Title: Abandoned

Disclaimer: I own nothing...it's all Joss.

Rating: PG-13 now (just swearing), but later...R or so.

Summary: When a deal goes wrong, the Serenity crew scrambles off a warring moon, but in their haste, River and Jayne are left behind. What will the mismatched pair do?

Chapter One: Trouble

The deal was going south.

The thought was not unfamiliar in Captain Malcolm Reynolds's mind, but right now, he would rate this one in the top ten, maybe five. Somehow a simple exchange had turned into a gorram civil war between the folk on the moon.

"Captain! Alliance!" Wash's voice was frantic and repetitious over the comm.

"Got it," Mal replied from behind his blockade, his voice tinged with annoyance. He winced a little as a bullet hit close. "We're kinda dealin' with a different problem right now."

"Five or seven minutes, Mal," Wash warned.

"Only need three," Mal told him before rolling out of his position, firing at the opposite men. He spotted Zoe out of the corner of his eye. She was still standing, but loosing ground. He didn't even try and locate Jayne and River in the masses.

"Okay everybody, we're movin' out!" Mal shouted backing toward the shuttle. A couple more well-placed bullets and most of the men were down.

The comm in his hand crackled to life. "I'm headed to the ship," Jayne's rough voice announced.

"River with you?" Mal replied instantly.

The comm crackled again. "Yeah."

Mal meant to say "good" when a shot rang out, knocking down a horse and man not more than two feet away.

"Ta ma de," he cursed as he stumbled backwards toward the shuttle. Zoe was still to his right shooting the last of her rounds.

"Zoe!" Mal shouted as the backed up to the shuttle. Thankfully, the men shooting were still several feet away, but closing in.

Zoe opened the hatch and jumped in. As she flicked the shuttle on, Mal gave two more shots before slipping on, closing the hatch.

"Well, that wasn't predicable," Mal commented as Zoe flew them to Serenity.

"No sir, it wasn't." Zoe's lips twitched as she said the words. She flicked on a switch and announced, "Docking in five."

The shuttle slid into its spot and both Mal and Zoe jumped out and headed for the bridge.

"Wash!" Mal shouted. "Get us outta here!"

On the speaker, the pilot replied, "Already ahead of ya." The familiar rumbled of the engine sounded wonderful to Mal's ears as they ascended into the sky.

"That was a close one, sir," Zoe commented, almost quietly.

"Mite closer than I like," Mal agreed somewhat reluctantly. The turned the corner and nearly ran smack dab into the mechanic.

"Hey, Cap'n, Zoe," Kaylee greeted, ever cheerful. "How'd it go?"

Zoe's eyes slid pointedly to Mal before she squeezed past, heading up to the bridge.

Kaylee turned to Mal expectantly. "Where's River? Simon's all anxious 'bout her."

Mal could feel his blood freezing. "She's with Jayne. Here," he said slowly, staring down at the mechanic.

Involuntarily, Kaylee shrank back a little. "No, we thought ya'll were on the shuttle."

"Go se," Mal bemoaned and spun on his heel, half-running towards the cargo bay.

Kaylee followed closely behind, her face etched with concern. "Sorry, Cap'n, I really thought…" she trailed off when she realized he wasn't listening.

"Jayne! River!" Mal shouted loudly, his voice echoing in the ship. His feet clanked against the metal as he stormed past Inara's shuttle.

The commotion alerted the Companion and she pried open her door. "Is something wrong?" She asked a flummoxed Kaylee.

In an uncharacteristic manner, the mechanic nibbled on her lip nervously. "Well, Jayne 'n River are kinda…missing," she whispered the last word.

Inara's brow creased. "But we're out of atmo." Her eyes widened and she glanced at Mal's retreating form. "Oh!"

"Yeah," Kaylee added miserably.

"Jayne!" Mal shouted again as he clamored down the stairs to the cargo bay. The open area was empty save for the various boxes and Jayne's bench press. His search was fruitless.

Mal strode across the bay and pressed a button. "Wash, turn her 'round," he ordered, his face set hard.

"We can't. Alliance, remember?" Wash called back, confusion edging in his voice.

"They ain't on the ship, are they, sir?" Zoe asked calmly.

Mal didn't bother to respond. He just stormed his way back up towards the bridge. Every gorram time, he thought angrily, something had to go screwy.

By the time he entered the bridge, everyone had assembled including a very confused Simon.

"Where, exactly, is my sister?" He questioned, glancing between the two ex-soldiers.

Mal ignored the question and addressed the crew, or what was left of them. "Everyone just stay right nice and calm, 'specially you, doc." He the turned his attention to Wash. "They on planet-side, now?"

"Yep," Wash confirmed.

Mal exhaled, rubbing the side of his jaw. "We ain't gonna be able to turn 'round now without raising some very unpleasant questions," he mumbled to himself.

Simon took a deliberate step forward. "What," he began slowly, "happened to my sister?"

Mal met the doctor's gaze straight on. "There was a bit of confusion down there, and folks on the moon started a gorram civil war. Somehow, River 'n Jayne didn't make it back to the ship in time. But, ain't nothin' we can do right this minute."

"Nothing we can do?" Simon nearly exploded. "Turn Serenity around!"

"And have the Alliance on us?" Mal shouted back, his eyes burning. "You really want that? Last I heard you 'n your sister are known fugitives."

Simon's jaw tensed and an uncomfortable silence settled among the crew.

"I think," Inara began, breaking the silence. "Mal's right. Everyone should just…calm down."

Simon scoffed. "My sister is on a godforsaken moon with a barely trained ape who doesn't give a rat's ass about her!"

Kaylee reached out and ghosted her hand over Simon's shoulder. "Captain and Inara are right. We gotta stay calm. 'sides, they'll be alright." Her optimism didn't shine through as brightly, but she kept her smile on.

Simon inhaled slowly and rubbed his face. "So what now?"

"We wait," Mal answered. "Shouldn't be more than a day or two."

"Oh god," Simon muttered, stepping back. His mentally unstable sister and a crass mercenary—no worse pair in the 'verse.

"Gorramit!" Jayne shouted at the empty piece of desert. He wiped his bloody and dirty forehead trying to look up into the sky. Nothing.

"Ben tian sheng de yi dui rou! Chou ma niao!" Jayne yelled and chucked a rock at where the ship should have been.

River blinked as Jayne let out a stream of curses. She carefully stepped closer, her long dark hair whipping behind her. Her feet were incased in her favorite boots and her slip of a dress rippled around her slight figure.

Her head tilted a fraction, as if studying something in the vast emptiness of rock and dirt. "Whoosh," she whispered. "Sublimation."

(in order of appearance) dammit, stupid inbred stack of meat, stinking horse urine.

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