Title: Christmas Cargo

Summary: The latest cargo is a bunch of Christmas trees, but that doesn't necessarily mean holiday cheer for the crew of Serenity.

Characters: Mal, Kaylee, Jayne, crew

Rating: PG

Spoilers/Timeline: pre-Serenity

Word Count: 9,900

Kaylee was quite certain that nothing was better than Christmas. Except for sex. Preferably with Simon, but seeing as how she hadn't had sex with Simon yet, she was only just guessing. So when the Captain mentioned Christmas trees as he sat down at the supper table, Kaylee could hardly sit still. The rest of the crew gave the Captain a hard time, but Kaylee thought the idea was shiny.

"Where's the money in that?" Jayne asked. "The ones I got for my ma didn't cost nothin' but the sweat it took to chop 'em down and haul them to the house."

"You'd be surprised," Inara said. "On Sihnon, a good tree would go for over 500 credits."

"For a tree? Don't make no sense," Jayne said, with his mouth full of food.

"Which is why you ain't in charge of this boat, Jayne," Mal said.

"Who's the buyer?" Zoe asked.

"Badger."

River looked up from her supper. "To harass or pester persistently."

Kaylee wasn't sure if River was referring to Badger or the food she kept poking at on her plate.

Zoe arched an eyebrow. "After what happened on our last trip to Persephone, I didn't think we'd be payin’ Badger a visit for some time, sir."

"Money's good." Mal shrugged. "Apparently, Badger is a mite taken with River. Don't rightly know what went on while I was out dueling, but he took a shine to our crazy little vixen. He's eager to catch a glimpse of her again."

"River is not about to have any contact with those men," Simon said. He put down his fork and looked ready for a fight.

Jayne's foot tapped at Kaylee's under the table. She could just make out the smirk curling the corners of his mouth.

Simon had a protective streak. Kaylee thought it was sweet. She wasn't about to give a second thought to any of the notio