Summary: The crew of Serenity agrees to do a job for one of Mal's and Zoe's old army buddies. However, things don't go quite according to plan. Warning: May contain disciplinary spanking in later chapters.

CHAPTER 1

"You have a wave, Captain."

Malcolm Reynolds looked up the side of the mule, where he was tinkering with the loose running board. Kaylee could have fixed the problem a lot quicker, but he was bored. And he was trying to keep his mind off the fact that they hadn't had a job in more than a month and there didn't seem to be any prospects for one any time soon.

"What was that, little one?" he asked, slightly amused. River was all but dancing in place at the top of the stairway leading down into the cargo bay of the ship.

"You have a wave," River repeated. She was excited because not only did the wave mean a job, but that job was going to prove to be quite an adventure. The Captain wouldn't have any idea what awaited them, and she wasn't going to tell.

A sudden thought occurred to the captain. "You didn't answer it, did you?" Since the broad wave about Miranda, the search for River and Simon hadn't been as intense, but the warrants for their arrests hadn't been withdrawn. That meant they were still wanted by the Alliance.

The look River gave him clearly said she couldn't believe he would even consider asking that question. Mal sighed, not for the first time he thought that he let his crew get away with way too much insubordination. "River," he said, the warning tone clear in his voice.

The girl grinned and executed a perfect pirouette. "Of course not, Jayne answered."

Great, Mal thought. Having Jayne Cobb answer a wave was almost as bad as River doing it.

Mal nodded, and turned to head up the bridge. He stopped when he heard River speaking behind him. "Beware of old friends offering new treasures." When he turned to look back at the young girl, she seemed to be in her own little world. Although she had improved drastically since Miranda, River still had her moments. Not wanting to take time to figure out what River had meant by her nonsense, Mal continued on to the bridge of his ship.

"River said there was a wave for me," Mal stated as he stepped onto the bridge. His curiosity about the wave almost instantly turned to annoyance when he spotted Jayne sitting in the pilot's seat with his booted feet propped up on the instrument console. He was cleaning his fingernails with the sharp tip of a very large knife.

"Yep," the merc replied, not bothering to sit up. "He's on hold for ya."

"Who is it?" Mal asked as he moved to sit in the co-pilot's seat. He eyed Jayne hard, but the large man just returned his look. He had no intention of leaving until after the Captain finished with the wave.

Cursing under his breath, Mal reached over and activated the monitor. "This is Captain Reynolds, who's this?"

"Well, well, Captain. Looks like someone's come up in the world." The face that started back at Mal had filled out some, but the Captain would have recognized that fuzzy bush of red hair and that slight Irish accent anywhere.

"Liam Hawkins, you son of a bitch. It's been what seven years?"

"Eight, but who's counting," Liam replied. "Look at you now, captain of your own ship. And who was that pretty little lass I saw slippin' outta the room when that great goon answered my wave?"

Mal shrugged. "Just one of my crew." He wasn't about to reveal River's identity if he didn't have to. "So whatta you been up to lately?"

"Well, I've been doin' a bit of ranchin' back home on Gaelach."

The two men continued to chat while Jayne sat in the pilot's chair and pretended to feign indifference to the entire conversation.

"Not that it ain't been nice catch up with an old acquaintance, but you got a reason for gettin' in touch with me?" Mal asked. He didn't know why, but the hairs on the back of his neck were starting to stand up in warning. He thought back to what River had said down in the cargo hold and wondered, not for the first time, if there was more to this than Liam was letting on.

"I suppose it is time to get down to business. You see, there's been a bit of a range war here the last few years over water rights. Durin' that time, I sent my daughter to live with my brother on Jiangyin. Now that I've won the war – not that I'm braggin' mind you – I've decided it's time to bring Marie home. Besides, I've been gettin' word from my brother that Marie's been gettin' into a spot of trouble. Keepin' company with the wrong sort of people and the like." Liam paused and tried to read Mal's face for any sign of what the captain might be thinking. "I'd like to hire you and your crew to transport Marie and some supplies back here from Jiangyin."

"Well, now that's a might far for us to travel, seein' as how we're at least a week out from Jiangyin and it'll take at least that to get to Gaelach from there. That kinda job ain't gonna come cheap, even for you," Mal replied.

"I'm well aware of that, and I'm prepared to more than compensation you for your time and troubles." The expression on Mal's face barely changed when Liam named an exorbitant amount, but Jayne was so surprised he nearly fell out of his chair.

"That's a mighty pretty price for a simple transport job. Might there be a reason for that?"

"Nothin' more than I'm willin' to pay for the best for this job. By all accounts, that happens to be you. Whatta you say, you interested in doin' this for me?"

Mal sat back in his seat and thought for a moment. He ignored Jayne's sound of disgust and watched as the large man stormed off the bridge, muttering under his breath about being a damned babysitter.

Liam laughed. "Seems your goon there isn't too thrilled with the prospects of this job. Must be too tame for him."

Mal smiled. "I'm tempted to take this job just for that reason. Seems I live to annoy Jayne. Still, why ain't you goin' after your kid yourself or have your brother bring her to you?"

"Fair enough question, I suppose. Truth of the matter is I can't leave just now. I was being honest when I said I won our little war over water rights. But, I gotta stick around to enforce 'em. My brother, well, he's feelin' poorly and ain't up to much travelin'," Liam explained. "So, you gonna take the job or do I need to keep lookin' for someone else."

Mal sat back in his seat again. It went against his better judgment, especially since the hairs on the back of his neck were still standing at attention, but they needed the coin this job would bring. "Yeah, we'll do it. Give me the details."

After Mal and Liam hashed out the details of the job, Mal agreed to get back to him shortly about whether they'd take the job. He then set a course for Jiangyin and, after activating the autopilot, went in search of his crew to deliver the news that they had a job.

Later, when the crew was all gathered around the table in the galley, Mal filled them in on the details of their next job.

"Sir, is this the same Liam Hawkins who was a gunner for the 98th?" Zoe asked. She had a feeling that they were about to land in yet another mess right up to their collective necks.

"That'd be the one," Mal answered his first make.

"Do you think it's wise to get mixed up with him right now?"

Mal looked around the table at everyone seated there. "Don't see as how we've got much choice right now. We ain't as bad off as we have been in the past, but we're gettin' close. We need this job, and I figure if we go into it expected trouble"

Jayne had remained quiet long enough. "I was listenin' to that conversation, and somethin' ain't kosher. There's more to this job than what that sonuvabitch is lettin' on."

"I ain't arguin' that point, but what I am sayin' is that we need this job or we might not be able to make it until we find another one."

Ever the cool voice of reason Kaylee finally spoke, "what makes you think that this guy is tryin' to pull somethin' over on us?"

"He was a gunner for the 98th. Mal and I ran into him on occasion during the war. But, even then you couldn't trust him. He was a conman. He'd have you goin' along with him faster than you could blink, and then he'd pull the rug right out from under you. There were even some that thought he was spyin' for the alliance, but nobody was ever able to prove anything," Zoe responded.

"If our circumstances are as bad as the captain says they are, I don't see where we have a choice," Simon spoke up. He glanced at River, who was watching the proceedings with a look of interest on her face. "I supposed we'll just have to be careful is all."

Mal nodded and turned to Inara. "You got anything to say on the subject?"

The former licensed companion met Mal's gaze with one of her own. "No, I don't, except to say that I agree with Simon. We need to be cautious."

"That settles it. I'll contact Liam and tell him we'll take the jobs." Mal stood. "Those 'a you that have contacts that might be useful oughtta get in touch which them. Find out if there's any word out there about Liam plannin' anything. Never hurts to check."

* * * * TBC * * * *