AN: While I was working on A Firefly Among Monsters I had a plot bunny give me a carrot, and while it didn't fit in that universe, I couldn't not explore it as a two-shot. It's similar to my other short story She Smelled Like 2am, so there will be no Riddick in this (sorry to disappoint), but will play with my version of River and Jayne. As always reviews are appreciated, and I don't own the characters or song lyrics, I just like to borrow them.

xxx

River's POV

"Whiskey- three fingers neat." She tells the man behind the bar.

"Sugar, you old enough for that?" He asks her.

She shoots the man her usual look...the look she gives Simon or Mal when they doubt her...

"Old enough." She says as she throws out her newly printed counterfeit ident-card. It was a present from herself for her 18th birthday...of course she added a few years.

"Whiskey neat for the lady." The bar tender says as he hands back her card.

He slides her the glass and she leaves the credits for the drink on the bar as she nods her head in thanks.

She turns away from the bar and looks out into the room...the rest of the crew are milling about.

Zoe is sitting at a back booth with Kaylee and Simon...she can hear fragments of their conversation floating in and out of her head... engines...dinosaurs...baby names...she can feel the warmth of Zoe's thoughts as she lovingly touches her stomach... if only Wash could have known...

Mal and Inara are in another booth, a little further away, with enough shadows for the two of them to feel as if they have some privacy.

...and Jayne...ah Jayne...he's standing near the replica earth that was record player...there's a painted lady standing near him...but the girl can feel his thoughts are subconsciously elsewhere...they are thinking of long legs and combat boots...

She smirks a little...it's nothing new... his thoughts have been drifting more and more frequently as of late...ever since she turned 18...

She pounds her drink as she feels the last traces of Jayne previous thought...

"Bar tender...another." She says as she stares across the room at Jayne.

The bartender brings her another whiskey and she doesn't even glance behind her as she leaves the credits and picks up the drink...she hasn't stopped looking at Jayne...

The previous song ends and she hears a familiar beat begin to play...

...You don't know that I know
You watch me every night...

She doesn't know if its her steady gaze or his years as a tracker but he turns and looks at her as she continues to stare.

...And I just can't resist the urge
To stand here in the light...

"...what are you looking at Mooney..." she hears in his mind. It was a neat trick that they had developed for jobs since Zoe could no longer go on jobs with her pregnancy.

She tips her drink at him and pounds her drink. He gives her a questioning look and she turns back to the bar. She's tired of this little charade of his...

...Your greedy eyes upon me
And then I come undone...

"Bartender! Two for me and my friend." She says as she feels Jayne walk up behind her.

"What the hell are you playing at Mooney." He all but hisses at her as he comes up behind her.

The bar tender places the two drinks in front of her now and she drops the credits for him as he does. She takes a glass and hands it to Jayne.

"Drink with her." She says.

...I could close the curtain
But this is too much fun...

He doesn't take the drink so she shrugs a little and pounds the drink in her hands. She sees a twitch of anger in his eyes...his jaw tightening...

"You intend to get piss drunk little girl?" Jayne asks with a gruff tone.

She smirks. "Do you intend to ever do what you think about?"

"What the hell are you going on about Moon-brain."

She all but glares now. "You know what she is...you love to use this knowledge when it suits you...but you never think that she might hear other things...things you may not realize..."

His eyes widen a fraction...barely enough for her to notice...

...There's so much left unspoken
Between the two of us...

She steps closer to him now...she breathes in and can smell the metal of his weapons, the gunpowder from his cleaning his guns earlier...

"She sees your dreams...feels everything you do to her in them...every touch you leave..." She says as she stands up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

...It's so much more exciting
To look when you can't touch...

He grabs her upper arm rather harshly now...his anger at being called out seeps through every pore...

"You sure you want to bring this up?" Jayne all but growls.

...You could say I'm different
Maybe I'm a freak...

"What's the matter Ape man...embarrassed? Or maybe Jayne is a girl's name after all."

His grip tightens on her even more now...she will have finger sized bruised in the morning.

He says nothing and after a while her eyes narrow at him. "Fine...if you won't do anything..." She says as she wrenches her arm free. "...She is sure that someone here will."

She turns and walks away now, leaving a momentarily stunned Jayne in her wake. She gets three steps before she feels him pull her back. He doesn't turn her around, he leans down and whispers darkly into her ear.

"You are playing a dangerous game."

...But I know how to twist you
To bring you to your knees...

She turns around now...a cheshire cat smile on her mouth. "What you don't know...What you can't see...I get off on you...Getting off on me."

XXX

AN: Oh what is Jayne going to do with that information I wonder, will it push him over his limit? Or will River take control...stay tuned to see what happens.