Disclaimer: See chapter one.
A/N: And another chapter for y'all. Hope ya like it.
Brompton Cocktail
Chapter Five
They were still two days out from Persephone when Jayne woke to find his right eye was seeing things through a faint reddish haze. Peering closely at his reflection in the mirror above his sink, he also noticed that though he'd always before healed rapidly, the bruise from Kaylee's wrench was still visible, only just getting to the sickly yellow stage. Ignoring the bruise for the moment, he focused most of his awareness through his left eye, like he did when peering down a spotter-scope. He could see that his right eye was a little bloodshot, looking a lot like both tended to do after a night of hard drinking.
A fluttery thought caressed the back of his brain. No, he dismissed it. Can't be. He shifted his attention to examining his fingertips in close detail. They always been that shade? Never really having paid much attention to what color his hands tended to be, he couldn't answer his question. But that nosebleed didn't come from nowhere.
He pummeled the mental voice back into its box. It didn't stop it from silently counting the credits stashed in the lock-box under his bunk, though.
Jayne stretched. Nothing hurt. Not even the remains of the bruise on his jaw. See? I'm fine.
He got dressed and headed for the galley.
Two days later, Persephone was growing in the ship's windows. Jayne stood in the common area, watching River soundly trounce Kaylee and Simon at Chinese checkers. His eye didn't appear to be any worse, but he could barely see through it. Using his other senses to bolster the flagging sight had kept this small detail from the rest of the crew. Pretty sure, anyways.
"Think the captain will give us some down-time on Persephone?" Simon asked, taking his turn.
"He'd better," Kaylee replied. "We got near on a week's worth of repairs that need doin'. If the cap'n don't wanna stick around for 'em, he's gonna hafta find hisself a new mechanic. The gossler coil in the gravity drive needs a complete overhaul. Dunno 'bout you, but I surely don't wanna get stuck out in the black wi'out any art-grav."
"Now, there ain't no call for threats," Mal's voice came from the door on the other side of the galley. "Zoë's already made it clear we got some things need doin' while we're where they can be done. Figure on stayin' dirtside for a week." The captain headed for the kitchen cabinets and started poking through them. On finding nothing more than a single, half-gone block of protein, he grimaced. "S'pose I see why she was stressin' the restock angle."
About three hours later, Serenity settled down at the Eavesdown Docks. Everyone met up in the cargo bay, already knowing what their individual goals for the coming week were, but needing further information as to what their captain had in mind. Mal was the last to arrive, checking his pistol as he climbed down the last few stairs. "Me an' Zoë'll see to it Badger gets his cut of the proceeds. Jayne, you go with Kaylee, see if you can't get her a good deal on whatever parts she's after this time. Doc, I figure you an' your sis can look after yourselves for a while, but don't stray too far from the ship, not 'til either me'n'Zoë or Jayne gets back."
The orders were met with nearly no grumbling, as had been the case since Miranda. Zoë fell into step with Mal as they wormed their way through the crowds to Badger's place. Jayne and Kaylee headed in the opposite direction, towards the junkyards and their veritable treasure-trove of spare parts. Simon just sighed, watching them go, then settled himself on a sunny spot of the ramp, while River amused herself by dancing to the sound of a group of buskers playing nearby.
The time spent at Badger's was, as usual, both profitable and aggravating. Mal had wound up needing to turn down another job. "Doubtless it's got a heady sound of coin, sure," he'd told the man, "but we gotta have a li'l downtime. My mechanic's a right miracle-worker, true, but not even Kaylee can keep a ship in the air if she don't have the parts."
"Too bad," Badger replied, honest disappointment on his face. "I'll hold the job long's I can, lemme know if ya change your minds."
After leaving Badger's warren unmolested for turning down the job, some tension managed to leak out of Mal's frame. "Always a good thing to turn down his jobs, sir," Zoë said.
"And I didn't even have to lie about why not, either." Mal gave her a half-smile. "Wouldn't've taken this last one, if we'd any other nibbles. Do we have anything new lined up yet?"
Zoë shook her head. "Not yet. Much as it pains me to say, but we need a licensed pilot. Too many jobs out there are perfectly legal, but we've been passing up on them."
Mal sighed. "Reckon you're right. Our li'l albatross is a right fine flyer, but that don't change facts the girl ain't old enough to satisfy the 'Liance. Took a chance comin' here, even, an' I don't much care to think on what'll happen to our shiny lack of warrants if they's to come callin' before we can find us someone with the proper creds."
They didn't notice the small street-urchin following them through the course of their conversation. Likewise, they didn't see when the grubby child nodded to itself and slipped away in the crowd, then ducked into a converted cargo box. "Think I found what you was lookin' for, miss," the child babbled out even before the drapery standing in lieu of a door swung fully shut.
The tink of a thumb flipping a coin to the child was the only reply. The kid caught it and the coin disappeared into a pocket. "They was comin' from Badger's. Needs a licensed pilot, 'cause the pilot they got ain't old 'nuff."
"And do you know where they're docked?"
The kid nodded. "They's here pretty regular. Run a Firefly."
There was the sound of rustling movement in the shadowed recesses of the cheap apartment. "Anything else you can tell me?"
"Their mechanic's a girl," the ten year old replied. "An' they's one o' the few freighters what gots they's own doctor on board."
A light laugh came from the shadows. "You did good, Casey. Stay here and guard our meager things, will you?"
Casey nodded again, pulling a small, but wickedly-sharp knife from the sheath hidden under his ragged jacket. "They's in berth 27-A."
Nearly an hour away by foot in the heavy traffic of the docks, Kaylee and Jayne were finishing up negotiations with the owner of Kaylee's favorite junkyard. After informing the man where to have the parts delivered, they also headed back to the ship. They arrived to find Zoë sweeping the cargo hold. "Where's Simon and River?" Kaylee asked.
"Mal took them to see about getting us restocked in the infirmary and the kitchen," Zoë replied. "River mentioned we should see about refueling while we're here, too."
"Didn't we just do that on Jiangyin?"
Zoë nodded. "We did. But she was pretty adamant about it."
"Pro'ly one of those moonbrained notions of hers," Jayne grumbled, ignoring the dirty looks both women leveled in his direction. "Anythin' else need me for? Or can I go?"
"Those 'moonbrained notions' of River's has saved us all more 'an a time or two, Jayne!" Kaylee punctuated her comment with a poke in the big man's bicep.
He rolled his eyes, making the one clouded in red that no one but himself could see ache slightly. The suspicion he'd been nursing grew exponentially at the faint twinge of pain. "Know that, Kaylee." He looked at Zoë. "Can I go?"
Zoë shrugged her eyebrows. "Be back for dinner. Don't know if Mal has any further use for you."
Jayne bid them farewell with a light lecherous grin, hoping it looked more enthusiastic than it felt. "Lot can be done 'tween now an' dinner. See ya later."
As soon as his back was turned the smile evaporated. He mentally checked in with his lower right leg, which assured him that his money-pouch was still safely secured within his boot, and strode off in the general direction of Katy's, a brothel he was known to frequent whenever Serenity happened to be dirtside on this particular rock. Once the ship was lost in the crowds behind him, though, he changed course and headed in a completely different direction.
Zoë watched Jayne disappear into the crowd, a nameless worry tickling the back of her mind. "Kaylee?"
"Yeah?" the mechanic replied.
"Think you can mind the ship? I've got an errand needs doing."
"No problem," she chirped.
Zoë handed Kaylee the broom and set out after Jayne.
A/N2: Since I can't find anything that says otherwise, I'm running under the assumptions that since Wash had gone to flight school, this 'verse has some sort of system of accreditation for spaceship pilots. Yeah, we all know River's more than capable of flying Serenity, but I doubt she's got an actual license for doing so.
Please remember to lemme know what y'all think. Thanks in advance.