Red Run 6: Fightin’

Serenity, Firefly, and any mention of the ‘Verse associated with them is entirely the property of the storytelling genius Joss Whedon, and also the property of the evil, vapid Fox Corporation. This fanfic is not for reproduction nor for sale. It is freely distributed as an effort of appreciation.

19 hours out from Ita Moon

Jayne turned and looked at Zoë. “Huh?” he asked.

“I said, ‘now’.” Zoë whispered urgently.

“Oh yeah. Right.” Jayne pushed his chair back from the table. He hitched up his pants. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy. The risk had grown substantially in the last few minutes, given the nature of the confrontation before him. In fact, unbelievably risky. “Who’d a thought Mal was knockin’ River around?” Jayne thought to himself. Nevertheless, Jayne had given his word, and now he had to cover.

Kaylee looked up at him. “Be careful.”

Inara echoed her, with variation. “Yes, do be careful. And thank you, Jayne.”

Jayne responded gruffly without looking at her, his mind occupied with survival. “Yeah…no problem.”

He wasn’t sure how he was gonna pull this off.

The direct approach offered some temptation. Just make his move and be done. ‘Course there were a lotta pitfalls to barrelin’ straight in on somethin’ like this. Maybe a side on approach would be better. If he split the room on the left side, there was a chance of coming in behind Simon and---but gorramit,…River was standing more to that direction. Be like trying to sneak up on a radar unit. Simon’d miss him sure, but River never would.

That left Mal’s side.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t as much area to maneuver on Mal’s side of the room as there was on River and Simon’s side. He’d damn near have to brush Mal’s right sleeve to pass him. The odds of doing that undetected were impossible, although by this time he’d settle for simply being ignored. Done right, he could be in position, carry out his mission, and be back before any of the combatants took note. Tough enough before, but