Feed Me To Stones

Feed Me To Stones
By Jeremy
Pairings: Mal/Jayne
Rating: R, this chapter
Summary: Mal has just lost everything- literally- and Jayne is the only one by his side. But he’s not too sure how good of a thing that is yet. Post BDM, slightly AU, slash.
Words: 2080

A/N: This was written for the Slash-A-Thon at the LJ community FireflySlash. Thanks to Thunder_Nari on LJ for the beta and notes.
http://community.livejournal.com/fireflyslash/

Part 2

Mal opened his eyes, the dreary sluggishness that comes with waking up forcing his head down. He could feel something warm on his back as he lay on his side. He cautiously shifted his body so he could see what it was; there Jayne lay, curled up with his back pressed up against Mal.

In his groggy state Mal almost decided it’d be better to go back to sleep, strangely comforted by their bodies closeness. But the memories of his dream kept his eyes from shutting. Seeing that light was starting to ease its way across the hills outside he decided now was the time to get onto their task for the day.

Mal pulled himself into a sitting position and gently prodded the half-naked Jayne beside him. When that didn’t work Mal shoved him hard. With a loud grunt Jayne opened his eyes. “Who’s that?”

Mal snorted a laugh and shook his head, regretting it as he did, as the pain was just a bit too, well, painful. To Mal’s annoyance Jayne closed his eyes again and rolled onto his back still asleep. More surprising still was the very noticeable protrusion in Jayne’s pants.

There Jayne lay, no shirt and covered in dirt, his morning glory up for all the ‘verse to see. Mal rolled his eyes knowing Jayne wouldn’t find anything embarrassing about his present position.

Opting to not ogle the sleeping man, Mal stood up and gave him a light kick in the arm, just enough to stir him. What he hadn’t counted on was Jayne’s lightning reflexes to kick in just then and grab him by the ankle. Jayne looked up at him through slitted eyes. “What?”

Mal, doing his best to balance on one foot while the other was held captive, motioned to the entrance of the cave. Jayne glanced out then back at Mal, his eyebrows furrowed in confused irritation. “So?”

Mal groaned and plopped down. Grabbing onto Jayne’s hand he began to trace along his palm again. Jayne watched on as the symbols were quickly etched into his skin. “Ng. Umng. Gnuh.”

“We should go?” Jayne asked after taking a moment to piece it together. Mal nodded, then remembering that such things hurt opted instead clapped his hand against Jayne’s.

Jayne mulled this over in his head for a moment before nodding. “Let’s go.”

It always sort of scared Mal how good Jayne was. Now more than any time before he looked like a wild animal; filthy and half-naked climbing up the hillsides to try and spot signs of civilization. Jayne kept his head low and his eyes would dart around. Mal did his best not to watch, as it tended to break his sense of ease. And yet something about it seemed comforting, knowing that Jayne was on his side.

When they reached the outskirts of town the streets were already bustling with activity. Mal had to grab hold of Jayne before the man went charging right into the thick of it. He pulled him behind a building and grabbed his hand again, making muted sounds as he spelled into Jayne’s hand.

The bigger man looked up from his hand, confused. “Why would I call attention to us?”

Mal cocked his head to the side and glanced down at Jayne’s bare chest, then slapped the back of his hand to it with a grunt.

Jayne groaned and rolled his eyes. “Not like these people never seen a man with no shirt before.”

Mal growled and in one swift motion pulled the shirt off of his head, doing his best not to wince at the sudden tug of gravity, and handed it to Jayne. As the shirt was being pulled over Jayne’s head, the man muttering under his breath as it went, Mal became aware of the big streak of crusty red that was covering the front of it.

Before Jayne could pull it on anymore Mal grabbed at it and yanked it off. Jayne, none too pleased by this, yelped. “Why you gotta take a man's shirt like that? You just told me to put it on!”

Mal, annoyed by Jayne’s belligerence, turned the shirt around and showed him the mess he’d made the day before. Jayne gawked, still trying to figure what was wrong with the shirt.

With a snort Mal dropped the shirt onto the ground, Jayne protesting until Mal stomped on it and glared directly into his eyes, tugging open the buttons on his own shirt hoping that Jayne would get the idea. At the very least Mal had an undershirt on, and in this weather the towns folk might have less reason to look at them if he had at least that much on as opposed to being half-naked.

Pulling the shirt free from his body he handed it to Jayne who took it and wrenched it on, glaring at Mal as he did. It was a bit tight in the shoulders, but in the end it did him justice. Of course if he raised his hands over his head you’d be able to see the bottom of his belly, but it was still better than nothing.

Later though Mal would need to make sure to get it back, even if it meant pulling it off himself.

With their new garb on, and Mal’s jaw still slightly swollen, they entered town wholly unrecognizable by any townsfolk who might have known them from their last visit, or from the surveillance footage of them that had been broadcast over the Cortex since the fallout of Miranda.

They made it to the small sheriffs station in the middle of the towns square without any incident; but knowing what was about to go down their exit might be a whole other story. Mal looked up, trying to gauge the place Jayne’s mind was in right now. He knew the man was dependable in a fight, but this was even out of Mal’s comfort zone. There was too much at stake and too many handicaps for either of their liking. But now was do or die time. Rescue their crew now or forever live with the consequences.

Mal put his hand on Jayne’s shoulder by way of signal, feeling the tension that had built up there. He hoped that they’d get out of this intact so he could give Jayne a day off, help him ease off his nerves. Maybe take the day off himself even. Hell, if they got off this rock they could all use a day off.

Right after they got some money.

Jayne looked down at Mal, conveying through eye contact that he was ready. Quietly Mal raised his hand and counted down with his fingers. Three. Two.

One.

They charged around the side of the building, up the steps, and barged through the door. Mal swept the room with his eyes to find any signs of his crew or where they might be, while Jayne grabbed a guard by his neck and rammed him into the wall successfully knocking him out.

Hurried footsteps came from the hall to their left and four men, along with Barley, entered with their guns trained on the two intruders.

“Whooa!” Barley called, raising his hands to order everything to cease. His four lackey’s stood with guns in aimed while Mal and Jayne stood with fists ready. Barley smiled.

“Hey there, heroes.” He said, crossing his arms. “Got here just in the nick of time.” He glanced over his shoulder as the crew of Serenity filed out of the hall, each looking more haggard than the other. But upon seeing their rescue party they all seemed to loosen up.

Kaylee was outright bubbly. “Hi, Captain!” She called with a small wave.

Barley looked back at Mal, and with a light shrug said “Turns out none of you are worth anything to the Alliance, so you’re free to go. Hell, your ship isn’t even worth anything either so you might as well take that with you.”

Well, this was turning out to be anti-climactic.

Jayne eyed Mal, waiting for his signal for their next move. But Mal, knowing a good out when he saw one, relaxed his stance. “Nugh ungh ngh nnghn?” He asked. Barley quirked an eyebrow, confused. Mal held his hands up and rubbed his fingers together.

“Our money.” Jayne interpreted.

“What about it?” Barley asked, trying to sound innocent. “As far as I know you’re getting away relatively unscathed after we confiscated some illegal materials we found on your ship.”

Mal smirked, as best he could at least. There was a click and Barley’s eyes went wide. “I’m sorry, sir.” Zoë said to Mal, holding the gun that formerly belonged to one of their now-unconscious captors. “I don’t mean to ruin first impressions, but I’ve never been one to have patience for negotiations.”

“Better give the woman what she wants,” said Jayne, a tight grin on his face as Barley noticed the other three guards unceremoniously slumped on the ground beside him. “She’s mite angry with the universe lately, and she’s looking to balance things out a bit.”

Mal was so proud of his crew.

It wasn’t until they were a few hours out of atmo before Mal was able to let out a sigh of relief. Also because Simon had just relocated his jaw.

“Just be glad it wasn’t truly broken.” Simon warned. “This should heal itself completely in a few weeks.” He shuffled through one of his drawers and pulled out a small bag filled with some pills. “Take these if the pain is too much, otherwise just do your best to keep your mouth closed and use an ice-pack--”

“Twenty minutes every hour.” Mal mumbled, glad to finally be able to talk again.

“And,” Simon continued. “Keep the talking to the bare minimum for the first week. Otherwise, just let me know if any problems arise.”

Mal nodded and left the infirmary quicker than was polite.

As he casually made his way back toward his bunk to take a nap he let his mind wander. Barley had told them that they weren’t worth anything to the Alliance, and that bit of news somehow weren’t setting right with him. When pressed— with a gun no less— Barley regaled them with the story of how he sent a wave to the Alliance hotline, told them he had a special treat for them waiting in his cell.

He may have been on a boarder planet, he said, but he was loyal to the core. Didn’t like the way the Serenity crew tried to sabotage them with that whole Miranda ordeal, which Barley was still adamant about being a fabrication even with a barrel to his brain. Moreover, he knew the Tam siblings were worth some heavy coin in and of themselves. That itself should have been worth it.

So he’d waited several hours for their response on what to do with his prisoners.

“Let them go,” the man in uniform said coolly when the Alliance response did come. “We have no need for them anymore.”

And that was about when Mal and Jayne had shown up, full of bravado and spunk. Not knowing they were worthless now.

“I don’t imagine you’ll be wanting to do any business with us from here forth.” Barley asked after being unceremoniously ordered off the ship a good hours walk out of town.

Mal had smiled with his eyes, his jaw still sore from their last encounter. Just before the hatches were closed he shot the man through the right hand, sealing their deal in blood. He’d meant to aim for his gut, but the hand was a happy accident.

He’d signaled for Kaylee to search the ship for bugs and for River to take them skyward. At least that’s what he etched into Jayne’s hand, his first instinct for communication right then. Jayne had caught onto the bizarre system pretty quickly and was able to translate it soon after it was spelled out. The others looked on with humor, but did as they were told. Zoë decided now was a good nap time, and Jayne figured he needed a good long shower.

That had been an hour ago now and Mal was tired. He closed the hatch on his bunk and climbed the rest of the way down the ladder. He sat on his bed, kicked his boots off, pulled off his shirt and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.