Chapter 8
Next Morning
Jayne sat at the table in the galley. His mind continued to replay his dream memory over and over while his hands kept busy cleaning the same guns again and again. His jaw had a firm set to it and his eyes were a little wild as he tried to keep his breathe steady. His clothes were still rumpled from the day before as he had not paid attention to what he had put on. He slammed the last big clip into place and tried to loosen his stiff jaw. He heard footsteps approach the galley and his back straightened as he recognized them. River glided into the galley and headed straight for the cupboards. She reached for a knob and paused in confusion. She seemed to ponder something and slowly turned around to see Jayne stand up and stare her down.
"You shoulda told me," he said hoarsely.
River stood silent as she tilted her head.
"You shoulda told me straight instead of tryin to play with my head," he said louder as he took a firm step towards her.
"Angel is fine now. Now Jayne knows this," she stated and walked into the main room.
"But I didn't know she was took!" Jayne said taking another step towards her, "My lil cousin put through who knows what while you prance around this boat actin all smart and perfect like you can do no wrong."
River's face saddened as she looked to the floor.
"But River has done wrong," she whispered as a tear escaped her left eye, "Killed all those people."
River started to tremble as Jayne stopped with her sudden change of attitude. She started crying as she hugged herself. Jayne felt as if he'd had the stuffing knocked out of him as he saw her shake. His rage melted.
"Ah, what the hell?" he asked himself as he sighed and pulled her into his arms.
River shook as she whimpered into his chest.
"Those weren't people," Jayne said, "Those were monsters made by other monsters."
"Not them," she whispered, "Simon doesn't know. Not about the ones at the academy. My training. Made me kill. Made me do horrible things."
Jayne let out a big breathe as he finally understood, "We all regret somethin we couldn't control. You couldnta stopped them then."
River stopped sniffling and pulled away, "Anymore than you could have stopped slavers from taking your cousin."
Jayne's eyebrows rose sharply as he stared at her. His jaw stiffened a bit as her words swirled in his mind and he took a step away from her. He turned away and headed to the table where he scooped up his guns and headed back to his bunk. River continued to stand there as she stared after him with tears slowly drying off her face.
"Just because it isn't her fault," River whispered, "Doesn't mean it was right."
Later That Evening in the Galley
Everyone was sitting at the table except Jayne and River who arrived in the galley at the same time from opposite ends. They saw each other and paused in the doorway. Jayne nodded slightly and headed to his seat while River slowly made her way to her own. They passed around the dishes as they filled their plates and then began to eat. River and Jayne looked at each other and she nodded slightly as she read the question in his head. He leaned back a bit and looked over at Mal.
"Mal?" he said.
"Yes Jayne?" Mal said as he forked another roll onto his plate.
"I remembered Angel," he said.
The table went silent as they all looked at Jayne.
"And?" Mal asked.
"Before I left home they threw me one hell of a shindig," he said as he set his fork down and rubbed his hands together, "Family, friends, and heck even a few people that really wanted to see me gone."
He leaned all the way against the back of his chair and looked at Mal, "Had me a small cousin named Andromeda named for her mother's big aspirations for her. Turned out she had a big heart as well."
He paused as he looked back at his plate, "Mama called her Angel. Always doing the right thing, always helpin out, and that was tough. She was orphaned and mama took her in even with all our mouths to feed and Mattie bed ridden with the damp lung. She showed us what it meant to be a Cobb. She's my favorite. How could I not know she was took?"
"Jayne did know," River whispered as she stirred around some dinner on her plate.
She looked up at Jayne and spoke louder, "Jayne had bad dreams. Knew something was wrong. Thats why Jayne needed to know Angel was ok. That Angel was safe. No more bad dreams."
River went back to eating as if that were the end of it.
"That was two weeks ago," Jayne said.
"Sixteen days," River stated and went back to eating.
Simon looked at River and said, "You said you told Jayne that Angel was safe. How long between her being taken was she free?"
"Fifteen hours."
"How does someone save someone that fast?" asked Mal.
"Someone that was planning on escaping herself," Zoe said.
"She gave up her spot for my lil cousin?" Jayne asked, "Well, what are we planning on doing for her?"
River set her fork down onto her first clean plate in days.
"Save her of course," she smiled.
Later on the Bridge
Mal, Zoe, and Wash stood in front of the wave view screen waiting for the call to go through.
"Think Monty can help us?" Wash asked.
"If anyone can it'd be Monty," Mal said.
The static on the view screen changed to show Monty with a thin start of a beard.
"Mal!" Monty laughed out, "What can I do for ya?"
"Well I'm glad to see you're growin the beard back," Mal said smiling.
"Yeah," Monty scowled, "I owe you one for givin me the lowdown on that wife of ours."
"How bout we make things even then?" Mal asked.
"Yeah?" Monty said lifting an eyebrow, "How you mean to do that? It'd have ta be somethin big."
"Oh it is," Zoe said.
"Need some intel on a certain property on Persephone if you happen to still have a few folks that way in need of coin."
"Which place you lookin to rob?"
"Not so much robbin as takin what don't belong to him," Mal stated.
Monty sat back in his chair and smirked, "Wouldn't happen to be a certain bloke that lost a sword fight to our Mal now would it?"
Mal grinned, "Now how would a respectable scoundrel like you know anything about that?"
"Turns out my favorite sister loves to tell me all about the colorful life of high society. She has wonderful ways of staying invisible, just be the hired help."
Mal's smile faded, "This is awful dangerous for any womenfolk who might not know how to fight."
Monty's smile faded as well, "You mean the rumors she heard about the slaves Atherton keeps? You don't know the half of it Mal."
"Whats that mean?" Wash asked.
"Its not just slaves hes been acquiring," Monty paused, "Hes kidnapped a few companions too. Tight security. I wouldn't dare send just anyone in there. My sister is uglier than sin, but she has a good heart. Can put on quite the act when she needs to."
"We should be on Persephone in about a week. We'll keep in touch and work out a plan from there," Mal said
"Count me in too. I'm five days out from Persephone myself,"
"I'd appreciate that," Mal said.
"So who'd he take?" Monty asked, "Not Inara?"
"No, River's best friend," Zoe said.
"Well I certainly don't want to be on her bad side," Monty said, "Atherton is in for a world of hurt if he makes that one mad."
"Your tellin me," Mal said.
