A Mercenary's Tale
Chapter 9
River Tam wanted to kill someone, truly and desperately. Ideally, a Blue Hand would've been best, but, right now, she would've settled for any Alliance Official. Out of all the people on Serenity right now, she was the only one who really understood what kind of hell faced Jayne Cobb.
They could cut into his brain, make him crazy the way they made me crazy…
The thought of that happening to Jayne hurt, and she shivered, sitting in the Copilot's seat, next to Wash. Scores of plastic dinosaurs grinned up at her.
"Are you up to this?"
Wash was looking at her, his normally ebullient mood subdued now that another of their people had been taken by the Blue Hands. She shivered again, and this time it wasn't fear.
It was rage…
"I'm all right, Wash," she brought herself back under control, thanking Charles Carmichael in her mind for bringing her back to sanity. She couldn't do what she had to do to find Jayne if she didn't have control of her own mind.
"I'm going to find Jayne now," she spoke again.
"Sure, sweetie…"
She closed her eyes, sent her mind questing outward, in search of one single mind.
Jayne, my Jayne, where are you?
That brought her up short.
My Jayne?
She had been with him a lot recently, sparring with him, helping him to learn how to manage his new abilities. But that didn't mean she had a claim on him…did it?
She shook herself. Now was not the time to dwell on semantics. She needed to find Jayne's spatial location and plot it out in her head in a three-dimensional matrix so she could plot the course for Wash.
Once more, she sought out Jayne's mental signature…
There!
He was unconscious, and all his dreams were of fear, flight, and a crying infant helpless in the night. But she had Jayne now, and was able to plot the course and heading for Wash.
"It looks like they're on Ma'at," Wash nodded. "I'll get us as close as we dare."
"I know," River nodded, and she suddenly loved the man, with his always-good humor, his garish shirts, and his ever-present dinosaurs. Impulsively, she hugged him, felt his arms go around her too.
"It's okay, sweetie," he said. "We'll get Jayne back."
She nodded, suddenly feeling very tired…
Her bed was warm, and she was exhausted, but sleep wouldn't come at first. She clutched a pillow to her chest, and now she was crying, and she didn't rightly know why…
Captain Mal Reynolds hadn't slept well the night Jayne had been taken, so, he was feeling distinctly unwell the next morning. But nobody else had either, and Kaylee and River were both red-eyed from crying into their pillows, no doubt. Scully hadn't cried, but there was a steely look in her eyes, a look matched by Louisa Beckman.
Well, there was a little bit of good news on this terrible morning. River had apparently tracked Jayne's mind to one of Osiris' moons…Ma'at. And Mal was sure he had heard that name before…
"Ain't that the moon Jayne was created on?"
That was Zoë, asking the question of Dr. Scully.
"Yes," Scully nodded. "So we know where to go if we want to take him back."
"Yes, we do," Charles Carmichael agreed. "But there are faces and ships I'm sure their Security has been told to look out for; namely Serenity and her crew, and I'm fairly sure they would recognize Dr. Scully as Ms. Georgia Hale too."
"Then how the gorram hell do we get Jayne back?"
Mal couldn't explain it; this fierce need to get Jayne back. But there it was, like a fire deep in his chest.
"Simple," Carmichael said. "You let Louisa and I do it."
"Me too," Book raised a hand. "They wouldn't know me either."
"There's a way I can help too," River put in. "In fact, I think I can get them to willingly open the doors and let you in."
"And, how would you be able to do that, Little One?"
Mal was chilled by her answer.
"I'm sure they would let you in if you offered to sell me to them."
Mal put his coffee down.
"I ain't allowing anyone to sell my people," he spoke sternly.
"No one's going to sell River," Carmichael spoke scornfully. "This is like a…undercover mission. We'll pretend to offer to sell her, she'll get us in, and then we'll find Jayne, get him out, and come back."
"We'll need another ship," Zoë spoke doubtfully.
""I think I can get in touch with the Lady Luck," Louisa spoke quietly.
"The Lady Luck…" Scully's eyes widened.
"Yes," Louisa met Scully's eyes squarely. "The Lady Luck."
"Anything you want to add to this conversation, Dr. Scully?"
Scully looked up at Mal.
"That was the ship that helped me steal Jayne back when he was just a baby," she said at last.
"Well, "Carmichael said. "There's synchronicity, then. So…Do we do this?"
"I guess we do," Mal hated this, hated even pretending to sell a member of his crew…
"Captain Daddy," River touched his arm. "We have to get in to get to Jayne. This is the only way."
"If you say so," he agreed, and then turned to Charles Carmichael. "One thing, Mr. Carmichael; if anything happens to my Little Witch, you and I will be having some words, words you might not live to profit from; dong ma?"
"I understand, Captain."
"See that you do," Mal picked up his coffee. Soon, they would be mounting an expedition to rescue Jayne Cobb.
Hopefully there wouldn't be any fatalities on the way…
Charles Carmichael-Chuck Bartowski-was getting ready for the mission; stashing hidden weapons in secret places, and it felt like old times. He could almost see the ghosts of his old team readying themselves beside him.
Colonel John Casey would be prepping his guns-the bigger the better-and looking over mission logistics with General Diane Beckman, while Chuck looked at photos and Flashed on them, and Sarah Walker slipped knives into impossible-to-find sheathes…
Sarah…
He closed his eyes, his throat tightening as the memories of Sarah filled his mind…
They had cried in each other's arms after Casey's death, blindly seeking comfort in each other. He had married her, given her the love, home, and family that she had never really had before. And, as the years passed, Sarah Walker Bartowski grew old, and Chuck didn't.
She died in his arms, old and withered, yet full of love and joy in her wedded state to Chuck. And he would've gladly followed her into the grave. But he had promises to keep…
He shook himself out of his funk. The reason for his promise had been kidnapped, was now being held by the Feds, in a lab on Ma'at.
He heard a gentle tap on the door, and River Tam opened the door shyly.
"I hope I'm not intruding," she said.
She sounded a little bothered by something.
"No, sweetheart," he assured her. "What's on your mind?"
"It's…" she hesitated. "When we were planning the mission, I kept on getting thoughts from you. It was something about…catching Jayne when he fell?"
"Oh," Chuck smiled nervously. "It's something about…well…"
"You don't have to tell me if it's too personal."
"Honey," he assured her. "I want to tell you. It all has to do with John Casey. You see, he was my protector for a long time, and he was always getting me out of danger. He always seemed to catch me when I fell. Literally too, at that…"
He would never forget that, being tossed off the roof, and Casey catching him by an ankle…
I love you!
Keep it in your pants, Bartowski!
"I never got the chance to catch Casey when he fell," Chuck continued. "But, maybe I can help protect Jayne, maybe I can catch him…"
River's eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"It still hurts after all this time?"
"Yeah…" Chuck murmured, the image of a dying man wrapped up in a sleeping bag filling his mind. "He was brave, good, and true, and I miss him almost as much as I miss Sarah."
"It will be all right," River spoke with shining assurance. "We'll get Jayne back, and he'll be fine."
She bowed her head, looked back up.
"Louisa wanted me to let you know the Lady Luck is here."
"Let's go then," Chuck offered her his arm, and they stepped out of his room, and went down to the Shuttle Bay. Louisa Beckman and Shepherd Book were both already there, both armed and ready. Louisa tossed a few guns to River, and the girl caught them with practiced ease.
"We all ready?"
Chuck addressed his rather motley crew. It was time for the rescue operation to begin…
Jayne Cobb awakened slowly, feeling cottony in his mouth and head. The baby was still crying out there…
"Ain't anyone gonna feed the Little Mite?"
He was still bolted down to that bed, caught like a fly in a spider's web, with those two Blue hands keepin watch over him; like they 'pected him to produce a miracle outta his ass and get free…
Then Dr. Mathias walked in.
"You're quite a surprise…Jayne," the man said. "Who gave you that Intersect Upload?"
Jayne clamped his jaws shut, and Mathias shrugged like it dint really matter…
"We were going to give you an Intersect Upload anyway," he said. "But we wanted to do a few other things first. Ah well…"
He poked a needle into Jayne's arms, began to draw some blood.
"You have very special blood," he said.
"Yeah…" Jayne sneered. "So special that I was told I hadta be grown in a test tube; couldn't be born natural-like…"
"So special you're immune to all known viruses," Mathias chided him. "Including the Reaver Virus. Now that I know you've been Jayne Cobb all these years, I've been doing some reading on your files."
"Anything in there ya like?"
"Actually, yes…" the man said. "Just after Canton, you hid in Sho Tung for a while. And the Plague hit the city…"
Jayne shuddered at the memory. Sho Tung had been a sizeable city before the Plague hit. After, it weren't even the size of a small village that many folk had been taken by the Plague. And Jayne, stuck in the city through the whole thing…he hadn't even caught a sore throat…
"You owe that to us, Jayne." Mathias nodded, smiling. "We made you resistant to every known virus out there. So, your blood is a little strange by human standards. I would call that a small price to pay for immortality."
"Immor…" Jayne had to clear his throat. "Yer ruttin' crazy! Ya make me in a lab, so I dint ever have a real Ma or Pa, and ya did all these feng le things ta me…why?"
"What do you know about the Great Diaspora?"
Jayne frowned at that.
"Jus' what the stories say, that we used Earth-that-was up, and had ta leave, 'cause we couldn't live there no more."
"All lies…" Mathias pronounced. "Lies to keep everyone, even the wealthy elite, in comfortable ignorance. What good would it do to let the people know that we were driven off our Mother Earth, like dogs with their tails between their legs; that we were driven away from Alien Invaders."
"Aliens…" Gruff guffaws burst from Jayne. "Ain't any aliens, they're just so much go se…"
"And Reavers," Mathias arched a wry brow. "They're go se too?"
"They're just men went crazy out in the black," Jayne shrugged uncomfortably. "Some folk say they stared too long in the abyss…"
"Ah…Nietzsche," Mathias looked surprised.
"Huh?"
"Never mind…"Now, Mathias looked disappointed.
"Anyway," Mathias continued. "I've been fortunate enough to do autopsies on the few intact Reaver bodies we've been able to find. It's caused by a virus. An engineered virus with non-terrestrial DNA"
"Ya made Reavers?"
"Don't be stupid," Mathias snapped. "We didn't make the Reavers. Actually, the Reaver Problem was partly why we created you. We intended you to be a weapon against the Reavers; which is why we incorporated the virus into your DNA. And, that made you immune to their virus."
"How the gorram hell am I s'posed to take anything ya say on trust? I know what ya done to Little Moony."
"Moony…" Mathias paused. "Oh…River Tam. Yes…Well, that was regrettable. But science is full of such dead-ends and sadness."
Jayne growled again, wishin' he was free so he could snap the feng le hun dun's neck.
"Dr. Mathias," a man's voice came on the intercom.
"What is it?"
Mathias sounded put-upon.
"Some mercenaries have turned up. They claim they have River Tam in their custody, and the want to make a deal."
Jayne's heart dropped right down inta his boots. They got Moony too? He closed his eyes, and now he could feel tears in the back of his throat.
"What an interesting turn of events," Mathias smiled. "I'll be back."
He left the room, and Jayne was alone with his Blue Hand guards. He could still hear the baby, not crying right now, but makin' noise like all babies did.
"Why d'ya got a baby in here?"
The Blue hands didn't say anything; and Jayne was left with his thoughts…
Sorry, Moony…
Jayne closed his eyes, wishin' for the darkness to take him so he dint have to live this life anymore…
Sudden gunfire shattered the silence, and Jayne's eyes shot open. The Blue Hands had drawn their weapons, exchanging nervous glances. More gunfire erupted outside, closer this time. One of the Blue Hands cursed, and they both slid out of the room, the door sliding shut behind them.
More gunfire sounded, right outside the door, and the sounds of bodies being thrown-hard-against the closed door. Jayne, as helpless as he was, could only listen to the sounds of the fight outside, and pray to a god he wasn't sure existed.
It was quiet now, at least by the door. Other gunfights were happening further away, but it was quiet right outside the door. And, as the door began to slide open, Jayne held his breath…
For a timeless second, nothing happened. Then a head topped with crisp graying curls peered into the room.
"Aha!"
Charles Carmichael-wearing black clothing studded with all sorts of weapons-darted inta the room, and Jayne could see the two bodies of the Blue Hands lyin' out in the hall…
"Don't tell me ya took care of them yourself," Jayne felt powerful relief course through his body.
"Hey," Carmichael grinned. "I've got an Intersect too, you know…"
Quickly, he got Jayne free from the gurney.
"Where's Moony?"
"Oh," Carmichael shrugged. "She, Louisa, and Shepherd Book, are dealing with all the guards here. Ready to go?"
"Gotta find the baby first."
"All right, we find the baby firs-"Carmichael stopped dead. "Baby? What baby?"
"Can't ya hear him?"
Little Mite was squalling now; all that gunplay of course. Speaking of which…
"Got a spare gun on ya I can borrow? I feel naked."
"Well, you are naked…kind of…"
Jayne looked down at himself. All he was wearing was trousers, and they was thin and light, like hospital jammies.
"Just gimme a gun…"
"Here…"
Now, with the gun in his hand, he felt better; and he could follow the baby's crying all the way to the source.
The rest of the team musta been doing their job right. There was no guards to be seen on the way to the baby's room.
Inside the room, they found the baby, wailing piteously, with a full diaper…
"They made another one?"
Carmichael's eyes were wide.
Jayne ignored him, focused on the baby.
"Where are the nappies hid? Little Mite needs changin'."
He poked around in the cabinets, and Carmichael helped him. Soon, they found everything needed to do the job…
Chuck was enchanted. Seeing the man with John Casey's face expertly change a baby's diapers was enchanting. Seeing those large paws gently stroke the baby's cheek, lifting the body with proper support for the head and neck was enchanting.
"How old ya think he is?"
Chuck looked at the baby, frowning.
"He couldn't be more than a couple of months old, I'd say."
"Just a Little Mite…" Jayne murmured, tenderness in him that Chuck was sure nobody had ever seen before.
"All the guards are dead," Louisa Beckman's announcement brought Chuck back to now. She stood in the entry, Shepherd Book right behind her.
"River Tam has captured a most interesting prisoner," Book said
"If it's Dr. Mathias," Jayne rumbled. "I really got to speak ta him."
"We're in the hall," That was River Tam's voice.
Chuck followed everyone out into the hall, and there Dr. Mathias was, River Tam right behind him, a nasty bruise over one eye. Still, he maintained his hauteur, until he saw Jayne free, carrying the baby in his arms. Then, all the color left his face…
"Ya growed him in a test-tube too, dint ya?"
Chuck remembered hearing that tone of voice from John Casey a few times; right when he was on the edge of a killing frenzy.
"Don't kill him, Jayne," he cautioned. "We need information. Like where they stored Casey's genetic material."
Jayne's eyes went to River Tam.
"Ya kin get that stuff outta his head, can't ya, Moony?"
"With pleasure," River nodded. "Along with everything else he knows."
"Then do it," Jayne looked a little freaked-out here. "Man spouted go se about alien invaders and how they was what drove us off Earth-that-was, and how they maybe made Reavers too…"
"I'll do that, Jayne," River turned to the now-horrified Dr. Mathias, a look of deep satisfaction in her eyes.
"Dr. Mathias," she said. "I'm not insane anymore."
She pushed him into the baby's room, leaving everyone else in the hall, and closed the door behind her. Chuck had moved to follow her, felt Jayne's hand on his arm.
"Moony's got ta do this herself," the big man said. "She's got the right."
She came out a few minutes later, features calm and unperturbed. Chuck looked inside the room, saw Mathias' body on the floor, neck at an unnatural angle…
"Ya got everything, Moony?"
"I drained him of everything," she said. "I know where John Casey's genetic material is stored. We need to sterilize it. No more Johnnies…"
"Yeah, but this one goes with us," Jayne held the baby close.
So River led them to where Casey's cells were stored, along with the magnetite ore from the drilling.
It was decided that they would induce a reactor-core breach. All that radiation would destroy any genetic material stored there. For Chuck, in a way, it felt like they were killing John Casey all over again, and that hurt. But they would keep on making the clones, and those children thus created would suffer so needlessly…
So, the reactor-core was breached, and the gang took off. They were safely away before the core blew, spewing lethal radiation all over the dead, airless moon, making a funeral pyre for several guards, a few Blue Hands, and one Dr. Mathias…
Malcolm Reynolds was…antsy.
Unable to take part in the rescue, he had taken to tramping all over his ship. He had stopped by Jayne's weights table. He looked around; weren't anyone here to see if he made a fool of himself. So, he tried to lift the weight in the rack…
Not even close…
Gorram showoff…
He didn't know what else to do. Kaylee had thrown him out of the Engine Room; said his pacing was interrupting her work, and everyone knew how important it was that Serenity's engines ran smoothly
"Mal," Wash's voice came over the intercom. "It's Lady Luck. They're coming back, and they've got Jayne."
Soon, everyone was back on Serenity, and Lady Luck was off, heading off who knew where. Jayne looked a little less clad than was usual for him, a too-small jacket thrown across his shoulders. There was something else too; but Mal couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Uh…Mal?"
Wash's voice was hesitant.
"Where did he get the baby?"
So, Mal looked again, and Jayne did have a baby in his arms. The look in the Merc's eyes said it all…
Can I keep him? Please, can I?
"We found him in the lab," Book explained. "They had made another clone."
Tadame...A baby…helpless and totally dependent…
He would have to think this one over…
"Mal…" Jayne spoke up, more than a hint of pleading in his voice. "He's kinda my brother, or my son…I ain't sure which, but he's my blood, my kin…"
"I gotta think," Mal was feeling panicky now. "Give me time to think on it…"
He wasn't ashamed to admit that he fled to his quarters. There, he opened a bottle of whiskey, poured a shot for himself, and tossed it back, feeling the burn clear down to his toes. Then the door knocked.
"Not now, Jayne!"
"I'm not Jayne," The Shepherd's voice came from the other side of the door. Mal heaved a sigh as he opened the door.
"Simon says Jayne, and his…son, are both fine."
"That baby ain't his son," Mal protested. "He's a clone."
"Just like Jayne himself," the Shepherd nodded. "But, Jayne also sees him as his son."
"That's gonna make things difficult," Mal muttered. :A baby can't live here. He'd do better on a farming world, with a loving Ma and Pa…"
"Thing is," the Shepherd looked at Mal. "We destroyed the lab where they had all the cloning material, the original's cells and all that. So, Jayne and the baby are the only ones left from this project."
"So ya think we should keep him here? This ain't any safe place for a child to grow up in."
"There is no other safe place for him to grow up in. Mal, they might give up on getting Jayne…maybe. But they will never give up on getting the boy back. They'll tear the entire 'verse to pieces to get him back, and you know that."
"What do you want me to do about it? I'm not a worker of miracles!"
"All this time," the Shepherd remained calm in the face of Mal's outburst. "All these years, you've said you wanted to be able to trust Jayne, to find something that would make him as much a member of your family as everyone else is. Now, of course, trust goes both ways, and I know Jayne's wanted to feel that he could trust you as much as you want to be able to trust him. Now, here it is, waiting on both of you…"
Mal sighed.
"The baby?"
"The baby," Book agreed.
Later, Mal found Jayne, now properly dressed in his normal tee and cargos, in the Family Room, on the sofa, feet up on the coffee-table, and Mal would scold him about that later, but not now. Jayne was dozing, head back, the baby still clutched to his chest, also asleep. Someone had given the baby a warm blanket, and now the Little Mite was scarcely visible, snuggled down in the soft folds. Mal could just see the top of the baby's head, and tiny little fingers clutching the fabric of Jayne's shirt.
"Don't wake them up," Kaylee whispered from the kitchen, waving a wooden spoon threateningly in his direction.
Charles Carmichael was helping Kaylee with the cooking.
"Dinner will be a little late," he said. "But, at least we're all together."
Mal heard the rumbling sigh. Jayne stirred, opened his eyes, and saw Mal. Quickly, he swept his feet off the table. The baby squeaked a little as he moved, and the sound reminded Mal a little of kittens and puppies. Jayne didn't take his eyes off Mal's face; like Mal held the key to Jayne's entire future happiness…
Mayhap the Shepherd's right…
"What are you gonna name the sprog?"
There it was, shining relief in Jayne's eyes, so shining and pure, it hurt to look at him. Jayne looked down at the Little Mite snuggled against his chest.
"Was thinkin' on naming him Matthew John, fer Mattie-who-never-was, and fer John who died all them years ago…"
He looked up at Mal.
"Was hopin' ya would be his Godfather…"
The Baptism was right after Dinner, Shepherd Book having said that all water was God's water; even if it came out of a tap out in the black. So, with everyone there, Shepherd Book took the wriggling infant in his arms, scooped a small cup of water and gently poured it over the tiny head.
"In His name, I Baptize you Matthew John Cobb. May you grow strong and upright in His love."
Jayne took little Mattie and proudly held him out to Mal, taking the time to show Mal how to properly hold a baby.
While all that was going on, he heard a whispered conversation between River Tam, and Charles Carmichael.
"You did it, Chuck"
"Did what?"
"You caught him when he fell…"
That didn't make any sense, so Mal looked back down at his brand-new Godson. Little Mattie looked up at his new Godfather with very blue eyes, spit up a bubble or two, yawned, then promptly fell asleep.
That was when Malcolm Reynolds knew everything had changed…