Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: Herein we get a glimpse of one of the initial ideas that kicked off this story – Jayne's formal uniform – coupled with James' introduction. Also, I skip the return trip to Persephone (gloss over it, is more like). Just so y'all know, of course.

Oh, and I feel I should warn you, I've introduced another OC in this chapter and, to use Firefly parlance, he's sly. It's nothing explicit, so if that squicks you, you needn't fear (he's also happily married and so won't be hitting on any of our crew).

Dominoes

Chapter Twenty-One: Jim

Wash repeated the coordinates he'd just been provided by an underling of Balanced Sun Hall. When he received confirmation that he had the coordinates right, he signed off. "Landing in ten," he announced over the intercom. He, for one, was grateful. The tension aboard ship the last forty hours had been extreme.

Down in his bunk, Jayne finished his call with his uncle. Gorram it! He let out a sigh, then hurriedly finished dressing. Wish Jim'd mind his own damn business for a change. Hen had just informed him that one of his brothers was awaiting his return. He felt the ship's internal gravity battle with that of the planet for a moment as he pulled on his shiny mid-calf boots. Tucking his trousers into them, he managed to just finish as he felt the ship settle to a halt. He put on his gun belt, adjusted Binky a bit, then grabbed his hat and headed for the cargo bay.

Everyone was assembled. The Qianfeng were in two lines, facing one another, and forming a corridor of sorts from the base of the main stairs to the airlock. Simon was leaning against a wall, with Kaylee standing next to him. Zoë, Wash, and Mal were standing on the landing that overlooked the bay. River, wearing the dungarees and black blouse she'd been given for her birthday, along with her new gun, was standing at the end of the lines of the mercenaries, right in front of the airlock. Simon'd given up trying to coax her to stand out of the way; he simply thought she was in one of her stubborn moods. According to the information Jayne'd given her, however, she was exactly where she was supposed to be. As Jayne's apprentice, she was expected to perform small tasks to show gratitude, one of which was to handle any non-automatic doors when her mentor was operating under formal rules – which applied since he'd enacted Article Thirteen.

When Jayne appeared at the top of the stairs, the Qianfeng simultaneously executed a deep bow, but said absolutely nothing. It took a heartbeat for River to follow suit; she was distracted by the mercenary's formal uniform.

In fact, the entirety of Serenity's crew were a little awestruck at the uniform.

It was bright red – the same shade as arterial blood – and trimmed with gold piping. It boasted a Nehru collar while lacking sleeves. The tunic came to mid-thigh, with splits on either side that halted at his gun belt; though it sported no obvious buttons or zippers, it was adorned with numerous gold and silver pins secured to his left breast. The trousers were the same bright red, and had a two-inch wide stripe of gold ribbon down the side seams; they were tucked into a pair of mid-calf black leather boots that had been polished to a mirror shine. Where the metallic gold bands of his rank lay on his uniform t-shirts, Jayne wore arm cuffs whose mellow glow indicated that the inch-wide circlets were solid, high-quality gold. Around either forearm lay a black leather vambrace that went from wrist to halfway to his elbow, each encircled with seven metallic red stripes. Topping the uniform was a matching bright red beret, decorated with gold piping, and sporting a gold pin that displayed the stylized yin-yang sun that marked him as belonging to Balanced Sun Hall.

"Huh," Wash murmured. Zoë leaned a little closer to her man, a question apparent in her features. He shrugged a little and gestured at Jayne's formal uniform. "Sorta see what River meant, is all," he said, keeping his voice low enough not to travel farther than his wife's ears. "Back when she sliced him. Remember? She said, 'He looks better in red.' If this is what she meant, then I'm inclined to agree."

"Can't say that I can argue none, either," Zoë replied, just as quietly.

Further conversation was interrupted by River hitting the button to open the airlock. The ramp descended with a mechanical whirr and the doors themselves slid open. In relatively short order, Balanced Sun Hall's private dock was revealed. It was nearly midnight, but it was hard to tell – the dock was inordinately well-lit. Jayne strode through the Qianfeng's silent corridor and out the doors. Serenity's crew quickly followed him. Halting about halfway down the ramp, Jayne gave a shallow bow to Henley. "Tadaima," Jayne intoned. (1. 'I'm back', alt. 'I have returned')

Henley returned the bow, though his was slightly deeper. "Wareware wa hōshi suru ikimasu," he replied. It went almost unnoticed that Roger Henley was wearing a uniform that was almost identical to Jayne's, save that the director of Balanced Sun Hall's was white with gold trim, rather than red. (2. 'We live to serve')

Henley then closed the distance between them, drew his own version of Jayne's bowie knife, and offered it to Jayne, hilt-first. "Women shi ni de zhihui, Hanshi Cobb," he said. (3. 'We are yours to command')

Jayne accepted the knife, and, as he had done with Hu's, used it to slice a shallow cut on the back of his left arm, then rolled the handle in the welling beads of blood before returning it to its rightful owner. With the necessaries taken care of for the moment, Jayne turned sideways and barked out, "Qianfeng! Dismissed!" The company, leaving most of their things behind for now, hurried down the ramp and into the building.

Once they were gone, Jayne let out a sigh and finally turned his attention to the small cluster of three people who'd been waiting on the dock. "Gorram it, Jim, but ain't you learned yet –"

"Bizui, xiǎo jìngzi!" a loud, angry voice boomed out. Much to the shock of everyone but Kaylee – and Henley, but being that the man was Jayne's uncle, it was to be expected – the man from whom it issued was the taller of the three standing on the dock. He was identical in nearly every way to Serenity's mercenary, save that his hair was bound into a braid that brushed the backs of his knees. The other man standing with him was about six inches shorter, fifty pounds lighter, and with a mane of messy reddish-blonde hair that brushed his shoulders. Both men wore similar outfits of paint-spattered jeans and soft-looking sweaters. The redhead's was a pale blue, while the other's was dark grey. The third of the little group was a girl, somewhere around seven years of age, that wore similar clothing, though her sweater was bright pink and her jeans lacked paint-spatters. (4. 'Shut up, little mirror')

Before the Jayne-clone could say anything else, the little girl broke away and ran up to Jayne. "Uncle Alex!" she shrieked, latching herself onto Jayne's leg.

Mal and Zoë exchanged confused glances. Kaylee spotted it and explained, "It's his middle name, Cap'n. Alexander."

While she was explaining, Jayne had scooped up the little girl whose eyes were Cobb-blue but had the same red-gold hair as the other man. "Papa an' Daddy lemme stay up late 'cause you was comin' home," the girl babbled, then let out a huge yawn that revealed a missing front tooth and one that was only half-grown.

"They did, did they?" Jayne replied, showing a level of patience with small children that no one aboard would have credited him. He motioned for the men to join them on the ramp. "Les, how's about ya take 'er an' find a visitor's room?" he said, handing her over to the redheaded man. To the girl, he said, "Brenda, I'm stickin' around a spell. So you go ahead an' get yerself some shuteye. I'll still be here tomorrow mornin'."

The redhead, presumably 'Les', accepted the girl. "Roger already assigned us suite 644," he said.

"Take it that means yer stickin' a while?" Jayne asked, his eyes flickering to Henley.

The Jayne-clone spoke next, and it was mighty disconcerting to most of Serenity's crew – and not only because they couldn't understand a word of it. "Pelia, por neera kir atu sheyliat, meda koruk dey sefamia shto etavap aima efreyanaut sheytova a li, li kema estrey a'miro barehaida!" (5. Brother, before you get all bent out of shape, I only came because the last time I felt this level of shit from you, you spent six months in the hospital!)

Jayne winced at whatever it was that his brother – his twin – was shouting at him. Little Brenda, however, is who spoke back to the Jayne-clone. "Daddy! Shoutin's not nice!"

"She's got a point, James," Les said, jiggling her a little. "I'm going to go ahead and take her to our suite. I won't wait up." He kissed James' cheek and headed for the nearest door into the building.

"Jim, afore ya get inta yellin' at me again, c'n I ask a favor?" Jayne asked, leveling his best glare at his brother – not that it would do any good.

"Cor rey?" (6. What is it this time?)

"C'n ya not go wi' the yellin'? I got me a ruttin' bitch of a headache."

Jim laughed, though it was pretty obvious he was still mad at Jayne. "Sure," he said. "Won't yell no more." He looked past Jayne and saw the crew standing there. He sidestepped his brother and approached them. "Hi, folks. I'm James Odeli-Cobb, though most call me Jim." He offered his hand to Mal. "You must be Malcolm Reynolds. My xiǎo jìngzi has written about you." (7. little mirror)

Mal shook Jim's hand out of sheer reflex. "I must admit," he said, "had I took the time to imagine Jayne's family, I don't think I would have imagined you."

Jim laughed again. "Lemme guess, my bitty bro never tol' no one about any of us."

Mal glanced at Kaylee, then said, "Well, not to me."

Jim grinned. "Well, you're in for a bit of a surprise, then. Me an' Alex have six sisters and three other brothers – an' that's not counting anyone's spouses or any of the kids."

"Only younger by fifteen ruttin' minutes," Jayne grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. "Ain't nothin' 'bitty' 'bout that!"

Wash let out an impressed whistle. "Man – eleven kids? Must've been nice. I was an only child. There were times, growing up, I woulda killed for some company."

Jim leveled his friendly grin at the pilot. "Hmm… Lemme see… Neon Ha-why-an shirt, blonde. You must be Wash, the pilot." He offered his hand.

Wash shook it, half expecting Jim to do as Jayne had done on their first meeting and attempt to crush it. Wash was disappointed and his inner sense of dislocation grew. Up close, it was obvious that Jim and Jayne were identical twins – they had the same lines etched in their faces and the same faint and nearly invisible birthmark at the edge of their jaws. The only differences he could spot, aside from their clothing and hair, was that Jim wasn't quite as bulky as Jayne and Jim's hands possessed some weird blue stains, with what looked like paint smeared across his knuckles. "Yeah," Wash agreed. "Hoban Washburne at your service."

Jim turned his attention to Zoë. "And if this is Wash, you must be Zoë. Alex says you're a damn good shot, ma'am."

Jayne let out a snort and crossed his arms. "Damn it, Jim! De reyna doso vikaray!" (8. Quit being such a show-off!)

"Ain't," Jim calmly replied.

"Are so," Jayne argued. "'S bad enough folk always like you best – ya don't gotta be makin' it worse."

Jim rolled his eyes at Jayne. In an aside to the rest of the crew, he said, "Excuse Alex. I'm pretty sure he was dropped on his head as a baby." The comment earned a surprised snort of amusement from both Mal and Simon.

Jayne growled a little. "Jim, I mean it," he ground out between clenched teeth.

Raising one eyebrow a little higher than the other, Jim turned and mimicked Jayne's stance, with his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, that's me told," he snarked.

"Gorram it, Jim! Why in the jiu jie diyu are you here?" (9. nine circles of hell)

Quietly, Hen leaned over and muttered to the crew, "Anyone else feel like we're missin' the popcorn?" It earned him bright grins and a couple of agreeing nods.

Jim sighed through his nose. Kaylee could see the same flare of absolute rage that she'd seen from time to time in Jayne surface behind his eyes. "I told you," he bit out. "Last time I felt this level of shit comin' from you, you spent six fuckin' months in the gorram hospital."

Jayne flung his arms wide and turned in a slow circle. "As ya c'n see, you xiniu hundan, I ain't been skinned, nor stabbed, nor shot, nor perforated in any gorram way lately!" On facing his brother once more, he glared at Jim. "I dunno what you think yer feelin', but it ain't me!" (10. cow-sucking bastard)

"Bullshit!" Jim shouted. He took a couple of steps closer to Jayne. "Chi li kourakani shto vasti keyar!" (11. You're going to tell me what's going on!)

Sensing imminent violence, Mal ducked around Jim to stand between the two. Holding his hands out to either Cobb, he said, "Come on, pretty sure you two –"

Simultaneously, Jayne and Jim spoke, "All due respect, Mal, but back the fuck off. This ain't your concern."

The minor shock of hearing the command in stereo temporarily paralyzed him, allowing Zoë to grab his collar and pull him back to the knot of crew and out of harm's way. Hen spoke while the brothers were staring each other down. "Don't fret, Captain Reynolds. I've never seen them actually come to blows."

"They're one of the sets of twins that have a 'twin-bond', aren't they?" Simon quietly asked. He was staring at them in a kind of morbid fascination.

Hen nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "Damn strong one, too. Back when they were about nine years old, Jayne wound up collapsin' during archery practice. Docs couldn't find a damn thing wrong with him. That evenin', Radiant – my sister an' their momma – called and told me James'd fell outta the tree in their back yard an' cracked his skull. Both boys were unconscious for close to a full day, an' wound up wakin' at the same time. From what little Jayne's tol' me since, it ain't faded much in the years since."

River was glad that this was a 'good day'. She would have hated missing that particular explanation. Another factor on why I couldn't read him. He's developed shields against the connection he shares with his brother, so his mind was used to blocking psychic intrusions. It also explains why he lets me into his mind – he's used to having someone share it.

Everyone's attention was drawn back to the Cobbs when they simultaneously sighed. "Fine," Jayne muttered. "You ain't far wrong, Jim. Gou shi fengbao's brewin'. Not gonna go inta all the details, but it just might make the U-war look like two kids squabblin' over a gorram toy." (12. shitstorm)

Jim paled. "How bad?"

"Bad enough I wanna get ev'ryone ta Mugang by the end o' the month," Jayne replied.

"That's gonna be a problem. There's gotta be about seventy of us by now."

"Eighty," Jayne corrected, his voice steady and no-nonsense. "'S why I write ev'ryone down, Jim."

"Think Tabby won't wanna come? Might make this easier."

Jayne snorted out a laugh. "Fifty ain't much easier ta relocate."

"Point," Jim allowed with a small nod. "C'n I ask… Who? Is it the Alliance its own self?"

Jayne shook his head. "Worse. Blue Sun."

Jim let out a low whistle through his teeth. "Shit."

"Yeah," Jayne agreed.

宁静

The rooms Henley assigned to Serenity's crew were lavish enough to rival what little Mal knew of luxury hotels. They consisted of two suites across the hall from one another. Each sported thick carpeting, a plush sitting room with cortex access, and three bedrooms. Mal, Zoë, and Wash took one suite, while the Tams and Kaylee took the other. Jayne, apparently, had his own rooms somewhere else within the Hall.

Despite the fact that it was sometime between 'late' and 'early', Mal was unable to sleep. Rather than rattle about the suite and risk Zoë's wrath by being inadvertently noisy, he took his restless pacing to the hallway. Low voices had him treading lightly as he approached a smallish common area at the end of the hall.

The common area consisted of a few vending machines, a couple of sofas, and a cortex screen that was currently dark. The carpeting matched the hallway – some sort of half-geometric, half-floral pattern in browns and beige that was suitably inoffensive and neatly coordinated with the golden oak paneling that lined the lower half of the walls with the upper half all done up in wallpaper of a similar pattern and color scheme. The sofas were brown suede, with a couple of accent tables of the same golden oak. A somewhat neglected and rather pitiful potted tree of one fashion or another stood in the bay of a set of windows. Beyond the windows, all was dark and silent. A good half-mile or so away, the lights of Persephone City could be seen.

The voices Mal'd heard came from Jayne and Jim. They each sat on a sofa, facing one another over one of those knee-high tables that Mal was pretty sure had been invented solely to stub toes in dark rooms. "…considered what you're gonna do about that ship an' its crew you been servin'?" Jim was saying.

Mal paused in the dimly lit hall, just out of the line of sight of either of the other men. Thanks to the placement of the vending machines, he had a good view without risking being seen. He saw Jayne nod. "Ain't a problem, 'less the captain makes it one. C'n claim 'em under Section Seven."

What might that mean, I wonder? Mal frowned some. He had to fight his knee-jerk reaction that it must be something horrible. Slowly, he was starting to internalize the fact that Jayne wasn't quite the hundan he'd always believed. (13. bastard)

His curiosity was quickly addressed as Jim asked, "That's the rule y'all have what governs the definition of family, right?"

Jayne nodded. "Yeah," he said, scrubbing a hand through his short hair. "Wouldn't apply ta Kaylee-girl – her brother's one o' us, so she's covered a'ready."

"What ya gonna do iffen the captain decides he's gonna kick up a fuss?"

Jayne shrugged. "Might could talk 'em inta makin' extractions."

"You're sure this is gonna get bad, ain't ya?" Jim sounded resigned.

Jayne nodded again, then the pair fell silent for a few minutes. Jayne let out a sudden snort of amusement. "Yeah, I know they ain't gonna like it none," he said as though Jim'd just mentioned something. "But the li'l bit's broken. Blind man c'n see it."

"She's the one what slashed ya, right?"

Jayne shrugged. "Weren't no less 'an I deserved. Chikka daray marshiyu." (14. I was being an idiot.)

Jim chuckled and Mal noticed that Jayne's twin's laugh was just slightly different from Jayne's. It wasn't anything he could really put into words, not really, but it was slightly disconcerting in how it wasn't quite as gravelly as the mercenary's. "You are prone to fits o' that, xiǎo jìngzi." (15. little mirror)

Jayne sighed. "Iffen ya got a better idea how I shoulda handled it, Jim, I'd be glad ta hear it. You always was smarter 'an me."

Jim rolled his eyes. "Pìhuà," the expletive came out in a dryly exasperated tone. "Still, though, I can't say I've got any better ideas. Y'all always did take care of your own, an' from what you've tol' me, she's gonna need more 'an what her brother can provide, doctor his own self or no." (16. bullshit; alt. nonsense)

Mal narrowed his eyes as a frown overtook his features. Now don't that sound a mite ominous. What's River got to do with anything?

"'S what I figured," Jayne said, toying with his red beret. "On the upside, ain't a one of 'em what c'n say she ain't smart enough ta make the decision. She's of age, too, so that ain't an issue. Only thing what I c'n think of they might fuss 'bout is her crazy-spells… an' the fact it's me. Not like I've done a whole helluva lot ta endear m'self ta any o' them, save Kaylee-girl."

"'S those 'crazy-spells' that you're aimin' to fix, though, so that shouldn't really be a problem," Jim replied. "And if they're gonna kick up a fuss just 'cause it's you, then I'd be happy ta run on back to Green Bank an' round up our brothers. Pretty sure coupla the nephews'd be happy to lend a hand in settin' 'em straight, too."

Jayne grinned. "Would almost pay cashy money ta see Liam an' the captain fight."

"Yeah?" Jim questioned, intently interested.

"Yeah. Number o' times I wanna deck that man… Ev'ry now an' then, Cap'n gets some dumbass notion in his head an' ev'ryone else c'n see it's a shit idea, but he won't budge."

Now wait a gorram minute! I ain't that bad! Mal's instinct was to storm out there and argue the point, but he wrestled it down. A tiny, quiet voice in the back of his head pointed out that Jayne sort of had a bit of a miniscule point – he did have a streak of stubborn that tended to cause as many problems as it solved. Mal ignored that voice with the ease of practice.

Jim snorted out another chuckle. "Liam's been wantin' to talk wi' you, by-the-by. He's wantin' to sign, come his eighteenth."

Jayne nodded in a way that told Mal this wasn't anything surprising to the mercenary. "Always figured outta all the nephews an' grand-nephews, he'd be the one what'd follow me an' Hen. Kinda surprised Zach didn't let him sign a'ready."

"Weren't Zach that said no," Jim replied. "Was Miriam. Mother supported her, too, and you know ain't a one of any of us that'll go against her, not when it means a lot to her."

"Yeah, I know," Jayne agreed, then fell silent for a bit.

Jim broke the silence by saying, "No worries, Alex. Mother's the best of all of us. She'll see what you see wi'out no problems. Y'all got space for ev'ryone?"

"Yeah," Jayne replied. "Be tight, but we got space for the whole family. Ain't like it'd be for long, neither. Like I a'ready tol' ya – I want y'all in Mugang by the end o' the month. Anyone ya c'n think of what'd pitch a fit 'bout leavin'?"

"Nah," Jim said, shaking his head. "Pretty sure we all still recall what ya said a few years back. We all agreed then that we'd go iffen you felt it needful." He paused and yawned.

"Go an' get some sleep, Jim," Jayne said. "Gonna be a long-ass few days, I'm thinkin'."

"Can't argue none. I'll call Mother in the morning. Pretty sure you're gonna be busy." Jim stood and stretched. "G'night."

Jayne grunted a monosyllabic reply. Much to Mal's relief, Jim headed down the second hallway that emptied into this corner lounge, rather than back towards Mal. He was about to turn and go back to his suite – he'd been given rather a lot of food for thought – when Jayne's eyes met his own. "Ya c'n come out now, Mal."

Wincing internally at having been caught eavesdropping, Mal stepped out from behind the vending machine. "How you know I was there?"

Jayne rolled his eyes. "Folks got senses other than their eyes. Could smell that gorram cheap-ass soap from the ship. Knowed it were you an' not one of the others 'cause who else'd be up this time o' night?" He motioned to the sofa Jim had so recently vacated. "Have a seat, Cap'n. Might as well give ya a chance ta give voice ta all them questions I'm sure ya got."

Suddenly exhausted, mentally if not physically, Mal sank onto the brown suede. The couch was harder than it looked and he knew it was unlikely anyone ever accidentally fell asleep on it. "Hardly know where ta start," he said.

"Just pick sommat," Jayne said, gesturing in a way that seemed to imply he didn't care what Mal might want to know.

The low light, mostly provided by the displays in the vending machines, glinted off the red metal banding on Jayne's vambraces, and Mal's mind flashed back to what he'd been told of the various decorations that graced the Guild's t-shirt uniforms. He figured it was a good starting place. "Pro'ly the most minor bit of curiosity I got at the moment, but what's with the red circles? They're on that long-sleeved shirt of yours, too, an' no one's explained what they mean."

Instead of explaining right away, Jayne looked at his vambraces. Holding his right arm up, he pointed to each red band and said a name. "Foster Maczko, Kit Scopa, Starla Urias, Shon Chiv, Armand Reyes, Penelope Artwhistle, Tony Sterling." Switching arms, he continued the name-per-band down his left vambrace. "Anne Ely, William Koster, Matthew Koster, Opal Yun, Ruby Snider, Jack Franklin, Molly Raybie." He lowered his arms and looked through Mal. "Were m'company. The Hong Long. Died fi'teen years agone, last time shit flared up on Ita, an' I ain't gettin' inta that none right now, not 'less you wanna start rehashin' Serenity Valley."

Mal was curious, of course he was, but for the first time, he saw that per-maybe-haps Jayne had a bit more in common with himself than he'd originally thought. Might not've been no war, but maybe that just makes it worse. No greater ideals to fight for – freedom an' such – just fightin' because a company don't like how their profits compare to another's. Instead of pursuing his curiosity, Mal calmly said, "Not diggin'. Was just wonderin'." When Jayne refocused on him, he asked, "What were you talking about earlier, about my ship?"

A little tension that'd crept into Jayne as he'd recited the names that'd haunted him for so long managed to dissipate when he saw that the captain wasn't about to press him for information he wasn't ready to talk about. "'Ccordin' ta Guild Law, I c'n claim up ta twenty folk who ain't related ta me by marriage or blood as family – 's covered in Section Seven o' the Lawbook. Entitles them I name ta Guild protection durin' times o' crisis, which is where we're standin' just now."

"And that means…?"

"Sanctuary at Mugang on Rosetta, fer a start."

Mal wasn't too sure he liked that, but he decided to shelve his concern for the moment. Figure I'll look into it on m'own some. Make a decision after I know more. "Seem ta recall you said that was if I didn't 'kick up a fuss'," Mal said. "What was it you said might be another option?"

"Extractions," Jayne replied, toying with his beret again. "Means we'd hire ya to do pick-ups of either our folk or the dependents an' retirees an' shuttle 'em ta Mugang."

Mal's instinctual reaction to that idea was approval, but then his mind recalled the box containing nearly a literal ton of cash money currently residing in his hold. "Normally wouldn't turn down work," he said, a small and slightly sardonic smile on his face, "but if what Hu said was right, that money y'all already paid me is mine to keep?"

Jayne nodded. "Is," he said, then sighed. "E'en iffen it weren't a'ready covered, Mal, I'd've let ya keep it."

"Shenme?" Mal couldn't have heard that right. "You woulda lemme keep it?" (17. I'm sorry)

"'Til we c'n get the full Council ta Mugang, Mal, I'm currently actin' head of the Guild."

That was a tidbit of intel that Mal could've lived quite happily not knowing. Deciding not to get into it – he was already having enough trouble dealing with this new and improved Jayne, he didn't need more weirdness piled atop all that had already been shoved in his direction – he moved on to his next topic. "Was that River you were talkin' about?"

Jayne winced a little. "Yeah, Mal. It was."

"Gonna explain?"

Jayne shrugged. "Guild takes care of our own, Mal. Few years back, one o' the trainees took a Shim ta the head out on the archery range. Damn near killed him, aeratin' his brain like it did, but we brought in a neuro-regen doc what patched him up. Best they could, anyways. Kid weren't ever quite the same after, but I dunno iffen it was cause his brain weren't regrown rightly or iffen it was sommat else entire." Seeing that Mal wasn't really following, Jayne clarified, "She signed wi' the Guild on her eighteenth, Mal, an' I know you an' the doc an' pro'ly Zoë're all gonna have 'bout nine dozen words ta say on the matter, but we spoke an' she thinks it's the best way forwards. I'm inclined ta think she's right – she's the genius on yer boat, after all."

"It's of interest to me how you managed enough coherency from her for that," Mal said, squashing his instinct to fly off the handle. It had helped that Jayne had reminded him that, according to interplanetary law, River was legally an adult, and – theoretically, at least – capable of choosing her own life.

Jayne scrubbed a hand across his face before replying. "The doc tell ya what happened back when the Qianfeng first come aboard? When he couldn't wake the girl an' y'all carried me ta the med-bay?"

It was Mal's turn to shrug a bit. "Mentioned he thought River'd gotten her mind stuck in your head." He didn't mention the crack about how it'd made sense, what with Jayne having 'brains to spare'.

"Ya ever wonder on why that happened?"

"Figured it was 'cause she's a reader. Much beyond that, well… No, can't say I bothered thinkin' on it."

"Iffen ya ask the li'l bit, she's like ta say it's 'cause o' sommat different, but I figured it was 'cause I'm used ta havin' someone else in m'head. You mighta noticed me an' Jim's twins, yeah?"

Mal chuckled some at the dry tone. "I had managed to notice that, yeah," he replied, just as dryly.

"We got what they call a 'twin-bond'. Distance mutes it some, but not all the time. Can almost always tell iffen he's okay or not, don't matter on where I am. We get closer – same planet – an' we can talk wi'out nobody listenin' in. 'S why, back when ya first said out loud ya thought she was a reader, it din't surprise me none."

"So, you're sayin' you an' she spoke when she was in your head." Mal just wanted to make sure he had the right of it.

Jayne nodded. "'Xactly," he said. "Way back, Doc said them what'd had her had hacked inta her brain an' cut out bits of it, includin' the part that makes it so she can ignore shit. Her bein' in my head – since it ain't never been hacked on like that – an' she weren't half so crazy. Still some crazy, sure, but I'm pretty certain it's 'cause real smart folk're all a little cracked ta begin with."

Thinking on a couple of people he'd known over the course of his life, Mal let out an agreeing chuckle. "Could be you're right on that. Haven't met someone yet who were entirely sane and super-smart." He sobered, then said, "Simon's not gonna like it any, though."

"Never thought he would," Jayne replied. "Girl's got her own idea on how ta handle it, though. Gonna wait ta tell 'im. Neuro-regen doc should be here in a few days. Was gonna let the doc know after the regen guy says whether or not the parts what were hacked outta the li'l bit's brain can be healed. Figure that oughta soften Simon some on the idea."

Mal knew a sound strategy when he heard one. "That your idea or hers?"

Jayne shrugged. "Don't rightly recall."

A/N2: Jim's and Jayne's twinspeak is based off a set of twins I knew in school. I know that usually twins outgrow twinspeak about the same time they enter school, but the pair I knew carried it at least through high school. I assume they still use it to this day, but I've not spoken with them in roughly fifteen years.

In rereading what I'd written thus far, I've decided to include in-text translations (as you may have noticed). I'm still going to list them at the ends of the chapters, and include my sources and what the language is. If I ever get the time to do so, I'll go back through what I've posted already and update the chapters so that they follow the same format. As always, if you've a better idea as to what I meant to say, let me know and I'll make the corrections. Thanks in advance!

Translations are as follows:

1.) Tadaima – 'I'm back'; alternatively 'I have returned' (per www-dot-japaneseprofessor-dot-com). Japanese.

2.) Wareware wa hōshi suru ikimasu – 'We live to serve' (from Google). Japanese.

3.) Women shi ni de zhihui – 'We are yours to command', (from Google). Chinese.

4.) Bizui, xiǎo jìngzi – 'Shut up, little mirror', (from browncoats-dot-com and Google). Chinese.

5.) Pelia, por neera kir atu sheyliat, meda koruk dey sefamia shto etavap aima efreyanaut sheytova a li, li kema estrey a'miro barehaida! – 'Brother, before you get all bent out of shape, I only came because the last time I felt this level of shit from you, you spent six months in the hospital!', (completely made-up). Twinspeak.

6.) Cor rey? – 'What is it this time?', (completely made-up). Twinspeak.

7.) xiǎo jìngzi – 'little mirror', (from Google). Chinese.

8.) De reyna doso vikaray – 'quit being such a show-off', (completely made-up). Twinspeak.

9.) Jiu jie diyu – 'nine circles of hell', (Google). Chinese.

10.) Xiniu hundan – 'cow-sucking bastard', (Browncoats-dot-com). Chinese.

11.) Chi li kourakani shto vasti keyar! – 'You're going to tell me what's going on!', (completely made-up). Twinspeak.

12.) Gou shi fengbao – 'shitstorm', (Google). Chinese.

13.) Hundan – 'bastard', (Browncoats-dot-com). Chinese.

14.) Chikka daray marshiyu – 'I was being an idiot', (completely made-up). Twinspeak.

15.) xiǎo jìngzi – 'little mirror', (Google). Chinese.

16.) Pìhuà – 'bullshit'; alternatively 'nonsense', (Wikipedia). Chinese.

17.) Shenme – 'I'm sorry', (Browncoats-dot-com). Chinese.