A/N: Okay, the angst is really beginning, folks. I hope you enjoy!

This is a sequel to my A NEW LIFE series, which is archived on this site - I highly recommend reading that one before you start in on this one.

Thanks to all for the great comments and thanks to Leiasky for the beta! And even though she is at Comic-Con right now, where Joss will be this weekend, I am not bitter ... Really! I'm not!

Don't forget, comments are shiny!

***

A NEW BEGINNING, ch. 3: Chaos Theory

***

Jayne did not like this job. In general, he didn’t like many of their jobs as Mal insisted on making deals with folks who had often double-crossed them in the past. He knew that after Miranda had come and gone, choice really hadn’t been a part of their vocabulary, but still … that was over four years past now and Mal still liked to meet up with the dregs of society, shaking hands and bartering favors. And it bothered Jayne.

Bothered him even more now that he knew he was going to be a pa. Not many things in the ‘verse made Jayne pause, but the knowledge that in just under four months, he’d be partly responsible for a tiny, little life made him stop at any hour of the day or night. He’d never really thought about being a father before, not before he’d been with River, not before they’d both met little Cadie on Beaumonde and taken the girl under their wing. But the longer Jayne had loved River, the longer he’d worked at making her happy, the more he wanted to share a child with her.

He knew that River would be a great mom. Jayne was well aware of her problems, her past, and he didn’t care. He knew the depths of love River was capable of, the depths of compassion and caring and empathy she could bestow on others and he knew it was those traits that would make her a loving mother. Of course, he also knew how badly she wanted to be a mother, how much she longed to hold that tiny baby and know that she was the one person, well maybe one of two people, in the ‘verse meant to love and protect and teach it. And Jayne wanted that for her as well.

Jayne wanted so many things for River he sometimes wondered how it were possible to love someone else so much. He was not that type of man – never had been – and he’d never figured himself for marriage or commitment or any of the fe hua that seemed to make all other men slap happy and stupid. But loving River had hit him upside the head when he’d least expected it. She’d shown him that people could and did want what was best for each other and that being in love did not mean weakness, it meant undeniable strength. He’d never told her that of course, but he knew he didn’t have to. He knew that she could read it off of him as plain as day, and that was one of the reasons Jayne didn’t mind her being able to pluck thoughts from his brain – made him a lot less responsible for having to say anything mushy.

“Jayne, you gonna join me sometime today or should I just leave ya here?”

Mal’s annoyed voice pulled Jayne from his happy musings about his lovely wife and with a scowl he followed the man off the mule and into the dingy bar on Greenleaf’s unsavory south side. Of course, the south side was not in the least as unsavory as the east, west or north sides, it just happened to be where they’d agreed to meet their contact today. With a lip curl of disgust, Jayne fought the urge to cover his nose as they entered the dank space.

Stale smells and raucous laughter greeted them. Mal and Jayne both stood in the doorway for a moment, blinking rapidly to adjust their eyes to the dim lighting. When Mal felt more sure of himself, he approached the bar and forked over some hard-earned coin. “Two ales,” he ordered, noting the look of contempt the barkeep shot his way even as he moved to get the drinks. Wondering what he could have done in the ten seconds since he’d entered the establishment to annoy the man, Jayne’s hard prod to his shoulder helped answer the question.

“You just had to wear that gorram coat, din’t ya,” his partner muttered, pointing to a far wall that was plastered with fading, but positive posters of Unification.

Damn, and it wasn’t even U-Day. “Yeah, well, to each his own, Jayne,” Mal muttered back, taking the two mugs the man had set down and handing one off to the merc.

“What’s this guy look like ‘gain,” Jayne asked as he took a swig of the frothy brew and smiled at the taste. This was some pretty damn good beer for such a seedy place.

“Don’t know,” Mal told him, sitting at a table that gave them a perfect line of sight to the front door and the back entrance. “Monty said I’d know ‘im when I saw ‘im.”

“And we’re trustin’ Monty again, huh?” Jayne had not forgotten the last time Mal had gone back to an old army buddy for help, that’s how they’d ended up with that doxie YoSafBridge on board and it wasn’t a scenario Jayne was looking to repeat, although the coin they’d gotten for the Lassiter had made it almost worth their wile – almost.

“Ain’t too many people for us to trust, Jayne,” Mal said in way of an answer, cradling his mug and never taking his eyes from the door. “Gotta go with what we got.”

Letting the conversation drop, Jayne took another drink, content to daydream some more on River and her beautiful body, when he saw the captain tense imperceptibly. “What?”

Mal shook his head and let out a low chuckle that Jayne had long ago learned to associate with bad news. Once the man released a string of curses, Jayne tensed, knowing they were in trouble. “Of all the dives in all the ‘verse,” he muttered, gulping down the rest of his beer before slamming the mug onto the table with a loud bang. “She’s gotta walk into mine.”

Craning his neck to see who had Mal so tweaked, Jayne could not pick out the face from the crowd that had captured the other man’s attention. And then – he did. She was beautiful, no doubt about that and the way she was stalking towards their table indicated to Jayne she was also dangerous. Glancing back to Mal, he saw the fire simmering in the man’s eyes and had to guess that besides beautiful and dangerous, she was also trouble and that meant Jayne didn’t like her.

“Malcolm Reynolds,” she said slowly, drawing out each syllable, as she approached the table. Standing over them, she hooked her thumbs in her gun belt, certain to draw attention to her shapely hips and the two guns she had strapped there.

“Whatta you doin’ here, Stef,” Mal asked harshly, not bothering to look her in the eye.

“I think you know, plum cakes.” Her voice was sickeningly sweet, and Jayne shot a look to Mal at the use of the nickname. When he saw him flinch, Jayne muttered his own set of curses. Great, not only was she beautiful, dangerous and trouble, but she and Mal had a past. Oh yeah, this was gonna go great.

Rising suddenly, Mal got in her face and whispered fiercely, “There ain’t no way Monty set me up with the likes o’ you.” The fire Jayne had seen before had crackled into a full-blown blaze and he smirked as he watched their little argument play out.

Smiling more smugly than before, Stef crossed her arms over her chest, flicking the ends of her auburn hair behind her shoulders and fixing Mal with a steady gaze from her hazel eyes. “Oh, but he did, so I’m thinkin’ maybe you should be a little bit nicer, seein’ as how I got control o’ the coin ‘till the work’s done.”

Mal’s chest was heaving with anger, but with a deep breath he managed to bring himself under control. As much as he didn’t like it Stef was right, and as he much as he liked it even less, they needed this job – bad. If they were going to get the coin he was going to have to forget what this two-bit, double-crossing hussy had done to him the last time their paths had crossed and do the job.

Sitting, he again plastered a wry smile to his features and asked in the most syrupy tone, “Why don’t you join us then, pardner?”

Stef smiled at him once and pulled up a chair, flipping it around and straddling the back of it in a very unladylike posture. Jayne watched the interplay between the two of them for a minute longer as they attempted to have a staring contest and then impatiently cleared his throat. “Uh, we don’t got all day, Mal.”

Shooting the merc a look, but keeping his cool this time, Mal answered, “That’s right, Jayne, we don’t. Stef Grayson, Jayne Cobb. Jayne, Stef.”

The man and woman exchanged a curt nod and then it was back to business. “Whatda ya got?” Mal asked, signaling the nearest waitress for another round as Stef opened a pouch at her side and extracted two data rods.

“Intel, of course,” she told him slickly, her voice again holding that well-mannered tone. “How much did Monty tell you?”

“Not much,” Mal confided, again slapping credits into the hand of the barkeep as he brought the three of them mugs of brew. The man gave him another dirty look and then turned, muttering something about ‘browncoats’ the whole way.

Choosing to ignore him, although Mal was really itching for a fight, he continued. “Said it was a simple transport, once we managed to secure the goods. Which reminds me, what are the goods?”

Smiling a grin that rivaled Mal’s best toothy smirk, Stef pulled the tiniest bundle from her pouch as well and squeezed it into his hand. “Only the sweetest smelling, greeny goodness this side o’ the verse.”

Mal opened his fingers just a bit, already knowing what he’d see there and already regretting it. “Nope, uh-huh, not gonna happen,” he told her quickly, shoving the stuff back in her face and rising abruptly. Jayne followed his movement, uncertain as to what exactly had just happened, but knowing that Mal had to have a good reason to say no. The man never said no when they were this hard-up for coin unless he had a good reason.

Wide eyed, Stef looked to him and the mercenary, before turning back to face her former lover. “Why not, sweet cheeks?”

Growling at her, Jayne noted the fire was back, burning in Mal’s blue eyes. “’Cause it’s illegal and dirty and you know it.”

Snorting, Stef grabbed the sticks and the goods off the table and rose to face him down. “Illegal’s what you do Mal, don’t even try and tell me otherwise.” Pausing, she flicked her eyes up and down his tall form and leaned forward with a leering look. “And I know you like it dirty.” Her tone held the hint of challenge as though she really did want to egg him into a fight.

And like an idiot, he was going to go, egg and all. “I don’t think you’re in any position to judge how I conduct my affairs, Stef,” he bit out, taking a step closer to her. They were toe-to-toe now and the only thing that could pass between them was the bitterness of this chance meeting.

“Be that as it may, you know too much to back out now.” She shrugged slightly and then turned to go. “If you’d wanted out, you shoulda left the minute I walked in.”

Ain’t that the truth, Mal thought to himself. Staring after her retreating form, he shot Jayne a questioning look. Shrugging, the merc told him, “It ain’t like we ain’t carried illegal stuff ‘fore.”

Sighing, Mal knew there was no way Stef was letting him off planet without doing the job. The woman was cruel, heartless and one of the best at self-preservation. If she had a buyer lined up for this stuff, then she wasn’t playing, because they weren’t, and if she didn’t deliver … well, it wasn’t an option.

Shaking his head, Mal downed the last bit of his drink and followed the woman towards the door. “Not like this we haven’t,” he muttered to no one in particular.

***

The faceless men were back and River was frightened. They would not leave her alone. They chased and clawed and screamed in toneless voices at her, trying to break her down, break her apart, blow her away. She was tired from the running, from the fight and she collapsed too soon. They had her now, they had her baby now and there was nothing she could do.

Whimpering in her sleep, River rolled over trying to get away and not waking, even as the horrible pain she felt in her dream caused horrible consequences in her reality.

***

Once Mal and Jayne had gotten the details from Stef on the drop, they had managed to get to Serenity without too much trouble. The local authorities seemed to have taken a shine to them, as they’d been wandering the streets, talking in low voices, going over plans. But once they’d found an out of the way corner, Stef had given them all the information they needed and now all they had left to do was wait.

As they approached the ship and Mal slowed the mule to bring it inside, he turned to Jayne and said sternly, “Not a word, to anybody, dong ma?”

Raising an eyebrow at the man, Jayne smirked slightly and asked, “A word ‘bout what? Our highly illegal and intoxicating cargo? Or your old flame?”

Scowling with practiced annoyance, Mal settled the mule to the cargo bay floor and bit out, “Neither, you got it?”

Grinning wide, Jayne flashed his pearly whites in the captain’s direction and said, “Yeah, I got it. But you owe me.”

Grimacing, Mal jumped down and told him, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The two men headed out of the cargo hold, sure to button the ship back up nice and tight on the way. On their way to check on things, Jayne passed by the infirmary, smirking again as he could see Simon showing Daniel a book of some pretty graphic images of the human brain.

Poking his head around the corner, Jayne couldn’t help but make a snide remark. “Hey, doc, you think maybe you’re startin’ him a bit young?” Simon and Daniel both looked in his direction at the sound of his voice, the young boy’s face breaking into a wide grin at the sight of his uncle Jayne, while his father’s face took on a dark scowl. “I’m thinkin’ it wasn’t too much ‘fore seven when you started lookin’ at all them nasty pictures.”

Choosing to ignore him, Simon turned back to his son, making some comment about the differences in size between primate and human brains and Jayne, with the same smug smirk on his face, trudged off to find his wife. He didn’t like being away from her, especially now, when she was having such a rough time. Plus, he liked her pregnant, she was all soft and round and it was fun to place his hand against that big belly and feel their little one kicking away.

With a genuine smile now gracing his features, Jayne headed for the cockpit. Not seeing her there, he went down to their bunk, figuring that’s where she had to be. As he stepped off the last rung, he felt his heart lurch into his throat and he swallowed down the bile that was quickly burning in his mouth.

River was there all right, lying down on her side, thrashing about in the throes of another nightmare. But that wasn’t the worst part, the sheets, which she was vainly trying to kick off of herself were dotted with bright patches of her blood.

With an almost paralyzing fear, Jayne crossed the distance to her and gathered her in his arms, her body still bucking as she fought off her imaginary attackers. Jayne would never remember how he got her out of the bunk and to the infirmary, but he did, even as he felt some of the blood that was coming from her drip past him and to the floor. “Simon!” His voice was loud, but it didn’t wake her from her nightmare. She had calmed now, in his arms, but she still moaned and heaved giant breaths like there was someone she was trying to kill.

At the sound of Jayne’s distressed voice, Simon had bolted from the infirmary and was halfway up the stairs to the galley when he saw Jayne carrying River’s limp form at the top of the stairs. His eyes widening in horror, Simon quickly backpedaled towards the infirmary almost running over his son in the process.

“What is it, dad,” Daniel asked quickly, still uncertain who was hurt and what was happening.

Not wanting his son to see any of this, Simon turned to him and dropped his hands to his tiny shoulders. “Daniel, I need you to do me a favor and be very grown-up right now, all right?” The boy nodded once his eyes widening with fear as he saw his uncle Jayne carrying his aunt River into the med bay. “Daniel, look at me,” Simon ordered and breathed a sigh of relief when the boy did as he was told. “I need you to go get your mom and then I need you to take Rylee and go visit with aunt Inara for a bit. Can you do that?”

His voice a hushed whisper now as he knew something was really wrong, he answered, “Yes, sir.”

Leaning down to kiss him on the forehead, Simon whispered, “Good boy. I love you.”

With that, he moved past him and into the infirmary, meeting Jayne’s agitated form inside and shutting the doors.

Daniel stared at the cold gray metal for a moment, wishing he was tall enough to see inside and then turning, ran as fast as he could towards the engine room where he knew his mother would be. “Mama!”

***

By the time Kaylee arrived to the infirmary her fear was at a heightened level. As her son had come barreling into the engine room, he had quickly moved to his mother’s side, grabbed his sister’s hand and basically dragged her from the room while hurriedly telling his mother to get down to the infirmary. She had seen by the look on his face that something bad was happening and that made Kaylee’s heart beat wildly. She knew the look that marred her son’s innocent features would very closely resemble the same look on her husband’s still youthful face.

Rounding the corner, the scene before her was not at all what she’d expected. Her hand flying to her mouth to stifle the gasp she felt rising to her lips, her big eyes took in Simon’s harried form as he rushed about the small room trying to help his sister. Jayne was standing to River’s other side, holding her hand and watching the doctor with a forced patience, occasionally yelling out an insult or a request for the younger man to hurry.

Rushing to him, Kaylee placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder and asked breathlessly, “Simon, what’s –"

He cut her off, taking her by the shoulders and holding her worried gaze with his own intense one. “Where are the kids?”

“Daniel came and got Rylee and said something ‘bout goin’ to see ‘Nara,” Kaylee told him quickly, uncertain as to what that had to do with the dire scene before her. “Why?”

Breathing a slight sigh of relief, Simon threw another hesitant glance to his sister’s still writhing form and whispered, “Good, I don’t want them to see this.”

Now even more afraid, Kaylee too let her eyes drift to her sister’s injured form, swallowing hard when she saw the blood. “Simon, what’s goin’ on?”

Turning back to his wife, Simon again forced her gaze to lock on his. “I’m going to need your help,” he told her sternly, affecting a tone he had learned years ago in the ER. “Can you do this?”

Her green eyes wider than anything he’d ever seen, she again swallowed hard and then nodded once. Squeezing her shoulders, Simon again set about to ready his instruments, Kaylee standing uncertainly beside River wishing she knew how to help her.

As Simon turned back to the bed, he noticed that River had again calmed and he thought that she might finally awaken. As much as he didn’t want her to have to experience any more pain than she already was, he knew he would feel a lot better if she’d open those brown eyes and look at him. Besides, he needed to know exactly what she was feeling and the best way to get that information was for her to tell him.

Quickly injecting her with first a pain killer and then a mild stimulant, neither one at levels that could damage the baby, Simon met Jayne’s angry and fearful gaze. “Jayne, I think you’d better wait outside.”

Gripping River’s hand even more tightly, he shook his head and said, “Uh huh. I’m stayin’ right here, doc.”

Simon could read the man’s stubbornness and knew this was a fight he would not win and didn’t have time for anyway. “Fine,” he muttered, turning back to regard his sister as she came to. Her eyes fluttered for a moment, her lashes wet from the tears she’d cried and sticking to her cheeks.

When she finally did awaken, her gaze immediately locked onto her husband, standing beside her. With more tears in her eyes and pain etched deeply into her youthful features, she whispered urgently, “Jayne?”

“I’m here, baby girl,” he answered, leaning over her and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Stroking her forehead and running his rough hand through her hair, he could not take his eyes off her face. She was in pain, a lot of it, and that was saying something. River had a fairly high tolerance for most kinds of discomfort, but he knew that whatever she was experiencing now paled in comparison to anything she’d been through before.

As she elicited an agonized moan, Jayne’s heart rate spiked. Again gazing to Simon with angry eyes, he bit out, “Ain’t you gonna do somethin’?”

Simon was doing something, that’s why she’d felt more pain. As he continued to knead the skin of her stomach carefully feeling for the baby’s position, his heart pounded faster. This wasn’t something he’d ever been prepared to deal with. It wasn’t his area of expertise and as River continued to bleed he grew more and more concerned that his ineptitude would be her undoing.

Glancing to Kaylee he barked orders at her, grateful for her ability to keep her fear in check. Simon then turned back to Jayne, rounding the bed and taking the big man by the elbow, dragging him into a corner of the room.

“Whatta ya doin,’ doc?” His voice was equal parts outrage and desperation and Simon’s heart went out to his brother-in-law, probably for the first time ever.

“Jayne, listen to me,” Simon said sternly, taking the man firmly by the shoulders. He watched as Jayne reluctantly pulled his eyes from River’s writhing form and then continued. “I’ve given River something for the pain, but not a lot. I don’t want to hurt the baby.” Jayne’s eyes again widened and Simon could have sworn he saw tears there. Ignoring the odd display of emotion for the merc, Simon pushed on. “This is going to get a lot more painful for River, especially as I keep trying to figure out exactly what’s happening. And that’s why I need your help.”

Jayne stared at the younger man in disbelief wondering if he realized who exactly he’d just asked for aid. “What the hell am I gonna be able to do?” he asked, his voice low.

“I need you to keep her calm, as calm as you can. She needs to relax, as much as possible. You’re going to have to sit with her and talk with her and keep her mind focused on happy things.” Simon knew his voice had taken on a pleading tone and he hated it, but he also couldn’t help it. His own fear and anger at the situation was churning in his gut and if all else failed, he didn’t want River to have to suffer any more anguish than necessary. “Do you think you can do that?” he asked his sister’s husband, watching as Jayne’s eyes again darted towards the center of the room as River’s voice rose in a strangled cry.

Nodding once, Jayne swallowed hard past the lump in his throat, all the color in his face draining.

Simon nodded back at him and then sighing went back to his sister. Taking her hand in his, Simon leaned down and ran his hand over her hair. She turned to him at his touch, tears leaking down her face and onto the pillow, fear marking her features. “Simon,” she breathed. It was an agonized sound and breathless, as if the very act of pushing the two syllables from her lips had been too much.

Nodding once, Simon knew he had to be strong and smart. If River or his niece were going to have any chance of surviving this, then he would have to be a doctor, not a brother.

“Mei mei, I’m going to figure out what’s wrong,” he told her, his voice staying steady. “And I’m sorry, but I’ve given you all the pain medication I can. This is going to hurt.”

She nodded once, squeezing his hand as it held hers. “Just help my girl,” she whispered to him, and Simon felt the tears pricking at his eyes – no, he admonished himself. Doctor, not brother, not uncle, not even friend – doctor.

“I will, I promise.” Leaning down he kissed her cheek and then nodded to Jayne who was hovering on the other side of her. “Jayne’s here, I want you to talk with him okay? Just keep talking, about whatever you want. I won’t pay any attention.” Simon knew his sister would not and could not appreciate his attempt at levity, but he’d said the joke more for his own benefit than hers. Turning to Kaylee who was holding out gloves to him, he saw that her tears had finally fallen.

Taking the gloves from her hands and squeezing them gently, she whispered, “Simon?”

He looked into those big green eyes and knew what she wanted to ask. Shaking his head slightly, he simply sighed, “I don’t know yet, Kaylee.” And then, with a heavy heart, Simon turned back to his sister, saying a final silent prayer to the Shepherd that he could actually help her.

***

Now, that's some angst! Leave me a comment!