With the Alliance inspection over and papers to prove it, the entire Serenity crew felt relieved. Not that there weren't other dangers ahead, but at least this one was past them. Having a job with documents had it's advantages.
Kaylee was busy with a few minor repairs and did not get to spend as much time with Simon as she had wished.
River continued to study the passengers, mostly Savi. Suna on the other hand was intrigued by River.
Zoe and Wash were glad neither had been stuck with the girls much, giving them a little cherished alone time.
Jayne wished their meals together lasted longer but decided he really needed to focus on eating a bit more; watching Savi eat was not providing him with enough calories to work out.
Inara came back from her jobs for a couple of days, which is usually how long it would take Mal to get over his jealousy.
Wash was getting intermittent signals from Mobul; all he could make out was that there had been some deadly confrontation in one of the settlement. Mal asked that he continue trying to get clearer signals.
Savi was laying real low. The spanking she got from Mal had been her first; her bottom hurt but her pride hurt even more. She looked at the Captain differently now, not necessarily with fear, although there was a dose of that..but she wasn't trying to get his attention the way she did before. Savi still felt some jealousy over Suna but was trying not to act on it.
Mal and Inara were talking about her concerns about staying with the ship through the Reaver infested skies they were about to enter; Mal once again wishing he hasn't been such an ass to her when she came back a couple of days before. Just as the Captain put his hand on Inara's shoulder, about to reassure her that he would do anything to protect her, they both heard banging and yelling coming from the kitchen. Simon rushed by them toward the noise. By the time they opened the kitchen door they found Jayne sitting on a chair, his sleeve rolled up, the doctor looking at a pretty severe bite mark; a few drops of blood and all. Opposite the room Zoe was holding a screaming and kicking red headed girl, her arms locked behind her ; this kind of grip apparently necessary to restrain the furious kid.
"What in Goram is going on here? " Mal asked angrily looking back and forth at the two involved parties.
"That red headed Reaver child you brought on board bit the shit out of me!" Jayne muttered while looking at his wound.
Mal looked angrily over at Suna "Well?"
" That big beast you keep on board said my family might not be alive and the ship better not even bother taking me back home and risking everyone over a little kid - which would be ME". At that Suna tried to free herself again from Zoe's grip.
Mal, turned toward Jayne " you said that? "
" Sure did! Ain't it the truth we don't know what went down on her looney planet? Ain't we heard about some shootings? Not worth risking nothing over that little shit".
Mal looked at Suna and before walking toward Jayne said " we know nothing other than there were some shootings. Not even sure which settlement and we are trying to find out."
As he got closer to Jayne " you said that knowing she could hear you?"
" So?"
Mal got closer and looked like he was going to walk right past Jayne when he suddenly turned and landed a powerful punch right in the man's face.
Jayne almost fell off his chair had the doctor not caught him. " Captain Reynolds! You may not injure my patient, your crew!" Simon spoke out as he noticed blood on Jayne's face. "You may have broken the man's nose! "
Jayne was too startled and concerned about the blood he saw on his hands after touching his injured face to do much else.
Mal walked back toward a calmer looking Suna. " this kind of crap is going to get you the belt" the captain said making eye contact with the disheveled looking girl "let her go Zoe" he said as he walked out the door.
Mal was not even halfway down the hall when he heard some more commotion. He turned around and saw Suna inches away from a startled looking Jayne, Zoe holding her once again by her arms.
" For fuck's sake!" He said as he slowly walked back into the kitchen. He looked at Jayne and Zoe first, strengthening his resolve. The Captain looked at Suna and reached for his holster belt, unbuckled it and pulled it through the loops and put his gun on the table behind him. The girl heard the belt and turned to look at Mal but her shaking was still mostly anger. Mal walked over to her " You best not bite me" he warned. Mal reached for a chair while Zoe moved the girl closer to him only letting go of her hands after the Captain had grabbed a hold of her arm. Suna did not exactly cooperate but it wasn't too hard for Mal to pin her down over his knees. He gave her five hard swats with the folded belt, each one making Suna cry out; Mal raised the belt again but put it back down and used the hand that was sore from punching Jayne to give her twelve powerful smacks. Everyone in the room winced, including Jayne.
"I'm gonna put you down, girl. You make one move toward Jayne and you are getting it with your pants down!".
" She don't got to apologize to me Captain? " Jayne asked pointing at his bandaged arm.
" She ain't gonna right now Jayne" Mal said, more concerned with her heeding his warning than having her apologize. He was watching the girl carefully as he threaded his belt back on.
Suna, tears running down her face, walked carefully toward the door. She looked back at Mal, who gave her a slight nod and then she walked out.
Savi was on her bed reading her book when Suna walked into their bunk and laid down on her stomach.
"Why are you crying Suna?" Savi asked, concerned about her friend.
"I got spanked" was all Suna said and Savi got the feeling she should just leave her friend alone for a while.
Mal spent the rest of the afternoon with Wash and Zoe mapping out the safest routes and scanning for suspicious ships. The signal from Mobul was getting weaker and Walsh was now trying to get some information from other ships that had been closer to the planet the last few days. He had not been able to get any more information at this point.
The captain was aware that the incident with Jayne was going to have some impact on their relationship; it was not the first time the two had come to blows, but things had been pretty good lately and this was bound to set them back. Hopefully not by much.
Since Simon was busy treating Jayne's physical ailments, as well as trying to calm him down, Kaylee and Savi prepared dinner together.
Everyone was already seated with full plates when Suna walked in.
" Have a seat there Little Red..." Jayne smirked .
Suna looked at Jayne and then at Mal "I would rather not sit, Captain" she said, waiting for Mal to say one way or the other. Mal was taking a moment to figure out if this was the Suna he had come to know, or if he should be ready for another incident.
" It still hurts " Suna said without looking embarrassed " because of the belt."
" you used the belt ?" Kaylee asked a little louder than she had meant to.
Mal looked at Kaylee and then at Suna and said " that I did". His words came out with an almost imperceptible swallow.
Savi's eyes had grown big. She did not know if she was more surprised to hear the captain would do that, or that Suna did not seem mortified at the conversation that just took place.
Suna walked up to Mal " I am real sorry you had to do that Captain". Mal looked deep into her green eyes then said softly "I know you are". Suna stood in front of the captain a little longer, wishing she had the courage to hug him but she did not even know if he would let her. Mal thought she was waiting for an answer and added "you don't have to sit for dinner".
Suna walked up to Jayne who looked concerned and moved his body back a bit. " I am sorry I bit you Jayne" she said, looking down.
" I bet you are" Jayne said shortly.
Suna helped herself to a small plate of food and backed toward the wall, truly sorry for the trouble she had caused the crew.
