Chapter 20
River walked away from Inara's shuttle feeling both lighter and more burdened at the same time. She was relieved that she'd talked to Inara and left nothing out. But it hurt her to know that she'd had to threaten one of her crew members, since Serenity they'd become something of a family and River hated to think that her and Mal's relationship was driving a wedge into that family.
Feeling the need to be cheered up River made her way to the galley and found, not only her brother and fiancé drunk, but Jayne as well. The three men were laughing loudly and attempting to play cards, the large bottle of whiskey was already half empty and they'd only been drinking for half an hour.
"I raise yer dishes and see ya trash detail." Jayne said confidently.
"I'll right." Simon slurred as Mal folded and they put their hands on the table.
"Son of a whore! I just lost to the Doc, me Jayne Cobb, lost to the Doc. When in the ruttin hell did you learn ta have a poker face?" Jayne grumbled as Simon gleefully collected the small slips of paper with the list of chores he wouldn't have to do on them.
"May I play too?" River asked.
Mal playfully grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap.
"Ya ever play poker before?" Mal asked and kissed her neck.
"No. Is it difficult?" River asked.
"Nah. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it right quick." Mal replied as she slid off of his lap and into a chair.
"Come on Mal that ain't fair. We can't be playin with a gorram mind reader. How the hell we gonna win?" Jayne complained.
"I will not read anyone's mind during the game." River promised as she took a swig of whiskey.
"Fine you can play." Jayne relented.
They played for two hours. All four of them getting drunker and drunker as the night wore on. Finally after River won yet another hand all three of the men threw down their cards in annoyance.
"You gotta be readin us! How else can you be winnin every gorram hand?" Jayne asked in frustration.
River hiccupped and giggled, she honestly couldn't understand why the three men were so perplexed.
"I don't understand why you keep losing. It is an easy game, you simply compare what cards have been shown already with the odds of what cards are still in play and bet accordingly." River explained.
"River are you counting cards?" Simon asked after he absorbed what she was saying.
"I don't know what counting cards is." River slurred and fell against Mal's shoulder.
"You've been keeping track of what cards we've all thrown down during previous hands so you know what cards are still left in the deck?" Simon explained.
"Yes isn't that the point of the game?" River asked.
All three of the men groaned loudly.
"You ain't supposed ta remember what cards we already used. Yer just supposed to try and get the best hand ya can and read the other players ta see if you can tell whether or not you can beat em" Jayne explained.
"But I thought I wasn't allowed to read anyone during the game." River said.
The three men groaned again and Mal began gathering up the cards.
"I'm thinkin poker ain't a game for River." He said and laughed.
"So if you don't read minds or remember the cards you are supposed to bet purely on your own hand and on chance? That seems like a difficult game." River pondered to herself.
"That's kind of the point mei-mei." Simon whispered.
"Hey Mal I got an idea." Jayne said suddenly.
"Well that can't be good." Mal replied.
"We ain't but three days from Draco." Jayne said.
"That's not an idea Jayne, that's what we call a fact." Simon inserted and received an annoyed glare from the merc.
"And just so happens Draco has a big ass gambling district. We could take River in and have her clean up." Jayne said proudly.
Mal started to protest the idea, but stopped as he began to consider the idea. Draco was a fairly civilized moon. It was likely the casino wouldn't be too rough a place, not that River couldn't handle herself in a rough place. And it wouldn't be like they were doing anything illegal, well too illegal anyway. She could play just long enough in each casino to turn a profit and then move on before anyone got suspicious.
"What do you think bao-bei? You think you could play this game for money?" Mal asked.
"Yes, but it would be cheating." River answered.
"True, but it ain't like we ain't done illegal jobs before and this would be stealin from a big casino, they cheat people out of money all the time." Mal said evenly.
"Logical point, very well I would be happy to play cards for money." River agreed.
Mal noticed the wary look on Simon's face just then.
"This plan ok with you Simon?" Mal asked.
Simon gave him a shocked look of disbelief.
"You're asking my opinion on a job? Seriously?" Simon asked.
"Well if you don't want me askin yer opinion…"
"No, just surprised is all. She won't be going in to the casinos alone will she?"
"Don't worry Doc, I'll stay with her the whole time. Figure we could pretend ta be newlyweds, on our honeymoon, doin a little gambling. If it just so happens the little Mrs. has some beginners luck at poker well all the better for us." Mal explained.
"That sounds like a very good plan ai-ren. Just one thing." River said sweetly.
"What's that bao-bei?" Mal asked.
"If you call me the little Mrs. again I may have to break your arm, alright?" River said every bit as sweetly as before.
Mal's smile disappeared from his face for a second as he realized what she had said. After a second he smiled again even bigger than before.
"I think I can handle that." He laughed and pulled her in for another kiss.
They broke the game up shortly after that, all of them were drunk and thanks to the game the men had a long list of chores to be done the next day.
River took a quick shower and then slipped down into Mal's bunk, but was disappointed to find that her fiancé had passed out and was snoring loudly. Not feeling sleepy at all River climbed back out of the bunk and began to wander the halls of Serenity like she had done during her first days onboard.
Hearing noises from the galley she walked in to find Simon on the couch in the common room watching the videos of her at the Academy. He was at the very beginning; her entrance interview was still playing. Without saying anything she sat down next to her brother and grabbed his hand. Simon gave her a sad tight smile and put his arm around her shoulder.
Simon had to swallow past a lump in his throat and wipe a few stray tears from his eyes when he saw his sister in the video. This was the River he remembered from their childhoods, the one who he would never fully get back. After the first few interviews it began to show that things were being done to River. She went from confident and composed to scared and unfocused. Simon stopped the video after they had been watching for an hour.
"Maybe watching this after drinking was a bad idea." He joked trying to lighten the mood.
"You know Simon I'm ok. I mean if you're watching these to try and learn something from them, don't bother. I don't need you to fix me anymore. There isn't anything on those videos except the ramblings of a crazy girl and the sick doctor who watched it all happen." River told him.
"I'm not just watching to help you River. Its- well it sounds horrible to say, but part of me wants to watch them for me. I've been imagining what they did to you for so long part of me wants to know." Simon explained.
River nodded thoughtfully and laid her head on her brother's shoulder.
"I thought maybe I wanted to watch them, to try and remember, but I don't. Those memories are better left forgotten I think."
Simon gave River a smile of understanding as she stood up and kissed the top of his head before leaving. He though about going to bed and leaving the video for another time, but decided if he stopped now he'd never finish watching them.
Simon thought his anger and grief over what had been done to River couldn't get any stronger, but watching the videos brought his feelings to places he'd never imagined.
I want to see my brother. I need to. I would like please to see him.
Simon felt like his heart was being ripped apart to see and hear River pleading for him. He had thought when she'd first gone to the Academy that she didn't need him anymore, that she'd forgotten about him. To see the desperate way she'd pleaded for him was almost more than he could stand. He watched the videos all night, just as Mal had done, by the end he was glad when River killed the doctor. He wished so much that he could turn back time and do the same to the bastard.
It was early morning by the time he finished. Since they didn't have a current job the crew was sleeping in and no one had gotten up yet. He stumbled, bleary eyed, to he and Kaylee's bunk and fell into bed beside her. She woke up when she felt him hit the bed and could tell from the look on his face that he was upset. He didn't cry, he'd done that while watching, but he pulled Kaylee into a tight embrace and held her like she was his lifeline.
"Bao-bei?" She asked with concern after a few minutes.
"I watched the videos, the ones of River at the Academy." Simon whispered into her hair.
"Oh, sweetie, were they horrible?" She asked.
"Worse than you can imagine."
Kaylee didn't try to get him to talk about what he'd seen on the videos, she simply held him and gave him her love and comfort. It was one of the things Simon loved most about Kaylee, the way she always knew what people needed. River might have been a reader of people's heads, but Kaylee was a reader of people's hearts. He wondered for the millionth time how he could have gotten so lucky to have found her and even luckier to have her love him.
"Kaylee will you marry me?" He blurted out suddenly, surprising himself.
Kaylee stared at him, speechless by the suddenness of his proposal.
"I didn't mean to do it that way, I'm sorry I wanted it to be perfect, but since I said it…" Simon climbed off the bed and got down on one knee pulling out the ring he'd been carrying in his pocket for over a month.
"I love you and I can't live the rest of my life without you. Please marry me Kaylee." Simon asked.
Kaylee's shocked expression broke into a huge smile as she nodded enthusiastically. She threw herself into his arms and they both fell over onto the floor kissing passionately.
"Is that a yes?" Simon asked once they'd stopped for air.
"Of course it is! Can I have my ring now?" Kaylee asked excitedly and stuck out her hand.
Simon slipped the ring onto her finger and was delighted to see that it fit perfectly.
"It's beautiful Simon! I love it!" Kaylee said, beaming at her ring.
She jumped up and ran from the room.
"Hey where are you going?" Simon called down the hall after her.
"I have to tell River and Nara!" She yelled back.
"But you're still in your nightgown!" Simon called, but got no response.
Kaylee excitedly ran to Inara's shuttle and banged on the door, knowing her friend wouldn't mind being woken up early for something like this.
Inara pulled open the door a minute later looking half asleep, but still as put together as she ever did.
"Mei-mei is everything alright?" Inara asked as Kaylee rushed past her into the room.
"Better than fine! Everything's so shiny! Simon just asked me to marry him." Kaylee yelled and proudly held out her hand to show off the ring.
Inara glanced quickly at the ring and gave Kaylee a small tight smile.
"Congratulations Kaylee, I'm very happy for the both of you." Inara said without any sort of emotion in her voice.
The beaming smile dropped away from Kaylee's face and she looked at her friend sadly.
"Thanks Nara, guess I'll go tell River the good news." Kaylee said and began to walk out the door.
It was the way Inara grimaced and narrowed her eyes at the mention of River's name that stopped Kaylee.
"You gotta let him go Inara." Kaylee said quietly. "I'm sorry yer hurt, but him and River they're real good together. Can't ya just be happy for em?"
Inara stared at her friend disbelievingly. Kaylee was the only crew member who'd been treating her normally since the Alliance had shown up, but now here she was lecturing her just like River had.
"Kaylee please don't. I don't need to hear this from you. I don't want Mal, I don't care that he's with River. I'm fine."
"Inara I know ya better than that. I can see the way ya look at 'im. But you and him wouldn't a worked and River and him do. I think ya gotta just move on and find someone else." Kaylee said gently.
"Why do you think Mal and I wouldn't have worked?" Inara asked.
"Well mostly cause a what you do." The mechanic answered honestly.
"So now you're calling me a whore too?" Inara spit coldly.
"Ah Nara I ain't sayin that. But you really think its fair ta ask a man ta share you? I know if Simon was with other women, even if they was just a job, well I couldn't stand that." Kaylee explained.
"He never even asked me if I would quit for him." Inara pointed out.
"Would ya have?" Kaylee asked curiously.
Inara was silent for a long time.
"I don't know, maybe." She finally answered.
"Maybe he knew that's what you'd say. I'm real sorry Inara, but don't ya think he's better off with River? She don't expect him ta be anything he's not and she don't gotta change for him."
"Better off with River? She's an inexperienced crazy girl. How could she possibly be better for him than me? Wuh de ma! Rivers brought nothing to this ship but pain and death!"
"That ain't true!" Kaylee objected.
"Yes it is! My god everyone always wants to protect poor little River. She's a freak, she doesn't need protecting! If it weren't for her Book and Wash would still be alive! I wish the Alliance had just taken her like they were supposed to after I called them! No I wish to hell the Reavers had just finished her off!" Inara's screams abruptly cut off when she realized she'd said too much.
Inara had never seen Kaylee angry before. She'd seen her hurt and maybe put out, but never truly angry until that moment. Her eyes narrowed into slits and her mouth was pressed into a thin line. She walked over to Inara slowly and without a word raised her hand and slapped Inara across the face. Inara's head jerked to the side with the force of the blow and the sharp sound echoed off the shuttle walls.
Inara brought a hand to her stinging cheek and felt tears fall down her cheeks.
"You did it on purpose. You called them purple bellies to try and get rid of River. You ain't the person I thought you was Inara." Kaylee said icily and walked away from the shuttle.
River was waiting in the galley when Kaylee walked in.
"Don't tell Mal. He doesn't know why Inara called the feds. He'll feel extremely guilty and blame himself." River said before Kaylee had even sat down.
Kaylee didn't even bother to be surprised that River knew about her fight with Inara.
"I won't tell him. I'm sorry she did that to ya." Kaylee replied.
"It's already been taken care of, I'm sorry you had to fight with her. But enough sadness, this is a happy day. Can I see the ring?" River asked with a bright smile.
Just as quickly as Kaylee's happiness had faded it returned. She squealed and happily held out her hand to River, giving her friend every detail of the sudden proposal.