The Last Spartan – Chapter Eleven Author owns no rights to Firefly, and makes no money from his stories. ---------------------- The crew, sans Jayne, were seated around the table. Mal looked at each one in turn, wondering what was in their minds. “Well, I wanted us to meet so we could discuss the. . .Jayne issue,” Mal told them. “Even those as weren’t present know what happened, by now, so I won’t rehash the events of the cargo bay. . .incident, shall we refer to it.” “Jayne has asked to stay on the ship, continue being part of the crew,” Mal told them bluntly. Kaylee beamed at that, and River looked hopeful. Simon even perked up a little, and Mal wondered, in the back of his mind, why that was. “I told him it would have ta be a crew decision,” Mal continued. “I can’t, in good conscience, let him stay on without gettin’ your input. So here’s your chance to sway me, one way or ‘nother.” He looked at Zoe. “Zo’”? “I’m behind you, whatever you decide,” Zoe said at once. Mal nodded, having expected that, but unwilling to speak even for her on something this important. He looked to Kaylee, somewhat unnecessarily. “Let him stay, o’ course,” she smiled at once. “Can’t imagine anyone will bother us with him on board, specially now he ain’t gotta hide from us.” Mal nodded again. No surprise there. “Simon?” Mal asked. The Doctor looked at him for a long moment. “I can’t really be objective here, Mal,” Simon admitted finally. “I. . .I was planning on leaving, soon, myself.” Everyone started at that news, even River. He looked guilty. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you alone, first, mei mei,” he told her. “You don’t need me anymore, though,” he smiled proudly. “You’re as well as I can make you, and you haven’t had an episode of any kind since Miranda. You’re a grown woman, and it’s time I treated you that way.” He looked at the rest of the crew. “With the warrants gone, I had planned to go back to the core, maybe even Osiris, and return to being a doctor. Try and rebuild my somewhat tarnished reputation,” he grinned. “But if Jayne stays here, knowing what I do now, I think I’d have to stay as well, at least for a while. Even the chance to study his biology is more important that anything I could ever accomplish in a hospital, no matter where it was located.” “Fair enough,” Mal nodded. “Albatross?” “He should stay,” River said quietly. “He needs us, and we him. Simple problem, simple solution.” Mal frowned at the idea that Jayne needed them, but recalling how much the man had offered to stay, perhaps it was true. He turned finally to Inara. “Ai ren?” he asked, and her eyes lit up a little at Mal’s open declaration, made in front of the assembled crew. Kaylee, of course, let out a little squeak of joy, and even Zoe and River smiled. “I think he would be an asset to us,” she said slowly, weighing her words. “Kaylee is right. Now that his secret is out, he won’t have to worry about hiding it, at least from us. I can’t imagine a better protector than someone who can rip the door from an airlock,” she grinned. Mal looked at her for a moment, then returned it. “Anyone have a reason why he shouldn’t stay?” he asked the table. Glances were exchanged as each one turned to the other. Kaylee and Simon’s eyes met, and Kaylee was shocked to see the pain in his eyes. He wants to say yes, she realized. He thinks I’m in love with Jayne, and it hurts him. She smiled softly at him, and was rewarded with a return smile. Maybe Jayne was right, she thought to herself. I’ll have to think on that some. “Well, can anyone think of any other reason, not yet spoke of, why we should let him stay,” Mal was asking, and Kaylee turned to look at the Captain. “If he is willing, there is much we could learn from him,” River pointed out neutrally. “It is worth consideration.” “I agree, Captain,” Kaylee nodded. “There ain’t no tellin’ what Jayne might know that can be o’ use to us, now he’s able to say.” Mal hadn’t thought of that, but wondered why, now. If Jayne was as old as he claimed, then he’d likely traveled to the ‘verse from Earth that was. He’d know a great deal about many things that might be of interest. “Just to be clear,” Mal said finally. “No one at this table is opposed to Jayne staying on board, even after. . .even knowing what he is, sorta, and what he’s capable of.” Once again glances were exchanged, and heads nodded. No one objected. “Okay then,” Mal let out a sigh. “I reckon I better go tell Jayne he can stay, so long as he don’t rip open nothin’ we need to keep livin’.” --------------------------- Once the decision was made, things returned to near normal on the ship. For everyone but Jayne. The entire crew had a mountain of questions for him, with Simon perhaps the worst of all. The doctor followed Jayne all over the ship, asking questions that ranged from the absurd, to the deeply personal. Jayne’s answers, by themselves, were enough to keep the crew in stitches. “No, Simon, I can’t fly.” “No, Simon, sunlight doesn’t make be burst into flames. You’ve seen me in the sunlight.” “No, Simon, ‘holy water’ will not cause my skin to boil off.” “No, Simon, I’m don’t drink blood. That’s disgusting. It’s infused into my own blood stream, not digested.” “No, Simon, garlic doesn’t repel me. I’ve eaten garlic bread right alongside the rest of you.” “Simon, if someone hammered a wooden stake through your heart, would you die?” And the list went on and on. The others weren’t quite as bad, but their questions were sometimes much deeper. Inara, for instance, had a great love of history. Jayne walked onto the bridge one day, not long after the decision was made that he could stay, only to find Inara sitting at the cortex screen, reading about Sparta. She looked up almost guiltily, but he just smiled. “I just wanted to know more about where you came from,” Inara offered. “I understand,” he nodded. “But a great deal of what you read will likely be skewered beyond recognition,” he warned. “I was reading about Thermopylae,” Inara said quietly, and Jayne’s face froze. “Whatever you are reading is likely incorrect,” was all he said. “The 300 Spartans?” Inara looked at him questioningly. “It’s a marvelous tale, Jayne. Three hundred warriors against as many as one hundred twenty thousand?” “That’s because it is a tale,” Jayne snorted. “A fairy tale, Inara. Even at the Hot Gates, three hundred men could not have held the Persians at bay, not for three days. There were nearly two thousand good men in the rear guard there, half of them little more than slaves. Serfs from Spartan estates in Messinia.” “They aren’t mentioned in the stories on the cortex,” Inara objected. “Like I said, fairy tales.” “Were you there, Jayne?” Inara asked. “Until the retreat, yes,” Jayne nodded. “Leonidas stayed behind with the rear-guard, giving the army time to escape a Persian trap, and fight again another day.” “But the things I’ve read. . .Spartans never gave ground,” Inara objected again. Jayne looked at her kindly. “When the King of Sparta tells you to withdraw, Inara, you withdraw,” he said simply. “It seems that history has fallen prey to sensationalism, then,” Inara sighed. “History is written by the winners, Inara,” Jayne smiled. “And we won.” Inara laughed at that. “I see.” “Anyway, don’t let me spoil your fun. It was an epic battle, and they did hold the Persians at bay for three days. Killed many thousands of the devils, too,” he added. “A great battle, and a victory, despite the loss of the men who fought it. It would be over a year before the battle of Platea, and the long running skirmish that followed.” “Did you fight in that battle, as well?” Inara asked, marveling that she could accept any of this, and that Jayne would speak to her about it. “For a bit,” Jayne answered vaguely. “It was a slaughter, really. The Persians mistook our changing positions for a full retreat. They attacked us in force, and we simply stopped moving, took position in a small valley that denied them the use of their cavalry. When they reached our phalanx, they died.” “It must have been awful,” Inara shuddered. Jayne looked at her, a strange light glowing in his eyes. “It was magnificent,” he said softly. “The greatest battle in history, at the time, I’d say. Hundreds of thousands of men arrayed for battle. A great victory for Sparta.” “I didn’t mean to intrude into your memories, Jayne,” Inara said, aware that the big man was remembering things he’d likely not want to. “You haven’t,” he assured her at once. “I offered, remember?” He smiled and headed for the door. “Thank you, Jayne. For sharing.” “Anytime.” ------------------------ Jayne finally found the person he’d been searching for in the cargo bay. River Tam was sitting cross legged on a crate, carefully examining her new knives. Again. She looked up as she felt him coming. Since she’d learned that Jayne and Kaylee weren’t exactly what she’d believed, hope had kindled once again in the little assassin. But she guarded it carefully. “Hello, Jayne,” she smiled, and was gratified to see her smile returned. “Hi,” Jayne said easily, and River warmed at once. “Are you ready?” River’s smile froze. “Ready?” she asked, for once not knowing what someone was thinking. “To begin?” Jayne asked, smiling more broadly. “Since my secret is no longer much of a secret, I see no reason we cannot train in the open, and now is as good a time as any to begin. Do you have your bok to hand?” “I’ll get it!” River nearly gushed, and raced to her room. Jayne smiled as he watched he go. Despite his earlier reservations, River’s eagerness made him glad he’d agreed to train her. It should be enjoyable. ----------------- River struggled to get her breath. This wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as she’d thought it would be. Her knowledge was next to nothing when laid alongside three thousand years or so of practical experience. In the two weeks since they’d begun, she couldn’t see that she was improving any. Jayne was handing her her head on a depressingly regular basis. “Again,” he said, and raised his blade. She assumed the guard position, and readied herself. She was the first to strike, and Jayne parried the blow, making it look easy. As they exchanged blows, he suddenly caught her ‘blade’ with his own, and forced it to the floor, trapping it with his foot. As she struggled to free the blade, Jayne’s sword swept up, stopping only an inch from her neck. She froze. “Mistake?” Jayne asked, freeing her blade and stepping back. “I should not have struggled to free the blade,” River answered, red faced from more than exertion. “Proper response?” Jayne queried, smiling inwardly at her discomfiture. “I should have dropped to the floor, and rolled backwards, away from you.” “Why?” Jayne pressed, hiding the fact that he was well pleased with his protégé. “By lowering myself to the floor, and then rolling away, I would lessen the pressure on the blade, and my weight would add to my strength in freeing the blade.” Jayne nodded, but didn’t smile, not just yet. “Why not roll forward, toward me, so that you could strike me when the blade came loose?” “Rolling forward would leave me in your sword arc, should I fail to free the blade. By rolling backwards, I leave myself at least some room, should I loose my grip, and thus my sword.” Jayne finally smiled, and River smiled in response. “Very good,” he nodded. “You are doing very well, vegrandis proeliator. I’ll make a sword mistress of you, yet.” River beamed at the term ‘tiny warrior’. He knew she could speak Latin, and often used it when addressing her. It was a shared thing between them. Small perhaps, but still something only the two of them shared. “Thank you, magister,” River bowed. Jayne had not insisted that she call him teacher, but the term felt right to her. “Enough for today, I think,” he said, noting her weariness. “I am far too old to bash about with one so young and gifted as you for too long at a time.” She smiled at that, knowing that he could go like this for days. He said it to make her feel better about being so tired, and it worked. “I am tired,” she admitted. “And hungry,” she added, looking at him from the corner of her eye. “Shall we see what we can find to eat?” “Sounds good to me,” Jayne nodded. It was odd, she thought. When he was teaching her, his speech was formal, almost stiff. But at other times, he was just the same as he had always been. Just, Jayne. Nothing more, or less. So it was Jayne, and not Janos, that River followed to the kitchen. Smiling as she went. ----------------- Both were unaware that they had an audience. From the catwalk above, Kaylee Frye had been watching the two most dangerous people she knew battling with their wooden sticks. She smiled as they left the bay. Jayne might not realize it, but River was the perfect woman for him. The little assassin was unfazed by the fact that Jayne was. . .different was the kindest term that Kaylee had come up with so far. She complimented him in so many ways, and the opposite was true as well. River would need a strong man to be able to deal with her. . .abilities. Jayne was certainly that. For a second, Kaylee envisioned Jayne and River together, over another three thousand years, fighting side by side. It was a shame that River couldn’t be like Jayne. “She’s improving, isn’t she,” Kaylee jumped at the voice, and turned to see Simon standing nearby. “You scared me, Simon!” Kaylee laughed. “I didn’t know anyone else was up here.” “I heard the noise, and thought I’d come and watch,” Simon told her. “She is getting better at it, don’t you think? I don’t really like how much she enjoys it, but it makes her happy. And she is a grown woman.” “That why you decided to leave?” Kaylee asked softly. “Cause she was grown, an’ all?” “One of the reasons,” Simon nodded. “She doesn’t need me hovering over her anymore. Maybe she never did, in fact. But now I know she doesn’t. She’ll never go back to the Core, though. And I wouldn’t make her if I could.” “But you’ll go?” Kaylee asked him. “And leave her here?” “This isn’t a life I can lead, Kaylee,” Simon answered her after a minute. “A solitary existence in the black? I’m not cut out that way. And I want to be somewhere that I can be useful. Make a difference. This isn’t it.” “You make a difference every time you save one of us!” Kaylee objected. “That isn’t what I meant, Kaylee, and you know it,” Simon replied, red faced. “All of you are important to me, but it’s not like I’m useful unless someone is injured. At least back where I belong, I’ll be doing something useful. Maybe even something important.” “So we ain’t important?” Kaylee’s voice was harder than she had meant it to be. Simon turned to look at her, and Kaylee was shocked at the look on his face. It was a cross between anger and sadness. “You know, Kaylee,” Simon said slowly, as if weighing his words, “there are times when I think you deliberately do that. Turn my words to suit you. I just got through saying how important you all are to me. I know that I sometimes tend to stick my foot in my mouth, but for the first time I can see that it’s not always me.” He sighed deeply, sadly, as he turned away. “But I’ll still miss you, very much,” he told her over his shoulder. Kaylee was stunned. Did she twist his words? “Simon!” she shouted, and he stopped, but didn’t turn around. “I had to try, Kaylee,” he said, not daring to look back. “And I’m glad I did, no matter how it ended up. But it’s not always me. I’m glad to know that, in all honesty. I was worried that it was all me. That I was defective somehow,” he laughed. “Simon, I ain’t never said nothin’ like that,” Kaylee retorted, almost angry. “You never had too, Kaylee,” Simon started walking again. He left without saying anything else, and Kaylee watched him go. Simon leaving? That wasn’t supposed to happen! He couldn’t leave River! And what about her? The Kaylee remembered how things had ended between them. She was angry that he didn’t spend more time with her. And she’d told him that fairly plainly, she remembered as well. Maybe too plain. Kaylee stood there for a long time, thinking about things.