Title: Breaking Stasis

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: My first firefly fic and my first fic in a looooooooooong time! Constructive criticism appreciated and reviews welcomed!

Jayne woke to the klaxons blaring through the ship and was so startled he almost fell out of his bunk. His hand went immediately to Lux who had been laid carefully at the small table by his head and he sat up trying to shake off the fog and grogginess of sleep. The alarm continued to bellow and it was enough to remind him that he needed to get moving, and fast. It wasn't the automated Mandarin and English recorded spiel which meant that someone had hit the actual big red alarm button on the bridge. The you-are-so-humped-no-seriously-the-shit-has-hit-the-fucking-fan-put-your head-between-your-knees-and-kiss-your-ass-goodbye big red alarm button. Jayne had only heard it once before when the ship he had been on had been boarded by pirates – well, other pirates anyway.

Cursing a blue streak under his breath Jayne got to his feet and immediately started weaponing up, thankful he had decided to sleep in his clothes last night. He had a bad feeling about this job from the start, ever since Roscoe had pitched it to him on that space station. He had pulled a string of jobs with Roscoe a couple years back and had a lot of respect for the man. Roscoe was a mean shot, a fun drunk, and about as loyal as they came out here in the black. Unfortunately, the man also had about the same sense of self-preservation as a bucket of piss. Coming from Jayne that meant a lot, but a man didn't get to be as old as he was in his trade without at least a shred of risk aversion. Roscoe had none. High risk and high reward. Jayne had thought he had put those days behind him, but when Roscoe had approached him all he could see was the money that this job promised. "Got stupid, you gorram dumbass," he muttered to himself as he slung Vera onto his back. He was wasting precious seconds strapping on his guns, but if they really were boarded odds were he would have to shoot his way out of it. As an afterthought he picked up his big, heavy coat, the only other piece of clothing he'd brought with him, and tied it around his waist. Luck favored the prepared.

Stepping to the door of his bunk he listened intently for a couple of minutes. Couldn't hear a thing, which probably meant the hundans were on the other end of the ship and had boarded through the main hatch underneath the cockpit and not through the cargo bay. Course it was hard to hear anything through about four inches of solid steel, too. He gritted his teeth and slapped the disengage on the lock to his bunk, sending a silent prayer to whatever God would take him. With entirely too much noise the door opened and Jayne could now hear the sound of gun shots far down the crew hall by the cockpit, punctured by the occasional yell and scream. Without even realizing it he let out the breath he had been holding. Gunfire and shouts he could take; blind panic and cries of terror were another thing. That meant no Reavers then.

If they weren't Reavers then Jayne would bet all of his credits that it was Alliance. Roscoe had warrants out for him on most of the planets in the system and unlike Jayne didn't just stick to the Rim. This latest job had taken them right to Ariel, right to the center of the Core planets. Someone must've recognized them on the job and turned them in to the Feds. Daxiang baozhashi de la duzi! When the money was too good he always got stupid. He should've stayed with his last crew. Had his own bunk and everything, plus 10%. He'd only been with them for a couple of months before he had left to join up with Roscoe, but it had been enough to know that it was a shiny gig. Full run of the kitchen and no one trying to shoot him in the back. Well, if wishes were horses. He grunted to himself and cautiously sidestepped into the hallway, bringing Lux up as he moved.

For the first time on the whole job he was glad he was in the last crew bunk. As a last minute addition to the crew Jayne had gotten the bunk furthest from the kitchen and the head, which meant he was also closest to the cargo bay and the escape pods. If he could just get to the escape pods he would be home free. He'd never flown one before, but he knew they were close to Persephone when he'd gone to bed. With a little luck he could pilot that baby down to the planet. Hell, anything was better than sitting here waiting for some damn soldier to cure him of his indecision. He'd rather burn up in atmo then get caught by the Feds.

Walking backwards he kept his gun at the ready and his eyes on the entrance to the crew hallway far down the end of the ship. When he could finally turn a corner and get something between himself and those that were real keen on shooting him he turned on his heel and ran the rest of the way to the blessedly empty cargo bay. Charging through the bay he had almost reached the doors of the escape pod before something caught his eye and he jerked to a halt.

That gorram silver box. That gorram silver box that had been the whole reason they had stopped on Ariel, the whole reason Jayne had been hired on. Roscoe was making cashy money delivering this box and he had wanted someone with him who could keep his mouth shut. Apparently his own men had a bad habit of running their mouths and Roscoe had wanted this one played close to the vest. Roscoe had been paid half his take just to pick up this box on Ariel with the other half coming to him upon delivery in Boros. Even Jayne didn't know where the drop was on Boros, but he knew that was their eventual destination. Stopping off at Persephone was just a distraction, a way to throw anyone who happened to be following off of their scent. Guess it hadn't worked to well.

Jayne stopped in front of the box, running his fingers along the controls on the bottom. The shooting and shouts could still be heard echoing down the hallway; Roscoe was as good as dead at this point. If he weren't dead already, Jayne reasoned to himself. No reason to leave something so valuable here just for the damn Feds to get their grubby hands on. Too bad the box was so damn heavy. Jayne had helped to carry it on board and stow it away; he knew he'd never be able to drag the entire thing over to the pod in time. He was going to have to open the thing up.

His eyes lit up as he fiddled with the controls trying to find the right combination to open the stubborn thing. Soon as they picked up the cargo he had been constantly wondering what was in there. Discretion was standard protocol as a merc, but it didn't mean he stopped being curious. Whatever was in there was worth a lot of credits. Could be anything. Could be gems and gold bars (thought it hadn't really been that heavy), could be some kind of high tech electronic go se that the Core folk were so dependent on. But Jayne was really hoping it was some kind of weapon. Some new gun, maybe, that could rival Vera. Military was doing all kinds of flashy things with grenades now too; what he wouldn't give to get his hands on a couple dozen. Hell, he'd just read an article in one of his gun mags about a new rocket launcher that was still in the development stage. Now that would be all manner of shiny.

The box made a sudden noise and seemed to shake a little, like it was releasing pressure. Jayne lifted the handle to raise the lid of the box off. A waft of cloudy air rose up and he turned his head slightly as a sour, acidic scent hit his nostrils. With one final shove he managed to take the entire top of the box off and leaned in through the haze to finally see inside.

Huh.

It was a girl. She was all curled like a baby and naked as one too, looking for all the world like she was sound asleep. But something clicked in the back of Jayne's mind; he'd seen this before. This was a damn cryo box. She was the cargo.

Shensheng de gaowan if this wasn't even better than a rocket launcher! He looked down appreciatively as the cloud cleared and he was able to see her better. Long brown hair, longer legs, and a pretty pair of tits half hidden by her curled arms. She was young then, but definitely a woman.

The gun fire was definitely getting closer. Those Feds must've had a real grudge against Roscoe if they were tearing apart the whole ship like this. Recognizing he was losing precious time he began to reach down into the box to grab her arm and pull her out.

Like a shot her head sprang up, her long hair whipping behind her as she stared around the bay with unseeing eyes. She screamed, panic and terror reverberating through the entire hold like some kind of giant bell. One more good yell like that and she'd have the Alliance around their ears in no time. The girl was shivering something fierce and Jayne stepped back with a start as she started to pull herself out of the box and tumbled to the floor. Her shaking hadn't stopped and she curled up on the floor against the edge of the box, just has she had inside of it.

Jayne had seen people come out of cryo before and even though he had known what to expect she had certainly given him a shock. She seemed to be taking it harder than most and he couldn't help but appreciate what all the shaking was doing to certain portions of her anatomy. He bent down to her level and grabbed her shoulders to steady her. There was no time for him to be gawking and sure as hell no time for her to be having some kind of hissy fit. As soon as he touched her skin, even real lightly, her head snapped up and she started on that screaming again, shrieking like he was cutting on her or something. He took one hand off of her shoulder to cover her mouth as fast as he could to muffle her. She still screamed around his hand, but she didn't even struggle. Her eyes had finally started to focus and she looked up at Jayne with complete and utter fear. Made him a mite uncomfortable to see a girl looking at him like that. He was plenty used to seeing that expression on men's faces before he shot them or robbed them blind. Hell, he even liked seeing it. Meant he was in control, that he was on top. But this was something else entirely.

"Ta ma de, girlie, can't keep hollering like that," he hissed to her through gritted teeth.

She didn't say nothing back, just stared at him with those wide brown eyes that kind of trembled. Finally stopped yelling though, at least.

"Listen, I ain't gonna hurt you or nothing. Just trying to get us off this ship. You understanding me?"

She nodded hesitantly. It was a little eerie; Jayne kind of got the notion that she was seeing right through him.

"If I let go of you, you ain't gonna scream. Right, girlie? There are some real bad men after us and we need to be quiet. Dong ma?"

She nodded again, just a little calmer this time. Hesitantly Jayne moved his hand away from her mouth in case she decided to change her mind or had just been fooling him. Her eyes searched his face and she whispered, "Simon?"

Shaking his head he placed both of his hands on her shoulders again. "Nope, I ain't Simon. Name's Jayne. I'm gonna get us out of here, okay?"

"Bad men chasing us. So close, too close." She turned her head around to glance at the hallway he'd come out of just a few minutes before.

"That's right." She was still shivering real hard and her skin was like ice. Untying the coat from around his waist he put it around her shoulders. She started a little at the extra weight then put her arms through the sleeves as she seemed to remember what it was for.

"Jayne," she breathed. With a trembling hand she reached out to touch his face. "River. I'm River."

"Well, River. It's time we get a move on." He took a hold of her hand that was still lingering on his goatee and used it to pull her to her feet as he stood. The coat swamped her figure and he couldn't help but feel a passing touch of regret that he couldn't see any of that creamy skin anymore. He grabbed her by the upper arm and half dragged her the last couple of steps to the escape pods when she didn't seem inclined to move on her own. Palming the control panel the door slid open with a loud hiss and he gave the girl a little push to move her in before him.

"Stop right there! By the authority of the Alliance you are under arrest. Place both hands in the air immediately!"

Damn it! He swung round to close the door behind him when a great wall of air sailed through the hatch of the pod, throwing him off his feet. "Fucking sonics," was his last clear thought as he heard the door shut in front of him and he was flung onto the console of the escape pod, hitting his head with a crack against the metal frame and blacking out in an instant.

hundan: bastard

Daxiang baozhashi de la duzi: the explosive diarrhea of an elephant

gose: crap

Shensheng de gaowan: Holy Testicle Tuesday

ta ma de: mother fucker

dong ma: understand?