Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me; they are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox.

Feedback is always welcome.

This one is a River and Jayne AU. It is based around the idea of what would River be like if she had never gone to the Academy, and what if she met Jayne under different circumstances.

Thanks to Cassie E., Kryptonite and tori_deathangel for the inspiration. This was born out of some bizarre mating ritual between Cassie's innocent pondering's on what they did on Beaumonde for those two weeks, Kryptonite's River and Jayne are soul mates comments and Tori's evil plot bunnies...plus a few nights of sleep deprivation. And it was Cassie's wicked, wonderful wallpaper that got this first chapter so stuck in my head that I had to write it before I could finish the next chapter to Torrents. I am hoping the rest of the story will stay put until I finish Torrents. Also, I am all aware I am making River a bit older then she likely is in the series, but since we don't really know for sure how old she is, I claim poetic license.

Dates loosely based on the Firefly Timeline by Edgar Governo. http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/firefly.html

Chinese translations: Swai: Handsome; Xie-xie: Thank you; Tchen wah: Slut; Hwoon dahn: Son of a bitch; Chunren: jerk; Diyu: hell

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City of New Dunsmuir, Beaumonde; October 28, 2517

River Tam stood looking out at the cold, grey skies of New Dunsmuir as she idly brushed her long, raven hair. It seemed apt that her birthday should be rainy. Certainly fit her mood. Eighteen; right now she felt more like eighty.

She leaned her forehead against the cool glass as she wondered why the events from last week were making her so melancholy today. At the time, they had hardly bothered her at all. She had been the one to end the affair, after all. And she had no regrets on it, it had been time to move on. Jacob Rezai preferred his mistresses young, and her impending birthday had started showing the cracks in the relationship.

In truth, her reasons for being in the relationship had hardly included love. At least, not a romantic love. He was older, gentle, rich, cultured. A generous and adroit lover, she had learned many things under his skillful tutelage. An intellectual with whom she could discuss quantum physics or any number of the unusual topics that sparked her interest without the odd glances her fellow dancers treated her too. It had not been a highly passionate affair; she had not been looking for passion from him, she had been looking for solace. A comforting father-like figure to help her adjust to being on her own for the first time.

It was unusual for her to meet someone who could accept her rare genius with such grace as Jacob had shown. And those that could accept her as an intellectual could never understand why she had chosen dance. They felt she was wasting her brilliant mind. The two most vocal advocates for her pursuing a more scientific path were her parents. Their constant disapproval had been a driving force behind her decision to join the New Balanchine Ballet Company four months ago. Dagan had provided the other driving force. Both in her joining the company and her affair with Jacob.

Dagan. Her first love, he had been magnificent. A young dancer in her first company, she had been immediately enchanted by him. Until his jealousy at her rapid rise out of the corps surfaced. He had been so young and swai, only a year older then her. Their love affair had burned hot, fueled by lust. And it had quickly turned to ashes; she supposed that should not have surprised her. He was a remarkable dancer who would someday rise to Cavalier; she was sure of it. But not as quickly as he felt he deserved. And she was already the understudy for a Prima Ballerina. Poised for that next step to a leading role.

Between the painful breakup with Dagan and her parents’ disdain of her career choice, the lure of a company that traveled to the more remote planets and moons instead of staying exclusively in the Core had been too strong to pass up.

The soft chime of the bell outside her room broke her reverie. She moved gracefully to answer the door, the folds of her pale blue silk robe lapping gently around her ankles like waves. Upon seeing that it was a delivery boy out in the hall, she opened the door.

"Xie-xie" She said in her soft voice, already preoccupied by the package he had handed her. As the door closed she moved over to the bed, sitting down before she opened the box. It was from Simon.

She should have known he would be the one to remember her birthday, she thought with a smile. She read the enclosed letter first, savoring his tales of life at the hospital. He told her of his decision to take the job on Ariel that he'd been offered, she was pleased to read that. It was a wonderful opportunity for him. St. Lucy's was one of the top hospital's in the Core, and they had offered him a significant promotion and raise over what he had at Osiris General. He wrote that he'd be leaving for Ariel almost immediately. Wonderful, that meant that when she went to visit him over the holidays she would not have to deal with Mother and Father.

Of course, it also meant she'd have to change her flight plans. Shouldn't be difficult, the ship she had booked would be flying close to Ariel anyway. She might even be able to get them to alter their course slightly to drop her off there instead.

Her pleasure in Simon's letter dimmed slightly when she pulled aside the thin paper wrapping her present and saw the delicate china doll. It looked somewhat eerily like her, its black hair pulled back in a bun and dressed in a pale pink tutu, tiny silk ballet slippers on its feet. She released a long suffering sigh; it was a lovely doll, but she hadn't collected them since she was nine. That was her older brother however; great with remembering dates, not so great at remembering tastes. She gave a little chuckle as ideas for things to get him for Christmas danced in her head. Maybe she should get him one of those wobbly headed Geisha doll's she'd seen in the stores near the port. She could almost see the look of horror on his face.

She carefully re-wrapped the gift and hurried to get ready. A little thrill of excitement starting to rise as she remembered her friends promise to take her someplace special after the performance tonight.

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Later That Night

Jayne Cobb leaned back in his chair; casually proppin' his large feet up on the table in front of him. He'd sat himself in a corner where he could see the door an' most'a the small, dingy bar outta habit more'n any other reason. Not that a fight wouldn't add some excitement to his otherwise dull evenin'. The ship he was on, Serenity, had docked a couple'a days ago. An' most of that time had been spent cleanin' off the decks. Looked like that was gonna be his lot for most'a the two weeks Mal was plannin' on stayin' here.

He spit out the cigar end he'd just bit off with an air of disgust. Sure, he knew they needed ta let li'l Kaylee do her repairs. It had been a while since she'd gotten a chance to give Serenity a good overhaul. But two weeks planet side cleanin' out airduct's an' the like with the odd job makin' a milk run up ta one of the moons in the shuttle weren't his idea of fun. Or profit.

Still, Serenity was the best job he'd ever had. And Mal was the first Captain he'd worked for that actually treated him as more'n just a thug. Even if'n he didn't get the man's inconvenient honor code. He was still workin' on figurin' why Mal'd returned that ruttin' medicine a few months back. Jus' didn't add up givin' it back after they went ta all that trouble gettin' it. And Niska was not a man one crossed lightly, hell, even he knew that.

An' that whole Saffron thing, he'd'a not given that tchen wah a chance to take his ship. She'd'a been too busy warmin' his bed and cookin' for him. 'Stead, he'd gotten a ruttin' rain stick and Mal'd gotten a good night kiss, damn fool, didn't even know not ta kiss a woman on the mouth.

But Serenity sure had her own share of charms. A decent cut of the profit's, his own bunk, full run of the kitchen, He even got ta flirt with a pretty mechanic, not that anything'd ever come of it. Mal'd made it clear Kaylee was off limits to that kinda thing. An' more important, Kaylee'd made it clear. But weren't nothin' could stop him from admirin'. An' Zoe an' 'Nara was jus' as fine lookin', even if they was even less like to give him the time'a day. Still, weren't many berths that had such fine womenfolk on it. Man certainly couldn't fault the view 'round Serenity.

An' speakin' of views, that was one fine lookin' piece that jus' walked in the door. 'Course, her'n her friends looked a mite outta place. More ruttin' rich kids lookin' for a thrill in the seedy part'a town. They held themselves all straight-like, but not stiff. Had an odd kinda grace to 'em. It was kinda eerie-assed how they all moved like that. Almost enough to convince a man there really was aliens out there.

The boys were obviously sly, an' a couple ta boot. The easy, familiar way their hands were clasped spoke volumes. The two girls on her other side both looked about with an intense hunger he'd only seen in a cat stalkin' a mouse 'fore. Might be they were somethin' of a pair themselves, though they clearly had no objections to a man joinin' in on the fun now an' then. One of 'em gave him a bold, once over. But he let his gaze drift lazily back to the one in the middle that'd first caught his eye.

She had a faintly sad air 'bout her, slender, almost to the point of bein' scrawny. Not at all the kinda woman he usually went for, but there was somethin' 'bout her. She was wearin' a tight black top with loose brown slacks, almost full enough to pass as a skirt, an' a matchin' brown jacket. Looked to be made of silk. He wondered idly what it would feel like as he slipped it off her smooth shoulders. Like the other two girls, her hair was pulled back in'a tight bun. Unlike the other two, she almost seemed ta glow. Luminescent? Yes, that was the word.

Her wide, brown eyes were moving slowly 'round the dim bar. As those magnificent eyes locked with his, he felt a slow heat start in his gut 'fore it moved down. Yep, his John Thomas was definitely interested in that one. He raised his glass to her in a silent toast, givin' her his most charmin' smile. The one he usually saved for his favorite whores.

Those big eyes'a hers got a little bigger in shock, then she gave him a disdainful smile and rolled 'em in an eloquent gesture of dismissal before she turned to take the drink one of the boys was pressin' into her hands. He felt a flash of anger as he realized that look'd been just like one'a Inara's favorites.

Gorram girl thought she was better'n him, he thought as he slammed the rest of his drink back. Leanin' forward he grabbed the waitress passin' near to order another drink, hell, this time he was gettin' a whole gorram bottle.

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River settled gracefully onto one of the stools surrounding the small table they'd found. This had not been what she had expected when they had told her they were taking her someplace special.

She glanced around again, noting that they were the only group unarmed here. She hoped there wasn't going to be any trouble tonight. She knew a swift kick in the gonads would take any of them out in a one on one fight, but that did little good against a man trying to shoot you. Or a whole bar full of men trying to shoot you.

Her gaze drifted back to the big man in the corner, he was now intently pouring himself another drink. His cigar clenched in his teeth. That one gave her cause for alarm even without the gun strapped at his hip. There was something about the way he had raised that glass at her that told her he could move more swiftly then one would assume. It had been a surprisingly graceful gesture, spoke of someone keenly aware of what his body was capable of. An awareness of where he was physically that one rarely saw outside of a dance studio. At least, not in her experience.

An odd image of him dancing a pas de deux with her in full dance regalia, tights and all, flitted across her mind. Unfortunately, the moment she started giggling was the one he choose to glance over at her. Trying to cover the laughing fit with a cough, she hastily turned back to Ana Marie and Cerina. His cold, blue eyes had flashed anger when they had caught hers. No doubt he thought she had been laughing at him, well, she had been...but not in the way he would be thinking.

It really was a shame the man had chosen to leer at her like that, if he hadn't gotten that insufferably smug look on his face she might have been more encouraging of his attentions. Or perhaps not, there was danger coiled in every hard muscle of his body. And that glint of anger in his eyes had made Dagan's pale in comparison.

Bennie and Tabor returned with the second round of drinks. Had they already finished the first? She glanced at her own half full glass ruefully. Seemed she was the slow drinker tonight.

"Well River," Cerina said to her, leaning forward conspiratorially, "it's your birthday, you get first dibs." She had that wicked gleam in her eye.

"I really don't think that's a wise idea." River found herself protesting.

"Aw, come on." Ana Marie pleaded, "Why do you think we brought you here? Most of these men are on transports, they'll be gone before you know it. Perfect place for a good old fashioned one night stand."

"Yes, unwashed, crude Neanderthals missing most of their teeth are really my style." River told her dryly.

"That big, fine, hunk of man flesh over in the corner had all his teeth." Tabor added helpfully. "At least, all the visible ones."

"No." She snapped at him. She instantly regretted her harsh tone as Tabor moved back a pace. But she forced her eyes to stay locked on his; otherwise she'd look at the man in question and she instinctively knew they had drawn his attention again. Not to mention most of the rest of the bar.

"So then, he's fair game?" Cerina asked coyly. River bit back a second no and settled for just glaring at her. And why did she care if Cerina did go after him, anyway? She frowned as Cerina slid back into her seat; the older girl was gazing at her with a thoughtful look. River took a long drink from her glass to hide her unease as Cerina smiled at her knowingly.

Fortunately, River was saved from further teasing when the fiddle player off to the side of the room started up a jig. She watched Cerina and Ana Marie's distraction with relief.

"Oh, we should dance." Ana Marie crowed with delight, one of the things the five of them shared was an interest in folk dances. Most of the other dancers in the company felt anything less disciplined then a waltz was beneath them.

"You all go ahead; I'll sit here and hold our table." She forced herself to laugh as she said it. She was already starting to feel like a party pooper at her own party.

"You sure?" Bennie asked his voice concerned.

"Yes, I'm sure," She reassured him gently, "I'll dance later." She put on her brightest smile as she playfully pushed him into Tabor's arms. With a sigh of relief, she settled back on her stool as they moved to a clear spot in the middle of the room to dance. She smiled wryly as she made herself a vow to spend her next birthday locked in her room eating bon-bons and watching old movies on the Cortex. And maybe drowning herself in a case a champagne.

She watched as the four paired off, noting with amusement that they stayed girl/girl and boy/boy tonight. Yet more proof, not that she needed any, that Cerina and Ana Marie were looking for a third party to join them. It didn't take them long, a few quick turns around the small open space and they had pulled a young man in with them. Not bad looking. He seemed rather cleaner then the rest too.

After watching them for a few moments her mind started to drift. It had been a long day. The night's performance had been shaky at best; Alexia had been feeling under the weather. And when the Prima Ballerina was not feeling good, no one was feeling good. Normally River got along fine with her, but all her prima donna tenancies rose to the fore when she was ill.

A hand suddenly grabbed her elbow, startling her out of her reverie. The wild hope that it was the man from the corner was immediately smashed upon viewing the face grinning at her when she turned. He stank, his hair hung in limp, oily tendrils and he was missing both front teeth. Lovely, she thought to herself as she fought to keep the grimace of distaste off her face.

"Wanna dance, little lady." His bland voice made it seem more like a statement then a question.

"No, thank you." She declined politely. Her eyes swept over to the open space where her friends had been dancing, only, they weren't there. Damn it.

"Weren't really askin'." He said threateningly.

He gave her arm a tug, just enough to send her tipping off the stool. He'd meant to send her into his arms, she was sure. But her dancers grace saved her from that fate; with a slight twist of her body she managed to slam into the table instead. As he started to tug her arm again a large hand reached around her and took hold of his wrist, she watched transfixed as the knuckles went white. She could hear the bones grinding in the other man's wrist. She felt the other hand at her waist as he gently steadied her.

The two hands provided an intriguing dichotomy; the one crushing her tormenters wrist was all brutal strength, the other at her waist showed an almost tender concern.

This, she knew without looking, was the man from the corner. Not a wild hope this time, it was a dead certainty. She could feel the warmth of him up and down her back, even though the only contact between them was his large hand on her waist. A faint shiver went through her as his voice rumbled out of his chest. The slight tensing of his grip letting her know he'd felt it.

"I'd leave the lady alone, if'n I was you." His deep voice had the uncultured drawl that was so common out on the rim, but on him it was oddly pleasant as it caressed her ears. He let the man's wrist go a few seconds after the other released her arm. He rubbed his abused wrist as he snarled up at her savior.

"Don't seem like this is any'a yer business." The slimy little creep looked over his shoulder at his buddies, they obligingly moved in behind him. "I'm thinkin' it's 'tween me and the girlie."

River felt a little shock as the man moved around her to invade her attacker's personal space. She was not nearly as delicate as she appeared, she was actually on the tall side of average, but this man towered over her. She'd been able to tell he was a big man, but he was truly impressive when standing next to you.

"An' I'm thinkin' yer wrong." He growled back. Not seeming to be at all worried about the man's posse. "Now, we can do this one'a two ways, you agree it's my business an' we act all civil-like. Or ya don't and I smash my business in yer face."

Dear Lord, was the man crazy? He'd just about assured the other guy and his buddies couldn't back down and he had no back up. Four against one just did not seem like good odds to her. If he hadn't interfered she'd have been able to take the one down with a sharp knee-cap. Of course, her mind rationalized, then the other three would probably have ganged up on her.

Just as she knew he would, the slimy man lunged forward, pulling out a knife as he did. She rapidly scooted out of the way as her errant knight grabbed the stool she'd been sitting on earlier and smashed it across his attacker's head. He then used it to jab one of the others in the gut, reaching across it to slam a fist into the third guy's nose with a sickening crunch. The forth one he hit across the jaw with his other fist, the stool clattering to the ground next to the first attacker. He stepped almost casually over it to grab the two he'd just punched and smacked their heads together.

The one he'd hit in the gut straighten up, his arms wrapped around his likely broken ribs, the big man simply snarled at him. The poor guy held up one hand in defeat, moving in to grab the first guy and drag him out of the way. There was a bloody gash across his forehead and his eyes didn't look very focused. River was positive he had a concussion. The other two stumbled to their feet and followed them over to the corner they had all come out of.

All told, she didn't think the fight had lasted more then two minutes.

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Jayne bent to pick the knife off the floor, grabbin' her stool to right it at the same time. Needed a minute to let the rush of anger cool 'fore he faced her. He'd told himself he weren't gonna interfere when the man had first started headin' over to her, but then the hwoon dahn had grabbed her. He might not always cotton to Mal's high-minded moral code, but one thing they agreed on was there weren't no right in forcin' your attentions on a woman didn't want 'em.

Not that he couldn't understand the temptation; it had near 'bout taken all his self control not to pull her back against him. Pushin' the memory of the faint hint of lavender that seemed ta surround her away; he realized he'd been standin' there scowlin' at the four in the corner, instinctively testing the balance of the knife. It was a good knife, he decided as he tucked it into his belt and turned to the girl.

Man could drown in those eyes'a hers he thought, a little startled at how close she was.

"Thank you." Her voice was all cool politeness, again remindin' him of Inara. Only this girl had a more...pixie-like, quality to her. Somethin' 'bout that serene gaze made him want ta rattle her a bit. He leered down at her playfully.

"My pleasure." He drawled, "So, when do I get my reward kiss?" He watched the play of emotions across her face with amused satisfaction, yep, that had rattled her good. 'Course, the emotion she settled on was anger. She looked like she was seriously considerin' slappin' him.

"I do hope you are joking." Her eyes narrowed slightly. Something like disgust showin' on her face. Maybe baitin' her hadn't been his best move, Jayne thought. But some devil inside pushed him on.

"No, I ain't, you seem all cultured-like," He went on in spite of the storm brewing in the girl's eyes. "thought it was considered polite ta reward someone that saved ya."

"Only if a reward was offered in advance," She countered her tone positively frigid, "which it wasn't. If the reward is not offered in advance it is considered strictly optional. And, in fact, I never asked for your...assistance. Nor is it clear that it was needed. I hold that I could have handled the situation in a satisfactory way, without all the blood and broken noses." She gave him a prim little smile, darin' him to contradict her. Jayne snorted.

"Yea, I'm sure they'd'a been plenty "satisfied" by the time they was done with ya." He glared down at her, she didn't really think she could'a taken all four of those chunren on her own, did she? Li'l slip of'a girl like her? She'd be lucky if she got one of 'em down.

"But we shall never know now, shall we?" She tilted her head to one side and studied him. "Since you came blundering in to rescue me..."

"Blunderin'?" He interrupted harshly, hurt by her words. "I'd hardly call that "blundering". That was a fine bit of rescuin'. Requires a lotta skill to take four men out like that." He folded his arms across his chest and glared down at her.

"Hmm...I'm sure it does." She said sarcastic-like, then turned on her heal an' walked over to his table. After settlin' delicately in one'a the chairs she looked back over at him questioningly. With a faint huff, he followed her. As he lowered himself back into his seat, she filled his glass from the bottle. He was a little surprised it was still there, way he'd left it all untended like that. She pushed the bottle over to him and kept the glass for herself.

"What's your name?" She asked him calmly.

"Ya won't give me a kiss, but ya got no problem invitin' yerself to my table an' drinkin' my booze?" He asked, ignorin' her question. She genuinely puzzled him. He was gettin' all sorts of mixed signals here an' he had no idea what the Diyu was goin' on. Her head did that tilty thing as she fixed her gaze back on him.

"No." She said, smiling softly at him, "Besides, you seem to have appointed yourself my knight in shining armor, it seems only fitting to let you continue to protect my honor until my friends finish their little trysts." The sad look creep back into her eyes at the last bit, he wondered if she felt a bit left outta her friends’ pairings.

"Does my knight have a name?" She asked again. Even the faintly tauntin' tone did little to stop the thrill of her callin' him her knight.

"Jayne Cobb." He told her, puffin' up a bit in pride.

"Jayne?" Her voice rose in surprise, he'd been teased enough 'bout his name ta know what was comin' next. He glared at her, darin' her ta say the words; the eyes that twinkled up at him were filled with mirth. "Isn't that a girl's name?"

"I ain't a girl." He growled, scowlin' at her.

"Really," She chuckled back, "I never would have been able to tell." She took a drink of whisky, her eyes sparkling over the rim of the glass.

"You know," She said conversationally, her mood shiftin' on him again, "there's an old song from Earth-that-was about a boy with a girl's name. His father gave him it to him; then deserted him and his Ma. It's called "A Boy Named Sue", it tells of how he had to learn to fight to prove he was a man and it made him hard and strong and mean. Then at the end he meets his Pa and tries to kill him for naming him Sue, but his Pa tells him the name was a gift, he knew he'd be leaving and wouldn't be there to help him so he gave him a name that would ensure he'd learn to take care of himself."

It almost seemed she was tryin' ta make him feel better 'bout havin'a girl's name. Truth was it never really bugged him, less someone got it into their head ta tease him 'bout it. But how'd she know so much 'bout Earth-that-was songs?

"I was researching old folk songs and the name caught my eye." She smiled shyly up at him, soundin' apologetic. "I mean, how can you not listen to a song called "A Boy Named Sue"?"

He stared at her; she was like no one he'd ever met 'fore. He watched her eyes flicker at somethin' over his shoulder, as she scowled slightly he turned to look, half expectin' one'a the creep's'd gotten bold again. Instead he saw the two girls she'd come in with walkin' over, their arms twined together. He scanned the room quickly, finding the two boys standin' by the door, looking impatient.

"River, it's incredibly late, we really ought to get going." The short, dark haired one said, givin' him a meaningful glance, "Unless you have plans?"

"I'll be just a moment, Ana Marie." River told her, giving her a sharp look. River, the name suited her, kinda fluid-like; he grinned slightly at his own pun.

"Don't take too long." The other girl said. She was the one that'd given him the bold look earlier. She leaned down and kissed River on the cheek and whispered somethin' in her ear that made the girl blush.

"I won't." River said with'a laugh, playfully pushin' the other girl away.

The two hooked arms again an' headed towards the door, glancing back over their shoulders 'fore puttin' their heads together an' gigglin'. For some odd reason Jayne felt a bit dirty after the brief encounter. He shifted awkwardly; oddly reluctant for the night to end, but not sure if she wanted to see him again.

"Well, I should be going." She said softly, lookin' up at him. He could almost convince himself she was waitin' for him ta ask her to stay.

"Yea, looks like." He replied, sounded lame even ta him. Gorramit, he ain't never been good at pretty speeches. She stayed seated, gazin' back at him.

"Are you with a ship?" She asked finally, that sadness was back in her eyes again. He nodded at her.

"Named Serenity. We're docked here for a couple'a weeks." Probably more'n she wanted ta know, but least she'd be able ta find him if she wanted to.

"Goodnight then, Jayne Cobb." She said softly as she stood.

"Night River," He forced a smile for her, saying gruffly, "try not ta get in any scrapes, ya hear?" She rewarded him with the sweetest smile he'd ever seen.

"If I do, I'll be sure to call for my knight in shining armor." Before he could think what ta say to that she leaned across the table and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek, the scent of lavender enveloping him for a second before she pulled back. With one last smile, she turned and hurried across the bar to her friends. She turned and gave him a little wave before she disappeared out the door. Gone 'fore he could get his stunned brain to tell his arm to lift an' wave back.

His fingers came to rest where her lips had been.

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TBC....eventually.