A/N: Okay, this is me venturing into the unknown. I never wrote a fic for this verse before so please bear with me! I fell in love with the Rayne pairing via some excellent fics I've read around here and really hope I can do it justice in my own story. Here goes...
Summary: AU, post-Ariel and pre-BDM. A new arrival aboard Serenity makes two of the crew member re-evaluate their lives and consider a possible connection between the two of them... Rayne
Disclaimer: Firefly and all recognisable characters belong to Joss Whedon and other importan persons that aren't me. Original characters are mine all mine.
Chapter 1
"Well, that plan went well" Malcolm Reynolds grinned from his position on the bed in the Medical Bay.
"You were shot in the arm, Jayne has several knife wounds, and Zoe will most likely still be suffering dizzy spells for a week yet" Simon rattled off as he finished off patching up the would near the Captain's shoulder, "And this, you think, is the result of a plan that went well?" he checked.
"Nobody died" Jayne shrugged from his spot, leaned back against the counter as he checked none of his dressings were coming loose.
"In that respect it is definitely one of the Captain's better plans" Zoe agreed, as she gingerly stood up from her seated position, feeling a little woozy as she'd expected to.
"All this for a few boxes of fruit" Simon shook his head, "To think just a couple of centuries ago these things were so easily accessible"
"Times change, Doc" Mal reminded him, "Not a thing in the 'verse stays the same too long, and that ain't no bad thing, when you're in the state of us here on Serenity"
"Out in the black, the faster things turn bad, the faster you know they'll turn good too" his second nodded, regretting the swift head movement seconds later.
At that moment a crash erupted from a way down the corridor and four pairs of panicked eyes looked towards the door as Kaylee hammered down the stairs and appeared a little breathless.
"Captain!" she gasped in a lungful of air, "Wash just got a wave from a ship, a big one, lookin' none to friendly neither" she shook her head, "They say they got somethin' for us"
"Ah, this will be that turn to bad you spoke of" Simon said mostly to himself, as Mal lifted himself off the medical table and got to his feet, pressed the bandage firmly onto his arm where the bullet wound still resided.
"They say what this somethin' might be, little Kaylee?" he asked her and she shook her head.
"No, just that its something they owe, a favour, kind of" she explained, "We tried ignoring them but they keep on tailing us, and Wash ain't so sure he can get us away even with his fancy flying skills if... well, since the favour they think they owe is to Jayne..."
"Who in the hell would be doin' me favours?" the mercenary asked with a thoughtful look, or as thoughtful as one so dumb could manage, "Ain't never done nobody any favours, only disservice"
"That's kinda why we were afraid to stop and let them board" Kaylee admitted, as Zoe hid a smile and Mal did the same.
Anyone Jayne had ever worked with or for, practically every man he'd known, he'd screwed over is some way or other. Any 'favour' they owed him was likely to be the unpleasant kind, and Mal wasn't so keen to be taking on packages or passengers if that were the case.
"You go get on the nearest comm, tell Wash I'll be up at the bridge just as soon as I get everything fixed down here" he told Kaylee who went off to do just that with a dutiful 'Yes, Cap'n' and a smile.
"What needs fixin' here?" Jayne asked, and Mal ignored him, turning instead to Simon.
"Doc, I need you to get your things together, your essentials, and your sister" he explained, "I'm gonna go talk to Inara, get her to take you two away a while"
"Where would you have us go, and why?" Simon asked curiously, "Do you think these people might be more dangerous to River or myself? Surely, if they've come for Jayne..."
"Don't matter much what they come for, Doc" Mal shook his head, "Type of persons Jayne used to associate with, well, they ain't nice folk" he explained, "Chances are even if they were here to do some kind of a favour for him, they'd spare not a thought for wanted fugitives"
"Chances are good they know about you" Zoe nodded in agreement, as Simon's eyes shifted from the Captain to her, "Probably best you lie low til they're gone"
Simon looked uncertain for a moment, but the grave and serious looks on the three who stared at him now made him agree quickly enough. He couldn't risk anybody taking River away again, and if Mal thought these old friends of Jayne might be a danger to them then he must listen. After all, the merc himself was hardly trustworthy, those he used to associate with and had double-crossed were likely to have even less morals and be even thirstier for the money they could make from anything aboard Serenity.
* * * * *
"Not now, Simon, not now!" River argued, arms flailing like an over active windmill as her brother tried to urge her into the shuttle, "Now is not the time, the time is at hand, and... I don't want to go now!" she wailed.
"Sweetheart, look at me" Inara tried to calm the girl who refused to be helped by her brother, "River, we have to go, but it's only for a short while. We'll be back very soon" she promised her, holding onto the young girls hands and trying to reassure her.
"The time, the time is now" she repeated, still sounding agitated, but calmer on the whole.
"The time is for you to get in your damn shuttle and fly away, little girl" Jayne said as he strode through the ship, passed the entrance to the shuttle, and headed towards the bridge.
"He will know it's you" River called after him, and he frowned as he turned back and stared at her.
The wicked smirk on the young girls face was unbefitting one so young and presumably innocent, and yet this was as calm, lucid, and even happy she'd looked since she'd been told she must board the shuttle and leave for a few hours.
"Your girls name does not hide the boy, and he will know it's you" she repeated with a grin, talking drivel as far as Jayne could make out, and yet she looked so serious about it.
"Yeah, whatever you say" he waved away her words with his hand, before turning back and continuing walking.
"He will know it's him" River sighed, as she looked up at Inara, then glanced towards the shuttle entrance, "Shall we go for a spin now?" she asked easily, ironically leading Inara by the hand into her own shuttle now.
Sharing a bemused smile, the Companion and the Doctor followed the young girl as she requested, and the shuttle was soon detached from Serenity, much to Mal's relief.
* * * * *
"Hey, Mal" Wash grinned overly much as the Captain arrived on the bridge, "We're just having a ton of fun up here with our new friends, the psychos that want to kill us" he said, sarcasm evident in every word, as he attempted to keep Serenity on an even keel and far enough away from those that would board.
Without a word, Mal stepped up to the controls and pushed a button that would connect him to the mystery ship.
"This is Captain Malcolm Reynolds, state your business here" he said simply as the connection crackled and the face of a man not dissimilar to Jayne appeared on the screen.
"Like we told your damn pilot, Cap'n, we just wanna deliver somethin'" he said, looking tired and harried, clearly either uneasy or bored, possibly both, with the situation at hand, "Owe your man, Jayne Cobb, a favour, and this is us payin' it back"
"Exactly what kind of favour are you owing to my merc?" Mal was eager to know, "Seems to me as a rule that his type of people, and pardon me for saying this" he smirked, "Seems to me they ain't to be trusted"
"Ain't asking nobody to trust us, Cap'n" the man shook his head, scratching his bearded chin, and supposedly wondering what he was to do with this delivery if the crew of the Serenity refused to take it, "Fact of it is, we got this box here entrusted to us for safe carriage to Cobb, and somehow we will get it to you. It's more than my life's worth not to deliver" he said sincerely, and Mal was a good enough reader of men to know this brute of a man may actually fear for his life.
It must be a hell of a package he was bringing aboard, but bring it aboard he must by the seem of things. Despite telling the nameless man of the strange ship just that, did not mean Captain Reynolds wouldn't be armed and ready when Jayne's old buddy and his crew boarded. In this life, Mal had found, it always paid to be prepared for anything.
* * * * *
Mal stood facing the cargo bay doors, flanked by Zoe and Jayne, the three of them armed and ready to take down anyone who would double cross them. Kaylee pressed the button to open the doors, with Shepherd Book at her side, also holding a gun. There was no question that he would use it if he had to and be a good shot, even if he couldn't shoot to kill.
As the doors opened, the crew of the Serenity were met by just three people, the leader that Mal had spoken to on the comm and two more, a man and woman, both looking like people you wouldn't want to mess with. These two brought in a medium-sized box on wheels, just looking like any other odd sort of a crate.
"Wuh de ma! Barney!" Jayne looked stunned by the sight of him, but not at all afraid as he moved forward and hugged the stranger, much to the shock of his crew.
"Er, pardon me, gentleman" Mal said, with a look that was half-way between stunned and amused, "Hugging ain't altogether somethin' we expect Jayne to partake in, 'specially not with other fellas" he shook his head.
"I think it's awful sweet" Kaylee smiled widely, but then no other reaction would ever be expected from her.
"Mal, this is Barney!" Jayne grinned like a little kid at Christmas, "Well, damn it, I ain't seen him since I left my home the 'verse knows how many years back" he declared, as the Captain and his second shared a look.
"Seems genuine enough, sir" Zoe nodded once, "Though I'm wonderin' what this might be doin' here" she said, pointing the end of her gun towards the crate that sat between Barney's two stooges.
"This here, could be anythin'!" he declared, as he gestured to the cargo he had brought, "All I know is it's the darndest coincidence" he shook his head, "Me and my boys here were passing through a postal stop, and some crazy idiot is standing there yellin' about how important it is this crate gets to Jayne Cobb aboard the Serenity" he explained, "I figured it was time old Barney paid a visit to his old buddy, and did a little favour too" he smiled, showing the fact that half his teeth had long ago parted company with his face that seemed too young for such loss.
"A mystery package from a crazy idiot" said Zoe as Mal looked her way, "Yeah, this is going to be fun" she dead-panned, as Jayne moved towards the box and circled it as if he were a lion and this were prey.
"You sure you don't know what's in here?" he asked Barney who firmly shook his head.
"Not a gorram idea" he declared with a chuckle, "It's not your Birthday is it, Cobb?" he checked and Jayne looked unimpressed by the laughter his friend seemed to think appropriate to this odd situation.
A moment later, the sound of a comm device crackling caught the attention of all those in the silent cargo bay, and the woman Barney had brought aboard moved to speak with him.
"Seems we have reason to be getting movin' pretty fast" he said, looking between Mal and Jayne as he moved towards the door with his two crew members, "I'm sure you know how it is Cap'n Reynolds" he said, and Mal nodded once.
Of course he understood, someone was probably on their tail for crimes committed all for the very reason of staying alive and keeping on flying. Mal knew only too well how that worked, what bothered him though was the niggling voice in the back of his mind, the one he was fairly certain Zoe could hear too. That little voice told the two of them to be wary, to be careful about this box, because just maybe Jayne's old friend was so quick to leave because of that rather than anything else.
* * * * *
It was almost an hour since the strangers that had boarded Serenity with a mysterious cargo had left and gone back to their own ship, flying away into the deep black, mostly likely never to be seen or heard of again by the Firefly's own crew.
It had been decided that until the consents of the crate was known, Inara and the Tams should not be called back, in fact Wash had informed them of Mal's instruction to do the very opposite of coming back. He wanted them as far away as possible, not there getting in the way or doing anything crazy in the case of River, until the odd situation had been resolved.
Standing around the crate much like they had the cargo bay doors before Jayne's old acquaintance and his lackeys had arrived, Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Book were all armed, as well as Wash who had let auto-pilot take the strain in favour of discovering what good or bad might exist within the confines of the large wooden box.
"Anybody else feel like a kid at Christmas?" he said, with giddiness that seemed to be only partially faked.
"At least at Christmas you knew the gifts would be good" Kaylee swallowed hard, "This could be a whole world of bad in this here thing" she said uneasily, glad to be standing behind her Captain and Zoe - they would let no harm come to her.
"Had enough of this talkin' now" Jayne shook his head, "Gorram it, Mal, can we just open the damn box already?" he asked as he approached the crate with a steel bar just perfect for the job in his hands, his gun still attached to him on the strap that held it to his body.
"Fine" Mal conceded, "Open your damn box, but do it slow" he warned the merc who nodded once before beginning the task.
A couple of sharp pulls was all it took before the wooden crate fell away and Jayne jumped back, hitting the ground and rolling over, his gun ready in his hands and aimed at the contents of the box... which was another box.
"Well, would you look at that" Mal said, almost disappointed not to get to shoot something.
"What is this? Like some giant game of Pass the Parcel?" Wash checked.
"No" Kaylee shook her head, craning to see over Mal's shoulder, "Cap'n, isn't this like the box Simon had when he boarded? The one that River was hidin' in?" she asked, daring to creep a little closer, around her Captain and towards the mysterious box from within a box.
"You mean somebody sent me a woman in a box?" Jayne asked with a raised eyebrow and a near-evil grin that spread too fast across his face.
"Surely nobody would send a person against their will in such a state?" Shepherd Book said worriedly, though evidently he was conveniently forgetting just how cruel mankind could be.
"Could be somebody was forced in there" Zoe said as she considered it, "Could be somebody put themselves in there, to get themselves where they're goin' without being noticed"
"Like your old buddy Tracey" Wash said quietly, with a nod that agreed with his wife's idea.
"Well, whoever or whatever the hell it is" Mal said, preparing his gun to fire, "Speaking for my ownself, I ain't too happy with standin' around waitin' for it to just come bustin' out an kill us all" he said, striding towards he crate, and expertly blowing the digital lock off the front with a shot from his gun.
The lid popped open too fast and snapped back on it's hinges, not quite breaking as the crew of the Serenity hesitantly approached. Nothing could have prepared the crew for what they saw as they gathered around the box and peered inside.
As the white smoke and steam cleared, dark hair was visible on the head of a small figure who, as he awoke and stared up at the strangers, showed the brightest of blue eyes ever seen.
"Tyen shiao duh...?" Mal started, but was not permitted to finish his sentence as the little boy bounced out of his place.
He was on his feet, half crouched to the ground like a cat, wearing nothing but little shorts, as his eyes darted around the cargo bay and took in every detail. Before anybody else hardly had a chance to react, the child had singled out the member of the crew he knew he was safest with. To the utter shock of everyone, the child threw himself at the legs of Jayne Cobb, holding on tight, as if his very life depended on it.
"Huh" was all Mal could find to say, and the looks on the faces of the other crew members suggested they felt the same way.
"Well, that's just downright unsettlin'" Jayne declared, and nobody was going to disagree with that sentiment at all!
To Be Continued...