Don't own anything, standard disclaimers apply
'Stop it' Amanda told herself firmly as she caught herself sneaking a look at Cord as he leaned over the pool table, she stared determinedly into her drink. She could hear Ruth laughing out on the dance floor as James spun her around expertly.
Amanda heard a voice from behind her, "We're here for a meetin' that means not trouble from you all dong ma?" a chorus of voices rose in disagreement as to how they never got into any trouble what so ever. Amanda looked back over her shoulder to see a group of people entering the bar.
First to enter was a handsome brown haired man who was pinching the bridge of his nose as the extremely large man beside him tried to convince him of his inability to get in any sort of trouble, a blonde man in a shirt that even Amanda deemed hideous, kept calling a beautiful woman who looked very dangerous 'lambietoes', something that Amanda had to give the man courage for. The brown haired man spoke to someone who was outside, "Kaylee you keep her safe you hear, Doc you don't have to worry about your sister all the time"
A bright voice called out "Everythings gonna be shiny Captain" at the Captains long suffering sigh, two young girls voices called out "we love our Captain" before dissolving into giggles that faded as they moved away.
The large man surveyed the bar, calling out as he did so, "Hey Doc, your' not gonna welsh on your bet are ya?" He moved toward the bar revealing the smaller young man who had until this moment been hidden in the middle of the group.
"No Jayne, I will buy you your drink"
"Drinks" Jayne replied, Simon rolled his eyes and simply nodded.
Amanda recognized Simon at the same moment Ruth did, the crew of Serenity and Katie's Pride stared in shock as the twins engulfed Simon.
Ruth and Amanda's questions stumbled over each other as they tried to find out why Simon was still alive and where was River, and where had he been and why in the nine hells did he never contact them.
Shock, fear and happiness warred for a place on Simon's face; he was saved from answering as Mal manoeuvred him out of the twins embrace. "So Doc, care to introduce us to these young ladies?"
As he spoke Mal and Jayne moved so that Simon had a clear passage to the door, clearing his throat a few times in order to get his voice to work, the adrenaline in his system let Simon know that Wash had also fallen back as Zoë moved up to cover her Captains flank and that there was an extremely large man who had moved up beside Amanda as if to protect her. A slim red haired man had moved up beside Ruth who fairly vibrated with the need to do something, anything.
Amanda eyed the way that the other people had come to ensure Simon's safety from her and Ruth; the rumours that she had heard must be true she thought to herself.
Before the tension escalated any further Ruth held out her hand and with a smile said, "And as usual Simon has forgotten his manners, I'm Ruth and this is my sister Amanda, we grew up with and attended Medacade training with Simon."
Mal shook hands, relaxing slightly, "Long way from the Core aren't you?" he asked easily.
"Needed to find my sister a man before she dried up and blew away Captain" Ruth laughed as Amanda turned bright red and spluttered, thankfully no one had heard Cord's muttered, "No chance of that"
Chloe moved forward, "Captain Reynolds? I'm Chloe Reid, Captain of the Katie's Pride. It seems members of our crew have some catching up to do, shall we talk business while they do so?"
Mal glanced at Simon, question clear in his eyes, 'Can we trust these women?' Simon finally found his voice, "Captain I would very much appreciate having a chance to catch up with my friends if you find it does not unduly inconvenience you."
"Seein as how you asked so nicely and all, don't see why I should be a grumpy old cap'n and not allow you to run along and play with your friends." Mal drawled, eliciting a grunt of laughter from Jayne and Wash.
Ruth grabbed Simon's hand and pulled him toward a table littered with glasses, Simon cast a helpless glance over his shoulder at Jayne and Wash, who without prompting followed and settled themselves down at the table.
Wash looked eagerly between the women and Simon, "So does this mean we're finally going' to hear all about Simon's wild escapades at the Medacade?"
"Doc don't do wild, annoying', stupifyin' and dull but not wild" Jayne interjected as he grabbed the glasses from the waitresses tray.
Ruth held up her hand, "Are we talking about the same Simon Tam, the one who danced naked through the er?"
Wash sprayed his drink across the table, "Naked?" he finally managed to choke out.
Blushing furiously, Simon tried to explain, but somehow as usual only made things even worse. Wash kept Ruth telling outrageous stories about Simon; Amanda interjected a comment here and there as seemed appropriate.
The stories finally wound down, Mal and Chloe concluded business to the satisfaction of both parties and joined everyone at the table, Wash asked Zoë to dance, and James whisked Ruth out onto the floor.
Simon sat back in his chair overcome by a feeling of nostalgia as he watched Ruth being squired around the dance floor, Amanda playing pool, though the huge merc was a new touch, Jayne was playing darts with Chloe and Jules and didn't seem to be making an ass of himself.
Mal placed two bottles on the table; taking a drink of his beer he eyed Simon who had a far away look in his eyes, "Homesick?" Mal asked softly.
"No. Serenity's home, just nostalgic" Simon answered absently as he reached for his beer, the bottle stopped halfway to his mouth when he realized what he had said. A look of horror appeared on his face, before he turned to look at Mal.
"Took you long enough to realize your part of my crew." Was all Mal had to say in regards to Simon's revelation, "Will they turn you in?"
"The twins, no" Simon paused for a breath, "They certainly don't need the money and they don't need the Alliances favour." Taking a drink of his beer, Simon studied the bottle as if it held the answers to the universe. "Captain remember when I said that I was in the top"
"Three percent yeah, one don't often forget meetin' a genius Doc" Mal interrupted
"Ruth and Amanda were the top two percent, Amanda would have matched Ruth if she actually wanted to be a doctor. Those two women out there come very close to making River's intelligence seem normal." At Mal's look of surprise, Simon nodded, "Yes, both Ruth and Amanda come very close to making me look like a babbling idiot."
"Huh, they both seem normal" Jayne said as he sat down heavily in his chair, "Not anything like you Doc"
River and Kaylee walked through the door loaded down with packages, spotting the men sitting at the table they made their way across the room.
"Tamade" Simon whispered, his gaze flying between River and the twins, but it was to late.
"Rootin' Mandy" River squealed as she threw her packages toward Jayne and Simon who had both risen to their feet in order to try and stave off a pending disaster.
The three women met at the edge of the dance floor in a group hug, hearing them speak what sounded like gibberish Mal cast his eye toward Simon, "Twin speak Captain" at Mal's blank look. Simon sat back down rearranging the packages so they did not fall as he did so, "It is a phenomenon among multiple birth sets, they often make up their own language that excludes everyone else. River of course broke the code the first time she heard Ruth and Amanda speak it."
Still speaking in gibberish with plenty of hand motions the women returned to the table, Ruth sat beside James, Amanda found herself beside Cord, before Simon could get up and grab another chair River sat herself down on Jayne's lap as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Surprising everyone at the table Jayne didn't say a word against River; he simply turned to Simon and asked, "Where's my whiskey?"
Conversation started up among the remaining adults, Kaylee was introduced to everyone and immediately involved James in a conversation about engines, which to everyone else was just as indecipherable as the twin's and Rivers conversation.
The more River talked the quieter the twins became, a hard look came over Ruth's face as tears started to run down Amanda's, Ruth interjected with what was clearly a question from her tone of voice. River replied with a few words in gibberish that ended with 'Jayne'.
River turned and put her hand on Jayne's shoulder, "Half of a whole, no longer" with that pronouncement she grasped his glass of whiskey and took a drink before leaning back, seeming exhausted she murmured something to Jayne before closing her eyes and falling asleep.
Mal looked from face to face, finally settling on Ruth, "Care to tell me what the hell just happened here?"
Amanda continued crying, the horror of what River told her she simply could not comprehend, she did not even realize when Cord simply lifted her out of her chair and cuddled her into his lap.
Ruth took a deep breath, "Simon, mei mei says she cannot often make you understand and she is not sure how long this clarity is going to last. I simply cannot process what has been done to her in the name of science by men that dare to call themselves doctors, butchers is more like it. I think I have some meds aboard Katie's Pride that will help some, but what she really needs is an anchor."
James returned to the table carrying a tray full of whiskey filled glasses. He placed one in front of Ruth, she drank the whole glass down in one swallow before continuing. "They were to be pairs, the anchor and the cohort, River is a cohort, but Simon got her out of that slaughterhouse before they attached her to an anchor, before they finished cutting out parts of her brain."
Serenity's crew winced, Simon had explained part of what he had found on Ariel, but his explanations were more technical than graphic. Without realizing he was even doing it Jayne wrapped one arm around the sleeping River.
Ruth continued, "They usually took twins, but River was too much to ignore, they knew she had the capabilities that would put every other pair to shame, only they couldn't find an anchor for her, they all burned out within the first few weeks."
Mal interrupted, "I understand that they were messin' around in the girl's brain, but for what reason?"
Ruth closed her eyes, "Partly because they could Captain, and because they wanted a perfect killing machine."
A low growling cut across the swearing that came from virtually every person at the table, Kaylee looked around trying to figure out where it was coming from, she finally realized it was the large man who held the woman called Amanda and Jayne?
Mal looked up when he stopped swearing, his gaze shifting between the two mercs, who held the sleeping women so gently. "Jayne, somethin' you care to share?" Mal asked softly as he moved his chair back from the table.
The blind look of fury in Jayne's eyes when he swung his face towards Mal stopped everyone from breathing for a moment; River's small hand came up and moved Jayne's face towards hers.
River said something in a different language as she stroked Jayne's chest with her hand, leaning down Jayne sniffed her neck before seeming to come back to himself; shaking his whole body as if he rose from a dream, he glared back at Mal, "What?"
"Huh, that's new even for you Jayne" Mal looked at Ruth, "You said somethin' about having meds that will help her until we find this here anchor she needs?"
At Ruth's nod, Mal stood "Simon you go with Ruth, grab what you need for River, we're out of here in the morning. Captain Harrison." With a nod toChloe Mal left the bar, Zoë grabbed Wash's hand and touched Kaylee on the shoulder. Without a word they grabbed the packages and left, Jayne trailed behind still carrying a sleeping River.
Simon sat in shock the events of the last few minutes completely dumbfounding him, not only had River explained to Ruth and Amanda what had been done to her, but she had also found the solution, and her interaction with Jayne that was simply to much to contemplate on top of everything else.