~
After leaving Simon, Mal went over to the Cruiser to see how Kay Lee was doing. He found his mechanic laid under the ships control, sweating, oily and swearing.
Kay Lee threw a pair of wire cutters across the room, barely missing Mal.
"So how does she look?" He asked, she looked out at him from under the control counter and let out a deep sigh.
"Well before I can do anything I have to override the ships system. Our friend must have locked down the ship so the Reavers couldn't tamper with it. Once the system is back up I'll have the lights on and access to controls and that means I'll be able to reach the engine and hopefully fix it" Kay Lee said with her head buried inside a bundle of cables.
"So an hour or two" Mal said smirking
She pulled herself loose of the wires and sat looking up at Mal
"Captain I know that I'm a good mechanic but even so this is gonna take me a couple of days, less if our guest is awake and can tell me how to boot up the ships system without spending hours messing around with wires. I tell you she's a sneaky one I think this whole ship's been booby trapped"
"Well the Doc said she's going to be out for a while, so do your best".
Kay Lee watched Mal leave and looked around the still darken ship, she picked up one of the many flashlights she had brought with her and swept it around the one room shuttle. Knowing that Reavers had been here a short time before wasn't doing much for her confidence; she put the light with another two that were already pointing at the heap of wires she had pulled down from the control panel. She gave another heavy sigh and went back to work.
"So how's Kay Lee doing Captain" Zoe asked when Mal joined her and Wash in the cockpit.
"You know Kay Lee she can fix anything when she puts her mind to it. She did think the pilot had high security and I have to thing she's right. She must have activated some kind of a defense program when she came under attack"
"What kind of defense program?" Zoe asked
"Well all the power is shut off in the shuttle, the shuttle must have some beacon stopping scans of the ship, the bomb that exploded when the Reavers boarded and Kay Lee said that she thought the ship was booby trapped, which means every couple of steps she'll have to by-pass another problem so something simple will take hours"
"That sounds impressive for a Beta Class Cruiser; the woman must have had extensive work done on it - which would have cost her serious money" Wash said looking over at Mal who nodded his agreement.
"What do you think about her Captain" Zoe asked
"Well she travels alone and knows how to defend herself; she must have money, connections or both. She isn't a trader or settler and she can't carry any cargo in that size a ship and she isn't a Companion.what does that leave?"
"It leaves all the wrong kind of jobs" Zoe said with a sigh, wishing for once they could go a few weeks without running into some kind of catastrophe.
"Don't be so negative oh wife of mine, she could simply be one of those young daughters of a rich man traveling the system before settling down.I've heard that's the kind of thing rich folk do" Wash said glancing at Zoe who rolled her eye's.
"I guess we'll find out who and what she is as soon as she wakes up. Until then be on full alert for any ships, Reavers might come back but also she might have put a distress call out to another ship - one that might not be too friendly"
"In that case shouldn't we get out of here, dump her ship and leave?"
"No when she wakes up she'll want her ship, plus we might be entitled to a reward. Go as fast as you can whist keeping our connection with the Cruiser, remember Kay Lee's over there and head out to Remus that planet is heavily guarded Reavers wouldn't dare go to close"
"Yes Captain" Wash said
"I'll be in my quarters if you need me"
A couple of hours later in the Med Lab Simon sat next to his patient reading one of the few books he had brought with him. Since being aboard Serenity every novel he read seem boring compare to traveling through space with a crew of thieves/guns for hire.
He closed the now tedious book and got up, putting it away in a draw incase he needed something to fall a sleep with later.
As his back was turned the woman stirred and opened and closed her right hand, she let out a groan making Simon turned around. Still a little groggy from the medication Simon had given her, she couldn't make anything out accept a human size shape.
"Stay back" she told him trying to sit up but not being able to because of the restraints.
"It's alright Miss I'm a Doctor"
Simon pressed the intercom to the cockpit and spoke into it
"It's Simon, she's awake" he said into the intercom, all the while not taking his eyes off his patient
"I'll tell the Captain" Zoe said.
"How are you feeling?" Simon asked the woman, concerned but still weary of the stranger.
The woman's vision returned to normal and apart from a slight headache and the pain from her shoulder she felt find. She looked over the Doctor and the room she was in before looking down at the restraints that left her arms immobilized.
"Where I am?" She asked her voice was horse and her lips dry; she licked them and coughed trying to clear her throat. Simon brought her a glass of water and helped her take a few sips.
"Thank you" she said begrudgingly, lying her head back down on the pillow.
"You're on a cargo vessel, a firefly that goes by the name of Serenity"
"And how did I come to be a board Serenity?" the woman asked
"We were flying pass your ship and we saw you were in distress so the Captain stopped to help. He brought you a board and sent a Mechanic to fix your ship"
"If you're helping me why am I restraint?" She asked with a hint of bitterness to her voice.
Simon thought a few seconds before answering hoping it would sound truthful, after all it wasn't so removed from the truth.
"I took it as a precaution as I wasn't in the room with you the whole time, plus we know nothing about you"
"Well now you've spoken to me you can see I'm not a raving lunatic do you think you could free me" she twisted her wrists for good effect and Simon un-tied the restraints although he wished he didn't have to.
Mal stood in the doorway and watched as Simon was helped the woman sit up. All of the movement caused her to wince in pain and grab at her shoulder. Realizing she was just in a bra she pulled up the sheet and wrapped it around her so only her bare shoulders were visible.
"Are you alright" Simon asked and she gave him a withering look.
"I've been stabbed in the shoulder; of course I'm not alright" she replied
Mal laughed and as the two turned to look at him he rubbed his chin on his left shoulder and when he looked back up his smile was gone.
"Are you the Captain?"
"I certainly am and who are you?" Mal said entering the room and standing in front of the woman, next to Simon.
"I'm Ida Cross"
"So Miss Cross what happened?" Mal asked as Simon peeled off Ida's bandage to check on her wound.
"Well the Reavers came along and before I could do anything they had there grappling hook attached to The Black Bird, that's my ship"
"You know on the Earth that was, it was an ancient belief by some that a black bird tapping on your window meant death was coming" Simon interjected.
"Fascinating as that was" Mal said glancing over at Simon and then turning back to Ida "you were saying" he finished.
"I fired on their hook and managed to damage it enough so it let go of The Black Bird. I have certain up-grades on my ship; one is sensor-blast bomb. By the Entrance on either side of the wall are sensors that when triggered cause a bomb to be released from a secret panel underneath the floor and explodes"
"How come there wasn't any damage to the ship, a blast that big should have left more then just scorch marks" said Mal folding his arms and resting his thumb on his chin.
"That's where the shields come in, there small and activate when the bombs deploy. They cover the entrance way, trapping who ever is in there and making less damaged as possible"
Ida winced as the Doctor finished putting on a fresh bandage but tried to cover it. 'A woman traveling alone must have to appear as hard as possible' Mal thought as he watched her.
Simon picked something up off the counter and passed it to Ida, she took it suspiciously.
"It's to wear, I'm afraid your other top was ruined" Simon explained
"Thanks" Ida waited and when they were still stood there, she did an exaggerated eye movement towards the door.
"Oh" The two men said together and Mal pointed at himself and Simon and said "Sure, we'll be just out side"
The two went away from the door and turned their backs just incase.
"So when do you think she'll be able to move on" Mal asked
"I think that she might need a day or two to recover, I was thinking that she might want to speak to Shepard"
"What about" Mal asked
"Well I can fix her body and Kay Lee can fix her ship but she still went through a very traumatic event. Speaking to a Shepard might help her deal with what she went through"
Mal shrugged and looked at Simon who seemed to be set on the idea.
"Look I don't want to force her to talk to a Shepard if she don't want to, ask and if she says's no then that's that" Mal told him walking back into the Med Lab.
Ida was dressed and stood up; she still seemed a little uneasy on her feet and swayed sideways. Simon rushed up to her and helped her to sit down on the chair he had been sat on.
"You alright" Mal asked, Ida just nodded and took a deep breath.
"So I was wondering if you could finish telling me what happen with the Reavers"
"Sure, they triggered the bomb and that took out two or three. Then two more came up after them I shot one dead and the other managed to stab me before I got a shot in. I must have scared them, the one that stabbed me ran off he dragged his friend I killed with him. The other bodies where gone, there must have been one at the rear who dragged them back on to their ship"
"I've heard they use their dead for food and skins"
"Once their ship was gone I closed down mine, leaving only the air supply on. I knew that if they came back they would strip me and the ship down, I decided that they wouldn't get the ship or me."
"And how did you do shut your ship down, you see I have my mechanic over there now trying to fix up your ship"
"Thanks that is very nice of you, its voice and code imprinted. I have to speak a code and the ships systems will reboot. Was there much damage?"
"Weapons fire on the outer Hull and damage to your engine; I'm not sure how that happened"
"I did it, I fired my weapon at it.like I said they weren't taking the Black Bird and stripping her for parts"
"I would feel the same way" Mal answered and smiled at Ida who turned the corner of her mouth up and back down. Obviously she wasn't the trusting type Mal thought.
"I better go tell Kay Lee the news"
Mal worked out of the room and was heading towards the Cruiser when he rounded a corner and walked straight into Kay Lee. She was knocked backwards; Mal put his hand out in time to steady her, so she kept her balance.
"Gee Captain you nearly knocked me on to my be-hind"
"I do have a way of sweeping girls off their feet" Mal answer with a smirk
"I was just coming to tell you that I know how to get the ships system back up and running" Mal told her, Kay Lee became very still and looked extremely pissed off.
"Well that would have been handy, oh an hour or so ago. Right now I'm working on the engine; I was just getting something from our engine room"
"Well I'll let you get going, call me if you need anything" He called as Kay Lee storm off muttering to herself.
As Kay Lee headed to the engine room she thought of how she had spent the last couple of hours on her back with a much of cables and wires as company. Her hands ached from all the work and although she did need equipment from the engine room, she mainly wanted to stretch her legs.
Simon had left Ida with Shepard, who was trying to convince her to lighten her soul by talking to him.
Simon was going to check in on Inara and River and hope everything was going well. He saw Kay Lee coming towards him and smiled, she looked troubled.
"How are you?" He asked, she was about to let of steam and rant and rave but she gave a deep sigh she wasn't a whining person.
Kay Lee gave Simon a weary smile and asked him how it was going.
"Fine, fine" He replied wishing he knew what to say to lift her spirits.
"How is the patient doing?"
"Fine, I've just come from there in fact, she's got a bad shoulder wound and is still a little dazed from the drugs I gave her but she should be alright. Maybe ready to fly by tomorrow"
"I figure that the her ship's the same but I might gave it a day or two more then it's Captain before it's able to fly"
"Well I better let you get to it, plus I just wanted to quickly check in on River before heading back to Ida"
He realized that Kay Lee perhaps wouldn't know the woman's name so he added "the patient"
Kay Lee looked at Simon and gave him a bright smile as if she didn't mind or feel anything towards him 'wanting to get back to Ida'. They said goodbye and carried on in opposite directions.
Kay Lee still felt a little jealous that Simon was spending his time with Ida but she scolded herself for being so ridiculous. 'The woman is just his patient is all' she thought and it wasn't as if she had any claims on Simon, she tired to concentrate on the Cruiser's engine and went on her way.
Back in the Med room Ida was growing more and more exasperated with Shepard Book and his religious ways. She had to fight the urge more then once to knock him out with her good arm, what was it that made preachers so annoying?
"If you don't mind Shepard Book I'm going to go for a walk" She stood up and saw the Shepard open his mouth a fraction.
"Alone, a walk alone; I need to clear my head" She said forcefully before he got the chance to invite himself along.
When she left the room she tried to walk as briskly as she could afraid that the Shepard would try and join her after all. When she had taken enough turns she figured that she was safe enough to slow down. It was then that she ran into Jayne.
"Well Hello there" He said moving so close their bodies nearly touched, she backed away slightly and looked him over.
Jayne wasn't the quickest of wits but he knew when he was being sized up and there was something in the young woman's eye that made him ill at ease.
"So the Doc's fix you up then" He asked nodding at her shoulder and appearing to casually back up to the wall on his right and rest his back on it.
Ida had summed up Jayne in a few seconds and was nearly 100 % right in her deductions. Still there was something about the size of him that made her wonder just how long it had been since she had been with a man; her life had been focused on work for so long she had plum forgot.
She lent on the opposite wall and they faced each other, Jayne was still trying to act cool but she caught the look in his eyes as he looked over her body. She moved forward as if to say something but suddenly Jayne watched as she lost her balance and fell. He caught her in time and picked her up in his arms, struggling he walked down to the bottom of the passage which was luckily where his quarters were.
Once he got in his room he laid her on the bed, her eyes were closed but her breathing seemed normal.
"I better call for the Doc" He muttered to himself but when he went to move away from the bed Ida's arm shot out and grabbed his wrist.
"What the." He said looking at the clearly conscious woman who was sat up in bed smiling up at him.
"Don't be mad at me big fella" She said with a laugh.
"You planned that?" He asked unbelievingly, still not catching on to why she had done it. "But." he said.
"Look I just wanted to get you in bed, that just seemed the quickest way"
He smiled but still was unsure, women as beautiful and smart as her never seemed to fall all over him before today, so why now?
"What's your scheme" He asked thinking that maybe he could get a cut of whatever it was.
"Look I just want sex and I know by the way you were looking at me you want to. So what's the problem?"
"I'm.well.I guess there is none" He said smiling. She knelt on his bed and began kissing him.
Soon there tops were off and she had to give it to him that he had a nice body, so far. They were laid flat on the bed Jayne on top, both hurryingly trying to get out of their own clothes. She paused and thought for a moment and then stopped him undoing his trousers.
"I just thought we should be introduced before we have sex, I'm Ida"
"Jayne, nice to meet you" They smiled both high on the rush of having sex with someone who was basically a total stranger.
As he began kissing her neck, she looked away and caught sight of the posters of women he had on the wall beside his bed. All were semi-nude and some held weapons, she gave a little smile and rolled her eyes. As Jayne kissed her chest she tilted her head back and noticed that the behind the pictures was an alcove. With an effort she rolled Jayne over and sat on top of him and using her good arm she pushed the wall and a piece of paneling fell down exposing a treasure trove of guns.
Jayne angrily pushed Ida off him and climbed off the bed as Ida pulled her top back on but she struggled because of her shoulder and Jayne roughly pulled it over her head and down, covering her body.
"What's the idea?" He asked her wondering if she had wanted to get to the guns all along, but how did she know they were there he reasoned.
"I just wondered what you were hiding, hey!" She cried excitedly crawling forward and picking up a large gun, holding it with her hands and turning it around"
"Be careful with that, it's not a toy" He said snatching it off her and putting it back inside the wall and covering the hiding place up with the panel.
"It's a Night-force range missile T4; to be precise. I could give you a date of when it was manufactured but without the serial code (which has by the way been removed for some reason) I would be off by a couple of years" She said moving and sitting on the edge of his bed.
"How you know all that"
"It's my job" She said.
"You a mercenary?" He asked the surprise evident in his voice.
"No but people do pay for my services"
"So just what is it you do?" He asked.
"I'm an assassin"
"You're kidding" She nodded no and Jayne laughed. "Well I'll be" He exclaimed giving her a friendly slap on the back.
After leaving Simon, Mal went over to the Cruiser to see how Kay Lee was doing. He found his mechanic laid under the ships control, sweating, oily and swearing.
Kay Lee threw a pair of wire cutters across the room, barely missing Mal.
"So how does she look?" He asked, she looked out at him from under the control counter and let out a deep sigh.
"Well before I can do anything I have to override the ships system. Our friend must have locked down the ship so the Reavers couldn't tamper with it. Once the system is back up I'll have the lights on and access to controls and that means I'll be able to reach the engine and hopefully fix it" Kay Lee said with her head buried inside a bundle of cables.
"So an hour or two" Mal said smirking
She pulled herself loose of the wires and sat looking up at Mal
"Captain I know that I'm a good mechanic but even so this is gonna take me a couple of days, less if our guest is awake and can tell me how to boot up the ships system without spending hours messing around with wires. I tell you she's a sneaky one I think this whole ship's been booby trapped"
"Well the Doc said she's going to be out for a while, so do your best".
Kay Lee watched Mal leave and looked around the still darken ship, she picked up one of the many flashlights she had brought with her and swept it around the one room shuttle. Knowing that Reavers had been here a short time before wasn't doing much for her confidence; she put the light with another two that were already pointing at the heap of wires she had pulled down from the control panel. She gave another heavy sigh and went back to work.
"So how's Kay Lee doing Captain" Zoe asked when Mal joined her and Wash in the cockpit.
"You know Kay Lee she can fix anything when she puts her mind to it. She did think the pilot had high security and I have to thing she's right. She must have activated some kind of a defense program when she came under attack"
"What kind of defense program?" Zoe asked
"Well all the power is shut off in the shuttle, the shuttle must have some beacon stopping scans of the ship, the bomb that exploded when the Reavers boarded and Kay Lee said that she thought the ship was booby trapped, which means every couple of steps she'll have to by-pass another problem so something simple will take hours"
"That sounds impressive for a Beta Class Cruiser; the woman must have had extensive work done on it - which would have cost her serious money" Wash said looking over at Mal who nodded his agreement.
"What do you think about her Captain" Zoe asked
"Well she travels alone and knows how to defend herself; she must have money, connections or both. She isn't a trader or settler and she can't carry any cargo in that size a ship and she isn't a Companion.what does that leave?"
"It leaves all the wrong kind of jobs" Zoe said with a sigh, wishing for once they could go a few weeks without running into some kind of catastrophe.
"Don't be so negative oh wife of mine, she could simply be one of those young daughters of a rich man traveling the system before settling down.I've heard that's the kind of thing rich folk do" Wash said glancing at Zoe who rolled her eye's.
"I guess we'll find out who and what she is as soon as she wakes up. Until then be on full alert for any ships, Reavers might come back but also she might have put a distress call out to another ship - one that might not be too friendly"
"In that case shouldn't we get out of here, dump her ship and leave?"
"No when she wakes up she'll want her ship, plus we might be entitled to a reward. Go as fast as you can whist keeping our connection with the Cruiser, remember Kay Lee's over there and head out to Remus that planet is heavily guarded Reavers wouldn't dare go to close"
"Yes Captain" Wash said
"I'll be in my quarters if you need me"
A couple of hours later in the Med Lab Simon sat next to his patient reading one of the few books he had brought with him. Since being aboard Serenity every novel he read seem boring compare to traveling through space with a crew of thieves/guns for hire.
He closed the now tedious book and got up, putting it away in a draw incase he needed something to fall a sleep with later.
As his back was turned the woman stirred and opened and closed her right hand, she let out a groan making Simon turned around. Still a little groggy from the medication Simon had given her, she couldn't make anything out accept a human size shape.
"Stay back" she told him trying to sit up but not being able to because of the restraints.
"It's alright Miss I'm a Doctor"
Simon pressed the intercom to the cockpit and spoke into it
"It's Simon, she's awake" he said into the intercom, all the while not taking his eyes off his patient
"I'll tell the Captain" Zoe said.
"How are you feeling?" Simon asked the woman, concerned but still weary of the stranger.
The woman's vision returned to normal and apart from a slight headache and the pain from her shoulder she felt find. She looked over the Doctor and the room she was in before looking down at the restraints that left her arms immobilized.
"Where I am?" She asked her voice was horse and her lips dry; she licked them and coughed trying to clear her throat. Simon brought her a glass of water and helped her take a few sips.
"Thank you" she said begrudgingly, lying her head back down on the pillow.
"You're on a cargo vessel, a firefly that goes by the name of Serenity"
"And how did I come to be a board Serenity?" the woman asked
"We were flying pass your ship and we saw you were in distress so the Captain stopped to help. He brought you a board and sent a Mechanic to fix your ship"
"If you're helping me why am I restraint?" She asked with a hint of bitterness to her voice.
Simon thought a few seconds before answering hoping it would sound truthful, after all it wasn't so removed from the truth.
"I took it as a precaution as I wasn't in the room with you the whole time, plus we know nothing about you"
"Well now you've spoken to me you can see I'm not a raving lunatic do you think you could free me" she twisted her wrists for good effect and Simon un-tied the restraints although he wished he didn't have to.
Mal stood in the doorway and watched as Simon was helped the woman sit up. All of the movement caused her to wince in pain and grab at her shoulder. Realizing she was just in a bra she pulled up the sheet and wrapped it around her so only her bare shoulders were visible.
"Are you alright" Simon asked and she gave him a withering look.
"I've been stabbed in the shoulder; of course I'm not alright" she replied
Mal laughed and as the two turned to look at him he rubbed his chin on his left shoulder and when he looked back up his smile was gone.
"Are you the Captain?"
"I certainly am and who are you?" Mal said entering the room and standing in front of the woman, next to Simon.
"I'm Ida Cross"
"So Miss Cross what happened?" Mal asked as Simon peeled off Ida's bandage to check on her wound.
"Well the Reavers came along and before I could do anything they had there grappling hook attached to The Black Bird, that's my ship"
"You know on the Earth that was, it was an ancient belief by some that a black bird tapping on your window meant death was coming" Simon interjected.
"Fascinating as that was" Mal said glancing over at Simon and then turning back to Ida "you were saying" he finished.
"I fired on their hook and managed to damage it enough so it let go of The Black Bird. I have certain up-grades on my ship; one is sensor-blast bomb. By the Entrance on either side of the wall are sensors that when triggered cause a bomb to be released from a secret panel underneath the floor and explodes"
"How come there wasn't any damage to the ship, a blast that big should have left more then just scorch marks" said Mal folding his arms and resting his thumb on his chin.
"That's where the shields come in, there small and activate when the bombs deploy. They cover the entrance way, trapping who ever is in there and making less damaged as possible"
Ida winced as the Doctor finished putting on a fresh bandage but tried to cover it. 'A woman traveling alone must have to appear as hard as possible' Mal thought as he watched her.
Simon picked something up off the counter and passed it to Ida, she took it suspiciously.
"It's to wear, I'm afraid your other top was ruined" Simon explained
"Thanks" Ida waited and when they were still stood there, she did an exaggerated eye movement towards the door.
"Oh" The two men said together and Mal pointed at himself and Simon and said "Sure, we'll be just out side"
The two went away from the door and turned their backs just incase.
"So when do you think she'll be able to move on" Mal asked
"I think that she might need a day or two to recover, I was thinking that she might want to speak to Shepard"
"What about" Mal asked
"Well I can fix her body and Kay Lee can fix her ship but she still went through a very traumatic event. Speaking to a Shepard might help her deal with what she went through"
Mal shrugged and looked at Simon who seemed to be set on the idea.
"Look I don't want to force her to talk to a Shepard if she don't want to, ask and if she says's no then that's that" Mal told him walking back into the Med Lab.
Ida was dressed and stood up; she still seemed a little uneasy on her feet and swayed sideways. Simon rushed up to her and helped her to sit down on the chair he had been sat on.
"You alright" Mal asked, Ida just nodded and took a deep breath.
"So I was wondering if you could finish telling me what happen with the Reavers"
"Sure, they triggered the bomb and that took out two or three. Then two more came up after them I shot one dead and the other managed to stab me before I got a shot in. I must have scared them, the one that stabbed me ran off he dragged his friend I killed with him. The other bodies where gone, there must have been one at the rear who dragged them back on to their ship"
"I've heard they use their dead for food and skins"
"Once their ship was gone I closed down mine, leaving only the air supply on. I knew that if they came back they would strip me and the ship down, I decided that they wouldn't get the ship or me."
"And how did you do shut your ship down, you see I have my mechanic over there now trying to fix up your ship"
"Thanks that is very nice of you, its voice and code imprinted. I have to speak a code and the ships systems will reboot. Was there much damage?"
"Weapons fire on the outer Hull and damage to your engine; I'm not sure how that happened"
"I did it, I fired my weapon at it.like I said they weren't taking the Black Bird and stripping her for parts"
"I would feel the same way" Mal answered and smiled at Ida who turned the corner of her mouth up and back down. Obviously she wasn't the trusting type Mal thought.
"I better go tell Kay Lee the news"
Mal worked out of the room and was heading towards the Cruiser when he rounded a corner and walked straight into Kay Lee. She was knocked backwards; Mal put his hand out in time to steady her, so she kept her balance.
"Gee Captain you nearly knocked me on to my be-hind"
"I do have a way of sweeping girls off their feet" Mal answer with a smirk
"I was just coming to tell you that I know how to get the ships system back up and running" Mal told her, Kay Lee became very still and looked extremely pissed off.
"Well that would have been handy, oh an hour or so ago. Right now I'm working on the engine; I was just getting something from our engine room"
"Well I'll let you get going, call me if you need anything" He called as Kay Lee storm off muttering to herself.
As Kay Lee headed to the engine room she thought of how she had spent the last couple of hours on her back with a much of cables and wires as company. Her hands ached from all the work and although she did need equipment from the engine room, she mainly wanted to stretch her legs.
Simon had left Ida with Shepard, who was trying to convince her to lighten her soul by talking to him.
Simon was going to check in on Inara and River and hope everything was going well. He saw Kay Lee coming towards him and smiled, she looked troubled.
"How are you?" He asked, she was about to let of steam and rant and rave but she gave a deep sigh she wasn't a whining person.
Kay Lee gave Simon a weary smile and asked him how it was going.
"Fine, fine" He replied wishing he knew what to say to lift her spirits.
"How is the patient doing?"
"Fine, I've just come from there in fact, she's got a bad shoulder wound and is still a little dazed from the drugs I gave her but she should be alright. Maybe ready to fly by tomorrow"
"I figure that the her ship's the same but I might gave it a day or two more then it's Captain before it's able to fly"
"Well I better let you get to it, plus I just wanted to quickly check in on River before heading back to Ida"
He realized that Kay Lee perhaps wouldn't know the woman's name so he added "the patient"
Kay Lee looked at Simon and gave him a bright smile as if she didn't mind or feel anything towards him 'wanting to get back to Ida'. They said goodbye and carried on in opposite directions.
Kay Lee still felt a little jealous that Simon was spending his time with Ida but she scolded herself for being so ridiculous. 'The woman is just his patient is all' she thought and it wasn't as if she had any claims on Simon, she tired to concentrate on the Cruiser's engine and went on her way.
Back in the Med room Ida was growing more and more exasperated with Shepard Book and his religious ways. She had to fight the urge more then once to knock him out with her good arm, what was it that made preachers so annoying?
"If you don't mind Shepard Book I'm going to go for a walk" She stood up and saw the Shepard open his mouth a fraction.
"Alone, a walk alone; I need to clear my head" She said forcefully before he got the chance to invite himself along.
When she left the room she tried to walk as briskly as she could afraid that the Shepard would try and join her after all. When she had taken enough turns she figured that she was safe enough to slow down. It was then that she ran into Jayne.
"Well Hello there" He said moving so close their bodies nearly touched, she backed away slightly and looked him over.
Jayne wasn't the quickest of wits but he knew when he was being sized up and there was something in the young woman's eye that made him ill at ease.
"So the Doc's fix you up then" He asked nodding at her shoulder and appearing to casually back up to the wall on his right and rest his back on it.
Ida had summed up Jayne in a few seconds and was nearly 100 % right in her deductions. Still there was something about the size of him that made her wonder just how long it had been since she had been with a man; her life had been focused on work for so long she had plum forgot.
She lent on the opposite wall and they faced each other, Jayne was still trying to act cool but she caught the look in his eyes as he looked over her body. She moved forward as if to say something but suddenly Jayne watched as she lost her balance and fell. He caught her in time and picked her up in his arms, struggling he walked down to the bottom of the passage which was luckily where his quarters were.
Once he got in his room he laid her on the bed, her eyes were closed but her breathing seemed normal.
"I better call for the Doc" He muttered to himself but when he went to move away from the bed Ida's arm shot out and grabbed his wrist.
"What the." He said looking at the clearly conscious woman who was sat up in bed smiling up at him.
"Don't be mad at me big fella" She said with a laugh.
"You planned that?" He asked unbelievingly, still not catching on to why she had done it. "But." he said.
"Look I just wanted to get you in bed, that just seemed the quickest way"
He smiled but still was unsure, women as beautiful and smart as her never seemed to fall all over him before today, so why now?
"What's your scheme" He asked thinking that maybe he could get a cut of whatever it was.
"Look I just want sex and I know by the way you were looking at me you want to. So what's the problem?"
"I'm.well.I guess there is none" He said smiling. She knelt on his bed and began kissing him.
Soon there tops were off and she had to give it to him that he had a nice body, so far. They were laid flat on the bed Jayne on top, both hurryingly trying to get out of their own clothes. She paused and thought for a moment and then stopped him undoing his trousers.
"I just thought we should be introduced before we have sex, I'm Ida"
"Jayne, nice to meet you" They smiled both high on the rush of having sex with someone who was basically a total stranger.
As he began kissing her neck, she looked away and caught sight of the posters of women he had on the wall beside his bed. All were semi-nude and some held weapons, she gave a little smile and rolled her eyes. As Jayne kissed her chest she tilted her head back and noticed that the behind the pictures was an alcove. With an effort she rolled Jayne over and sat on top of him and using her good arm she pushed the wall and a piece of paneling fell down exposing a treasure trove of guns.
Jayne angrily pushed Ida off him and climbed off the bed as Ida pulled her top back on but she struggled because of her shoulder and Jayne roughly pulled it over her head and down, covering her body.
"What's the idea?" He asked her wondering if she had wanted to get to the guns all along, but how did she know they were there he reasoned.
"I just wondered what you were hiding, hey!" She cried excitedly crawling forward and picking up a large gun, holding it with her hands and turning it around"
"Be careful with that, it's not a toy" He said snatching it off her and putting it back inside the wall and covering the hiding place up with the panel.
"It's a Night-force range missile T4; to be precise. I could give you a date of when it was manufactured but without the serial code (which has by the way been removed for some reason) I would be off by a couple of years" She said moving and sitting on the edge of his bed.
"How you know all that"
"It's my job" She said.
"You a mercenary?" He asked the surprise evident in his voice.
"No but people do pay for my services"
"So just what is it you do?" He asked.
"I'm an assassin"
"You're kidding" She nodded no and Jayne laughed. "Well I'll be" He exclaimed giving her a friendly slap on the back.