CHAPTER TWO

Author owns, nor makes any claims to Firefly or the universe in which it exists. He writes solely for his own pleasure, and entertainment of others, and receives no compensation of any kind for his efforts. Completely okay not to sue him.

FF

River was in heaven.

After so long confined to a bed, she was free! Free to walk, to venture outside, and see the sky, feel the sun on her skin, the wind in her hair.

She was nervous at first, unfamiliar with her new surroundings. Well, they weren't new, she was aware of that. Simon had explained that she was suffering from amnesia. She had demanded that he tell her what she was missing, but he had steadfastly refused to do so, explaining that to do so might interfere with her mind's attempts to restore itself.

"The important thing, right now, is to heal physically, River," Simon had stressed. "Let your mind rest, and it will reset itself when it's ready."

"And if it doesn't?" she asked pointedly.

"When you're completely recovered physically, then we might see about trying to stimulate your memory. Completely recovered," he stressed again.

"And who decides I'm completely recovered?" River had always been headstrong, and losing part of her memory hadn't changed that.

"I do," Simon informed her. "And that is not open for negotiation, or discussion," he added, her mouth already opened to argue.

"Fine," she had huffed.

After a week of being able to move about, she was feeling much stronger. Physical therapy while she was bed bound had prevented her from losing too much muscle, or range of motion. After a week of stretching, walking, and moving, she was much better.

But nowhere near what Simon would consider completely healed. And, she admitted to herself, she didn't either. River was a genius. As such, she knew facts as well, if not better, than Simon did.

She also knew herself. Her body was a weapon when in proper physical shape. And she was not in that shape. Not yet.

The public address system broke into her musing.

"Attention all hands, attention all hands. Ship returning, I repeat ship returning. Please clear the pad area immediately."

River looked to the sky where a black dot began to resolve itself into the form of a ship. She had already seen a similar ship depart three days ago. Simon had informed her that the ship leaving, Serenity, had been their home for many months before settling here.

Now the second ship, acquired after the decision to stay here and work for Guilford's full time, was returning from it's latest run. She looked wistfully at the graceful vessel, longing to be on it, and traveling among the stars. She knew, academically, that she had been to Astra before, but with no memory of it, the planet was now an undiscovered wonder, and she longed to see it for herself. Who knew if being on ship again, and seeing familiar places would trigger her memory?

Sighing, she sat down, watching the ship flare slightly as it landed with on the pad.

Too much throttle at the last, she thought to herself, and then wondered how she knew that. Maybe she had flown a ship like this before? She would ask Simon later, though she doubted her would tell her.

She watched the cargo bay door open, with factory hands now moving to empty the hold of the now empty transport casings. Once they were gone, the crew began to exit. The first one off was a tall woman wearing a head scarf. River thought that was odd, but realized the woman's hair was very short, barely peeking from underneath the skull cap.

Beside her was a short, wide, heavily muscled man who might have been the ugliest person she had ever seen. River would never say so, of course, and besides, one's physical looks were completely unimportant compared to what was inside. . . .

Oh my.

River felt herself blush as a very tall, well muscled, and very handsome man walked down the ramp.

Of course, sometimes good looks can be a good thing, she thought to herself. Oh, yes, a very good thing indeed.

The taller man said something to the first couple, who laughed, and then walked over to a waiting mule. He turned back to the ship, yelling to someone still onboard.

A smaller version of him, though smaller didn't mean much, River decided, emerged with a teenage girl riding on his back. The boy was unbowed by her weight, River noticed, and was smiling and laughing as the mini-me carried her to the mule.

Mini-me, River mused to herself. Where have I heard that before? Then it hit her.

I probably know. . .knew, those people. Before I lost my memory. She got to her feet, intending to go and talk to them, but before she had taken five full steps, the mule started, and pulled away, going in the opposite direction, along a seldom used road.

She watched them out of sight, wishing she was with them. For some reason, she felt as though she were missing out on something. Something important.

Jayne steered the mule toward home, glad to be back. Now that the small ranch was on it's feet, he hated to be away from it.

Not that he was ready to quit, of course. The girl enjoyed it too much, and so did Liam. It was adventurous to them, and romantic, too, he guessed, suppressing a grin. If they wanted to keep going, who was he to deprive them of that?

The mule in the shed, the three of them got out, grabbing their bags as they did so.

"Need to make a check on the cattle, I reckon," Jayne decided as they went into the house. "Been gone a week."

"We'll do it, daddy," Chelsa said. "Let us get changed, and get some gear. We should be able to check everything before dark."

"All right," Jayne nodded. "I got some things I need to see to, anyway," he added. "Reckon I need to run back up to the plant for a while, too. Should have checked in 'fore we left," he chuckled.

"We'll take the ATV," Liam nodded.

"You two be careful," Jayne cautioned. "And be sure and take a com, too," he added. "Have any trouble, gimme a call."

"Will do, boss," Liam replied, already heading up the stairs.

"We'll be fine, Daddy," Chelsa promised, smiling. "Go on and check on her. If. . .if she was. . .I mean is she was to ask. . . ." she finally trailed off, not trusting herself to continue.

"I'll call you right away," Jayne promised.

"Okay, then," she hugged him tight, and ran up the stairs to change. Jayne watched her go, and then headed back out.

Jayne entered the clinic looking for Simon. He was shocked to see River sitting behind the desk. For a moment, he couldn't think. His breath choked in his throat and caused him to cough. River looked up in concern.

And froze.

Oh my.

"M. . .may I help you?" River almost managed without stammering. Jayne just looked at her. He couldn't seem to make his voice work.

"Sir?" River asked, and that broke the spell.

"I'm here to see Simon, please," Jayne said, his voice still a little shaky.

"Can I tell him who's here?" River smiled, and Jayne almost melted down. He was so fixated on seeing her smile again that he ignored her question.

For her part, River was blushing under the scrutiny of this man she had felt so attracted to earlier. But still, Simon had asked her to sit the desk for him, and she had a job to do.

"Sir?" she repeated.

"His b. . .uh, just tell'im it's Jayne. We're friends."

"I remember you now!" River almost squealed. "I should have known you!" Jayne's heart leaped in his chest. She remembe. . . .

"You were with Simon when he came to see me in the hospital!" River continued. Jayne felt his heart break all over again. He felt a little dizzy.

"River, what's. . .Jayne!" Simon came from the treatment area. "Jayne, how are you?"

"F. . .fine," Jayne stammered. "Just checkin' in."

"Come back to my office, Jayne, please," Simon took Jayne's arm. "River, unless it's an emergency, I don't want to be disturbed. That includes by you," he added sternly.

"Yes, Doctor," River replied, sticking her tongue out. "It was nice to see you again, Jayne."

"You too," Jayne managed to say, as Simon led him back to the room he used as his office.

"Jayne, I am so sorry," Simon stammered. "I didn't realize you were due back today, and I. . . ."

"S'all right, Simon," Jayne waved him off. "Just. . .well, it's good to see her up, and about. How is she?"

"She's doing very well, actually," Simon assured him. "Today is the first time I've had her doing anything like this. Until today she's just been walking around, enjoying her freedom from the hospital room. My office assistant is sick. She's out today, and probably tomorrow, so I had River fill in for her."

"That's great," Jayne nodded. "She looks good." Simon could see Jayne's face was ashen.

"Jayne, what happened?" he asked softly.

"She. . .she looked at me, and suddenly said "I remember you"," Jayne told him, his voice cracking slightly. "I thought she meant, you know, she remembered. But she just meant she remembered me being with you at the hospital," he continued, crestfallen.

"Jayne, I. . .I don't know what to say," Simon wiped a tear away from his own eye, cursing his weakness. "I am so sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Jayne shook his head, recovering quickly. "It's. . .it's just so good to see her up and about. And to talk to her. . . ." Simon closed his eyes momentarily, cursing himself again for his own stupidity.

"Jayne, I honestly didn't. . .this is all my fault," he said.

"No fault, Simon," Jayne shook his head. "And don't change nothin', either. Let her do what she can. What she wants. Let her be happy. Lord knows, she deserves it if anyone does."

Simon couldn't help but shake his head in wonder. Jayne's heart was clearly hurting, and all he could think about was making sure River was happy.

"Jayne, I thank whatever gods are listening for the day my sister fell for you," he said softly. "I've never met a man who would treat her any better, or care for her any more, than you do. Thank you so much."

"Is she happy?" Jayne asked.

"Well, she is and she isn't," Simon sighed. "She's doing very well physically, and her mental abilities are intact. She's still a genius. And as you can tell by her treatment of me earlier, still a brat."

"She's not happy that I won't fill in the blanks in her memory just yet, though. I promised her when she was fully recovered physically, if her brain hadn't reset her memory on it's own, then we would explore options to help her get her memories back."

"Are there any options like that?" Jayne asked.

"A few," Simon nodded. "Some are. . .well, things like hypnosis, for example. Most medial professionals would simply laugh that off, but it does have some record of success. There are other methods as well, certain medications for example. I'm currently researching all that I can think of or find. When the time comes, if there's no way to put her off, then we'll choose the best one, and go from there."

"Whatever it takes, Simon," Jayne nodded his agreement. "Whatever it costs."

"We'll find a way," Simon nodded.

"I need to call Inara," Jayne said suddenly. "Can I use your cortex?"

"Of course," Simon nodded, rising and offering Jayne his desk chair. "I'll just go and make sure my sister is staying out of mischief."

"Thanks, Simon."

Jayne dialed up Inara's number, and soon was looking at the beautiful former Companion for whom his ship was named.

"Hello, Jayne," Inara smiled. "It's good to hear from you. How are you?"

"Doing fine, Inara," Jayne smiled, lying. It came fairly easy these days. "How are you 'n Mal?"

"I'm fine. Mal's still in a lot of pain, but. . ." she shrugged. "He was hurt pretty badly, and pushed himself too hard. If he recovers completely it will take a long time. And probably a miracle."

"If there's anything you need, or he needs, don't hesitate to ask, Inara," Jayne told her. "I mean, if there's a surgery, or a treatment that's too expensive, don't let him go without, okay?" Inara smiled affectionately at Jayne.

"Thank you, Jayne, that means a great deal," she replied. "The County is paying for his treatment, though, and so far they aren't shirking in any way. There's just not a lot that can be done. Perhaps later on, when he's stronger."

"I wanted to ask if you had managed to get all that book work done for me," Jayne changed the subject.

"I did," Inara nodded. "Jayne, do you have any idea what your net worth is?" she asked. Jayne shook his head.

"Not 'xactly, no," he admitted. "Why I asked you to look at it. I don't. . .I can't make head or tail of it, myself."

"River has made a literal fortune playing the markets," Inara informed him. "I'm surprised she hasn't attracted any attention. She's been wildly successful about ninety percent of the time."

"The other ten percent is probably camouflage," Jayne nodded. "Meant to throw anyone off her scent." Inara blinked at that.

"I. . .you know, that didn't occur to me," she admitted. "Now that you mention it, some of those lost investments were a little. . .well, it just seemed surprising that she would attempt them."

"That's my girl," Jayne chuckled. "Anyway," he motioned for her to continue.

"Anyway, I've liquidated all of her assets," Inara nodded. "It was a rather spectacular sum, even with the taxes she was forced to pay. Her law firm handled all of that, so there's no link back to you. The money is safely tucked away, minus the accounts you wanted set up."

"Inara, I really appreciate that," Jayne told her. "Did you do like I told you on the other?" he asked, eyeing her closely. She squirmed slightly.

"You didn't, did you," Jayne accused her.

"No, I didn't," her head came up slightly. "This is my gift to you, Jayne, and I'm not taking any money for doing it."

"If you don't, I do it behind your back," Jayne told her simply.

"You most certainly will not!" Inara responded hotly.

"You know that I will," Jayne folded his arms across his chest. "I'll find out what the fee would have been for asking someone else, and it'll just show up one day in your account," he threatened.

"Jayne, please let me do this for you," Inara asked softly. "You. . both of you, have done so much for me. . . ."

"You're helpin' me raise the girl, Inara," Jayne said flatly. "That's more than enough. Now you take that money, and I mean all of what should be comin' to ya, and spend it on your school, on the house, save it, I don't care. But you take wages for doin' all that work. I take wages from you and Mal, for working, don't I?" he asked.

"But that's. . . ." Inara trailed off, realizing that Jayne, for all his lack of polish, had trapped her. "All right, Jayne. I'll take care of it," she promised.

"Thanks," he beamed at her. "Now, I gotta get goin'. Got work to do. Thanks again Inara. Tell Mal I said hi. Probably be by to see him 'fore my next run."

"Really?" Inara brightened visibly. "Jayne that would mean so much to him."

"I'll be around," Jayne promised. "Until then."

"Good-bye, Jayne."