Chapter Two

Tiny Little Fractures

The man shut the barn door behind him before continuing further. Jayne let out a grumble of discontent which was soon followed by Mal slapping him upside the head.

"What's your daddy gonna do?" Mal asked Holly who had taken a seat in the dirt. She looked up with a little bit of a worried look on her face.

"Probably smack her around a little bit." As if on cue they head some ruckus beyond the door. Mal took a look at Zoë and stepped forward to open it.

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Isolde heard the barn door open but didn't really care about stopping. She was on top of Derek, a local boy, who was on top of some ship part. When she heard it was her father though, she got down and pulled her pants up, much to Derek's discontent. She wasn't fast enough and she scolded herself for that. He father grabbed her around her neck and pushed her back sending little pieces of metal on the shelf behind her falling to the ground.

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When Mal opened the door he saw an older boy scurrying out the back of the barn fighting to get his britches up. On second focus he saw Holly's sister choking up against the wall. He started to move forward like the knight in shiny armor he was but Holly stepped in front of him.

"She smacks back," she said confidently, like she had seen something like it before. Sure enough Isolde was able to kick her father off sending him back a little bit. Having buttoned her pants and regained her balance she punched him strongly sending him back into the ship part she had been enjoying herself on moments before.

"Shiny," Jayne sat back and watched, mesmerized by the action. The girl seemed to handle herself fairly well until her father got a hit in sending her reeling down. But she still kept focus picking up a piece of ship she had knocked over earlier. As her father bent down over her she turned around with the large metal pipe in her hand, smacking him upside the head with it. He went down hard.

She started to make her way though the barn door. As she walked out she ruffled her sister's hair, then took an eye of the Serenity crew landing on Jayne last. She brushed past him, wiping blood from her lip as she did so.

"She seemed...friendly-like," Mal remarked uncomortably.

"Mhmm," Jayne mumbled to himself watching the tough girl retreat.

"I can get her to come help you, if you take my daddy inside," Holly said after a short moment of silence.

Mal looked to Jayne who grumbled and moved forward picking up the tall man and throwing him over his shoulder. Holly led him inside where he disposed of the man on a table.

Wasn't long before Holly returned from a room followed by Isolde. She had changed into a white tank top which revealed a scar on her shoulder, obviously from a gunshot wound.

"Don't stare," she remarked.

"Why? You gonna turn me to stone?"

"Quite possibly." Jayne scoffed and let himself back outside. The girls followed.

"Don't be lookin' at my nether region none." Isolde pushed past him, disgusted by the comment.

Soon enough Zoë had gone back to the ship to get Kaylee who had a field day. She was in heaven in the wreckage of old ships. Seeing as she knew what she was doing, the rest of them left to go inside. Holly poured them all water and led them into their small dining room upstairs. They all sat at the cluttered table save for Mal who looked out the window and Isolde who stood in the doorway.

"What kind of ship you runnin'?" Isolde finally asked. Mal turned slowly from the window, abandoning his view of Simon entering the barn, followed by River of course. He heard a twinge of contempt in the tone of her voice which led him to understand her meaning. Ain't no one was going to accuse him of being a toy of the Alliance.

"Just a small commercial vessel."

"Mm, I see. Go where the money goes. Good or bad."

Mal finally got a good look at the girl. Or rather woman. She was much older than her sister, probably by ten years by the look of it. She was tall and built like she had been handling hard labor her whole life. She had short blonde hair, most unlike her sister's long brunette locks. He noticed the same scar Jayne had earlier. Yup, she knew how to handle herself just fine. On top of the scar he noticed her eye was starting to turn a nice shade of black, her lip was split and her wrist was a little blue. But that was nothing compared to the broken head her father had.

Breaking the silence once again was Simon downstairs, he was calling after the Captain.

"Up here," Mal replied. Simon soon made it upstairs.

"There is a rather injured gentleman downstairs." Isolde kept her place in the doorway obstructing Simon's entrance. River soon followed behind him slithering through the smallness of the opening.

"His brainpan is currently in great malfunction."

"Thank you, 'lil albatross," Mal returned. Once again the oddness of the dialogue continued as Kaylee came running up the stairs.

"Cap'n! There's parts in that there barn that could fix up Serenity all shiny-like!"

Holly sat back in her chair and took a poll of the crew. The cute captain. The sweet mechanic. The burly man. The beauty. The warrior woman. The spiff. The albatross. It was an interesting crew indeed.

Simon finally managed to squeeze past Isolde who seemed amused by the obstacle she had placed before him. When he straightened his shirt and turned around to get and eye of her his doctor instincts kicked in. He smiled and pointed at her wrist.

"May I?" Isolde nodded her head and he lightly lifted her arm and examined her wrist. The rest of the room was focused on Kaylee's conversation with Mal about the ship parts.

"Am I right to assume you were involved in a dispute with the man downstairs?" Isolde smirked at his properness and nodded her head again. "Well, It seems that you've hurt your wrist. Not very severe, no worry. Possibly a tiny fracture. And your lip needs mending. Your eye just needs some ice."

"Well, thanks for the diagnosis." She stepped away from him and into the conversation the rest of the crew was having.

"She is troubled by the dust. Scars not healing right in it." River remarked from her hiding place behind Simon.

"How much?" Mal directed toward Isolde. She didn't reply at first but looked at her sister who just shrugged and looked down into her glass.

"You can take whatever you want, just as long as you give us a ride off this rock."

Kaylee seemed thrilled. Mal, not so much.