Tick Tock:

Chapter 4

When River finally awoke it took her a moment to realize that she was back in her own bunk. The last thing she could remember was a pair of warm comforting arms and a sweet kind of musk smell like leaves in autumn. Mal had taken her back to the ship, had let her rest, and such a sound sleep she'd had. As she glanced over at a nearby clock she realized that she had slept too well and that it was nearing noon.

After dressing rather quickly River let her newfound hunger lead her to the kitchen. Breakfast was undoubtedly over, but knowing the crew and its appetite lunch was probably just beginning. As she came closer and closer to the kitchen she began to smell the faint aroma of bacon frying and something else, something sweet… and… fruity? Entering the door she was greeted by the surprising sight of a fresh basket of fruit. There were apples and pears, oranges and bananas, there were even some fruits River had never seen before.

As her eyes continued to take in the contents of that heavenly parcel she once again felt those ever present eyes seeping through her body, as if she were a window to some uncharted world. She smiled as Mal put his hand on her shoulder.

"Good mornin' River, or should that be good afternoon?" He smiled softly while River chuckled at his attempt for pleasantries.

"So where did the fruit basket come from?" River asked cocking her eyebrow slightly.

"It's sort of a premeditative celebration gift. For when the job tonight goes just as planned and we find ourselves swimmin' in diamonds." Mal's voice crescendoed as he finished the last bit of his sentence and all of the present crewmembers gave a happy shout in agreement. As the noise died back down Mal retrieved a small box from his pocket. " I got you a little somthin' " River opened the box carefully, letting the anticipation build as the top slid back. Inside was the biggest, reddest, most beautiful strawberry she had ever seen. "Don't worry about Kaylee, I made sure to get one for her too…I swear you should have seen Kaylee's face when she found out I'd gotten her…" Mal's words were cut off as River embraced him in a tight bear hug.

"Thanks, it really means a lot" River eventually released the embrace and went off to enjoy her gift, but not before giving Mal a quick kiss on the cheek. Mal stood silently as he watched her retreating form, her hips swishing lightly from side to side, his face reddening slightly before averting his eyes. It had been a simple kiss, just a simple friendship type kiss, and yet he could not help but feel this small knotting sensation in the pit of his stomach. What would happen if he crossed that line, the forbidden line between a captain and his crew? Would River be able to handle it, and even more importantly would he be able to?

With only a few hours left before River was to take on her first real job as a member of the crew. She decided that now was as good a time as any to have that chat with Kaylee about the feelings she was having for Mal. Kaylee and the captain were friends and they had a certain understanding of one another that River could not yet touch.

Even Inara, who had been on this vessel much longer than River, could not touch the innate sense of loyalty and respect Kaylee and Mal had for one another. Although in Inara's case this was probably because of her hidden feelings for Mal. Inara held herself at a distance on purpose, and though she would never say so, she was always only one step away from losing control of her emotions. River had seen it when she first aquatinted herself with the ship. Mal still had some feelings for Inara, it was easy for almost anyone to see, but they had been watered down by the tiresome years of offhand rejections and games of and cat and mouse. Inara, however, had not wavered the slightest bit in her convictions, she was in love, she would always be in love, but her pride would continue to hold her in an eternal purgatory. This was another reason for River to have Kaylee as her confidant rather than Inara.

And so River began her search. It didn't take long to find Kaylee because as usual she was resting peacefully in the engine room listening to the dull hum that was Serenity.

"Hello Kaylee." Kaylee opened her eyes and sat up to attention not wanting it to appear that she had fallen asleep on the job. Seeing that it was River and not the captain who had spoken she let her muscles relax. She then proceeded to lay back down and prop herself up on her elbows in order to listen to whatever it was River had to say.

"So what brings you to this corner of Serenity, River?" River leaned her back up against a nearby wall in anticipation for the long conversation to follow.

"I'll be completely honest, I need some advice on life, love, and strawberries… and not particularly in that order."

"It's about Mal isn't it?" Just how matter of factly Kaylee had stated this almost threw River off balance.

"Well… yes… but how on earth did you…" Kaylee cut her off.

"When you've been around the captain as long as I have you kinda start to figure out the way his mind works. It's like mechanics; you just gotta listen to the signs he gives ya and figure out if he's malfunctioning or not."

"Oh…" that seemed simple enough, but then again mechanics wasn't really her strong suit… at least not Mal's mechanics. "And so the signs are saying…?" River didn't have to wait very long for an answer.

"The signs are sayin' that you make him mighty hot and bothered and if your still needin' an analogy you little miss are the monkey wrench and Mal is…" Kaylee's mouth snapped shut as Mal walked into the room.

"Mal is a what, Kaylee?" Kaylee sat dumbstruck for a moment before jumping out of her hammock and standing at attention.

"Hello Capin', we was just saying that you've done a great job, that you are the best captain we could ask for…"

"Well I've been lookin' all over fer you two. I have to get River to the club in less than two hours and she ain't even wearing her outfit yet."

"Outfit?" River questioned, looking from Mal to Kaylee.

"Yeah. Zoe and Wash have been workin' on it all day. Might funny stuff that was. I never thought of Zoe as much of a seamstress and them two were caterwauling like two angry bears…Well actually an angry bear and a rabbit." Mal began laughing to himself as he continued with the story. "Although I ain't never seen a rabbit squeal quite like Wash did when Zoe threatened to sew the rest of the fringe into his ear…"

"Uh…Capin'…" Kaylee began.

"Oh…er…right so we'll…er… be goin' then. See you later Kaylee." Mal took a hold of River and lead her out of the engine room as quickly as possibly so as to keep from damaging his pride anymore than he already had.

Surprisingly Wash and Zoe hadn't done too bad on the sewing of River's dance dress. As far as she could tell it looked just like the ones she had seen the other night. The dress itself was gold with fringe going down to just touch the top of her knees and leotard like bottoms underneath so she wouldn't be showing too much. It also fit her, so that was thankful.

For the trip there Mal was kind enough to loan her one of his jackets and with no time to spare River and Mal headed out in hopes that everything would go smoothly. Although it is impossible to be certain of such things.

When Mal and River finally arrived at 'The Diamond Stair' River gave Mal his coat back and headed for the employee entrance around back. Mal, however, was forced to wait in the long front line and once again after waiting for fifteen to twenty minutes he was finally ushered inside with the rest of the attendees.

Meanwhile River was busy going over the dance steps backstage, trying to make sure she still remembered them all. As she did this, a young blonde woman began walking towards her.

"Aren't you the pretty one? I don't believe we've met, the name is Claire, Claire Simmons." River looked up and tried her hardest to give what she believed to be a cheerful smile.

"I'm River, nice to meet you. I'm new."

"They always seem to be new, some nonsense about fresh blood or whatever, I keep tellin' um this ain't a strip club but they never seem to listen much…" As Claire said this last part they heard a booming God like voice come over the speakers. "That's our cue, come on." With that Claire grabbed hold of River and dragged her to the stage.

Mal sat at one of the tables in the front of the audience when the lights dimmed and he heard the same announcer introduce the show. After the announcer finished speaking the lights in the audience blacked out completely as the silvery-blue lights rose on the stage. As the performers emerged it only took him a moment to spot River who was stationed at the far right of the stage.

Mal's eyes remained fixated on River throughout the entire performance. Her grace as well as her beauty astounded him. She even seemed to glow in the soft blue stage light like some sort of angelic creature. Her feet barely touching the ground as she switched effortlessly between dance numbers. In these moments Mal realized just how far River had come since she had first arrived on serenity, She was no longer that fragile flower caught in an endless winter, she had broken through to the sunlight and was determined to stay there. As the performance ended Mal let his eyes refocus and he caught one last glimpse as River departed from the stage. Yes, he would not make the same mistakes he had made in his past. It was time to get something back, no matter what lines he crossed in doing so.

As soon as River exited the stage she began thinking of how to get the diamond necklace. Out of her peripheral vision she was able to watch as the lead performer carefully returned the necklace to one of the stage managers whom promptly exited the room. River waited a moment before following them through the small back hallway, being careful to stay just out of view should they turn and discover her following them.

The man soon stopped in front of a small cupboard, inside the cupboard was a safe. As the man began to open it River put her ear to the wall hoping to decipher the combination. '32' click '24' click '12' click. Just because she had gotten better did not mean she had lost her special gifts. After the necklace was safely inside River heard the heavy footsteps slowly fade down the hallway until the man was out of sight. Then as quickly as she could River opened up the safe and pulled out the necklace. It truly was a thing of beauty, so beautiful in fact that she did not see the hand that covered her mouth, nor did she recognize the burning smell of chloroform, until indeed it was too late and everything went black.

Authors Note: You people are amazing, just so you know. And I am so so so very sorry for not updating in forever, but school and life have been hectic and I haven't had any time whatsoever to write at all. I'm so pleased at the response to the story though. And hopefully I'll have another chapter for you guys pretty soon. I'm pretty pleased with this one so let me know what you think. KEEP THOSE REVIEWS COMING! I love you : ) !