Never a Normal Relationship…
By Lady Cleo
All Disclaimers Apply.
While setting down on Jayne's home world things go from messed up to screwed up for Jayne, River and the crew of Serenity. (Jayne River, Post Objects in Space.)
Chapter One: The Right Circumstances
River sat across from him, watching him pick at his food like a hawk watches its prey. Jayne growled, trying to ignore her eyes as he refocused his attention on the Captain. "It's a small job on Terra Five."
"Say that again, captain?" Jayne questioned.
"Terra Five, why? What did you do there?" Mal questioned wearily.
"Nothing!" Jayne answered defensively, "Only the planet I was born and raised on."
"Good, cuz I'll need you to stay town side and keep a watch on River."
"What?" Simon and Jayne both demanded at once.
"I can't have that girl interfering in this mission. We ain't been paid for three weeks and we're runnin' low on both fuel and supplies." Mal answered calmly.
"I ain't watching the gorram girl, got better things to do with my time."
"Captain, I think I should stay with her. No offense Captain, but I don't trust Jayne with River." Simon replied, putting a hand protectively on his sister's shoulder.
Jayne snorted leaning back into his chair, "You wouldn't survive a day on that planet, boy."
"Exactly my point." Mal declared, "That's why Jayne's gonna stay with her."
"Can't ya send Book; he can keep an eye on the feng le girl and hold his own better then the gorram doctor." Jayne grumped glaring across the table at Simon.
"No, I can't. It's a miner's town. They see a Shepherd and a girl they'll be all over them both in seconds. On the other hand, they see a mighty intimidating man and a girl, they may steer clear. That's they way it's gonna be!" Turning away from the sulking mercenary and doctor, Mal redirected his attention to Wash. "What's our e.t.a.?"
"Bout an hour."
"Good." Standing Mal moved away from the dining room, Jayne jumping up to follow him. "It's been decided, no point arguing it."
"It's ridiculous Mal! I can't keep tabs on the gorram girl." Jayne called out, following him down into the cargo bay.
Mal turned around to face the sulking man, "This is your chance to prove your loyalty, make up for that fool mistake you made on Ariel. You keep the girl safe and that's all." Turning Mal continued on his way, "If you're good I'll let you take a shuttle to go visit your ma and thank her for the hat!"
Jayne cursed, kicking the nearest container.
The load door came down slowly, revealing the small dank little town. Jayne cursed, turning to Mal the mercenary glared, "Mal we're on the wrong side of the tracks, if ya know what I mean. This is a dirty little town, known for flashing, stealing workers to slave in the mine. Ain't no place to keep a gorram feng le girl."
Tossing the man a bag of credits, Mal pulled River from Simon's grasp, handing her arm over to the mercenary, "I suggest you find a place to lay low then and keep out of sight."
"I don't think you're understanding my meaning, Mal. This is the kind of town where they steal pretty little girls like her and drag her off into the woods for some fun."
"Miners like them got a respect for another man's property, I suggest you make it known that she's your wife and to keep their hands off." Giving the mercenary a little shove off the ramp, Mal backed up, "We'll be back tomorrow night." He called out as Serenity started lifting off the ground. "Don't have too much fun now."
"Ta ma de wang ba dan!" Keeping a hold of River's hand, Jayne pulled her away from the departing ship and towards the nearest store. "Come on feng le girl, let's get some supplies and find a decent room to hunker down in." Pulling her up the stairs towards the store, he paused as he watched some miners lingering near the front. Keeping his grip tightly on her hand he started to pull her past the group.
A cat call echoed through the air, "Send the little woman this way, so we can a have a little fun."
Pulling out his gun, Jayne glared down at the men threatening like, his finger eagerly twitching over the trigger, "Keep you gorram thoughts and ruttin hands away from my wife!"
Feeling as though his point had been adequately made, Jayne pulled River into the store and headed quickly over to the counter. He ignored the smile one of the homesteaders gave him and fought to keep a hold of River's hand. A pretty piece of red cloth had caught her eye and she easily pulled away from the larger man. Figuring that she couldn't do any harm in the store, Jayne let her go and proceeded to glare down at the shopkeeper in his best intimidating manner. "I need a couple protein bars and jugs of water." River wandered quietly over to the bolts of cloth, fingering the bright red floral design, when the sight of something out the window caught her attention.
"Pretty little woman you got there." The homesteader commented to Jayne. "Reminds me of my own wife back on the stead."
Jayne turned to glare down at the young man, "Mine's a little soft in the head."
"Ain't they all?" The shopkeeper laughed, dropping the items that Jayne wanted in front of him.
"Speakin of, looks like yours has run off." The homesteader pointed out.
Jayne spun on his heels cursing under his breath as he glanced about the store to find no sight of his least favorite little crazy girl. Forgetting about the supplies on the counter he turned and darted out of the store into the street. River had already almost cleared the town, heading towards an overgrown field of wild flowers and grass, lost in some sort of haze of emotions. "Gorram girl moves fast." Jayne muttered jogging after her, ignorant of the group of men that followed after him.
"Hey girl! Wifey woman, where you think you're going?" Jayne caught up to her as River entered the field, bending down to run her hands through the tall grass. Reaching out Jayne grabbed a hold of her arm and started to turn around. "This ain't no Serenity, can't just go wandering around…"
A bright flash of white light suddenly blinded him and the ground leapt up. 'Ah shit, Mal's gonna kill me.' Was the last coherent thought that crossed his mind before the darkness took him.
"Hey… wake up!"
Jayne slowly pried his eyes open, his head hurt to the point of breaking, pain lanced through his temples as the throbbing behind his eyeballs increased tenfold. Wearily he brought his hand to his forehead, the back of which felt icy against his sweating skin. "What the hell happened?"
"You was flashed!" An unfamiliar voice explained as Jayne fought to clear his vision and focus on some point in space. "My brothers and I witnessed it, followed after ya and crept up on your snatchers. We were able to free you and kill most of them." Turning his head Jayne gazed up onto a young homesteader. Shaking his head to clear his thought some more he ignored the feeling of familiarity. "We brought you and your wife back here to our stead, didn't feel safe leaving you in town."
Jayne let lose a string of curses, rubbing at the pain in his temples. "My pa's going kill me if he every finds out I got flashed." He paused for a second, fully digesting the man's words. "Wife? I ain't got no gorram wife!"
"Sure, ya do. I meet you and the little woman in town. She's right over yonder." The man declared pointing over to the cot beside Jayne's. A small unfamiliar woman lay curled up in a little ball, fast asleep.
"I ain't never seen her before in my life." Jayne answered, fighting the waves of nausea that crashed through his body.
"Sure ya have, you was flashed, had you memory wiped as a side effect of knocking you out. Last thing she remembers was three years ago, reckon it's about the same with you." Reaching out the young man pulled out a bucket from under the bed as Jayne turned green and proceeded to puke up his last meal. "That's a side effect of the flashing, along with the memory loss. It'll all come back to you. The little woman was pretty shaken up by the event, seems last thing she can remember she was in some academy sort of thing. What about you, any dates come to mind? Do ya even know where you are?"
Jayne racked his brain for a date and place but couldn't put any solid footing on any of the names that jumped around his mind. "Uh, 2515, Boros?"
"2518, and your on Terra Five… name at all familiar to ya?"
Wiping his forehead with his arm, Jayne lay back on the cot, trying to digest the news and stop his head from spinning. "Ya, grew up on this planet, left it round my seventeenth birthday, and ain't been back since." Turning his gaze back to the sleeping River, Jayne furrowed his eyebrows, "You sure she's my wife?"
"Weren't no occasion for you to lie! Whereabouts were you raised?"
"Ellsinore." Jayne answered automatically, his gaze still glued to River's form he swallowed down the feeling that he was gonna puke again and tired not to think too hard, only to find himself scratching at his head, desperately racking his brain as to why he would get himself a wife.
"There's a train leaving tomorrow night for Ellsinore, round about midnight, my cousin works on it. We'll get you two some passages and get you home, maybe they know something of what you been doing for the past three years or so." The man stood and headed over for the door, "'Til then you might wanna sleep it off, we'll wake you in the morning and see if you can't recall anything else." Blowing out the candlelight, the man quietly closed the door.
Jayne tired to let himself relax but found his body rebelling against it, pain crashing through his muscles. "No wonder pa said never to get flashed." He muttered. Rolling onto his side he took note of the woman that was supposed to be his wife. She was tossing in her sleep, fighting against some internal demon.
He just couldn't be married, no way in hell. Jayne Cobb never kissed a woman, much less married them. He watched as she continued tossing in her sleep. Gorram it, he was never gonna get to sleep off the poison light if she kept tossing and muttering in her sleep. Pushing himself up he tired to keep his balance steady as he slowly stood. Taking a gulping breath Jayne took a careful step forward, relying heavily on his will alone to move across the room. Taking slow steps forward, eyes squeezing shut as waves of dizziness and pain crashed through his head, he somehow managed to get across the room.
River stirred slowly as his weight hit the cot, rolling over she gazed up at the man with large frightened eyes. She didn't recognize him, but something told her that she could trust this one. When she reached out to his mind she found a safe haven, a place without needles.
"You my wife?" Jayne questioned her, River shrugged her shoulders, not sure of the answer herself. "What's your name girl?"
"River!" She cocked her head to the side, as though asking him the same question.
"Name's Jayne."
"That's a girl's name!"
Jayne growled at her comment and looked away from her. He figured that he should probably head back over to his own bunk, but he wasn't sure if his head would stay focused long enough to get him back over to the other side of the room. Turning his head back to stare down at her he debated his choice. He could collapse on the ground, crawl over to his cot or join her.
"Not a good choice!" River suddenly whispered, "Ground is cold, doesn't want a warm body, girl is colder wants a warm body." Scooting over to the far edge of the cot she made room for him to join her. Still he questioned it, she looked mighty young. "Don't question what must be. It makes sense, man and wife share cot just like bird and squirrel share tree." Reaching up River's smaller hands grabbed a hold of Jayne's shirt and pulled him down to her side. Her smaller body confirmed around his, her head resting on his chest, her heart beating to match his own.
Closing his eyes Jayne tired to sort out the thoughts that tumbled through his head, why her weird mind reading hadn't bothered him. Why she felt so right at his side. Tucking his arm around her waist he pulled her closer, focusing on the ceiling as she nuzzled his chest.
"Ariel," she murmured suddenly, "First sighting I think, you rescued me from the blue hands, from the cold morgue." She sifted slightly so that she could look into his eyes, "You saved me from the needles."
"Ya think?" He questioned, unsure of his last visit to Ariel, wasn't much work for his kind there, being such a core planet and all. "Money must have been damn good for me to get you outta there!" She dropped her head back onto his shoulder, snuggling deeper into his embrace. Shaking his head Jayne sighed, hoping to dear god that his parents would have some more solid and clear answers. Drifting off to sleep Jayne tired to clear his mind, but couldn't shake off a nagging feeling that he was supposed to be doing something tomorrow afternoon.
The sun had long since set when Mal, Zoe and Book returned to the ship empty handed. "Where are they?" Simon questioned, panic quickly converging on his features at the lack of his sister's presence. "They were supposed to meet us here, today! Did something happen last night while we were gone?"
"I don't know Doc, but I couldn't find em', ain't nobody in town seen them after yesterday morning." Mal answered before turning to Wash, "Get us into the air, head over to the nearest mining camp."
"You think they were flashed, Captain?" Kaylee asked quietly.
"Flashed, what does that mean?" Simon questioned worriedly following after the Captain as he climbed the cargo bay stairs.
"Kind of like on Jiangyin, when you were kidnapped into the hills for your skills as a doctor. Only here they look for big fellows like Jayne to work in the mines." The captain explained.
"Jayne always called it being flashed, cuz here on Terra they knock you out with a bright paralyzing light." Kaylee explained following after them.
"Ah, Mal, we got a problem!" Wash declared as the three entered the cockpit.
"Course we do, job goes that smoothly there's gotta be some big damn problem to fix!" Walking over he looked down at the sensors, "Zhen daomei, how many do you count?"
"Thirty!" Wash answered. "All in close proximity to the town."
"Thirty what?" Simon questioned worriedly.
"Thirty different mining camps."
River looked up to watch the mid bulk transport fly off overhead. A feeling of vague familiarity surfaced through the running thoughts of her head as they continued down the street in the wagon. "Inconsequential." She muttered to herself, turning her gaze to watch her husband quietly talk to the young homesteader.
Husband? The thought seemed foreign to her, but tasted good on her lips, felt right in her heart. 'Simon would not approve!' She thought wearily, but then again she did not know where Simon was, probably still on Osiris, working for those that had hurt her. She shuddered pulling the shawl that the homesteader's wife had given her closer. She felt nice, warm, and safe around the tall man. "Different, no needles that poke." She whispered.
"They would have dragged you and your wife up to the hills." The homesteader explained to Jayne. "Most likely wouldn't have done no harm to her, they have an odd code about respecting a man's rights to his wife and all." Jayne nodded, having a feeling that somebody else had once told him that. "Would have gotten you to sign some phony indenture papers and you would have found yourself working off a twenty year debt." The wagon rolled around a corner, the train depot looming into view. "Only about five of the mining camps in the area actually buy flashed souls."
The wagon rolled to a stop just as the long hover train pulled into the station. River jumped at the sight of the steaming and flaming train as it pulled to a final screeching halt. "Best hurry, the train don't stay long." The homesteader declared jumping down from the wagon he trotted off to procure their tickets.
Jayne swung down, turning back to lift River from the wagon and gently set her feet back on the solid ground. Clinging tightly to Jayne's arm she stared up at the train with wide excited eyes. "It's angry, doesn't like this town, and doesn't like this world. But it can't escape, it's stuck to the tracks and has to keep running, has to keep angry."
Jayne stared down at her, convinced that in another life he would have jumped away from her touch in fear, least she be hiding a butcher's knife somewhere. But now as he watched her gaze up at the train with bright shinning eyes he couldn't help but feel the need to pull her closer and shout out to the world, 'MINE.'
River turned her gaze away from the roaring train and smiled up at him. "Get to congregate with originators, and Matty!" The name jumped to her lips, though she didn't know where it came from.
"Meet with the parents, right." Turning his gaze away from her luminescent eyes, he searched the platform for their friend, his brow furrowing as he hoped to high heaven that he'd told his parents about her.
He'd always had a pretense of keeping certain things out of his letter, mainly anything that would call for bad language (as his mother abhorred any word that could be defined as a cuss word) and anything that he felt would upset his mother. And surely this would. His mother tended more towards the overly sentimental side, priding herself on the fact that she had been to all four of her eldest children's weddings, and witnessed every grandchild's entrance into the world. There was no way his mother could have been a witness to his wedding, as he was pretty sure he hadn't been home since his departure twenty something years ago, but then again he was missing a good three years from his memory banks.
Besides, his chosen wife appeared to be a might bit soft in the head, what with the way she worded things and all. It was entirely possible that he'd kept all mention of her out of any and all letters. He'd never handled criticism from his mother well, and though she rarely ventured to criticize her eldest child about his life (besides giving him an earful about his chosen profession) this matter would have never been dropped, just like his pa was never gonna let him forget about being flashed.
The homesteader walked back over to them, producing a pair of tickets he handed them over to Jayne, leading the larger man and smaller woman over to the train. "Train doesn't have any other stops so you should find yourself in Ellsinore by day break." He explained as Jayne helped River up the stairs.
"Right!" Jayne declared, turning back to the man he frowned for a second, "Uh, not very good with thanks, but thanks for rescuing us and all."
"No problem." The younger man answered, "Would have done the same for any other couple. You just head on home and see about getting that memory straightened out." The homesteader gave a wave of the hand and turned around heading back over to his waiting wagon.
Jayne climbed up the stairs, following River into one of the compartments. The train was practically devoid of life, only an old miner sat on a back bench, dozing off the empty bottle of whiskey that sat in his lap. River slipped onto one of the benches, her gaze darting out the window.
Sighing Jayne took the seat next to her, "Well, been meaning to go home for sometime, suppose now's as good a time as any."
Next Chapter… The Right Timing…
Chinese translations…
"feng le" means "crazy"
"Zhen daomei" means "Just our luck"