Chapter 4

Mal paced the bridge behind Wash, irritating the other man.

“How soon-”

“If you ask me when we’ll be there again, I will turn this ship around!” Wash yelled, manipulating the controls. “You’re bugging the crap out of me. Why don’t you find something else to do?”

“Do I need to remind you who’s captain of this ship?”

“No, sir, sir!” Wash stood and gave a mock salute. “Do I have to remind you who flies this ship? We won’t get to Markham any faster with you breathing in my ear," here he paused, giving Mal a cheeky grin, "sexy as it is.”

Mal almost argued, then broke into a grin.

“Something you should tell Zoe?”

Wash laughed and sat back down.

“It wouldn’t matter. She’d just tell me to save the good stuff for the schedule.”

Mal sat in the co-pilot seat.

“She’s really got you on a baby-makin’ schedule?”

Wash blew out his breath loudly.

“Ye Gods, yes! She got together with Simon and came up with her ‘optimal fertility times’. Down to the gorram hour.”

Mal grinned at his pilot.

“All that sexin’… Must be terrible.”

Wash shook his head.

“Not that I’m interested in discussing your second’s sex life, mostly ‘cause she might kill me… But… It’s not the… love-making… It’s my lack of-”

“Ability?” Mal threw in, trying to lighten the mood.

Wash gave him a cocky look.

“You can ask her yourself about my ‘ability’.”

Mal grimaced.

“Thanks, but no.”

Wash's face became serious.

“Anyway, it’s the niggling doubt.”

Mal thought he understood.

“You ain’t sure you’re doing the right thing.”

Wash looked uncertain.

“I’m semi sure. Almost.”

“You tell Zoe that?”

Wash looked at Mal blankly.

“I guess not,” Mal said.

Wash continued, “Why are we having this conversation?”

“Who else would you have it with? Not Zoe, apparently. Jayne? Simon? Kaylee?” He paused. Maybe Xiaofan… But she’s been keeping to herself lately.”

Wash grinned again.

“I heard a rumor about the good doctor number two.”

“A rumor? On Serenity? Shocked, I tell you…”

Wash just continued to smile.

“Miss Doctor may or may not have been swapping spit with your merc the other night. Or day, whatever.”

Mal sat, mildly astounded.

“Xiaofan and… Jayne?”

“That’s the poop.”

“’Poop’?” Mal shook his head. “Where’d you get this information?”

“River comes up here a lot. She likes looking out at the stars. Sometimes she talks to me.”

“River?”

“Scoff a bit, if you must, but she has some valid things to say. She has a concern about this job-”

“Don’t we all? Fanty and Mingo aren’t exactly the most reliable sources of income. But it’s what we got. Gotta keep flyin’.”

“I’m not arguing. I just think we should be very careful this time around. What with my wife possibly carrying my offspring.”

Mal smiled and stood.

“Duly noted,” he said, then left the bridge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

River was in the midst of a ridiculous tantrum. The likes of which no one had since right after she was decanted. Everyone in the common area watched her in shock; Kaylee, Simon, Jayne.

Simon stood in awe.

“You gonna do somethin bout her?” Jayne yelled over River’s screaming.

“Like what?” the doctor asked.

“Give her a soother… Somethin.”

“Has anyone thought about asking her what's upsetting her?” Xiaofan said, entering the room.

“We haven’t really had time, it just started,” Simon said over the din.

“And she’s doin’ all the flailin’,” Jayne put in. “Can’t hardly get close.”

Xiaofan just rolled her eyes and looked at Kaylee, who nodded at her.

“River!” They shouted together.

The young woman stopped momentarily and looked at Xiaofan and Kaylee, red-faced, tears streaming.

“What?” she said, hoarse from screaming.

“What’s wrong?” Xiaofan asked, moving closer, Kaylee close behind.

“Nobody listens!” River screeched, hands covering her ears and then balling into fists in her hair.

Xiaofan knelt next to River, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Tell me. I’ll listen.”

“Hey!” Simon called. “I listen. I just don’t understand her sometimes. I try…”

Kaylee moved away from Xiaofan and River and put her arms around Simon.

River didn’t seem to notice her brother.

“Identical peril, casualty, dread, monetary return disproportionate to risk." She took a deep breath and keened. "It’s not worth it.”

Xiaofan tried to wrap her head around it.

“Identical could be her talking ‘bout them twins, Fanty and Mingo,” Jayne said, looking thoughtful. It earned him a look from Simon. “We took this job from them twins, much as I’d rather not’ve.”

“You mean Fanty and Mingo?” Xiaofan asked River.

The young woman pulled herself into a ball, hiding behind her hair.

“Yes.”

“‘Casualty’? You mean there will be death if-”

“When,” Mal said, walking into the common area, “we get to Markham. Already took the job. Gonna finish it.”

“Technically, you haven’t begun it," Xiaofan said, "You could just wave-”

“I understand you’ve got your funds, Doctor Lo-”

At this, Xiaofan rolled her eyes.

“But we still gotta earn ours, keep this boat flyin’.”

“River says-”

“Much help as River has been, she’s not 100% all the time. I ain’t got a choice here. Took the job. Gotta finish it.”

River started to wail again. Xiaofan pulled her close gently shushing her.

“He listened, River. It’s not your fault if he doesn’t pay attention.”

Mal just gave her a sour look and went back in the direction of crew quarters. River was soon calm enough to be lead off by Simon and Kaylee.

Leaving Jayne and Xiaofan in the common room alone.

“I… I have things…” she said, starting to leave.

“You ain’t gotta run off. I ain’t gonna bite ya.”

She stopped mid stride.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said, turning to face him.

“Coulda fooled me. The way you run off when ya see me.”

She waffled between arguing and running away. One wouldn’t be true, the other would prove his point.

“Maybe we need to make some things clear, Jayne.”

“I’m listenin’” he said, settling on the couch.

Xiaofan sat on a chair to his right.

“You seem attracted to me-”

“Ain’t no ‘seem’.”

“Fine. But I’m not interested in being a one night stand or a casual sex partner. There’s just too much uncertainty in my life right now. I need things in my personal life to make sense, to be in order.”

“I get it, you’re outta sorts. Won’t do you no good to stick your head in the sand and hide. If ya ain’t interested-”

She stopped him.

“I didn’t say that.”

There was a moment of silence. Xiaofan realized what she just said, and watched the grin spread across Jayne’s face.

“So, you’re interested?”

She looked off to the left, “I’m not uninterested.”

“Runnin’ scared again.”

She stood and turned to go.

“I don’t have anything to prove to you.”

Suddenly, he was behind her, turning her around to face him. He put his hands on her face, pulling her in for a kiss.

‘Struggle!’ Xiaofan’s instincts screamed.

‘Climb him like a redwood,’ her hormones replied.

Xiaofan’s inner turmoil was solved when she settled on something in between.

She kissed him back, moving his hands from her face to her hips, then wrapping her arms around his neck. She kept herself from hopping up and wrapping her legs around him. That… That would be too leading.

Jayne, however, didn’t feel much in the way of restraint. His hands roamed the sides of her body, from the roundness of the sides of her breasts, down her rib cage, gripping her waist, sliding down her hips, cupping her ass, moving her up until she was standing on her tiptoes.

His mouth wasn’t idle, either. His tongue slid into her mouth, teasing hers, retreating, tickling the corners of her mouth. Here Xiaofan met him, touching her tongue to his, feeling the moist heat, tightening her grip around his neck, nails digging into his scalp. Her insides clenched, her center pulsed with desire. She could feel the length of his erection rubbing against her hip.

“Jayne,” she whispered, disengaging as much as she could.

“Xiao,” he said back, just as softly.

“We’re still in a common area, anyone could walk in…”

“You wanna go back to your room?”

“How much of a prick tease would I be if I said no?”

“Not so much a tease as a liar. You want to go back to your room with me. You want-”

She stopped him.

“I’m not a prostitute, Jayne.”

Jayne looked offended.

“I ain’t never said you were!”

“But, you’ve been-”

“Been talkin’ to Simon then?”

“It’s true.”

“Yeah, but I’m clean. Simon’ll tell you that, too.”

“It’s not the prostitutes, so much…”

She tried to back out of his grasp, but he held her firmly.

“Then what?”

“Will you keep going to them? Am I just a convenient orifice? I don’t want-”

He put his lips right next to hers.

“I ain’t kissed a woman on the mouth in I don’t know how many years. It was a rule I broke for you. I ain’t lookin for no one else. And you ain’t ‘convenient’ by no means.”

She didn’t know whether to be flattered or irritable. She simply felt a bit of both.

“No prostitutes, Jayne. Not if we’re… together.”

“You sayin’ we’re doin’ somethin’ more than frustratin’ each other?”

She looked up at him.

“I do believe we might be.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

She wriggled in his grip, pulling slightly away.

“You can kiss me until the stars fall, Jayne Cobb, but I’m not ready for anything else.”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so.”

“So…” he grinned wickedly, “where exactly do I get to kiss you?”

Xiaofan smiled back.

“You just start the kissing, and I’ll tell you where to stop.”