Chapter Six

Shadows and Sunshine

Intersystem travel and planetary orbits were often tricky things to figure out. That's why ships had navsats, and other such happy systems, to aid a plucky pilot in figuring out times and arrivals and angles of approach. Everything rotated around everything else and Mal always had found that stuff too confusing. It was one of the many reasons that he missed the customary presence of River in the copilot's chair.

She'd have had it explained out in seconds: why a thirty-six hour trip had seemed to magically become an eighteen hour return flight. Somewhere along the trip, he'd managed to sneak some of the doc's attention (so his nose didn't hurt quite so badly), and he'd managed to half-explain to Zoë what had happened on Athens. ("I swear, someone else must have gotten to the stash first. Shot Jayne, kicked my tail, and gotten himself destroyed by our little albatross.")

Of course, only River really knew anything of the truth, and she hadn't woken since Simon doped her. Since getting Serenity's landing clearance, Mal had been thinking about how best to confront Badger. He kept coming up with the same thing, repeatedly. That consisted of bursting in the front door of his seedy little den with all barrels blazing. However, he was unfortunately lacking in the barrels department at the moment.

Jayne was down, possible for weeks if Simon's hinting meant anything at all. And River's return to instability meant that he wouldn't be trusting her around anything explosive or sharp for a good long while. That left himself, Zoë, the good doctor, and li'l Kaylee. Mal was conscious of how he rejected even letting Inara into his thoughts. He didn't want her to see any more violence, ever…

No, he'd make due with who he had. Kaylee was good with getting through doors, and Simon could be useful in a pinch. He'd shown that a few times. Mal sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. Eavesdown was coming up on the horizon. Easing the throttle back gently, Mal began the slow descent into atmo.

Simon pressed the vial gently into Inara's hand, willing her to take it from him. "If River wakes up, and gives you trouble…" He looked like he had swallowed a bumblebee as he said it. "… a teaspoon of this in something hot… like… like tea. It will calm her down…"

Inara nodded, reluctantly closing her fingers around the vial. "I doubt we will be needing this." The Companion offered a placating smile, and glanced into the infirmary. River slept curled up on her side, like a cat; while in the center of the room, Jayne's shallow, slow breaths wheezed gingerly in his drug-induced slumber. "And what of Jayne?"

Simon followed her gaze and sighed. "There's morphine in his I.V. Just… don't let him rip it out…"

Once more, Inara nodded, and stepped back to watch as Simon carefully packed a few more things into his small bag. She still hadn't figured out what Mal was planning, or why it was so important to him that they interrogate the little weasel of a man. Just as Simon picked up his bag, and headed to join the others, Inara reached forward and laid a hand on his arm, bringing him to a pause.

"Take care of them?" She asked, unable to hide her worry with dark eyes.

The doctors brows raised, and for a moment, his jaw worked in surprise. Finally, he found words again, beetling up his features as his own worry was kindled. "Ah… of course, I shall."

Inara released him, and stood back, satisfied once more. After following him down to the cargo bay, and watching them all leave from her customary place on the catwalk, Inara realized that Mal never once glanced in her direction. She hid her frown by turning her back to the cargo bay, and closing her eyes. Hands folded carefully before her, she whispered a prayer for their collective safety.

Serenity seemed so quiet and cold with the absence of other voices. Of all the silly things to think of, Inara remembered the time when River pretended to have possessed the ship, in order to scare off the odd bounty hunter who had come for her. Her trick with the intercoms had been brilliant. Which… it turned out, gave Inara a perfect way to keep an eye on infirmary without having to stay down there.

Smiling proudly to herself, she descended the stairs into the belly of the ship, intent on making her plan truth. She would turn on the intercom in the infirmary, and link it to the receiver in her shuttle. Any sounds the two made she would hear, and be able to respond to them. At least, it was sound in theory.

When she came off the last few steps, and swung to step into the infirmary, she found herself face to nose with a closed door. That was odd. She'd left it open when she accompanied Simon to the cargo bay. She lifted up on her tiptoes to peer into the porthole.

"River?"

The girl was gone from the small side bed. She stood beside Jayne, her hands loose at her sides, simply looking down at him. At the sound of Inara's voice, she looked up sharply, and fixed the Companion with an intense gaze. After a few moments, River's expression softened: a visible transition between her mind sets, from weapon to girl. Approaching the infirmary doors, River untied the interior handles, and slid one half open.

"It's safe. He's not here."

Inara reached in through the gap to gently touch River's cheek. The girl leaned away. "Who's not here?"

"Him. He's not hiding inside anybody. He wouldn't dare." River stepped aside slightly to let Inara in. "Jayne is hungry."

Uncanny. The girl was simply uncanny. With a rustle of silk, Inara positioned herself to keep half an eye on the mercenary, and half on River. "Why don't we go make the two of you something to eat then?" Once more, Inara reached out to touch her. And once more, River slipped away like the wind.

Shaking her head, River returned to the place beside Jayne. "The girl will stay here. Watch over. Keep the nightmares away." If Inara had not seen it herself, she would never have believed the truth. River's tiny hand lifted up and brushed across Jayne's arm.

For the first time, Inara couldn't find any sort of words for the situation. She felt like she was intruding, and so, stepped backwards, out of the infirmary. Puzzling through the odd exchange, Inara headed toward the mess.

Kaylee was good with doors, especially back doors that had to be gotten into quietly. Zoë and Simon hovered nearby, masking most of Kaylee's work with their bodies, and inane chatter. Mal prowled around some of the nearby open market shops, and was curious to notice the obvious lack of some of Badger's eyes.

Just as Mal was about to get a mite impatient, Kaylee squeaked in triumph, and the rear bulkhead of Badger's nest whirred open. Beaming up at Mal as he approached, Kaylee was quite proud of her accomplishment, given that the door had been alarmed, trapped and a sundry handful of other nasty things.

"All shiny, capt'n!" she chirped, shaking back a bit of her bangs. "Disabled the alarms too. They won't know we're comin' in!"

Mal grinned at her, knowing full well how downright comical he looked with two black eyes and tape over the bridge of his nose. He motioned for Zoë to bring up the rear, and Simon to keep watch over Kaylee. And then he set foot into the badger's den.

Badger's place always smelt vaguely of rotten fruit and unwashed feet. It had been a bothersome smell to Mal's nose, and one of the reasons most of his crew didn't come down here with him for their business deals. Today he was worried that this place smelt a little different. Glancing behind him to see what Zoë was thinking, he found her with the same perplexed expression.

"Guard's missin'." Zoë murmured softly, over Kaylee's shoulder.

Mal felt his stomach drop out from beneath him. Hurrying now, he shouldered his way through boxes and crates of merchandise ready to ship out. The entire rear of the warehouse was filled with junk that someone, somewhere, wanted on time. None of the workers were filling orders. None of the guards were wandering around glaring at folks. Badger prided himself on being some manner of kingpin on Persephone. The guards and workers were part of that demesne.

Kaylee groped blindly for a moment, until she found Simon's hand. Startled, he looked back to her, and then, squeezed her fingers. This was completely alien to the two of them. Mal was beginning to regret his choice to bring them along. The warehouse thinned out, stacks getting smaller and sparser as they moved into the depths of the offices.

The hallway to access Badger's inner office was L-shaped, and Mal paused at the bend, to peer around the corner. His eyes widened, and he pulled back fast, leaning his head against the wall.

"Go neong yung duh…"

Why had it taken so long for Inara to leave? Even though the Companion remained in the infirmary for only ten minutes and fifty-two seconds, it had felt like an eternity that River had to battle the golden cascades of her thoughts, and the blue waves of worry. Inara had waited until River had eaten, until River had set the covered bowl of rice and canned vegetables aside for Jayne, until River had sat and stared at her expectantly.

She felt bad driving the Companion away like that, but she wanted unclouded thoughts. The closest she could get to the black was lying in a drugged sleep beside her stool. River stuck her chin in her hand, and stared intently at the bandage on Jayne's chest. She found herself breathing in time with him, listening to the sound of the soft rattle. If she touched him, she could feel his dreams, morphine-riddled, purple-skied dreams.

He would have to wake up soon. She felt the stirrings of his thoughts when there were voices around him. She lay her hand on his nearest forearm once more, and gently began to talk to him.

"Puppet-master will be sorry. Sorry he hurt my dance partner. Sorry he made me hurt Captain Daddy…" His thoughts stirred then, conflicting desires to open his eyes, and keep them shut rising to the front. River swallowed slightly. To end the pain before more were hurt, she needed him.

Her fingers strayed further, ruffling the hairs along his forearm until she brushed the tips across his knuckles. Since the events on Ariel, he hadn't raised a fist at her in anger, despite his threats. His dreams turned as she traced the tiny scars of old teeth marks on his knuckles. She blushed instantly as she caught drift of where his purple-hued dreams were turning, and she drew away suddenly.

Jayne's thoughts were there as soon as she was back in her personal bubble of safety. So simple, so linear. Cause and effect. His thoughts were easy to handle, sift through, and ignore. Unlike Simon's little boxes, or Inara's waterfalls. Unlike Kaylee's circuit boards or Zoë's handwritten notes. Jayne's were simple. Like guns. Like weapons.

He groaned from his toes up, as his eyes first fluttered open. Glazed blue fought for focus, as River leaned over to watch him. The groggy haze was from the morphine, but he felt no pain for the moment. River smiled sweetly as he rolled his head toward her, grateful that he was coming to.

Suddenly, Jayne was chuckling, a low, shallow pained sound. The giant paw, which she had just been examining, flailed out, lacking full motor control, until it came to settle heavily on her knee. He bared his teeth in a goofy grin.

"Jus' keep smilin'… 's like … shiny… sun.."