Disclaimer: I don't own BTVS or Firefly. They are from the genius that is Joss Whedon.
Chapter Nine: Get Your Girls
"Go hwong-twong! I ain't letting her out," Mal stated as he strode towards where he'd imprisoned Buffy hours ago. "I'm just gonna have a chat with her, dong ma?" Although, the words were presented in a question format, there was no chance of it in his tone.
Zoe stood behind him, her hand resting on her gun holster, ready to grab it should something go amiss.
Jayne trailed a bit behind them, having stopped off at his bunk for who knows what, and only had a knife on him, unbelieving that another peow-liang de shaojie could possibly injure him. He was still a bit sore that the moonbrain had gotten the best of him. Against his better judgement, which wasn't usually very available, he started to think back on the girl's fighting techniques. A glazed look appeared over his face, and as such, the forward motion of his heavy boots ceased, and a bit of drool escaped the confines of his mouth.
It wasn't until Zoe smacked him across the face with the butt of her gun that Jayne shook himself out of it. "Whaddya want?"
Mal scowled at him through narrowed eyes, and began to say something, but closed it and just shook his head, turning and hitting the code for the bunk. "Hey blondie, get your-" Peering down into the empty chamber, he frowned, leaning back up and looking at the door. He started to mutter different things under his breath, using his hands to accompany his utterances.
Zoe watched him with an eyebrow raised.
Seemingly coming to an end of his self-talk, he hit the side of the bunk's door frame with a closed fist.
"Sir?"
"What'd she do to get you in such a fit?" Jayne had a smirk on his face at the state of the captain. "What? There 'nother blue swirly thing?"
Mal's jaw clenched and he pivoted from his position, heading for the cockpit. "Zoe."
Without another word, Zoe sidled herself beside him, matching his steps and waiting for instruction. Her hand had already opened her holster and her gun was in hand.
"Get Kaylee to the engine room, stay with her." He glanced at her out his peripherals and watched her small nod before turning and heading back in the opposite direction. "Jayne."
"Ah, go-se! There is 'nother one." Jayne let a snarl escape for not getting his weapons earlier.
"Go get your girls."
The hard tone in Mal's voice, made Jayne move faster than normal, cursing the whole way for leaving his grenades.
Mal fumed his way up to the cockpit to check in with his pilot.
--
Clopping down to where his bunk was, Jayne aggressively punched in his code and as the door slid open, he was met with laughter.
--
"-and when I told him his hair was totally dated, he gets offended and starts going on and on about how he's gonna kill me!"She laughed lightly. "And I'm all like, what were you trying to kill me for before?" Buffy nudged River with her foot to alert the already knowing girl to their visitor.
"He is effortlessly disarmed. Presents fleeting hazard." River contributed to their conversation.
Buffy nodded, crossing her legs and leaning back on the bunk they were resting on.
Jayne's hand was on his lone weapon as he slid down the ladder to land on the floor of his bunk. "What're you doing here crazy?" He gruffly addressed River, as he sized up the girl who had escaped the confines of Serenity's guest bunks.
River floated up from the bed and over to where he stood. "She is displaying your girls to her orginator." Tilting her head, she touched the hand that his knife was in and put a slight pressure on it. "There is no imperilment from her."
Jayne gave a flimsy growl, letting the pressure on his hand make it descend slowly, but he neglected to put it away. Buffy was surrounded by his weapons, easy access in his mind. He wasn't going to let go of his only defense should it become needed.
Not shifting from her position, Buffy watched the proceedings quietly, before letting her two cents in. "I won't kill you if you don't give me a reason to."
Eying her, Jayne gave a gruff affirmation as he slid his knife into his boot. "Right then. Why ya'll in my bunk? Bet'er yet, how'd ya get in 'ere?"
Buffy stretched her arms above her head, cracking her kinks out, before settling them behind her head. "Seemed as good a place as any. Let me guess, yal figured out that I'd somehow left the small -- I don't want to say prison -- let's say room, and now everyone's on high alert?"
Jayne subconsciously scratched at his neck, looking up as he tried to think of another reason. "Nah... we're... uh..."Nah... we're... uh... Hey! Wait a gorram minute here! How'd ya'll get in 'ere?"
Buffy shrugged and pointed towards where River sat. "Totally not a biggie. I'd have done the same thing. Unfortunately, I'm not the one in charge this time."
"Unfortunately?" River questioned, as she sat back down next to her.
Buffy rolled her eyes, running her hand through her hair. "For me. I hate being the bad guy." At that phrase, her slumped figure, straightened and a smile beamed onto her face.
Taking his eyes from the newly cheerful blonde, Jayne looked over to River for an explanation.
"She has determined that she will not be an oppressor here."
The comm on the wall sputter and you could hear the captain's voice crackling through it. "--Jayne --"
"In my bunk." He stated, pushing the button to talk.
"--He --left --bunk --Wash! -- toe!"
"Got sidetracked ...or some other pigu like that."
"--girl --danger --find --"
"Gorram, ya'll need to install a new one of these, I can't hear you wortha pigu." Jayne snarled into the comm.
"--damn --Cobb --blondie --unknown --"
"Oh, right. She's, uh-- secure-ish." He stammered it out, not nervous as to the girl, but as to how to explain why he's got both the moonbrain and the blonde in his comm, the comm sputtered again.
"-- ta ma de --bunk --both --On --way. --Keep -- there. --" the comm sputtered it's last few words, before going quiet.
Turning from the wall and back to the girls, he looked at them and was slightly taken aback by the identical looks of innocence they wore. "Why do I gotta feelin' that yal got somethin' planned for them?" He narrowed his eyes, as though their innocent faces, seemed slightly demonic. "And I'mma guessin' that I'm a part of it, but ya'll don't want me'ta find out what it is... until the last possible second." Jayne gulped, beginning to feel anxious, and knew that when Mal came in, things were going to get worse.
"Jayne, you're sweating bullets. So not attractive..." And at River's nudge, she amended. "Well, to most girls."
"I ain't sweatin' no bullets." He defended weakly, grabbing his shirt, round the collar and lifting it up to clean off his face of any bullet sweating.
"We will not get the boy with a girl's name into any of our girl's with girl's names mischief." River relinquished the information, hoping to lessen his worry on Mal's temperament. Inwardly, she shook her head, you toss a guy out in the airlock for a few hours and now every time Mal even looks at him funny, Jayne hid himself in his bunk. A scowl settled on River's face at the thought of him being so frightened of losing his life on Serenity that he wasn't being, well, Jayne-like. That's not what she wanted. She looked over at Buffy and caught the small wink that was sent to her. What she wanted was for her to be the only one he ever was afraid of, and not because the she could kill him, but, well... she hadn't yet figured out what she wanted him to feel for her, and if she were honest, what she wanted him to feel about her. It was a rather big puzzle, with pieces being added every day, but the holes in between the different parts, was also a staggering amount. Doing a jigsaw, that's what she needs to think of it as, and it'll end up being absolutely no problem at all.
BANG
BANG
"Here come the calvary." Buffy sighed, getting up off the bed and rolling her shoulder.
