A/N: Onward with the fic and emotional toil!
Post-Miranda Aten held a lightly more disenfranchised mood than its pre-Miranda days and for good reason, the Alliance had been thoroughly shaken off its foundings. River Tam and the crew of Serenity had gained a status somewhere between Celebrity and Upstart Political Lobbyists, with a group of people either hounding them for anecdotes, or for their names on a new political agenda. Or just to plain shoot them in the face, there were many a folk like that, too.
Needless, it would be a matter of days before Jayne's replacement foot and ankle arrived in its metallic, shiny glory.
"A merc with no foot's no gorram use to anybody." He'd said limping around on crutches that were just slightly too small. It was several days after Simon had decided it was alright for him to start returning to his bunk. He hadn't gotten farther than the stairs leading to the Crew Quarters when River towed him into her room instead. Her shoulder healed remarkably quickly, and it meant that she could spend more time babying Jayne. On the night before the prosthesis maker hand-delivered Jayne's new appendage, Jayne laid in River's bed holding her soothingly.
"Hush now, you know I"m no good at all this weepy stuff." He said, smoothing out her hair and letting his fingers run down her back, careful to avoid the tender spot on her shoulder where the bullet had gone straight through.
"Your life expectancy has not lessened in years. Take it back!"
"C'mon, River. Don't be that way. . . I ain't got no right foot no more. Can't fight nor run like ever. What'm I supposed t'do?"
"The prosthesis is approaching. You will adapt." Just like you adapted to me. She thought, mewling and rubbing her cheek into his collarbone. The sound of Jayne's deep sigh caused River to think of the waves coming to shore on an ocean beach, and were always very calming, even when they had been caused by an unsettled or angry emotion.
". . . If you say so." That was Jayne's way of saying 'I'll trust you on this, but I damn well don't feel like it'. River rose up and took hold of the fabric on both his shoulders, using the strength in her lithe body to raise him up to a sit against the wall.
"NO! You are not going to die! I won't let you! You're not allowed! Must do. . . must do what we promised. . . no more red, Jayne! No. . nothing's changed. . . you promised. Said with your words. . . " She kept smacking her fist into his shoulder as she spoke, trying bravely to fend off the emotional tears. Eventually Jayne took hold of her fists and brought her body cradling into his lap.
". . . Promises change. I ain't whole and I'm gettin' on in years" River tried to bubble up with another bought of speech, but Jayne shushed her with a self depricating laugh.
"I ain't got nothin' more'n a stump on m'right leg. Even if this shiny new appendy-age comes in lookin all golden it ain't gonna give me m'motion back. I'm a merc an' I do illegals for a livin' sweetheart. A broken merc's worth half a what a whole merc is. I ain't no sorta useful t'nobody. . a liability"
"The Captain .. "
"The Captain would be better off shootin' me 'tween the eyes an findin' a merc worth a damn!"
"NO!" River shouted like a Commander talking to a beligerent Lieutenant. "He's NOT ALLOWED!"
"I ain't allowed t'do what?" Mal quipped from his place at the door. There was a tray of dinner in his hands, enough for two. Shrugging awkwardly, he placed the tray down when River and Jayne began to look at him as if he'd grown three more arms in the past few seconds. "Wei, Inara made me. . . I. . SHE! She wanted t'make . . . so, what's this I'm not allowed t'do on my very own spaceship lil Albatross?"
"Shoot Jayne. No more red, he's not useless." River pouted as she slid off Jayne's lap and sniffed at the dinner. Garlic? Inara must have cooked again. Flexing his muscles, Jayne eyed the Captain with a nod as Mal looked up at his now damaged mercenary like a farmer looks at a horse with a bum leg.
"Aah."
"T'would be a mercy, Mal" Before River could swallow her potatoes and pipe up another retort, Mal held his hands up to them both.
"Woa, now. Nobody on this ship's gonna get new bulletholes. Not even shiny ones."
"Mal!"
"Thank you, Captain Daddy!" River finally swallowed and smiled with that effervescent 'I told you so' look on her face to Jayne. He scowled and nudged her off the bed with a quick elbow.
"Mal, I ain't no good no more!"
"You listen, Jayne. I went to a great lot a hardship with you over the years an' beyond all the almost killin' an' possibilities a turnin' colours we all found ourselves becomin' a crew. Could no more shoot myself in the foot than shoot you up like that. Plus, I think our little Albatross would do somethin' romantical like fly us into the nearest star if'n I tried"
"I would, too! You know I would."
". . . Foot. Yeah, real funny there, Mal" Jayne huffed, largely ignoring the burnination comment for fear of seeing River's vengeful eyes.
"Yeah. . . well. . . I didn't mean it like. . . . not the same foot. . . " Mal bumbled on. "Besides, your foot ain't damaged your shot none and there's enough jobs without a whole bunch of runnin'. Wait for it, Jayne. See what the new foot thing's gonna be like then we'll have this conversation after a while. So, enjoy your protein and potatoes with the lil flecks a"
"Garlic"
"Thank you, Albatross, yes enjoy your garliced potatoes and . . . relax? Clean your guns? Practice knife throwing sitting down. . . but no markin' up my ship, eh?"
"Sure thing, Captain Daddy!" River piped up, clearly happy with the situation. "Eat up, Jayne" his muffled protests gagged out of his mouth as River took a hunk of protein in her hand and splattered it between his lips.
"Gorramit woman! I said shoot me not choke me! . . . Get it right." River's smile always had been a comfort to his soul in these past months, even when they were slightly creepifying. By the time they had finished Kaylee and Inara had scooted the two out of River's room so they could clean up the impromptu food fight left in Jayne and River's wake. Zoe and Mal stood watching over the terrible twosome as they slept in Shepherd Book's old room.
"Gonna be awful hard on 'im, Sir"
"I reckon so, but if Serenity can patch herself together, so can Jayne." Mal gave his First Mate a tiny wink and nod, Zoe sighed with a nod of her own.
Since Wash's death Zoe had lost her happiness, lost her spark dipping back into a severity of military service-like behaviour. Slowly however, Zoe was learning to smile again. It came scared and muffled, a slight rise of her lip at a joke but mostly it had been from watching River and Jayne. They were just so amusing if someone truely watched how the two most dangerous people in the 'verse cohabitated. No one else on Serenity seemed to notice much at all. Zoe had first known it was serious one outing on Persephone. Jayne passed by his favourite whore house and three of the ladies-of-the-night came right out to greet him. Confliction wasn't something Jayne Cobb was too familiar in feeling.
". . . You are wanted." River had stepped away from Jayne's side bowing her head to the pretty women with the artificial scents. Jayne fished some coins out of his pocket and handed them to the lead girl, whose name was Angel.
"Go have fun you three. Don't git inta no trouble. Buy somethin' shiny." He slapped Angel's ass then hung a right with River and Zoe. The whores looked shocked until another of the girls, Shia, giggled and started tugging the other two towards the nearest candy stall. Jayne's reputation grew to the size of a moon that night, his arm around River's shoulder and Zoe promised to every power in the 'verse that she'd try and give those two as much time together as possible before the end. Back on Serenity Zoe had stopped the entire crew from entering the lounge on account of interrupting River and Jayne's passionate rendezvous. River hadn't enough patience to wait until they got to her bunk. It had taken Zoe whipping out her shot gun and standing in front of the door with a 'try me' scowl on her face for Kaylee to decide that the rest of them should play a game. Simon lept halfway up the wall when the sounds started flooding past Zoe's sentinel form. It had been River and Jayne's first time.
Many since, Zoe still stood by the door to Shepherd Book's old room when the amputee Jayne had awoken to River's penitent and erotic kisses. Damn near made Jayne feel he was whole again.