Start Me Up
Series Title: Like A Rolling Stone
Chapter Title: Start Me Up
Chapter Number: Six
Genre: Adventure/Romance/Drama
Pairing: River/Jayne, Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoe/Wash, Book/God
Timeline: Post BDM. Thus, spoilers.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Whedon’s world, my manipulation… Series and Chapter Title courtesy of the Rolling Stones
Summary: Cash flow increase leads to the desire for more…cash flow. River discovers the secret of the estate that sends Serenity's crew hunting for more. And when there’s huntin’ on the Rim, danger abounds.
Author’s Note: This fic may seem totally River-centric at this point, but I am going to include Jayne POV’s once I deem it appropriate for the flow of the story. It’s just so fun and easy with River, dammit! She can read minds!
Start Me Up
“Yeah, but whut the hell were those things, Mal?” Jayne whined as the captain began walking away from him after splitting up the pay with everyone in the galley.
“Does it matter?” Mal stopped and asked.
“What do you mean ‘things’?” Kaylee curiously asked.
“Yeah,” Simon began. “I mean, the three of us heard some strange sounds coming from the forest, but we-”
“Should just leave it at that,” the captain affirmed.
He walked over to the COM line to communicate with the bridge.
“We’re ready for takeoff, River.”
He turned back to his crew with a smug look on his face. The hum of the engines revving could be heard even from the inside of the ship, and it signified an unspoken end to the conversation.
- - -
“Now that we’re all ‘bout to become filthy rich, I’d like to know specifically where we are headed,” Mal said, entering the bridge and walking up behind River in the pilot’s chair.
“Whitefall,” she replied.
“So…that’s where the real gains are, huh?” the captain continued asking questions. She could hear him rolling up and adjusting the sleeves of his button up shirt.
“Yes. The man we house-sitted for has established several other half-completed estates across the Rim moons and planets, built over the earth to hide top secret Alliance storage bunkers. Most of his money is kept in that precise one, along with what I perceived to be…invaluable stock.”
“Excellent,” Mal cheerily said, swinging his arms side to side, occasionally bringing them together.
There was a pause in their conversation. River knew about and was waiting for Mal to make his move.
“Well, I better assemble the team up so everythin’ goes accordin’ to plans,” he stated.
“Malcolm,” she coolly voiced, adjusting the chair so that she could see him in her peripherals.
“Umm…yeah?”
“This will have to be quick. Badger’s contract has yet to be satisfied and I fear some complications might hinder our efficiency in doing so.”
“Don’t worry ‘bout that rat, miss. He’ll haggle our pay sum absurdly down no matter how quick or slow we are, so iffen this new plan includes a capital worth hearin’ an earful from our big boss man, let’s not fret,” the captain explained before calling Zoe and Jayne to the deck.
River turned herself back around as she heard the trudge of boots coming their way.
“Where we headed?” Zoe asked.
“Whitefall,” Mal said whilst taking a seat in the co-pilot’s chair.
“Shiny, we gonna kill Patience?” Jayne eagerly inquired.
“No,” Mal started. “I don’t fly halfway cross the ‘verse to beat an ol’ woman and her dignity senseless.”
Zoe chuckled and Jayne leaned back, gripping his hands into his belt with a grin on his face.
“However, if worse comes to Patience, I got no policy ‘gainst shootin’ her,” he added.
“I’m rememberin’ that,” Jayne happily remarked.
Mal ignored him and turned back to River.
The reader suddenly sensed a strong urge of his want to leave and attend to something. It was, unsurprisingly, involving Inara. The woman was feeling better since a few hours ago, and Mal had had her on his thoughts ever since she became bed-ridden.
And River knew what Mal was going to ask, but she answered it ahead of him so he could move along to what was more important.
“We’ll be dirtside in 19 hours,” River commented.
Mal gave her a look.
“Sorry,” she said, with her chin tilting down, further emphasizing the width of her big brown eyes.
Mal stood up and began walking away, mumbling curses to himself. Following him out were both Jayne and Zoe.
When there was complete silence and she was certain she was all alone, River turned downwards and looked at her hand. It was the one she had forced into that man’s mouth. There were deep red marks that formed bruises in the crescent shape of his upper row of teeth, where they had sunk into her skin.
Her left hand began to massage the other one and it pained her.
But not as much as the unreciprocated sensations that still lingered between her legs, even after two long hours.
“River!” Kaylee’s voice huffed and puffed from the hallway.
“River! Oh River, you gotta get down here!” the mechanic sounded wildly enthusiastic.
“Look at this!” the ever positive young woman squealed, holding two paper stubs. “Simon bought me some tickets to the theaters on Osiris. Got ‘em soon as he heard we were headin’ there. And he promised dinner. It’s gonna be so romantic!”
River smiled back, thinking that maybe her brother hadn’t lost all of his game.
Kaylee sighed in contentment and continued: “Well, now don’t just sit there like ya don’t know what to do! Serenity’s lil’ genius needs to help me figure out what to wear. You do know your brother well enough, right? You’d know what he’d like to see me in? What in the ‘verse would be Core appropriate anyway…?”
River just shrugged and sustained her smile, getting up out of her seat and following the mechanic down into her bunk.
“Well now, I’ve still got that rufflely dress from Persephone, but I don’t think I can sit down in such a thing…” Kaylee joyously remarked, taking her hair down and grabbing a towel to wipe away the grease on her face.
“What do ya think Simon’ll like?” she asked River, trying to get the psychic in on the conversation.
River opened a drawer from the woman’s dresser and immediately pulled out the dress. It was similarly styled like the one’s she wore, slinky and flowing at the bottom, with thin straps and solid colors. It was Kaylee, after all, who gave River most of the clothes she wears now.
“He likes red. A traditionalist,” she noted, holding out the red dress to Kaylee.
“Course, I knew that!” the mechanic excitedly stated, taking it from her hands and holding it against her. “Wonder if it still fits…”
“It does…” River noted, turning away and looking off.
“Somethin’ the matter, Riv?”
She shook her head, trying to think of something to say to feign normalcy. Her eyes dragged along a cluster of Kaylee’s multi-colored lanterns. It reminded her of that wonderful lamp back on Triumph. She immediately became entranced with it, tilting her head to the side with a stern gaze.
“C’mon, I’m practically your sis. You can tell me anything!”
River just continued staring.
“Ya know, if everythin’ was okay, ya’d’ve immediately said no and confusedly questioned why I asked ya!”
“May be true,” the girl responded, turning to look at her.
“So…?”
River tilted her head again, as was a habit when she was thinking. Her mouth gaped open slightly, and her eyes darted around as if appealing to the objects in the room.
“When you first felt things for Simon, and he didn’t return the affection, how did you cope?” River asked, finally looking at Kaylee.
“Well,” Kaylee looked down and crossed her arms. “I did what most other girls do. I kept at it, gossiped to Inara, took my chances and flirted at every ‘vailable opportunity. Why?”
And then the engineer’s voice became almost hush-hush. “Got a crush on someone, River?”
The reader’s cheeks burned and she turned away, allowing a loopy smile to crack on her face.
“Ya do!” Kaylee exclaimed.
“Is that why I’m reacting in such a way?”
“Oh gosh, duh!”
“I wish it to stop,” River’s voice became more somber, and her pupils hung downwards, looking at nothing particular as an image of Jayne sitting in the corner of the dark room flashed her mind.
“Aww c’mon Riv, don’t be sayin’ things like that,” Kaylee tried comforting her, but with the lack of information, she couldn’t really do much. “Ya know, if ya told me more, I could help…”
“Can’t,” River said.
“That’s prolly ‘cause you’re confused yourself. My biggest advice is, when you think you don’t know, you actually do. And I mean that in a good way,” Kaylee happily remarked, feeling proud that perhaps she had given the smartest girl in the ‘verse some potent advice.
But when River didn’t respond back, Kaylee sighed.
“In a good way’s good, right?” the mechanic tried to fix the situation.
River turned back to the girl and smiled. “Thank you, Kaylee.” She then climbed up the ladder and exited the bunk. She was feeling slightly parched, and figured a quick trip to the galley would suffice. But she had also felt a twinge of disturbance from what Kaylee had said.
“If you think you don’t know, you actually do.”
It made River’s gut twist into a knot, and the sensations soon began vibrating up her belly and straight to her heart. The red pulsing muscle thumped loudly in her chest for a few seconds before returning to normal rhythms.
River was heading down the hallway towards the kitchen area. And when she reached the doorway to enter, one tall, hulking object suddenly appeared in her way. It was Jayne.
She stopped walking at once to avoid bumping into him, and had to take a heavy breath of air to calm the startle in her nerves. Her heart was thudding out of control and the sound was cascading her ear canals, drowning out the hum of the electricity and other quiet environmental noises.
River closed her eyes before deciding to glance up at him, to pretend that she was just passing by and this spontaneous moment had no effect on her.
But her warm brown eyes met the gaze of his icy blue orbs. River’s chin quickly sunk back towards her neck, in the hopes that this movement would cause her hair to fall forward and allow her to hide.
She kept her head down, waiting for him to move out of the way. But he wouldn’t.
River took another heavy breath, and considered whether to just turn around and avoid this altogether. And right as her head pivoted to the left, his gloved hand reached out and caught her chin in its grasp.
Her body tensed and her eyes widened, locking back on to his.
The two were staring at each other for what felt like eternity to River. His eyes were narrowed, and he seemed to be inspecting first her face, then slowly down to her lips, stopping shortly to continue onward down her neck, to her chest, and the rest of her body.
River’s lips parted and she thought she was going to say something, but his grip tightened on her face, effectively preventing her from talking.
Perhaps a physical gesture would do the trick and end this uncomfortable moment the two were sharing.
Seeing her extend her right hand out to latch onto his arm, Jayne took the opportunity and pushed her back with his clench. Once her feet started moving, he tilted his wrist, turning her body to move backwards against a wall. She slammed not-so-gently into it, and a lecherous half grin crossed his face when he heard her allow a startled gasp to escape her throat.
Feeling it reverberate to his hand, Jayne now himself was breathing more heavily.
River knew that to read his mind would warn her of the coming actions, but something within her went blank. There was an extreme sense of clarity that she could not remember experiencing since going to the Academy. It seemed that for the first time in almost five years, she was seeing only through her eyes. There was no extraneous visuals or sounds appearing within her head or externally, that she always had to judge on if they were a part of reality or not.
“And it’s like sucking on pure oxygen...well…no…such an analogy is actually quite deadly…deadly…yes…” River mused to herself. That word was leading her down an alluring path.
Her mind was drifting on a linear track, and it sent flutters in her stomach and a small smile across her face.
And she almost forgot that Jayne was there, holding half of her face down and staring with salacious eyes at her.
“Hungry?” she said aloud. The word popped into her head and she wondered whether her mind was back to its old tricks.
Looking back at him with a worried appearance, she saw him nod in agreement.
And then he tilted his head slightly back as his hand softened its grip. At a lagging and lethargic pace, he moved it downwards, encircling her neck as his index finger pressed firmly onto her carotid artery. And then it began to drag ever slower, past her neck and stopping at her collar bone. For a moment he attempted to dig his fingers behind her clavicle, but immediately retracted those motions and ebbed his hand ever further. It was tracing the cleavage on her chest, and paused between her breasts.
In that moment, River stopped breathing. And she knew he must be able to feel the beating of her heart grow rampant and wild.
All sound seemed to disappear and time froze.
She took in two lung’s full of air, pressing her chest against his hand.
Her body was becoming highly stimulated from this event, and she wondered why it seemed to always want to betray her around him. It was like her mind before the events of Miranda. Always doing things out of her control.
His eyes had been following his hand the entire time, but they snapped quickly back to hers. She could only look on with a mix of naivety and uncertainty. She knew that he was intrigued by her lack of resistance.
Jayne’s hand was starting to move slowly to the right when the sound of footsteps shattered the stillness in the air. River’s face twisted into an expression of pain, as the sharp thuds of two feet appeared to destroy the lack of all sound. She grimaced and Jayne pulled away. His hawkish countenance faded to blank as he pivoted his body away from hers and walked away.
She watched with a hint of displeasure as the mercenary opened the hatch to his bunk and climbed down. Turning to the side, she saw Mal coming through the galley and past her. Apparently, he hadn’t seen a thing because he didn’t so much as make eye contact with her.
The captain continued walking, stopped at his own bunk door, and entered, leaving River alone in the hall.
Sighing, she went into the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. One for the original parched feeling. The second for the newfound exhaustion.
- - -
The rest of the day onboard included River trying to stay out of the mercenary’s sight. Something had changed in the way he looked at her, ever since she had told him that dirty story about Inara. And she wasn’t sure if it was for better or worse.
When he was lifting weights in the cargo bay, River found the highest hidden compartment her very flexible and maneuverable body could reach from the hanging metal passages. She’d find a tight little nook and sink in, often having to shift a few times to get comfortable. Then she’d peek her head out, careful not to let her hair hang down, and watch him as he benched press.
She found it fascinating to examine his muscles as they tightened in a flex, and then relax into a fleshy and soft composition. Her mind worked out the rate at which his body would feel exhaustion for each separate type of reps he preformed. And she soon had a full grasp as to how much the man could exert himself.
When Jayne was fixing himself a standard half-assed protein meal in the kitchen, River was able to give herself enough time ahead of him to crawl under the table and deftly move around his feet as they crossed the floor. She’d flare her nostrils to take in the smells of his cooking. It might not have been an appetizing aroma, but it was Jayne. And quickly becoming enthralling.
When he was washing away the sweat and grime in the communal showers, River sneakily entered the adjoining stall and hitched herself with both her hands and feet flat against the sides of it, so that he couldn’t catch a glimpse of her through the bottom slits.
Her ears listened to the lull of the water running down his body, and she took in the scents of his detergents. A standard soapy clean smell, but it was so enjoyable she allowed herself to breath if only for it.
But when it was time for supper, River tried to sit as far away from him as possible. She made it a point to never look at him, and if she had to, it would be nothing more than passing over to see the person next to him.
However, the girl couldn’t help herself. She’d steal glances at him when she was positive there was no way he’d be looking back. She did this about ten times within one single conversation, and as statistics would point out, there was a growing chance he was going to see her doing this.
And he did. As the two finally locked eyes from across the table, River noted her vision becoming tunnel-like. All the other crew members blurred out of focus and Jayne’s eyes seemed to sharpen in return.
She decided that she wouldn’t back down this time. Nope, Jayne Cobb would have to be reminded that she was the insane and dangerous one, and he only played second fiddle to such a stark and obvious truth.
They continued looking at each other, until a loud and irritable interruption filled the air.
It was the proximity warning. Red flashing lights and moderately high pitched beeping over the COM line. Something was close in the area, which in the bleak vastness of space, usually meant they were meaning to.
All the crew members jumped out of their chairs and stood, exchanging curious glances and waiting for someone else to make a move.
River broke her stance and hurried off to the bridge. Kaylee jumped in behind her.
“Kaylee!” Mal called out, running in after them. “Need ya where ya belong. Case there’s reason for us runnin’”
“Right,” she said, before descending back towards the engine room.
River nearly jumped into the pilot’s chair and sunk in. Clicking several switches, a screen to the left side of her lit up and the reading was coming in from the other ship.
And there was one glaring series of features that were assembled back into one compact but wholly terrifying word: Reavers.
River didn’t have to say anything. She just turned her chair around to find the look of horror plastered on the captain’s face.
“Wo de ma…” he stuttered.
“Wut?” Jayne asked, entering the room.
“Reavers,” Zoe angrily remarked, moving to Mal’s side. There was no end to the hate she felt towards such things. In fact, one could say fear was completely overrun with such revulsion.
“Ah, hell! Not again!” Jayne groaned, turning away to grab his weapons from out of his bunk.
“River,” Mal said. “…Do you know what to do?”
“Power down our engines. Shut down the cortex and all available electricity to simulate drifting through space under the pretense that there are no accessible living persons on board.”
“…Right. Zoe, time to get ready for round two if need be,” Mal ordered. The two of them immediately left the room and River found herself alone again.
It was a matter of minutes before the two ships were going to narrowly cross paths, and River could see the approaching vessel through the front window. It was right about now that she pretended to be Wash and evade capture. ‘Course, an analogy of the former pilot was also horribly inappropriate if one considered how he died.
Her eyes became locked on the Reaver ship, and she watched as two mechanical looking claws began to unfold and point towards their ship, reaching out as if an Alliance officer readying his handcuffs. She closed her eyes, hoping that it would as benign as the latter.
But her hopes went unanswered as she felt the ship jolt and rustle, a loud sounding kerchunk! and subsequent sizzle of electricity rang through the canals of her ears. Releasing the grip of her eyelids holding shut, she looked about on the screens and buttons at the control panel, trying to figure out what had happened. But all the lights kept flashing on and off, in random intervals with no apparent reason. Then complete static.
Turn the cortex on, she instructed herself. Nothing. The COM line? Nothing.
She bolted out of her chair and stumbled into the oncoming charge of Mal and Zoe.
“What the hell was that?” Mal questioned.
“Grappling claws. We’ve been intercepted and an energy net has been deployed effectively shutting down our communications,” River answered. Another hit throttled the ship and the three nearly lost their balance.
“Mal!” Jayne angrily called out from the cargo bay. They all rushed down towards the area.
Another booming sounded as the three descended the metal grated staircases, bringing them to the bay door. All the sounds were coming through from a single area.
Jayne was uneasily backing away from a small window on the airlock door.
“What is it?” Mal questioned.
“They’re…breakin’ through. Tryin’ to breach the airlock!” Jayne said.
Mal ran over to where Jayne had been and watched on in dread. Sparks were lighting up the small room that separated their pressurized bay from the vacuum of space.
“Somethin’s cuttin’ a hole through. They’ll penetrate the wall in about thirty seconds,” Mal then turned towards the others. “River, gather Kaylee and Simon into Inara’s shuttle. Jayne, I hope you got ‘em grenades on ya.”
“Of couse…” the mercenary replied, gripping one intently.
“How many ya think are on board?” Zoe calmly asked over the sound of River scurrying off.
“It’s a mid-size ship. Could be upwards of thirty or more,” Mal said, re-checking the guns he was carrying.
“Cao…” Jayne angrily seethed. “How come every ruttin’ mission turns out like this? Reavers, Alliance, thugs…why us?”
“Jayne…” Mal calmly said while readying his gun.
“Don’t ya find it ironical that this ship is called Serenity? I mean, after all the trouble we come across!” he continued.
“Jayne,” the captain’s voice was becoming sharper.
“Why dontcha jus git that crazy Reaver killer down here to sort this out?” he pestered.
“Jayne!” Mal shouted, as the sparks within the airlock stopped, signaling that their ship was going to be crawling with Reavers soon.
“River’s got a job to do,” Zoe decided to say since Mal wasn’t. “She has to protect the crew, and we’re protecting her from having to do that.”
“That’s right,” Mal stated, still holding his gun in anticipation.
Jayne furiously brought Vera up, angry that he had to do the impossible and kill a ship full of Reavers while their former savoir was escaping the conflict.
Almost a complete minute passed before Mal edged his head in the direction of the other two.
Zoe glanced back, but determination and rage still gripped her emotions.
They persisted in waiting. Each of them standing with one foot slightly forward, their favorite gun drawn, with a solid gaze in the direction of their intruders’ entrance.
“Aren’t we ‘sposed to be killin’ now?” Jayne finally broke the silence.
Mal dropped his arm and turned to them. The mercenary had already allowed Vera down, but Zoe kept her gun drawn and ready. The captain walked over to her and set his hand down for her to lower her gun.
She shot him a stunned glance before stoicism washed over and she obeyed his command.
“I want you two to cover me while I check it out,” Mal instructed.
They nodded and moved in from behind. Stepping forward, he opened the airlock and readied his .38 caliber.
What they found when the door fully opened shocked them all. There was nothing but a gaping hole that led down a dark tunnel to what they perceived to be the Reaver’s ship.
Mal stepped forward and looked down it. Utter darkness.
- - - - - - -
Chapter Title: Start Me Up
Chapter Number: Six
Genre: Adventure/Romance/Drama
Pairing: River/Jayne, Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoe/Wash, Book/God
Timeline: Post BDM. Thus, spoilers.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Whedon’s world, my manipulation… Series and Chapter Title courtesy of the Rolling Stones
Summary: Cash flow increase leads to the desire for more…cash flow. River discovers the secret of the estate that sends Serenity's crew hunting for more. And when there’s huntin’ on the Rim, danger abounds.
Author’s Note: This fic may seem totally River-centric at this point, but I am going to include Jayne POV’s once I deem it appropriate for the flow of the story. It’s just so fun and easy with River, dammit! She can read minds!
Start Me Up
“Yeah, but whut the hell were those things, Mal?” Jayne whined as the captain began walking away from him after splitting up the pay with everyone in the galley.
“Does it matter?” Mal stopped and asked.
“What do you mean ‘things’?” Kaylee curiously asked.
“Yeah,” Simon began. “I mean, the three of us heard some strange sounds coming from the forest, but we-”
“Should just leave it at that,” the captain affirmed.
He walked over to the COM line to communicate with the bridge.
“We’re ready for takeoff, River.”
He turned back to his crew with a smug look on his face. The hum of the engines revving could be heard even from the inside of the ship, and it signified an unspoken end to the conversation.
- - -
“Now that we’re all ‘bout to become filthy rich, I’d like to know specifically where we are headed,” Mal said, entering the bridge and walking up behind River in the pilot’s chair.
“Whitefall,” she replied.
“So…that’s where the real gains are, huh?” the captain continued asking questions. She could hear him rolling up and adjusting the sleeves of his button up shirt.
“Yes. The man we house-sitted for has established several other half-completed estates across the Rim moons and planets, built over the earth to hide top secret Alliance storage bunkers. Most of his money is kept in that precise one, along with what I perceived to be…invaluable stock.”
“Excellent,” Mal cheerily said, swinging his arms side to side, occasionally bringing them together.
There was a pause in their conversation. River knew about and was waiting for Mal to make his move.
“Well, I better assemble the team up so everythin’ goes accordin’ to plans,” he stated.
“Malcolm,” she coolly voiced, adjusting the chair so that she could see him in her peripherals.
“Umm…yeah?”
“This will have to be quick. Badger’s contract has yet to be satisfied and I fear some complications might hinder our efficiency in doing so.”
“Don’t worry ‘bout that rat, miss. He’ll haggle our pay sum absurdly down no matter how quick or slow we are, so iffen this new plan includes a capital worth hearin’ an earful from our big boss man, let’s not fret,” the captain explained before calling Zoe and Jayne to the deck.
River turned herself back around as she heard the trudge of boots coming their way.
“Where we headed?” Zoe asked.
“Whitefall,” Mal said whilst taking a seat in the co-pilot’s chair.
“Shiny, we gonna kill Patience?” Jayne eagerly inquired.
“No,” Mal started. “I don’t fly halfway cross the ‘verse to beat an ol’ woman and her dignity senseless.”
Zoe chuckled and Jayne leaned back, gripping his hands into his belt with a grin on his face.
“However, if worse comes to Patience, I got no policy ‘gainst shootin’ her,” he added.
“I’m rememberin’ that,” Jayne happily remarked.
Mal ignored him and turned back to River.
The reader suddenly sensed a strong urge of his want to leave and attend to something. It was, unsurprisingly, involving Inara. The woman was feeling better since a few hours ago, and Mal had had her on his thoughts ever since she became bed-ridden.
And River knew what Mal was going to ask, but she answered it ahead of him so he could move along to what was more important.
“We’ll be dirtside in 19 hours,” River commented.
Mal gave her a look.
“Sorry,” she said, with her chin tilting down, further emphasizing the width of her big brown eyes.
Mal stood up and began walking away, mumbling curses to himself. Following him out were both Jayne and Zoe.
When there was complete silence and she was certain she was all alone, River turned downwards and looked at her hand. It was the one she had forced into that man’s mouth. There were deep red marks that formed bruises in the crescent shape of his upper row of teeth, where they had sunk into her skin.
Her left hand began to massage the other one and it pained her.
But not as much as the unreciprocated sensations that still lingered between her legs, even after two long hours.
“River!” Kaylee’s voice huffed and puffed from the hallway.
“River! Oh River, you gotta get down here!” the mechanic sounded wildly enthusiastic.
“Look at this!” the ever positive young woman squealed, holding two paper stubs. “Simon bought me some tickets to the theaters on Osiris. Got ‘em soon as he heard we were headin’ there. And he promised dinner. It’s gonna be so romantic!”
River smiled back, thinking that maybe her brother hadn’t lost all of his game.
Kaylee sighed in contentment and continued: “Well, now don’t just sit there like ya don’t know what to do! Serenity’s lil’ genius needs to help me figure out what to wear. You do know your brother well enough, right? You’d know what he’d like to see me in? What in the ‘verse would be Core appropriate anyway…?”
River just shrugged and sustained her smile, getting up out of her seat and following the mechanic down into her bunk.
“Well now, I’ve still got that rufflely dress from Persephone, but I don’t think I can sit down in such a thing…” Kaylee joyously remarked, taking her hair down and grabbing a towel to wipe away the grease on her face.
“What do ya think Simon’ll like?” she asked River, trying to get the psychic in on the conversation.
River opened a drawer from the woman’s dresser and immediately pulled out the dress. It was similarly styled like the one’s she wore, slinky and flowing at the bottom, with thin straps and solid colors. It was Kaylee, after all, who gave River most of the clothes she wears now.
“He likes red. A traditionalist,” she noted, holding out the red dress to Kaylee.
“Course, I knew that!” the mechanic excitedly stated, taking it from her hands and holding it against her. “Wonder if it still fits…”
“It does…” River noted, turning away and looking off.
“Somethin’ the matter, Riv?”
She shook her head, trying to think of something to say to feign normalcy. Her eyes dragged along a cluster of Kaylee’s multi-colored lanterns. It reminded her of that wonderful lamp back on Triumph. She immediately became entranced with it, tilting her head to the side with a stern gaze.
“C’mon, I’m practically your sis. You can tell me anything!”
River just continued staring.
“Ya know, if everythin’ was okay, ya’d’ve immediately said no and confusedly questioned why I asked ya!”
“May be true,” the girl responded, turning to look at her.
“So…?”
River tilted her head again, as was a habit when she was thinking. Her mouth gaped open slightly, and her eyes darted around as if appealing to the objects in the room.
“When you first felt things for Simon, and he didn’t return the affection, how did you cope?” River asked, finally looking at Kaylee.
“Well,” Kaylee looked down and crossed her arms. “I did what most other girls do. I kept at it, gossiped to Inara, took my chances and flirted at every ‘vailable opportunity. Why?”
And then the engineer’s voice became almost hush-hush. “Got a crush on someone, River?”
The reader’s cheeks burned and she turned away, allowing a loopy smile to crack on her face.
“Ya do!” Kaylee exclaimed.
“Is that why I’m reacting in such a way?”
“Oh gosh, duh!”
“I wish it to stop,” River’s voice became more somber, and her pupils hung downwards, looking at nothing particular as an image of Jayne sitting in the corner of the dark room flashed her mind.
“Aww c’mon Riv, don’t be sayin’ things like that,” Kaylee tried comforting her, but with the lack of information, she couldn’t really do much. “Ya know, if ya told me more, I could help…”
“Can’t,” River said.
“That’s prolly ‘cause you’re confused yourself. My biggest advice is, when you think you don’t know, you actually do. And I mean that in a good way,” Kaylee happily remarked, feeling proud that perhaps she had given the smartest girl in the ‘verse some potent advice.
But when River didn’t respond back, Kaylee sighed.
“In a good way’s good, right?” the mechanic tried to fix the situation.
River turned back to the girl and smiled. “Thank you, Kaylee.” She then climbed up the ladder and exited the bunk. She was feeling slightly parched, and figured a quick trip to the galley would suffice. But she had also felt a twinge of disturbance from what Kaylee had said.
“If you think you don’t know, you actually do.”
It made River’s gut twist into a knot, and the sensations soon began vibrating up her belly and straight to her heart. The red pulsing muscle thumped loudly in her chest for a few seconds before returning to normal rhythms.
River was heading down the hallway towards the kitchen area. And when she reached the doorway to enter, one tall, hulking object suddenly appeared in her way. It was Jayne.
She stopped walking at once to avoid bumping into him, and had to take a heavy breath of air to calm the startle in her nerves. Her heart was thudding out of control and the sound was cascading her ear canals, drowning out the hum of the electricity and other quiet environmental noises.
River closed her eyes before deciding to glance up at him, to pretend that she was just passing by and this spontaneous moment had no effect on her.
But her warm brown eyes met the gaze of his icy blue orbs. River’s chin quickly sunk back towards her neck, in the hopes that this movement would cause her hair to fall forward and allow her to hide.
She kept her head down, waiting for him to move out of the way. But he wouldn’t.
River took another heavy breath, and considered whether to just turn around and avoid this altogether. And right as her head pivoted to the left, his gloved hand reached out and caught her chin in its grasp.
Her body tensed and her eyes widened, locking back on to his.
The two were staring at each other for what felt like eternity to River. His eyes were narrowed, and he seemed to be inspecting first her face, then slowly down to her lips, stopping shortly to continue onward down her neck, to her chest, and the rest of her body.
River’s lips parted and she thought she was going to say something, but his grip tightened on her face, effectively preventing her from talking.
Perhaps a physical gesture would do the trick and end this uncomfortable moment the two were sharing.
Seeing her extend her right hand out to latch onto his arm, Jayne took the opportunity and pushed her back with his clench. Once her feet started moving, he tilted his wrist, turning her body to move backwards against a wall. She slammed not-so-gently into it, and a lecherous half grin crossed his face when he heard her allow a startled gasp to escape her throat.
Feeling it reverberate to his hand, Jayne now himself was breathing more heavily.
River knew that to read his mind would warn her of the coming actions, but something within her went blank. There was an extreme sense of clarity that she could not remember experiencing since going to the Academy. It seemed that for the first time in almost five years, she was seeing only through her eyes. There was no extraneous visuals or sounds appearing within her head or externally, that she always had to judge on if they were a part of reality or not.
“And it’s like sucking on pure oxygen...well…no…such an analogy is actually quite deadly…deadly…yes…” River mused to herself. That word was leading her down an alluring path.
Her mind was drifting on a linear track, and it sent flutters in her stomach and a small smile across her face.
And she almost forgot that Jayne was there, holding half of her face down and staring with salacious eyes at her.
“Hungry?” she said aloud. The word popped into her head and she wondered whether her mind was back to its old tricks.
Looking back at him with a worried appearance, she saw him nod in agreement.
And then he tilted his head slightly back as his hand softened its grip. At a lagging and lethargic pace, he moved it downwards, encircling her neck as his index finger pressed firmly onto her carotid artery. And then it began to drag ever slower, past her neck and stopping at her collar bone. For a moment he attempted to dig his fingers behind her clavicle, but immediately retracted those motions and ebbed his hand ever further. It was tracing the cleavage on her chest, and paused between her breasts.
In that moment, River stopped breathing. And she knew he must be able to feel the beating of her heart grow rampant and wild.
All sound seemed to disappear and time froze.
She took in two lung’s full of air, pressing her chest against his hand.
Her body was becoming highly stimulated from this event, and she wondered why it seemed to always want to betray her around him. It was like her mind before the events of Miranda. Always doing things out of her control.
His eyes had been following his hand the entire time, but they snapped quickly back to hers. She could only look on with a mix of naivety and uncertainty. She knew that he was intrigued by her lack of resistance.
Jayne’s hand was starting to move slowly to the right when the sound of footsteps shattered the stillness in the air. River’s face twisted into an expression of pain, as the sharp thuds of two feet appeared to destroy the lack of all sound. She grimaced and Jayne pulled away. His hawkish countenance faded to blank as he pivoted his body away from hers and walked away.
She watched with a hint of displeasure as the mercenary opened the hatch to his bunk and climbed down. Turning to the side, she saw Mal coming through the galley and past her. Apparently, he hadn’t seen a thing because he didn’t so much as make eye contact with her.
The captain continued walking, stopped at his own bunk door, and entered, leaving River alone in the hall.
Sighing, she went into the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. One for the original parched feeling. The second for the newfound exhaustion.
- - -
The rest of the day onboard included River trying to stay out of the mercenary’s sight. Something had changed in the way he looked at her, ever since she had told him that dirty story about Inara. And she wasn’t sure if it was for better or worse.
When he was lifting weights in the cargo bay, River found the highest hidden compartment her very flexible and maneuverable body could reach from the hanging metal passages. She’d find a tight little nook and sink in, often having to shift a few times to get comfortable. Then she’d peek her head out, careful not to let her hair hang down, and watch him as he benched press.
She found it fascinating to examine his muscles as they tightened in a flex, and then relax into a fleshy and soft composition. Her mind worked out the rate at which his body would feel exhaustion for each separate type of reps he preformed. And she soon had a full grasp as to how much the man could exert himself.
When Jayne was fixing himself a standard half-assed protein meal in the kitchen, River was able to give herself enough time ahead of him to crawl under the table and deftly move around his feet as they crossed the floor. She’d flare her nostrils to take in the smells of his cooking. It might not have been an appetizing aroma, but it was Jayne. And quickly becoming enthralling.
When he was washing away the sweat and grime in the communal showers, River sneakily entered the adjoining stall and hitched herself with both her hands and feet flat against the sides of it, so that he couldn’t catch a glimpse of her through the bottom slits.
Her ears listened to the lull of the water running down his body, and she took in the scents of his detergents. A standard soapy clean smell, but it was so enjoyable she allowed herself to breath if only for it.
But when it was time for supper, River tried to sit as far away from him as possible. She made it a point to never look at him, and if she had to, it would be nothing more than passing over to see the person next to him.
However, the girl couldn’t help herself. She’d steal glances at him when she was positive there was no way he’d be looking back. She did this about ten times within one single conversation, and as statistics would point out, there was a growing chance he was going to see her doing this.
And he did. As the two finally locked eyes from across the table, River noted her vision becoming tunnel-like. All the other crew members blurred out of focus and Jayne’s eyes seemed to sharpen in return.
She decided that she wouldn’t back down this time. Nope, Jayne Cobb would have to be reminded that she was the insane and dangerous one, and he only played second fiddle to such a stark and obvious truth.
They continued looking at each other, until a loud and irritable interruption filled the air.
It was the proximity warning. Red flashing lights and moderately high pitched beeping over the COM line. Something was close in the area, which in the bleak vastness of space, usually meant they were meaning to.
All the crew members jumped out of their chairs and stood, exchanging curious glances and waiting for someone else to make a move.
River broke her stance and hurried off to the bridge. Kaylee jumped in behind her.
“Kaylee!” Mal called out, running in after them. “Need ya where ya belong. Case there’s reason for us runnin’”
“Right,” she said, before descending back towards the engine room.
River nearly jumped into the pilot’s chair and sunk in. Clicking several switches, a screen to the left side of her lit up and the reading was coming in from the other ship.
And there was one glaring series of features that were assembled back into one compact but wholly terrifying word: Reavers.
River didn’t have to say anything. She just turned her chair around to find the look of horror plastered on the captain’s face.
“Wo de ma…” he stuttered.
“Wut?” Jayne asked, entering the room.
“Reavers,” Zoe angrily remarked, moving to Mal’s side. There was no end to the hate she felt towards such things. In fact, one could say fear was completely overrun with such revulsion.
“Ah, hell! Not again!” Jayne groaned, turning away to grab his weapons from out of his bunk.
“River,” Mal said. “…Do you know what to do?”
“Power down our engines. Shut down the cortex and all available electricity to simulate drifting through space under the pretense that there are no accessible living persons on board.”
“…Right. Zoe, time to get ready for round two if need be,” Mal ordered. The two of them immediately left the room and River found herself alone again.
It was a matter of minutes before the two ships were going to narrowly cross paths, and River could see the approaching vessel through the front window. It was right about now that she pretended to be Wash and evade capture. ‘Course, an analogy of the former pilot was also horribly inappropriate if one considered how he died.
Her eyes became locked on the Reaver ship, and she watched as two mechanical looking claws began to unfold and point towards their ship, reaching out as if an Alliance officer readying his handcuffs. She closed her eyes, hoping that it would as benign as the latter.
But her hopes went unanswered as she felt the ship jolt and rustle, a loud sounding kerchunk! and subsequent sizzle of electricity rang through the canals of her ears. Releasing the grip of her eyelids holding shut, she looked about on the screens and buttons at the control panel, trying to figure out what had happened. But all the lights kept flashing on and off, in random intervals with no apparent reason. Then complete static.
Turn the cortex on, she instructed herself. Nothing. The COM line? Nothing.
She bolted out of her chair and stumbled into the oncoming charge of Mal and Zoe.
“What the hell was that?” Mal questioned.
“Grappling claws. We’ve been intercepted and an energy net has been deployed effectively shutting down our communications,” River answered. Another hit throttled the ship and the three nearly lost their balance.
“Mal!” Jayne angrily called out from the cargo bay. They all rushed down towards the area.
Another booming sounded as the three descended the metal grated staircases, bringing them to the bay door. All the sounds were coming through from a single area.
Jayne was uneasily backing away from a small window on the airlock door.
“What is it?” Mal questioned.
“They’re…breakin’ through. Tryin’ to breach the airlock!” Jayne said.
Mal ran over to where Jayne had been and watched on in dread. Sparks were lighting up the small room that separated their pressurized bay from the vacuum of space.
“Somethin’s cuttin’ a hole through. They’ll penetrate the wall in about thirty seconds,” Mal then turned towards the others. “River, gather Kaylee and Simon into Inara’s shuttle. Jayne, I hope you got ‘em grenades on ya.”
“Of couse…” the mercenary replied, gripping one intently.
“How many ya think are on board?” Zoe calmly asked over the sound of River scurrying off.
“It’s a mid-size ship. Could be upwards of thirty or more,” Mal said, re-checking the guns he was carrying.
“Cao…” Jayne angrily seethed. “How come every ruttin’ mission turns out like this? Reavers, Alliance, thugs…why us?”
“Jayne…” Mal calmly said while readying his gun.
“Don’t ya find it ironical that this ship is called Serenity? I mean, after all the trouble we come across!” he continued.
“Jayne,” the captain’s voice was becoming sharper.
“Why dontcha jus git that crazy Reaver killer down here to sort this out?” he pestered.
“Jayne!” Mal shouted, as the sparks within the airlock stopped, signaling that their ship was going to be crawling with Reavers soon.
“River’s got a job to do,” Zoe decided to say since Mal wasn’t. “She has to protect the crew, and we’re protecting her from having to do that.”
“That’s right,” Mal stated, still holding his gun in anticipation.
Jayne furiously brought Vera up, angry that he had to do the impossible and kill a ship full of Reavers while their former savoir was escaping the conflict.
Almost a complete minute passed before Mal edged his head in the direction of the other two.
Zoe glanced back, but determination and rage still gripped her emotions.
They persisted in waiting. Each of them standing with one foot slightly forward, their favorite gun drawn, with a solid gaze in the direction of their intruders’ entrance.
“Aren’t we ‘sposed to be killin’ now?” Jayne finally broke the silence.
Mal dropped his arm and turned to them. The mercenary had already allowed Vera down, but Zoe kept her gun drawn and ready. The captain walked over to her and set his hand down for her to lower her gun.
She shot him a stunned glance before stoicism washed over and she obeyed his command.
“I want you two to cover me while I check it out,” Mal instructed.
They nodded and moved in from behind. Stepping forward, he opened the airlock and readied his .38 caliber.
What they found when the door fully opened shocked them all. There was nothing but a gaping hole that led down a dark tunnel to what they perceived to be the Reaver’s ship.
Mal stepped forward and looked down it. Utter darkness.
- - - - - - -