Disclaimers: Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon own it all.
Reviews: Feedback very welcomed and appreciated
Timeline: Takes place during Safe, only this time Jayne gets snatched
Pairings: Jayne/ River, naturally; Zoe/ Wash
Rating: M for all the usual reasons
Mal followed Jayne to the galley and sat at the table, watching his mercenary as he made a cup of tea.
"You want a cup?" Jayne asked without turning away from the stove.
Mal hid his surprise. "Don't mind if I do. So, you gonna tell me what the gorram hell went on down there? I sent you to take care of 'em, not get captured with 'em. Gotta say Jayne, if I can't count on my merc handlin' a little job like that I'm wonderin' just why I should be keepin' him on for."
Taking a deep breath, Jayne turned to the captain. "Don't know what to tell you Mal, guess you gotta do what you feel you gotta." He put down a mug in front of Mal and left the galley, passing Simon who was standing in the doorway. "You don't gotta get involved doc, he's gonna decide on his own."
Simon entered the galley and sat across from the captain. "You blame Jayne for this?"
"Well doc, why don't you tell my why I shouldn't? It was his job to keep an eye on you, keep you out of trouble and here we are a month later, you and your sis almost getting' burned like some witches from earth-that-was. Don't seem like he did such a great job." Mal took a sip of his tea.
"Jayne kept River and me alive for over a month. Jayne found us after those savages had us, he could've walked away, but he didn't. And instead of letting my sister become the object of a village auction, he pretended to be her husband. He saved her from more degradation." Simon shook his head. "I don't know what got into Jayne, he was totally out of character, but if it wasn't for him I don't know how River and I would've survived."
Rising up from his seat, Mal took a bottle of sake from the back a top cupboard. "Private stash." He came back to the table and set two small cups down and filled them. "So, saw you moved Book outta the infirmary."
"Yes, he's doing well so I moved him back to his room. They did a good job, he's going to be fine, but letting him swing up on that harness wasn't the best idea."
Mal chuckled. "Yeah, well seems Book didn't want to be left out of the rescue and since Jayne refused to be left on board that's the place that needed fillin'."
"Um, captain, thanks for coming back for us." Simon gave Mal an awkward smile.
"Well, you're on my crew and no one on the crew gets left behind. Besides, my mercenary had more than a few words to say on the matter." Mal waited for some sort of response.
"Jayne, he's quite an unexpected equation." Simon said mysteriously. "Don't know what River and I would've done without him there." He kept his eyes on his sake.
"What exactly went on between my merc and your sister?"
Simon threw back the cup of alcohol and gave a slight shudder as the warm liquid made it's way down his throat. "Not sure, and too be honest I don't think I want to know. But whatever it was, my sister is closer to the way she was before she went to the Academy then she has been since she came out of the box."
"And you think it has to do with Jayne?" Mal rubbed his forehead, the last thing he wanted was more complications, what with the feds already huntin' the doc and his sis.
"I know it has to do with Jayne, my sister as much as said so." Simon looked up at Mal, his eyes pleading. "Captain, I just want her to find some happiness…"
"Doc, you're talking about Jayne. He ain't no altruistic do-gooder, we all know that. And he's about old enough to be your sister's pa." Mal wasn't sure he liked what he was hearing from the doctor.
Simon shrugged. "My father was much older than my mother, it's the way of core society. It's not unusual for husbands to be older than their wives, whatever works for social advantage. I just know he treated River well and she…"
"Boy, I don't need to know this, I ain't your father-confessor. Just keep it from affecting my ship is all I ask." Mal finished his drink and left the galley, turning for one last comment. "You do know what my mercenary is like?"
"I know what your mercenary was like. People change, we should let them."
"Well boy, don't seem my merc is the only one who changed. What the hell they go in the water down there?" Mal gave Simon a questioning look.
The younger man shrugged again. "Seems we, my sister and I aren't living on the core anymore and acclimation is the key to survival Captain. River, she isn't the little mei mei that left Osiris all those years ago and I realized on that moon that she never will be." He looked up at Mal. "This is a hard world sir, the one you live in, the one I now live in. I learned that I have to accept that fact." He rose to go back to his room. "Captain, once again, thank you for returning for us and accepting us as crew." Simon gave a slight bow and was gone.
Mal shook his head to clear it before placing his cup in the sink. Just don't want no complications, he thought to himself with a small laugh.
Book stood next to Jayne as he continued to lift at a feverish pace. "Jayne, you need to slow down, you'll pull something."
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Jayne asked irritatingly.
"Simon said I should move around a bit, need to regain my strength. This is merely a small sojourn. I'm on my way to the common room to rest after my attempt at being a rescuer." The older man let out a small laugh.
"Yeah, thanks for takin' my place up there. Shepard?" Jayne put the bar back in place and turned to face Book.
"Yes m'boy?" Book had been waiting for this. Everyone had.
"I don't know…River and me…" He turned away.
"Just get it off your chest Jayne." Book sat on a nearby crate and waited for Jayne to continue.
"I woulda never, I mean she's just a girl, but…" He looked up at the preacher. "She wormed her way into a soul I didn't even know I had and I don't know how to get her out."
Book was taken aback, the look on Jayne's face spoke volumes. "Do you want to get her out?" He was certain something physical had occurred, sure of it, and he wanted Jayne to do the right thing by the girl.
"Thing is, I ain't the best for anyone, let alone a girl like her. She's so delicate, kinda pure and all. And I…"
River giggled as she came upon the two men. "Oh Jayne, I may have been untouched in certain ways, but pure? The things the Alliance did to me, made me do, not pure for a long time." She cocked her head to one side. "Don't feel guilty, you never had a chance." River smiled at the Shepard. "I wanted him so I took him."
"So, was you a virgin or not?" Jayne asked, a small smile on his face as she shrugged.
Books eyebrows went up at the glee in the girl's voice and Jayne's question, not really sure he should be privy to either. "You took him?"
"Yes, I wanted him, needed him. We balance." She took a deep breath as she ran her hand over the mercenary's thigh. "Umm, he's the man for me so I took him. As for being a virgin, the hymen was gone, broken by the alliance as were many thinks, but you were the first man to enter. But this was unimportant to her husband and that was very important to the girl."
Slightly blushing at the raw lust in the girl's eyes, young woman he corrected himself, Book stood up. "Yes, well, I suppose this is something your brother and the captain, as well as the rest of us, need to digest. Jayne, I think we are done here for now, I'll see you in the galley."
After he left, River turned to Jayne. "He is uncomfortable with us, but no need to worry." She sat down on his lap. "Everyone will come to digest and accept." Running her tongue along his jaw, Jayne quivered slightly.
"Girl, now is not the time or place. Mal or Zoe's likely to shot me where I stand." He pulled her closer, his hands resting on her hips as his thumbs ran circles on them. Jayne moaned as she pushed into those large hands. "Gotta stop now, 'fore things get goin'."
"Only participated sexual intercourse with you for one night, want to join with you again. Very soon. So we must make our intentions clear." She arched up and kissed him.
"Yeah, okay." He realized he could get dead real soon.
"Mmmm, no one will get dead. We'll just get happy." She smiled into his lips.