Inferno – Chapter Five No ownership implied or claimed. No monies received. ----------------- Zoe prowled through the ship, lost in her thoughts. She didn’t know what her problem was lately. She’d never been one to loose control of her emotions, something she’d always been proud of. But lately she’d not been that good at it. True, as Goldie had pointed out, they had all been under enormous stress of late. She’d allowed it to intrude into her personal life, and now she’d allowed it to make a mess of her professional life as well. Zoe knew she had to figure out what the problem was, and correct it. Things had to get back to normal, and the sooner the better. They were only a day or so out of Aberdeen. She needed this solved before they hit the ground there. If Jayne’s information was right, then their problems would be that much worse, once on the scene. She would need a clear head to deal with whatever they might find. Suddenly, she wondered what Mal’s reaction would be when he learned of Jayne’s departure. True, Mal was as wary of the big man as she was, but he’d also come to depend on Jayne. Just as everyone else had. At that thought, she wondered how his leaving would affect the rest of the crew. Especially River. The little pilot hadn’t spoken of the matter, but Zoe could tell she was distressed. And Kaylee would probably be upset. As she entered the kitchen, she was startled to see Jayne at the counter, obviously preparing a meal. He looked up as she came into the galley, and nodded. “Hey, Zoe,” he said. His voice was friendly, she noted. Not forced, either. “Jayne,” Zoe nodded back. “Didn’t think anyone else was up.” “River had a nightmare,” Jayne said quietly. “Think the closer we get to Aberdeen, the worse it gets. Thought I’d make her a snack, see if she could get back to sleep.” Zoe was touched by the big man’s gentle ministrations to his new bride. “That’s awfully nice of you, Jayne,” Zoe offered, and saw him tense, slightly. “Yeah, well,” he replied a little too casually, “I can do some things, okay enough, I guess.” She noted the hurt in his voice, and realized that she had offended him, acting surprised that he would wait on River. “Jayne, I didn’t mean. . .” she started, but Jayne was shaking his head. “Don’t worry over it, Zoe,” he said shortly. “I don’t. Not no more.” Zoe blinked at that. Hard. “What do you mean?” she asked, confused. “I mean that I’m used to you, and Mal, being shocked when I do something right. Or even nice. I’da thought you’d both be over all that, by now, but some things, they don’t change.” He shrugged it off. “Don’t matter.” “Jayne I never meant it like that,” Zoe told him softly. Suddenly she realized what at least part of the problem was between her and Jayne. “Like I said, it don’t matter,” he assured her. “I’m used to it. Don’t bother me no more.” He took the plate and glass he’d fixed for River, and headed to the bunk they shared. “Night, Zoe.” “Night,” Zoe called out to his back, watching him depart. She sat heavily into her chair at the table, depression settling over her. Now, when it was too late, she realized what the trouble was. What had set Jayne off. It had been her lack of trust. Her’s and Mal’s, she amended. They had treated him so carefully after the revelation of who he had once been, and what he was capable of, that he had decided they didn’t trust him. And, she allowed, maybe they didn’t. Not really. Not that he would turn on them, not now. But that he might decide to ride off on the warpath again, leading them all into the destruction that just seemed to follow wherever Jayne went. Maybe, she decided, they’d been wrong. ------------------ “Here you go, baby,” Jayne said softly, holding the small tray of goodies out. River shook her head. “Not hungry,” she said quietly, still shaking from the images she’d seen in her dream. “Things will not go well, Sean,” she said suddenly. “People will die.” “People die every day, baby,” he whispered, taking her into his arms. She fell into them, sobbing softly. “Nothing we can do to change that.” “Scared,” she admitted, her voice almost inaudible. “So scared of losing you. Losing us.” “Hey now,” he soothed, rubbing her back gently. “That ain’t gonna happen. Know why?” She shook her head. “Cause I’m gonna be extra careful, that’s why,” he smiled at her. “I don’t want to go nowhere, either. I just got you, Angel,” he nuzzled her neck. “Ain’t gonna leave you now.” “Please don’t,” she pleaded softly. “I don’t think I can take it.” “You won’t have to,” he assured her. “First sign of trouble, I’m headed the other way,” he grinned, and she laughed. “That will not happen,” she said, wiping her tears away. “My Zhang fu does not run away. Even when I wish he would,” she added. “Well, you just watch your Zhang fu run straight back to his Xin-gan ni jia shi” he told her. “He’s not going to leave her. Not ever.” “Darling little wife,” she whispered, repeating his words in English. “That is how you think of me?” she asked. “I think of you a hundred different ways, Angel,” he kissed the top of her head. “That’s just one of them. I usually don’t think of anything but you, to be honest,” he admitted with a grin. “Just you in the ‘verse, so far as I’m concerned.” “I bet you say that to all the girls,” she giggled, and the sound was like heaven to Jayne’s ears. She had him worried, for a bit. “Well, I don’t talk to girls, xin-gan,” he told her with a chuckle. “Just women. Just one woman, at that,” he added when she looked at him with mock severity. “And that’s the one I’m holding in my arms right this second.” “I don’t deserve you,” River sighed, leaning back into his chest. “Well, that’s okay,” he laughed. “I don’t deserve you either, that’s for damn sure. So we can just be here, together, undeserving. How’s that?” She turned to face him, her arms encircling his neck, her lips finding his. “It’s wonderful,” she breathed against his lips, her nightmare forgotten, for now. ------------------ “What’s got you so down in the dumps?” Goldie asked, coming down off the bridge. He was getting around better, and Simon had released him. By Aberdeen, he’d be ready for action. “And was that Jayne I heard? Get things worked out?” “No,” Zoe shook her head. “He seems happy enough with things the way they are. I doubt he’ll change his mind.” “You didn’t even try to apologize, did you?” Goldie asked, with a hint of a smirk on his face. “I don’t see as I’ve got nothing to apologize for!” Zoe retorted, and Goldie’s smirk went into full bloom. “You keep thinking that,” he nodded, moving to the coffee pot. “Want some coffee?” ----------------- “Remember, we leave at eight, so be back by seven thirty or so,” Inara cautioned as the men prepared to head out. “Yes, ma’am,” the four of them chorused, and she joined in their laughter. As they walked away, Inara closed the ramp, securing the ship for the evening. All the alarms were set, and she headed for her shuttle for her first good night’s sleep in several long days. As she walked, she pondered how Zoe and the others were making it, and how Kaylee was faring. The little mechanic was terribly attached to her family, growing up as she did in a house full of siblings, with loving parents. She wondered how Mal was doing, now into the fourth day of his new job. She was sure he was fretting endlessly over the mission to Aberdeen, and her being off on Serenity with three strange men. She laid those problems aside, however, as she secured her shuttle door. After a quick bath, she slipped into something more comfortable than she’d been wearing, and slid beneath the sheets of her bed. She was asleep in minutes. ------------------ Mal fought the urge to curse, knowing it wasn’t good for his image. Three bodies lay before him. All had been viciously cut upon. It was so bad that, had Jayne not been gone to Aberdeen, Mal would have been looking to know how these three had offended him. “When were they found?” Mal asked, looking up at one of the older deputies that hadn’t quit when he’d taken over. “Two hours ago,” the deputy told him. “I’ve been here, forty-five minutes or so.” “I don’t suppose anyone saw what happened,” Mal stated. No way he could be that lucky. “Well, the neighborhood is pretty tight lipped,” the deputy admitted, “but one person did tell me, on the condition that his name be withheld, that he saw a green ground car leaving the scene just before another neighbor found the bodies.” “See who was driving?” Mal asked, stunned by a piece of good fortune. “Didn’t know them,” the deputy, Toby Bontrager, admitted. “But he could make out two people in the car. Thought both of them were male, from their build.” “Well, that’s more than I expected,” Mal sighed. “Let’s get everyone on the look out for said green car, and have the coroner come out and take care of these poor souls.” Bontrager snorted at that, and Mal looked at him. “Not poor souls?” he asked. Bontrager shook his head. “Not in the least,” the deputy told him flatly. “One of the biggest dash dealers in the parish. Killed no telling how many, over the years, but never saw the inside of the jail.” “And wonder why that was?” Mal grimaced, and Bontrager nodded. “Yeah, so did a lot of others. Ole Tito, there,” he pointed to the largest of the men, “he wasn’t what you’d call a loved man. More enemies than Parliament.” Mal snorted at the reference. He eyed Bontrager critically. “Independent?” The deputy nodded. “38th Overlanders,” he replied. Mal’s eye brow’s shot up. “Fine unit,” he nodded. “How long you been on the force, Toby?” “Eleven years, come spring,” Bontrager answered. “You know the investigator quit along with Miller, don’t you?” Mal asked him. He nodded again. “And what a sad loss,” Bontrager said drily. “I’m sure criminals are resting easy tonight, knowing he’s no longer on the job.” Mal had to fight off his grin. Wouldn’t look good at a murder scene. “Want the job?” Mal asked him suddenly, and Bontrager looked at him. “No funny business?” he asked after a minute. “Go after the bad guys, no matter who they are?” “If you can prove it, no, it don’t matter,” Mal nodded. “I admit I don’t know a great deal of folks in high places, around here. Fact is, George Harwell and Braz Guilford are ‘bout the only two, and I’d stake my life they’re clean.” “They are,” Bontrager nodded at once. “Ole Braz is honest as they come, and George grew up in his shadow, married his daughter. Practically a son to the old man.” Mal nodded his agreement, this having been his impression. “Okay, boss,” Toby nodded. “I’ll give it a shot. Can’t make no promises, mind.” “Don’t expect none,” Mal assured him. “Just expect your best effort.” He held out his hand. “You’ll get it,” Bontrager promised, taking Mal’s hand. “Better get started, then.” ------------------ “Be there, tomorrow, sometime,” Simon said softly as Kaylee cried in his arms. He held her tightly, wishing he could ease her pain, find some way to reassure her. “I couldn’t reach them on the wave, today,” Kaylee sniffled. “What if something’s happened? I mean, all sorts of things could have happened.” “Don’t borrow trouble, bao bei,” Simon soothed. “There’s no sense in getting yourself worked up over something that may not even happen. Let’s just wait and see what we find when we get there.” “I’m trying, Simon, I am,” Kaylee sobbed. “But I’m just so worried. And not just about my folks, but all the little’uns, and the ones what lived nearby, people I growed up knowing. Knowed’em all my life, Simon! What about them?” “Zoe promised we’d do whatever we could, so long as it didn’t endanger your family, or the rest of us,” he reminded her. “The best thing you can do is figure out exactly how many people we can cram into the ship, and still have breathable air.” “Seventy-eight,” Kaylee said at once, startling him. “Plus all of us. We can take seventy-eight people, Simon. And fifty-five of them will be my family, or the Mann’s. How do we decide who else goes? Who has to decide?” “I don’t know, Kaylee,” Simon admitted. He’d hoped they could carry more than that. Twenty-three people, after the two families they were there to rescue. That wasn’t many. But it was better than nothing, wasn’t it? As he hugged Kaylee tightly to him, he tried to reassure himself that, yes, it was better than nothing. But that didn’t make it feel good. --------------------- Inara heard the knocking at the ramp, and hit the remote to open the door. As the ramp descended, she saw all four of her crew standing in the doorway, looking only slightly worse for wear. “Well, you men look like you’ve been hard at it,” she smiled, and received sheepish grins in return. “We kinda hopped from bar to bar, ma’am,” Holly grinned. “Well, we wasn’t hopping, there at the end,” Willie piped in. “Was more like crawling, ma’am, to be honest. But we had us a whiz bang time, sure enough! Huh, fellas?” “Sure did,” Pete nodded weakly. “And I’m paying for it this morning.” Everyone laughed at that, including Pete. “Well, let’s get you all fed, and then we’ll head out,” Inara told them. “Come on, all of you, breakfast is ready and waiting.” “You’re an angel, ma’am,” John told her sincerely. “Put here to take mercy on us poor sinners.” “I’m nothing of the sort, John,” Inara blushed at the praise. “I’m just a pilot who works for a mean old man, and knows better than to try and get any work out of a hung over crew without breakfast.” All four laughed, trooping up the stairs. Inara followed them into the kitchen, smiling. Things weren’t working too badly at all. She hoped the others were doing as well.