All disclaimers apply

Ch. 17- Workin' For a Livin'- Redux

"I'm confused," Simon said, walking into the cargo bay towards the bench where Jayne was lifting too much weight.

"What's that, Doc?" Jayne grunted out.

Simon grabbed the middle of the bar and helped Jayne lift it back onto the rack.

"Thanks," muttered Jayne, "I'm impressed ya have it in ya."

Simon smiled. "I've had a little practice restraining patients in the past, I guess it keeps me a little in shape."

Jayne grunted and started lifting again. "If ya say so."

Simon shook his head at the amount of weight the older man was pushing. "You didn't answer my question."

Jayne grunted again. "Didn't hear one."

"I said that I was confused. My sister recently gave me the 'butt out of my romance with Jayne' lecture, and now she's in the mess serving David cookies."

Simon didn't miss the pained look that quickly crossed the man's face at that. "Don' know, Doc. Woman's got the right to make her own decisions." He knew he sounded ridiculous, but he knew Mal didn't want anyone else knowing what was going on- Simon was a terrible liar. River had to get some information out of David before the others could know the truth.

Jayne understood the Captain's reasons for this operation, but he didn't have to like it. He was used to things being simple, and he was used to being selfish. Simple had left via the airlock the day he realized that his partner looked really hot when she was sighting down a rifle scope, and selfish had to be put on hold whenever there were family decisions to think on. It was hard for Jayne to deal with, but he liked being here, liked being a part of this makeshift family, so he wanted to try to deal with it. He figured it couldn't be easy on Mal having the responsibility for making all those decisions, the least he could do was try to work with it.

And for the most part, Mal really did try to do what was best for them all, he could see that now. But this, this was hard. This wasn't like tracking some hundun down, or keeping lookout for Mal and Zoe during an exchange. While not thrilled with the idea at first, he had gotten used to having a partner, then he actually started liking having someone he could depend on.

But now that partnership was broken- she was on a job by herself. As if that wasn't bad enough, it was a job that made Jayne's head want to explode. He had just gotten her, and now here she was flirting with another man. Job or not, he was gonna lose it.

Simon could see the emotions flitting across Jayne's face and actually felt for him. He sat down next to Jayne as the man sat up on the bench.

"Look, I could talk to her, find out what's going on. I know I wasn't imagining it when she told me about her feelings for you."

Jayne sighed, but held fast. "Thanks, Doc, but I think we oughta leave it alone fer right now." He got up and started walking toward the mess to get a glass of water; he had to get away from Simon. He actually felt bad, here the Doc was trying to be nice to him for once and here Jayne was lying through his teeth to him. Weird.

Simon watched the big man go and didn't attempt to follow. He smelled, rather than heard, Kaylee slip around the corner behind him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and sighed.

"I don't get it," she said sadly. "They were so happy, for like 5 minutes! What is she thinking? Jayne's way better for her than that guy, sure he's smart and all, but he can't protect her like Jayne can. And how's that guy gonna handle it the first time he sees her fight? He won't know what hit him!"

Simon leaned back into her. "I don't know what's going on. Seems so unlike River to act like some moonbrained teenager over a guy. She usually sticks with her decisions." He leaned forward and cupped his chin. "Maybe there's more going on here than meets the eye?"

&&&&&&&

Jayne paused in the doorway before entering; he really didn't want to go in there if River and David were still there, he just wanted to get away from Simon before he spilled the beans. He could hear their low voices. They must have moved into the common room. As much as Jayne had told Mal that he would keep an eye on them, he wanted to do it from a short distance rather than close up. He just wanted to be close by in case River needed him; he didn't want to be close enough to hear another man making her laugh. That was supposed to be his job.

He stepped quietly into the mess and quickly turned left to stay out of sight of the common area. No point in David seeing him either, he probably wouldn't be too forthcoming if he saw Jayne hanging around. He grabbed a glass from the cabinet and turned the sink on low to quietly fill it. He felt, rather than saw, River appear beside him.

He glanced down at her and then away at the concern in her eyes. She laid her hand on his side.

"You okay?" she whispered. He fought to keep from smashing the glass into the sink.

"Yeah, great. Just great." He failed to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "You shouldn't be talking to me, yer supposed to be seducin' the l'il puke in there." He turned away.

River almost choked. She could feel the hurt pouring off of Jayne; it was gray and cloudy and rolled off him in waves. She tried to reach out to him again, but her hand was pushed back by the thick grayness. She had to end this. She didn't want to do this anymore, it wasn't right.

She made a decision to come up with an idea to get David to talk more quickly, then she could be done and fix the damage to her and Jayne's relationship. Because job or not, she knew there would be damage to fix. She could already feel that Jayne's doubt about them had returned. That he wasn't good enough for her.

She sadly watched him slip out the door and disappear. Big, tough mercs shouldn't have to slip around their own home. She sighed, and turned back to the common room, determined to take control of the timeline of this mission.

&&&&&&&

It was late. Dinner had been a quiet, strained affair. No on said much, although the mercenary's absence had been conspicuous. Mostly everyone had complimented River on her version of protein beef a la bourguignone, although they were stupefied as to why River was cooking without Jayne, and cooking apparently for another man no less. Everyone had eaten quickly and retired almost as fast. Mal left the mess last, nodding to River and frowning at David's back as he was dumping dishes into the sink to help clean up. River nodded solemnly back and waved for Mal to leave.

And now, a couple hours later, David was well on his way to being completely sloshed. River had decided that the quickest way to get this job over with was to get him drunk. Drunk people talk a lot, more than they normally would, she reasoned, at least that had been her experience with Jayne.

A short while after they had been working together, Jayne had decided to take her out for a 'job-well-done-drink'. Simon had protested of course, but backed off when he saw how happy River was to have someone treating her like a 'normal' girl. Even if the person in question wasn't quite 'normal' himself. Since Miranda, Simon found himself more and more writing off the word 'normal'- it didn't seem to apply to any part of his life anymore.

So the pair had gone out, to a fairly reputable local place. Jayne wasn't stupid enough to take her to some of the places he had frequented in the past. They had sat, drank, chatted, drank, ate nachos, drank, chatted, drank some more. River had had two drinks, then switched to straight soda when she saw how inebriated Jayne was becoming. She figured one of them needed to remember the way back to the ship.

After helping Jayne find his way back to his bunk, she paused before turning to leave.

"Thank you," she said simply.

"Fer wha'?" he slurred, pulling the sheet up to under his chin.

"For treating me like a regular girl."

"Ya ain't no reg'lar girl. Not in my estimation an'ways." River had frowned at that. She had thought he was past calling her names.

"Ya're special. Veddy, veddy, special. 'N donna let an'body tell ya diff'rent." His head tilted sideways and he started snoring.

When she recovered from her shock a couple seconds later, she moved back over to him, kissed him lightly on the forehead, and left.

"River? River?" David was poking her arm. She mentally shook herself out of her reverie. "Didya hear wah I says 'bout that coppa ship?" David drunk was cute, but not nearly as cute as her Jayne. She sighed.

"No, I'm sorry, can you repeat it?" She refocused her energies back to the job.

"The name. Of that ship. Hermes. He's the god of communication ya know." He smiled crookedly at her.

"Yes, I am aware of that…"

"But wait! There's more," he grinned impishly. "He's also the god of lawyers. And!...wait for it…thieves! He's the god of thieves!" He laughed out loud and refilled their glasses. River had to admit that the amaretto flavored liquor was very good, too bad the couch cushion behind her was getting to enjoy most of it.

He affected a solemn look then. "That's why I hate them. They're liars. All o' 'em." He downed another shot.

River's head snapped up. David was very close to confessing something, she could feel it. "Who are the liars?" she asked softly.

"Them, that's who. Them 'lliance 'ss'oles. Made me an offer. Real good too. Could 'fford to send Bri-bri to school with the money. But noooooo, got the code, used it 'gainst. Us. People. Wrecked ev'rything." He sighed sadly and shrugged. "And now they're dead. All 'o 'em."

David 'Cosmo' Janek slumped back into the couch cushions, barely holding his glass erect. Gone was the confident young man who seemed to have it all together. He looked broken. River placed a hand on his arm in sympathy and commiseration. She, better than most, could understand the destructive power of the Alliance.

"I'm sorry," she said. She still didn't have all the details, but it was clear that he definitely had a clear, honest motive to be connected to any independent movement. The rumors were there, and there was no reason to believe otherwise. She was startled when David suddenly sat up straight and grinned broadly at her.

"But I'ma gonna fix 'em, yes I 'em. I gots the answer, I did, da one they's was lookin' for, but I's gots it, and they ain't gonna get it, and things are gonna be diff'rent this time!" And he proceeded to fall back into the couch and pass out.