Kali was irritated. No, more than irritated. She was angry. That arrogant, irritating and unbearable Captain of Serenity, as the ship was called, had asked her to trust him. And she had, despite her mind screaming at her not to. And instead of rewarding her for helping or following his order and instead of asking her what had happened at the hands of Graegarn (which she wouldn't have disclosed to him anyway), he had held her at gun point, a smug grin on his face before ushering her into a tiny room with a shuttered door that locked from the outside. She had been pacing the room for hours which only really consisted of a couple of steps before she would turn again and begin back the other way.
"Gorram Captain, thinkin' he's so high and mighty!" Kali muttered angrily to herself. She tried to look on the bright side and stopped pacing to observe the room around her. It was beyond small, with a cot in the corner covered by tattered grey blankets and a flat pillow and not much else. Her duffel had been thrown haphazardly into a corner and the contents were half spilt out onto the floor. Kali grimaced and sat on the edge of a cot, thankful at least that she was no longer handcuffed to a railing on a cold metal floor. Not to mention her head was feeling almost normal again after being allowed to see the good doctor.
Simon, as he had introduced himself as, had spoken about his sister, River, the entire time but she hadn't minded really. She was actually rather interested to meet her. She sounded almost as crazy as Kali was and knew they'd get along great. She sighed in frustration, getting up from the cot again and continuing to pace.
What the hell was taking him so long!
As if reading her mind, the lock clicked on the outside of the door before it slid open slowly to reveal a stern looking Captain Reynolds who entered without a word then shut the door behind him.
"What the hell is your gorram problem? I did what you asked and instead I get locked in this god forsakin' stinkin' cell like a damn animal!" Kali bit out angrily, stopping her pacing to stare up at him.
"Hey, you're the one who got yourself into this here mess lil' lady. Don't go blamin' me!" Mal retorted, seemingly always fighting with this gorram woman.
"What a load of chou ma niao!" Kali ground out furiously. Mal of course, had had enough. He grasped his prisoner roughly by the arms and stared down at her angrily.
"You listen here, missy. If it weren't for me and my crew puttin' their lives on the line, you'd be Graegarn's pretty lil' play thing by now. Now judgin' by the way your face went all pale like when you saw him, you'd rather be dead. Am I right?" Mal asked and Kali merely stared downward, avoiding his gaze and setting her jaw defiantly and stayed silent.
"Well, I'll take that as a yes." Mal said, before considering.
"The way I see it you have two options here. You either stick around and prove your worth on this here ship or I leave you on some backwash planet we happen to pass in which case, you're pretty much humped. So, what's it gonna be?" Mal explained simply and Kali let out a breath before looking back up at him and shrugging his hands from her arms.
"I don't have much choice, ya know. Most what I had's still on that planet. Everythin' else is in that bag." Kali explained, gesturing to the small open duffle on the floor. Mal nodded simply and turned to go.
"Mal?" Kali asked and he turned, saying, "That's Captain to you." Kali rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Captain." She almost spat before continuing, "Reckon that locked door s'really necessary? I ain't goin' anywhere."
Mal only smiled at her before turning around again, exiting the small room before the door clicked back into place.
"Gorramit, Malcolm Reynolds! You useless steaming crap pile!" Kali yelled after him.