"Get in there."

"Sure, ya gorram zombie."

Jayne allowed himself to be shoved forward into the medium sized cell, mindful of the guns still on him. He flexed his hands and wrists against the electronic manacles the men had slapped on him, and squinted through the doorway, past the sunlight into the relative dimness of the cell itself.

There was a figure at the far end of the room. Small, but definitely female. Blonde. Shiny blue dress. Nice-

His hands were yanked over to the wall, where the manacles were attached to a short chain on the wall. "Siddown," said the man, pushing him toward the bench. He sat down hard, then glared at the guy.

"Don't try nothin' funny," was all that was said before the door slammed and locked.

"Gorram it," said Jayne. He looked around the room. Now that the door was closed, the inside didn't seem so dark. Plain, half-painted walls, a decent sink and toilet set-up in the corner. Oh yeah, the girl.

"Who are you?" she said.

There was a pause. Jayne looked up, a smile coming naturally to his face as he looked her over. The girl fidgeted, seeming a bit awkward.

"Would you mind not staring like that?"

"You look good, an' I don't see anything more inneresting in here right now. There a problem?"

The girl blew some hair out of her face and looked him over right back, then shrugged. "I guess not. We might as well get acquainted. My name's Jo. It's short for Josephine," she said, as if anticipating his comment. "What's yours?"

"Hm? Jayne." He nodded at her clothes. "You a workin' girl, or is Jed doin' a kidnap transfer?"

"Working girl - what, a prostitute?" Jo sat up straight, pulling at the cord that held her own wrists to the wall. "The idea! Hmf!" She stared at the opposite wall a moment, then back at him. "Kidnapping? He does that kind of thing?"

"This ain't exactly a place ya can come an' go," said Jayne. "So which is it?"

"I was lost. I couldn't understand anyone, but... but the man who seems to run things here took me in, and gave me new clothes and a place to sleep." She glanced down at the cuffs. "He did lock me up, at that, but I thought I might as well have somewhere safe to wait." She looked up at Jayne. "You really think he was going to sell me, or - ?"

Jayne nodded. "Probably." He took another look at the cuffs, and the chain. Good make, almost new. Looked like Jed didn't skimp on security. "So, how long ya been here?"

"About a week. Say, why did he lock you up in here? I haven't seen anyone else."

"He didn't." Jayne gave the chain a tug. No give. "Some guy just went an' took his stuff over right out from under him."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good," said Jo.

"It ain't. Best thing would be to get the outta here." He tried twisting the cuffs at a couple of the usual weak angles, but they held firm. He tried another-

Her hands were on his wrists. "You should stop that before you hurt yourself," she said. "Here, let me get that for you."

She pulled a rough piece of wire from behind her ear and went to work on an access she got it open, she wrapped the end of the wire with a piece of cloth and touched it to something inside, jerking her hand back when it shorted. A puff of smoke came out, and the cuffs came loose. She stepped back.

Jayne shucked the cuffs, then shook out his hands. He looked up at the girl, who had stepped back a few feet and was watching him.

"How'd ya do that?"

"I'm trained in escapology."

Jayne stared at her, brow furrowed. "...Right. An' other things, I'll bet.". He stood up, then noticed her stand a bit further away. "Don't get all nervous, I ain't gonna do nothin'. Least, not till ya ask," he said, winking and flashing a grin. His expression turned serious again. "First thing is, we get this door open and hightail it. You figured out how to do that?"

Jo bit her lip. "Um, maybe. I'm not sure about the electronics around here, though. The handcuffs were pretty simple, but I don't know if I could really -"

Jayne put a finger against her lips. "Think ya could make it just a li'l bit shorter?"

She looked peeved, but pointed up. There was an electrical box positioned above the door. "I couldn't reach it, but maybe you could lift me up?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

She positioned herself in front of the door. Jayne bent down, placed his hands, and -

"What are you doing?"

Jayne looked up, startled. "Jus' gettin' ready to lift ya."

"That- that's not where you lift from!" She swatted at his left hand where it now rested on her upper thigh.

"Hell," said Jayne. "Look, if I lift from your waist, ya won't get a good look at that box like ya should. Not my fault yer too short ta make it work."

"Well, figure something out!"

Jayne rolled his eyes. They had exactly no time for this prim n' proper 马烟肉帽子. He grabbed her by the waist and in one not-so-smooth motion, deposited her on his shoulders.

"Eep!"

He stepped toward the door. "Got all ya need up there?"

Jo looked at the small wire she had used before, then at the box. "I might need something to get the cover off," she said. "You wouldn't happen to have anything, would you?"

"Well, um." Gorramit all. "Guess I do." Good thing they hadn't really searched him. He reached down the front of his pants and flipped the catch off the sheath on his inner thigh, pulling out the knife there. Carefully. He took it by the blade and handed it, handle-first, up to Jo. "Be careful with that," he said.

"Oh, don't worry about me-"

"I meant, don't ding the blade."

"Oh." She made a face at him, then set about looking over the box. After a moment, she said, "I don't see any seams. Gosh, I'm really not that good at this. If only..." She seemed to brighten up. "Wait a minute, I have something that just might work!" Jayne felt her weight shift forward as she reached for something-

CLONK

-then abruptly recoil backwards after hitting her head on the box!

瞎的鸡 klutz, thought Jayne. He reached up fast as he could to catch her, grabbing the front of her collar-

SHriiiip

-which completely failed to stop her fall. Lousy 高价粪 piece of cloth!

He kept hold of her leg, stepping back and grabbing her around the waist. He turned her around and upright, setting her on her feet. She wobbled a bit, clutching her forehead. He kept a hold on her arm to steady her.

"That sounded like a hard 'un. You okay?" He pulled her hand away from her head so he could inspect it. "Yeah, that's gonna leave a mark. Gotta be more care- wha?"

The door clicked. Jayne stepped forward to avoid getting hit, dragging Jo along. The sunlight hit his eyes, blurring the figure in the doorway. Jed?

"Damn, Cobb, you don't waste any time, do ya?"

Jayne just glared. Jo, noticing the state of her dress, squeaked and pulled it back together while backing away from him.

"Whaddya want? Padrone send ya for me already?"

"Pfft. Give me a little credit, will ya? I'm bustin' you out."

"You were going to sell me!" said Jo, scowling.

Jed looked over in surprise. "Oh, so NOW you speak the lingo. Big shock. You think you woulda done any better out on the streets with no cred or papers?"

"I didn't-"

"Here's the quick answer- ya wouldn't. Still not sure how you'll do, but it's gotta be better than whatever that 冰坏蛋 has planned." He looked back at Jayne. "Let's get Mal out and scram."

"Why we doin' that?" said Jayne. "That's just askin' for trouble."

"Because we aren't leaving a man behind, that's why," said Jed. "Besides, going without him with that guy in charge here would be nothing less than murder." He glared at Jayne.

"Okay, okay. Just... hold on," said Jayne. He scanned the floor. There was his knife, and... what was that other thing?

"Wait a sec..." He picked up both, then examined the short cylinder. "This looks familiar."

"Oh, that's mine!" said Jo. She extended her hand, still holding her dress closed with the other. "Could I have it back, please?"

Jayne didn't move. "Where'd ya get this?"

"It belongs to a friend of mine-"

"Just give her the damn thing, Cobb, we gotta go!" Jed took off his jacket, then after taking some things out of the pockets, handed it to Jo. "Cover up. We need as few eyes on us as possible."

Jo took the coat and put it on as the walked out of the cell. Both Jayne and Jed looked around to check for anyone coming.

"You know where he's being held?"

"Pretty sure. I only have one other storage unit in this building." He stopped at the corner, then looked around it. "Someone on guard. John. Hm. Stay here." He stepped out, then walked up to the man at the door. "Hey, John."

"Sorry, can't let you in here," said John, raising his rifle.

Jed stopped in front of him. "Kid," he said, sounding weary all of a sudden, "all these years, and now you're pointing a gun at me? Really?" He shook his head.

"I'm real sorry, b-"

Jed's hand suddenly came up, slapping the rifle from the man's hands up into the air. He grabbed and yanked it away, then as the man stepped back in reflex, swung it about, driving the butt into the side of his head. He dropped the gun and grabbed the stunned man by the front of his shirt before he fell.

"Boy," he said, "you don't know sorry." He yanked down, slamming the man's face into his knee, then released him. He collapsed.

He waved to Jayne and Jo. "All clear. Let's get Mal out and- what the hell?"

Jayne came over to look at what he was looking at. "Looks like someone shot the lock panel open."

"Yeah. Maybe he got out already? Hm." He pushed lightly on the door. "Unlocked."

Jo was looking at the fallen guard, a worried expression on her face. "Is he going to be okay?"

Jayne glanced at him. "Doubt it."

"Eyes front, Cobb," said Jed. He did a silent three-count and shoved the door open, then jumped to the side.

"It's empty," said Jo.

Jayne peered around the corner of the doorway. "Yep, he's gone," he said. "Can we go now?"

"Wha..." Jed looked confused. "What is my desk doing in here? It was just.." He strode over to it and opened a drawer. He pulled out a sheaf of papers and flipped through them.

"Yeah, it's my desk, all right," he said.

"Didn't we see it in your office?" said Jayne.

"We'll have ta let that stay unsolved right now," said Jed, shutting the drawer. "Let's go."

They walked in silence, staying close to buildings but looking as casual as possible. Finally, they reached a small bar.

"In here," said Jed. The entered the smoke-filled, darkened main room. The bartender looked up from the glass he was cleaning and nodded at him. The three of them made their way into a back booth and sat down.

"We should be all right here, for the moment," said Jed. "That may have turned my boys against me, but I still got people. He can't reach them all."

"So what do we do now?" said Jayne.

"What you do is get back to your ship. Hopefully Mal made it back there. If not, well... that's up to you an' the rest of them, but my advice is to get off-planet fast as you can."

"What about me?" said Jo. "I've got nowhere to go!"

Jed studied her for a moment. "Whaddya think, Cobb? She might be able to help ya get Mal back, and if nothing else, she's a nice piece o' fluff."

"Excuse me!"

Jayne looked over at her. "I s'pose she could come with me for right now," he said. "Got some questions for her myself."

"Then that's settled." Jed took out his wallet and removed a gold-chipped card. He slid it over to Jayne. "This has access to one of my unmarked credit accounts. Also, if you run into trouble with any officials or... not-so-officials around here, showing that should help. That is, if that guy hasn't wrecked my rep already."

Jayne took the card and nodded. "What're you gonna do?"

"Me? Oh, I'm going to kill myself."

"What?"

Jed laughed. "Oh, that was worth it," he said. "Not literally, of course. 'Jedadiah Kathan' is gonna die." He stared off a moment. "You know, this was supposed to be my retirement identity. I had a pretty good thing going, too." He looked back at the other two, who were staring at him with varying degrees of confusion.

"So you're gonna... disappear?"

"Yeah. Still got a few backup identities left. I'll be fine." He sat back, and gave them a two-fingered salute*. "You watch yourselves."

Two minutes later, Jayne and Jo were back out on the street, headed in the direction of the town center.

*Note for UK readers: Not THAT two-fingered salute! The respectful kind!