A/N: Thanks to Culf for reminding me that this was unfinished! The third part is up now as well, with more to come.
Wo xi wang ni man man si, dan kuai dian xia di yu!
Lenore was aimed and cocked before Jayne even had his eyes all the way open.
He was pointing the revolver at empty space – which was a real good thing considering the weapon weren't even loaded. He blinked a few times and looked around, but he was still all alone under the ion jet. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a few bullets and dropped them into the chambers. Safety back on, he tucked Lenore into her customary place in the holster strapped to his thigh but didn't close the thumb snap. If something or someone did pop up, he didn't want to waste even a fraction of a second on undoing it.
The hair on the back of his neck was crawling something fierce, but another scan of the area showed that he was the only person around. Probably the only person for miles, not counting the folks tucked up safe in Serenity's belly. He would've chuckled at himself, for spooking like a green kid, if it weren't for the fact that he was so gorram unsettled.
He'd definitely heard something, someone, talking, but who or what it was he couldn't say. Sad fact was, that particular phrase had been hurled at him any number of times in the past few decades and hearing it wasn't exactly something you'd wanna remember. Assuming you lived to remember anything at all.
Plus, all them people who'd said it were dead now. All dead by his own hand.
Jayne got to his feet and started gathering up his girls and tucking them into the bag he'd been resting his head on. He looped the rifles over his shoulder and stuffed the cloth under it. Then he realized that when he picked up the bag of guns, he wouldn't have a hand free to get to Lenore should the need arise.
Swearing loudly, Jayne dropped the cloth to the ground then awkwardly crouched down to cram it in the bag. The rifles slung over his shoulder threatened to slide down into the dirt. He grabbed for their straps, misjudged how far they'd shifted and promptly fell straight on his ass.
A breath of sound floated on the wind from behind him and for the second time in less than five minutes, Jayne found himself staring down Lenore's sleek barrel. Only this time, he was staring up the barrel at an upside-down ship and there was someone square in his sights:
That gorram crazy girl, giggling like the sāng xīn bìng kuáng she was.
Prancing up and down Serenity's cargo ramp, her raggedy skirt was twirling around her legs as she moved to music only she could hear. At least Jayne assumed it was music. She looked sorta like she was dancing, if by dancing you meant throwing your arms and legs all over the place like a man that just got kicked in the head.
He rolled onto his stomach and tilted his head, considering. No, that wasn't what it looked like at all. She looked more like one of them kabuki dancers, but faster and more graceful, if that was even possible.
He tucked Lenore back into the holster and got to his feet as the doc came walking down the ramp toward the girl. He was moving real slow-like, creeping up on her like he was afraid she'd startle and run if he moved too fast. The girl was pretending to ignore him, but she kept dancing just out of his reach whenever he got close.
Jayne snorted as he finished picking up his gear and started toward the ramp. Girl was feng le, sure, annoying as hell too, but she weren't dangerous. Hell, her whole body was about as big around as his arm – wouldn't be no thing to take her down if'n she did start to get rowdy.
He walked around the edge of the ramp, giving the doc and the girl a wide berth, and headed up into the ship. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the dark cave of the cargo bay, after the bright twin suns outside. Without slowing down, he headed for the nearest set of stairs, his mind already on the tools he'd need from his bunk to give the Buhnder a thorough cleaning. Before he was halfway there, though, the intercom crackled to life.
"Jayne? You back on yet?" Zoë's voice echoed through the bay from a couple of different speakers.
He changed directions with barely a hitch in his stride and hit the 'com button. "Yeah, 'm here. What's up?"
"Cap'n just called. Said they're on their way back. Might have company." There was a tight thread of tension running through her words and Jayne felt the coils in his belly loosen just a bit. Maybe he'd get that fight after all.
"He say who?" Jayne dropped his bag and one of the rifles before he'd even finished the question. He was already digging in one of his pockets for the mag he'd tucked in there before heading outside.
"Didn't say. We got any folks lingering outside?"
He glanced over his shoulder to where the doc was still trying to sweet-talk his sister into coming back inside. "Yeah," he growled. "I got 'em."
Zoë didn't bother to respond. She was probably halfway to the cargo bay already.
Jayne thumbed off the intercom and turned toward the ramp.
"Get back on the gorram ship!" he bellowed.
The doctor spun around, eyes wide and mouth working like a fish. Like a really stupid fish. His hands just sorta dangled at his sides like he'd forgotten they were still attached.
The girl giggled and tapped her brother's chin. "Bào tóu shǔ cuàn!"
"Yeah, what she said," Jayne muttered. "We got us some company comin'."
The doc hurried over to his sister and tried to grab her arm, no doubt thinking that dragging her off to hide was the best plan. She darted out of his grip though and skipped over to Jayne's side.
He ignored her and bent down to pull a knife and sheath out of his boot. Better to have it close to hand, in case this 'company' wanted to start something. He tucked them both in his waistband.
The familiar ripples of adrenaline were just starting to skim through his veins. His muscles loosened and his mind slowed as he got ready to face whatever Mal might be bringing back to the ship. He barely noticed that the girl was standing so close that the sleeve of her sweater was brushing against the hair on his arms. He heard the door to Inara's shuttle open and then Zoë's voice, quietly telling the Companion to get back inside.
He moved to the open doorway and looked out. Nothing was moving outside, except the grass and the leaves as the wind pushed across the open plain. He could hear the mule's engine somewhere off to the south, but it didn't sound like Mal was pushing it too hard. He also didn't hear any other engines, which meant if somebody was coming with 'em, it was either on the mule with 'em or riding on horseback.
Zoë moved up next to him, her sawed-off clasped loosely in one hand and swinging against her leg. "Cap'n didn't sound worried, just slightly pissed. Might be nothin'."
Jayne grunted. "Yeah, but it's always somethin' with him, ain't it?" He saw a tiny smirk whip across the lines of Zoë's face for just an instant before it smoothed back into her take-no-shit warrior woman mask.
The slightest brush of fingers on his arm had him spinning to his right. The girl was standing close enough to him that he could count all the lashes around her big eyes, if'n he wanted to.
"What the hell d'ya want?" he blustered, to cover the fact that he hadn't noticed that she'd moved forward with him.
"Noah didn't want a hunter on the Ark at first, but he made a mistake. Needed someone to keep the rats in their hole." She stared at him for a minute and then backed away, still managing to dance just out of her brother's reach. "Picked him up before the flood. Saved him."
She whirled away, skirt tangling against her legs as she skipped down the length of the bay, her brother following right behind.
Jayne turned his back on them and settled Lenore in his hand. The cool weight of her weathered grip grounded him, reminded him of the situation at hand. "What the hell ever," he growled. He could still feel the moonbrain's eyes on him.
Zoë held her shotgun up to shoulder height and pumped it as the whine of the mule got closer. "Reckon she might have a point there, Jayne. Every boat needs a good rat-catcher."
He didn't know how to respond to that one, so he just kept his mouth shut and his body loose. A small grin slipped over his lips, though.
Hunter, he thought, as the mule slipped into view. I like the sound of that.
tbc...
Translations:
wo xi wang ni man man si, dan kuai dian xia di yu - I wish you a slow death, but a quick ride to hell
sāng xīn bìng kuáng - lunatic
feng le - crazy
bào tóu shǔ cuàn - scurry off like a frightened rat