Chapter Three

Bet stirred, not enough to wake up Jayne, but enough to know he had her pinned. An arm around her waist, clutching her right breast, the other provided a pillow for her head before it wrapped around to her left shoulder, his left leg draped protectively over her legs. She tried to remember exactly what had happened last night. At first, she had been scared and unsure of what was expected of her, after awhile knowledge she thought was lost forever bubbled up and took over. She had done things she didn’t know she could do, but that’s not saying much as Bet couldn’t remember anything earlier then six years ago. She smiled as she remembered how surprised he was when she locked her forearms behind his head and kissed him. At first, he had struggled, but not very hard when the memory of how much he liked kissing took over. She managed to turn over in his arms, pull his shirt up and plant small kisses all across his chest. He awoke with a growl and rolled on top of her. He was sorry he had insisted they put their clothes on last night, as it looked like they would just be taking them off again, but Jayne knew you always slept with you boots on. He had just started to pull her dress over her head when she pulled his hair. “Hey! You started it.” He pouted at her. She pulled at his coat until she got it out from under her and then he felt the communicator vibrating. He stood up swearing at Mal’s timing, walked over to the bushes to relieve himself. “Yeah?” He grunted into the box. “Ok, be there in thirty minutes.” He finished the call and relieving himself at the same time. “We gotta go meet Mal at the drop off site, better...” As he turned, he saw Bet was already to go; she had broken down the lean-to, put her stuff back into her bag and was offering him a protein bar. Jayne ate the protein bar and looked at her with newfound admiration as she finished braiding her hair and pinned it up. Jayne started off at a good clip, knowing he didn’t have much time to make the drop off point. After awhile he realized he couldn’t hear her behind him, he stopped and turned around hoping she was still in sight. She was right there with him, panting slightly she reached for her water bottle and offered him a drink. Jayne took a sip and handed the water back, about to tell her not to drink too much as it would give her cramps, she took her own sip and put the bottle back in her bag. They arrived at the drop point before Mal and Zoë; Jayne looked for a suitable spot to stash Bet while the drop went down. He settled for a small rock cave formation. He had her get in and then covered the opening with moss, taken from a tree far away. You could still see her blonde head. “Here.” He handed her his coat. “Put this on and cover as much as can.” She put it on, buttoned it up squatted down in the back and pulled it over her head. Jayne nodded at her. “Stay here until I whistle for you, Dong ma?” She nodded back at him.

***** She didn’t remember falling asleep, but the vibration of the communicator woke her up. She dug it out of Jayne’s coat and pushed the talk button, so Jayne would know she was there. “Bet?” Jayne whispered into the communicator he had gotten from Zoë. “We’re in a bit of a tight spot and need you to cause a distraction.” At that point, she thought she heard crying and a shot. She pushed the talk button again, waiting for more instructions, but none came. Putting the communicator back into the coat, she crawled out of her hiding place. Down the hill, she could see Jayne and a women on the ground and another man on the ground closer to where three men were starting to molest a young girl. She wasn’t sure what Jayne wanted her to do, but Connor had always told her she was a good distraction when he played cards. She let her hair down and unbuttoned her dress a bit as she walked thru the woods. She dropped Jayne’s coat and her bag when she stepped out of the woods and into the clearing. “Atta girl” Jayne muttered as all the men turned to watch her walk across the field. He used the time to cut Zoë’s ropes and started to crawl towards his guns. Zoë headed over to where Mal was unconscious on the ground, after checking that he was still alive, she too headed towards the guns. Kaylee was ignored as the men watched Bet walk across the field. She started to slowly walk backwards, not wanting to make any sudden moves, until she met up with Zoë. Soon as Jayne had his guns and knew that Kaylee was with Zoë he stood up. The first of the three men reached Bet, not realizing that the other men had followed him. He reached out, grabbed her by the arm, running his free hand thru her hair. He turned to yell at the others that they could share Kaylee, he had his own girl. He found them at his side, as they reached out to touch the new girl he slapped their hands away. “Hey, she’s mine. Where’s yours?” They started to turn to where Kaylee had been. “Get your…” Jayne shot the first man in the back. “.. hands off her….” He shot the next as he turned and raised his gun. By now, the leader realized what was happening and he pulled Bet in front of him. He was smart enough to bend down and keep his head below her shoulder. He pointed his gun at Jayne from under her arm. Jayne looked her briefly in the eye and winked. “…She’s mine.” He shot the man in the head, thru Bet’s shoulder. Jayne managed to catch her before she fell, shooting the man on the ground a few more times for pissing him off. He scooped her up into his arms. “Sorry I had to shoot ya.” He whispered into her ear and carried her over to where Zoë was patching up Mal. Mal, still in shock at seeing Jayne shoot the girl. “Huh? You know her?” He asked as Jayne sat down with the girl in his arms. “Yeah, told you about her last night. Kaylee can you run over there and get my coat and her bag.” He pulled the dress off her shoulder and took the offered wadding from Zoë. He had done he’s own fair share of patching people up and was soon able to stop the blood flow. “Thinking we need to get these two back to the Doc.” He took the bag from Kaylee. “Bet, you got any bandages in here?” She nodded and reached for the bag. She handed Jayne a bottle of disinfectant and some bandages. He finished patching her up and handed the bottle to Zoë for the Captain. Jayne stood and carried Bet to the mule, then he went to help Zoë with Mal. After they settled the wounded, Jayne looked at Zoë. “Mule won’t carry five.” He looked around. “I’ll follow on the horse.” He helped Kaylee into the back with Bet. “Take care a her.” By the time Zoë had the mule running, Jayne was mounted and had headed off towards the ship.

Chapter Four

When Jayne came into the infirmary, Simon had just finished with Mal’s head and had started on Bet’s shoulder. “Lucky shot, Jayne.” Simon said as he cleaned out the wound. Jayne just grunted. “Pretty sure Jayne put that bullet right where he wanted it, nothing lucky about it. Good mercenary know the difference between the kill shot and the stop shot.” Mal nodded at Jayne on his way out. In the commons, he found Zoë looking at Bet’s bag. “Captain, this bag look at all familiar to you?” She held the bag up. Mal took the offered bag and turned it over in his hands. “Well, looks a lot like the scouting bag used in the war.” He fumbled with the strap and the closure until he realized that the hidden compartment wasn’t there. “But, from which side?” Zoë looked him in the eye. Jayne and Bet came out of the infirmary. “Any food around here, you interrupted my breakfast.” He smiled at Mal and then realized Mal wasn’t smiling back. “What’s going on Mal?” “Just like to know a little something about the people on my ship, by the way how long is she going to be on my ship?” “Six months” “Think again, Jayne. No way I’m carrying dead weight for six months.” “Fine, two months. What’s the big deal, you let Simon keep Moonbrain on the ship longer then that.” “She’s his sister, ‘side she turned out to be all kinds of useful. This here bag, is it your’s?” He held the bag up to Bet, She nodded and reached for it. Jayne was starting to get nervous; he had seen Zoë move into position. “This here is an Army bag, Jayne. We’re just wondering which army. What happened to your arm?” He pointed to the bandage Simon had replaced. He walked up to Bet, holding out her bag, waiting for an answer. “You didn’t answer my question?” Jayne walked over, placed a finger under her chin and raised it up to show the scar. “You ain’t gonna get an answer that way.” He grabbed the bag and brought out Bet’s note pad. She smiled at him, glad when he stood behind her and put his hands on her hips. She typed for a moment and turned the pad so Mal could read it. “It’s where Jayne removed my tracking tag.” Mal looked at Jayne for confirmation. “You still have it?” Jayne shook his head no. Mal and Zoë exchanged glances again. “How long you have the tag in?” She typed. “As long as I can remember.” “Seem like a vague answer to you Zoë?” “Yes sir, it does.” “Get River.” Zoë walked over to the communication panel and called River down. “What the hell you want with her?” “Well Jayne, she is just the best damn lie detector we got.” “Damn it Mal, you forgetting that she saved our butts out there?” “No I’m not, but don’t you wonder why Jayne? Why she just didn’t leave us there and take off.” “What, you think she’s an alliance spy? Kind of a round about way of getting on this ship. I had to win her and not lose her. ‘Side that Connor fellow wanted her back awful bad. I coulda just used her and left her at anytime.” “He is right Sir, seems like a high price to pay. Being beholden to Jayne.” “That tag Jayne, it a military dog tag, Zoë and I both have one.” Jayne gave Zoë a dirty look. “She ain’t a spy Mal.” “Fine, then she won’t mind if River goes in for some answers.” He turned to face River. “I need to know what this girl is, was she sent here for you? Need you to go into her mind and find out.” River looked all kinds of scared at the thought of having to enter another persons mind. After months of people telling her to stay out of their heads, she was being invited in. Then she looked at the girl and saw the terror on her face. “Only if she want’s me there.” She looked back at Mal. “She doen’t have a choice, it’s that or a walk in space.” “Captain! That ain’t fair.” Jayne glared at Mal. “Jayne, it is the way it is, if she passes you can keep her. Now step away from her. Girl, I’m gonna ask you some questions, and you’re gonna answer them and River here is gonna make sure you tell the truth. Dong Ma?” Bet watched Jayne stomp over to a chair and throw himself on to it, she turned to face Mal and nodded. “Fine, River come here.” River stood next to Mal, facing Bet. “Now, were you ever in the army?” Bet started to write on her pad, Mal took it away from her. “It’s a yes or no question. Were you ever in the army?” Bet reached again for her pad. “She doesn’t know.” River whispered. “She woke up in a hospital a few years ago, with no memories. She had run up a large hospital bill, they sold her as an indentured.” Bet nodded her head, she looked River in the eyes. “What hospital? And Where?” River stared back into Bet’s eyes. “On Du-Khang, near the Buddhist temple.” Mal and Zoë again exchange looks. “How long ago?” “She’s not sure how long she was in a coma, she has been awake for 6 years.” “Can you see how she got hurt?” Mal looked at River, both girls had tears running down their eyes. “There is a battle… she doesn’t want to be there… but she had no choice… they’re holding her family… She is alone… out in front… looking for the enemy.” They both start to shake. “She is grabbed from behind… a hand on her mouth… as a knife is dragged across her throat… It catches on her cross… she turns… seeing the soldier… she falls to the ground… hitting her head.” Zoë is now shaking, she walked over to the pair. “The other soldier…?” “It was you.”

Epilog Bet’s two months came and went and she stayed on the ship. She took over all the unwanted chores and when Zoë had her baby, Bet took care of him too. She and Jayne never officially got married, but nothing would ever come between them. He protected and loved her and she was the perfect women. Blonde, big breasted, unable to nag and able to use a gun.