Copper for a Kiss by Lady Cleo

All Disclaimers' Apply

Chapter Thirteen: The Black, Serenity

2518 Mid June to early July.

Mal fingered the shot glass for a second, sinking back onto the bunk before taking a quick swing of the contents. There was something about that girl that nagged his innards in an uncomfortable way. Something was oddly familiar about her presence-

Santo

2518 Late March.

Mal walked down the board walk with a steady gate, by know he felt that Zoe should have completed the drop off, Wash should have restocked the ship, and Kaylee would've returned from her latest venture into the junk yards. Picking up his feet a little, the Captain turned the street and skidded to a halt, nearly colliding with a small body. "'Scuse me miss." Tipping his head to the younger girl he made to step aside, but paused. Something about the girl struck him as odd. She was dressed in a pair of combat boots, tight black shorts and a crimson red shirt. But there was something offsetting about the girl, as though maybe all her gears were out of tune. Shaking off the peculiar

sensation running down his spine, Mal started to step around her.

"Compression coil."

Her voice startled him, forcing Mal to halt his progress and turn his head back to her.

She smiled up at him and slowly dropped down to the nearest crate, perching herself on it's edge. "It won't hold, find yourself lost and out of breath, it'll only hurt more."

Mal frowned, "I don't reckon I have any idea what you're talking about little girl."

The girl lifted a finger and point down the street towards a old repair shop. "Half price." She declared, large brown eyes piercing his.

A shudder ran down Mal's spine and he opened his mouth to ask what she meant, when the girl's head jerked up, her gaze shifting to the dark alley beside them. "Don't need the cronies." She whispered and stood, slinking off into the shadows of the ally.

Shrugging off the encounter, Mal turned to head back towards the ship, paused, glanced back down the alley, and then readjusted his gait towards the repair shop.

"What the hell I've got a few spare credits and little Kaylee's been nagging about that damned coil for the past three months."

"Mal," Wash's voice shook the captain out of his daze.

Pushing the memory to the back of his mind, Mal stood and walked over to the intercom, pressing down on the button. "Yeah?"

"Inara just called, she's in route. E.T.A. in about fifteen minutes."

"Good, we can skip out of this damned quadrant. As soon as she's docked set a fast course for Sedona. Something tells me that the sooner we get rid of the universe's most wanted the better."

-

Kaylee walked cautiously down the stairs towards the guest quarters, eyes skimming the area for any sign of Serenity's newest occupants. She didn't have to look long. River sat on the couch outside the infirmary, coiled in a small ball, her pale face watching Kaylee's progress blankly, as though all the emotions had been drawn out. Kaylee paused at the bottom stair and glanced around for Jayne.

"He won't bite."

Jumping at the other girl's words Kaylee smiled sheepishly and stepped down to approach the couch. "I didn't think he would, he's just kinda intimidatin' is all. I reckon once you get to know the fella-" Kaylee stopped mid thought, not quite sure where she was going with the conversation and feeling awkward standing out in the middle of the common area with no purpose.

River turned an inquisitive glance towards her, patently waiting for the questions to slip out.

"You travel a lot?" Kaylee dropped into a seat across from the couch. "I reckon you do, what with that sort of award hangin' over your head. I'd bet theres plenty of people willin to turnin' there own moms for that kinda money." River didn't seem to be phased by the question, but neither did she offer an answer. "I bet you've got a whole bunch of stories, seen a whole bunch of stuff. Me, well we don't get to do much. Mainly we just transport cargo, sometimes it's exciting, sometimes it's just long stretches of space."

River smiled slightly.

"I reckon it must be real hard for you though, not being able to go home or nothing."

"Home?" River frowned at the last comment, momentarily confused. "One's place of residence, domicile, house, the social unit formed by a family living together, congenial environment." Titling her head River glanced towards the guest quarters. "Jayne is home."

"That's sorta like us, Serenity's home." Kaylee shrugged, a hand coming up to push a stand of hair out of her face as she finally relaxed. "Still, it must get tiring- running from everything and everybody. Not many you can trust out here I reckon. Course you don't got to worry here. The Captain would never turn you over to the feds, he's likely shoot himself in the foot first." River frowned at the thought, but Kaylee continued. "Still, I reckon you miss your family and all. Must be hard sometimes, lonely I bet too."

The crazy genius slowly uncoiled from her tight ball. "There is Jayne. Always Jayne, when the needles come he chases them away, and when the sun shines, he brings the rain-" River paused. Shaking her head violently she coiled back into a ball. "It's what they wanted though. Both are in trouble no. No escape, trapped in-"

Jayne stepped out of one of the guest quarters, "You can stop that now, girl."

Scrambling to her feet, Kaylee glanced over at the towering mercenary, unsure as to who he addressed she took two startled steps away from River.

"It's true." The genius coiled into a even tighter ball as Jayne stormed over. "Two by two, they've made a two by two. All they have to do now is catch them, flip the switch."

Sinking onto the couch Jayne pulled out a syringe and vile from one of the duffells. "Arm," he commanded as he slowly filled the syringe with a clear liquid. River glared at him out of the corner of her eye, but nevertheless complied, holding out her thin, pale arm to the larger man.

From the relative safety of her distance, Kaylee watched the procedure with a small spark of curiosity. "What's that for?"

"None of our business, kid." His job finished, Jayne stood and headed into the infirmary to trash the needle.

River glanced up from her ball and smiled slightly. "Fights the heat waves and keeps the girl cool. It helps the rain."

Jayne stepped back into the common area and glanced over at the small mechanic. "Don't you got nothing better to do, kid?"

Kaylee bit down on her lower lip to keep her comments at bay before turning and trudging back up the stairs, a slight mutter of intelligible mandarin slipping off her lips as she disappeared.

"Best not to mingle. I don't trust this lot." Dropping back down to the couch, Jayne glanced over at the small ball of a girl. "Sooner we're off this boat the better."

River frowned, shifting to curl into Jayne's side. "Serenity is peace. No trouble comes from peace."

Jayne snorted "'Except for wars, girl."

-

The small shuttle slipped smoothly along Serenity's side, clamps locking down as it settled into its port. Inara grinned, a small sense of pride filling her chest as she stood from the pilot's seat and left the warm confines in search of a warm cup of tea. And partially to ensure all crew members still had all bodily parts intact. Storming Niska's complex could not have been an easy task. In fact she recalled telling Mal that it was the definition for insanity and suicide.

Stepping down the stairs of the shuttle Inara paused and mentally checked off one crew member. "Glad to see you're still in one piece."

"I could say the same for you. Have a good time?" Mal questioned with a sarcastic grin. Crossing his arms across his chest he watched gleefully as his words irked the woman in front of him.

"I suppose your impromptu greeting has a purpose?" Inara sidestepped the captain and moved briskly off towards the galley.

"You remember our guest, well, seems as though he's stickin around for a little longer." The grin quickly washed off Mal's face as he followed after Inara. "Watch your step 'round him, not quite sure what to make of him or his little missus. There's something fishy going on here. Saw some things I got doubts about, heard some things that ain't makin' sense at all."

Inara's expression softened briefly. "Thank you, but I can take care of myself," she assured pausing in the doorway of the galley. "Do you think they could be trouble?"

"No more than usual, but I ain't used to being ordered around, don't take too kindly to it either. Don't matter how much he's paying, I got standards just like everybody else."

"However low they are-" Inara declared with a smirk before turning and stepping down into the galley to join the gathered crew, minus Wash and the new guests. She smiled fondly at Kaylee before moving towards the kitchen. "I assume than that you picked up his wife okay."

"Big payday for a few thrilling heroics. We're headed for Sedona. Ever been round about there" Mal questioned Inara. The companion shook her head. "Plenty of places on Sedona to burn money, little to no fed presence either. Reckon there should be some clientele for you to pick up on." Mal supplied, leaning an elbow over one of the chairs he grinned at her.

Zoe lifted her face towards the pair, "What's a man of his background doing on a refined planet like that?"

"Maybe the little wife likes it," Wash suggested as he stepped down into the room. "A man will do a lot for his wife." He grinned at Zoe and winked before turning back to Mal. "Then again it's not like a lot of planets are throwing the red carpet out for them, it's probably one of the safer places to disappear into."

"Gotta wonder," Kaylee whispered, eyes starring off into space.

Mal furrowed his eyebrows, "Wonder 'bout what?"

"Gotta wonder what kind of stories they'd tell," Kaylee whispered pensively. "Life like theirs ain't easy. They've probably had ta have been in plenty of scraps and managed ta pull out with just each other." The smaller girl shifted her gaze over to Mal and shrugged, "It's sorta romantic and wishful, him always sliding in ta pull her out of harms way."

"A life like that isn't romantic," Zoe contradicted with a shake of her head, "It's a hard life, one where you count yourself lucky to be alive. They're alone, with hardly a friend in the world. A bounty like that on your head, you don't have a choice but to be alone." A pensive silence fell on the group for a second.

"Still makes you wonder." Kaylee finally broke the silence. "That girl can't be real old, and the way she clung so tightly to him when he brought her up. They way he just sorta cradled her close, like she was some fragile piece of glass."

Mal moved into the galley, pouring himself a cup of coffee he took a slow sip of the black liquid. "Reckon she was a fragile piece of glass right than. Shootin' down that many men with your eyes closed ought take it out of any sane being. Though, I'm not quite sure how sane either of them is."

-

Sedona

2518 Mid June to early July.

The ship trembled slightly as it settled down. Simon frowned, watching as the heavy door slowly lowered. Beside him Regan Tam fretted nervously. "Are you sure we can trust this man?"

"Of course we can, mother. Father has nothing to fear from the Alliance anymore and this man is certainly no friend of the Alliance." Patting her shoulder reassuringly he turned to watch the ship's crew wheel his father slowly out from the medical bay. Out of the corner of his eyes Simon caught a glimpse of Crewman Dobson instructing the rest of the ship's crew. "Other's I'm not so sure about."

"Doctor Tam-"

Simon spun around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. A man in his late thirties approached with a small staff of medical assistants. It took a second for Simon to recognize him, having only seen the other doctor once. "Doctor Holden, it's a pleasure to final make your acquaintance," Simon greeted as he held at a hand to the other man. They shook hands cordially and Simon turned to introduce his mother, "This is my mother, Regan Tam."

Holden smiled gently, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance ma'am. I've been hearing a lot about your son's recent achievements in the medical field, it piqued my curiosity about his parentage."

Regan linked her arm with Simon's. "I make no claim to either of my children, both are prodigies of their own accord, none of my making," she declared proudly.

"Both?" Holden's eyebrows wrinkled together.

"She's referring to my sister," Simon explained. Holden's forehead wrinkled as he passed a questioning gaze towards Simon.

Simon bowed his head, avoiding the other man's glance. An awkward silence passed over the group, broken only when the ships crew interrupted, wheeling the prone form of Gabriel Tam over.

Holden stepped forward, checking the vitals of the man and nodding briskly to himself. "Your father's condition remains stable. Shall we see to the patient's accommodations? I've had my clinic set up a private room for your father. If you would like to follow me I'm sure between the two of us we can solve this dilemma."

-

Kaylee set the last plate of food down on the table. Wash grinned up at her thankfully, "Looks great."

"Smells good too," Mal quipped as he picked up his fork, ignoring the Shepard's mumbled pray of thanks. Across the room, Jayne steeped down into the Galley, River following a step behind him. He nodded a curt greeting to the table and took a seat, River wafting after him.

Slowly lowering herself into a seat, River sniffed at the air, eyes swooping over the other table occupants before resting on the head figure of the table. "Mal," she whispered, startling the crew. "Bad- in the Latin."

"Here you go." Jayne interrupted River, drawing her attention down to the plate he heaped with food before her. "Eat 'fore you starve ta death." Reaching down he pinched her side, "It don't look like the psycho feed ya at all."

Silence fell over the group as the clatter of silverware took over. No one seemed inclined to raise much of an objection to the lack of conversation. That is until Kaylee shifted uncomfortably in her seat and tried to break the atmosphere, "Ya'll been anywhere interestin' lately?"

River looked up from her plate to examine the other girl. But her eyes couldn't find a focus and she pulled them away, staring up at the ceiling for a long second before Jayne pulled her back to her food.

"Did a job on Triumph," Jayne spoke up between bites. "I guess you could call them folks an interesting bunch of people." Mal groaned at the memories of his own visit to that planet. "Been there, I reckon." Jayne snickered as he toyed with his fork.

Shepherd Book nodded when Mal didn't speak, "They do have an interesting marriage custom there."

For a second River's head whipped up and over to the Shepard, her eyes clearing, "Zhang-fu said yes there."

An uncomfortable, confused silence settled back over the table again for a second, before Jayne cleared his throat to explain, "She means we was married there – using that same custom you were talkin' about, preacher. Only she didn't give me a choice in the matter."

"Know that feeling," Mal muttered under his breath before picking up his cup and taking a swig from it.

River pulled her gaze back away from the Shepard and towards the rest of the table. Her hand rose to her chest, a small pain suddenly sparking from her heart. Her fingers tightened around the material of her shirt as she took a slow deep breath. "Not right."

"Eat, girl." Jayne ordered as he nudged her with his elbow. "Fever ain't going no-where unless you get something down that gizzard of yours." He watched her for a long second to make sure she picked up the fork before turning back to his own plate.

"Where'd ya meet?" Kaylee inquired, Mal's head shot up from his plate and he sent a warning glare towards his engineer. He didn't think the newcomer was going to take kindly to her questions and he would have preferred to let any impending brawls happen after dinner.

"Ariel." River answered quietly. She held the fork in her hand ready to stab at the food on her plate, but didn't seem inclined to eat. "Slipped from the pricks and pins, found death and was lead to Jayne."

Kaylee furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced over at Jayne for an explanation. He didn't seem willing to give one this time. Instead he had his eyes pinned on River, watching her much like the prey watches its hunter.

"Slipped away together and proved the worth in gold." River whispered quietly. "I caught him but she can't keep him now. Bound to him, but now, now they want him just as they want her. Will be better this way – can direct, can command without troubles. They know, they know one won't work without the other." Her eyes fluttered over the contents of her plate. The pitch oh her voice rose slightly, "It's too late now. Too late!" The fork slammed down, prongs embedding deeply into the worn wood as River jumped to her feet.

Jayne reacted quietly, before River could grab at something to throw, he swept the smaller woman over her shoulder, ignoring her shocked cry he quickly carried her away from the table and back toward the guest quarters.

Kaylee jumped up, following a couple steps after, her face pinched with worry as she watched the struggling girl scream. Mal moved after them both, now at a total lose for what was going on he figured this would be the perfect time to find out.

-

Dobson fingered the communication button, his gaze fixed on a point of space, thoughts deeply calculating his position. It would look suspicious if he approached the medical center without pretense, and the crewman gig would only cover him up to the delivery of the body. He needed an insider, someone imbedded into Holden's clinic. The only problem: Holden was ex-alliance and trusted very few. On top of that this planet remained very anti-alliance. He couldn't play that card with Holden's staff. His only choice seemed to be to watch from a short distance. Hopefully the anti-alliance atmosphere would benefit him; perhaps Tam was planning on luring his sister out of her hiding place to the small oasis.

Dobson frowned; whatever happened he would be there to witness it, of that he was sure. Time was running out, his superiors were extremely unhappy with his lack of progress. The clock was winding down fast. Dobson needed his bait to act now, make some move to draw out the girl and her barbarian. Gabriel Tam's induced heart attack could prove the trick- but for now all Dobson could do was watch and wait.

-

Jayne all but tossed the small girl onto the couch. Ignoring his two shadows, Jayne grabbed the first duffel and yanked it open, pulling out the small black medical bag he'd only just shoved back in a few minutes ago. River had curled up into a small ball on the couch, her sobbing shaking her small body. "Hold on, baby." Jayne called out through gritted teeth as he pulled out a small syringe, quickly feeling it with yellow liquid. "Give me a second and I'll chase them ruttin' nightmares away." Tapping the syringe, Jayne moved back over to the whimpering girl and with an expertise gained from habit, gently pried her arm away from her body, found the familiar vein, the only one he could ever find, and gently pressed the tip of the needle into the skin.

The effect was almost immediate; the whimpering subsided as River slowly uncurled her body, her breathing evening out. The dazed eyes blinked away the last tear. Jayne watched her for a second, before tossing the syringe away. Turning back to the small medical kit.

Hooking his thumbs into his belt, Mal stepped forward. "You mind telling me what the hell is going on now?"

"Ain't none of your business."

"You drag an unstable weapon like that little girl on my boat- that makes it my damn business." Mal gritted his teeth together. "The way I see it, you got some explaining to do before you find yourself taking a cold walk in space."

Jayne's spine stiffened dangerously, his hand dropped to his gun.

"Tell him." River whispered, her voice cracking slightly from the strain of her pervious fit.

"What the hell for?" Jayne demanded, his glare shifting to the small woman. River met his glance with one of her own, prompting Jayne to continue his rant. "We don't gotta go spreading our story to every gorram fool that asks. We keep spreading around what the hell happened to us and someone's gonna get a greedy finger. Then I'll have to kill 'em and you'll get all upset about the blood and start in on some damn rant about not turnin' into a weapo-"

"Jayne," her voice cracked again. "Found a new home, peace won't steer us out of the clear." Her words prompted a string of curses from the larger man.

"Damn it ta all hell, I ain't doin' it. I ain't. I'm sick of telling every fool that wants to get his nose wet in our business, it ain't right. If he wants to learn about us he can go read it on the damn cortex." Jayne stormed off to the corner of the room.

River took a deep breath and turned to Mal, "I'am- am an experiment. Was- there was a school, school for smart girls- but it wasn't a school."

Mal nodded, ignoring the cussing coming from the other side of the room.

"Blue- blue hands, government trade. They cut into her-into me – took something from me. Was trained to become- become a weapon but there was no want to be weapon and they had no control over her wants. They needed a trigger but couldn't find on. Sent me off because they were afraid of something coming- something." She took a deep breath, her hand curling into a tight fist at her side.

"You ain't solving anything by telling him."

River ignored the comment and continued, "But in avoiding fear they found fear. I faked it, faked-faked death and found Jayne. Not- I'm not stable." Mal's eyebrows furred owed together as he watched her, behind him the crew was trickling down the stairs, listening quietly to the tale that was slowly emerging.

Jayne cursed again and turned to face River, an accusing finger pointing at her. "That's damn right, you ain't! 'Cause you're telling a brown coat what he wants to hear- now he's gonna make a cause outta of you."

"I need Jayne," River explained, her hands uncurling to come up to her head, her body curled back into a tight ball. "I needed him and found him. Showed him what I could do- it was reason enough for him to keep the unstable one-"

"Damn stupid-" Jayne paused in his rant suddenly, "Wait, -What the hell are you saying girl?" He'd never heard this version of the story before.

"Stayed at first because he was soft and he was stable. Didn't hurt the girl, was like a big brother to lost lamb. Made him make her- me family- and grew to wanting beyond- found her voice in him, found what I wanted. He gave her what she needed and then what I wanted. But all children are greedy creatures and consume, want more. Found that I wanted beyond the big brother so I took it- married him, got a step more- found what I wanted. But now- now – now not so sure."

"I ain't liking where this conversation is going."

"You're not the only one." Mal muttered under his breath.

"In avoiding fear, we may have found the fear. One plus one makes two – two hands of blue."

Jayne looked just as confused about the last line as Mal, but was the quicker one to voice it. "What the hell does that mean?"

-

"You said you had a sister."

Simon glanced up as Holden spoke. The two men were seated in the latter's office. Outside the sun had begun to sink into the clouds, spreading warm shades of red through the room. "Had may or may not be the correct term. I haven't heard from my sister in a long time."

Holden frowned. The moment he'd laid eyes on the younger man something had struck him as oddly familiar. Seeing the mother had only increased the nagging sensation of familiarity. "Forgive me if I pry, but-"

"I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind. It's a complicated and tricky situation. The sooner we heal my father, the sooner I can focus on fixing the situation with my sister." Simon leaned back in the chair as the other man resumed glancing over the charts.

'You were never very good at lying, Simon.'

Glancing down at his chart, Simon tried to ignore the voice.

'Don't worry, every dance has it's end.'

Simon's head jerked up, the words jumping to his lips "Every dance has it's end."

"Pardon," Holden questioned, a furrowed brow lifting up from the records.

"Do you know what that means?" Holden shook his head in response to the question and Simon continued. "Neither do I, but I think I may find out soon enough."

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

Chinese translations…