toxic_corn | Firefly fic: The Present (River/Jayne), R: Chapter Two

Series: The Present
Title: Chapter Two
Author:

toxic_corn
Rating: R
Pairing: River/Jayne
Disclaimer: Firefly belongs to Joss Whedon. I own nothing and earn no money from this.
Summary: A mysterious package from Jayne's past will change the course of his future.
Notes: Another AU. This time, I didn't kill the crew. :D Everything is pretty much the same except River and Simon aren't on board the ship. At least, not right away. Also, this chapter will probably leave you with more questions than answers. Sorry about that. *doesn't look too sorry*

Read the previous chapter here

CHAPTER TWO

"Hey, get the hell back here, Cobb!"

"We ain't finished with you, yet!"

Sobbing, Jayne stumbled through the brush, raising one arm to keep tree branches from poking his eyes out. The sounds of the bigger boys' voices were starting to fade the further he got in to the woods. Why'd his Ma have to give him a girl's name, anyway? She'd said he'd grow into it but a name wasn't supposed to be like a pair of pants; it was supposed to be your name.

Jayne stopped running when he reached a clearing near a little stream. Gratefully, he sank down under one of the trees and cried tiredly into his hands.

"Don't cry."

Terrified that the bullies had followed him, Jayne spun around and held up his fists. The little girl who had come up behind him stumbled back a few paces, wide eyed. She looked kind of familiar, long curly dark hair pulled back with a black velvet ribbon, her big brown eyes wide with alarm.

"Who the hell're you?" Jayne growled.

"I'm River Tam," the girl said tentatively. "I'm in your class."

He looked her over and snorted. "Yeah? How'd you get into third grade when you look like you're my brother's age? He's five."

"I'm six. They put me up two grades because I'm very smart." She took a hesitant step forward. "Those boys shouldn't be allowed to make you cry."

"I wasn't cryin'," he snapped, wiping angrily at the tears still trickling down his cheeks. "Mind your own beeswax, girl!"

"My name's River," she replied with a frown. She reached into the pocket of her black and white checked skirt and pulled out a little hankie. "Would you like to use this? It's a little damp because I had need of it myself today."

Jayne looked at the hankie disgustedly but his nose was dripping so he accepted it, noting the RT stitched into the fabric with pale pink thread. He blew his nose soundly and handed the handkerchief back, feeling a spark of admiration when she folded it up and put it back into her pocket without making any prissy faces. Most girls got all bent out of shape over a bit of snot.

"Why'd you need your hankerchee?" Jayne asked curiously.

River tugged on one of her curls, inspecting the ends to avoid looking at him. "The girls were mean to me."

"Why?" Jayne looked her over, baffled. She looked like a normal girl, wore pretty clothes, and seemed nice enough.

"I'm strange," River said softly. "My intelligence makes it difficult for me to relate to my peers and no one knows what to make of me. I'm afraid that I'm terribly awkward, socially."

"I don't know what most of that means," Jayne said, confused.

River's face crumbled. "I'm doing it again!"

"Hey, now!" Alarmed, Jayne jumped up and stood by her side. He hadn't meant to make her cry. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean t' upset ya, River." He awkwardly patted her on the back. "I'll try not to do it again."

She hiccoughed out a laugh. "You're not the one upsetting me. It's my own fault."

"If you say so. 'm still sorry, though." Jayne looked around, trying to find a way to cheer her up. "I can walk on my hands."

"Can you?"

"Uh huh. Watch." He moved off a few feet, planted his hands on the ground and kicked his legs up so they were over his head and started walking along carefully on his hands. "Lookit me, I could join the circus!"

River giggled, making him grin. Her laughter made him cocky and he tried walking faster but ended up overbalancing and falling over.

"Are you okay?" She ran to him, looking concerned.

Jayne folded his hand on his stomach and shrugged nonchalantly, though a rock was gouging into his back something awful. "'m fine."

"Well, that was very impressive, maybe one day you can teach me." River tilted her head to the side. "What's your name?"

A dark look crossed Jayne's face. "I don't want you to start in on me, too."

"I won't make fun of you!" River exclaimed. "You have my word as a Tam that I will not even so much as smile."

"It's Jayne Cobb," he muttered and looked up at her through the unruly curls hanging in his eyes.

"Jayne," she repeated, as if testing it out. "I like it. It's unique. Did you say 'Cobb?'"

He stared at her in amazement. She hadn't even blinked. "Yeah, I'm a Cobb."

"Is your father Elijah Cobb?"

"That's Pa, yeah."

"I've met him!" River smiled brightly. "My father bought the factory he works at. I had to visit there last week and Daddy left me on my own and I was terribly lonely. Your father saw me and made me an origami bird. 'A present for the little lady,' he said. I like him."

Jayne grinned. "He makes lotsa other stuff out of paper, too."

"Does he?" River smiled brightly. "I'd like him to teach me."

"Maybe you could come over some time and he can," Jayne suggested, shrugging.

"Maybe," River agreed. "Do you need help getting up?"

"Naw, I'm fine." Jayne rose to his feet. "Whaddya wanna do now, River? Do ya gotta be goin' home now?"

"No." She shook her head. "Would you like to play?"

"Sure. Here, we can play hacky with this pinecone here, you know how to play?"

River frowned at the pinecone. "I'm not very good at physical games."

"Oh." He dropped the pinecone. "What, then?"

"Could we play pretend?"

Jayne rolled his eyes. "I ain't playin' house with you."

"I don't play house!" River huffed, offended. "I play really fun games with Simon all the time!"

"Who's Simon?"

"My big brother."

"Simon... Oh, Simon Tam!" Jayne snapped his fingers. "I saw him in church! He's that prissy kid in the vest that- Hey, where ya goin'?"

Rage had flared up in River's eyes and she'd started to march away. "If you're going to make fun of my brother, I don't wish to play with you."

"I wasn't makin' fun!" Jayne protested. "I was just sayin' that... hey, c'mon, I thought we were friends!"

"Not if you're going to be mean to my brother," she said, stubbornly. "He takes care of me, like a third parent. Only... don't tell anyone, all right?" She stepped closer to him and whispered in his ear as if there were spies in the woods. "I like him better than our parents."

"I won't tell no one," Jayne promised. "So what pretend game do ya wanna play?"

River gave him a look. "Are you going to tease Simon?"

"No, I won't. Now what game? It's gonna get dark soon, ya know."

"Hmm." She thought about it a moment. "How about we search for the holy grail?"

"Why would we do that?" Jayne asked.

"Because that's the game," River said, patiently.

"Oh. Well... okay. What do we do?"

River picked up a stick off the ground. "Here's your sword. Just follow my lead."

Swords? Sounded like a fun enough game. And it was. River and Jayne ran all over the clearing for two hours, battling enemy armies, dragons, evil fairies, and trolls on their quest for the holy grail.

In the middle of taming a wild unicorn, River pushed up the sleeve of her white blouse to look at her wrist watch. "Ohhh, it's late. I have to go home for dinner, Jayne."

Jayne paused and looked up at the sky. The sun had dipped lower on the horizon, unnoticed. His stomach rumbled but he still felt reluctant to leave the game behind.

"Uh, could we play here again tomorrow?" Jayne asked, feeling almost shy.

River smiled at him and nodded. "Yes. I'd like that."

"Me, too." Jayne stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So, uh, after school, do you wanna meet me out here or should we walk out together?"

"If you're embarrassed to be seen with me, I understand," River said, worrying the hem of her skirt. "It's fine if we meet out here."

"Oh! No, I just meant... that maybe you shouldn't be seen with me in case those guys that gave me a hard time start in on you, too."

"They don't scare me," River said, sticking out her chin.

Jayne grinned. "Naw, they wouldn't, would they? C'mon, I'll walk ya out of here." He parted the branches for her and they tromped through the woods in silence until they emerged from the tangle of growth, standing in the grassy lawn next to their school.

"Well, see ya," Jayne said, shuffling homewards.

"See you tomorrow, Jayne. Thank you for playing with me!" River dashed off, worried about being late for dinner.

Jayne made it two steps before he turned to watch her go.

< Chapter One : Chapter Three - coming soon