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Ch.7- The Client

"I think an explanation is in order!" Mal towered over their new client. Trying to not appear intimidated, David slowly stood back on his feet and brushed himself off before looking to face one very angry ship's Captain.

"Well," he began, "I'm not used to having to explain myself this many times, but I assure you Captain, I came on board in good faith after our conversation last evening, whereupon you agreed to transport some cargo on your ship, for me, for a set fee. I did not, however, agree to get shot at, thrown to the ground, and generally be mistreated within moments of arriving on said ship." He paused.

Mal was flabbergasted. "I…I…" he looked to River for help, who merely shrugged her shoulders at him. Nothing like crew loyalty. He tried again.

"First of all, you never said anything about transporting you, you said cargo. I believe that this is the subject we were debating when your little friends showed up blazing away. Mind telling me why exactly you were getting my crew shot at?!"

"Captain," David answered calmly, "I haven't the faintest idea who those men were. Aren't you, as the little lady put it, smugglers? Perhaps you have offended someone in the past?"

Jayne snorted. No one had noticed his decent into the cargo bay; they had all been too busy peeling themselves off of the floor and yelling accusations. David turned around to see who was behind him. And nearly fell over looking up. While he was not a short man, the man in front of him appeared to be a human wall.

Jayne ignored him. "Ya alright?" he solicitously asked River. She nodded.

David made a mental note of that little dynamic. There was definitely a connection between those two.

Jayne turned to Mal and cracked his knuckles. "Anythin' ya need me ta take care of, Cap'n?" He had yet to acknowledge David's presence, although David himself was fairly sure that if he made any quick moves he would find himself in some sort of crunchy behemoth headlock.

Mal shook his head. He wasn't entirely convinced the man was being upfront, but he did have a point about the crew mayhaps having some leftover enemies. "Well, I'm still not entirely clear on when we discussed transporting human cargo, but you're here, we obviously won't be returning to that dock today, so, well, Kaylee, can you please show Mr. Janek to his quarters."

David nodded his thanks to Mal, picked up his backpack, and followed a bubbling Kaylee. "Well, they ain't much, but they're clean, and near the mess, and…"

"Human cargo?" Jayne questioned. He looked over at the crates nervously. "More crazy girls insida there?"

River kicked him lightly in the shin. "Ow! I's just kiddin'!" He tried to smile at her as he rubbed his shin, but it came out as more of a grimace.

She smiled sweetly. "Of course you're forgiven. Just remember, you have two shins."

"Just him," Mal explained. "And you, l'il one, what was that all about? Borderline insubordination, if'n you ask me."

River shrugged. "You want to help him. Don't know why yet, but he has the same brain as you. Same sense." She skipped off.

Mal and Jayne watched her skip out of the bay. "Sometimes I think she just falls back on the not-making-sense thing just to keep us on our toes," Jayne stated.

Mal sighed. "It's them wiles. They's all got 'em. Come on, let's secure those crates."

They moved over to each take an end and started walking the crates over to the side compartments. Mal decided that now was as good a time as any to broach another touchy little subject.

"So," he started carefully, "River seems to be sportin' a mighty fine hairpiece this mornin', after ya both disappeared last night. Guess you two went shoppin'?"

Jayne shrugged. "Girl works hard at keepin' us from gettin' shot at, can't hurt to thank her every once in a while." He tried to act casual, but would not meet Mal's eyes.

Mal put down his end of the crate so Jayne could slide it into the wall. He stepped back and waited until Jayne stood up and turned to face him.

"Look, when I paired you two together, I was hoping ya wouldn't kill each other, but I also know how close partners can become. We're all glad you two are getting along now, just, well, just be careful Jayne. She's still a young girl without hardly any 'sperience in certain areas, and no one wants to see her gettin' hurt." He stopped and stared hard at Jayne.

Jayne had no trouble looking the Captain in the eye now. "I know. And I ain't fixin' to get anyone hurt, Cap'n." He looked away. "Maybe there's areas both me and River don't have a lot of 'sperience with, okay?" He looked back. "Look, I ain't pushin' anythin' on her, and if'n the Doc says to back off, I will, but I mostly think that, well, River's personal relationships are up ta her. Her decision, dong ma?"

Mal was surprised at the length of Jayne's speech, the honesty, and the willingness to leave decisions in other's hands. He didn't think he could be that willing to give up control of a situation, even if it would make things easier with Inara. He realized that Jayne might have strengths that didn't involve fighting.

Mal nodded. "Okay, just wanted to make sure that we're on the same page when it comes to the welfare of the crew." He smiled then to take the Captainy sting out of his speech. They both knew that while Mal felt the need to look out for River, she was very capable of making Jayne hurt.

And Jayne had proven his loyalty over the past year, repeatedly, to the point that Mal no longer worried about him defecting for money. He had a feeling that a lot of that was due to River's influence; the longer they worked together the more Jayne had exhibited signs of protectiveness and loyalty. At the beginning Jayne had treated his new partner as a teacher/student relationship, albeit grudgingly. As River quickly learned her way around the job, appropriately handling any number of sticky situations, they had graduated to a more equal level, true partnership as it were. Now, it seemed to Mal that something more was on the verge of blossoming, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

He wasn't as blind as he knew the rest of the crew thought him to be. His teasing Jayne about the whoring had been on purpose. He had seen River's puppy eyes directed at Jayne and didn't want her forgetting what kind of man he could be. Even though he had seen that Jayne was capable of change, he knew that some habits die hard, and didn't want the 'verse's most dangerous pair to blow up. On his ship. While they were in space. Gotta figure that wouldn't be pretty.

They slid the last crate into the wall compartment. "I'm gonna get a drink, then go yell at my pilot 'bout that takeoff back there. You comin?"

Just then River walked back into the bay. "I'll be along ina minute, Cap'n," Jayne replied. Mal turned to see River standing there. He looked back at Jayne who was staring at River and had already forgotten him. Mal sighed. He couldn't see this being easy no matter how things turned out. He left the bay.

Jayne walked over to River. "Wanna tell me what's the deal with that guy gettin' us shot at back there? Cause I ain't believin' the 'you guys must have pissed someone off' excuse that the Captain bought."

River smiled up at him. It was all kinds'a distracting lately when she did that.

"It's okay. Ultimately we are doing the right thing," she cryptically replied.

"Nuh-uh. Not with the puzzles. Who is he really? Ya know him? Cause he sure knows you."

"Three-quarters of the 'verse knows me. And David's not a threat to us." She took his hand and started walking towards the kitchen. "Come on, I'm hungry and you said you would show me the moo-shi marinade today."

Jayne let her tug him along; however he was mulling over the negative feeling that had arisen when River had called their client 'David' instead of 'Mr. Janek'. Seemed a mite too familiar-like, specially as, from the catwalk, he had seen the look on the young man's face when he had first caught sight of her.