It started in the second week of Kaylee and Simon�s honeymoon. They�d decided to go on a trip to see Kaylee�s parents and then take in the inner rim planets on a tour that wouldn�t end in death�probably.
Of course Simon had only done this with the express proviso that the captain look after River. Actually he�d been all fixed to drag River on his honeymoon with him and Kaylee had, tenuously, agreed to have her sister-in-law along. So it had fallen to River to put her delicate, bare feet down.
She was not going to be a third wheel and ruin Kaylee�s honeymoon, nor was she going to listen to Simon and Kaylee make sex noises. She loved Serenity and was staying right here.
Of course, her version was slightly less coherent and contained a random referral to tea cups in the pantry, but it boiled down to the same thing.
Simon had argued and fought and it was only the droop of Kaylee�s face when he suggested cancelling for a while that decided him. Ok, they�d go, but Mal had to take damn good care of River.
Which he�d fully intended to do, even without the order implicit in Simon�s tone.
He had intended to. Really.
But they�d been lucky enough to land a really great job with a huge payload and River had insisted on coming along and no matter how Mal had insisted that she stay behind, the girl just was not listening to him.
�No!� he said and threw her backpack out of the mule and onto the cargo bay floor. �You�re staying with the ship and that�s final.�
�Sixty per cent chance they�ll try to take the ship with me on it,� she�d said, looking patronisingly at him. �Eighty-three point seven two chance they won�t try to double-deal you with me along. The math adds up.�
�Aw hell,� Jayne said as he saw Mal weakening. �We don�t want Crazy to come along with us.�
River looked at him over her shoulder. �Forty percent chance Jayne gets shot.�
�Okay, she can come,� he amended hastily, ignoring the smirk on her face.
�That�d be good and fine �ceptin you don�t have a say here,� Mal said indignantly. �I say she stays with the ship.�
River�s lips turned down and her face lost the shine that made her light up from the inside. Mal turned away.
�No, no sad face, darlin�. It don�t work on the mean old cap�n!�
�She wants to be of use, not broken, empty. But they push her in a box and won�t let her be played with. Broken toy. Doll with bald hair and no eyes.�
�You�re not a broken toy,� Zo� comforted and touched River�s arm. �The Captain is just worried about you being safe is all.�
�Safer with eyes.�
�She has a point,� Jayne said, obviously touched by the fact that he had a forty percent chance of being shot. �Easier to keep an eye on the kwong-juh duh kid if she�s with us.�
�Who died and made you the captain?� Mal said, trying desperately to ignore the heart-broken look on her face, the way her lips bowed into a pretty pout and the feelings that told him he�d be better off taking her� taking her with them. �Cuz I ain�t dead and while I�m alive we follow my orders.�
She half-turned to walk away and he caved.
�And I say she�s coming with us,� he said as if that had been his plan all along. �Zo�, you hold the ship?�
�Yes, sir. Captain.� Zo� was considerate enough to hold back her smirk, which Mal appreciated.
But the gleeful look on River�s face as she climbed into the mule was far more reward enough.
To say that things didn�t go smoothly was all sorts of wrong.
It started off with the buyer being half an hour late and bringing a whole cadre of Alliance assholes with him.
It was only River�s yelled warning of �Duck� that stopped both Jayne and Mal from being riddled with holes and left out for the Reavers.
They raced down the corridors, firing at those behind them in a barrage of bullets and laser fire, trying to find a way out that wasn�t blocked by the Alliance.
Mal dragged River into a small alcove, cradling her against him and let Jayne take the opposite side of the wall as cover.
�Great plan� a mine to bring you along,� he groused, pulling her closer, away from the bullets� that would be coming any minute. �Ways out?�
River closed her eyes and listened, blocking out the frantic beating of Mal�s heart, louder and stronger since they�d dived out of sight. She blocked out the inner cussing that Jayne was doing and tried to feel down to where the soldiers were waiting.
�Can�t get that way,� she murmured inclining her head the way they were going.
�Jen dao Mei!� he spat. �So where?�
�Got bodies in the halls, bodies in the basement. No bodies in the attic.�
�I ain�t gonna be no gorram body!� Jayne muttered. �I don�t wanna get shot neither.�
�Up!� River said and stared at the ceiling. Mal followed her gaze to the ceiling panels his brain filling him in on her plan as surely as if she�d said it out loud with little diagrams and bullet points.
�Okay, darlin� you get us outta here.� He reached up and slammed the panel with his gun, the sound smothered by the hail of gunfire from the far end of the hall.
Jayne swore and dodged out, thrusting Vera into the limelight as he tried to hold them back, his face set in a mask of fury.
Mal grabbed River and hoisted her up into the ceiling, his large hands spanning her tiny waist. She rolled to the side and held out her hand for Mal to follow. He threw the gun into her ready hands, instructing her to lay down cover fire as he swung himself up into the confined space.
As he spun he yelled out for Jayne to follow, wondering if the huge man would fit into the small enclosure, if he�d actually come along, he was so intent on the fight at hand.
Jayne, however, was more than fine about abandoning the futile fight and swung his precious gun over his shoulder before grabbing onto the edge of the ceiling and pulling.
But before his legs were clear, an Alliance guard hurtled around the opposite corner and, seeing that their quarry were about to escape, grabbed hold of Jayne�s leather tooled boots and tried to pull him back. His legs waved and kicked, trying to find some purchase and knock the man loose and it was impossible for River to shoot around the huge bulk of his torso that fit the ceiling tile.
�Gorram it!� Mal cursed as he grabbed the back of Jayne�s shirt and hauled. A lucky kick dislodged the guard and Jayne hoisted himself up.
But his gun caught on the edge and near yanked off his shoulder before falling to the ground.
�Vera!� he yelled, despair in his voice.
�It�s a gun,� Mal hissed as the rest of the Alliance bolted around the corner and swarmed towards them, �forget it.�
Jayne snarled, his hand trying to reach down and grab it. Mal snatched his shirt and yanked.
�Leave it! That�s an order!�
He crawled away, expecting Jayne to follow and, after precious seconds, he did.
River looked at the crawling form of Jayne and then down at the discarded weapon.
Her eyes narrowed and she dove for the space in the floor.
�River!� Mal shouted as her feet disappeared. He frantically crawled to the edge of the hole and looked down in time to see her throw a punch at a gun-toting soldier and twist in a kick to the man on the other side. Like the dervish he�d seen on Miranda she gracefully danced backwards, out of the way of a coming fist and grabbed the wrists, yanking the body forward to head-butt them with the elegance of a demented ballerina. One final kick had the man down and River grabbed Vera, bending and throwing herself into the air to land in the ceiling.
�Go!� Mal yelled to Jayne who was watching them both with an odd look on his face and he hurried to obey, ignoring the way the captain practically steamed at his heels.
As they crawled through the ceiling ducts the only sound was the ragged breaths as they tried to listen below to see if anyone was chasing them. The yells and shouts from beneath their feet only made them move faster and they managed to make it to the rooftops without being seen.
In silence.
As they reached the roof and edged out of the crawl-space into daylight, River had smiled sweetly and held Vera out to Jayne who�d taken her without a word.
Mal said nothing, his jaw set and his eyes hard.
He�d grabbed her by the wrist and thrown her into the mule without a sound and piloted the thing back as if the Reavers themselves were after them.
Zo� was waiting in the hold for them to get back and her welcoming smile faded at the thunderous look on Mal�s face.
�Problem, sir?�
�Nee ta ma duh tyen-shia suo-yo duh run doh gai si!� he swore as he stormed past her, throwing the grab bag into her arms.
Zo� blinked and looked past him to a recalcitrant River and an oddly silent Jayne.
�Job went well then?�
�Men waiting on us to come in. We�re safe now.� River smiled and Mal rounded on her.
�We were safe to be crawling away, there was no need for you to jump down and almost get yourself killed!� he roared and even Zo� jumped.
�I�m safe,� River said, somewhat indignantly.
�That ain�t the point!� Mal snarled. �My orders were to leave it, didn�t need you heading off playin� hero. Ain�t no room on my boat for dead heroes, dong ma? I made me a promise to your brother and I intend on keeping it!�
�Don�t need protecting!� River yelled back and Mal moved until they were practically nose to nose.
�Jien tah-duh guay! When you don�t have the gorram sense to leave a gun be and follow orders, you ain't got no right being on the team.�
�Trajectory said I was fine,� she maintained, her face showing her hurt. �The math added up.�
�Where was your damned math when they were coming, huh, River? Why the hell didn�t you see �em coming?�
River reeled back like she�d been slapped and Jayne stepped forwards. �No need for that, Cap�n, girl was just helping out.�
Mal threw his hands up in the air and let loose a torrent of Chinese that almost had them blushing. He turned and glared at the scene; Zo� standing to one side, her eyes intent on him. Jayne, of all people, standing between him and the subject of his wrath and, most damning of all, River staring at him with big, bruised eyes and a pale face looking like he�d tortured her favourite pet.
As those eyes started to glisten with unshed tears he felt the worst heel in the verse and opened his mouth to apologise only to have a vision of her lying on the floor gunned down by the Alliance. He gritted his teeth, set his jaw and stormed off.
�Phew,� Jayne whistled. �I ain't never seen him that mad afore.�
�Not for a while,� Zo� agreed. �I�ll go see if he�s okay.�
�Yeah, good luck with that,� Jayne turned but River had already vanished.