Jayne laid down the heavy cargo box of dolls in the dust, and stepped back in disgust. Why the hell gorram terraformers were so mad for these creepy little things, he reasoned, he had no ruttin' idea. All he could think was, that they must be a big bug-housed themselves if they went for gorram sentimental crap like that.

Now if they had had a use, that would've been different he reasoned. Like if they were hats. Hats were always good, he found, no matter what.

He looked up at the dusty surrounds that spread out around him. Mal was standing to his left, Zoe to Mal's left again. Before them stood the normal rag-tag crew of locals they normally had to deal with on gigs like this, lookin' ornery but at the same time just a little bit scared. They were gunless. He liked it. Mal was talking to 'em, doing the deal. No doubt a rubbish one. He din't like that.

Still he reasoned, Mal had said the stop after would be Persephone, which meant a chance for a decent job and some decent money. And possibly a chance to get off the boat and get a change of scene. He'd been enjoyin' the puzzle of the girl lately - but he needed to scratch an itch that she'd started with the Vera-strokin'. And as he wasn't lookin' to get it scratched by her, any chance to get away would be good.

Nope, he reasoned. He'd looked at her through new eyes since that little incident, but he wasn't stupid. Even if she wasn't settin' him up, and was jus' playin' around, he wasn't gonna play. Of course he was tempted, but it would be more trouble that it was worth just for a bit of tail. Mal'd not be too keen for example, which he had to put into the equation. Ten percent was still ten percent.

Anyway, it was of secondry interest – well right now, when she wasn't standin' in front of him lookin' equal parts sweet and mean - his main purpose right now was still to get to the bottom of what the hell she was capable of anyway. At the moment it looked like nothing more threatenin' than a bit of mind readin' and a love of thrill seekin'.

At that exact moment, Jayne suddenly saw one of the locals move his hand to his side. Anticipating the worse as normal, his mind became blank as he automatically drew the small laser rifle he had strapped under his jacket and aimed at into the thick of the small crowd. The locals all ducked, terrified.

The man he'd been watching raised his hand, weakly. In it, he had a small, black cigarette. No gun.

Mal and Zoe turned to him, unimpressed. "Well, how the hell was I t' know?" Jayne barked back.

But of course he did. So when Mal sent him away to "cool off" for an hour, Jayne had the extra time he'd planned for. He headed towards the small copse behind where Wash'd parked the boat.

When he got there, River was waiting.

She stood beneath the dry, dusty trees, the slight breeze passing through her hair so that it gently brushed back away from her clear, round face. She was wearing a ruby red dress that even further accentuated the ivory colour of her skin.

She looks kind of delicate, Jayne thought as he drew closer. Then he looked down at the heavy black boots she was wearing, and caught the steady glint in her eye. Well, maybe, he corrected. Would this gorram girl ever be one or the other?

River had decided to approach today's lesson with determination. As a result, as he came closer she immediately moved up to him to remove 'her' silver pistol that Jayne had pushed down into his pant waist. He moved to react, but quick as a flash her hands reached out to the gun, pulled it from beneath his belt and snatched it to her. She then stood back, pointed the gun to the floor, and fixed him with a glare that said; Come on.

Jayne stood there, surprised – not to mention, once again, marginally aroused. As her hands had grabbed for the gun, he had felt the slight pressure of the back of her hand on his lower belly, just above his groin. It had been enough. His body was already reacting, and as before with the Vera incident, he felt himself begin to harden. He groaned under his breath, with equal parts pleasure and annoyance. "Gorram it, I came here for another reason than this."

River cocked her head slightly. As normal, she said nothing. Her conversations with him rarely involved words, he had noticed – unless she was really trying to convey something. But strangely, that was okay. He had found that the other night, that he was actually able to understand much of what she wanted through her eyes and her movements alone.

It was sure as hell better than havin' to listen to her chatterin' gorram fairy tales, he thought.

As he did so, he looked her up and down, and then let his eyes settle on her face.

And it was then, just for a moment, that it happened. His mind slipped out of gear.

He heard nothing, save for the gentle breath of the wind past his ears and the growing thump of his heart. He saw nothing but her lips, pressed together with determination. He felt only the rising heat in his limbs.

Meanwhile, echoes of thoughts began to solidify and link together into an inevitable train. Hell, she really wasn't too bad close up. Actually, in a strange way…she sort of…glowed. I wonder if those legs could grip a man's back…..

Involuntarily, he growled, and took a step forward.

River meanwhile, had begun to lower her gun ever so slightly. As he had marched up towards her only seconds ago she had only sensed determination in his mind. Now suddenly there was nothing. She could barely feel anything from him save for something which felt like… waves. They were pulsing – slow at first, but with every second they gathered pace.

She peered more closely at him to see if she could work out what was happening from his face. Again there was that look of intensity, as from before, but his face had seemed to lighten and clear. He looked, some how, more free. And also slightly younger.

She wondered if he was suffering from some kind of stroke.

What happened next was a blur.