AN: Thank you LeaFairy124, , Chibiboku, Ookami Sakura, Rachet, chacra, rothschild, and DraculaLover99 for the great reviews =) They always make me smile when I read them. I have to say I'm a little surprised some of you didn't pick up on a hint I left you in the last update ;) But you should get where I am going with the story after this chapter. Now on with the show =)
Bargained for Exchange
XXX
River's POV
"No!" He shouts at her as she trails behind him towards the common room. She had just spent the last half an hour talking to Captain Daddy about Simon, and he was being an insufferable chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo.
"But…"
He turns around to face her now, just outside the common area where Riddick, Zoe, and the now awake Jayne are seated. "NO!" He yells again.
"Liu kuoshui de biaozi he houzi de ben erzi!" The girl yells in his face as she storms into the room ahead of him.
"HEY! There ain't no call for talkin' about my momma like that!" He says as he follows her.
"Whose momma?" Jayne asks in confusion.
"What are you two going on about?" Riddick asks from his seat at the table. The girl goes and sits next to him.
"Captain Daddy is an insufferable chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo who will not listen to reason!"
Mal throws up his hands now. "Oh I'm listenin' to reason alright, my own! I am NOT flying to some Core world to go walkin' into a trap!"
"But we don't know if it is a trap!" She screams in frustration.
"What's going on?" Inara asks as she walks in with Kaylee not far behind. "We heard you yelling all the way from my shuttle."
"Gorram freak's completely off her axel is all." Jayne says.
His interference is not welcome. "Chur ni-duh! Man with a girl's name."
"Girly you really want to start that again?"
"SHUT UP ALL OF YA!" Mal screams now, and the room falls silent.
"Now Bit, I know you're all concerned about your brother and all, but we can't just go flying in there. It ain't smart."
"You have a brother?" Riddick asks surprised. "How come you never mentioned this before?"
"It was not relevant." She says with a shrug.
"Mal, really be reasonable." Inara says as she moves over to where the girl is seated.
"I am Nara. What do you expect me to do Bit? Ride in pay a nice social call then get locked up by the feds who come callin'?"
"You don't know that…." She says with a huff.
He cuts her off now. "It's a Core planet, it's spotless. It's got sensors, and where there ain't sensors, there's feds. All Central planets are the same."
But that's when it dawns on her… if he doesn't want to play the noble savior…she'll appeal to the brigand in him.
"She'll pay you." She says, and this gets his attention.
XXX
Riddick's POV
"What do you mean pay him?" I ask. I mean I know the girl has been pullin' in her fair share from the first two jobs, and the money comin' in from the last one, but that wouldn't be enough.
"Bit' I don't think your share is gonna be…"
But she cuts him off. "She…I…have a job for you. One that will pay for itself ten times over."
"Hell, I'll listen to her if she's got a job." Jayne says from his seat.
"Alright Bit, you got my attention…what's the job?"
"Medical supplies." She says rather primly.
"Medical supplies? That's it? Hell I thought this was a job not a shopping list." Jayne says.
"Jayne." Mal says in warning. "Care to elaborate Bit?"
"Isoprovaline, Propoxine, and Hydrozepam. At a hospital like the one in Ariel City, they'll have shelves of it. She will tell you what to grab, you can sell it, and whatever the take, it's more than enough payment for what she has in mind."
"How much are we talking?" Zoe asks.
"After expenses? Six hundred to eight hundred thousand platinum. She is unsure…it will depend on what can be set up."
The rest of the crew sits in shock at the numbers that River has just thrown out, can't say I blame them. That's more credits than Mal's little jobs have probably ever pulled. That kinda money on top of whatever we fence the Lassiter for would leave everyone in this room sitting pretty.
"Not to be negative, but, don't the hospital need that medicine?" Kaylee asks rather timidly.
"Government run facility. They'd be restocked in a matter of hours." I answer her. It is a smart plan. Rob the fault, kidnap the brother, all from under the Alliance's nose, hell I'd do it for free. "I'm in." I say before anyone else. This earns me a smile from River.
"He's right. They'll never miss it." Zoe says. "Plus, folks on the rim sure could use it."
Mal just has to rain on everyone's parade though. "You know, it's all very sweet; stealing from the rich, selling to the poor, but you're talking about breaking into a highly secure Alliance facility. How do you on plan getting around security?"
"Everything is available for a price. She is willing to use her share of what we get for the Lassiter to secure security plans and blueprints of the Hospital that her brother works in."
"Yeah, but we haven't even found a fence yet."
"The girl may know someone."
"Who?" Mal asks.
And I realize exactly who she is referring to. Got to say, fucker sure owes us, seems like the least he could do. "Someone who owes us a favor." I say with a chuckle.
XXX
River's POV
"Am I missing something here?" Mal asks to no one in particular.
"Not sure sir." Zoe says as she glances from the now smiling Riddick to the girl.
"Do you think he's gonna be easy to track down?" Orpheus asks the girl.
He's getting excited about the possibilities. The idea of robbing the Alliance right underneath his nose is just too tempting.
"Let's find out." She says as she gets up and exits the room. She can feel them all begin to follow her as she walks toward the bridge.
"Hey? Wait a minute." Mal says but she doesn't listen to him.
"Hey River, what…" Wash says as she walks into the room and goes to the cortex and begins furiously typing in information.
"Did I miss something?" Wash asks Zoe as everyone begins to poor into the room.
She isn't finding what she needs though, and a light bulb goes off in her head. But before she can grab the comm to speak into it Riddick has beaten her to it. "Shepherd, girl needs a hand on the bridge." She smiles at him for knowing her so well.
Captain Daddy is growing more and more frustrated by the secrecy now. "What the hell is going on around here?"
"She can't find him, she needs Hermes assistance." She replies as she waits for Hermes to come to the bridge.
Zoe speaks up now. "Find who though?"
Wash is still confused and says as much. "Okay now I'm really out of the loop, who are we trying to find?"
"Beat's me." Kaylee says.
"What's going on?" Book says when he walks onto the bridge.
"She needs Mr. Universe to find the whelp." She says confusing everyone; even Riddick is slightly confused when she brings up Mr. Universe.
"What kinda name is Mr. Universe?" Jayne says with a chuckle.
"Who's Mr. Universe?" Riddick asks.
"Alright that's it! One of you…" Mal says as she points at the girl and Riddick. "Tell me who the hell it is that owes you a favor. Or how this Mr. Universe guy can help us find him. Dong ma?"
She's growing irritated by his authority now, but sais la vie, he is the Captain. "Book would you please explain." She says pinching the bridge of her nose. She can feel a headache coming on from all the yelling.
"Mr. Universe is a…friend; he found River's medical files for me not that long ago." Book begins to answer. "The whelp is Paris P. Ogilvie. Antiquities dealer. I guess you could say River and Riddick saved his and my life. But I am unsure as to how he plays into whatever you were all talking about before I got here."
"Girl seems to think he can fence the Lassiter real quick for us." Mal says as he digests what he has just been told.
"That could be." Book says. "I can contact Mr. Universe if you would like River, but I think it would be best if I did so alone."
"What? No, I don't think so. My boat, my rules, I got a right to talk to anyone involved in this job." Mal says exerting his authority again.
"He's just…a very private person…" Book tries to explain delicately. The girl inwardly laughs at his choice of words to describe the man in question.
"Too bad. My boat, my rules."
XXX
Mal had succeeded in getting his way, and had insisted the entire crew could be present for the wave if they chose to be. And since no one wanted to be left out of the loop, they were all standing about the bridge…waiting for Book to connect the wave.
"Derrial! I see we have some new faces as well…is that…no it can't be…Hoban Washburn?" Mr. Universe asks as the wave connects on screen.
"Joel Glicker! You're Mr. Universe?"
Now Mal is just plain shocked and looks at Wash. "You two know each other?"
"From flight school." River supplies from beside the Captain.
Mr. Universe smiles now. "Ah and the infamous River Tam. I was right, those old vids they had of you did you no justice."
"I haven't even met this guy and I already don't like him." Riddick grumbles to Jayne in a hushed voice.
Jayne shakes his head. "What's there to like?"
"This really is a treat; to what do I owe the great pleasure of getting to see such a rare beauty." Mr. Universe says causing River to giggle.
"Okay now I really, don't like this guy." Riddick grumbles. River just turns and sends him a glare.
"We're having trouble locating someone and…" Book begins.
"…and you thought to come to the best for help. Derrial, as always you flatter me beyond belief. So, who is it that you are looking for."
"Paris P. Ogilvie." River replies.
There is a mix of surprise and astonishment on Mr. Universe's face now, and he breaks into a fit of laughter. "How perfect…how deliciously perfect. I know Mr. Ogilvie quite well…in fact he has a package for me. So I believe this can be a mutually beneficial situation. I'll give you his location, if you would do me the favor of procuring my package for me."
"Sounds like a pretty even deal to me." Mal says. He turns to River now though. "Do you want me to ask what's in the box this time or we good?"
She chuckles at the Captain. While she knows exactly what is in said package, she does not think it prudent to embarrass the strange little man assisting them. "This time it is quite alright not to ask."
"Shiny. So we got ourselves a deal." Mal says as he turns his attention back to Mr. Universe.
"I'll upload Mr. Ogilvie and my coordinates to the usual account Derrial."
"See you soon old friend." Book says as he disconnects the wave.
XXX
…Two days later on the moon of Caspia …
River's POV
"You sure this is the place?" Captain Daddy asks as they stand in front of a rather run down warehouse.
Mal, Zoe, and the girl had gone to along for the first 'social call' as the girl put it. Riddick had no desire to see the whelp of a man again, and thought he would be more cooperative if the girl could use Riddick as a threat if need be. He had forced her to arm up before they left though, never could be too careful.
"This is it." She says with a smile and knocks on the door.
A minute passes then the sound of static can be heard over an overhead comm unit. "Who is it?" Asks a raspy voice.
"Open up Paris, it's the girl…River." River calls out.
"River?" The voices asks.
"The girl who brought you through darkness." She says for clarification. He's being overly cautious and it's more than a little annoying.
The door that they stand in front of begins to creak open now, revealing a man in well made yet horribly mismatched clothes.
"Well I wasn't expecting this." Paris says.
"May we come in?" The girl asks.
He looks at all three of them before answering. "By all means." He says as he motions them inside.
While the exterior of the building left much to be desired, the interior was brimming with boxes, antiques, and other ornate objects.
"Nice place." Captain Daddy says as he looks around.
"Paris, this is Captain Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Washburn." The girl says as she introduces the three.
"Charmed I'm sure." Paris says warily. "What the devil are you doing here?" He says as he turns his attention back to the girl.
"We have a proposition, something that the girl thought you might be interested in procuring."
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
"The Lassiter."
Paris scoffs now. "You couldn't possibly have the Lassiter. Duran Haymer has the only…" but the words die in his mouth as the girl takes the Lassiter out of her bag.
"He had, would be the correct phrasing." Mal says as Paris walks forward and begins examining the gun.
"Remarkable. Truly remarkable. The craftsmanship." He says the girl hands him the gun.
"We were hoping you could fence it for us." Mal says, bringing Paris out of his daze.
"Well you certainly have acquired better taste in companions since I last saw you." Paris says to the girl.
She rolls her eyes. "Riddick is back on the ship. She can call him if you like."
At the mention of Riddick Paris pales considerably. "That's won't be necessary." He says quickly.
"So, Paris, you think you can help us out here?" Captain Daddy says getting things back on track.
"Well that depends on…."
"At least seventy five percent of its estimated value." The girl answers.
Paris stares at her dumbstruck but his mind speaks volumes.
"….daxiang baozhashi de laduzi!..."
She rolls her eyes. "Repetition is irksome Paris." She says in warning.
"I…I might know one man willing to purchase it at that price."
"Good set it up. But do it quiet like, we don't want our names attached to it." Mal says sharply.
"Of course." Paris says as he moves over to his computers now and begins to pull up his files.
"Oh, we're also to pick up a package for Mr. Universe." Mal adds.
Paris looks towards the girl now. "Is that how you found me? Never would have thought you knew him too."
"Small verse." She says with a shrug.
"His package is over there, it's marked for pickup at Beylix; you should be able to find it." He says without turning away from his computer.
The warrior woman walks over to where Paris has motioned and begins looking about. It takes her a minute but she finds it. "Sir, gonna need your help with this one."
Captain Daddy walks over now and looks down at the package. It's about as big as a coffin. "What the hell is in this thing?"
XXX
AN: I told you I kept him alive for a reason! I figured since the crew never did find a fence for it in the show who better than Paris to fence such a priceless artifact. Up next it's off to Mr. Universe's hideout…I wonder what's in the package…hmmm…anyways, till next time ;)