| Two By Two Hands of Blue by Thursday Next |
| Chapter #6 - Chapter 6: The Job |
| Chapter 6: The Job Spike felt a stab of fear when he saw Buffy stepping off of Serenity into the sunlight, where he could not follow. He had become so used to being close to her, fighting alongside her, that he didn’t want to let her fight alone. But she’s not alone, he reflected, she’s with Mal. And Zoe and Jayne, of course, but somehow his mind concentrated on the Captain. He was just Buffy’s type. Big and stupid like Angel or Riley. Spike punched the side of the ship in frustration. “Careful,” he turned to see Inara regarding him coolly. “Mal won’t be happy if you damage her.” “Who?” Spike said, perplexed. “Serenity,” she said, as if it were obvious. Spike hadn’t thought about the idea of ships being a ‘she’ applying to spaceships, although he supposed it must do. “As long as he keeps his hands off what’s mine, I’ll keep my hands off his precious ship,” he muttered. “What’s yours?” Inara enquired lightly. “ ‘s nothing,” Spike said, “Forget it.” But Inara was staring out after where Buffy had ridden off with Mal and the others and she pressed her lips together tightly. It was bloody stupid, Spike reproached himself. One minute regretting that she was emotionally closed off, the next thinking she was going to jump the bones of some guy she’d just met. It was nonsense. She wouldn’t. But regardless of what she would or wouldn’t do, Spike worried about how she might feel. Someday she’ll tell you, the girls had said. But what if they were wrong? What if there was nothing to tell? Spike went back inside sadly. Inara stood still and waited for her escort to arrive to take her to where her client was waiting. She would not let the suspicions Spike’s words had stirred in her breast take root. She had a job to concentrate on. Inwardly, she cursed Malcolm Reynolds for making that job harder and harder to do. *** Buffy ducked down as the shots rang out on the roof. She was not a fan of guns, even less so after what had happened the year before with Warren, but she had to admire the crew of Serenity’s skill in handling their chosen weapons. Zoë especially. Buffy thought that Zoë would have made a good Slayer. She was tough. But then, she was also married, Buffy remembered. No good could come of Slayers forming attachments like that. She scowled darkly as she remembered the reason she was here, the situation that faced the potentials back home. She thought also of Nikki Wood. Having attachments couldn’t help you, if you were a Slayer, they could only make you weaker. “Buffy, watch out!” Mal shouted down to her. Buffy looked up. Two armed men were coming towards her. They grinned at each other, probably considering her an easy target. Buffy smiled to herself as she waited for them to come closer. Boy were they in for a shock. A flying kick to the head took out the first. In the confusion, she managed to overpower the other one, whacking him over the head with his own gun, before snapping it in half over her knee. “That all you got?” she grinned up at Mal who had started down to help her. Mal whistled. “Remind me not to get on your bad side,” he said, surveying the unconscious bodies of the two assailants. “She broke the gun!” Jayne wailed, peering over Mal’s shoulder. *** The returning adventurers rolled in grinning and patting each other on the back. “Good robbery, honey?” Wash asked his wife, kissing her on the cheek in greeting. “I’ll say,” Jayne answered for her, “I ain’t never seen so much gold!” “Gold?” Inara’s voice was cool and disapproving, “You stole gold? After what happened last time?” “It’s all taken care of, ‘Nara, don’t worry,” Zoe assured her. Mal was not so polite. “I hope your assignment was as successful as ours, ambassador,” he said, with mock politeness. “Quite, thank you,” she replied, calmly. “Matters concluded to the…satisfaction of all parties concerned?” “Indeed.” Stepping out onto the balcony beside her, Spike noticed the thinning of Inara’s lips as she addressed the captain. “What is it you do?” Buffy asked Inara innocently, intrigued by the conversation. “She’s a courtesan,” Mal answered for her, “A whore. Ain’t that right, Inara?” He looked up at her but she didn’t dignify his sneering with a response. Turning back to Buffy, Mal threw a comradely arm around her shoulders. “How about little Buffy here, though, Zo?” he said, “Took care of those two guys like a pro, didn’t stand a chance.” “What about you and Zoë on the roof? Now that was impressive,” Buffy said, smiling at Mal as he led her into the ship, followed by Zoë, Jayne and Wash. Spike and Inara were left behind in the hold. Spike reached into his coat pocket and took out a cigarette. “You want one?” he offered the courtesan. She shook her head. “I don’t. But thanks for the offer.” She smiled a grim smile. “Looks like your friend’s made quite an impression on Mal. He’s rarely that gregarious,” Inara observed. Spike’s face darkened into a scowl. “Something gives me the impression that you’re no more pleased about their mutual admiration than I am,” he said, observing the woman’s face closely. “What would make you think that?” she asked in her polished voice. “Mal told you…in his own, oh so polite way, I’m a companion. I don’t have those sorts of attachments.” “You don’t or you’re not supposed to? ‘Cause there’s a world of difference from where I’m standing.” Inara was rattled. How was this stranger able to read her feelings so well? Perhaps she had not been hiding them as well as she ought to have been. It had been difficult, with Mal’s increasingly annoying behaviour towards her. Especially since the arrival of Buffy. “Tell me…what is it between you and her?” she asked, wanting to know more about the mysterious strangers who had been brought aboard Serenity. The young, blonde man took a drag of his cigarette and sighed deeply. “Everything,” he said simply, “To me, anyway. To her? I don’t know. We were…together. But it was never love. Not for her. It was always love for me. And now…we just dance around each other in some kind of hideous dance, no words, no touching…” “I see,” Inara said. And she did. For what else was it between her and Mal but the same hideous dance, emotions masked, held at a distance. “And what is it between you and the captain?” Spike asked, boldly. “Nothing,” she said, mirroring Spike’s simple answer, “Nothing at all.” It wasn’t exactly true, but then it wasn’t untrue either. Spike understood. They stood together in the silence of mutual sympathy, the only movement the wisps of smoke which blew from Spike’s cigarette. |