Copper for a Kiss by Lady Cleo

All Disclaimers' Apply

Chapter Eight: The Black, Sovereign

2518 Mid- Late April.

Jayne pulled the door open and stepped into the dimly lit bunk. Eyeing the room, he advanced slowly, cautiously placing each foot, nervously tugging at his belt. The small girl lay curled in a tight ball on her bed. Jayne ran his thumb across dry lips and took another step forward. Hesitantly he reached for her, and then jerked his hand back and turned away to yank his boots off.

"You're actin' like a crazy little girl, gettin' jealous 'n upset over nothin." Crossing the room, Jayne flopped down onto his bed. "Ain't like I did it on purpose, didn't mean it neither."

River pulled the covers over her head.

"Fine, ain't like I ever wanted ya over here anyway. It'll be a nice change ta have the bed to myself." Hitting the pillow he rolled over, turning his back to her. "Be just fine without out ya." Shifting around in the bed he growled at the covers as he attempted to yank them over his body, cursing in frustration as he uncovered his feet.

-

Simon pulled the flowered dress out of the bag with care. Re-folding the soft red material he laid it carefully to the side and peered back into the dark confines of the bag. A black sketchbook stared back up at him. Gulping down a breath the doctor reached for it. Smooth hands traversed the rough and worn binding before slowly flipping open the cover.

The image that greeted Simon shook his knees forcing him back down into the nearby chair. River's soft face stared back up him, the lines shadowed, the eyes dark and sad. She looked older, but the darkness of the image itself frightened him. It was far from a pretty picture; the girl presented looked worn and tired, beaten and scarred down to the bone.

Simon pushed down the guilt that rose in his throat and flipped to the next page. His stomach sank as the breath was knocked from his lungs. The face that stared back up at him was painstakingly familiar, the self same face that greeted him in the mirror each morning. But there was a quality to this face that was dark and foreboding, with a touch of sadness etched into the lines.

"God, what must she think," Simon questioned himself quietly. Did she think that he' d abandoned her, that he' d never tried to get her out, that he' d left her there to live in pain? Shaking his head, Simon pressed those thoughts away; he would deal with the consequences of his failure once she was safely in his care.

With a trembling hand, Simon flipped through the next couple of pages. Images of blue hands were followed by a torturing collage of pain and fears; a girl strapped down to a chair, cold unfamiliar faces, needles, and pages of non sequential numbers and calculations that made no sense to him. Each one seemed to tack onto his guilt and spike his fears as he began to question his own mental stability.

Turning the pages he paused as he came to another familiar face. Rough and dirty, the lines of this face were hard but crisp, the goatee etched carefully. The man was glaring at something, but the lines of the eyes were soft with a spark that seemed to imply an underlining fondness towards his annoyance.

Simon frowned, unsure of what to make of the man. This was Cobb; there was no doubt of that. Although the face was slightly different from the wanted post, this was the same man. It felt odd to be staring down at his sisters- his sister's what exactly? Her protector or her captor? There was so much he felt he didn't know about this man. Cobb was a criminal, a wanted criminal. But than again so was River and if Simon had learned anything in his attempts to rescue and find his sister, it was that criminals were not always what they seemed.

Flipping through the next couple of pages only seemed to confirm Simon's last thought. The dark lines slowly faded away as more colors seeped into the array of images. Unfamiliar smiling faces gave the images more of a sense of joy and life. Cobb's face now appeared every other image: Cobb cleaning guns, laughing with the other unfamiliar faces, cooking, concentrating on odd objects or napping.

Simon wasn't sure if he was ready to accept what these images were implying. Though deep down in his subconscious he felt as though he knew what each new image of Cobb meant.

-

Jayne sighed contentedly, pulling the warm body closer to him. "This is nice, ain't been home in a long time." Burying his head in the long waves of brown hair, Jayne pulled her warm body closer. "Reckon we could stay here 'til breakfast."

Rolling in his arms, River nodded contentedly as she snuggled closer to the man. "All sunshine and daisies."

"Ain't that the truth." Leaning forward he placed a quick kiss on her forehead, his fingers trailing down the soft exposed skin of her back.

The newspaper descended from nowhere connecting against Jayne's head with a loud thud. "What in 'ruttin hell?" Scrambling to keep himself covered, Jayne released River and rolled over to face the attacking newspaper. "Ma?"

"What in the hell do you think you're doing boy," Ma Cobb demanded. Her finger pointed accusingly at the flustered younger man.

"I ain't doing nothing-"

"You call sexing up a crazy girl nothing. I thought I taught you better boy." Taking a step forward the angry mother raised the newspaper to strike again.

"I love her ma."

Jayne bolted upright, his chest heaving as he took in the darkened confines of their bunk. "What in ruttin hell? " Running a hand over his face, the Mercenary shook off the dream, trying not to dwell too long on any implications as he slumped back against the pillow. Closing his eyes he took a long deep breath, calming the disarrayed thoughts in his head. "You might as well stop pretending like you're asleep girl, you ain't fooling no-one."

The lump of covers on the opposite bunk shifted.

Sitting upright again, Jayne swung his legs off the bed and stood, "Gorram it, girl, neither of us is gonna get a wink if'n you keep playing stubborn." Storming across the small room, Jayne yanked the covers off, ignoring the glare River sent as he shoved her over and climbed onto the bed. Reaching out he grabbed a hold of her waist and pulled her body tightly to his. River squirmed against him in protest, but only half heartedly and finally slumped against his body in defeat, her arms curling over his as her eyes fluttered closed.

"I didn't mean it." His voice was soft, almost unheard. "I'd marry ya, I suppose, if'n ya really wanted ta—"

A smile cracked along River's face and she tightened her grip on his arm. While it was no declaration of love, when one took into consideration the source, it was about as close as she could get to it - for now.

"-even though you're crazy and all." Her elbow connected with his stomach and the Mercenary grunted in pain. "Ya ever figure, that crazy's a sorta- a sorta term o' endearment?"

"Not proper."

"In case you ain't noticed girl, I don't exactly do things all proper like." Burying his head in her hair, Jayne let his own eyes loll shut, "I reckon you just like hurtin' me is all."

"I'd never hurt the Jayne," she whispered back and slowly rolled over in his arms. Smiling softly she watched as she drifted slowly off to sleep. Leaning forward she placed a soft kiss on his check and nestled closer to him, tucking her head under his chin. "Love the Jayne."

-

Simon's eyes flashed open, his heart pounding in his chest. Jumping upright he grabbed the sketchbook from where it had tumbled to the floor and flipped hurriedly through the book until he found the face. Man- yesterday- dark shadowed face, same contour, similar manner of dress. "She's here."

"She's here," he whispered again as his heart stopped for half a second. Jumping out of the chair and tripping over his luggage the Doctor stumbled for the door.

-

Monty surveyed the barren desert planet with a raised eyebrow. "What in the hell you planning on stealing here," he questioned turning around to watch as the Mercenary descended the ramp.

"There's plenty to be had," Jayne glared, swinging a duffel bag over each shoulder as River followed silently after him. "Just gotta know where it's ta be found 's all. "

Monty snickered, "Doubt that. " Turning away from Jayne, the Captain approached the River. "You make sure and keep your head low, little bit, and see to it that he's feeding you properly- "

"Girl never ate better in her life."

The two ignored the grumbling Mercenary as River turned her bright eyes to the older Captain, "Favor?" Monty titled his head inquiringly. "Wife should unload ship - will make trip safer."

Monty furrowed his brow, "Well, little bit, I reckon, if' n you say so. Can't do any harm to have the missus help unload."

River grinned; standing on her tip toes she placed a brief kiss on his cheek, "Won't regret it."

Nodding into the distance, Jayne motioned towards the two approaching figures. "There's our ride."

"Right girl, remember if'n the idiot gets himself killed you come find me." Ruffling her hair, the Captain winked down at the smaller girl before nodding to Jayne and advancing up the ramp. "Don't get yourselves killed, ya hear."

Jayne snorted; taking River by the elbow he led her down the ramp. The roar of the Sovereign's engines quickly filled the air as her ramp sealed itself. The sleek silver ship trembled for a second before launching into the air and darting off into the clouds. Turning away from the trail of smoke, Jayne greeted the two approaching men with a brief nod.

"Cobb." The shorter of the two declared, hooking his thumbs into his belt he leaned back on his heels and ran a pair of weary eyes over River. "This would be the little bit than? Seems a bit scrawny-"

"Don't you worry none 'bout my girl," Jayne answered back, "Just keep your eyes, hands and mind off. You do that an' I won't have to hurt you none, Carson." The grimy looking man shifted, scratching nervously at the scar across his nose. Jayne narrowed his eyes suspiciously and turned to the second man. "Same goes for you, Gable. I know how your kind tends ta like putting grubby paws all over things that ain't theirs," he greeted.

"Relax Jayne boy, ain't got no interest in the little girl. Only wanna put my paws on them old manuscripts and the gold that they're gonna fetch."

Raising an eyebrow, Jayne glanced back at his silent partner, but she seemed more preoccupied with examining the patterns in the sand than the two men standing across from them. "You do what I said?"

"Scoped out that little palace they're holding it in already," Gable declared with a snide grin. Reaching into his pack he pulled out a pair of blueprints and unrolled them for Jayne to see. "Got 'bout twenty hired guns just to guard the front doors and a whole armada to walk them halls; ain't no way we can get through that mess of guns 'fore the security systems kicks in ta high gear and looks them dusty old books behind a steal cage."

Carson nodded in agreement, "Once they're in that there steel locker thing ain't no getting them out. It'd be better to do a sky lift and cut a whole in the roof." Poking at an indistinguishable object on the blue prints, Carson clucked to himself, "Be in and out for anybody knew we'd been there."

Jayne snorted, "Ain't you been paying attention. That there steel trap goes off with the security system and them Shakespeare's ain't cheap; they'd grid the ceiling just as soon as the floor." Turning back to Gable, Jayne shook his head, "You get the codes and the shuttle like I told ya to?"

"Yeah, but it ain't gonna do us no good dead," Gable pointed out with a worried frown, swinging the backpack around he stuffed the blueprints back into it and held it out towards the Mercenary.

"You just follow my lead and I'll make sure you don't lose any of your chicken shit brains. I got the contact all ready to meet on Triumph," Jayne answered as he grabbed the bag. Turning around he reached out, taking River by the elbow and slipping the bag over her shoulder. "Where'd ya park the shuttle?"

"Over yonder," Carson muttered nodding his head towards a distant spark of silver. "Why'd ya have to go and pick a planet like Triumph? Ain't you heard what that planet does ta men?"

Jayne shrugged, wrapping an arm around River's shoulder he steered her towards the shuttle, "Ain't heard anything of interest 'bout it."

"Seems as though on that there planet all it takes is a sip of wine and a dance to get hitched. Mighty dangerous if'n ya ask me," Gable explained as he followed after the odd pair of criminals. River slowly turned her head to stare back at the two men with a curious expression as Jayne continued to guide her along. "Man's liable to wake up with a hangover and a bride; a dangerous bride at that. Heard of one man who almost got his ship torn ta pieces cuz of the pretty little thing he brought aboard."

One of River's eyebrows arched up as she turned to gaze at Jayne.

"I ain't planning to mingle," Jayne declared roughly. "We're just gonna be on it long enough to drop the goods and get the gold."

-

"She's here." Rodger's looked up as the flustered young doctor tripped into the dank and dark room. Dropping the book to the table, Simon hurriedly flipped to a middle page and pointed down at the image. "Is that Cobb," Simon demanded in a breathless voice.

Rodgers stared down at the image for a second, than back up at the doctor. "Yeah, you'd know that as well as I would, Doc, but what makes you think he's here," the older man questioned with a hint of doubt. The ship we tagged them to be on ain't due in for another day."

"No," Simon declared, "I ran into that man in the market, yesterday."

"Hells bells. " Turning away from the doctor, Rodger's raced across the room throwing open a back door, "Michigan, she's jumped ship again. Get your ass down to the docks and find out who she's riding with this time."

Turning back around, Rodgers crossed the room and grabbed the book off the table, taking the doctor by the arm, "We were planning on catchin' her here, but the little bit just moves too fast. Come on Doc, we got our own ship ta catch."

-

"What'cha think?"

River looked up from the pages of numbers strewn across her bunk to Jayne as he hovered in the doorway. "Ball and chain," she answered back after a moment of silent thought.

Jayne's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "You ain't still mad about that whole marriage thing, are ya? I said I was ruttin' sorry."

River frowned and shook her head, "Numbers are optimal; makes sense that one plus one makes one."

"Good," Jayne grinned. "Plan's going accordingly than; me and the two idiots are gonna stir up a distraction while you slip through. Grab the stuff and sit tight until I come and get ya." Grinning down at River, Jayne turned to leave.

River's shoulders dropped and she slumped down against the bed, "I reckon," Jayne suddenly called back as he paused. River perked up, a light sparking eagerly across her eyes, "them two are planning on turning us in?" Her shoulder slumped and River nodded. "Before or after job?"

"Grubby little hands always wait until they can take all."

Jayne frowned at her words, "You tell me when they're 'bout ready to dial the Feds, and we'll turn things round on them this time." Winking at his genius, the Mercenary moved off towards the cockpit of the small shuttle.

-

"Trillion." Simon looked up from his position in the cockpit as the two brothers raced up the stairs. "Trillion, she was spotted boarding the Sovereign yesterday- ship reported at an outpost on Trillion this morning for a refueling and ta drop off two passengers."

Rodgers grinned, slapping his pilot on the back, "You heard the lads, get us in the air."

-

River slipped along the darkened hallways quietly; stealthily creeping along the walls she followed the shadows through the silent maze of corridors. She caught the sound of rapid gunfire from a distance and stumbled to a halt, her breath catching in her throat as she leaned against the wall.

Closing her eyes she searched briefly for the familiar presence, and found him- frustrated as all hell and slightly stressed. But who wouldn't be when working with such men as Carson and Gable while taking on an armed armada of heavily trained security personnel?

A quick slice of pain stabbed her left arm and the girl yelped, grabbing a hold of it. But the arm was unharmed, and River cast a worried glance off towards the sound of gunfire. "He's hurt-" Turning away from her mission she quickly advanced back towards the front doors.

'Qing wa cao de liu mang-' his thought invaded her own and forced the girl to halt, a burst of anger that was not her own fueled through her veins. Biting down on her lip River glanced back to the doors that held the old manuscripts and ran a hand down her still tingling arm. She could either complete her mission or return to his side and ensure no more tingling arms. One way would ensure a happy Jayne but the other would ensure a very pissed off Jayne unlikely to be thankful or delighted about her worry for his safekeeping. She hesitated for a moment longer, but despite her desire to return to his side she turned back to the doors, "Boy can take care of himself."

She moved quickly for the deserted door, easily keying in the override code and slipping into the dark interior. Slipping quietly among the priceless artifacts, River approached the center jewel. In this case sat the centermost piece of value; the only copy of Shakespeare that had survived the massive exodus of Earth. Circling the object like it was her prey; River studied the hard bound copy with its faded leather binding and softly etched letters through the glass case. Dropping down to a hunch in front of the pedestal she opened the hidden compartment, revealing the keypad and the item's carrying case. Tapping the sequence into the pad, River grabbed the case, flipping it open on the floor. The glass case hissed as it slowly lifted to expose its treasure. Reaching in River gently took the book and set the tome down into the foamed padding, sealing off the case.

The hand descended before she felt the presence. Swinging out of the guards grasp, the small girl spun into a kick, her boot impacting with his chest and sending him stumbling back into the pedestal. Recovering quickly he grabbed a hold of her arm. River swung the case into his face and twisted his arm backward, sending the man crashing against the wall with a groan. Dropping the case, she cart wheeled after the man; knocking her knee into his groin she slammed his head back against the wall. Bracing herself she grabbed his shirt and flipped him down to the floor, cutting off his air flow with her knee.

The body beneath her went limp and the girl immediately pulled back, "Lucky. If it were the other you'd be dead." Standing she grabbed the case and turned to watch the doors slide open, admitting a triumphant looking Jayne, his left arm covered in an impromptu bandage. He paused for a second, spotting the body on the floor, his gaze darting over to her with a questioning look. "What took so long?" she finally questioned.

A grin flashed across his face, "That's my girl," crossing the room he swept her small lithe form into his arms. "Got distracted by a couple of ruttin' fools that got in my way." Leaning down he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and ruffled the long locks of brown. "What'd ya say we beat it? I got the fools waiting with the shuttle." Grabbing a hold of her hand, Jayne trudged her quickly in the direction of the doors. "Gotta love paydays."

-

"She's a witch," Carson cursed, scratching at the scar across his nose. The whites of his eyes flashed and he shifted in the pilot's chair as they waited for Jayne and his little girl partner to return from collecting their pay.

"Them's just rumors," his partner answered back. "Ain't no way he's gonna see this coming. We'll knock 'em both out, turn 'em into the nearest Fed station, pick up the bounty and skip off with twice the loot."

"No, they ain't rumors Gable. You heard the way she talked; she knows things she can't. The way she acts, hell even the way she dresses in them gorram doll like dresses ain't right."

"She's crazy is all; you'd be unstable after running with Jayne for a year. Hell, you'd have to be unstable to partner up with him in the first place." Gable frowned as the meaning behind his words settled in. "What's that say 'bout us?"

"I heard things about her, things that ain't right, "Carson continued, "They say she's a reader."

"That don't make her a witch."

"That she kills with her mind sure in the hell does." The man twitched nervously, his hands falling to rest on his gun belt out of habit as he continued to scan out the window for a sight of the Mercenary. "Marco told me that when he tried to back stab the pair, that little girl closed her eyes, picked up a gun and shot his partners down- never opened her gorram eyes."

Gable snorted shaking his head at his partner's nervous twitching. "Marco's a liar, you know that Carson. Jayne Cobb don't often leave survivors when he's backstabbed, and there ain't no reason for him to let Marco live if' n that'd happened."

Gable spun in his chair and grinned as he spotted the taller Mercenary strolling over the horizon. The little girl trailed after Jayne in her bright red flowered dress, occasionally stopping to scoop up a wild flower. "Shut your rambling up, they're coming. Get the tranquillizer gun ready, post says they're wanted alive. Soon as we got them on board, shoot him, we can handle her just fine." Jumping up, Carson scrambled over to bags and pulling out the small weapon and carefully tucking it in his holster as Gable moved to open the shuttle hatch.

Jayne and River strolled up to the small shuttle, the girl almost skipping to an unheard beat as her partner wearily eyed the man standing in the shuttle hatchway.

"You get the credits," Gable questioned as he stepped back, making room for the pair to enter.

"Course we did- didn't we woman," Jayne answered his eyes still glued to the two men as he came to a halt just outside of the shuttle.

River nodded her head, "Smarter then their prey," she whispered, her hands toying with her impromptu bouquet. "Gotta love paydays."

"What ya make of these two," Jayne questioned, crossing his hands across his chest he leaned against the doorway.

"Fingers are itching."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Carson questioned as the muscle above his right eye started twitching nervously.

Jayne ignored the two men, "That so. Well then, why don't you take a little walk and see what pretties there are to be had in this little valley. I'll come find ya when I' m done." The light that danced through his eyes was positively frightening. River jumped to her tip toes and pressed a kiss to the larger man on the cheek as he swatted her away. Turning away from the nervous men, the smaller girl wandered off towards the distant woods.

"Jayne, we ain't got time to let her run 'bout. I wanna get off this ruttin planet-" Jayne grabbed his gun, firing. The bullet ripped into Gable's heart. Gable flew backwards as Carson fumbled for the tranquilizer; catching a bullet between the eyes as he looked up to aim.

Jayne frowned for a second, holstering his weapon. "Ruttin hell, them deceiving, low down dirty- deceivers, got blood all over the damn upholstery." Reaching down, he hooked his arms underneath Gables and tugged the body free from the shuttle. Dragging the lifeless form into the woods he returned a second later for Carson; hauling the second body and concealing them both with a couple of broken branches.

River had seen plenty of death, caused one or two when necessary, but she'd never quite adjusted to the image the way he had. She freaked at the sight of blood, any blood, 'specially his, and started muttering about becoming something or other. Jayne didn't understand it, didn't even try to most of the time. He'd just settled into a routine to ensure that his little crazy girl wasn't going off the deep end over a splatter of red.

Returning to the shuttle Jayne opened one of their duffel bags and pulled out a rag, quickly wiping away the blood splatters that had spread across the control panel and chairs. It took a second to make certain that the buttons weren't leaking blood, but he'd gotten good at cleaning up a mess and finished in only a few minutes. Stepping out of the now spot free shuttle, the Mercenary wiped off his arms and hands before tossing the towel off with the bodies.

The sun was starting to set in the distance, casting an orange-ish red glow over the countryside, illuminating the impromptu path left for Jayne to follow. River's obvious clues made it impossible for him not to follow. With his ability in tracking he didn't need her visual aids, but she always seemed to think that he took too long when she wasn't leaving a quick trail to follow. Today's variation was a path of picked wild flowers that lead him through the densely wooded area.

He found her standing partially hidden in a bush, her red dress standing out against the green, her gaze fixed on something in the distance. Walking quietly over to her, Jayne gently took a hold of River's elbow, "Come on. Let's get off this piece of crap rock and find us something with a little more civilization, no ruttin' Alliance and some good food." She refused to budge. "What's got you so damn enthralled?"

River closed her eyes for a second a warm smile creeping across her cheeks. "They're happy; they'll dance in circles around the warmth. No worries, no cares. They'll be boys and girls and they'll forget about what haunts the day." Pushing past the bushes, the small girl revealed a settler's town in the beginning stages of what looked to be some sort of shindig.

Jayne cursed her for a second before starting after the girl, "Gorram it, the things I do for that little freak- hey, whiskey."

-

Simon walked across the bleak desert landscape, the soft white sands crunching beneath his feet. Squinting he shifted to a stop and took a deep breath, the spicy air of the desert filling his lungs as the sun slowly began its descent. "She was here," Simon whispered "Right here. She could have walked these paths-"

"Sure Doc," Michigan interrupted, "Course don't think it would have been 'bout here, their kind sorta hangs round the other side of the planet. Ships ready to go. Got a lead that says they were last seen headed towards Triumph. "Turning around the younger boy started towards the ship, pausing half way to turn back and call, "Don't worry, Doc, they can't always keep a step ahead. We're bound to cross paths eventually."

Simon frowned, turning his gaze back off into the bright sun. "What if we don't," he whispered, "what if I can't catch her?" The weight of the universe seemed to suddenly drop down to his shoulders as his resolve started crumbling beneath his feet.

"You re tired Simon."

"Very tired," Simon answered the voice in his head. "I've been running after you for more than a year River. Slow down, mei mei."

"I can't Simon; you're just going to have to go faster."

"Doc, Doc." Simon shook himself out of the daydream and turned towards the calling voice. Michigan stood on the ramp of the ship frantically waving his hands. "Got a positive ID on them entering the orbit of Triumph, we gotta move now."

"Right," Simon muttered to himself, "move faster." Turning away from the bleak desert landscape Simon broke into a run.

-

Note: The timeline used is based off of Edgar Governo's Firefly Timeline.

Chinese translations

"qing wa cao de liu mang " means "frog-humping son of a bitch"