Disclaimer: None of these characters are my creation. I can wish and dream, and play in Joss's 'Verse, but he owns the characters that own my heart.
Chapter 2
River landed then on Jiangyin two weeks later, more calm now with time and no repeat of the dream. No news had come from her parents, and Mal took that as a good sign. The crew took a few days off to get reacquainted with the sight of a sky and the company of other people, some staying in town at night to break the routine of shipboard life. Mal took River to a bed and breakfast, Zoë having volunteered to keep an eye on Serenity for him. After a relaxing evening, broken frequently by frantic bursts of very enjoyable physical activity, the couple lay in bed, cuddling. "So, lil' one," Mal finally asked, "how you feel about linin' up some crime for our restless crew?"
River caught the fact that Mal had unconsciously referred to them not as my crew, but our crew, and it touched her heart in an odd way. He had never done that before, unless it was in conversation with Zoë. Apparently, at some point in their budding relationship, River had become more than the pilot. She had acquired, through no conscious act on the part of the crew, a sort of status as mistress of the ship. She had gone, in an amazingly short time, from being the crazy girl who wasn't even really crew, to a member of the command structure. Nobody intentionally treated her differently, but River had noticed recently that on some of their less legitimate jobs, where muscle was required for more than moving crates, even Jayne looked to her occasionally for support of instruction.
"I think a little trouble is just what we need right now," River said after a few silent moments. "Break the monotony a bit, perhaps."
"You don't have any ... bad feelin's," Mal asked hesitantly, "do ya?"
"No, lover, no bad feelings. You'll be the first to know," River answered. "I think crime can wait until the morning, though," she said huskily, pressing herself into Mal's side seductively.
"Or maybe later afternoon, I'm thinkin'," Mal said, responding to the press of naked flesh. As River laughed sweetly, their lips met.
XXXXX
True to his word, Mal and River didn't return to Serenity until late the next day. Mal went immediately to the bridge to Wave a few contacts, while River went to her bunk in the passenger dorms to bathe and change. An hour later, the Captain had made a contact. After changing himself, he sought out Zoë. "Got a meet in town this evening," he said. "You comin' with?"
"We bringin' Jayne or River?" Zoë asked by way of answer. When the Captain asked her to do something, it was age old habit to assume it was a politely worded order, even if that's not how Mal intended it. Soldier instincts were hard to shake.
"Jayne can babysit the ship," Mal answered with a chuckle, "long's we ain't away too long. 'Sides, River's been itchin' at them new guns'a hers since she got 'em."
"I'd be antsy to show them fine things off my own self," the first mate laughed. "You really went all out on them, sir. She's a mighty lucky girl, if I do say so." The wistful look on Zoë's face made Mal's heart ache for his old friend. Not knowing how to deal with her grief, however, he stuck stubbornly to the original topic.
Mal said uneasily, "I commissioned 'em on Persephone, and had to wait over a month to pick 'em up. I'm glad they came out so well, otherwise I might feel a bit cheated."
Grateful to the Captain for his usual avoidance of emotional moments, Zoë smiled and asked, "Cost you a pretty penny then, sir? They do look a mite pricey."
"Yeah," Mal said in an explosion of breath, laughing self-deprecatingly afterward. "I reckon I ain't never spent that much on any woman 'sides Serenity before. Worth every bit and platinum, though, to see that look on her face." Mal smiled at the memory, one he'd always hold on to. "Anyway," he said after a moment, shaking off his own moment of weakness in front of his first mate. "We got a meet to get to. I'll get River, you go let Jayne down gently."
Zoë smiled slightly, really just the corners of her mouth, and agreed. The two headed off in separate directions. When Zoë found Jayne and gave him his assignment, the merc was irate. "Whaddaya mean I gotta stay here? I go on jobs. That's what I do. I don't go out on jobs, what'm I getting' paid for?"
"You don't wanna get paid," Zoë said icily, "ain't no skin off my back. Your job is whatever Cap' tells you to do. That is what you get paid for. Cap' says stay and guard the ship, that's your paycheck. 'Sides," Zoë continued in a conciliating tone of voice, hoping to shut Jayne up and make this easier on herself, "this ain't the job, just the meet. You'll be on the job. Dong ma?" Jayne nodded and sulked off to his bunk to clean his guns, the next best pastime to actually using them.
Across the ship, Mal called River's name as he neared the passenger dorms. "Saddle up, lil' gunslinger. We got us a meet!" Before Mal had made his way back out of the corridor toward his own bunk, River ran up silently behind him and threw her arms around his waist.
"I'm going instead of Jayne?" she asked excitedly. When Mal turned around and nodded at her, smiling at her good mood, River kissed him quickly and ran back to her room to grab her duster, gun belt and boots. By the time Mal got to the cargo bay, the two ladies were already waiting for him, River tapping her foot impatiently. "Let's go, old man!" she chided loudly, while Zoë tried to hide her mirth by ducking her head toward the floor.
"Hey now, pup," Mal cautioned. "We got plenty'a time. 'Sides, you keep makin' comments like that, I'm like to believe you. Would make for some mighty dull shuffleboard and early to bed nights. I reckon you wouldn't like that overmuch, all the energy you been makin' me use lately."
Zoë turned around and made a gagging sound at that last, walking quickly down the ramp and into the dirt of the field they'd landed in the previous day. "Enough'a that go se 'round the single lady, you two," she tossed casually over her shoulder. "We got work needs doin', and I reckon we might lose a good contact, you two keep on with the bedroom talk in front'a him."
Mal shot her a stricken look. "You think I'm bein' unprofessional, then, Miss Consummate Soldier?" Zoë laughed quietly at the Captain, who continued, "I do believe there was a certain couple made my bridge reek'a sex on more'n a couple occasions." Zoë's good-natured groan informed the other two that she was comfortable on the topic, despite the constant battle they knew she'd been fighting against loneliness since the loss of her husband.
"Give it up, sir," she chuckled. "Somebody had to christen Serenity, since you didn't seem able to get any for so long." River's exuberant laughter and Mal's shocked 'Hey!' and subsequent stunned silence lasted the trio a good part of the way to town. The friendly back-and-forth continued until they reached the pool hall they were to meet their contact in.
As soon as they began to approach the outer door, however, the three put on their business faces, looking almost as if none of them even knew how to smile. Zoë walked in first, assuming her customary role as bodyguard for her Captain, while Mal and River walked through side-by-side. The two looked for all the world like twins with their slightly-south-of-neutral expressions and brown suede dusters. Even Zoë was mildly shocked to see the resemblance, thinking to herself that they'd been spending too much time together lately.
Mal walked through the room to a table in back, having picked his contact out of the crowd of people almost immediately. He sat down across from a slim, attractive woman, Zoë and River taking chairs to either side of the Captain. As River swept her coat back to sit, the woman eyed her pistols with a combination of wary distrust and envy.
"McOwen," the Captain greeted her.
"Please, call me Vanessa," McOwen replied silkily, giving Mal a seductive look. Curiosity crossed her face then, and she said, "Some mighty nice hardware you got there girl. What's the R stand for?"
Before Mal could speak, River rushed forth an answer. "Reynolds. A lovely wedding present, don't you think, dear?" This last she said with an adoring look at the Captain. She grabbed Mal's hand quickly under the table, at the same time, and squeezed. Mal got the hint and, though he didn't understand why, agreed. Zoë, thankfully true to form, showed no indication of the surprise River could feel flowing from her like water.
The four of them got down to business immediately after, though Ms. McOwen seemed to sulk throughout the meeting. Once the job had been arranged, much cheaper than Mal would have preferred to agree to, the trio left the bar as quickly as was polite. Once out of sight in the busy streets of the city, Mal turned to River with a bewildered, slightly angry look on his face. "I reckon you hurt our profits mightily with that little stunt, wife. What the good gorram was that about, anyway? Less'n I was very drunk, I don't remember marryin' you anytime recent!"
River, noticing the Captain's ranch hand accent grow thicker with his anger and confusion, giggled. It was not the right thing to do, as Mal began to glare at her in earnest. "Sorry love, truly. I sensed something ... not right about that woman. Some motive other than the job. Forgive me?" she asked sweetly, sliding her hand into Mal's. He didn't pull away, though he didn't drop his glare either.
Mal, not used to being swindled after months of easy, legal living, wasn't sure how to take this news. "I can go shoot her dead right now, that's the case."
"Not necessary," River replied calmly. "We've been cheated often enough in the past. I'm sure we can find a way to make things work in our favor." The young pilot paused, confusion plain on her face.
Zoë saw River's expression and smiled. "I think you're just a mite jealous." Mal's eyebrows shot up in interest. "Could it be you just didn't like the fancy words and come-hither looks some attractive stranger was shootin' the captain?"
"I suppose that's a possibility," River answered seriously. "And if that's the case," she continued dangerously, "it means she tried to seduce my man. So I get to shoot her."
XXXXX
Unfortunately, from River's perspective, the pick up went smoothly, and there was no need to shoot anybody. Jayne was also unhappy with this development, as he usually was when there was no gun play. The crew didn't ask what the cargo was, but there were three large boxes to stow in the smuggler's hole in the cargo bay. Serenity was destined for Greenleaf, where the cargo was to be delivered. The trip passed uneventfully, and they landed on the planet on schedule a few days later.
The contact they were to deliver to had agreed to meet them for the drop that evening, just outside of town. The coordinates the man transmitted to River were in a hilly part of the countryside, providing perfect cover for snipers and the like. Mal was skittish, Jayne was spoiling for a fight, and Zoë and River were both calm and collected. The captain hadn't asked Jayne scouting the perimeter, though it seemed to River he simply hadn't thought of it.
"Captain Reynolds," a voice spoke from the twilight darkness. "I'm happy to note you trusted me enough not to send your mercenary into the hills with his fine weapon. Unfortunately for you, though, I'm not so trusting." Mal's hand moved slowly toward his gun while he looked sideways at his small pilot. River shook her head minutely, a look of bewilderment in her eyes. "I'd not reach for that if I were you, Captain," the voice said. "Your little Reader can't keep you out of a trap you've already stumbled into, and I doubt even she is fast enough to dodge all the beads we've got on her."
"Who are you?" Mal asked simply. Zoë stood impassively, as always, while Jayne's fingers twitched constantly toward his guns, held at bay only by the Captain's warning looks. River, meanwhile, was scanning the darkness. In here eyes Mal could see the faraway look that indicated she was looking somewhere other than in front of her, with something other than everyday sight.
"I'm sure you're asking yourself how we know about your little secret weapon," the voice said by way of answer. "I'm also sure you're wondering what this has to do with your clandestine delivery tonight. Don't worry, Captain Reynolds. Your contact is not in the picture any longer. Tonight, it's just your little crew and my much larger one. If you'd be so kind as to place your guns gently on the ground," the voice said conversationally, "things would be much easier for you and your people."
Jayne and Zoë looked to Mal for guidance. He nodded slightly and the three of them placed their weapons in a small pile in front of the Captain. River didn't move a muscle, and the disembodied voice made no mention of her sidearms. It was possible, Mal dared to hope, that he didn't expect the little pilot to be armed.
"Now, Reynolds," the voice said, "if you, your first mate and your hired muscle will please take a few steps back, some of my men will be tying you up for your own safety. Ms. Tam, if you wouldn't mind stepping forward, we'll be taking you into protective custody." Mal's blood ran cold at that.
"There ain't no cause for that," the Captain said flatly. "The warrant was revoked months ago. What gorram reason you got for wantin' her?"
"Captain," the man said placatingly, "do you really believe I'd have gone to all this trouble for a monetary reward? Now please, indulge me. Step back before things get ... unfriendly." River gave her lover a look to reassure him, then took two meaningful steps forward. Mal found positive, loving thoughts running through his mind, and knew River was trying to calm him. Obliging his little pilot, the Captain stepped back and motioned the other two to do likewise. "Very good, everybody," the voice said. "Now if you'll all please kneel on the ground, this will be over quickly and painlessly." At a sharp smacking sound and a grunt from Jayne, the voice amended, "somewhat."
Dong ma? - Understand?
go se - crap
