This started out as the first of three chapters, but upon seeing it posted and hearing back from some of my wonderful readers I've decided to leave it as it is here. Happy reading, and feel free to review.
Mal and Jayne were out in town, looking for work, when a sleazy little bar caught their eye. "Gorram good thing Zoe stayed back on the ship," Jayne commented as they sat in a corner, each holding a foaming pint. "Otherwise we'd be listenin' to her bitch an' moan about not being able to drink on account a the baby."
"Glad she's taking Simon's advice on that front, though," Mal replied. "Being pregnant's brought her near back to normal." Weird as it is to see her all ballooned out, I'm happy for her. She needs that little one to help her move on.
"Woman who drinks when she's got a bun in the oven ain't cut out to be no kind of mother," the mercenary said quietly. "Zoe'll be a gorram good ma."
The captain looked surprised for a brief moment before his face softened. They had all been hurt by Miranda, changed by it, Jayne among them. Mal had been shocked over the past few months to find himself spending more and more time in his hired gun's company, and mostly enjoying it. He was still crude, brash, and often seemed to speak unthinkingly, but there was a lot of truth behind the things he said and did, and more than a little bit of good solid horse sense. I've got to wonder if he's actually changed lately, or if he's just more willing to show his real self. More willing to show that he does care about things other than his own well-being. Either way, the more time Mal spent with Jayne the more he found himself respecting the other man and, to a greater extent than ever before, trusting him. "Reckon so," he agreed.
They were quiet for a while, sipping their cold beers in the hot little cantina. Mal watched the other patrons and the street traffic over Jayne's shoulder, keeping an eye out for trouble. Seems like we attract more problems than ever, he bemoaned silently. Even on planets that ain't Alliance-friendly. They had encountered no problems here, but he still couldn't quite manage to relax. Neither, he noted as the other man's finger tapped almost inaudibly on the tabletop, could Jayne.
"It's getting busy in here," Mal commented as more and more people came in out of the broiling sunshine. Several of them tossed the two in the corner more than a passing glance, a fact which did not help his uneasiness in the least. When a dark-skinned man with a nasty facial scar sat down across the room and proceeded to stare overtly at Jayne's back, he decided it was time to get the hell out. "You ready?"
Their beers were less than half-empty, and he could feel the glare being aimed at him. "What's the hun dan look like?" he queried, trying not to sound worried. Plenty a men – and more'n one woman – in the Verse who wouldn't think twice 'bout putting a few extra holes in my hide. "The one who's tryin' to drill into my skull with his eyes, I mean."
"About Zoe's skin tone, short hair, 'tween you and me in height. Got a nice little ridge running down his nose and onto his left cheek. He ain't got your build, but he doesn't look weak, either. Know him?"
"Don't think so. I never gave no body a that description any sort of hurt, leastwise not so close that he'd remember my face to be starin' at me in a bar." He threw back the rest of his drink easily. "Ready when you are. Startin' to get creepy in here."
"Yup." Copying Jayne's action with his own beverage, Mal stood up and led the way out the back, carefully not looking at anyone as they left. The air fell onto their shoulders heavily as they stepped outside, weighed down with heat. They rounded the corner of the building and found three men blocking the alleyway, preventing them from moving into the street. "Ah, go se," the captain muttered. "Jayne, didn't I tell you not to get me in no trouble today?"
"You seen me do anything troublesome, Mal? Been with you all afternoon, ain't had time to piss no one off. I got no ruttin' clue who these fellas are."
"Lovely." He shifted, his hand coming to rest on his pistol as the trio moved towards them.
"Well, who do I see before me but Jayne Cobb himself?" the apparent leader growled. "You didn't really think you could run forever, did you?"
"Run? I don't run from nothin'," Jayne sneered back. "Who the hell're you, anyway?"
"You don't remember my friend in the bar, either, I suppose. He's quite bitter about that scar you gave him, you know."
"I ain't never seen you or him in my life. Probably be better for you if I weren't seein' you now, either."
"Jayne," Mal hissed. "Keep talking like that and we'll be dead before they can tell us who's murderin' us."
"Eight months ago," the lead man went on, "near the docks on Persephone. A lovely little establishment quite like this one. I was chatting up quite a lovely young woman...what was her name...in any case, she was quite a delicious little slut." Mal cringed internally at the way he rolled the last word around in his mouth before spitting it out. "She was all mine until you came in. Didn't say a word, barely even looked at her, but before I could close the deal she was on your lap, drinking your drinks, preparing to give you a lovely evening. I don't take wounded pride well, Mr. Cobb, as you may remember from the little fight that occurred when I confronted you about your blatant robbery of my trim."
You have got to be kidding me, Mal thought, mildly stupefied by their latest misadventure. Of all the fu chou1 bars on all the fu chou planets in the Verse, we've got to stumble into the one frequented by this loony with a grudge. If I ain't got the worst luck in the history of humanity, I'll sell my ship and go to work for the Alliance.
Jayne's face screwed up as he thought back. Realization dawned suddenly on his face, and his expression turned petulant. "You can't expect a man ta remember you from that," he complained. "It was blacker'n pitch in that hole. 'Sides," he grinned, "I was too busy kicking your qichou2 pe gu to memorize what it looks like."
"She was mine, gorram it!" the man screamed angrily, raising his gun and twitching his finger. Before the shot could be fired, Mal had dropped him, and Jayne quickly dispatched the other two, who had responded to their leader's ire too slowly.
They stood for a moment, Mal looking perturbed, Jayne just looking confused. "Hey cap'n?"
"Mm-hm?"
"...Did this luh suh idiot really just try to kill me 'cause a whore liked me better'n him almost a year ago?"
"That's what it sounded like to me, Jayne."
He scratched his head. "Seems kinda stupid to go after someone on account of a whore whose name ya can't even recall."
"That's because it is stupid. Now let's get going before that other one comes out looking for his pals." He stepped over the bodies, headed for the street, then stopped when he realized that Jayne wasn't following. "Uh, Jayne? I'd rather not have to explain to the local authorities how come we killed three men over a whore halfway 'cross the Verse. Dong ma?"
"Her name was Beth," Jayne answered. "I remember now. Pretty thing, hadn't been whoring real long. Still real skittish in the sack. Said she took me over him 'cause she thought I'd be gentler. Thanked me afterward, too, for bein' careful with her." He met Mal's eyes. "Nice girl. Reckon she was worth killin' for." Then he, too, stepped over the corpses.
He remembered her name? Eight months on, and he remembers her name. He shook his head, but couldn't get the question that was burning his mind to go away. A few blocks from the bar, he broke the silence. "Hey Jayne?"
"Yeah?"
"Not sure why I'm asking you this, but...you remember all of their names?"
"What, the whores?"
"Right."
He shrugged. "Most of 'em. Each one's different, you know. Got her own story, her own reason for doing what she does. Makes 'em all excited when ya ask about them, too, 'cause no one else cares where they come from." Plenty a good whores in the Verse, he thought but didn't say. Just so happens that a lot of 'em are pretty good women, too. His grin turned lecherous. Fact is, the better the women, the better the whore.
"Huh," Mal grunted. "Never thought I'd hear myself say this, but you can be a surprising man, Jayne Cobb." Asking after whores. Last thing I ever expected to hear come out of your mouth was that you spend some of your paid time with women asking after their families and remembering their names.
"...That supposed to be a compliment?"
The captain smiled at the other man's uncertainty. "It ain't an insult."
"Oh. All right, then." As they drew towards the edge of town where Serenity sat, Jayne grabbed Mal's arm, forcing him to halt. "You seein' what I'm seeing?" he asked, a pleased grin on his lips as he jerked his head towards the sign that hung on the building they'd been about to pass by.
"Discount liquors," Mal read aloud. "That sounds mighty convenient, don't it? What with us not being anywhere to spend our last paychecks til today and all."
"Yeah," Jayne conceded. "Awful convenient."
"Well," the captain beamed, slapping the taller man's shoulder as he walked past him and towards the store. "Let's go shopping."
1Stinking
2Hideous