(no subject)
Title: Tenuous : Chapter Thirteen
Characters: Zoë/Jayne
Rating: PG13
Timeline: Five or so years after the BDM
Word count: 774
Comments: Sorry this took so long to get to y’all. Had some school stuff creep up on me. But here, with no further adieu is the conclusion to our little tale. I hope you all enjoy.
Tenuous Organizational Post
"I love ya, Zoë," he murmured into her hair as he drifted off.
She’d heard him that night, heard him murmur that he loved her before falling asleep and Zoë had to admit that it felt good to hear that. It felt real good. So she had slipped from his arms in the morning to make breakfast. The crew ambled in as the smells of coffee and pancakes drifted through the ship. River smiled her mysterious smile as she took to plates and everyone did their part to help the meal get to the table. She hadn’t noticed him get up. Not until his arms slipped around her waist.
“Ya do all this fer me?” he murmured, not really caring if they saw what he was doing.
Lucky for him, Zoë didn’t care either. “Maybe,” she teased gently, flipping the last one. “Or maybe I thought the crew could use a moral boast.”
“Think our job goin’ so well is good enough fer tha’.” He kissed her cheek and released her from his hold, oblivious to the looks Simon and Kaylee were giving them. River and Inara, on the other hand, smiled knowingly at each other.
Zoë laughed and Simon’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “That, Jayne, would be why I’m the captain.” Things just seemed normal after that. Back to functioning with some sense of regularity. Jayne was back on jobs, to Zoë’s happiness. And they didn’t run smooth all the time, but they still had jobs to do, coin enough to keep them in the black.
Jayne took to spending more time in Zoë’s bunk. Time she enjoyed. For this was the time she got to forget she was captain of a ship (unless she needed to pull rank) and responsible for five other people. No, in her bunk, she was just Zoë, a woman who was loved by a man named Jayne. He balanced her out, more so than she had ever thought possible. She couldn’t forget Wash and he didn’t expect her too. And Mal was always there in her heart, the family she’d lived with since the war. But in Jayne’s arms, she was still human, still alive after everything she’d seen.
One night, a few months after his declaration of love, Zoë slipped from his arms and pulled on a pair of pants and his tee shirt. She made her way up the ladder quietly and to the bridge. It was empty, River in bed for the night, no doubt fully aware of any happenings. She sat in the pilot’s chair and looked out into the black.
“Hey, baby,” she said softly. “I miss you.” Zoë drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Her chin rested on her knees. “I know that the relationship I have with Jayne probably would surprise you. But he treats me well. And he knows he’ll never replace you. I let him in my heart and I’m glad I did. I just wanted you to know.” Her eyes turned to the dinosaur River kept on the dash. “I needed you to know.”
She didn’t hear the footsteps before she began speaking to her dead husband, but she heard them now. “I ain’t meanin’ ta replace ya, Wash. Juss wanna take car’a Zoë. She needs someone, ya know. I’m juss glad it’s me,” he said quietly as he came up behind her. Zoë turned to look up at him. “Ya alright, Zo’?”
She nodded. “Yes, Jayne. I’m alright.” She got up and he held his arms open to her. They stood that way, him just holding her close.
“Hey, Zo’?”
“Yeah, Jayne?”
He looked a little sheepish. “Ya… ya dun tell ‘Nara or Kaylee or River ‘bout stuff like this, do ya?”
Zoë pulled back a little to look at his face. “Like what, Jayne?”
Now he looked flustered. “Well, tha’ I hold ya like this, or ya know, talk ta Wash.”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “No, Jayne, I don’t. It’s one of the perks of being captain. There are some things I can keep to myself.” She smiled and leaned up, kissing him. “Come on, we both need some sleep before that job tomorrow. Who knows how it’ll turn out.”
“Sleep, huh?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows. “Ya sure ‘bout tha’?” His face had turned to a leer and Zoë smacked his arm playful.
“Don’t make me pull rank on you.” She slipped from his arms and headed down to her bunk.
“God help me, Wash. Ya loved a firecracker. And I’m one lucky hundan ta get ta love her too.”
The End.
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Hope it wasn’t too fluffy for you all. But I felt they deserved a happy ending. :)