All disclaimers apply

Ch. 21- Teamwork

Zoe entered the bridge quietly and paused by the pilot's seat.

"Do you believe him?" Mal questioned, not moving his eyes from the starry view in front of them.

"Yes, I do." They had spent the better part of three hours grilling David after his little revelation. On people, locations, plans, logistics. David had been fairly forthcoming with them regarding some names and places, but he had pleaded ignorance or 'classified info' when Mal's and Zoe's questions became too pointed. They had relented knowing that if he had actually answered everything they asked then he would have either proven himself to be a spy or a complete incompetent. And right now, no one was going to believe that David 'Cosmo' Janek was incompetent.

"Sir, what do you want to do?" Zoe kept her question general, but Mal knew that it applied equally to whether or not they help David, and also to whether or not Mal was considering rejoining the cause. Mal sighed and turned to her.

"For right now, let's keep it simple." Zoe snorted, when was their kind of life ever simple? "We need to throw those feds off our trail. We can't drop Cosmo off at his destination with an Alliance clean-up party behind him."

"I'll get Wash and Kaylee on it, Sir. Maybe they can pull the tag without the feds noticing and attach it to a crybaby."

"My thoughts exactly."

Wash suddenly appeared in the doorway with Kaylee eagerly trying to squeeze her head in after him.

"Cap'n, me and Wash was thinkin'…"

"And you know how much I like it when you start thinkin', l'il Kaylee," Mal smirked at her and nodded to Wash. "Get on it, you two."

A chorus of enthusiastic "Yes, Cap'n!" "Yes, Sir"s floated back in from the two retreating crew members. Mal smiled.

"It never fails to amaze me how happy those two get when we're all in a pickle."

"Well, our pickles do tend to give the kids something to play with, Sir," Zoe smirked back.

&&&&&&&

Kaylee and David were hanging outside the airlock gently prying and testing a small round object attached to the ship that looked like a barnacle from Earth-That-Was. Some eyebrows had risen when they were inside getting ready to E.V.A. and David had seemed to know exactly how to prep a suit, but by that point they all had work to do and any more grilling would have to wait. The rest of the crew had agreed to help David when Mal had called a vote on it- after clearly making sure that they understood that they weren't voting on a job but something above and beyond their normal duties. Jayne had tried to make a crack about getting to vote on any future job offers, but a glare from Zoe had sufficed to shut him down.

Currently David and Kaylee were working to unattach the tracking tag placed there earlier during the visit from the feds. David was trying to hold the flashlight steady as Kaylee peered closer at the apparatus.

"It's real shiny of ya to volunteer to come out here and help me," Kaylee was saying. "Not everybody can come out here ya know, not everybody can handle being this close to being into the black, ya know, the big nothingness."

David swallowed and averted his eyes from the view beyond the edge of the ship and back to the job at hand.

"Yeah, well, I'm not thrilled to be out here, but I appreciate you guys helping me out."

Kaylee stopped to glance over at him. "Ya okay, 'bout River and all?"

David reverted his eyes back out to the depth-defying view. "Suppose I have to be. You know, I knew she was with Jayne, I caught them one night by accident in the cargo bay. So I was confused when she started being all attentive the very next day, but then I figured, hell, why not go with it, how often does a pretty girl pay me any attention? Looks like I should have stuck to logic." He shifted his gaze back to look at the casing.

Kaylee patted his suited arm. "Sorry, 'bout that. River probably just got caught up in trying to contribute to the Captain and the boat. She's been real keen on proving herself since he started trusting her enough to give her a job and pair her up with Jayne."

David paused at that. "Pair her up with Jayne? I thought he was the ship's 'security'? I suppose she's the brains of that operation," he smiled wryly.

"Oh, no, I mean she has the skills and all, but Jayne's been teaching her 'bout the real stuff. You know, real-world type stuff. How to handle herself on a job, how to fight as a team and not just alone, reading body language and not just people's minds, that sorta stuff."

David was staring at her in shock. "Wait, you mean they are taking a beautiful girl with her intelligence and turning her into a mercenary?! That's criminal!"

Kaylee surprised him again by laughing. "No, no, the Alliance already did that. Trained her to be an assassin. A weapon for them to use. We may do crime, but here she's her own person, actual and whole. Not a tool. Jayne's been like a mentor to her, help given her a purpose."

David looked thoughtful. River had told him some of what had been done to her. "Then do you think that maybe she's with him now out of gratitude? That maybe someday she's going to wake up and realize that she's grateful for his help, but that was the only reason she's in a relationship with him?"

Kaylee snorted. "Not likely. Those two have been working together for a while. Look, it's not like their relationship is some sorta fling. It's taken them over a year to get to where they are today. And I think Jayne is letting her call the shots, prolly cause she's younger and he doesn't want her to feel any pressure."

"Call the shots? You mean they haven't been together yet, don't you?"

Kaylee hesitated, then tried to backtrack. "Well, I hardly think that's anyone's business but theirs…"

So they haven't, David thought to himself. They aren't completely bonded yet. There's still a chance. A chance that despite her recent treatment of himself, maybe she would want something better than running around the 'verse committing crime with these people. He, David, could give her that. He had the resources; he could offer her the life she deserved. Hmmm…

Kaylee was watching him nervously now. She wasn't sure what she had said exactly, but she knew wheels were turning. Oh, this did not look good.

Inside the hatch, Jayne pulled the headphones off his head. He had agreed to take over Wash's monitoring of Kaylee and David's walk outside so the pilot could go start on programming the crybaby. David's questioning of Kaylee's ramblings on the whys and wherefore's of his and River's relationship had unintentionally kickstarted his doubts again. What if David was right? That River's feelings stemmed from gratitude, not passion? That wasn't right. He wanted to be with someone who wanted him for who he was, not because they felt they owed him. And, truth was always going to be, that she could do better. Jayne sighed and went to get Wash back there; no sense in Kaylee and David knowing he had heard them.