, he’d still get thrown out the damn airlock soon as Mal got him alone.
“Wait a gorram second--”
“Was Zoe part of your plan? What’d you get for her?” Mal snarled at him. His face was turning an ugly sort of red and the next thing Jayne knew, he was hard up against the wall with a bullet lodged in the armor under his shirt. The fabric around the bullet hole smoked a little, smelling of burnt fiber. Two guards had Mal restrained and others were in the process of disarming everyone else.
“Got your wish, Jayne. Should be happier,” River said coldly.
Jayne opened his mouth to say something, anything, that would make sense in the matter of convincing them it hadn’t been him. He knew it weren’t none of the crew so it had to have been that Counselor woman of Inara’s. Whatever he might have said was stopped dead in its tracks.
It took doing but Mal managed to untangle himself from the guards long enough to growl one last threat. “You speak another word and there won’t be a place in the ‘verse can hide you from me.”
Once the others were led away, Niska fixed his beady eyes on him. “A man’s reputation is heavier than gold, yet it is most fleeting. Your reputation is known to me, Mr. Cobb. There is perhaps a place for you among my men, should you prove yourself a man of your reputation.”
“And how exactly would I be going about doing that?” he asked as he grudgingly surrendered his weapons.
“Perhaps you know the location of Captain Reynold’s ship.”
***
The sound of voices woke Zoe from a restless sleep. Shouldn’t be hearing nothing but the breathing of the Skyplex as it spun about and wrested life from the dead of space. Her wrist was still aching plenty and the throbbing in the side of her head hadn’t abated with sleep. She swallowed down the dizzy nausea, forcing her mind to go still and listen to what it was that had woken her.
Voices. Tinny and far away sounding, like whispers through the walls, with bits of crackling static amidst the garbled words. It seemed to be coming the intercom panel near the door.
Stiff-jointed and sore, she felt her way back to the door and leaned closer in an attempt to make out the sounds. Men’s voices were all she could make out. The wires from her previous attempt to lock the door were still exposed. Experimentally, she reached out and brushed a finger over one of the wires. Static popped and then mutters collapsed into intelligible words.
“…found the ship alright, weren’t nobody on it though.”
“It is of no matter.”
Her hand pulled away involuntarily when she recognized Niska’s voice and the voices dissolved back into the jumbled mess of interference. Carefully, she tried the next wire over and heard what sounded like the mess hall, voices and clanging metal. Most of the wires did nothing. One of them filled the room with screaming; she winced and let her prison lapse back into flickering silence. Weren’t nothing she could do from inside the cell other than listen to fractured pieces of what was going on around her, but that was better than nothing.
She practiced moving from wire to wire until she could reach for the particular one she wanted without hesitation. Her hope was to hear something useful, something that might give her reason to believe Mal had come for her. The next voice she recognized was so incredible that she nearly moved on to the next wire before her brain told her hand to stop there and wait.
“Not bad for a floating hunk of metal.” There was no mistaking Jayne Cobb, especially when he was sounding ill at ease and more than a little paranoid. “You got your own bunk?”
“Ain’t much, but it serves, if’n you get what I’m meaning. Got our own supply of girls, pretty as you like.”
Zoe kept pressing the wire until the voices went out of range and any chance of an explanation as to why Jayne was getting friendly with the locals was lost to her. Couldn’t have been Jayne, weren’t no reason for it being Jayne. Unless, of course, Niska had offered him enough money to turn on them. Then again, she didn’t figure even Jayne was stupid enough to believe any offer of Niska’s. Intelligence aside, his healthy sense of self-preservation would have kept him from betraying Mal.
Wire after wire, she methodically scanned the channels until her head was spinning too much to stay on her feet. Easing down onto the floor, she gingerly prodded the gash on the side of her head. Must’ve gotten hit harder than she thought for the room to be spinning like it was. The thought occurred to her that Niska might just be aiming to leave her in that cell until she rotted.
Once her head had calmed somewhat, she shifted onto her knees so that she could reach into the control box without standing up. Forehead pressed against the cool metal, she started cycling through the wires again. At the very least, she might be able to hear what Niska had in mind for her.
Bits and pieces of the disembodied conversations kept sounding like Jayne until the conviction that it must be him settled into her gut. He didn’t sound like he was there against his will and, other than being a mite grumpier than normal, there was no indication this was anything other than a typical day for him. If Jayne was here, where was Mal? Where was the crew? None of it made an ounce of sense to her. They’d been to hell and back, all of them; Jayne had hauled her back from being ripped to pieces by Reavers. Weren’t no way he’d turn on them.
The thought unsettled her more than she conjured it should have, digging in under her skin and prickling like a spur she couldn’t scratch out. There’d been more than a time or two she’d thought better about bringing Jayne on board Serenity, but now she’d be hard pressed to imagine it without his grousing and bone-headed commentary. Weren’t a lot of folk in the ‘verse saw everything as simple as Jayne and there was advantage in having someone like that around. Not to mention he was a damn fine shot, which was worth near his weight in this line of work. She’d trusted him to have her back on more than a few jobs.
Maybe that’s why hearing his voice had her all stirred up. That maybe it’d just been a ship and a job to him, when Serenity and her crew were all Zoe had in the ‘verse. Home and family weren’t easy to come by.
A spark inside the exposed panel startled her and she pulled her hand back quickly. Someone was outside the door. She’d been too wrapped up in her thoughts to hear the footsteps. Another spark flashed between wires and she heard irritated cussing through the door.
“Gorram it, Zoe, unlock this thing and let me in.” an ever-familiar voice whispered forcefully.
“Jayne?”
“Ain’t got no time to explain. You gotta let me in ‘fore the guard gets back and wonders why I’m talking to the door.”
She dug through the wires until she found the loose connection, praying she was right about Jayne as she plugged it back in. The metallic thud of the lock sounded again and the door slid open. Sure enough, Jayne was standing in the hallway outside, but rather than give her a weapon, he tossed her a bundle of clothing he’d had stuffed under his shirt and told her to change.
“Jayne,” she started.
“Just hurry up. And don’t go locking the door again. I’ll be back soon as I can.”
The door hissed shut again, leaving her standing in the darkness alone and bewildered. Frowning at the strangeness of events, she slowly untangled the fabric and tried to make out in the darkness what it was he’d given her. Bits of the fabric fluttered over her fingers soft as butterfly wings while other parts felt stiff and structural. It took a bit to figure out which way it might go and once she did, she was none to happy to realize it was a dress. How was she supposed to be useful in a dress?
Muttering under her breath about how he was going to pay for this, she struggled to slough off her own clothing and climb into the far too delicate garment. After tugging at the fabric for a few minutes, she realized the flimsy loops at her side weren’t actually meant to go over her shoulders at all. She kept her boots on, refusing to abandon the last bit of sensible clothing she had.
By the time Jayne returned, whispering loudly that it was him before he opened the door, she was standing with her arms crossed and her temper raging to match the throbbing in her head.
“You ready to…” Jayne trailed off as he looked her up and down. “You ain’t never wore one of those before, have you?”
Now that there was light enough to see, she looked down and gaped at the atrocity masquerading as clothing. The butter colored fabric of the skirt wouldn’t have held up against a sneeze and it was cut straight down in several places, letting the cold air wrap around her bare legs. All structure was in the thicker, rust colored bodice that went from hip to bust with the rigidity of steel and there were bits of the filmy fabric popping out of the top like some sort of ridiculous flower. “Where exactly did you get this, Jayne?”
“That ain’t important. You tied it up all wrong.” He reached for one of the straps dangling at her side.
“You do and that arm won’t be coming back,” she warned him coldly. “I don’t suppose you got more to this plan?”
He scowled at her. “Rescuing folk ain’t really part of my job description, now is it? But I got a way to get you safe and then you can convince the captain I ain’t the one sold them down the river.”
“Jayne.”
“Come on.” He looked at her with exasperation, as though not sure what to do with her. “We gotta do something to make you less…Zoe-like. You ain’t never gonna pass for a one of the whores.”
“I’m heartbroken,” she said dryly. Since the other option was staying in the cell, she followed him down the hallway.
The sound of voices made her tense and she was grateful Jayne stopped before rounding the corner. His brow was furrowed with concentration and she could almost hear him thinking as he tried to figure out what to do. Before she could open her mouth to tell him he should have brought her a weapon instead of a dress, he reached out and tugged the band out of her hair so it tumbled down over her shoulders and into her eyes. With two quick swipes, he cut through the laces of her boots with a thin knife that seemed to appear from nowhere. He was pulling her right boot off before she could even lift her foot and, once he was done, he tossed both shoes into the nearest garbage receptacle.
“Jayne--” her protest stopped in her throat when he wrapped an arm around her legs and stood up. She gritted her teeth and swore to maim him later as he slung her over his shoulder like a sack of protein mix. Palms flat against his back, she managed to keep the nausea at bay by focusing all her attention on slow, shallow breaths.
A chorus of whistles and jeers greeted them as they rounded the corner. Jayne laughed and exchanged lewd comments with the men, even slapping her ass for emphasis when one of them mentioned her legs. She dug her fingernails into his side, satisfied to feel him wince. With her head down her thick curls bounced and swayed with each step, completely hiding her face from the room. It irked her greatly that they could see nearly all the rest of her.
She heard a door slide shut and beep as it locked. Grimacing as he set her down on her feet, she swayed unsteadily and nearly toppled over as she tried to clear the stars from her vision.
“You alright?”
“Got hit on the head is all.” She reached for the dried blood and swollen bump on the side of her head, pushing her hair aside gently. “Do you have any antiseptic?”
He held up a half-empty bottle of amber colored liquid. “Just liquor.”
“That’ll do.”
“Doc’s on board somewhere along with River and Mal. Ain’t sure where they’re keeping Mal. Not exactly free to roam about myself.”
“I’m interested to hear why it is you’re not with them,” she said carefully, watching his every move.
“Ain’t what you think, that’s for sure.” He frowned, hesitating a little as he spun off the cap on the bottle and liberally doused the rag in his hand. Tugging her over to the narrow bunk, he sat her down and lifted her hair away from the bump. “This might sting a little.”
She winced involuntarily as the alcohol bit into her wound and increased the throbbing by tenfold. “What happened?”
“I weren’t the one told that bastard we were coming. But River looked at me all funny and then Mal went and jumped to the wrong gorram conclusions.” He continued dabbing at the dried blood, much more gently than she would have thought possible. “Hell, I’m making this up as I go. You know I don’t got it in me to do nothing complicated. Even figuring out this far is making my brain wanna come out my ears. Ain’t never been one for all that thinking.”
Smiling a little in spite of herself, she nodded. “I believe you, Jayne.”
“Why’d I agree to get stuffed in a crate with those onion things if I were just gonna turn on everybody? Don’t make no sense…you what?”
“I believe you,” she repeated. “Though I’m not seeing how making me look like a whore is going to help rescue the Captain and the others.”
With a final dab, he finished cleaning her wound and took at seat across from her. The room was narrow and even with his back against the opposite wall his knees were up against the side of the bunk. It made for closer quarters than she would’ve liked, given that she was nearer to naked than she’d been with a man in quite some time. And this was Jayne, who probably didn’t think she’d noticed his gaze dropping down to the too-low line of the bodice a little more than was warranted.
“Niska don’t think women are of much account,” Jayne told her matter-of-factly. It was almost comical to hear those words coming from his lips, particularly given the serious and earnest manner in which they were delivered. “So there ain’t more than one guard on the girls and from what I can tell, more than a bit of changing up the line. That means no one ain’t gonna look twice at a new face. They got a man keeps track of their hours and the like, but won’t be no trouble for you to put the fear in him. Probably piss his pants if’n you put a blade between his--”
“I get the picture,” Zoe interrupted. “Not seeing how that helps us none.”
“Way I see it, Niska ain’t never gonna think to look for you there. No offense, Zoe, you’re a right fine woman and all, but you wouldn’t make much of a whore.”
“I reckon you’re actually attempting to be complimentary with all that but I ain’t gonna sit and do nothing. Last time Niska had the Captain, he killed him more’n a few times and cut off his ear just for fun.”
“Well, that’s where it gets all complex-like.” Jayne shifted uneasily and looked away from her guiltily. “Had to tell them where we left Serenity to get them to trust me some, now they got the ship docked. Weren’t no one on it though, so Inara and Kaylee must’ve got away no trouble. Captain warned ‘em it might come to that. Thing is, I can’t figure anyone else but that Counselor of Inara’s being the one telling Niska we were coming. Might be she and Kaylee flew right into a trap.”
The room seemed to chill slightly at the thought of Niska getting his hands on the ship and the possibility that both Inara and Kaylee were also in danger. She left the crew for a minute and all hell broke loose. “Can you get me onto Serenity?”
“Now you’re seeing what I’m thinking.” Jayne grinned at her and she was very glad that wasn’t literally true. “Since the girls need to be convenient, they’re right next to the docks and once you get in with them, should be easy to slip out and get on board the ship. But I got better than that too. Once you’re in, you’ll be able to get to River. Heard talk they were gonna see about prettying her up a bit. She’s young so more’n a few’ll be interested. She’s playing all docile-like now, probably luring them into one of those false senses of security.”
Zoe nodded. “What about the Captain and Simon?”
“Doc’s easy enough, they just got him locked up. Ain’t good sense torturin’ a man with skills like that.”
“They’ll probably use River as leverage, convince him that if he works for them it’ll be best for her.” She suppressed the shudder that wriggled up her spine at the thought of what Niska probably had in mind for River.
“He’ll play along, cause he knows River ain’t the one needs worrying over. That’ll keep him alive long enough for me to spring him. Problem is Mal.” Jayne frowned again, rubbing the back of his hand against his chin as he thought. “Niska’s probably keeping him close and getting to Niska’s a mite tricky.”
It was hard to block out the images of Mal from their previous run in with Niska. Harder still to force out the tumbling thoughts of Wash, battered and bloody and hell-bent on going back for Mal. The lump in her throat made it hard to breathe. She’d managed to keep all those thoughts out of her mind while she was locked in that dark cell, but now she had to struggle to focus on the present. Right now, Mal needed her at the top of her game.
“Won’t hurt to have River with us when we go after him,” she suggested.
“We won’t have much time once they realize she’s gone missing and Niska’ll double the guard around Mal. Only advantage we have is that Niska still thinks he’s got all of us that matter. Guard’s light on the ship; a couple men, easy to distract, and no more’ll be coming ‘less you make a ruckus.” Jayne was still frowning but his expression seemed to set solid before he nodded. “Once you get in with the girls, I’ll spring the Doc. I’ll be bringing him back to Serenity.”
“River and I can hold the ship. Don’t suppose you know where we can get some weapons?”
“They ain’t started stripping her down yet so once you’re in, you’re armed.” His broad chest rose slowly as he took a deep breath, something she didn’t recall ever seeing Jayne do before. Reaching down, he pulled the thin blade he’d used to cut her laces out of his boot and held it out to her. “Won’t do much unless it’s close range. Good for slitting throats if need be.”
“Jayne…”
“Take it. I can hit harder than you.” He grinned at her before standing up. “Now pretend like I just sexed you real good as we’re going out. Maybe giggle a little or something.”
She blinked at him, still trying to figure out where exactly she was going to hide the knife. “You want me to giggle?” Settling for the obvious, she dropped it down between her breasts and tried not to think about what Wash would have said.
“Just…I don’t know…pretend I’m,” he stopped, a bit of color appearing in his cheeks. “Hell, pretend I’m whoever you wouldn’t mind bedding, don’t matter to me none.” Despite the protest, she heard what might have been a little bit of embarrassed disappointment in his voice.
Feeling more than a little embarrassed herself; she got up and wrapped an arm around his waist. With his arm around her back, it was easy to press solidly against his side and bow her head against his chest enough that her hair once again would hide her face. She caught a fistful of his shirt with her free hand and cleared her throat. Oddly enough, he smelled clean, something she wouldn’t rightly have expected. “How’s this?”
“Ain’t bad. Try to walk more girly-like. Sway your hips a little,” he suggested gruffly.
“If you slap my ass again, I will break every bone in your hand.”
“Right. Now try giggling.”
She grimaced at the very thought. “I am not going to giggle.”
“You ain’t even tried it.”
“Jayne.” Partly to ignore him and partly because it would be a dead giveaway, she carefully unwrapped the torn cloth from her wrist. It still pinched and ached as she wiggled her fingers but she reckoned she’d be able to hold a gun.
“All right,” he grumbled. “But it ain’t gonna be as believable.”
“Not as unbelievable as the fact that we’ve only been in here for twenty minutes.” She managed not to laugh at the somewhat strangled look on his face. Before his ego got involved and he suggested they stay there longer, she cleared her throat again. “The longer we wait, the longer the Captain gets tortured.”
He blinked at her a couple of times before shaking his head like a dog trying to dry its fur. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Luck was with them on the way out. Either the rest of the men had taken Jayne’s cue and disappeared with whores of their own or they were actually doing their jobs. They passed by the mess hall and no one gave them more than a passing glance. Still, by the time Jayne stopped, she felt like there were a hundred eyes boring into her back.
“This is it. Through that door and then to the right. Serenity’s up ahead.”
She glanced around and recognized the lead-in to the docking area from before. “I remember.”
“I’ll be back soon as I can. If something goes wrong, sit tight and wait for me.” He ushered her through the door. “You tell River it weren’t me. Don’t know why she thought it were anyway, she’s the one supposed to be a reader and all.”
“Go,” she whispered forcefully.
Once the door closed, she felt alone and exposed again. She was surprised the girls wearing these ridiculous outfits didn’t spend their whole time catching cold. The floor beneath her feet was cold and hard, but she figured whores probably didn’t wear boots. It’d be none too soon to get back into sensible clothes again.
A turn to the right opened up into a wide lounge that looked about like every other backwater whorehouse she’d ever seen. Not that she’d seen all that many, but they seemed to be the same kind of place. Couches and cushions by the dozens; lots of dark fabrics with pretty patterns that’d stand out in a crowd like a brightly plumed bird surrounded by rats. All that sparkle in the dimly lit area had a dizzying effect, like falling out into the black might feel.
There were a few girls remaining, looking bored or strung out on something, but not a one of them looked like River. The one guard was too busy eying up a particular blonde to give her much notice. She tried to be casual as she started around the room in search of the man who might know she didn’t belong there. There was an office toward the back with a proper desk in the center.
Sitting on the desk and swinging her legs like she didn’t have a care in the world was River Tam. She smiled serenely when she saw Zoe and held a finger up to her lips before pointing toward the desk. “The mouse is hiding,” she whispered.
“There’s a mouse?” Zoe asked softly.
“Hello? Is someone there?” another voice asked desperately. “Help! This crazy girl is threatening to hurt me!”
“She don’t look threatening to me,” Zoe answered, smiling at River.
“Just wait ‘til she starts talking about what your insides look like.”
“Why don’t you go take care of that nice guard outside, River? I’ll see what I can do about the rodent problem.”
River hopped off the desk and sashayed past Zoe, humming lightly and winking on her way out. They’d dressed her in something very similar to Zoe’s dress, done in pale blue and white. She had managed to keep hold of her boots though, which convinced Zoe to make Jayne buy her a new pair the next time they hit Persephone.
The man cowering under the desk looked every bit the mouse and thoroughly terrified by River’s peculiar brand of creepifying behavior. Zoe smiled tightly as she bent down to peer under the desk.
“Is she gone?” he asked fretfully.
“I’d recommend staying right where you are for a pace. Gonna be much safer here than out there. Unless, of course, you’re aiming to get a good look at your insides. In fact, if I see you again after I leave this room, I’ll be cutting you open myself. No sounding the alarm, no calling for help. Understand?”
His face paled and he nodded rapidly. “I won’t move a muscle, I swear.”
“Good. Then I won’t have reason to kill you.”
She left him where he was, not anxious to kill anyone who didn’t have it coming. When she turned around, River was still smiling like a sphinx in the middle of the room while the other girls cowered behind the couches. The guard was collapsed in a heap against the wall. Zoe made quick work of disarming him and trussing him up. It felt good to have a gun in her hand again.
“We got no quarrel with you girls,” she assured them.
“Doesn’t mean we won’t kill you and eat you,” River added ominously.
Zoe reconsidered the idea of giving River a weapon, not that the girl actually needed anything other than herself. “River, honey, we ain’t in the business of eating people, remember? Why don’t you all go back into that room?”
Once they’d shepherded all the girls into the office, Zoe shut the door and slammed the butt of the rifle into the controls to lock it shut. Now the clock had started ticking. A smashed lock and unconscious man weren’t things likely to go unnoticed. She and River hauled the man behind a pile of cushions and hid him as best they could. From there, it was easy to slip silently out of the lounge area and head toward the docks. The dress fabric continued to be a source of annoyance, billowing out around her legs with even the tiniest of movements.
“He got the right size,” River observed.
“I suppose that’s some kinda miracle.” She realized that River didn’t seem particularly upset toward Jayne and hadn’t made any attempt to convince her that he was the one who betrayed them. “You wanna tell me whose brilliant idea this was?”
“The Captain’s.”
Zoe sighed, wishing she could be a little more surprised by the insanity of it all. “And when were you planning on telling Jayne?”
“When he’s played his part.”
“Did the Captain have a plan that didn’t involve getting himself tortured again?”
“That part was less clear.”
“Naturally.” When she peeked around the corner, she couldn’t see anyone in the guard’s station and the docking doors were wide open. Cautiously, she slid along the wall and risked a look inside. Serenity’s airlock door was open, the ramp was down, and the cargo bay appeared to be empty. There was still no sign of Niska’s men, which put Zoe on a knife’s edge because there should have been at least one of the bastards guarding the ship.
She decided it was better to be ambushed on Serenity than in the hallway and motioned River forward. With the inner door closed behind them, she allowed herself a moment of relief when she set foot inside the ship again. Just as Jayne said, nothing had been taken off yet. Even the cargo they were supposed to be delivering was untouched.
“Kaylee,” River called softly. “It’s River. And Zoe.”
Tousled honey brown hair appeared over top of one of the crates before Kaylee bounded out and pulled them to the side where they couldn’t be seen from the hallway. “Zoe, you’re safe! Had us all mighty worried.”
“Kaylee? Weren’t you s’posed to not be on the ship?”
“We’ve been hiding,” Inara said as she emerged from behind one of the hidden panels. “You’d think they’d at least tap on the walls, this being a smuggling ship.”
“Then this whole thing was a set-up.” Zoe gave them all a hard look. “You do realize Jayne ain’t gonna be happy when he finds out.”
Inara shrugged. “He’ll get over it.”
“Did you get tortured any?” Kaylee asked, wide-eyed with worry. “You look awful pretty in that dress though. Ain’t that thoughtful of Jayne?”
“This…thing…was part of the plan?”
“Well, no, but Jayne’s resourceful like that. We figured he’d find something. Didn’t have no idea he’d pick something so mêilì though. Brings out your eyes.” Kaylee smiled as though that made everything all right with the ‘verse.
Zoe changed the subject to more comfortable topics. “And the guards?”
“Unconscious inside the security room.” Kaylee beamed even brighter at the chance to explain the rest of the plan. “The Captain knows I’m useless with a gun so he had Simon rig up something we could attach to one of ‘Nara’s arrows. She shot right through the door once they opened it and put ‘em all to sleep real easy like. Never even had time to hit the alarm.”
“Uh-huh.” Zoe glanced at Inara, who also seemed pleased with her part of the plan. “And how exactly was the Captain expecting to get out of here?”
“Oh! That’s the best part,” Kaylee began.
“We’ve got company,” River interrupted quickly. Without further explanation, she took off toward the stairs and bounded up them two at a time.
“That’s our cue.” Inara pulled her bow and arrow out of the storage compartment and settled in beside a stack of crates, drawing an arrow against the string. “You might want to get ready. Jayne usually manages to attract a crowd.”
Zoe found a spot she could shoot from that had cover while Kaylee scurried off toward the engine room. Her brain was still trying to comprehend the bizarre plan Mal had hatched. This was insane even by his standards and reminded her none too comfortingly about their last run in with Saffron or Yolanda or whatever the hu li jing was calling herself at the moment.
It was laughable to watch Jayne come through door, one large hand wrapped around Simon’s collar in a death grip. Looked like there was no way he was going to be letting go of the Doc any time soon, even if it meant dragging him bodily onto Serenity. Even more strange was the fact that he wasn’t firing at pursuing men behind him. Zoe kept her finger on the trigger just in case Niska’s goons were more than their usual slow.
“I can walk on my own!” Simon protested loudly. It fell on deaf ears, his boots scraping over the metal as he tried to find purchase on the cargo bay ramp.
“You’re too rutting slow,” Jayne barked back at him before relinquishing his hold on Simon’s shirt. “You coulda stayed in that piss-hole. I ain’t caring for this whole idea of going about rescuing people ain’t grateful to be rescued.”
“I wouldn’t have needed to be rescued if--”
Jayne stepped forward menacingly and glared down at Simon. “I don’t fancy getting blamed for stuff ain’t my fault neither.”
“Jayne, stand down,” Zoe spoke up before it could escalate into something that might draw attention from a guard who might perchance be waking up from the drug-induced sleep. Not to mention she hadn’t any idea about how exactly Mal was going to get rescued in this cockamamie plan of his. She wouldn’t be surprised it he came running through the doors buck naked; in fact, she half expected to be waking up back in her cell any moment and realizing this was all a fevered dream.
“Zoe, are you injured?” Simon stopped, his head rolling to the side as he looked her up and down. “You look very…lovely.”
“Where’d you come from Inara? You ain’t s’posed to be here.” Jayne looked back and forth between her and Simon suspiciously. “I’m getting this sneaky feeling y’all know something I don’t.”
“Nothing you need to be concerning yourself with, Jayne.” Mal’s voice startled just about everybody and Zoe nearly shot him for his trouble well before he reached the top of the ramp. Shouting echoed in the hallway, muted by the airlock doors. He had that impish smile she’d learned could only mean they were about to run for their lives as he hit the button to close the cargo bay. As if on cue, the engine fired up and Serenity lurched, ready to leave the Skyplex behind as soon as the door closed.
Jayne frowned harder at Mal. “This some kinda joke? Cause I ain’t laughing.”
“It’s a mighty funny story--”
“Sir?” Zoe interrupted, suddenly realizing what looked different about the Captain. “Are you wearing lipstick?”
“That’s the funniest part actually,” Mal answered, scratching at the back of his head as he leaned forward enough to get a good look at Zoe’s legs. “Though now I’m wondering a bit about the parts of the story I don’t know.”
“Got a few questions need answering myself,” Jayne piped up.
Inara sheathed her arrow and dropped the bow to her side, stepping out from behind the crates with a bemused expression on her face. “Can this wait until we’re out of range? I’d rather not give Niska another chance to ambush us.”
“I don’t reckon he’ll be doing any more ambushing. Won’t be doing much of anything in fact.” Mal smiled but didn’t elaborate further before heading for the stairs and presumably the cockpit.
“Am I the only one don’t know what that’s s’posed to mean?” Jayne demanded.
“You ain’t the only one, Jayne,” Zoe answered, staring after the Captain and wondering when the whole crew had lost their damn minds. “Sure as shooting you ain’t the only one.”
***
Zoe noticed Jayne was behaving in an odd manner after he’d poked his head into the galley the sixth time but hadn’t made so much as a crack about the fact that she’d burned the soup.
She reckoned once the air handlers managed to get all the smoke out of the room, the rest of the crew would return with jibes already planned out. No matter the ribbing she got, there was no way she’d admit the reason why she’d gotten distracted and let the pot burn dry. There’d be no end of it if any of the crew knew it had something to do with the very impractical dress she kept hidden in her bunk. Nothing wrong with keeping a souvenir of being held prisoner by Niska and living to tell about it.
It hadn’t taken Jayne long to forgive the crew for playing him. True to form, once he’d gotten the explanation of what had gone on, he’d been pleased with the fact that he’d had an integral part in the plot. He was near getting annoying with how proud he was that he’d been right useful.
“Something on your mind, Jayne?” she asked after the seventh time he peered into the room. She was up to her elbows in scouring the blackened pot so she didn’t pay too much mind to him finally deciding to come in.
He tried to peer into the pot as he got closer to the table. “You got any that didn’t burn?”
“Few pieces here and there ain’t black as the rest, but none of it edible.”
“Gorram shame. Your soup ain’t half bad.” Even without the lure of food, he took a seat at the table and settled in to watch her scrub.
“You looking for something to do?” She offered him the scouring pad.
“Ain’t my mess, I ain’t cleaning it up,” he snorted, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Then as much as I appreciate the moral support, I’m sure there’s something needs doing on this ship.” She may as well not have said anything at all, since he didn’t seem to be getting the hint. Rather than get testy with him, she decided to keep scrubbing and reckoned he’d eventually get bored with watching her.
“You think Mal actually…you know.” He gave her a meaningful look.
“Actually might have something for you to do?”
“Nah. I mean that goodnight kiss stuff. It only work on lips? Or you reckon Mal just had to get it on him?”
“Conjure it just has to go on any bit of skin is all.” The mental image of Mal getting anywhere near enough to Niska to transfer the sleep-inducing compound wasn’t one she wanted to dwell on. He hadn’t elaborated on how exactly he’d done that neither.
She had to admit there was a brilliant insanity to the idea of using a hooker’s trick on a ruthless crime lord. That they’d counted on Jayne to merely be Jayne was possibly the most brilliantly stupid part of all. Of course, Mal hadn’t had much of an answer when asked what would have happened if Jayne had done different, but she’d learned long ago not to look too hard at Mal’s plans either before or after the mission. Crazy as they always were, he seemed to have an instinctive feel for how the ‘verse was going to twist out from under him.
Not to say that enigmatic smile of Mal’s wasn’t getting mighty irritating. Particularly when it was his only answer to her asking what he would’ve done if Jayne hadn’t come a-rescuing her.
“You gonna make more? Since this attempt didn’t count for much.” Jayne nodded to the pot she was cleaning.
“Might be doing so. ‘Less the others kick me out to protect the rest of the pots and pans.”
“Then you’re gonna be on your feet a pace.”
She paused in her scrubbing and looked up at him suspiciously. “You got some reason to be asking after my feet?”
“Just reckoned you might want more comfortable shoes,” he answered gruffly. He looked a mite uncomfortable as he reached down and picked up a box she hadn’t noticed him carrying in. It thunked down on the table with the sound of something good and heavy.
“Jayne?”
He stiffened a little, his arms back to being crossed over his chest. “Not apologizing or nothing, since those men never woulda believed you were one of the girls if’n you were wearing real shoes.”
Tossing the scouring pad into the pot, she set it aside and tugged the box top loose. Set inside were a pair of black utility boots still shining from fresh polish. She pulled one out and took a closer look. They had thick, sturdy soles with extra cushion on the inside and around the ankle to add support. She gave the laces a tug, pleased with the ease at which they slid through the eyelets and the strength of the woven fiber cord. Once the boot passed her inspection, she took out the other and set about putting them on.
She gave them a couple test strides, flexing her toes and ankles to get a feel for how they moved. “They’re a right good fit, Jayne.”
He grinned at her, obviously pleased. “Mama always said I got a good eye.”
“That explains the mystery of how it was you found me a dress fit just as well as these boots.” She managed not to smile at the embarrassed, and slightly panicked, look on his face as he tried to come up with an answer that wasn’t going to cause trouble. “It’s alright, Jayne. You done good and I ain’t one to quarrel with you over the particulars.”
“Didja keep it? The dress.”
“Got no need for a dress like that,” she answered quickly, hoping he didn’t noticed the catch in her voice.
The corner of his lips tipped up in an unrepentantly suggestive half-smile. “It’d look mighty fine with those boots.”
There were half a dozen answers waiting to be tossed out and even more reasons backed up behind them as to why he wasn’t ever going to be seeing that much of her skin again. From a scarcely veiled threat to a sincere admonishment about behavior onboard the ship and every degree between the two extremes; she had more than enough retorts that would remind him she was taken. It all stuck fast in her throat because Wash was gone and she wasn’t taken anymore.
His smile fell slowly into a rather worrisome seriousness that he usually reserved for Vera. “I know I ain’t nothing like Wash--”
“Got nothing to do with Wash. I had something special with him and that won’t ever change, won’t ever be something I forget.” She returned to the table and sat down, taking a deep breath as she tried to sort through her tangled thoughts. “But there’s no point in not getting on with my life neither. Just takes time and lots of it.”
“I ain’t going nowhere.”
She smiled because she didn’t have an answer beyond that. Maybe that’s why Mal just kept smiling, because he didn’t have answers to give.
Jayne cleared his throat and shifted in his chair, nodding toward the scorched pot. “You need help with that?”
“Won’t say no.”
He reached for the scouring pad, still watching her intently. “Ain’t asking for more than that.”
Fetching another scouring pad and a pan to collect the bits of soup-turned-charcoal, she began chipping away at the opposite side of the pot. He wasn’t Wash, that was for sure. She reckoned there wasn’t another Wash in the ‘verse, might be there never would be again. But nothing said he needed to be anything other than Jayne. She ducked her head to the hide her smile. It felt strange to be sitting across from him, working on something together. It was a feeling she decided she could get used to.
“You really threw it out?” he asked.
“Course not. Where else am I gonna get a dress like that?” she said as seriously as she could manage.
The sound of his laughter filled the room, echoing back and forth between the walls and bringing the others out of their hiding places to look in and see what was going on. She shook her head a little and kept scrubbing. Incorrigible as he was, there was no point in trying to change him and she reckoned there was no point in wanting to.
There was nothing wrong with Jayne just being Jayne.
Author: Aeneas
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: PG (language, implied violence)
Summary: Zoe is captured by an old enemy and Mal’s plan for getting her back all depends on Jayne…
Spoilers: Post-Serenity
Pairings: Gen. Slight Jayne/Zoe implied
Disclaimer: All characters (including the ship) are property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, FOX, etc.
Notes: Written as a back-up gift for agilebrit in the random_urges Rare Pairings ficathon. Request was for post-BDM Jayne/Zoe and a gift.
Malcolm Reynolds knew a weapon when he saw one.
River didn’t click like the sound of a bullet sliding into the barrel when she was cocked, but she was primed and ready to fire nonetheless. He knew it the second he saw her in that bar on Beaumonde, had counted on it when he led them all into the hare-brained plan that nearly cost all their lives. And she weren’t the only of his crew that he didn’t always look to as a living, breathing human being with fragile skin that bled when cut. Jayne was a machine or creature of stone, made and bred to violence. Even Zoe.
Especially Zoe.
There were times he forgot that she weren’t just a beautiful, efficient weapon. She was more than that, so much more; his right hand man, his second in command, his only constant in a world of change. Zoe was career military; she could’ve gone where the money was, but she followed him out of Serenity Valley and made sure he didn’t do too much stupid.
The pilot’s chair was empty and silent in front of him and he hated that it was empty, hated the patched up hole in it that shouldn’t be. But right this moment, he was glad of it. Glad that Wash wasn’t sitting there waiting to be told that the job was done and they’d gotten paid enough to buy fuel.
Only Zoe wasn’t coming back this time.
“Mal?” Inara asked softly.
He hadn’t heard her come in and more than anything he didn’t want to face her questions. Didn’t want to see the look on her face when he told her that he’d failed. He’d been helpless; let Zoe slip through his fingers and into a hell he couldn’t bring himself to imagine.
“Jayne’s asking for you. Well, he’s shouting actually, and making it very difficult for Simon to work on him. Perhaps, if you...” she trailed off in that way of hers that meant he was supposed to fill in the blanks himself.
“Doc’s got restraints that work.”
“Maybe if you were there. It wouldn’t hurt.”
Her voice was soft and she was soft; even across the room and with his back turned he could see everything about her that was soft and smooth. From the curl in her hair to the curve of her face, the way her fingertips danced over everything she touched and how she glided along rather than walking like regular folk. There was nothing he wanted more than to bury himself in all of that softness and pray for it to take the edge off of losing the old, familiar weapon he’d taken for granted.
“Mal?”
“I’ll be there in my own time. Tell the Doc to knock Jayne out if he gets to be a hassle.” Once she was gone, he kept staring at the chair. Tried and tried to find a reason he could give the ghost of Wash, a reason why his wife wasn’t on board the ship.
Maybe Book was right and the happy couple were going to be together in heaven and he didn’t need to be standing there trying to explain. Except he knew Wash and his ghost wouldn’t be letting him sleep anytime soon if he couldn’t convince that chair he’d done everything in his power to save her. He wanted to convince the ghost that he’d had no choice but to leave, that Zoe would’ve done the same, and that he weren’t standing there because he was too much of a coward to go back.
Go back so they could bury her beside her husband.
He pushed that thought away quickly and left the chair to wait in silence, heading back to the Infirmary and whatever ruckus Jayne was raising. There were no reasons he could give, no reason in the ‘verse it were Zoe they’d left behind instead of him.
Familiar hollering echoed through the belly of the ship and Jayne was cussing up a storm about the stitches Simon was trying to put into his arm. The rest of the crew was there too, with worried expressions, knowing something had gone terribly wrong for Zoe to not be there.
“Mal! You tell him he can’t give me none of that gorram stuff makes me fall over,” Jayne grunted, still glaring at Simon.
Looking annoyed and exasperated, Simon jerked a little harder on the binding floss. “I need you to hold still.”
“Can’t be knocking me out when we’re goin’ to get Zoe. I’ll be ruttin’ useless.” Jayne finally turned to look at Mal. “We’re goin’ after her, right, Mal? Ain’t no way we’re gonna let that qingwa cào de liúmáng have her.”
“What happened to Zoe?” Kaylee asked worriedly. “Who’s got her?”
Mal didn’t look at her, couldn’t look at her. This weren’t the time to be showing any sort of weakness or uncertainty. They were counting on him to find a way and come up with a plan to get Zoe back. “Chances are he won’t kill her right off, buys us a little time to think. But you won’t be no use to me or Zoe ‘less you can do your job, so stop your squirming and let the Doc do his.”
Jayne winced visibly as Simon tugged on the floss again but stopped trying to get out of the chair. “Just hurry up with that. Got a mind to beat the fear of Jayne into a few of those ruttin’ bastards.”
All eyes were on him and he still didn’t have an explanation. He didn’t know how a simple transport job could go so wrong, didn’t know how they’d been made or how it had all fallen apart so quickly. Do the job, get paid; it was supposed to be simple. Then the bastard with one eye missing appeared out of nowhere and brought Zoe down with a brutal blow to the back of her head. In his mind, Mal could see her hitting the ground, blood on her skin and in her hair. She hadn’t gotten back up or opened her eyes, hadn’t moved a muscle, and gunfire cut her off, forcing them to run.
The possibility that she was already dead felt like a cancer eating away at his heart and stomach. Then he reminded himself of the man who was responsible for the ambush, of what would happen to Zoe if she hadn’t been killed, and he couldn’t convince himself that a quick and painless death weren’t the better option.
“Captain?” Kaylee’s eyes were wide with fear. “Who’s Jayne talking about?”
“Niska.”
***
The sadistic hundan must have known silence would be harder on Zoe’s nerves than torture. She’d seen what his idea of fun was and he knew it. He knew that letting her sit, alone and in the dark, would be a form of torture all its own. There’d been a tone to his laughter when his goon had thrown her into the small, dank room that made her grit her teeth. He was planning on breaking her, whatever it took.
If luck was on her side then they’d be looking to use her for bait for the Captain, which meant keeping her alive long enough for Mal to watch her die. Until then, there weren’t much she could do before Niska decided to start in on the real torture. They’d taken her weapons, none too gentle about it neither, and she was grateful to be left her clothes. Apparently, they were saving that particular form of torment for later.
Relentless aching in her head where she’d been struck made it hard to find a comfortable position in the cramped metal room posing as a prison cell. The wrist that had broken her fall was swollen. She’d wrapped it up best she could with the ripped sleeve from her shirt, but it left her hobbled if she did get a chance to escape. Not that she expected even the tiniest of windows. If Serenity, and by Serenity she meant Mal, could cause just a breath of distraction then she might get her wish.
If they came back for her.
She pushed that thought away quickly. They’d come. Mal would come because he knew if he didn’t, she’d be tracking him down from the afterlife to make his gorram life miserable. Until then, she would sit tight and stay sharp; all she needed was a moment.
Rest and sitting still proved too hard to stomach, even with the pain in her head and wrist. She felt her way around the room instead, finding the edges of the door and the air flow vents, which weren’t big enough to fit more than her boot inside. The control panel was loose but she didn’t have Kaylee’s gift for talking to circuits and she’d be more likely to seal herself inside than get out. Then again, that wasn’t entirely a worse fate than what was waiting for her and it might buy her some time.
The edges were slick and cut into her hands before she realized she was bleeding. Gritting her teeth, she dumped the panel and tried to ignore the stinging in her fingers. Bastard probably made sure the sheet metal was made to do just that. On the inside was a tangle of wires and connectors that went every which way with no clue as to what purpose they served.
Since it didn’t rightly matter which one she disconnected first, not knowing what any of them did, she started in one of the corners and felt her way from wire to wire. Nothing seemed to happen with most of them. One turned off the fresh air coming in, she made sure to put in back into place. Not a one opened the door; that wire was probably on a circuit buried deep and impossible to access. She found one that made a sound like a lock setting into place and hoped that did the trick.
Having done all the damage she could do, she crept back to the furthest corner and eased down with her back pressed against two solid walls. Her skin was flushed and sweaty and the pain spun her about when she closed her eyes. She wouldn’t be no help to the Captain once he found her if she was all worn out, so she laid down and waited for the spinning to stop.
***
“Why can’t we just go in guns blazing like we did when Niska had you?” Jayne demanded.
“He’ll be expecting that this time round; could kill Zoe right off just so we find her body and then grab the rest of us. No sense in all of us getting dead.” Mal desperately wished he could think of any plan at all, but his mind kept replaying the memory of Zoe falling to the ground until he couldn’t focus on anything. “We need a way to get in quiet.”
“How ‘bout supply ships? Skyplex gotta get supplies just like anything else,” Kaylee offered hopefully. “Could sneak inside of one maybe.”
“That’s good thinking, Kaylee. River?”
She was already on her feet and headed for the bridge, answering his unspoken question over her shoulder. “I’ll find out what’s in the air.”
“I could send a wave to the Councilor, see what help she might be able to offer,” Inara said.
“Weren’t much help last time, was she?” Jayne scoffed.
“Send the wave. Need information if she’s got it and a safe place to land Serenity. We can’t hide on the other side of the planet and rescue Zoe at the same time.” That left Jayne, Simon, and Kaylee sitting at the table with him and waiting for him to come up with something brilliant. “Doc, we’ll need you along for sure this time. Zoe was injured ‘fore they took her and I doubt Niska decided to patch her up.”
Kaylee shivered a little. “I know how to hold a gun this time, Captain.”
“We’ll be leaving Serenity in your care, it’ll be your job to make sure no one comes aboard ain’t one of us. Inara flies fair enough and has a place to shelter if needs be. If’n there’s trouble, you two get in the shuttle and get to safety.” He pondered that for a moment, trying to figure out a way to keep all his bases covered without putting any of his crew in more danger than they could handle.
“I can rig the doors no problem,” she said with visible relief.
“I’ll go pack my bag.” Simon left the table and Kaylee went with him, holding onto his hand for comfort.
“You think she’s still alive?” Jayne asked quietly once they were gone.
“Won’t be no fun to him if she ain’t.” Mal hated thinking about that, hated wishing Zoe weren’t alive to suffer what Niska had a mind to put her through.
Jayne grimaced. “We better make damn sure he’s dead this time. He’s gettin’ to be a right pain in my ass, popping up all over with those men of his, hiring folk to be following us around.”
“Believe me, it’s on my list of things to do, right after bringing Zoe home.”
“Mal?” River appeared in the doorway, not so much smiling as looking vaguely like a cat that just cornered a mouse and was looking to beat it to death before taking a bite. “Found something might do.”
***
“Do I need to remind you we’re trying to be stealthy, Jayne?” Mal hissed.
“You ain’t the one crammed into a bitty crate that smells like onions.” Shifting around in an effort to not press too hard on any of his weapons, Jayne tried breathing through his mouth but that just made everything taste like onions.
“No, mine smells of…something else. Ain’t rightly sure what and I ain’t gonna ask.”
“Shhh,” River hushed them both, her voice muffled by the slotted metal and packing sheath between them.
“We there yet?” Jayne grumbled, careful to be quieter this time.
“Estimated time of arrival is two minutes. Plus loading time,” River answered like she could somehow count the seconds and know exactly where they were. Course, Jayne reckoned she probably could. “Wait for my signal.”
He didn’t care much for waiting in particular, it made him anxious for more exciting things to start happening. Making matters worse was the itching in his trigger finger for one good shot at Niska. Bad enough that they couldn’t find a quadrant of the verse that didn’t have folk trying to kill them or just make getting by that much harder; back stabbers, thieves, or just folk with nothing of their own and looking for bones to pick at. But this was personal; this was Zoe.
For damn sure he’d never expected to see Mal fall apart or get sloppy like he was now, like he were half left behind himself. It weren’t the same as he got around Inara; that was a whole different kind of sloppy. Without Zoe, it was like Mal didn’t know what foot to put in front of the other; which was a bad thing since even on a good day he was more than likely to kill them all with one of his piece of go se plans.
“Get ready. Only have one chance before they put us in the stew,” River whispered loudly enough for them to hear her.
“Girl, you’s creepifying even when you ain’t crazy.” Jayne ground his teeth together to keep from cursing when the ship docked, sending them all sliding to the back wall and rattling them about. Weren’t no reason for the docking pilot to care what happened to crates of protein bars and packets of vegetable concentrate grown in a lab.
Once they were latched onto the Skyplex, all food supplies were loaded into the central pantry for storage. There was no reason for a pantry to have more than a light guard at most, nothing they couldn’t handle. It got tricky from there out. Had to find their way to Niska’s inner chambers and go as quiet as they could. If they didn’t have Zoe by the time the shooting started, they risked having only a body to take back home.
He focused on staying quiet while the crate he was in bumped down the loading chute and swallowed a groan when he finally hit the bottom. There wasn’t much light that he could see in the pantry, just enough to highlight the edges of the other crates. His skin was crawling with the struggle of being trapped up in a tiny space.
River gave the signal, a succession of light taps, letting them know they could move. “It’s clear. You can breathe now, Jayne.”
Letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, he twisted enough to reach the jimmied latch and open the top. The air in the storage hold didn’t smell much better than the synthesized onion packets but he could stretch his legs without setting off one of his grenades. He rolled his eyes at the glare from Mal when his holster scraped against the side of the crate; weren’t anyone around to hear it. If he’d had his way, he’d be strapped down with more than just a couple pistols and extra rounds, but he barely fit in the crate even without weapons.
While everyone else tried to get ready and stay quiet, River pressed her ear up to the storeroom door. “Two guards. Not watching the door, be gone soon. One stays behind.”
“Right. We gotta keep us being here to ourselves long as we can,” Mal whispered, looking intently toward Jayne with a gaze probably supposed to mean something.
“Go now,” River ordered softly.
Jayne was out the door almost before Mal and Simon had opened it enough for him to slip through. True to her word, the remaining guard was leaning against the wall with his back to the storeroom. It was a piece of luck that Niska didn’t feel like ponying up the cash to keep his guards in full armor. The unsuspecting guard when down smooth as butter once his head was facing the wrong way. Most noise was from the man’s boots scraping over the floor as Jayne dragged the body back into the storeroom.
The trap was easy enough to set into motion; the guard’s basic uniform fit Mal well enough and once his companion returned, his fit Simon nearly perfectly. That left two unconscious men behind the crates and Jayne and River still in their own clothes. He bit his tongue to keep from complaining out loud as they waited for the Mal and Simon to return with uniforms that would do.
“She’s alive,” River said suddenly, pulling her head away from the wall. “Locked herself in. They haven’t been able to rewire the door.”
Jayne swallowed the itchy feeling lump that seemed to appear suddenly in this throat. Zoe was alive. And she was safe for the time being if River was right about the door. All that mattered was that she was alive. “You got a read on where she is?”
River shook her head slightly. “Distances are fuzzy. The mind doesn’t have depth perception. Only one eye.”
“I’ll take your word on that one.”
“It’s them.” She took a step back only a moment before the door slid open a notch and then all the way, letting Mal and Simon back into the storeroom.
Mal tossed a pile of loose clothing toward Jayne. “We got a general idea of where she is and time to get to her. This gotta go smooth, Jayne, or we lose her.” He had that meaningful look again, but Jayne was too busy pulling on the stolen uniform to pay no mind to whatever River-like brain reading feat Mal expected of him.
Progress was slow. He did his part; kept the metal bits from hitting or brushing against the wall or anything else might make a bit of sound. Footfalls quiet even with sturdy boots and his breathing shallow enough to hang quiet in the air. He crossed things off the list, each line being something that might give them away and cost him Zoe. The wording of that particular thought jarred and stuck in his brain like a wrench caught in a gear. He’d thought about Mal falling to pieces, but he hadn’t actually put to words the gnawing at his gut that was only fixing to get worse if they didn’t get her back.
A hand on his arm, soft and light, startled him out of his confusion. He glanced back to see River watching him, her head tilted in that way of hers. “Wind’s changing.”
Mal glared at the both of them. “What’d she say?”
Her eyes widened for a moment and then she shook her head. “No time to run.”
The muscles in Mal’s jaw set hard. He nodded once and straightened up against the wall. After sucking in a deep breath, he motioned for them to follow before taking a wide step around the corner. A chorus of magazines locking in and bullets sliding into chambers greeted them. No voices; not even a whisper. Within moments, there were guards behind on both sides of them.
“Welcome back, Captain Reynolds.” Niska was smiling that infernally cruel smile of his. “I had hoped you would join us. To whom do I owe thanks for this happy reunion?”
River pulled away all sudden-like and stared at Jayne like he’d just grown another head off his shoulder. She didn’t say a word and she didn’t need to, the look on Mal’s face said everything he needed to know. Even if he could convince them he hadn’t betrayed them, he’d still get thrown out the damn airlock soon as Mal got him alone.
“Wait a gorram second--”
“Was Zoe part of your plan? What’d you get for her?” Mal snarled at him. His face was turning an ugly sort of red and the next thing Jayne knew, he was hard up against the wall with a bullet lodged in the armor under his shirt. The fabric around the bullet hole smoked a little, smelling of burnt fiber. Two guards had Mal restrained and others were in the process of disarming everyone else.
“Got your wish, Jayne. Should be happier,” River said coldly.
Jayne opened his mouth to say something, anything, that would make sense in the matter of convincing them it hadn’t been him. He knew it weren’t none of the crew so it had to have been that Counselor woman of Inara’s. Whatever he might have said was stopped dead in its tracks.
It took doing but Mal managed to untangle himself from the guards long enough to growl one last threat. “You speak another word and there won’t be a place in the ‘verse can hide you from me.”
Once the others were led away, Niska fixed his beady eyes on him. “A man’s reputation is heavier than gold, yet it is most fleeting. Your reputation is known to me, Mr. Cobb. There is perhaps a place for you among my men, should you prove yourself a man of your reputation.”
“And how exactly would I be going about doing that?” he asked as he grudgingly surrendered his weapons.
“Perhaps you know the location of Captain Reynold’s ship.”
***
The sound of voices woke Zoe from a restless sleep. Shouldn’t be hearing nothing but the breathing of the Skyplex as it spun about and wrested life from the dead of space. Her wrist was still aching plenty and the throbbing in the side of her head hadn’t abated with sleep. She swallowed down the dizzy nausea, forcing her mind to go still and listen to what it was that had woken her.
Voices. Tinny and far away sounding, like whispers through the walls, with bits of crackling static amidst the garbled words. It seemed to be coming the intercom panel near the door.
Stiff-jointed and sore, she felt her way back to the door and leaned closer in an attempt to make out the sounds. Men’s voices were all she could make out. The wires from her previous attempt to lock the door were still exposed. Experimentally, she reached out and brushed a finger over one of the wires. Static popped and then mutters collapsed into intelligible words.
“…found the ship alright, weren’t nobody on it though.”
“It is of no matter.”
Her hand pulled away involuntarily when she recognized Niska’s voice and the voices dissolved back into the jumbled mess of interference. Carefully, she tried the next wire over and heard what sounded like the mess hall, voices and clanging metal. Most of the wires did nothing. One of them filled the room with screaming; she winced and let her prison lapse back into flickering silence. Weren’t nothing she could do from inside the cell other than listen to fractured pieces of what was going on around her, but that was better than nothing.
She practiced moving from wire to wire until she could reach for the particular one she wanted without hesitation. Her hope was to hear something useful, something that might give her reason to believe Mal had come for her. The next voice she recognized was so incredible that she nearly moved on to the next wire before her brain told her hand to stop there and wait.
“Not bad for a floating hunk of metal.” There was no mistaking Jayne Cobb, especially when he was sounding ill at ease and more than a little paranoid. “You got your own bunk?”
“Ain’t much, but it serves, if’n you get what I’m meaning. Got our own supply of girls, pretty as you like.”
Zoe kept pressing the wire until the voices went out of range and any chance of an explanation as to why Jayne was getting friendly with the locals was lost to her. Couldn’t have been Jayne, weren’t no reason for it being Jayne. Unless, of course, Niska had offered him enough money to turn on them. Then again, she didn’t figure even Jayne was stupid enough to believe any offer of Niska’s. Intelligence aside, his healthy sense of self-preservation would have kept him from betraying Mal.
Wire after wire, she methodically scanned the channels until her head was spinning too much to stay on her feet. Easing down onto the floor, she gingerly prodded the gash on the side of her head. Must’ve gotten hit harder than she thought for the room to be spinning like it was. The thought occurred to her that Niska might just be aiming to leave her in that cell until she rotted.
Once her head had calmed somewhat, she shifted onto her knees so that she could reach into the control box without standing up. Forehead pressed against the cool metal, she started cycling through the wires again. At the very least, she might be able to hear what Niska had in mind for her.
Bits and pieces of the disembodied conversations kept sounding like Jayne until the conviction that it must be him settled into her gut. He didn’t sound like he was there against his will and, other than being a mite grumpier than normal, there was no indication this was anything other than a typical day for him. If Jayne was here, where was Mal? Where was the crew? None of it made an ounce of sense to her. They’d been to hell and back, all of them; Jayne had hauled her back from being ripped to pieces by Reavers. Weren’t no way he’d turn on them.
The thought unsettled her more than she conjured it should have, digging in under her skin and prickling like a spur she couldn’t scratch out. There’d been more than a time or two she’d thought better about bringing Jayne on board Serenity, but now she’d be hard pressed to imagine it without his grousing and bone-headed commentary. Weren’t a lot of folk in the ‘verse saw everything as simple as Jayne and there was advantage in having someone like that around. Not to mention he was a damn fine shot, which was worth near his weight in this line of work. She’d trusted him to have her back on more than a few jobs.
Maybe that’s why hearing his voice had her all stirred up. That maybe it’d just been a ship and a job to him, when Serenity and her crew were all Zoe had in the ‘verse. Home and family weren’t easy to come by.
A spark inside the exposed panel startled her and she pulled her hand back quickly. Someone was outside the door. She’d been too wrapped up in her thoughts to hear the footsteps. Another spark flashed between wires and she heard irritated cussing through the door.
“Gorram it, Zoe, unlock this thing and let me in.” an ever-familiar voice whispered forcefully.
“Jayne?”
“Ain’t got no time to explain. You gotta let me in ‘fore the guard gets back and wonders why I’m talking to the door.”
She dug through the wires until she found the loose connection, praying she was right about Jayne as she plugged it back in. The metallic thud of the lock sounded again and the door slid open. Sure enough, Jayne was standing in the hallway outside, but rather than give her a weapon, he tossed her a bundle of clothing he’d had stuffed under his shirt and told her to change.
“Jayne,” she started.
“Just hurry up. And don’t go locking the door again. I’ll be back soon as I can.”
The door hissed shut again, leaving her standing in the darkness alone and bewildered. Frowning at the strangeness of events, she slowly untangled the fabric and tried to make out in the darkness what it was he’d given her. Bits of the fabric fluttered over her fingers soft as butterfly wings while other parts felt stiff and structural. It took a bit to figure out which way it might go and once she did, she was none to happy to realize it was a dress. How was she supposed to be useful in a dress?
Muttering under her breath about how he was going to pay for this, she struggled to slough off her own clothing and climb into the far too delicate garment. After tugging at the fabric for a few minutes, she realized the flimsy loops at her side weren’t actually meant to go over her shoulders at all. She kept her boots on, refusing to abandon the last bit of sensible clothing she had.
By the time Jayne returned, whispering loudly that it was him before he opened the door, she was standing with her arms crossed and her temper raging to match the throbbing in her head.
“You ready to…” Jayne trailed off as he looked her up and down. “You ain’t never wore one of those before, have you?”
Now that there was light enough to see, she looked down and gaped at the atrocity masquerading as clothing. The butter colored fabric of the skirt wouldn’t have held up against a sneeze and it was cut straight down in several places, letting the cold air wrap around her bare legs. All structure was in the thicker, rust colored bodice that went from hip to bust with the rigidity of steel and there were bits of the filmy fabric popping out of the top like some sort of ridiculous flower. “Where exactly did you get this, Jayne?”
“That ain’t important. You tied it up all wrong.” He reached for one of the straps dangling at her side.
“You do and that arm won’t be coming back,” she warned him coldly. “I don’t suppose you got more to this plan?”
He scowled at her. “Rescuing folk ain’t really part of my job description, now is it? But I got a way to get you safe and then you can convince the captain I ain’t the one sold them down the river.”
“Jayne.”
“Come on.” He looked at her with exasperation, as though not sure what to do with her. “We gotta do something to make you less…Zoe-like. You ain’t never gonna pass for a one of the whores.”
“I’m heartbroken,” she said dryly. Since the other option was staying in the cell, she followed him down the hallway.
The sound of voices made her tense and she was grateful Jayne stopped before rounding the corner. His brow was furrowed with concentration and she could almost hear him thinking as he tried to figure out what to do. Before she could open her mouth to tell him he should have brought her a weapon instead of a dress, he reached out and tugged the band out of her hair so it tumbled down over her shoulders and into her eyes. With two quick swipes, he cut through the laces of her boots with a thin knife that seemed to appear from nowhere. He was pulling her right boot off before she could even lift her foot and, once he was done, he tossed both shoes into the nearest garbage receptacle.
“Jayne--” her protest stopped in her throat when he wrapped an arm around her legs and stood up. She gritted her teeth and swore to maim him later as he slung her over his shoulder like a sack of protein mix. Palms flat against his back, she managed to keep the nausea at bay by focusing all her attention on slow, shallow breaths.
A chorus of whistles and jeers greeted them as they rounded the corner. Jayne laughed and exchanged lewd comments with the men, even slapping her ass for emphasis when one of them mentioned her legs. She dug her fingernails into his side, satisfied to feel him wince. With her head down her thick curls bounced and swayed with each step, completely hiding her face from the room. It irked her greatly that they could see nearly all the rest of her.
She heard a door slide shut and beep as it locked. Grimacing as he set her down on her feet, she swayed unsteadily and nearly toppled over as she tried to clear the stars from her vision.
“You alright?”
“Got hit on the head is all.” She reached for the dried blood and swollen bump on the side of her head, pushing her hair aside gently. “Do you have any antiseptic?”
He held up a half-empty bottle of amber colored liquid. “Just liquor.”
“That’ll do.”
“Doc’s on board somewhere along with River and Mal. Ain’t sure where they’re keeping Mal. Not exactly free to roam about myself.”
“I’m interested to hear why it is you’re not with them,” she said carefully, watching his every move.
“Ain’t what you think, that’s for sure.” He frowned, hesitating a little as he spun off the cap on the bottle and liberally doused the rag in his hand. Tugging her over to the narrow bunk, he sat her down and lifted her hair away from the bump. “This might sting a little.”
She winced involuntarily as the alcohol bit into her wound and increased the throbbing by tenfold. “What happened?”
“I weren’t the one told that bastard we were coming. But River looked at me all funny and then Mal went and jumped to the wrong gorram conclusions.” He continued dabbing at the dried blood, much more gently than she would have thought possible. “Hell, I’m making this up as I go. You know I don’t got it in me to do nothing complicated. Even figuring out this far is making my brain wanna come out my ears. Ain’t never been one for all that thinking.”
Smiling a little in spite of herself, she nodded. “I believe you, Jayne.”
“Why’d I agree to get stuffed in a crate with those onion things if I were just gonna turn on everybody? Don’t make no sense…you what?”
“I believe you,” she repeated. “Though I’m not seeing how making me look like a whore is going to help rescue the Captain and the others.”
With a final dab, he finished cleaning her wound and took at seat across from her. The room was narrow and even with his back against the opposite wall his knees were up against the side of the bunk. It made for closer quarters than she would’ve liked, given that she was nearer to naked than she’d been with a man in quite some time. And this was Jayne, who probably didn’t think she’d noticed his gaze dropping down to the too-low line of the bodice a little more than was warranted.
“Niska don’t think women are of much account,” Jayne told her matter-of-factly. It was almost comical to hear those words coming from his lips, particularly given the serious and earnest manner in which they were delivered. “So there ain’t more than one guard on the girls and from what I can tell, more than a bit of changing up the line. That means no one ain’t gonna look twice at a new face. They got a man keeps track of their hours and the like, but won’t be no trouble for you to put the fear in him. Probably piss his pants if’n you put a blade between his--”
“I get the picture,” Zoe interrupted. “Not seeing how that helps us none.”
“Way I see it, Niska ain’t never gonna think to look for you there. No offense, Zoe, you’re a right fine woman and all, but you wouldn’t make much of a whore.”
“I reckon you’re actually attempting to be complimentary with all that but I ain’t gonna sit and do nothing. Last time Niska had the Captain, he killed him more’n a few times and cut off his ear just for fun.”
“Well, that’s where it gets all complex-like.” Jayne shifted uneasily and looked away from her guiltily. “Had to tell them where we left Serenity to get them to trust me some, now they got the ship docked. Weren’t no one on it though, so Inara and Kaylee must’ve got away no trouble. Captain warned ‘em it might come to that. Thing is, I can’t figure anyone else but that Counselor of Inara’s being the one telling Niska we were coming. Might be she and Kaylee flew right into a trap.”
The room seemed to chill slightly at the thought of Niska getting his hands on the ship and the possibility that both Inara and Kaylee were also in danger. She left the crew for a minute and all hell broke loose. “Can you get me onto Serenity?”
“Now you’re seeing what I’m thinking.” Jayne grinned at her and she was very glad that wasn’t literally true. “Since the girls need to be convenient, they’re right next to the docks and once you get in with them, should be easy to slip out and get on board the ship. But I got better than that too. Once you’re in, you’ll be able to get to River. Heard talk they were gonna see about prettying her up a bit. She’s young so more’n a few’ll be interested. She’s playing all docile-like now, probably luring them into one of those false senses of security.”
Zoe nodded. “What about the Captain and Simon?”
“Doc’s easy enough, they just got him locked up. Ain’t good sense torturin’ a man with skills like that.”
“They’ll probably use River as leverage, convince him that if he works for them it’ll be best for her.” She suppressed the shudder that wriggled up her spine at the thought of what Niska probably had in mind for River.
“He’ll play along, cause he knows River ain’t the one needs worrying over. That’ll keep him alive long enough for me to spring him. Problem is Mal.” Jayne frowned again, rubbing the back of his hand against his chin as he thought. “Niska’s probably keeping him close and getting to Niska’s a mite tricky.”
It was hard to block out the images of Mal from their previous run in with Niska. Harder still to force out the tumbling thoughts of Wash, battered and bloody and hell-bent on going back for Mal. The lump in her throat made it hard to breathe. She’d managed to keep all those thoughts out of her mind while she was locked in that dark cell, but now she had to struggle to focus on the present. Right now, Mal needed her at the top of her game.
“Won’t hurt to have River with us when we go after him,” she suggested.
“We won’t have much time once they realize she’s gone missing and Niska’ll double the guard around Mal. Only advantage we have is that Niska still thinks he’s got all of us that matter. Guard’s light on the ship; a couple men, easy to distract, and no more’ll be coming ‘less you make a ruckus.” Jayne was still frowning but his expression seemed to set solid before he nodded. “Once you get in with the girls, I’ll spring the Doc. I’ll be bringing him back to Serenity.”
“River and I can hold the ship. Don’t suppose you know where we can get some weapons?”
“They ain’t started stripping her down yet so once you’re in, you’re armed.” His broad chest rose slowly as he took a deep breath, something she didn’t recall ever seeing Jayne do before. Reaching down, he pulled the thin blade he’d used to cut her laces out of his boot and held it out to her. “Won’t do much unless it’s close range. Good for slitting throats if need be.”
“Jayne…”
“Take it. I can hit harder than you.” He grinned at her before standing up. “Now pretend like I just sexed you real good as we’re going out. Maybe giggle a little or something.”
She blinked at him, still trying to figure out where exactly she was going to hide the knife. “You want me to giggle?” Settling for the obvious, she dropped it down between her breasts and tried not to think about what Wash would have said.
“Just…I don’t know…pretend I’m,” he stopped, a bit of color appearing in his cheeks. “Hell, pretend I’m whoever you wouldn’t mind bedding, don’t matter to me none.” Despite the protest, she heard what might have been a little bit of embarrassed disappointment in his voice.
Feeling more than a little embarrassed herself; she got up and wrapped an arm around his waist. With his arm around her back, it was easy to press solidly against his side and bow her head against his chest enough that her hair once again would hide her face. She caught a fistful of his shirt with her free hand and cleared her throat. Oddly enough, he smelled clean, something she wouldn’t rightly have expected. “How’s this?”
“Ain’t bad. Try to walk more girly-like. Sway your hips a little,” he suggested gruffly.
“If you slap my ass again, I will break every bone in your hand.”
“Right. Now try giggling.”
She grimaced at the very thought. “I am not going to giggle.”
“You ain’t even tried it.”
“Jayne.” Partly to ignore him and partly because it would be a dead giveaway, she carefully unwrapped the torn cloth from her wrist. It still pinched and ached as she wiggled her fingers but she reckoned she’d be able to hold a gun.
“All right,” he grumbled. “But it ain’t gonna be as believable.”
“Not as unbelievable as the fact that we’ve only been in here for twenty minutes.” She managed not to laugh at the somewhat strangled look on his face. Before his ego got involved and he suggested they stay there longer, she cleared her throat again. “The longer we wait, the longer the Captain gets tortured.”
He blinked at her a couple of times before shaking his head like a dog trying to dry its fur. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Luck was with them on the way out. Either the rest of the men had taken Jayne’s cue and disappeared with whores of their own or they were actually doing their jobs. They passed by the mess hall and no one gave them more than a passing glance. Still, by the time Jayne stopped, she felt like there were a hundred eyes boring into her back.
“This is it. Through that door and then to the right. Serenity’s up ahead.”
She glanced around and recognized the lead-in to the docking area from before. “I remember.”
“I’ll be back soon as I can. If something goes wrong, sit tight and wait for me.” He ushered her through the door. “You tell River it weren’t me. Don’t know why she thought it were anyway, she’s the one supposed to be a reader and all.”
“Go,” she whispered forcefully.
Once the door closed, she felt alone and exposed again. She was surprised the girls wearing these ridiculous outfits didn’t spend their whole time catching cold. The floor beneath her feet was cold and hard, but she figured whores probably didn’t wear boots. It’d be none too soon to get back into sensible clothes again.
A turn to the right opened up into a wide lounge that looked about like every other backwater whorehouse she’d ever seen. Not that she’d seen all that many, but they seemed to be the same kind of place. Couches and cushions by the dozens; lots of dark fabrics with pretty patterns that’d stand out in a crowd like a brightly plumed bird surrounded by rats. All that sparkle in the dimly lit area had a dizzying effect, like falling out into the black might feel.
There were a few girls remaining, looking bored or strung out on something, but not a one of them looked like River. The one guard was too busy eying up a particular blonde to give her much notice. She tried to be casual as she started around the room in search of the man who might know she didn’t belong there. There was an office toward the back with a proper desk in the center.
Sitting on the desk and swinging her legs like she didn’t have a care in the world was River Tam. She smiled serenely when she saw Zoe and held a finger up to her lips before pointing toward the desk. “The mouse is hiding,” she whispered.
“There’s a mouse?” Zoe asked softly.
“Hello? Is someone there?” another voice asked desperately. “Help! This crazy girl is threatening to hurt me!”
“She don’t look threatening to me,” Zoe answered, smiling at River.
“Just wait ‘til she starts talking about what your insides look like.”
“Why don’t you go take care of that nice guard outside, River? I’ll see what I can do about the rodent problem.”
River hopped off the desk and sashayed past Zoe, humming lightly and winking on her way out. They’d dressed her in something very similar to Zoe’s dress, done in pale blue and white. She had managed to keep hold of her boots though, which convinced Zoe to make Jayne buy her a new pair the next time they hit Persephone.
The man cowering under the desk looked every bit the mouse and thoroughly terrified by River’s peculiar brand of creepifying behavior. Zoe smiled tightly as she bent down to peer under the desk.
“Is she gone?” he asked fretfully.
“I’d recommend staying right where you are for a pace. Gonna be much safer here than out there. Unless, of course, you’re aiming to get a good look at your insides. In fact, if I see you again after I leave this room, I’ll be cutting you open myself. No sounding the alarm, no calling for help. Understand?”
His face paled and he nodded rapidly. “I won’t move a muscle, I swear.”
“Good. Then I won’t have reason to kill you.”
She left him where he was, not anxious to kill anyone who didn’t have it coming. When she turned around, River was still smiling like a sphinx in the middle of the room while the other girls cowered behind the couches. The guard was collapsed in a heap against the wall. Zoe made quick work of disarming him and trussing him up. It felt good to have a gun in her hand again.
“We got no quarrel with you girls,” she assured them.
“Doesn’t mean we won’t kill you and eat you,” River added ominously.
Zoe reconsidered the idea of giving River a weapon, not that the girl actually needed anything other than herself. “River, honey, we ain’t in the business of eating people, remember? Why don’t you all go back into that room?”
Once they’d shepherded all the girls into the office, Zoe shut the door and slammed the butt of the rifle into the controls to lock it shut. Now the clock had started ticking. A smashed lock and unconscious man weren’t things likely to go unnoticed. She and River hauled the man behind a pile of cushions and hid him as best they could. From there, it was easy to slip silently out of the lounge area and head toward the docks. The dress fabric continued to be a source of annoyance, billowing out around her legs with even the tiniest of movements.
“He got the right size,” River observed.
“I suppose that’s some kinda miracle.” She realized that River didn’t seem particularly upset toward Jayne and hadn’t made any attempt to convince her that he was the one who betrayed them. “You wanna tell me whose brilliant idea this was?”
“The Captain’s.”
Zoe sighed, wishing she could be a little more surprised by the insanity of it all. “And when were you planning on telling Jayne?”
“When he’s played his part.”
“Did the Captain have a plan that didn’t involve getting himself tortured again?”
“That part was less clear.”
“Naturally.” When she peeked around the corner, she couldn’t see anyone in the guard’s station and the docking doors were wide open. Cautiously, she slid along the wall and risked a look inside. Serenity’s airlock door was open, the ramp was down, and the cargo bay appeared to be empty. There was still no sign of Niska’s men, which put Zoe on a knife’s edge because there should have been at least one of the bastards guarding the ship.
She decided it was better to be ambushed on Serenity than in the hallway and motioned River forward. With the inner door closed behind them, she allowed herself a moment of relief when she set foot inside the ship again. Just as Jayne said, nothing had been taken off yet. Even the cargo they were supposed to be delivering was untouched.
“Kaylee,” River called softly. “It’s River. And Zoe.”
Tousled honey brown hair appeared over top of one of the crates before Kaylee bounded out and pulled them to the side where they couldn’t be seen from the hallway. “Zoe, you’re safe! Had us all mighty worried.”
“Kaylee? Weren’t you s’posed to not be on the ship?”
“We’ve been hiding,” Inara said as she emerged from behind one of the hidden panels. “You’d think they’d at least tap on the walls, this being a smuggling ship.”
“Then this whole thing was a set-up.” Zoe gave them all a hard look. “You do realize Jayne ain’t gonna be happy when he finds out.”
Inara shrugged. “He’ll get over it.”
“Did you get tortured any?” Kaylee asked, wide-eyed with worry. “You look awful pretty in that dress though. Ain’t that thoughtful of Jayne?”
“This…thing…was part of the plan?”
“Well, no, but Jayne’s resourceful like that. We figured he’d find something. Didn’t have no idea he’d pick something so mêilì though. Brings out your eyes.” Kaylee smiled as though that made everything all right with the ‘verse.
Zoe changed the subject to more comfortable topics. “And the guards?”
“Unconscious inside the security room.” Kaylee beamed even brighter at the chance to explain the rest of the plan. “The Captain knows I’m useless with a gun so he had Simon rig up something we could attach to one of ‘Nara’s arrows. She shot right through the door once they opened it and put ‘em all to sleep real easy like. Never even had time to hit the alarm.”
“Uh-huh.” Zoe glanced at Inara, who also seemed pleased with her part of the plan. “And how exactly was the Captain expecting to get out of here?”
“Oh! That’s the best part,” Kaylee began.
“We’ve got company,” River interrupted quickly. Without further explanation, she took off toward the stairs and bounded up them two at a time.
“That’s our cue.” Inara pulled her bow and arrow out of the storage compartment and settled in beside a stack of crates, drawing an arrow against the string. “You might want to get ready. Jayne usually manages to attract a crowd.”
Zoe found a spot she could shoot from that had cover while Kaylee scurried off toward the engine room. Her brain was still trying to comprehend the bizarre plan Mal had hatched. This was insane even by his standards and reminded her none too comfortingly about their last run in with Saffron or Yolanda or whatever the hu li jing was calling herself at the moment.
It was laughable to watch Jayne come through door, one large hand wrapped around Simon’s collar in a death grip. Looked like there was no way he was going to be letting go of the Doc any time soon, even if it meant dragging him bodily onto Serenity. Even more strange was the fact that he wasn’t firing at pursuing men behind him. Zoe kept her finger on the trigger just in case Niska’s goons were more than their usual slow.
“I can walk on my own!” Simon protested loudly. It fell on deaf ears, his boots scraping over the metal as he tried to find purchase on the cargo bay ramp.
“You’re too rutting slow,” Jayne barked back at him before relinquishing his hold on Simon’s shirt. “You coulda stayed in that piss-hole. I ain’t caring for this whole idea of going about rescuing people ain’t grateful to be rescued.”
“I wouldn’t have needed to be rescued if--”
Jayne stepped forward menacingly and glared down at Simon. “I don’t fancy getting blamed for stuff ain’t my fault neither.”
“Jayne, stand down,” Zoe spoke up before it could escalate into something that might draw attention from a guard who might perchance be waking up from the drug-induced sleep. Not to mention she hadn’t any idea about how exactly Mal was going to get rescued in this cockamamie plan of his. She wouldn’t be surprised it he came running through the doors buck naked; in fact, she half expected to be waking up back in her cell any moment and realizing this was all a fevered dream.
“Zoe, are you injured?” Simon stopped, his head rolling to the side as he looked her up and down. “You look very…lovely.”
“Where’d you come from Inara? You ain’t s’posed to be here.” Jayne looked back and forth between her and Simon suspiciously. “I’m getting this sneaky feeling y’all know something I don’t.”
“Nothing you need to be concerning yourself with, Jayne.” Mal’s voice startled just about everybody and Zoe nearly shot him for his trouble well before he reached the top of the ramp. Shouting echoed in the hallway, muted by the airlock doors. He had that impish smile she’d learned could only mean they were about to run for their lives as he hit the button to close the cargo bay. As if on cue, the engine fired up and Serenity lurched, ready to leave the Skyplex behind as soon as the door closed.
Jayne frowned harder at Mal. “This some kinda joke? Cause I ain’t laughing.”
“It’s a mighty funny story--”
“Sir?” Zoe interrupted, suddenly realizing what looked different about the Captain. “Are you wearing lipstick?”
“That’s the funniest part actually,” Mal answered, scratching at the back of his head as he leaned forward enough to get a good look at Zoe’s legs. “Though now I’m wondering a bit about the parts of the story I don’t know.”
“Got a few questions need answering myself,” Jayne piped up.
Inara sheathed her arrow and dropped the bow to her side, stepping out from behind the crates with a bemused expression on her face. “Can this wait until we’re out of range? I’d rather not give Niska another chance to ambush us.”
“I don’t reckon he’ll be doing any more ambushing. Won’t be doing much of anything in fact.” Mal smiled but didn’t elaborate further before heading for the stairs and presumably the cockpit.
“Am I the only one don’t know what that’s s’posed to mean?” Jayne demanded.
“You ain’t the only one, Jayne,” Zoe answered, staring after the Captain and wondering when the whole crew had lost their damn minds. “Sure as shooting you ain’t the only one.”
***
Zoe noticed Jayne was behaving in an odd manner after he’d poked his head into the galley the sixth time but hadn’t made so much as a crack about the fact that she’d burned the soup.
She reckoned once the air handlers managed to get all the smoke out of the room, the rest of the crew would return with jibes already planned out. No matter the ribbing she got, there was no way she’d admit the reason why she’d gotten distracted and let the pot burn dry. There’d be no end of it if any of the crew knew it had something to do with the very impractical dress she kept hidden in her bunk. Nothing wrong with keeping a souvenir of being held prisoner by Niska and living to tell about it.
It hadn’t taken Jayne long to forgive the crew for playing him. True to form, once he’d gotten the explanation of what had gone on, he’d been pleased with the fact that he’d had an integral part in the plot. He was near getting annoying with how proud he was that he’d been right useful.
“Something on your mind, Jayne?” she asked after the seventh time he peered into the room. She was up to her elbows in scouring the blackened pot so she didn’t pay too much mind to him finally deciding to come in.
He tried to peer into the pot as he got closer to the table. “You got any that didn’t burn?”
“Few pieces here and there ain’t black as the rest, but none of it edible.”
“Gorram shame. Your soup ain’t half bad.” Even without the lure of food, he took a seat at the table and settled in to watch her scrub.
“You looking for something to do?” She offered him the scouring pad.
“Ain’t my mess, I ain’t cleaning it up,” he snorted, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Then as much as I appreciate the moral support, I’m sure there’s something needs doing on this ship.” She may as well not have said anything at all, since he didn’t seem to be getting the hint. Rather than get testy with him, she decided to keep scrubbing and reckoned he’d eventually get bored with watching her.
“You think Mal actually…you know.” He gave her a meaningful look.
“Actually might have something for you to do?”
“Nah. I mean that goodnight kiss stuff. It only work on lips? Or you reckon Mal just had to get it on him?”
“Conjure it just has to go on any bit of skin is all.” The mental image of Mal getting anywhere near enough to Niska to transfer the sleep-inducing compound wasn’t one she wanted to dwell on. He hadn’t elaborated on how exactly he’d done that neither.
She had to admit there was a brilliant insanity to the idea of using a hooker’s trick on a ruthless crime lord. That they’d counted on Jayne to merely be Jayne was possibly the most brilliantly stupid part of all. Of course, Mal hadn’t had much of an answer when asked what would have happened if Jayne had done different, but she’d learned long ago not to look too hard at Mal’s plans either before or after the mission. Crazy as they always were, he seemed to have an instinctive feel for how the ‘verse was going to twist out from under him.
Not to say that enigmatic smile of Mal’s wasn’t getting mighty irritating. Particularly when it was his only answer to her asking what he would’ve done if Jayne hadn’t come a-rescuing her.
“You gonna make more? Since this attempt didn’t count for much.” Jayne nodded to the pot she was cleaning.
“Might be doing so. ‘Less the others kick me out to protect the rest of the pots and pans.”
“Then you’re gonna be on your feet a pace.”
She paused in her scrubbing and looked up at him suspiciously. “You got some reason to be asking after my feet?”
“Just reckoned you might want more comfortable shoes,” he answered gruffly. He looked a mite uncomfortable as he reached down and picked up a box she hadn’t noticed him carrying in. It thunked down on the table with the sound of something good and heavy.
“Jayne?”
He stiffened a little, his arms back to being crossed over his chest. “Not apologizing or nothing, since those men never woulda believed you were one of the girls if’n you were wearing real shoes.”
Tossing the scouring pad into the pot, she set it aside and tugged the box top loose. Set inside were a pair of black utility boots still shining from fresh polish. She pulled one out and took a closer look. They had thick, sturdy soles with extra cushion on the inside and around the ankle to add support. She gave the laces a tug, pleased with the ease at which they slid through the eyelets and the strength of the woven fiber cord. Once the boot passed her inspection, she took out the other and set about putting them on.
She gave them a couple test strides, flexing her toes and ankles to get a feel for how they moved. “They’re a right good fit, Jayne.”
He grinned at her, obviously pleased. “Mama always said I got a good eye.”
“That explains the mystery of how it was you found me a dress fit just as well as these boots.” She managed not to smile at the embarrassed, and slightly panicked, look on his face as he tried to come up with an answer that wasn’t going to cause trouble. “It’s alright, Jayne. You done good and I ain’t one to quarrel with you over the particulars.”
“Didja keep it? The dress.”
“Got no need for a dress like that,” she answered quickly, hoping he didn’t noticed the catch in her voice.
The corner of his lips tipped up in an unrepentantly suggestive half-smile. “It’d look mighty fine with those boots.”
There were half a dozen answers waiting to be tossed out and even more reasons backed up behind them as to why he wasn’t ever going to be seeing that much of her skin again. From a scarcely veiled threat to a sincere admonishment about behavior onboard the ship and every degree between the two extremes; she had more than enough retorts that would remind him she was taken. It all stuck fast in her throat because Wash was gone and she wasn’t taken anymore.
His smile fell slowly into a rather worrisome seriousness that he usually reserved for Vera. “I know I ain’t nothing like Wash--”
“Got nothing to do with Wash. I had something special with him and that won’t ever change, won’t ever be something I forget.” She returned to the table and sat down, taking a deep breath as she tried to sort through her tangled thoughts. “But there’s no point in not getting on with my life neither. Just takes time and lots of it.”
“I ain’t going nowhere.”
She smiled because she didn’t have an answer beyond that. Maybe that’s why Mal just kept smiling, because he didn’t have answers to give.
Jayne cleared his throat and shifted in his chair, nodding toward the scorched pot. “You need help with that?”
“Won’t say no.”
He reached for the scouring pad, still watching her intently. “Ain’t asking for more than that.”
Fetching another scouring pad and a pan to collect the bits of soup-turned-charcoal, she began chipping away at the opposite side of the pot. He wasn’t Wash, that was for sure. She reckoned there wasn’t another Wash in the ‘verse, might be there never would be again. But nothing said he needed to be anything other than Jayne. She ducked her head to the hide her smile. It felt strange to be sitting across from him, working on something together. It was a feeling she decided she could get used to.
“You really threw it out?” he asked.
“Course not. Where else am I gonna get a dress like that?” she said as seriously as she could manage.
The sound of his laughter filled the room, echoing back and forth between the walls and bringing the others out of their hiding places to look in and see what was going on. She shook her head a little and kept scrubbing. Incorrigible as he was, there was no point in trying to change him and she reckoned there was no point in wanting to.
There was nothing wrong with Jayne just being Jayne.