CHAPTER THREE: Got a Story Ta Tell Ya

Jayne was greeted by the familiar ceiling of their bedroom when he woke up. For a moment he thought that everything had been a dream. They hadn’t found him again and he didn’t have yet another scar to add to his collection. But the spike of pain that lanced through his shoulder when he reached out for River brought him back to reality.

"Shouldn’t have moved." She rolled onto her side to face him. The sun was already up and splashing rays of light through the little room. It bounced off the white washed walls and through River’s hair, making it sparkle with reddish highlights. Her pale skin seemed to glow and her deep brown eyes were warm with life. They reminded him of another pair of brown eyes that had looked back at him what seemed a lifetime ago.

"Morning, gorgeous." He covered his mouth to stifle a yawn. "How long was I out?"

"It is four hours before high noon on the seventh day of the week. Roberto does not understand your rapid metabolism and natural resistance to sedatives." She began checking his bandages. Finding that they were not displaced or soaked through with blood, she smoothed them down and let her fingers play over his bare chest.

"Yeah, well, Roberto might know more than anyone about bringin’ babes into this ‘verse but yer brother, he ain’t."

"No, he is definitely not Simon."

"So what happened after I got shot?"

"The Sheriff found us, took you to the doctor, found the undertaker. Was ignored by the doctor, helped the undertaker move the bodies. Didn’t want people to see them on the way to church."

"Aw, Kooky, you didn’t have ta do that. Shoulda just let ole’ Stan take care a them all."

She shrugged. "You were still with the doctor. Didn’t want to just sit."

She fell silent after that. It was rare that they were able to simply enjoy each other’s company like this so they soaked it up while they could. The bar kept them busy most days and when it didn’t, there was always something to be done around the house. Eventually, River broke the silence. "Sheriff’s coming, going to ask more questions. Not going to like the answers."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Have to tell him everything this time. No more hiding."

"No more hiding." agreed Jayne.

The scene was nearly the same as the one that had taken place weeks earlier. Jayne and River were on the settee with the Sheriff across from them in the armchair. However, there was no fine green tea this time, just coffee. Ralph leaned forward and placed his mug on the low table between them, all traces of the friendly small town sheriff gone from his expression.

"I think the two a ya had better come clean. I got six bodies in the morgue which is pretty compellin’ evidence that River ain’t what she says she is, gun hand or no. I also got myself another man in lock down that ain’t talkin’." He fixed them with a glare, steel glinting in his green eyes. "So one a ya wanna tell me what’s really goin’ on?"

Jayne and River looked at each other, Jayne silently asking the question and River answering. In agreement, they faced the Sheriff

Jayne rolled his eyes and gave a long suffering sigh. "Sheriff, you’re gonna be glad you’re sittin down. We got a story ta tell you."

It was nearing lunch by the time they had told Ralph everything, the Academy, the things that had been done to River, the series of events that took Serenity to Miranda and then broadcasting the message they found there. After the Miranda Broadwave, as it had come to be called, with capitals and everything, the Alliance had weakened though it had not collapsed completely. There were whispers of a new Independent movement that might succeed this time, but so far, no organized resistance had materialized. Ralph might not have believed that Jayne and River had been part of the group who had sent the Broadwave if he hadn’t seen with his own eyes the aftermath of the two attempted attacks. There had been rumors of a girl who’d killed a hundred Reavers and lived to tell the tale but it seemed too fantastic to be true and he said as much.

"Who the hell do ya think nailed that hun dan with the knife in the bar six months back? No way I coulda gotten ‘im in the eye like that and gotten his gun at the same time!" exclaimed Jayne, who seemed to be taking the Sheriff’s disbelief as a personal insult. "I’d have needed ta be in two places at once ta do that."

"Whaddaya mean?" asked Ralph. "Ella said you was sittin’ at the bar slicin’ limes."

"And the knife was still sittin’ there when you walked in. Kooky saw what was happenin’ out front. Knew I was gonna make a move."

"And the number of Reavers was overestimated. There were only forty three." River stated in an annoyed voice.

Ralph shook his head. "So lemme get this straight, the warrants on you and yer brother were cancelled and yer boat was all fixed up." He rubbed at a crick in his neck, he’d relaxed a bit when the couple were so forthcoming but he wasn’t about to leave without hearing the whole story this time. "Still don’ understand what the two a ya are doin’ on this grubby little rock."

"That, Sheriff, is an even longer story."

Six years earlier

The mule came roaring into Serenity’s cargo hold, narrowly missing a stack of crates. Mal jumped out before the vehicle came to a full stop, yelling into his comm. unit.

"Albatross! Get us the hell off this ta ma de dust ball and outta gorramn atmo!"

"Already on it, Captain." Her calm voice helped steady him some until Simon came skidding through the doorway a beat later.

"What happened? Is anyone hurt?"

"Jayne’s been shot. You got the infirmary ready?"

"Of course." Simon turned to examine the unfortunate mercenary while Mal brought his comm. unit up but River’s voice came over the ship’s intercom before he could even begin speaking.

"Exiting the atmosphere in two minutes and four point three seconds, Captain." Mal growled and turned to see if Simon needed any help. Jayne had been hit high on the chest, dangerously close to his lung but if he was lucky, the bullet had missed and was lodged in his shoulder instead.

"Need any help with Jayne?" asked the Captain. He could feel the slight downwards pull on his body that indicated another flawless lift off.

"Help Zoë. This doesn’t look good."

Four hours later, Serenity was well on her way into the black. Simon and Zoë trudged tiredly into the common area to see the rest of the crew gathered on the various pieces of furniture.

"How’s Jayne?" asked River, anxiously.

"The bullet punctured his lung, any further right and it would’ve ripped through a vein. He’s lucky that you got back here so fast. He lost a lot of blood." replied Simon as he dropped carelessly onto the sofa next to Kaylee and draped his arm over his eyes. "I’m going to keep him down here for a few days. At least until I get tired of his whining or he can breathe without pain, which ever one happens first."

"What happened out there Mal?" Inara asked. She’d gotten part of the story from him while they waited but other things had called for their attention.

"Way I heard it, the drop was going down without a hitch." added Kaylee.

"It did." said Zoë. "Those men who shot Jayne, they weren’t after our money or the goods. They were bounty hunters."

"I thought the Operative said the Alliance rescinded the warrants." Simon’s voice was muffled by his arm. "Why are they after River again?"

"Inara and I checked the Cortex while you were in surgery, doc." answered Mal. "Seems it’s not River they’re after."

"Jayne?" asked Simon, his mouth dropping open in shock.

"It appears there’s more to our favorite mercenary than meets the eye."

"How is that possible?" asked Simon. River smacked him lightly on the back of his head.

"I don’t rightly know but as soon as Jayne wakes up, I will want an accounting." He looked over at Simon. "I expect to be told as soon as he so much as turns over."

Simon nodded. "Of course."

Mal clapped his hands. "Well, until then, we all have things to be doing so let’s get to doing them."

The impromptu meeting began to break up after that. Mal heading up to the bridge while Zoë and Inara went to the galley to start dinner, Kaylee went to check on the engine and Simon went to shower. Seeing that she was alone in the common room, River tiptoed into the infirmary. Jayne was lying asleep in the chair, faced lined with pain. The long pale scar left behind when she’d slashed him peeked out from under the thin infirmary blanket. Images of disgust, bright lights, annoyance, blue hands marching two by two hurrah! flashed through her mind and she’d only meant to cut his shirt and through the confusion but had accidentally sliced him as well. She reached out and traced the edge of the scar with a slender finger.

He sighed suddenly, making her jump in surprise. She thought he would wake even though the amount of drugs Simon had given him meant he should be out cold until tomorrow at the very earliest. Instead, he relaxed under her feather light touch and the lines in his face eased. She clambered up on to the second bed and stayed there until dinnertime, watching him sleep.

"Captain?"

"Huh?" Mal jerked awake at the sound of Simon’s voice coming over the ship’s intercom. He’d fallen asleep checking the Cortex for any mention of Jayne Cobb. He did not like what he found, or rather, didn’t find.

"Jayne’s awake."

"I’ll be right down."

Apparently, Simon was already tiring of Jayne’s whining and had moved him into one of the passenger dorms. Zoë was leaning against the ladder outside the little room with her arms crossed. She nodded at him as he entered. Jayne was propped up against the head of the bed, awake but blinking groggily. River sat in a chair next to him. She smiled up at the Captain as he entered and shut the door behind him.

"Wass goin’ on?" slurred Jayne.

"That’s what I’d like to know." replied Mal "You wanna explain why you got bounty hunters after ya?"

Jayne let his eyes close and his head flop back against the pillows. "Shit."

"Damn straight."

Jayne cracked open an eye to glare at the hard faced captain. He opened his mouth.

"Confession is good for the soul." interrupted River, before either could say anything.

"Don’ need no confession." River extended a leg and poked him in the shoulder with her toe. "Alri’, alri’, I’ll tell ‘im."

"Tell me what, Jayne?"

"’member when I tried ta trade ya Vera?"

Mal nodded tightly.

"Those men that came after me, the ones I tol’ you abou’? They was… family."

"Your own family wants ta kill you? What the gorramn hell did you do, Jayne?"

"Not my family, Mal. Well, I guess they were but I meant… They were san he hui, couple of ‘em were prolly just kids tryin’ to get their numbers but the rest of ‘em, well, I might’ve killed the man that owned Vera but I only made it out by the skin of my teeth."

"So you’re… connected then?" asked Mal. Jayne nodded.

"Why the gorramn hell didn’t you tell me they were after you, Jayne?!" exploded Mal "I would’a never let you on my boat."

Jayne looked away, frowning. "Jayne isn’t my name."

"Zhen ta ma de." Mal felt a little faint. It was as usual, worse than he thought, not only did Jayne have connections to some really big damn bad guys that made Adelai Niska look cuddly, Jayne wasn’t even his real name. River got up and pushed her chair under Mal’s backside before he could hit the floor. "I think you better tell me what kind a trouble you’re in, right the hell now. How abouts you start with what your name really is?"

Translations: Hao ma? – Alright? Hun dan – bastard (zhen) Ta ma de – damn/fuck, which ever is appropriate. San he hui - triad

Fun Facts: ...blue hands marching two by two hurrah! - the little one stops to tie his shoe, and they all go marching down

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