'What chew want?' The man said, clearly unimpressed with Jack.
'I'm here to see Mr. Tyson.' Jack said. The man smiled.
'He's not in.' The goon told him. Jack observed the man. He clearly looked the type for enjoying random violence, but didn't look overly smart.
'Sure he is.' Jack told him. 'Tell him Mr. Forrester is here to see him.' The goon eyed him cautiously for a second, before speaking in rapid Chinese through the radio attached to his ear. Good man, thought Jack. After a minute, the goon had moved aside to let Jack enter. Jack walked through the door into an office considerably more comfortable than the blacksmiths before it. Jack sat down, waiting for Mr. Tyson to finish going through his paperwork. He looked up and saw Jack.
'Ah, Mr. Forrester. Wonderful to see you.' He said. Mr. Tyson was an old man, quite timid but had an air of majesty, of control and power.
'Same here, Mr. Tyson. Is it ready?' Jack asked.
'Erm, yes, the, er, item you asked for is ready.' Mr. Tyson said. 'Actually, we finished it just this morning.' He added, proudly.
'Indeed.' Jack said, his tone implying that he was in a hurry. Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson was tone deaf.
'We had to, hmm, custom parts off world.' He said, clearly not noticing Jack's urgency. 'I didn't know what it would do, but I did some research, and-' Jack sighed.
'You inquired what the item was in fact for?' Jack asked, quite annoyed.
'Erm, ah, yes.' Mr. Tyson answered, concern flashing across his face. 'Why, is that, a, hmm, problem?' He asked.
'Oh, no Mr. Tyson.' Jack asked. This would have to be dealt with.
'Myself, I can't see what you'd want one of these for, I mean-' He began, but Jack interrupted again.
'Can I have the item, Mr. Tyson?' He asked impatiently.
'Oh yes, of course.' He said, reaching below his desk and bringing up a large black bag. Jack opened it up and looked inside.
'Everything appears to check out.' He said, before looking around the room. 'Say, Mr. Tyson, have you had this room soundproofed?' Mr. Tyson looked up, slightly puzzled.
'Hmm, yes, I had it soundproofed so that my competitors couldn't steal my ideas.' He said, before saying proudly. 'I'm always one step ahead.'
'Yes, quite.' Jack said. He pulled out a thin rod out of his pocket. 'May I show you this?' Mr. Tyson lent over to have a closer look.
'Hmm, ah, what is it?' He said, looking at it with interest. It was quite thin, and about the width of Jack's hand. He looked up at Jack. 'Is it broken?' He asked. Jack smiled as the ends extended.
'No, Mr. Tyson. In fact, it works perfectly.'
The crew had gathered inside the hold to meet the Jack. Mal had left the front door open so that Inara could go and fetch whatever she needed. Mal was dressed in his traditional browncoat, with Zoe, his first mate at his side. While Mal kept his trusty revolver in its holster, Zoe was carrying her favourite rifle. Though she trusted the Captain, she didn't completely trust this new guy, Jack. Jayne was standing far away from Mal as possible. He remembered the situation an hour ago, and wasn't keen to give him a chance to repeat it. Mal looked around, impatient.
'River, are the doc and Kaylee…you know…' He began.
'Having sex, Sir?' Zoe finished. Mal blushed.
'Yeah. That.' Mal said, not really wanting to think about it any more than he had to already. River stared in the direction of Kaylee's room for about two minutes.
'Yeah, they're done.' She said, smiling.
Simon was breathing heavily as Kaylee slid off him and back onto the bed.
'That was…' He said, words escaping him. Kaylee gave him a huge hug.
'Wonderful.' She said, and truly meant it. Simon hugged her back, holding her close, before giving her a kiss on the forehead.
'When you went upstairs, what happened?' He asked. While Kaylee had been upstairs, listening, he had been sorting through stuff that River had hidden, finding his things. When she came down, she had tears in her eyes. Before he asked what the matter was she gave him a kiss that literally knocked him off his feet and onto the bed. She nearly tore her clothes, she was in such a hurry to remove them. Simon, fortunately, was still as naked as the day he was born. When Kaylee had taken everything off, he held her to him, the two of them intertwining, becoming one. Simon sighed happily. A couple of months ago, he wouldn't have dreamt of this happening. Well, he reasoned, he might have dreamt it but never thought of it as a reality. Simon came back to the present when Kaylee gave him another kiss. They were still one. Afterwards, Kaylee told him what the Captain and Zoe had said to Jayne. Simon held Kaylee even closer, kissing her gently, then with passion. She smiled. She was happy. 'I love you, Kaylee.' She looked up at him.
'I love you, Simon.' She said. They held each other, not daring to let go, when suddenly Mal's voice broke over the com.
'Kaylee! Doc! Get dressed and get to the hold, Jack's gonna be here in about five minutes!' He shouted down. Simon smiled at Kaylee.
'Time to go.' Simon admitted. She hugged him close.
'Yeah, guess so.' She said, giving him one last passionate kiss, before breaking free of their loving hold, getting out of the bed and looking for her clothes.
Seven minutes later, Kaylee and Simon arrived, holding hands, and smiling. Jayne stared at them.
'Look at you two, been rutting like-' He began but Mal cast him an angry look before he stopped.
'It's shiny, Captain,' Kaylee said. She said, giving Simon a quick kiss on the lips. 'The big ape's just jealous.'
'Well, just look at them. They're so sweaty, I could make soup from their first ten minutes.' Jayne said, annoyed.
'Jayne!' Mal shouted.
'Still shiny, Captain.' Kaylee said, smiling broadly.
'Death comes to all.' River said. Everyone stared at her. Simon looked worried.
'River? What's-' He began. River started to shout.
'Death comes. Screaming. The screaming, torture, maim, maim, death!' She shouted. Simon was seriously afraid now. He went over to River and hugged her tight.
'River! It's okay, it's okay, I'm here. I'm here.' He started shushing her until she calmed down, then he let go. Her gaze shifted, looking right over his shoulder. She looked more afraid than she had ever been.
'The bringer of death walks through the valley.' She said, staring over his shoulder at the airlock door. 'He comes.' With that, she ran away. Mal stared at the airlock. There was definitely someone there. He pressed a button and it opened to reveal…a man. Cleary soaked to the skin, wearing a jacket, and carrying a big black bag. The man smiled.
'Howdy. I'm Jack.'
