FIREFIGHT!

The common room was awash in flickering light as the two men set themselves for this inevitable face-off. The icy blue glow from the infirmary lay heavily upon the drawn stoic features of Malcolm Reynold's face. Jayne Cobb, in the shadows, bore his most wicked grin as he fingered the contours of his newest weapon, his thoughts lingering on the decimation about to occur. "I'm guessin' the price was right this time, eh Jayne..?" Mal uttered coarsely, breaking the silence between them. Jayne sniffed, stretched a kink in his neck, then glared. "Yep, Lance came through with his offer.., said I'd be sittin' pretty after layin' ya low, Mal." He looked down at the instrument that would soon be the bane of Serenity's captain. It felt kinda odd in his oversized meathooks, but Jayne had learned to become proficient in all manner of destructive impliments great and small, and Vera just would have been overkill in this particular endeavor. "So that's how it is?" Mal queried, non-chalantly scratching beneath his left eyeball. Jayne grunted and took the Captain's measure, meeting that dread inducing gaze with impunity for the first time in a long time. "Yeah..., that's how it is. And I'm gonna enjoy this ee-minsely!" Mal straightened at the threat, kept his gaze fixed, and mentally prepared his plan of attack. Jayne was a good fighter, he knew. Determination was Mal's only recourse in the upcoming brawl, he knew that he'd take quite a few hits from the ape, but he'd dish out some of his own before all was said and done. Maybe luck was on his side, maybe he'd get to that trigger just a little faster.., maybe Jayne would tire early.. "Fight!" Simon came running from the passenger bunks to assess the situation, ready to bandage the possibility of broken knuckles and/or lacerated flesh after the smoke had cleared. Zoe barrelled down the stairwell, Wash not two steps behind. "Sir..?" she shouted. "Oh, Ta mah duh, here we go..." Wash whispered behind her, taking in the scene. "S'okay Zoe, I got this all neat and ..handled." Mal was able to blurt, his voice cracking ever so slightly, before reacting a bit sluggishly and too late for Jayne's initial onslaught. River, who sat upon the couch nearest them, winced and curled into herself at the sight of the heinous spectacle, eyes squinted at the gout of blood which erupted from the sudden shot. "No!" she shrieked, watching in mute horror, then clinical interest as the man staggered. The blow had sent Mal back a pace, winded, but not out of the fight yet. His warrior instinct enflamed, Reynolds immediately came back with a right which fell short, prompting a snicker from the Cobbster, but came up with a sudden and quite solid left uppercut which Jayne had not expected, disarming the seasoned merc and sending him crashing backwards into the couch, nearly sucking River down into the cushions with his ass indentation. "So that's how ya wanna play this, huh?" Jayne growled, dislodging River's ankle from his sweaty armpit before swiping a hand across his bristled maw. Inara crept in through the cargo bay door, fully aware from the shouts of male bravado and crashing furniture items exactly what was transpiring. "Barbarians! Why can't you just put your petty differences aside?!" "'Cuz I'm gettin' paid this time 'Nara!" Jayne answered through gritted teeth as he zeroed in and launched his next assault at Mal's melon. "Try this one on, Mal!" "You're on fire!!" River yelped. "Huh?!" Jayned gawked, midswing. "..." wide-eyed, Mal accepted the growing freight train heading for his noggin'. "I'll get the fire extinguisher!" Wash exclaimed, hurrying back up the stairs. "God, this is going to be gruesome.." Simon slapped a palm to his forehead. Kaylee popped in behind Simon suddenly, a well placed swipe of grease across her right cheek. "What's all the fussin' about? We got fire..?!" "Fire! Fire!" River continued, pulling frantically at Jayne's He-Man shirt. Mal mustered all that he had, Jayne was indeed getting the upper hand in this brawl. Even after having his head obscenely snapped back by such a tremendous blow, the Captain gathered himself and mumbled, "Awright, awright, you wanna meet the real me?!" Deep down inside he remembered. All the hardship, all the loss, snippets of YoSafBridge..? His hands moved in a blur. "No wait, Mal!" Jayne pleaded, white with fear at the awesome spectacle of Reynolds unleashed. "Let's be reasonable here!" "You did it to me Jayne, to me! Now it's my turn." With that, Mal proceeded with a suprising reverse double roundhouse kick which came within inches of Jayne's defenselessly exposed-- *Click* It all went black. Silent stares. "Gorramit!" Jayne bellowed. "What the hell..?! I was... You was almost...!" Mal fumbled, bewildered. "C'mon guys, supper's gettin' cold." A universally defeated "Awwwww--" permeated the room. Lance, the new cook aboard Serenity, took the controllers from Jayne, then Mal. "Everybody, c'mon. Games later." They all reluctantly headed upstairs for some chow. Book called from the dining room, "We got proteins-a-plenty up here!" River made swooshing noises with her feigned 'fist of fire'. Simon wiped away the streak from Kaylee's beaming face. Inara regally swept up the stairs behind the two, eyes rolling as Jayne grumbled quietly at Mal's ascending back, "Button-masher." Mal uttered the victorious words he'd longed to hear ever since Lance had brought that gorram thing onboard... "Finish Him! Bwah!"

--end.