Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed so far, I really appreciate it!
Mal descended the ladder to his bunk, Serenity's surprisingly gentle murmur indicating they were in route to Beaumonde providing him it's usual comfort. Fanty and Mingo had practically salivated through the screen when they had seen Jo's diamond, as the Captain had known they would. He shuddered to think what they would do with it when they were actually in it's presence, but the twins had offered a substantial amount to take the rock off his hands. Of course, Mal knew it probably wasn't near what it was actually worth, but he was eager to get it off his ship. Josephine was enough trouble all on her own.
Sighing heavily, Mal sat at his desk, eyeing the burn that she had given him on his hand. The skin was already starting to grow back, but it still tingled as he traced a finger along its edge thoughtfully. She, like the burn, was a complication that he just didn't understand. She could be so strong and unflinching; he remembered the way she had shot Marco and not hesitated to go through the dead man's things. But then she could shift in an instant, become all vulnerable and awkward, and make him hunger to protect her. Like when she gave me this, Mal thought. The shiny pink sore on his hand fascinated him in a way he couldn't, or simply refused, to understand.
The Captain shook his head, determined to rid himself of the thoughts that were forming there, but they crept into him just the same. I have no right to want to protect her, he thought. She isn't crew, she isn't mine and I've only known her a matter of days. But when I think about what she's been through, what that hundan put her through, and the fact that despite all of it, she's still sane... Rubbing his forehead softly, Mal realized he had reacted in much the same way to River at first. Wanting, despite his own attempts to talk himself out of it, to shelter her immediately. "Maybe it's my way," he whispered, smiling sadly as he recalled Book's words.
He shook his head again as he moved from the desk to his bed, suddenly tired, his mind heavy. No, he thought. I always have to be the protector, but not this time. She didn't ask for anything from me. Hell, she's so proud sometimes she probably wouldn't let me.
He had almost convinced himself as he laid his head on the pillow, but it only stayed there a moment before he had jumped back up in surprise. An ear-splitting scream echoed through Serenity's walls, and Mal knew at once who had caused it.
"Well maybe just this one time," he said to himself as he hurried back up the ladder and into the corridor. He nearly collided with Zoe as she quickly came out of her own bunk.
"Is that Josephine?" She asked as they hurried down the stairs in the direction of the passenger dorms, the source of the slowly quieting shrieks.
He nodded at her tightlipped as they rounded the corner and came face to face with Kaylee, Simon and River, staring into Jo's room. Kaylee and Simon looked worried, but River seemed peaceful as she turned to Mal.
"She didn't listen," the young woman said.
"What's going on?" Mal pushed past the others, giving River an odd look, to see into the room. The first thing he saw was Jayne's back near the bed, blocking Jo from view. His mind wondered suddenly, surprised that the noise had actually woken the large man. Jayne shifted and Mal could see her pressed into the corner, one knee raised to her chest, as she sat on the bed. She had stopped screaming but her eyes were wide, tears running down her face, and she was mumbling incoherently. Jayne turned as he heard him enter, and stepped out of the way.
"She's gone crazy," he said to Mal, eyes spooked. "She won't let anyone get near her, she starts hollerin'."
As he approached her cautiously he noticed that her eyes were unfocused, glazed over, and he thought he understood.
"She's asleep. Nightmare." Mal heard River's voice come softly from the hallway, confirming his thoughts.
Jo looked back and forth frantically, reliving some horrible memory, as the Captain stepped closer to her. He raised his hands in front of him, like Jayne had done, to show he was safe. It was a comfortable gesture, but he knew how useless it was. She couldn't see him.
"Jo?" He said her name hopefully, trying to bring her out of herself, but got no response except Jayne snorting behind him and Mal turned his head to him.
"You think we didn't try that?"
Mal shook his head and turned back to Josephine. "Go back to bed Jayne." He heard the mercenary hesitate, obviously wanting to say something else, before he turned and pushed his way past the others roughly. Mal continued forward, eyes on her face, but stopped abruptly when he felt his legs bump into the side of the bed. He wanted to go to her, but he wasn't sure how she'd react if he got on the bed. He could only assume she was remembering a particularly horrible night with Rawley, and he certainly didn't want to play his part in her dream.
He was close enough now to pick up some of what she was saying, and it made him cringe. "No... you can't. I won't let you. I'm not here, I'm not here." She began rocking slightly, back and forth, and Mal couldn't stop himself from kneeling gently on the bed.
Josephine felt the bed bow under Mal's weight, and cried out, pressing her self tighter into the wall as if she were trying to go through it. Her voice became louder with panic as he edged closer. "Don't! Wo jiang sha si ni, Ni bu neng po huaipi wo..."
A strangled cry escaped her lips as she felt him in front of her and she lunged out suddenly, beating her fists feebly against his chest. Despite the weakness of her attack, he wasn't ready for it and it pushed him to his back with her above him. He grabbed her wrists to stop her from hitting him and cradled them both in one of his large hands. He tugged on them, pulling her to him gently as he wrapped an arm around her tentatively. Jo struggled against him, fresh tears wetting his shirt, and he began to rub her back in small circles.
"It's a dream, he's not here. Wake up." Mal spoke soothingly to her and she slowly began to cease struggling and calm down, her breathing becoming even again as her head rested on his chest. He raised his head off the bed slightly and looked at her face. Her eyes were closed, lashes still wet, and she appeared to have fallen back into normal sleep, the nightmare forgotten. He released her wrists but her hands stayed on his chest, clutching softly at his shirt as she slept. He raised the hand that wasn't on her back and traced a finger along the thin scar on one of her wrists, watching her carefully.
"Ahem." Zoe cleared her throat, reminding Mal that he had an audience, and he turned towards the open door. She had ushered the others off when Josephine began to calm down, and it was just Zoe staring at him as he lay holding Jo on the bed. He stared at his first mate defiantly, refusing to be embarrassed, but was surprised to see a flicker of amusement cross Zoe's face.
"She seems to have calmed down Sir."
"Yep." He turned back to Josephine as Zoe paused.
"So... don't you think we should go and let her sleep?"
"Huh? Oh... maybe I shouldn't move just let. Don't want to wake her up."
Zoe turned to walk out, rolling her eyes gently. "No Sir, wouldn't want that."
He knew Zoe well enough to hear the sarcasm in her voice, no matter how small it was, and he turned back to see her go through the door. "I saw that."
"No you didn't," she called back to him from the corridor, making him smile softly before turning back to the sleeping woman.
Mal felt something shaking him gently, but he dismissed it as being part of his dream, and stubbornly remained asleep. The shaking became more forceful and he heard someone mutter, "Wake... up..." His eyes snapped open and he stared at Josephine as her hands left his shoulders.
"Finally," she muttered under her breath and pushed herself back against the wall, knees pulled tightly to her chest. His eyes focused on his surroundings and he remembered where he was.
"What are you doing here?" Her eyes were narrowed in accusation as he regarded her closely. The Captain frowned at her, still laying on his back in her bed. "What do you mean 'what are you doing here'? You were screamin' your head off, woke everybody up!"
She looked at him, even more confused than she had been when she woke up with his arms around her, face pressed into his chest.
He saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "You don't remember?"
"No," she said, her voice hushed.
Mal sighed deeply, a hand trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. "You were having a nightmare or something. I tried to calm you down and you fell asleep... and apparently so did I."
She looked down at him, not quite believing. "A nightmare? I usually remember those when I wake up."
He shrugged, or attempted to shrug the best he could while laying down. She looked down at her hands, picking at them tensely as Mal observed her. Josephine was back in the position he had found her in last night, pressed tightly into the corner, as far from him as she could get.
"What time is it?"
She didn't look up at his question, but continued busying herself with her hands. "It's early. I don't think anyone's up yet." She looked at him then, still laying down. "Could you get up please?" Her voice had gotten softer and Mal thought he saw her blush slightly before she looked down again.
He couldn't stop the smirk that came to his face and he put his hands behind his head. "I don't know, I'm pretty comfortable."
"Well I'm not."
The unease in her voice made him feel like a heel for teasing her, and he pushed himself into a sitting position, putting the wall at his back. They sat together like that for a few moments, neither one speaking or looking at the other. Finally, Mal broke the silence.
"River said something interesting when we found you."
Jo buried her face in her hands. "Oh god, they were all here?"
He wanted to reach out to her again, but he stopped his arm when it began to rise. "I wouldn't worry about it, they won't think any less of you."
She looked back at him, nodding slightly. "What did River say?"
"She said, 'she didn't listen.' Now what do you suppose she was talking about?" He glanced at Jo curiously.
"She knew... about the nightmares. She tried to warn me that they were getting worse, she even told me what to do about it." She watched Mal nod, as if this made perfect sense. "But how could she know that?"
The Captain sighed and ran a hand over his head, trying to decide how much she needed to know. "She's a reader. She knows things, sometimes before they happen, sometimes just what you're thinking."
Josephine's eyes widened as she took in what he was saying, and she couldn't help being angry at him. "A warning would have been nice," she grumbled.
He ignored her temper and looked at her, concerned. "What did she say to do about it?"
"Do about what?" She looked at him, forgetting what they were talking about before she found out River was psychic.
"The nightmares."
"Oh." She looked at her hands again before continuing, somewhat embarrassed. "She said I should cry," she told him softly.
Mal crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you think that would help?"
"I don't know... but it doesn't matter anyway."
"Why not?"
When she looked back at him, he was taken aback at the rage that now shone in her eyes. "Because he's gotten too many tears out of me already. I won't give him the satisfaction, not if I can help it."
"He doesn't have to know if you do, I mean, if you think it will help..."
"I'll know!" she snapped at him.
Mal raised his hands in front of him. "Fine. Then what are you going to do about the nightmares? You can't keep waking everybody up."
She sighed then, rubbing her forehead as if in pain. "I'll figure something out, I'm sorry I woke everyone up."
"It's fine," Mal said, contradicting what he had just told her and getting up quickly. "Listen, I expect to be on Beaumonde sometime today, could be any minute with the way that girl navigates." He hovered near the doorway. "So... there's captainy stuff I need to do."
"I'm not keeping you," Josephine said simply from her seat on the bed.
He stared at her a moment, one hand resting on the door frame. "No." Mal left, shutting the door behind him.
It was early evening, Beaumonde time, when they docked and the Captain and Jayne waited patiently for Zoe to join them in the cargo bay with the diamond. Well, one of them waited patiently.
"Gorramit Mal, where's she at? I already got plans for that money... and all the good whores are taken by the time it gets dark!"
Mal glared at Jayne from his spot leaning near the ramp controls. "She's coming. And this ain't no shore leave Jayne. I plan on seeing Fanty and Mingo, gettin' our money, and gettin' the hell off this gorram planet." He smiled smugly at the mercenary. "No time for whorin'."
"Aw c'mon Mal!"
The Captain shook his head and left Jayne to sulk as he walked over to the stairs. "Zoe!" He yelled up. "Lets get a move on!"
"Coming Sir." Zoe descended the stairs, carefully stuffing the large diamond into an unobtrusive pouch that hung at her side.
Mal started to turn, but saw Josephine walking in the taller woman's shadow and stopped in his tracks. Jo was dressed in what had to be Zoe's borrowed pants, rolled up to keep from tripping over them, and shirt, sleeves rolled up and baggier on her than their owner. A holster rode low on her waist, and he could only assume it belonged to Zoe as well. The gun that rested in it, Mal had seen before. It had been the one to kill Marco. She looked like a miniature, less toned Zoe with the clothes, gun, and the way her hair was pulled back.
He held up a hand as they came down the stairs. "Whoa... where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going with you," Jo answered simply as she stepped around him.
Turning quickly, Mal grabbed her elbow to stop her. "No... you're not."
She looked from the hand on her arm to his face coldly. "Yes... I am." She shook him off and turned to face him, arms crossing her chest. "You wouldn't even have that rock if it weren't for me."
"I wouldn't have a lot of things if it weren't for you, including this headache you keep giving me!"
Jayne laughed loudly and both Mal and Jo turned to glare at him. He turned the laugh into a phoney cough but moved closer, smirking slightly.
The Captain turned to Zoe, eyes fierce. "You encourage this?"
She raised her hands in defense. "No Sir. She just asked to borrow a few things, I didn't know what she planned to do."
"I'll bet you didn't," he muttered as he turned back to Josephine. "You're not going and that's final."
"Mal," she began, her tone reasoning, "if I don't get off this boat, I'm going to go crazy."
"You mean you ain't already?" Mal and Jo turned to glare at the still smiling Jayne again.
The Captain turned back to Josephine, losing some of his anger. "You're just gonna have to go crazy then, cause you ain't going."
"Why not?"
He exhaled heavily in frustration as he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "Why not? People are looking for you... or did you forget?"
"I didn't forget," she said softly. "But I also didn't do anything wrong. I shouldn't have to hide."
"They don't care whether or not you did anything wrong, they just care about finding you."
They stood in silence for a moment, trying to stare each other down. It was Jo that broke first. "Listen, Beaumonde is a big place right? They'd have a hard time singling me out in those crowds." She patted the gun at her waist. "And you know I know how to use this."
Mal's face still showed apprehension, but he didn't rush to stop her this time and she felt like she was gaining some ground.
"I won't say anything, I'll fade into the background, I'm good at it," she continued. "Besides, I don't even look like myself in these clothes, I look like..."
He snorted reproachfully and stepped closer to her, voice hushed but still carrying, as he cut her off. "You look like a little girl playing 'dress-up like a gunfighter'!" She stepped away from him startled. "Don't fool yourself," he said more gently.
Silence stretched over the cargo bay again, but it was Mal that looked away first this time.
"Luo ding ni," she whispered bitterly, moving slowly to the controls and opening the ramp. She half expected him to stop her as she began down it, and was pleased when he didn't.
Jayne looked from Mal to Josephine before shrugging and starting off after her. The Captain and Zoe watched them head off the ship. He turned to his first mate, frowning. "I blame you." He pointed at her for emphasis before following the others. Zoe brought up the rear, smiling pleasantly.