Story: Awareness
Chapter: Notice You (1/3)
Author: ILB (an_ardent_rain)
Character(s)/Pairing: River/Jayne
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine!

-Author Notes: Written for my Rayne Valentine's Challenge as a gift for Alsunwunderland. This is chapter one of three. Enjoy, everyone!

Awareness

A volley of bullets chased them into the little, run-down shack.

"They still comin'?"

River emptied her gun into the crowd of men rushing towards them. Six fell, instantly dead, and the others scattered for cover. She ducked back into the shack, her empty gun at her side. "Yes."

Jayne cursed, slamming back against the thin, dirty wall. "Damn. An' we're out o' all ruttin' ammo. Weren't expectin' no trouble; they caught us with our pants down."

"Chance of safe escape is slim." She peered out the wooden doorway, ducking quickly back in when two bullets whizzed towards her. "They grow impatient. Will not wait for long. We must exit and – "

"You think they ain't already circlin'? We best hide 'til Mal gets here to bail our asses out. I c'n knife one or two o' them, an' you got them crazy killer-woman skills, but with this many there ain't no way we're gettin' out o' this whole."

"You do not wish to fight?" She scowled at him, tossing her head in irritation.

"Hell, girl, ain't got nothin' to do with wantin' to fight. It's jus' 'bout wantin' to be able to fight again sometime. Ta ma de, you ain't got a lick o' sense, do ya?"

There was shouting from outside and River knew that the men would soon be coming in after them. "You overestimate them." Jayne frowned deeply, but she cut him off before he could protest. "But, ape-man, you are also correct. They have deduced our ammunitions have depleted and they will soon launch an attack. We must find better cover."

"Uh… right." Jayne turned and looked around; the building had only three small rooms, though – if the other two were the same as the first – they were all filled with old, broken clutter. "So we – "

"Hey!"

Jayne and River exchanged a nervous look. The heard the rattle of a chain behind them and both knew that the gang of men was trying to come in through the back.

"We know you're in there!" one man called loudly. "So you best come out now an' we won't blow your ruttin' brains out."

"They could 'a' already got away, Tom," another voice said. "There's trees right behind here; what if they already – "

"Bi zui! And if'n you're so gorram worried 'bout them bein' in those woods, why don't you go check 'em out yourself?"

"W-well, I don't know, maybe I – "

"Go! You think that was just a suggestion?"

The other voice didn't respond and the two inside assumed he'd gone off into the forest to search for them. The door rattled again. "I'm 'bout three seconds from stoppin' this bein' nice go se an' jus' kickin' this gorram door in. Y'all best come out!"

With a finger over his lips, Jayne moved stealthily over to his left. He gestured over towards an open doorway; there were no windows in that room. It was the safest place to hide. They moved as quietly as they could, heavy boots making almost no noise as they stepped across the hard, dirt floor.

But before they'd more than stepped into the dark, cramped room, they heard the loud crack of splintering wood and the bang of the door as it fell in pieces to the ground.

Jayne's anxiety spiked and with a cold rush of concern he grabbed River and dragged her like a ragdoll down behind a stack of crates.

"Shh!" he whispered, covering her mouth with his hand. "Quiet. An' don't move."

River frowned behind his hand. Footsteps were drawing closer; Jayne backed further up against the wall, pulling River back with him until she was pressed up tight against his chest. The arm that had been pulling her snaked its way around her waist and he pulled her back just that much closer.

They sat there for several long-drawn out seconds, waiting for the man to either find them or leave. River's irritation waned the longer they sat there; she'd been furious with his behavior, with the way he'd taken over total control of the situation and treated her as nothing more than some dainty little thing to be tossed about. But the more time, seconds passing like minutes there in the dark, she spent with her back pressed against his chest, caged by two powerful arms, surrounded by his warm, masculine energy…

Her irritation was gone. And her focus was quickly shifting from the man searching for them to the man with his body molded to hers.

It was Jayne. She knew this; she could smell the familiar scent of the flaky, gray detergent they all used on their clothes, could smell the spicy hints of sweat that always clung to him after a heavy bout of exercise or a tough job. But any individual traits paled, forgotten when compared to the dark, heady pulse of warm, virile maleness all around her. It was intoxicating. And all she could think about was how good it would feel, how good it would feel if… If what she did not know. She did not know what she suddenly wanted. But she knew that she wanted it.

The footsteps were even closer and she could feel the thump, thump of Jayne's heart behind her. He shifted his body to the left a little, even further out of sight. It made her whole body heat up and she could hardly keep her breath low and even. There was a man behind her and she was a woman; she had never felt so feminine in all her life, had never been so aware before, had never realized that Jayne was so very, very male. Her lower body felt heavy and her thighs were weighted down with some strange new feeling.

The footsteps were even nearer and through her fog she could hear the distant, distant thoughts of their hunter and knew that he'd reached their room at last.

"Okay," Jayne whispered, pulling her head further back towards his. She could feel his breath and the light, light brush of his goatee against her skin. It made something inside her throb. He was moving his lips more than talking, trying to reach her mind, his thoughts loud and directed. "Soon as he's near, I'm stabbin' him. Want you t'grab his gun an' finish him off."

She nodded, only barely able to comprehend what he was saying. She wondered if it would be too inappropriate to reach out with her tongue and just taste the hand covering her mouth.

As the man drew closer, Jayne's whole body seized tight, humming with adrenaline. River's head swam and she felt totally under his control. If he asked her to do anything she would; and she wanted him to ask, to demand that burning, erotic something that she didn't dare put a name to.

It struck her suddenly that she was painfully - painfully - aroused; and even with the shock of knowing that Jayne had caused that feeling, there was such latent expectation of pleasure there that she couldn't help but wish the feeling could be released.

The man had reached their hiding spot. Jayne's hand moved and gently – and so reluctantly – she eased away from him, her knee brushing the inside of his thigh. She would have given both her arms – or maybe Simon's legs - for it to have been able to stay there.

The next second the man was peering around; before his eyes had even transmitted the sight of them to his brain River's leg swung out and caught the bottom of his jaw. Jayne had only just drawn his knife when she'd spun out and kicked him hard in the abdomen, knocking him to a wheezing mass on the ground. She grabbed the gun from his hand and shot him in the temple.

Slowly, Jayne took a step forward. River stood there above the dead man, panting, her eyes alight with some wild fire.

"Hot damn," he said, letting out a low whistle. "Knew you had it in you, girl, but I sure weren't expectin' to see it." He grinned, bending down to snatch the man's other gun from its holster. River stared unashamedly.

"Spoils of war?"

Jayne nodded, looking discerningly at the new addition to his already large collection. "Hell yeah. This ain't bad – ain't bad at all." He checked the safety and then stuck the gun behind him into the waist of his pants. "A'ight, ni zi, your new piece loaded?"

"Yes." She stared down at the ground, refusing to look up at him lest he reignite the feelings that had just simmered down into only vague wisps of warmth threaded through her. "With our new fangs his compatriots will not stand a chance." She felt a flinch briefly at the thought of killing the man, but if she had not then he would have killed them.

"Tha's right. Let's go make that hun dan's boys wish they never even looked at us."

They stormed back out the front, guns blazing. The men were no match for them and as soon as the dust settled Jayne and River stood proudly on the field of battle, all their enemies dispatched – either dead or bleeding.

"Gorram," Jayne said, slipping his shades over his eyes. He was still high on adrenaline, radiating a warm, full feeling at the safe escape and the completion of a job. All they needed was to go pick up the goods from the men's headquarters a few blocks away. The merc grinned. "Pretty good ruttin' day to be alive."

Looking at the sun gleaming on his warm, brown skin, handsome features highlighted in the light, River couldn't help but agree.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you enjoyed it. And don't forget to review - feedback is always greatly appreciated!