Disclaimer: Firefly and I have nothing to do with one another. =o)

The Trunk By KaySky Chapter Four

“How is she?” Asked Mal.

Simon took a deep breath. He had been running off pure adrenaline the past few hours. “She lost a lot of blood, but she’s stabilized.”

“She gonna make it?” Mal was worried. Danielle was motionless on the table. All signs of life seemed to be swept away.

Simon sloped down against the wall of the infirmary. He was exhausted. “The next hour or so is critical. If she makes it through that, she’ll be on her way to a full recovery.” He felt his eyelids getting heavy. “I’ll stay with her.”

“Hey…” Kaylee said quietly as she walked into the infirmary. “Is Dani…” Tears started to form in her eyes as she walked over to the examine table and took Danielle’s hand.

“She’ll be fine, meimei.” Mal said reassuringly. “The Doc is pretty good at what he does.” Kaylee forced a small smile. “Miss Kaylee, you were quite the brave girl tonight.” Mal walked over to her, draped his arms over her shoulders, pulling her against him, giving her a tight hug. “You did good too, Simon.” The events of the evening were replaying through his mind. “Ain’t givin’ you a hug though.” He smirked.

* * * *

It was the beginning of a new day. Danielle had been wide awake for hours amusing Kaylee and River with funny wedding stories. She was not the type of person who let a bullet put a damper in her day. Plus all the pain medication seemed to be giving her quite the high. The girl’s conversation ceased when they saw Mal standing in the doorway. “I need to talk to Dani for a minute.” Kaylee and River nodded obligingly and left the infirmary, leaving Danielle and Mal to their privacy.

“You want to open the trunk?” Danielle knew where this conversation was going.

“I think I have a right to know what almost got me and my crew killed.”

“It was important to my Uncle to get the trunk to Noble safely, unopened.” Her eyes fell to her stomach. She placed her hand over the bandages. “It’s important to me that his wishes be upheld.” Mal tried to cut in, but Danielle didn’t let him. “You have every right to know what’s in there and this is your ship. I can’t stop you from opening the trunk, but I can ask you not to.” She looked up into Mal’s eyes. “Please, it’s only a few more days until we arrive at Noble. I promise you once we meet up with my Uncle I’ll ask him to be extra generous in the rest of your payment.”

“Why is it so important to you?”

“I love my Uncle like he was my father. He gets me. It’s hard to find people that get you. Daniel loves me, but he doesn’t get me. Most people don’t get me. Uncle Holden does. If something was this important to me, he’d make sure it was protected.” Her words couldn’t have been more heartfelt.

“I already thought on it. I need to know.” He was impressed with Danielle’s devotion to her Uncle, but his crew came first.

“If you knew what was inside, you wouldn’t have to open it, right?”

“Huh?”

“Do you remember Daniel saying Uncle Holden didn’t tell us what was in the trunk? Well, that’s only half right.” Her emerald green eyes fixated on his baby blues’. “Daniel didn’t know that I know.”

Mal didn’t know what to think. Was she lying? What if she wasn’t?

“If I tell you what’s inside. If I tell you what it is that Donovan thought was good enough to kill for. If I tell you, will you trust me? Will you promise not to open the trunk?”

* * * *

Daniel had needs. Since his sister was temporarily out of service, it was agreed that someone could fill in for her. No one else volunteered, but Kaylee didn’t mind. Sitting next to the trunk, rubbing her hand along top of it, maybe she’d get some insight as to what was inside.

“I had dreams like this.” Jayne grinned as he walked past Kaylee. “Only you was cuffed to my bedpost.”

“Weird…” Kaylee smiled back at him. “I dreamt the same thing, but it was more like a nightmare.” She giggled. “Never woke up screamin’ so loud in my life.”

“Women do scream my name in pure pleasure.” Jayne flexed his muscles, showing off for Kaylee.

“More like terror.” She laughed back at him.

“When yer done ruttin’ with the bornin’ doc, yer gonna come lookin’ to hitch a ride on the Jayne Train.”

Jayne had her in tears. She tried to speak, but she couldn’t. Laughter was the only thing escaping her mouth.

“Don’t let me hold you back, Kaylee.” Simon came walking into the cargo bay. “If Jayne is so…so manly, you deserve him.” The more Simon lived on Serenity, the less and less intimidating he found Jayne. He was still sure Jayne could kick his ass, but it least he could get some fun in at his expense.

Jayne gave Simon a dirty look. “Don’t need help from you.”

“Of course not, your ways of courting are quite dignified.” Simon sat down next to Kaylee, first giving her a little more than a friendly hello kiss. He knew it would irritate Jayne.

Why did he feel so gorramn jealous when he kissed her? He shrugged his shoulders. “Bet it’s filled with money.” He said, changing the subject.

“Strawberries!”

“Medical supplies.”

“I think whatever’s inside is for Hayden-Lee’s dowry payment.” Daniel had finished seeing to his needs and returned to swap places with Kaylee.

“Dowries?” To Kaylee dowries were something of the past. Only to be heard of in fairytales and history books.

“It’s an arranged marriage.” He unlocked the handcuffs, freeing Kaylee and imprisoning his own wrist once again. “My Uncle is wealthy, but not as wealthy as he’d like to be. He went through four wives before he found one that gave him a daughter. She was his ticket to a wealthier life.”

“How she gonna do that?” Jayne asked.

“The day we arrive is her sixteenth birthday. She will be married into one of the wealthiest families on Noble. By association, my Uncle becomes wealthier.”

“Ain’t that wrong? Shouldn’t she get a say?” Kaylee hated to think the poor girl hadn’t even had a chance to live seeing how she was already being tied off to someone.

“Ever since she was a little girl she’s known what was in store for her.” Daniel sounded unsympathetic. “It might not be right, but she’ll be ok. She’ll never have to worry about half the things most people do. She’ll be taken care of.”

“What’s the good of havin’ someone take care of ya if that someone ain’t nice?”

“People grow to love one another. It’s just an adjustment period.”

Kaylee was fuming. “Life ain’t supposed to be all romantic like fairytales, but it’s supposed to be filled with love.” She took a deep breathe. People had different opinions. She shouldn’t get upset. “Love she chooses.”

It didn’t take a genius to know this information was upsetting Kaylee. Daniel did the best he could to lighten the situation. “Hayden-Lee can take care of herself. I’m not worried about her. Dani’s been a big sister to her. Dani has told her hundreds of times not to go through with the wedding unless she wants to. If Hayden-Lee really wants out of this, she’ll get out of it and my sister will be by her side doing whatever she can to help.”

* * * *

“And that’s worth killin’ for?”

“He only tried to kill because you wouldn’t let him have it.” Danielle was finished pleading her case.

“It’ll stay locked for now. First sign of trouble…”

“I understand.” Danielle was thankful the captain trusted her.

* * * *

Three Days Later - Noble

Serenity landed mid-afternoon. It was their first trip to Noble and they were all excited to take a look around. Mal’s rule, work comes before play, meant no one was doing anything remotely fun until the twins and the trunk were delivered to the mysterious Holden Blake.

His estate was a short distance away from the docks. Mal, Zoe, and Jayne got the twins, their luggage, and the trunk onto the mule. Simon would go incase Holden had medical questions about his niece’s condition. It was impossible to talk Kaylee out of going to a wedding even if they weren’t actually staying for it. So the seven of them left, all excited the job was soon to be over with.

Things were going great. They made it to the entrance of the Blake Estate with no trouble at all. Mal couldn’t be happier. Things might not have started off according to his plan, but it least they were ending that way.

“I’ll buzz us in.” Daniel hopped off the mule relieved this ordeal was finally behind him, too.

Well, almost.

“Step away from the buzzer!”

The crew turned their attention to the unfamiliar voice. “I knew this was too easy.” Poor Mal. His happiness died at the realization the rest of this job wasn’t going to go according to plan either.

To be continued...