DISCLAIMER: Firefly, Serenity and all characters, terminology, places and names used within those works and all subsequent licensed works are copyright Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, Fox, Universal and affiliates. Don’t sue me.

… And Out Come the Wolves

Chapter 2

The Botch, Part 2

You sure you got it? Wash’s voice crackled, nervous over the intercom.

River rolled her eyes to no one in particular. “Yes. Not as difficult as it seems.”

Hey, now! Sometimes things - - The noise cut off with the press of a button. River directed her gaze to the stars, then down to the dinosaurs cluttering the control panel. “Is he always this difficult?”

“Usually.” Mal’s voice drifted in from the corridor, accompanied by the thud of boots on the grated metal walkway. “Moreso now that he’s bed-ridden.”

“And you?” She asks meekly, genuinely fearing his answer. She does not desire to be the runaway. Crew… that might be getting a few steps ahead, she reminds herself constantly. Feet will get twisted and tangled and the dance will fail.

Mal rests a reassuring hand on her shoulder after patting her head. “I’ll just watch.”

Jude stood in the cargo bay, waiting for the others. Captain Malcolm Reynolds. He had heard the name, and all the fancy rumors and reputations that came along with it in recent years, but there were more than rumors. Sargent Malcolm Reynolds, perhaps? He did seem rather fond of that brown coat and blood red shirt.

“Captain says you’re callin’ the shots on this one.” Zoe’s voice cut in through the relative silence, eyeing the boy something fierce. “That so?”

Jude turned from the slightly discolored wall panel, tarnished from handling. “Seems to be.” He looked her over quickly. Tall and strong. Seemed like a fighter. “That gonna be an issue?”

She eyed him a bit more closely. Something about the way he talked. “He’s the Captain.”

“Ah,” he sighed, understanding something. “I suppose you're the extremely loyal type.”

"You could say that."

Nothing but dirt and their passenger in the mule’s mirrors, Zoe deftly piloted the old, yellow junker off to their point of entry into this little job. Jayne checked and re-checked the spare clips and grenades in the rear hatches, then turned a quizzical expression to Captain Reynolds.

“I don’t get it, Mal.”

“That’s quite a change, Jayne!” Mal beamed, taking pleasure in ruffling Jayne’s feathers this early in the day.

Jayne put on a false hurt face before continuing. “Ha ha. Anyway, we’re supposed to skuff the gorram job?”

“Yep," Mal spoke, patting his firearm as he meaningfully inclined his head towards Vera. "We make like we're after some money, make like we can't handle 'em that's s'posed t' come for us. Then start the shootin'. We're just a diversion. I figure it’s up our alley, what with all that skuffin' and attention grabbin' we usually do anyway. But this time around, we get to skuff, cause a rukus and get paid - best of both worlds. Hell, might be considerin’ a career change.”

Zoe quirked an eyebrow at the irony. “At our rate of mess up, we might be able to retire soon, Sir.”

Mal daintily touched his just. “I may jus’ faint.”

The image seemed to materialize suddenly in her mind’s eye as these things so often did. She let it relax her. No longer did she let her fear get the best of her… or at least not nearly as often – nothing like it was before Miranda. The Reavers were no longer inside her. No more screaming. She could hear. Couldn’t always understand, but now she could listen and try. Just that knowledge – no Reavers, no Miranda, no Operative – relaxed her, but this sight itself was far from relaxing.

She could feel his relaxation vanish. His brown coat seemed suddenly very red and angry. Then she saw. He sat, angry and red but not bloody and red and she relaxed more. Not his trouble. Then she walked a bit further, a hallway suddenly stretching enormously ahead of her. The warrior women stood. Her color didn’t change – rarely did – but she had raised her sawed-off defensively. But no hurt. Not her trouble. She walked a bit further and faster, anxious to find her answer. The man-ape. He was perfectly calm, his color purple. He was strangely peaceful and filled with a child like glee as lay patiently, grenade in hand, waiting to start his game of catch. Not his trouble. Not their trouble.

She walked further and then… nothing.

Nothing.

The hallway turned slowly black, a shadow swallowing it. She looked behind her. No Man-Ape. No Warrior Woman. No Captain. Just darkness. So she ran, frantically. Where had they gone? Where? In her panic, she tripped, but did not fall. Hands she could not see caught her. She felt brown leather and callused palms and she reasoned more than realized, quickly recalculating the steps and general direction of her run. It was her Captain, red angry and right where she left him.

They hadn’t left. She just couldn’t….

River’s eyes snapped open, and she fled.

Mal!

“Now ain’t ‘xactly the best a times t’ be chattin’, Wash!” Mal hid for cover behind a decent sized rock. Thank the ‘verse that this job was on a bit of desert - plenty of bits and peices to flee to. To punctuate his point, Mal popped up for a few wildly chosen shots.

I appreciate the sentiment, Mal, but this might be important…

“It better be, you hun dan!” Mal shouted as he fell back to the ground, a graze burning in his arm.

I took the liberty of runnin’ our new friend’s name on the Cortex. He’s a blackheart.

“What!?” Surprisingly, it was Zoe’s shock that cut through the air. Zoe’s calm breaking – that certainly got Jayne’s attention.

“What in th’ ruttin’ gorram Hell’s goin’ on?”

And then, their guest of honor was in sight and running towards them. “I’m with th’ big fella’! What the Hell are you doin’?”

Mal thanked his lucky stars for the slight reprieve in return. New information meant new plan – no matter how slight. No matter if it only really mattered in his own head. He eyed Jude in a new light, resizing and refiguring the man.

He opened his mouth to verbally fire back at the younger man, but snapped it shut. The reprieve was over. Gunfire filled the air again, this time spilling blood. The new plan - along with the old plan and every other ruttin' no good plan he ever had - went to Hell.

Kaylee reluctantly pulled away from his embrace, but almost leapt right back into his arms when she heard his quite puppy dog whimper. She had discovered, since the consumation of their relationship, that Dr. Tam could very easily shed his prim and proper skin for that of an immature, sexually starved child in the right conditions. She quickly decided that it was darn cute, too.

She smiled and she pushed him back down. “Now, now. When a girl says no…”

“But –“

“Oh hush. I’m jus’ thinkin’ we should head to the bridge. They been gone a good while and River’s the only one up there.” She gave him her best pleading eyes. “You know I get worried when they’re gone so long.”

Clearing his throat, Simon found it a bit easier to articulate his thoughts into actual words with the help of the distance Kaylee put between them. “I suppose you’re right. Mal does have a tendency to come back injured – and there are much better ways I could think to spend my evening.” Simon’s smile suddenly became small and shy once the words left his lips. Wuh de ma he still felt like an idiot when he flirted, but it made Kaylee smile. That was motivation enough to force him to get over himself.

“Oh…” Kaylee smiled coyly at him as she grabbed his shirt. “Does the doctor need someone to give him a check-up?”

“Well –“

“Simon!”

Both turned shocked eyes to the doorway, hearing River’s cry accompanied by loud, hurried footsteps. Kaylee quickly jumped up and moved, letting Simon to his feet. “River!”

“Simon!” She slid to a stop as she rounded a corner. Her eyes were wide with fear. “Simon! I can’t see!”

Their eyes locked and Simon almost broke down, grabbing her by the arm and rushing in the direction of the infirmary. Their eyes did lock, right? No time for questions. He rushed on until Mal’s very irate cut in over all of Serenity’s coms.

Kaylee! Get to the engine room!

“But –“

And River, to the bridge! Now! No questions. No comments. GO!

“Shi, shi!” River called as she ripped herself from Simon’s grasp.

“What is that – Wait!“ Simon frantically looked to Kaylee for support, who stepped cautiously towards River. “River! You can’t see. Mal can’t expect you to be able to – River!“

She swiftly ascended to steps leading away from the passenger dorms. “Bizui, niou fun! I can see fine!”

Both Simon and Kaylee froze at that, watching River’s combat boots disappear.

“Did she just say she could say?” Simon’s face was skewed with confusion.

Kaylee’s on the other hand, was twisted with humor. “Did she just call you cow poop?”

A/N: Sorry for the delay. New job. Not only has it monopolized my time, it also keeps me out of town 5 days a week. So writing times are few and far between. That said, apologies for the lightweightedness of this chapter. I figured it's better to post what I got now, cuz who knows when I can write again. That's also the explanation for the oddly light note this chapter ends on, considering someone just got shot.

As always, please rate and review. I'll love you long time. Ain't I a cheap date?