AN: Sorry that this update took a little longer for me to post. My life has become quite chaotic as of late, so please forgive me if the updates take a little longer. Thank you for all those that read or review, it really means a lot that people follow my story. Anyways, I own nothing, please do not sue me, and on with the show.
CH 22: …often go awry (Gnossienne No. 1)
XXX
…The next day…
"How long till we hit Paradiso?" Mal says as he glances out the window of the train.
She looks at her wrist watch. "Another twenty minutes. We should be in the foothills in five."
"Best get to work." Mal says as he rises to feet and waits for Zoe before walking towards the back of the compartment.
They start making their way through the crowd when Zoe finally voices a concern she has had since they took the job. "He's a psycho you know. Niska."
Mal just shakes his head a little and smirks. "He's not the first psycho to hire us, nor the last. You think that's a commentary on us?"
She shivers a little at the memory of meeting Niska. "I just have an image in my head of a guy hanging from the ceiling."
Mal interrupts her before she can continue though. "I've got an image of it not being me. Let's do the thing."
He opens the door to the next compartment, but instead of more country folk, is greeted with the site of at least twenty Feds.
"Hi." Mal says with a little surprise.
XXX
…Meanwhile…
River's POV
Something does not feel right. All of her calculations come to the same conclusion as well, that more information is required. There are too many holes in the data that they were given, too many missing pieces, but her protestations just fall on deaf ears.
Even Riddick had stalked off not wanting to listen to her and proceeded to threaten her if she mentioned 'the gorram contents or missing numbers' again.
They had dropped off Mal and Zoe for the job an hour ago and she found herself pacing in the cargo bay while Kaylee ran another test on the wench.
"There's no need to worry Riv. The Captain's jen duh sh tyen tsai when it comes to plans." Kaylee says as she looks over from the controls.
"It doesn't add up." The girl says as she continues pacing, trying to run the numbers again.
"Not everythin' has to, sometimes things just work." Sunshine says with a smile.
"Just stay' the hell outta everyone's way Moony and shut up about the job." Jayne says as he comes near the two.
"There's no call to be snappy, Jayne." Kaylee scowls at him a little.
"You about to jump on a movin' train? Captain ain't around. I'm in charge. And I don't want to hear any more from her." He says as he examines the rigging he is going to use as a harness.
The girl glares at him now. "Since when does the lack of Captain Daddy's presence put you in charge?"
"Since I said, that's when!" He says as he begins to step into the harness.
Again she just glares intently at him and then proceeds to storm out of the cargo bay. If they do not want to listen, fine!
XXX
…Back on the train…
Zoe almost blanches at the site of all the Feds sitting in the train compartment. "Sir, is there some information we might maybe be lacking as to why there's an entire fed squad sitting on this train?" Zoe says in a hushed voice.
"Doesn't concern us." Mal says as he goes to take a step. Zoe holds him back though.
She whispers again. "It kinda concerns me."
"I mean they're not protecting the goods. If they were, they wouldn't be letting people past 'em." Mal says as he motions to the three civilians walking towards them.
"You don't think that changes the situation a bit?"
"I surely do…Makes it more fun." He says with a chuckle.
"Sir? I think you have a problem with your brain being missing."
"Come on. We stick to the plan. We get the goods, we're back on Serenity before the train even reaches Paradiso, only now we do it under the noses of twenty trained Alliance Feds. And that makes 'em look all manner of stupid. Hell, this job I would pull for free."
"Can I have your share?"
"No." He says sternly.
"If you die, can I have your share?" She asks.
"Yes."
XXX
Riddick's POV
"Hey Riddick, bout' time for some thrilling heroics." Jayne's voice bellows over the comm in the cabin.
I sit up from the bed and put my goggles on and move over to the comm link. "On my way."
It doesn't take me more than minute to reach the cargo bay. Kaylee is manning the controls for the doors and the wench, while Jayne is hooked into the wench. But what's surprising is he is standing there in some ridiculous orange hat.
"Nice hat Cobb." I say as move to take up the rope for the failsafe pulley.
"What? It's a cunnin' hat! My momma made it for me."
"Then your momma must not love you Cobb." I say as I look around for River. "So where's River?" I ask Kaylee when I don't see her.
"Jayne made her all mad and she left a few minutes ago." She says as she glares at the ape man in question.
"What! She was damaging my calm? She ain't jumpin' on a movin' train."
I just shake my head a little and chuckle. He is right, girl can be all kinds of annoying.
XXX
When Book walks by the dining hall he is a little alarmed at what he sees. River is sitting at the table with every knife from the kitchen laid out in front of her.
"River, what are you doing?" He asks as he comes to sit next to her at the table.
"Sharpening the kitchen knives as a form of stress relief while contemplating which one would inflict the most harm to the ape man." She says as she picks up a large boning knife.
Book quickly takes the knife from her and takes her hands. "Child, I know that you have been…deprived…of a normal upbringing, but you are going to have to learn some patience when dealing with other people." He says to her, hoping she doesn't pick up a knife and slice him.
She cocks her head to the side a little. "She would never slice Hermes. He is much too nice to the girl to deserve such treatment."
Book merely shakes his head a little. "Not everyone is always going to see things the way you do River. You can't expect people to always agree with you."
"Then they are boobs." She says as she lets go of his hands and moves to pick up another knife.
"And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone."
River pauses in her work and looks at him again. "It also says that one should abstain from every form of evil." She says as she goes back to sharpening the knife in her hand. "Men do not often follow their own words of wisdom; the girl sees no reason she should either. Especially when so much evil has been done to her."
He sighs and gets up from the table. "See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people." And with that he leaves her be, hoping she thinks about what he has said.
XXX
Mal takes out the security card that Niska gave them and swipes it in the card reader near the door.
"Niska's sources better be good." He says as the reader processes the card. There is a little chime and the card works, allowing the door to slide open.
"Shiny." Zoe says as she quickly steps inside.
They close the door and Zoe rigs a smoke canister to the door as insurance. Mal pulls a box to the middle of the car, stands on it, and starts unscrewing a roof panel.
"Find the cargo." He says over his shoulder.
She quickly begins to look around for the crates. She pulls a sheet off of two black boxes with red labels.
"All hail the great Alliance."
XXX
Jayne checks the straps to the harness one last time as he counts down. "5…4…3…2…1" He says out loud as he jumps through the trash compartment doors and onto the train bellow.
Kaylee looks down and sees that the wench has held and that Jayne hasn't been splattered on the side of the train.
"Well…it held." She says with a smile.
XXX
Mal pulls off the panel, leaving an opening for Jayne to crawl through. It doesn't take long before he somewhat falls into the compartment.
"I ain't gorram jumping on no train like that again Mal, no ruttin' way." He says as he pulls his goggles up.
"You lived, now quit whining and secure the cargo." Mal says as he and Zoe drag the crates over to the opening.
They make short work of attaching the crates to the wench cable.
"Fifteen seconds." Jayne says into his comm.
Everything looks like it's going to work out and Mal can't help but smile. But just as he and Zoe are about to clip into the rigging the smoke canister at the door goes off.
"Ah shit." Mal says before the area they are standing in is peppered with gunshots from the Fed at the door.
Jayne takes a hit in the leg and immediately screams in pain.
"GO!" Zoe screams to Jayne as she pulls out her gun.
"Go now!" Jayne says into the comm and a moment later he is yanked up and out towards Serenity.
Mal quickly moves to knock the Fed out before the smoke clears and he gets a good look at them. One quick punch to the temple and he's down.
He turns to Zoe. "Come on!" And with that they run into the other car before more feds arrive.
XXX
…Back on Serenity…
Riddick's POV
"Where are the others?" Kaylee says as Jayne collapses onto the ground.
"Ah! They shot my gorram leg." He bellows from the floor
She just ignores his pain. "Jayne, are they still on the train? Are they gonna be okay?"
"This is just great, just ruttin' great." I say as I unhook the cargo from the rigging.
"Hey! I got shot!" Jayne says with indignation from the floor.
"Yeah! And we're in deep shit!" I yell back.
River, Inara, and the Shepherd come running in now. "What happened?" Book asks.
"I GOT SHOT!" Jayne yells. "There were gorram feds on the train!"
Now when he says this I can't help but grimace. I know River is going to lose her shit over this. Damn girl was right after all, we should have had more information. But what pisses me off more…is knowing that we are never going to be allowed to forget she was right.
She balls up her fists and starts yelling. "Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi! He chusheng zajiao dezanghuo! This is why you find the missing varriables!"
"Does anyone know how to pull out a bullet? Normally Zoe or Jayne does it." Kaylee says as she moves over to where Jayne is sitting.
"I do." Book says as he moves to help Jayne up to the infirmary.
That's when Wash's voice cuts in over the comm. "What's going on down there?" Hello?"
XXX
…Paradiso Train Depot…
Mal and Zoe are now standing with the other passengers, trying desperately to avoid being seen by the Sherriff or his deputies. There are tons of sick and coughing people around. As the Sherriff moves closer they turn their backs towards him.
"Everybody off. Everybody in there okay?" The Sherriff says to an approaching Fed.
"Our man didn't get a look."
"Well, Jesus, can somebody find out what they took?" He yells at the Fed. He turns towards the crowd and yells to someone. "Handy! Keep those people together."
One of his deputies wanders up to him now. "It's the medicine, sir. All of the supplies."
"They stole the gorram medicine!"
Zoe and Mal both share a rather grim look now, overhearing what it is they stole.
"We've been waitin'... All of it?"
His deputy looks to the ground. "Every ounce."
"God help us." The Sherriff says as he moves into the crowd.
Both Zoe and Mal look around more at all of the sick people, a gut wrenching feeling taking hold of them.
"Son of a bitch." Zoe says.
"We ain't gonna hear the end of this from lil' bit are we?" Mal says looking rather crestfallen.
Now it's Zoe's turn to give Mal the 'you're a boob look. "Not a chance in hell."
XXX
River's POV
Serenity has been landed in the foothills and now everyone has crowded into the infirmary. All of their minds scream at her but it is hard to discern anything because they are all talking at once. She is having trouble fighting off the oncoming headache.
"Gorram it, let's get us moving." Jayne says angrily from the infirmary table.
"Now, I'm not finished." Book says as he attempts to restrain Jayne and finish the dressing.
Jayne does not seem to care though and merely tries to get up again. He turns towards Wash. "Why are you parked here? This ain't the go tsao de rendezvous spot."
"It is now." Wash says.
"The people we are meeting ain't partial to waitin'." Riddick says from his perch at the doorway.
Wash merely turns to him and remarks sarcastically but firm. "Let 'em read a magazine. We don't make the sale until Mal and Zoe are back on the boat."
"These are stone killers, little man. They ain't cuddly like me an him." The ape man says from behind Wash.
"I'm not flying anywhere without my wife." Wash yells.
"She'll be okay. She's with the Captain." Kaylee offers up as some comfort.
Now the ape man stands on his good leg. "There, you see? Everybody wins." He says before he tries putting his leg down and screams in pain. Book just merely watches him.
"Shepherd, I need a pop to quiet this pain some." Jayne says.
She sees Hermes go over to get some medication, but instead of getting the vial with the pain killer, he gets the sedative. Oh that is very good, and she wishes she would have thought of that earlier.
"All right, but what about the authorities? I mean, we're sitting here with stolen Alliance goods.
Won't they be looking for us?" Inara asks.
Wash shakes his head. "They buzz this canyon, we'll hear them long before they ever see us. I figure we're good for...
She interrupts here though. "Negative. Calculations predict our cover will diminish greatly in the next hour."
Jayne looks like his blood is ready to boil now. "How's about you shut that crazy mouth? We done had enough of your calculations."
She wants to shoot him herself now. "Well if you had listened to her the first time about…"
"GORRAM SHUT UP ABOUT THE CRATES!" The ape man screams. "Now I'm in ruttin' charge here, and I'm tellin' you how it works. We don't get the goods to Niska on time, he'll make meat pies out of the lot of us. And I ain't walkin' into that."
"Is this Adelai Niska you're talking about?" Book asks as he injects Jayne. His mind swirls with past memories and the girl shakes her head the unpleasantness that Niska's name brings up.
"Now how would a Shepherd know a name like that?"
"As I've heard it, he made a deal with the Captain. If the Captain's not there to finish it, if Niska finds out he's being held, and may speak as to who hired him-I think we're better off being a little late." He says as he throws the syringe away.
"Fine! We wait an hour! If they ain't got a hold of us by then we go to the rendezvous point!" Jayne says as he limps out the room.
"This will not end well." The girl says from her perch on top the cabinet.
"You got any ideas then?" Riddick asks.
"Some, but she will need some time…She will also need the assistance of Hermes on the bridge…and no one else." She says as she jumps off the counter.
"What exactly do you need to do on the bridge?" Wash asks a little hesitant.
She shakes her head. "It would be better if only Hermes and the girl knew. Plausible deniability."
While Riddick's mind projects his irritation, he knows better than to say otherwise. He wants to avoid the inevitable 'I told you so,' a while longer.
Wash admits defeat. "Well then I guess we don't have any other options."
XXX
River's POV
…Five minutes later…
"River, I'm not sure if this is a good idea." Hermes says after she has briefly explained what she needs him to do.
"It's nothing that he has not done before."
"True, but this time I would need to hack the…"
"Irrelevant. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, the name of one organization is interchangeable with another."
…Twenty minutes later…
The girl is not impressed, not in the least. You would think that given the rudimentary cortex present on Serenity Hermes would have more problems hacking into the Companion personnel database.
"Alright, I'm in, all you need to do is create the files and upload them to Inara's file."
"Thank you Hermes."
…Thirty seven minutes later…
She hears him coming long before he steps through the door.
"Curiosity killed the cat." She says without looking behind her.
He chuckles. "But intuition brought it back."
"Touché."
He comes and stands behind her, looking over her shoulder. She can hear the beat of his heart, its steady rhythm calming her a bit.
"You two are just full of surprises." He practically purrs.
She sighs contentedly. "Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?"
"Don't you think we should tell her though?" Book asks from the other side of the room, observing River as she works.
"In due time. The finished picture looks better when viewed as a whole."
…Fifty-nine minutes later…
River's POV
She can hear the ape's booming voice as he approaches the bridge. "Gorram it Kaylee I don't care!" Jayne yells at the sunshine following him up the stairs to the bridge. Wash is not far behind.
"That's it! We've waited long enough. Let's get this bird in the air." He says gruffly.
Wash scowls at him. "No rutting way."
Book looks at his watch and then up to Jayne again, a hint of concern evident in his tone. "You really should sit down."
"You can't just leave the Captain and Zoe here." Sunshine says with pleading.
The ape slams his fist into a nearby cabinet. "They ain't comin', we can't walk in there and get 'em, so they're done. Now let's fire it up!"
Inara walks in now, clearly drawn to the bridge by all the screaming. "What's going on?"
"Apparently we're takin' off." Riddick says. The girl merely scowls at him from where she finishes her work. He is baiting the situation and his humor is not appreciated.
"We're NOT!" Wash yells.
"Captain'd do the same if it was one of us." Jayne says.
Kaylee is clearly horrified at him for saying this. "Not in a million years!"
"Listen to…" The girl begins but is cut off by the ape spinning her chair around before she can say anything else.
"You know what the chain of command is little girl? It's the chain I go get and beat you with until you understand who's in ruttin' command here!"
He glares at her, challenging her own piercing gaze, and it's then she can finally begin to feel the foggy haze of the sedative taking hold of his mind. It's about bloody time!
"Now we're finishing this deal, and then maybe…maybe we'll come back for those morons who got themselves caught." He starts breathing heavily now. "You can't change that by getting all...bendy." And his eyes lose their focus.
"All what?" Riddick asks.
"She's got the light.. from the console.. keep you, lift you up. They shine like...little angels..." He says trying to grab at the non-existent lights in front of him. He then collapses with a thus on the floor of the bridge. The girl merely snickers as the rest of the crew, minus Book, just stare.
"Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?" Wash asks.
"I told him to sit down." Book says with wry smile.
Kaylee turns and looks almost horrified that a man of the cloth would do such a thing. If only she knew the truth. "You doped him?"
"It was supposed to kick in a good deal sooner. I just didn't feel comfortable with him in charge.
I hope... hope that's all right."
The Kaylee, Wash, and Inara look at each other and are clearly a little more pleased than she would expect. Yeah. It's all right the ape man is sedated.
Inara breaks the momentary silence. "So. How do we get the others?"
"Jayne was right about them not making contact. Chances are, they got pinched getting off
that train." Wash says as he looks over the comm again.
"We can't just waltz in and pull them out." Inara says.
"Au contraire, someone respectable enough can." River says as she snatches the printout from the terminal and hands it to Riddick to look at.
He merely nods his approval and then hands the papers to Inara. She looks a little puzzled at first then startled. "…They hacked the Companion database…my file…"
The girl rushes to assuage the fear bubbling up. "We did not open Pandora's box. We merely found it and then attached those papers."
There is momentary relief, but her walls are much more fortified now. "But…will this even work?"
"First rate forgeries, they will not be questioned."
Wash comes up and looks at the papers now, shock evident. "But…how did you two…"
"Again, plausible deniability. The papers will cease to be valid in an hour's time, so she suggests they move quickly."
XXX
Riddick's POV
I still don't see why I needed to go with her to pick up the Captain and Zoe. It seems like she is more than capable of walking into some run down border moon station to get them herself. River had said it would seem more believable for Inara to have a bodyguard. So here I sit with her in her shuttle as we fly towards the town.
"You can stay in the shuttle while I go in if you like." She says as she pilots the shuttle. She's changed into some red fancy lookin' dress and it looks more than a little odd to see her piloting this crappy shuttle.
"I don't feel like giving the girl more of a reason to be pissed off we didn't listen to her. Captain can have that one all himself. Besides…I kinda wanna see his face when you walk in there and read him the riot act."
She just laughs a little. "Well at least it will be amusing to someone."
Now that's interesting. "Is that contempt I hear in your voice?" I ask her.
"They hacked into the Companion's database. I have the right to be a little irritated."
"Oh please, all they did was attached some forged files that will delete themselves in an hour. Don't get your panties in a twist."
"I'm sure you wouldn't be as understanding if someone you barely knew hacked into your personnel files."
I look over at her now. "You sayin' you got something to hide?"
"What? No…I…it's just the principle of it."
I don't say anything more though. I don't need to be a reader to know she's lying.
XXX
River's POV
It takes Hermes, Sunshine, and Wash a few minutes before they can even get the slumbering ape man through the door. As soon as they do, she turns back to the terminal and pulls up Inara's file again. Book's firewall program will terminate in another thirty seconds, and she must work fast.
XXX
The first thing Mal does when he sees them walking through the crowd is to immediately rush toward them. He looks about ready to explode that they would come here.
"What the hell?" But that's all he gets out before she slaps him across the face.
"Don't you dare speak to me!" She turns now to the Sherriff following her and Riddick. "Sheriff, I want this man bound by law at once…That's assuming he hasn't been already?" She says.
"No one's been bound, not yet." The Sherrriff says.
"Thank God you stopped them." She turns her attention back to Mal and Zoe now. "Did you honestly think you could access my accounts and I wouldn't find you? And Zoe, what would your husband say if he knew you were here?"
While she was more than a little surprised at first, to her credit Zoe catches on quick. "I... I was weak."
"So I take it they ain't newlyweds?" The Sherriff asks.
Looking the part of menacing bodyguard Riddick answers his question. "Hardly, Malcolm's an indentured man, with three years left on his debt to Ms. Sera. I imagine we'll have to add another six months after this little adventure."
"Should I contact my ship? Do you need to hold them very much longer?" Inara asks now, wanting to make this as quick as possible.
"Looks to me like we're about done here. I, uh. We had some unrelated trouble. His story had kind of an odor to it."
"Yes, it's not the only thing about him that does." Riddick adds. He catches a glance from the Captain but merely smirks at him.
"Thank you, very much Sheriff." Inara says as she turns back to Mal and Zoe. "Come along." And with that they all walk out the door.
XXX
Riddick's POV
We manage to make it all the way to the shuttle before Mal says anything.
"WHAT in gorram hell do you think you were doin' in there?" He screams at Inara as soon as the shuttle door closes.
"Saving your ass!" She says as she brings the shuttle into the air.
"By coming in there to get us? I mean where the hell did you even get papers saying I was indentured to you? Won't they just show up as fakes? I mean Zoe help me out here…" He says as he looks to his first mate.
She merely holds up her hands. "I'm staying out of this one."
"Smart choice." I say from beside her.
"That's just great, my crew is turning on me." Mal says as he crosses his arms and pouts. Man really could pass as River's father with that attitude.
"Hey just be thankful we didn't leave you two like Jayne wanted us to." I bark at him, but he doesn't bother to say anything else.
XXX
River's POV
Kaylee and Wash are the first to run up to the shuttle once it's docked back on Serenity. Both
hoping their beloved Captain and Warrior woman are alright. Well, Wash really only cared that Zoe was alright.
"Hey. How'd it go?" Kaylee asks as Inara steps out of her shuttle.
"She hit me." Captain Daddy says as he follows her out.
The girl merely smirks. "You deserved it."
"Don't even start bit…I ain't in the mood." He says as he walks past her and toward the cargo bay stairs, stepping over Jayne as he walks down them. "What happened to him?"
"Don't ask." The girl says as she smirks and looks down at the ape man.
"We tried to get him into the infirmary, he's just… heavy." Kaylee says when Mal looks back at them.
"Captain, I've got the engine running, Shepherd Book is on standby to launch us, we're good to go." Wash says as he finally decides to let go of his wife.
"We're not going." Mal snaps.
"Not? What? Why not?
Zoe answers for Mal now. "We're bringin' the cargo back."
Jayne who is barely conscious on the floor begins to yell, well try and yell. "Wha? Whadda mean back? I waited for you guys!"
"Oh like hell you did." The girl merely says as she looks down at him again.
"What are you talking about? What about Niska? Won't this put him in more or less a killing mood?" Riddick asks as he walks down the stairs.
The Captain's thoughts reach her now. Tell her about the sick people, and his intention of being honorable. She begins to applaud, clearly confusing everyone else. "Bravo Malcolm, maybe next time you will listen when the girl says you need more information!"
"Anyone else wanna share with the rest of us?" Wash asks.
"Cargo's medicine needed by the town, I ain't gonna go stealing from folks who have nothin'." Mal says as he and Zoe drag the crates over to the mule and he presses the controls to open the cargo bay doors. "Far as Niska goes, we'll just have to explain to him the job went south when we return the money."
Shensheng de gaowan. She didn't hear them…she was too…preoccupied. But now she hears them loud and clear. And they're coming up the cargo ramp.
"You wanna explain, now's your chance." Wash says as he points to Crow and several others walking into Serenity.
XXX
Riddick's POV
Taikong suoyou de xingqiu saijin wo de pigu. Go figure Niska's men would find us.
"You didn't make the rendezvous." The rather large bare chested man says as he walks into the cargo bay.
"Ran into a few complications here Crow." Mal says as he walks forward slightly.
Crow does not look happy, but who would be with a name or face like his. "You were thinking of taking Mr. Niska's money and his property, maybe."
"Ah, interestingly, neither." Mal says.
"I don't understand." Crow says. Man must be dumber than he looks to not get what Mal's telling him.
"Yeah, look. Here's what it is. Deal's off." But Crow still can't get it through his thick skull. "We changed our minds." Mal says as simply as he can.
"You entered into an arrangement with Mr. Niska…There is no mind changing."
Oh I'm going to enjoy where this is going. I look over to River who simply nods her head affirmative, and we both begin to creep towards the seven men standing in the front.
Mal laughs nervously now. "I'm afraid that's where you're wrong. We just... we can't take this job, so you just relax. We'll get you all the money Niska gave us up front, you return it to him, and we'll call it even."
Crow shakes his head now. "There is no even."
"Is that right?" Mal says as his hand begins to inch towards his holster.
Unfortunately for Mal, Crow is faster, and he throws a knife into his shoulder.
XXX
River's POV
The piano notes filter through the air and the stage is set for the dancer and her maestro. She relishes this time, her body briefly tenses in anticipation and then relaxes into the dance she knows so well.
She takes two steps and rounds into a high kick, connecting with a man's jaw, and using the momentum of the kick to bring her closer to him. She quickly pulls a knife from her leg strap and slices him across the throat. He slumps to the floor a moment later.
Orpheus has dispatched of one of the henchman with a series of swift jabs to his stomach with a blade, and there is a pool of blood beginning to form on the cargo bay floor where the body lies.
Two down, four to go…
Zoe wounds one of the henchmen by shooting him in the thigh, and he holds his leg in attempt to stop the bleeding. He is the weakest threat right now and the girl does not bother with him.
Again, she throws a high kick to nearest henchman's face, breaking his nose, and blood begins to rush down his face. He screams in pain throws a wild punch at the girl which she easily dodges and spins under his swing while grabbing his spare pistol. She then shoots him in the back and he falls to the ground.
She looks across to Orpheus and he has finished with the last of the minor minions. That just leaves Crow, who has pinned Captain Daddy to the floor in a chokehold. She smiles and stalks towards the two, preparing to strike. But just as she is about to bash his head with the pistol a shot rings out and Crow falls to the ground in pain.
She looks up to see Jayne, barely cognizant, holding the smoking gun.
"Nice shot." Captain Daddy says as he gets to his feet.
He speech is still slurred but audible. "I was aiming… for his…head."
XXX
When Mal manages to get over his shock at how far Jayne was off from his intended target he brushes himself off a little and walks towards Zoe to begin loading the crates.
"You and I will take the crates back on the mule. 'Bit can you and Riddick deal with…this?" He says as he looks around the room.
"Affirmative. Monetary funds will be returned and the situation explained." She says as she takes the money from Mal's outstretched hand.
"Shiny." He says as Zoe and he climb in the mule and drive off into the night.
XXX
River's POV
"How do you want to play this?" Riddick asks her after the two remaining men have been bound and secured.
She thinks for a moment and then smiles. "Crow will not listen to reason…let us show him what happens to a bird that tries to cripple Serenity."
A dark smile begins to creep over his face. "Go tell Wash to start us up."
XXX
Riddick's POV
We move them outside and sit the smaller fucker on the ground. River holds a gun at the ready and I walk Crow over near the port side engine and have him kneel on the ground.
"This is all the money Niska gave us in advance. Bring it back to him; tell him the job didn't work out." I say as I hold up the money. He spits at me, missing by a few inches. Girl was right, he won't listen to reason.
"We'll stay out of his way from here on in. You'd do well to explain that that's best for everyone, dong-ma?"
Crow stands now, standing a good few inches over me. When will they ever learn…the bigger they are…
"Keep the money. Use it to buy a funeral. It doesn't matter where you go, or how far you fly. I will hunt you down, and the last thing you see will be my blade." Crow growls.
"The harder they fall." River says behind me.
I smile and give him a hard kick to the chest that send him right into the into the engine intakes. There's a nice crunching sounds as the bones are broken and his body disposed of.
I turn to River. "Take two?"
She smiles and brings the other man towards me.
"Oh, I'm good. I'm right there with you." He says as he pushes back away from going closer to the engine intake.
"Shiny."
XXX
AN: …And that concludes The Train Job. For those of you who may be hoping Mal gets an earful from River, don't worry, he probably will ;) She isn't one to let that go easily. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it. Feedback is always appreciated. Till Next time =)