Disclaimer: Lack of ownership, blah blah.
A/N: The part of OC Grover Cleveland will be played by Seth Green. Because adorbsable and why not?
Sorry about yesterday. I'm short on material and wanted to do some catch-up. Don't want to accidentally cliffhanger you at some point, and the previous chapter wasn't a bad rest point.
So, I gotta ask a favor. I'm really in the mood for a fic about a Mal and Jayne friendship. Mutual respect, loyalty, manly affection. But not slash, because Rayne is my OTP and other Jayne pairings make me unhappy. So I'm afraid to do much looking-some things cannot be unseen. I just want a good bromance. Any recommendations?
xxxxx
"Let's get this done." Mal clapped a hand on his shoulder and Jayne gritted his teeth.
There'd been all manner o' shoulder clappin', back pattin', an' arm punchin' all mornin'. And the arm punch, comin' from Zoe, that had gorram hurt. Every one o' them was out to prove that him lettin' River touch him was an exception he oughta be strung up for. An' the minx in question watchin' from corners, lookin' like she was gonna bust int'a fit o' giggles any minute.
He just wasn't gonna think about her. Had a job.
This was the third run they'd made for Grover Cleveland in the last couple months. The man didn't seem to deal in anythin' in particular. He babbled a lot about supply an' demand, and somethin' about margins. Whatever. Jayne didn't care about the particulars, long they got paid. And they was gettin' paid because Cleveland could make a lot better profit if his goods were delivered unregistered and untaxed.
"Hey there, Cleveland, how's things?" Mal asked the little red-headed man who was glued to his cortex screen.
"Captain Reynolds, lots going on. Always. Do you know the price of olives on Persephone today?"
"Can't say as I do."
"Gotta find a source..." he muttered.
Jayne cleared his throat. He didn't have a problem with Cleveland, but the man set up his office space in the corner of his warehouse. The room was full of so many competing scents, Jayne could hardly tell one thing from another, and what was there from what had been there. Bothered him some. 'Sides that, Cleveland didn't keep guards for that stuff. Just had a bunch o' sensors an' alarms. When Mal asked about it, Cleveland said the place would go into lockdown if the perimeter got breached. That was fine if Cleveland wanted to get locked up with all this gosa, but Jayne never was a fan o' lockdowns.
Cleveland finally looked up from his screen. "Oh, I see you've brought your associates."
"Just keepin' your property safe," Mal said easily. "That's what you pay me for."
"Indeed." Cleveland took the bag of credits and dropped it on a scale.
Somethin' raised up the hairs on the back of Jayne's neck. He backed toward one of the roll up doors that opened onto other areas of warehouse, an' tried to separate out the various sounds, figure out what had shifted. Zoe caught his eye, her look questioning, but he just gave her a shrug. She started movin' toward Cleveland's desk and the monitors that showed his security cams.
"Looks right, as usual," Cleveland was sayin'. "You provide a valuable service, Captain. I've got something else in the works, but I'm still ironing out some details. Might take a day or two, but if you're going to be in town, I'd like you to handle it for me."
"I think we could see our way toward st-"
"Sir!" Zoe snapped. "Cams just went down."
"That's not possible," Cleveland said, movin' to the screens, punchin' at buttons.
Seemed people was always sayin' that right 'fore things went south. The 'Verse was way too full o' positive thinkin'.
"The doors should have come down. Have to do it manually."
"Hang on a second, there," Mal started.
Jayne interrupted. "Mal, let's just get on outta here."
"We don't know what's out there," Zoe pointed out.
Then the doors started comin' down and it was gettin' to be too late. He could already hear some of them closing in other parts of the complex. Jayne's heart rate shot up. He didn't know a gorram thing about Cleveland's setup, whether it was done right, whether he had supplies laid in or if the ventilation system was tamper proof.
"Mal!" Jayne barked, as three of the five doors in the room, the three closest, sealed shut.
"Yeah, we're goin'. Come with us, Cleveland. This luh suh ain't worth dyin' over."
"But-"
"Now!"
Jayne was already makin' his way through the cramped aisles to the two far doors. He could hear voices outside, too many to count exactly. Something small arced through the door, landing in his path. He dove away and peeked back over tarp-covered goods. His gut loosened a little when he saw it wasn't a grenade, but gas was already spewing from the spinning container. He sniffed as several more fell around him.
"Just smoke," he called out, as the room erupted in gunfire and chaos.
xxxxx
When the smoke cleared, a dozen backbirth hun dans were bleedin' all over the warehouse.
Jayne had finished his circuit, securin' the area, and followed the sound of Cleveland's curses. Mal was kneelin' over the gut shot trader, tryin' to get the bleedin' stopped.
"Zoe, take Jayne and the mule back to Serenity. Bring the doc."
"Sir," Zoe started.
But Mal already knew what she was gonna say. That she wasn't gonna wanna leave him on his own. And what she wasn't gonna say, that it was on accounta him being a magnet for bullets himself, most o' the time. "Don't argue. I need to you bring back the doc, and I need Jayne to stay with the girl." He looked to Jayne. "Know I promised you rec time, but-"
"Whatever," he drawled. "I know my job."
"That's it?"
"What, you want me to argue? I'll complain later when the guy who's been givin' us good work ain't bleedin' t' death, how 'bout that?"
"That'll work, I reckon."
Jayne shook his head. "Ten percent o' nothin' is nothin', Mal," he reminded, and headed out ahead of Zoe.
xxxxx
Jayne knew River was watchin' him from the catwalk. He wasn't thinkin' on what it felt like when her lips brushed his. He had been determinedly not thinkin' on that all day. No point. Little bit was just messin' with his head. Hilarious. He tightened down the straps to secure the container o' her brother's supplies when the doc hoisted himself into the Mule. Before he sat down, he turned back and clamped a hand on Jayne's shoulder.
"Appreciate you watching my sister for me while I'm gone."
Jayne wasn't surprised, but enough was enough already. He flicked the bit o' lily-white away like a bug an' grunted. "I can do my job. Stop your jawin' an' go do yours." He raised his voice. "There's a man bleedin' his guts out, if you're 'bout done?"
Zoe turned from kissin' on Wash. "Jealousy's ugly, Jayne."
"'Sain't jealousy," Jayne told her as she climbed into her seat. "Anticipation. Seein' as how my plans is wrecked, I intend to have my way with your wife, soon 's you leave."
"Did Jayne just make a joke?" Wash asked.
"You'd better hope so, baby," Zoe told him, chuckling as she fired up the Mule.
"Not that I'm not flattered," Wash said, once the Mule was out of sight, "but I had plans to accompany Kaylee to the junkyard. Is that...going to work for you?" His eyes pointed up at the catwalk.
"'S fine. Ain't no reason everybody's plans gotta get changed."
Wash patted Jayne on the back. While Jayne silently counted to ten, Wash called up to where Kaylee had stopped on the catwalk with River, "Miss Frye, quality scavenging awaits!"
xxxxx
River watched Jayne shrug out of his jacket. He tossed it on top of a pile of crates, and then started a short series of movements to stretch his upper body while he took in the scenery. She wondered if viewing the spectacle upside down would make it any less captivating.
It didn't.
But she was still hanging upside down, with her knees wrapped over the railing when Jayne turned around and got all spiky.
"What'n the ruttin' hell you doin'?" he snapped, striding forward, "Crazy, moonbrained girl, get down from there!"
"Very well." She pulled up from the waist until she could grasp the rail, prepared for the backflip dismount she could see in her mind.
There had been a 99.2% probability, based on speed and trajectory, that she would have stuck the landing, had she not been grabbed while still in the air. Jayne's anger and frustration buffeted her as he let her know exactly what he thought of her acrobatics, but woven through was a velvet ribbon of concern that was soft and warm. She wouldn't say anything about it, though. Jayne ain't soft.
"And what're you smilin' about?" he paced away and turned back to her, shaking a finger. "Been smilin' way too much today, don't think I ain't noticed. I got bruises, all the back pattin' and suchlike I been gettin', and it's all just a big ruttin' joke to you, ain't it?"
"Poor Jayne. Affection crosses personal boundaries."
"Affection my ass. You know exactly what they're doin'. 'S all a gorram test. An' if I flunk it, Mal's gonna leave me stranded on this damned moon. That's if I'm lucky and he don't decide to take me outta atmo so's he can space me."
"Wouldn't let that happen."
"Oh yeah?" His voice was half sneer, half amused.
"Bodyguard."
Jayne snorted out a laugh. "Always wanted me a bodyguard. Didn't picture no scrawny girl for the job, though."
She frowned and looked down at herself.
"Don't get all girly an' offended. Ya gotta admit y'aint exactly intimidatin'." He crossed to the controls and closed the bay doors, then came back to the empty area near the catwalk. "Come on, little bit, show me what ya got. Come at me." He smiled, encouraging and challenging at once as he took up a defensive stance.
"He wants to fight?"
"We done this before, remember?"
She crossed her arms. "She has no wish to participate."
"Why not?"
Thoughts swirled through her head, some cold and dark, some with sharp edges. Difficult to grasp. Difficult to make into words.
He sauntered over the to weight bench. "Come here." He sat down and made room for her.
She kept the door firmly closed between them. Too much of her own darkness to chance reading his.
"You're scared."
She nodded.
"Not of me."
"His intention is to test her, not to injure."
"That's right. You took me on, that night with the shepherd. Gave us all a surprise. Me so much that I started to forget about killin' him. Kept me distracted so's Mal and the doc could sneak up on me."
"We were not allies then."
"Allies, huh?" Something pressed against the door in her mind. A remembered sensation. A butterfly brush against his lips. When she didn't answer, he went on, "My Ma told me that everyone gets stuff put in their heads they didn't ask for, stuff they don't want. Not just us, but everybody. It's the consequence of livin' with people."
"Different."
"Ain't denyin' that. Just tryin' to say that just because you didn't ask to know somethin', don't automatically make it wrong to know it."
"Bad," she said, as shadowed memories crept closer, threatened to be seen, "bad bad bad ba-"
"That's about enough o' that." His voice was a harsh demand, but not unkind as he pulled her hands from her hair. He held them in her lap, his grasp light. Not restraining, just reminding. "Find a focus."
Immediately, her mind latched onto his heartbeat. Could always sense, always feel when she searched, even when she couldn't hear. Let it bring her back.
"We talked about gettin' rid of stuff you don't want, keepin' what you do. But you gotta find it first, gotta face it. Things they taught you, weapons an' fightin', ain't much different from what's in your head, and you gotta find out what you know so you'll be one in control of it, dong ma? Seems to me, you gonna be a fugie, gonna embrace a life a' crime, some o' them skills is gonna come in handy. For bodyguardin' me, like you was talkin' about, if nothin' else."
"Jayne is humorous today."
"Jayne got to shoot people and didn't end up shot himself, so- Either you gotta stop talkin' crazy or I gotta stop listenin'." He shook his head. "Anyways, thing is, opportunities like this don't come up often. Everyone off the ship, no pryin' eyes to yell at me for hittin' a girl."
"For attemptinging to hit a girl," she corrected, getting up and walking back into the open space.
He grinned, getting up and shaking out his arms. "Is that so?"
She fell into a defensive stance. "Let's dance."
xxxxx
luh suh- garbage
hun dan- bastard
dong ma?- understand?