Part two. Sorry this one took so long. Real life, other fics and a very stubborn muse got in my way.

Previous chapters: one (including links to all eleven of the original Adam's Rib chapters).

Disclaimer: All Firefly crew belong to Joss, Fox, Universal and lots of people shinier than me. Jonah and the 'young adults' are mine. (That should be a rock band, I'd totally listen to Jonah and the Young Adults).

Rating: G.

Comments: Check out this lovely, absolutely gorgeous "Adam's Rib" wallpaper that Charlotte made for me, found here . It's so pretty.

***

Chapter Two.

***

You're going to be in so much trouble when we get home.

It wasn't a large ship, not by anyone's standards, but it served their needs. Jonah piloted the craft to the public docking bay and easily slid it into place as he let his brain linger over the voices that slid through it, slid through him from one side of him to the other.

Don't you dare. Sebastian thought. Don't you dare go ratting me out to Beth.

One look at you and I won't have to. Daniel crowed. Serves you right for flirting with someone else.

I didn't have much of a choice! She was counting my counting. Sebastian defended himself. If I hadn't distracted her, we'd all have been royally screwed. It's not like I did anything stupid like kiss the woman.

You should have. Jonah could see the shocked look Sebastian sent to Daniel around his head, the complete and utter surprise of that particular idea. At least then you would have had something to earn the hell Beth's gonna put you through.

"I'll stop her from killing you outright." Jonah assured him. "Don't worry."

"Oh, great." Sebastian pretended to sulk. "Thanks so very much."

Pussy. Daniel threw at him.

Least I get some. Sebastian taunted. Jealous boy.

And you all wonder why I don't do this more often. Jonah shot at them both. I'm starting to wonder why you do.

A quick, last look around the ship to make sure they didn't leave anything behind before they gave it back to the Canvers. He could already feel the familiar strings of Serenity sitting by the house as they set off. The dust of the path settled in his nostrils and he breathed it in like coming home.

Oooh, now you've done it, 'Basty boy, daddy's mad.

Wasn't me. How Sebastian managed to make his thoughts whine was a mystery. Daniel started it.

A sly smile edged Jonah's lips.

I don't care who started it, I'll beat you both down.

"Excuse me, Sir." Daniel adjusted the collar of his shirt. "Are you threatening a member of authority in this town?"

"I believe he was." Sebastian grinned. "I'm a witness. You'll have to make an arrest."

Ahead of them, Jonah could finally see Serenity, sitting squat behind the outline of their house. It always amused him that those in town always saw the ship larger in their heads, more rounded, more beautiful than she really was, stripped of her truth. He loved her, couldn't help it, but he loved her for all the little faults, all the little imperfections that made her real.

Somehow, he never really trusted anything that seemed too perfect.

He was glad for Mal's foresight, glad he'd thought to land there and not where they'd be swarmed by townsfolk. Jonah didn't mind the people of Haven, they tolerated him where they loved the rest of the children, but he'd never particularly ingratiated himself with them. Never really needed to.

He'd helped when it was needed, saved a lost child once, improved agriculture methods where applicable, but he didn't socialize with anyone. Didn't really see a need to. There wasn't much he had in common with any of the simple, beautifully normal and average people that led simple, beautifully normal and average lives.

There were more important things to do and he could understand the children trying desperately to forget what had happened. He understood why Sebastian and Daniel thrived in their little law keeping venture, keeping the town honest and safe, saving the people from themselves. Understood why Minmei and Binh cared for and loved the children they looked after. Understood, even, why Bethany preferred to stay home and play the merry little house maker, so painstakingly normal it would have surprised anyone in town had they ever learned what she was truly capable of.

It was harder, but not impossible, to appreciate Alex's way of dealing. Which was, Jonah thought succinctly, not to deal with anything at all. She fought hard to be as average as possible, going to a small town school to mix with small town children, when she could have seeped more intelligence out of her pores with sweat than they'd ever have in their small town, little minds. She hardly ever acknowledged, let alone used her potential. It sometimes drove Jonah mad, because she'd gone through so much and had earned every right to be as spectacular as she could be.

But then, sometimes, he saw her with her friends, laughing like any other girl on the planet, saw her smile, and he knew she was every bit as brilliant as she had ever been.

All of them had earned their peace and he let them be, but he had never been one to let things go easily. Jonah found his purpose in a much more direct line. He had spent four years making contact after contact, doggedly tracing the most obscure lines between what once was and what still had to remain.

The Operatives had, after all, used their dying breaths to gloat that it wasn't over, that nothing could stop the larger purpose. Jonah used whatever breaths he had left to make liars out of them. That was how he had discovered the disc, an anonymous contribution from one of a dozen contacts. A job so despicable always had weak links, nervous people low down in the infrastructure.

"You bastard!"

Familiar as the sentiment, Daniel's fist came out of nowhere. Jonah ducked it easily. Apparently, River had watched the disc several times, so had everyone inside the house. It echoed through them. He'd specifically avoided telling any of them, because he knew they'd never have been able to focus properly. And he'd needed to them to focus if they were going to succeed in getting the money they needed.

"Why?" Sebastian faced him as he easily grabbed Daniel, forced him to the ground. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because she deserved to know first!" Jonah hooked one knee into Daniel's chest to keep him there. "River deserved to know!"

"And now I do."

They all stopped and turned to see River standing next to them. He wanted to read it on her face, he wanted to see the pain of it, wanted her to show it to him before it slid into him and flowed over his brain. Just once he wanted it to be voluntary.

"River." Standing up, he felt Daniel slide away, gentle again. "I wanted to be here."

They stood, lined up, hands clasped behind their backs like naughty children.

You were. She tried to smile and failed dismally. Where it counted.

He lifted a hand to the side of her face, touched her cheek lightly. He loved those brown eyes, always had it seemed, because there was no time when he didn't know her. Another voice washed over him, soft and caring, he turned to see Kaylee waiting.

She stood, nervous, several feet from them. Her eyes watched River, proprietary, and he didn't need to look any further to see how closely she watched them both, watched River for any signs of comfort she could find in him that she couldn't in herself.

Don't. River was weary as her hand came up to cover his. Don't look for trouble that isn't there.

Jonah sighed, he was always so careful between them.

***

Bethany met them at the door and stepped aside to let them all past, except one. Her hand came out and rested on the other side of the doorway as her arm blocked passage. She raised her eyebrows and waited.

"Hi." Sebastian greeted her with false cheer. "Anything happen while we were gone?"

She didn't answer. Her brows rose and her mouth tightened.

"It wasn't anything." He crumbled easily. "I swear."

Fifteen. She counted to fifteen before she leaned forward to peck his mouth.

"You should have kissed her." He just stared as she turned to follow the rest of them back into the house. "She almost found you out."

***

"What's the plan?"

Mal asked it the second they all walked in the door. He saw the slight flinch of Kaylee and the way River bit her lip, he even heard the sharp intake of breath from Zoe beside him. As far as he was concerned, they were already too late and there was nothing to be gained from wasting any more time.

"We'll need the ship." Jonah didn't hesitate, either.

"Given." It wasn't like he needed to ask any of the crew.

"We've raised nearly enough for the contact." Jonah continued. "Enough to get us in, but we'll need to fight our way out if we want to take her."

"Are there others?"

Everyone in the room looked to Jonah, waited for his answer with their breaths held. He saw the boy flinch a little and wondered at what had been said, or hadn't.

"Not that I've learned." The words were careful and clipped.

"How many do we need?"

"As many as possible."

Their eyes met and he knew there was an understanding.

"Okay." Mal breathed in. "Kaylee and Zoe, you stay here with Alex."

"Sir." He didn't need to look to see the way Zoe's jaw tightened. "If you think that's necessary."

"It ain't up for discussion."

By the door, he saw Kaylee glaring at him and he wondered who she was glaring for. Most likely, it was a combination of both of them. There was no way in any world spinning he was gonna let her come on this run and even less of a chance that he'd let Zoe.

She'd developed a fierce protective streak when it came to his first mate. He knew why and he knew there was no fighting it, but that didn't mean he had to kow tow to every demand she made of him. Kaylee had been active in getting Zoe back out on regular runs, but he wasn't going to back down, not on this one.

There wasn't anything regular about this one.

"Mal." Breathed Wash. "I wanna stay with..."

"No." Wash, he could look at, could turn to face. "We'll need a pilot."

"We'll be off planet for a week." Jonah informed Wash softly. "If everything goes according to plan."

"A week." Kaylee sighed and turned to River. "A whole week."

It had been one second, one fraction of a second that he'd thought about telling River to stay, too. That idea was dismissed as quickly as it came, she might be tiny still, but she could also kill him fifty three different ways between one blink and the next.

"Seventy nine." River said without even looking his way. "And I will if you try to stop me."

***

"What do ya reckon?" Jayne frowned up to the walls of the cargo bay. "Fix up the shuttles?"

"Makes sense." Simon agreed, mentally calculating the amount of space needed for their departure the next day. "We won't have as many people as last time, if we use the shuttles, we probably won't even need to double up the crew."

"Good thing." Jayne nodded, relieved. "You snore and your feet are damn cold."

Simon chuckled as they each stood at one end of a crate. They breathed to the count of three and then hefted it, moving it towards one of the hidey holes. Sparse as the cargo bay was already, Mal had ordered them to strip it down, make it bare.

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Simon strained with the weight. "It was a few nights, four years ago."

In four years, he'd filled out some, had learned to shoulder his fair share of the work. He often found himself paired with Jayne to do the heavy lifting, the grunt work no one else wanted. To his surprise, Simon found he liked it, sometimes enjoyed mindless, manual labor.

"Well, maybe you're used to shackin' up with strange men." Jayne dusted his hands off on the sides of his cargo pants. "But I ain't."

"I'm not strange!"

"You're not exactly normal, are ya?" But there was a glint in Jayne's eye as they started up the stairs. "What do you figure? Six of the kids, four extra rooms?"

"The girls can have the two passenger dorms." Simon suggested. "Jonah and Daniel in one shuttle and Sebastian and Binh in the other."

"Huh." He just nodded. "That could work. You sure you're able to handle those two girls movin' in next to you? I mean, you've had that whole area to yourself for so long."

Simon stopped walking.

"You're not suggesting...?"

Jayne grinned and slapped him on the back.

"No matter how much you relax, doc, it's still easy as shit to ruffle those feathers. It ain't the girls I'm worried about. You remember how they are."

"Well." Simon blushed. "I'm sure they've grown up a little."

They entered shuttle one, it lay empty and covered in two years of dust. Crates and odd items were stacked with what seemed to be abandon. Weren't no one could tell you what was in there but Mal, Jayne knew it, hell, he'd be able to tell if someone even borrowed one of the forgotten items.

They had one afternoon to find blankets and mattresses to make it inhabitable.

"What are they now?"

"Bethany and Minmei? They'd be, what, eighteen?"

"Heh." Jayne chuckled. "Yeah, you better watch yourself."

"Hm." Simon nosed around the back boxes. "Looks like Inara might have left some things we could use."

"Maybe." Jayne shrugged. "But you do and Mal'd have your hide."

They both knew it was true. Nobody used shuttle one anymore. 'Ceptin' Wash and Kaylee when they checked the landing gears and docking mechanisms.

At least shuttle two was kept in fairly good condition.

***

Kaylee held out her hand and, before she could count to two, the wrench landed neatly in her palm. Her fingers closed over it, feeling the cold steel against her flesh.

"How long you been there?"

"You heard me walk in." Jonah said simply.

She could feel him crouching down next to her, his bulk steady on his haunches. Her eyes drifted past her own curves, flattened out on her back, to see the shadows of him in stark relief to the light that filtered through the machine.

"Yeah." A pause. "It's funny, how this broke down mule just happened to be sittin' here, waitin' for me to walk by."

"Yes." He agreed and she could hear the warmth in his voice. "Strange how that worked out."

"Thought you didn't have one."

"We don't." Had it been anyone else, Kaylee would have been frustrated at that point, but it was Jonah and they had their patterns. "The Mackaveys do. They've got five children and no way to feed them without it."

Kaylee nodded with a small smile to herself.

"Thought at much. This kinda machine ain't your style." Her ankle shifted to nudge against his. "You don't fool me none with this hard boiled act, Jonah, you're just a big ball of fluff..."

"Kaylee..." His weary sigh broke off her words.

No, maybe he wasn't, maybe he didn't see himself that way, but she did. No matter how hard he tried to show her otherwise, no matter how much he kept trying to edge a crack through her belief in him.

He tried hard.

She could still hear his voice, hard and edgy one night when they were talking, away from the others. Kaylee always tried to get him by himself, tried to get him to talk and, usually, he let her.

They'd been talking about his growing infiltration into the Alliance, his ever widening list of contacts that Kaylee couldn't help be afraid of. It would only take one stupid comment, one unintentional little slip from one of them to the wrong person and everything they'd all worked so hard for would go up in smoke.

There was no mistaking what would happen if those higher up ever got hold of the children again. It gave her terrible tummy rumblings to think what they would do to her. They had her face and her name, Kaywinnit Lee Frye, locked deep in their memories.

How do you know? She'd been reduced to, asking with a desperation she couldn't quite hide. How do you know none of them recognize you?

Because I read them. He'd answered simply, coldly, efficiently enough to scare her a little. Because everyone who saw us or came into contact with us perished in that place.

The truth was a little harsh and bitter to swallow, but she got used to it.

There was one, once. He'd given her a smile then, something that made her shudder a little as his eyes never stopped glowing, never stopped being friendly. But he won't make trouble for us, I made sure of that.

He did that often.

Jonah told Kaylee the things he couldn't bring himself to tell River, but that he thought she needed to know.

And after River was able to control more of when and what she saw in other people, he began to tell Kaylee things that he didn’t ever want River to know. Honestly, she didn’t much mind being his filter, the link between them.

If she’d been him, she wouldn’t want to face those big, brown eyes and tell River the things that had been done in her name. All those times Jonah had been sent out, the things he’d been forced to do.

“What do you really think?” She edged out from under the mule. “About the girl?”

He bit his lip.

“Three years is a long time.”

Her cheeks flushed with color as she pointed the wrench at him.

“That’s not an answer.”

Jonah’s shoulders heaved with another sigh.

“River’s going back to rescue someone and I don’t even know if she exists.” He waited for her puzzled frown before he continued. “We went through a lot for the children, River went through a lot, but we got them out.”

“Yes.” She reminded him gently. “You did.”

“The only reason we succeeded was because they came with us. They followed willingly.” His words gave her chills. “The Academy was trying to create someone they could control, someone they had absolute power over.” “And now they have?”

His face looked pained.

“Kaylee? Do you have any idea what kind of damage you can do to a child in the first three years of their life?”

She nodded. Not that she’d particularly sat down and planned it out or anything, but she’d seen enough of the damage the Academy had already done to Jonah, to River and the children.

“I don’t think River’s thought about this.” Her voice sounded unsure.

“I know she hasn’t.” He agreed. “Even back with Adam and the other prototypes, she never looked at the bigger picture. She only ever saw them as children, as babies.”

Kaylee tried not to flinch at his cold, clinical voice.

“River looked at that capture and saw a little girl, saw someone she could rescue and love. And call daughter.” His eyes were clear. “I looked at it and saw a problem. Even if we get her out of there, there’s no telling how she’s going to react to us, what they’ve programmed her to believe or think or respond.”

“Jonah.” This, Kaylee could answer. “Whatever happens, whatever you find in there, that little girl is still your daughter. Your daughter and River’s daughter. She can’t help what they did to her, any more than you or River or Alex or the others.”

“I know, but I’m not exactly knitting little pink dresses just yet, either.”

“Oh, Jonah.”

It was all she could say, her hand came out and ran through the thick curls on the top of his scalp as he bowed his head down. There was no way to tell him he was wrong and no way to reassure him it would all turn out right.

They were all worried about Alex. Kaylee knew it. The year before, she’d woken up in the middle of the night during one of their stays here and, going to get a midnight snack of sorts, she’d overheard Mal and Jonah talking quietly.

They’d moved on, most of them, integrated themselves into the daily planet life of Haven, made a home for themselves. And while Alex had been the first to make friends and lay down roots, she refused to acknowledge anything she’d learned at her time in the Academy. She’d never look into other’s heads, or used any information she accidentally gleaned from them if she did. Even at home, with no one else around, she stubbornly refused to converse silently.

When Kaylee had been ten years old, she broke her arm. They hadn’t been rich enough to afford any kind of fancy osteo mender some folks did, so she’d been forced to wear it in a big, heavy plaster cast for weeks on end. It just so happened that, at the same time, her father started a new job.

She’d always follow him to work, always, couldn’t quite help nudging her way in and fixing everything in sight. That was how she worked, that was how she knew people, how people knew her. She saw something broken and, if she knew how to fix it, she did.

Things didn’t work that way at her daddy’s new job. Not everyone wanted to be shown up by a freckle faced, knobbly kneed, scrawny little kid. She learned that lesson real quick, especially given the fact she couldn’t get right in and show them what she was talkin’ about. It hurt her somethin’ shocking when they laughed at her the first day, petted her head, and ignored her anyway, told her to go skitter of and play house somewhere.

It took a week before she’d got up the courage to go back, but that was after her Ma had taken her aside and told her in no uncertain terms that she should stop tryin’ to show off so much. Kaylee could remember whining then, trying to explain that she weren’t showing off at all, she just did what she knew how and she wasn’t gonna hide herself all away just ‘cause the rest of ‘em felt bad about themselves.

You got a special gift, honeychild, her Mama had told her, but that don’t mean you gotta go flash it around everywhere. You let everyone go about their business, you let them learn themselves what does and doesn’t work for them. And if there comes a time they really need your brand of somethin’ special, a time when they’re gonna appreciate it for what it is, then you can glow real bright and stun them all.

And sometimes, her Mama had patted her head, sometimes people like you all the more when you admit you got a weakness and let them help you first.

When she’d gone with her Daddy back to the garage, she’d let them fuss over her arm, shut her damn mouth and let them fix things their own way. Her Ma had been right, her time had come and she’d made them all eat their hats.

Kaylee wasn’t worried at all about Alex. The girl had the whole town eating out of her hand, she had more friends at the school than Kaylee had in her whole home planet, and just because she wasn’t flaunting her gifts, didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate them.

The person Kaylee worried about was Jonah. Where everyone else had moved on, he was still stuck back in the Academy, chasing dragons and nightmares around the ‘Verse.

He wasn’t going to let it go until he was dead and Kaylee was afraid he was gonna take them all with him.

“All done.” She announced, maybe a little too cheerfully. “And I adjusted the tank, so’s it won’t eat half as much fuel.”

“Thank you, Kaylee.”

***

“Will you be alright?” Wash hovered as they prepared for bed. Zoe hated it when he hovered. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“Captain wants me to stay.” It was a simple answer, but it was a simple problem. “Understandable, given the circumstances.”

She wasn’t going to let it be anything other than simple. She’d had enough complexity lately. He stripped his shirt off and dropped it to the floor of their bunk.

With one raised brow and no words at all, she was able to make him smile an apology, pick it up, fold it neatly and lay it gently on their shelf.

“Oh, sweetie cake.” He sighed and placed his hands on either side of her face so that he could lean in and rest his forehead against hers. “I don’t wanna go without you. Not now.”

Zoe closed her eyes and bit back the reply she wanted to make, all about not wanting him to go and about how the ‘Verse had screwed with them yet again. Instead, she enjoyed the feel of his warm skin against hers.

“It’s already been decided, husband.”

***

Kaylee woke up giggling.

It wasn't something she would have thought possible, but sure enough, there she was, in the middle of a full giggle as she opened her eyes. A fingernail traced down her side and up over her belly.

"Hey Ray."

"Kaylee." River whispered back, leaning down to kiss her lightly on the lips. "Good morning."

"You feelin' okay?"

River nodded, her eyes narrowing to concentrate on her task as she lay on her side, head resting on her right hand, her elbow tucked neatly by Kaylee's head, and her left hand traced patterns over Kaylee's body.

"I'm learning you."

"Again?" Kaylee grinned and brought her arms up behind her head. "Don't you know me well enough yet?"

"You're a heart today."

Sure enough, Kaylee could feel it as River's fingernail started from the middle of her belly, up over her ribcage to the side of her right breast, around and over the line of her collar bone, down to the tip of her sternum and up again, over the other side, down her left ribcage and back to her navel.

A heart.

"How long you been doin' this?"

"Fourteen minutes." Came the easy answer.

"Is that all?" Kaylee breathed in as she felt her skin prickle.

"And twenty three seconds, but the minutia is irrelevant." A small smile lingered over River's mouth, rose pink and perfect. "You keep telling me."

"That I do."

Kaylee grew warm as River pressed the pads of her fingers down, letting her skin finally touch her, the slight scratch of a fingernail replaced by the firm pressure of her fingers as they skimmed the sides of her breasts.

"I like minutia."

On the next go round, Kaylee felt River deliberately let her whole hand dip down, sliding over her nipples before moving on. The heart was getting increasingly smaller the more times River traced it. Not that she minded.

"You sure you're okay?"

River frowned for a second, before her face cleared.

"Yes."

She leaned forward again, bringing her mouth close to Kaylee's ear and blew lightly. It made Kaylee shiver and she couldn't help but exhale in a slight moan when River's hand cupped her right breast altogether.

"You ain't tryin' to distract me, so's I don't make a fuss about you all leavin' me behind for a week are you?"

"Yes." River grinned into her neck. "And it's working."

“No, it isn’t.” Kaylee gasped, mouth wide open. “I’m still gonna talk to Mal.”

***

“No!”

“But…!”

“Kaylee!” Mal turned and glared. “I already told you what’s what. Now get a bag, shove some clothes in it and get the hell off my ship!”

She glared right back.

“I ain’t leavin’, no way, nah uh.” Her hands dug into the sides of her hips and she felt like a child throwing a tantrum. “You can’t ask me to leave her alone in this, Captain.”

They stood at the loading ramp, facing off. Inside the ship stood River, Simon, Jayne. At the edge of the ramp, Wash and Zoe were saying goodbye and standing on the grass were the children. All seven of them.

“Kaylee.” Mal changed tactics, making his voice calm and soothing. “I know you want to help, mei mei, but this is a delicate matter…”

“I’m delicate!” She huffed. “I’m real delicate!”

“Yeah.” His eyes flashed. “You’re so delicate you can’t even breathe we go anywhere near a core planet, let alone inside an Alliance building. What help are you gonna be?”

Her face looked like he just slapped it and Mal felt all shades of guilty.

“You ain’t makin’ me go.” She said it softly, but the tone of her voice was anything but. “I wanna stay for River. And you got no business breakin’ up Zo an’ Wash, either.”

“We need a pilot.” He told her.

“And a mechanic.” She threw at him. “Look, I know why you don’t want us there, but we need to be. Push comes to shove, Cap’n, me an’ Zoe’ll hide out in the locked store room when the real bad stuff happens, but you can’t keep us from this.”

“We can’t leave Alex alone.” He was weakening, he knew it, by the triumphant glow in her eyes, he knew she knew it, too. “Not for a week.”

“I packed a bag, too.”

He turned to stare at Alex, casually walking up the ramp, and couldn’t form any coherent words.

“See?” Kaylee grinned up at him. “We’re all here.”

“Fine.” He threw his hands up in the air. “Whatever. I don’t know why I bother calling myself Captain anymore. You comin’ Zoe?”

“Whatever you say, Sir.”

Not even Zoe could hide the relieved and slight smug tone of voice. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of feet tramping up into his ship. Or, what used to be his ship, but was now apparently anarchy headquarters.

“Aw hey.” Jayne’s voice pouted into his subconscious. “We just got the bunkin’ situation all sorted.”

***

end chapter two.