Disclaimer: Joss is GOD. We are but his minions.

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Chapter 3

“Can’t see why you’s askin’ me questions,” Jayne grumbled and squinted into the light that was shinning into his eyes almost painfully. “I wasn’t even there.”

His interrogators ignored his protests. “How long have you been on that ship?” one of them asked, but Jayne couldn’t see him, with the light in his eyes, the man was hidden in the darkness of the small room. All he knew was that he was to the left of the light.

“Few years now,” Jayne told him, putting up a hand to block the light. “Why?”

“And the Companion?” the one to the right asked. “How long have you known her?”

Jayne sighed. “Maybe a year, I don’t know. Don’t really keep track of time in the black. Never found much use for it.”

“What is your job onboard?” the left guy said.

Jayne smirked impishly. “Public relations.”

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“And you left Sihnon a little over a year ago?” Inara hated the light as much as Jayne had complained about when they let him go.

“Yes, that’s correct,” she replied.

“Why?” the left guy asked. “You’re a highly respectable Companion. Why did you leave? Why did you board Reynolds’ ship?”

“I wanted to expand my client base,” Inara gave her old speech. The one she used every time someone questioned her about her decision to leave Sihnon. “Captain Reynolds finds that it’s easier to get clearance for docking having a registered Companion on board.”

“So it’s a business arrangement?” the right guy asked.

“Yes.”

“Describe the man that shot Lt. Britx,” the left guy told her. “Everything you remember.”

That was easy, Inara thought. She wouldn’t be able to get that man out of her head for years. “He was average height. He had long blonde hair. Blue eyes. A beard.”

“Is that all?” the right guy asked.

“He had a big leather coat. A big gun. He shot my gun right from my hand. Is this a religious terrorist? Because he spoke the bible before he killed Lt. Britx.”

“Why do you have a gun under your pillow Miss Serra? Your own rules don’t allow any weapons,” the right guy ignored her question and asked her.

“It’s for my safety,” she replied.

“Like for instance, someone breaking in and shooting your client in the eye?” the left guy asked.

“Precisely,” she told him coldly.

“It didn’t help much did it?”

Inara didn’t respond.

“How long have you and the Captain been in a relationship?”

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“Don’t see how that’s any business of yours,” Mal told them.

“We need to know the range of your relationship,” the right guy replied.

“Why?”

“Do you love her?”

“...”

“Would you put her in a dangerous environment for money given to you by a terrorist?”

“Now hang on,” Mal exclaimed. “You think we something- anything to do with this?”

“We don’t know, Captain, that’s why we are asking,” the left guy told him.

“That’s bullshit!”

“Answer the question...”

“…No, I wouldn’t put her in danger for a money from a terrorist,” Mal scowled at the men he couldn’t see.

“So you would if it wasn’t from a terrorist?”

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Zoe had enjoyed her questioning as much as the rest had. She was still trying to blink away the dots in her eyes from that light when her husband and ship’s mechanic entered the station.

She was out of her seat in a heartbeat when she saw the new forming bruise on Wash’s cheek and split lip.

“What happened?” she cradled his face in her hands.

“Oh, he’s just fine Zo,” Kaylee told her. She and Wash had already discussed about what happened earlier that night. Deciding it would be best not to speak about it in the company of the law. “Right Wash?”

“Right,” he nodded and turned to his wife. “I ‘fell’,” he emphasized.

Realization passed over Zoe’s face and she quickly hid it. She gave him a slight nod and he smiled appreciatively. “You have to learn to be more careful then,” she played along and gave him a kiss, though careful not to hurt his lip even more.

“The unmentionables been put away in a good place?” she asked about Simon and River.

“Yes, sweetie, your laundry’s done,” Wash replied.

“Where’s the Cap’n an’ ‘Nara?” Kaylee asked looking around the room as Jayne stepped up from behind Zoe.

“They’s still being ‘terrogated,” he said and then grinned at Wash’s bruises. “Nice shiner little man.”

“I fell,” Wash told him and Zoe glared at the big man. Wash took his wife’s hand sat down in the chair she had vacated and pulled her into his lap.

Jayne snorted. “Yeah? Into who? Don’t look like that ‘less you was getting a beatin’.”

“Yes, thank you, that was very astute of you, Jayne,” Wash replied as Jayne moved to sit back in his chair.

“Hey!” Kaylee cried before Jayne sat on her.

“Gorramit girl, get out of my chair!”

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“I want to see her,” Mal told his interrogators as they walked him out of the small room and into a hall.

“The Companion’s still being questioned,” the one to his right replied.

Mal stopped and glared at them. “You’ve had us here for hours. We can always come back, it’s not like we’ll be going anywhere soon.”

“You’ll be staying here tonight if you don’t get a move on,” the one on his left gave him a shove.

Mal didn’t budge. “Yeah? On what charges?” he asked. “You guys ain’t got nothin’ on me, so cut the crap and let me see her.”

“Don’t need any charges,” the right one sneered. “We’re under Marshal law. I could arrest you right now for failing to co-operate with and Alliance Federal Officer so shut the fuck up and you’ll see your girlfriend when you see her.”

Mal scowled at the men, but let them escort him back to the main offices. He found half of his crew sitting around waiting for him there and the Marshals gave him one last shove before turning back into the halls.

“Where’s ‘Nara?” Kaylee asked as he dropped himself down into the chair next to Wash and Zoe.

Mal glared at the desk in front of him. “Still questionin’ her,” he growled.

“Mal,” Wash got his attention and looked around the room to make sure on one was listening to them. “I have reason not to feel very good about her being in there alone.”

“What’s going on Wash?” Mal asked.

Wash looked around once again. “We were on our way here when all of a sudden this huge guy jumps out and clocks me.”

“He was huge,” Kaylee nodded and turned to Jayne. “Bigger than you.”

“Must have been seven feet,” Wash nodded and got on with the story. “Then out of no where this other guy shows up with a big old gun and tells the guy to beat it. He told us this was a bad part of town and the law had something to do with it.”

“What’d this guy look like?” Mal asked. “Not the big one, but the other?”

“Well, it was dark,” Wash replied and Kaylee nodded in agreement. “But he had blonde hair, short beard, long coat.”

“Sir?” Zoe gave Mal a look, still seated in her husband’s lap.

Mal nodded. “That matches Inara’s description of the guy that did Britx.”

They were all quiet as they digested this new information. Even Jayne. Why would a murderer save two people from bring mugged?

“What are we gonna’ do?” Kaylee finally asked.

“Jayne, I want you to ask around,” Mal told his mercenary. “But try not to attract attention. From either side of the law.”

Jayne didn’t say anything, just nodded and got up from his chair and headed out of the station. Nobody stopped him.

“What ‘bout ‘Nara?” Kaylee asked the group.

“We gotta’ find a way to get her out of there,” Mal told them. “Any suggestions?”

Just then, Inara emerged from the hall alone and headed strait for them.

“We could always wait twenty seconds for her to saunter up and then just walk out,” Wash said after a beat.

Mal met the Companion half way and took her in his arms. “Was gettin’ worried again,” he mumbled into her hair as they embraced.

She nodded. “Can we go?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he replied and they all got up and followed the Captain and Inara out of the station.

Zoe held back for a second looking back at the empty Marshal’s Office. How could they just be let go? Where were the guards? The guys manning the phones? She was beginning to think that everything was more complicated than she had originally outlined.

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He wasn’t schooled. He didn’t know as many big words as the Doc did, but Jayne Cobb was good at what he did. He was a tracker, and a damn good one.

Of course it didn’t take much more than an okay pair of eyes to find the guy he was looking for. He’d stayed in town that night, a local cheap inn. Didn’t matter much though, Jayne didn’t need luxuries. Never had. All he needed was a bed and some food and he was good to go.

It was early morning when he finally crashed. The big guy he was after, Stocks people called him. Seven-foot tall china man was a hard thing to hide. So Jayne was up mid afternoon to follow up the leads he’d made the night before.

He’d found that the town was split into sections. Territories. The Grind, the place where the “upper-class” if you could call them that, moved around. Then there was the Flats, this was where the “common” folk lived. And finally, the Ends or the Skirts depending on which side of the river you were on were where the rest of them scavenged. That was where Jayne was headed.

He hadn’t checked in with Mal since he’d left the Marshal’s office, but he didn’t worry none about that. He had more important things to do, and he knew Mal had to agree.

Stocks was a feared man around these parts. So it took some persuasion to get a location out of some people. That didn’t bother him none either. He himself could be a feared man when he wanted to be.

The crew may think they had him figured out, but he understood what was going on. He wasn’t as stupid as he made out to be. This Blake guy was important and they needed to be in contact with him. Whether he was the bad guy or if it was the Feds, it didn’t matter. He was the key to getting off this rock. So he finds Stocks and he would lead him to Blake. Easy enough.

Though it seems as though Mal’s luck for things not going smooth had rubbed off on him some. He liked a tussle, even a challenge every now and then, but this... This was the first time he’d ever seen a man stand seven feet and some change before. It was times like these that made him wonder if his own room, free run of the kitchen and ten percent was worth the things Mal put him through.

There were only two men in the ‘verse that ever put fear to Jayne Cobb. His own Pa and Malcolm Reynolds.

This Stocks guy...

He could prove to be the third.

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This certainly wasn’t his idea. Simon didn’t ask to be hidden in the mule that was suspended from the ceiling of the cargo bay. That was Kaylee’s brilliant plan. And it was brilliant. The Marshals never thought to search the mule.

But now they were stuck. He and River. They’d eaten the protein bars Kaylee had given them for breakfast, but were still hungry. They couldn’t tell anyone this so they could have a few things tossed to them from the catwalk though. No. That might peek the curiosity of the Marshal who was currently standing guard in the cargo bay.

That had pissed Mal off something fierce, to use one of the Captain’s own phrases, when the young Marshal had shown up after they’d returned from the Marshals’ station the night before, telling them that he was going to be staying on the ship to make sure nothing happened. The Captain had protested adamantly, but Marshal law was something that one didn’t grapple with lightly.

From where he and his sister were hanging, he could hear Mal the night before telling Inara that she should stay with Kaylee in her bunk until they got her shuttle back. He didn’t trust any of the law here on this planet. He told Kaylee to make sure that her bunk was locked solid after they were in.

Simon suppressed a groan when his neck kinked from sitting in the uncomfortable seats of the mule. A Firefly had a million and one places to hide, and they had to be up here. He couldn’t wait for the Marshal to leave so he could use the restroom and stretch. And he hoped with all of his might that the Fed didn’t come back again tonight. If he did, they’d better find somewhere else for them to hide or he just might turn himself in.

He risked a look down into the bay.

He wasn’t there. The Marshal wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He hadn’t heard the air lock open, so he was still on board, just not where the Captain told him to stay...

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He froze when he hear the gun cock. It’s interesting how such a small sound can send a body into fear-induced paralysis. With his barrel at the other Fed’s head, Mal was just looking for a reason not to kill this man.

He’d slept late, but had woken up to soft pounding and harsh whispers. “Open this door! Open this fucking door you bitches!” He could hear Kaylee crying and Inara trying to comfort her in dull murmurs.

It seemed the Fed was to distracted by trying to scare the girls into opening their door to hear the Captain open his. Didn’t even turn around when he approached him from behind.

He did however hear the quiet cock of the gun, which was why he was frozen. “Back away from the door,” he growled. He must have heard that too, because the Marshal’s hands came up and he stepped back from Kaylee’s bunk. “Zoe!” Mal hollered down the hall. Maybe she’d help him see reason and not blow this fucker’s head off right here.

Zoe appeared not a minute later. Mal was walking the Marshal down the hall when she arrived, trying to get him back to the cargo bay. It was easier to clean up in there.

“Sir, am I to assume that you have a reason behind this?” Zoe asked as she drew her gun as well.

“I do, but I seem to be blinded by a certain rage at the moment,” Mal replied. “Care to talk me out of this ‘fore I do something stupid?”

“I know he ain’t s’posed to be up here, but isn’t this a bit extreme?” she asked because he told her to. Other than the problems they could get in with this town and the other Marshals, Zoe didn’t have much incentive to keep this man alive.

“He was tryin’ to get into Kaylee’s bunk,” Mal growled. “Try and scare them into opening up.”

And suddenly, keeping on the good side of the law in this town didn’t seem so necessary. “Shoot him, sir.”

“Damnit Zoe, you’re s’pose to talk me out of this,” Mal complained.

“Can’t think of a reason,” she replied.

“You can’t kill me,” the Marshal said for the first time. “I’m a Federal Marshal.”

“I know damn well what you are!” Mal told him, digging his gun into the back of the man’s skull.

“You kill me and the whole force is going to come down on you and your crew. You won’t even get a trial,” he continued. “Won’t legally need one. Marshal law gives us the power here. You can’t do anything.”

“Is that so?”

“But don’t worry, we won’t kill the girls,” he sneered. “They have more use.”

Mal didn’t pull the trigger, but he did kick the man over the handrail down into the cargo bay. Mal didn’t care for what he heard. He didn’t care that he heard bones snapping on impact. That man crossed the line. It was only natural that he’d fall.

“Doc!” he called down to the infirmary.

“Yes?” Mal jumped when Simon stuck his head up in the mule hanging ten feet from him. “Kaylee’s idea,” Simon said off his surprised look.

“Oh,” Mal nodded. “Well get yourself down and see to that guy down there.”

“It may be the lack of sleep talking, but I don’t feel very enthused to save that man,” Simon replied having heard the entire thing after they’d walked out on the catwalk. These people were disgusting. Using their power to bend the law and take what they wanted. Simon was inclined to let the man die for what he did just now to Kaylee and Inara.

Mal nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but all the same. You see to him. We don’t want him limping back to his friends.”

That didn’t mean help him, just look him over, see how bad the damage was. Simon could do that. Now all he had to do was... get... down...

“Captain?” he called as Mal turned to go.

“What?”

“Can you get Kaylee please?” he looked like a cat caught in a tree and Mal almost laughed.

“If I can’t get her to calm down some, then I’ll ask if she'll let you down,” Mal replied.

Simon nodded and Mal headed off. He looked down into the bay once more. This certainly wasn’t his idea.

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A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed :)

If anyone was wondering, I kind of pictured Stocks as Yao Ming (the basketball player) but a bit bulkier. Just for the visualizatoin.

The next installment will be up in a few days. Thanks fo reading.

Please REVIEW!!!