trans_9 | The Battle That Ended The Century

It's comforting enough, a good reminder that everything will turn around for the better soon enough. They always did, even when it felt like you were about to crash and burn. Another valuable life lesson, that, even if some people did tend to look down on Kaylee for keeping on with the optimism. It certainly wasn't lost on Jamie.

With the realization that there's not to much to be done about his leg just yet setting in, Kaylee settles back with a small huff. It isn't until Jamie expresses his gratitude that her smile comes back. "Glad I found you, too. Gives me a good bit of company, if nothin' else."

As for time...Kaylee stares up at the hatch for a moment before getting to her feet. She stands directly under the open hatch, listening, and when she doesn't hear much in the way of noise she cautiously climbs up the short ladder and peers out. "Everythin' looks pretty quiet for now," she says back down to Jamie. No sounds that shouldn't be there, no moving shadows. Even so, she feels a whole lot better once her head is safe inside the tank again. Been around Jayne too long to know how good a person's aim can be. "We should be alright for a bit."

"Aye, I'm grand company," Jamie mutters to himself while Kaylee's up checking the hatch. He glowers at his leg for a moment, but is just too tired to work up a good bout of complaining - for now.

At least it seems like they'll get a chance to decompress a little - and that is a relief. He nods as she comes back, then carefully shifts his leg into a slightly better position, wincing a little as he does so.

Now that they're here, and safe, for the moment, what to talk about? He could ask her what happened with her nightmare, but then he'd have to talk about his, and that would lead back to Evil Billy. And he really isn't sure he wants to do that until he's had a chance to fix things with his friend.

Instead he asks, "What do ye want to do, once this is all over? Besides sleep, that is." Because he's pretty sure sleep is going to pretty much be the number one option for most - if not all - of the crew should they get through this.

"You're shiny company," Kaylee assures him. She's shared a boat with Jayne for how long? Those little mutters get easier and easier to catch when you've got to listen to a mercenary mumble under his breath about the captain every day.

If there's one thing to be said about the tank, it's that it isn't exactly uncomfortable. There's enough room to stretch out some, especially given that it's just the two of them sharing the space, and that makes all the difference between hiding cramped and cranky and hiding with somewhat less irritable tank-mates.

An answer to Jamie's question takes some thinking. There are plenty of options to that list, some of which Kaylee would like to experiment with sooner rather than later, but mixed company and all. Response isn't delayed so much by thinking up an answer as it is editing that answer to fit the particular situation a bit better.

"'Sides sleep? S'pose there's a lot I wanna do. Get everybody together for another shindig, for one. Think we deserve that much after all this. Got any special plans, yourself?"

There's a 'Hrmph' from Jamie, his face suggesting for a moment that he isn't entirely convinced of that, but the expression clears soon enough.

"I was thinking of doing that wee little bit of Scotland...I mentioned that to ye on the bitty computer, aye?" He's been thinking about it, and 'wee bitty computer' seems a bit redundant for the Omnicoms. It's not that small. So maybe 'bitty computer' works better. He's trying it out to see how it sounds, even though 'Omnicom' is just as easy to say. Jamie does like his own names for things.

"But I had wanted to dance, and, well..." He gestures at his leg. "I don't know if I'm going to or not, I guess."

It doesn't matter if Jamie's convinced of it or not. Kaylee is, and that's plenty enough for evidence that it's the complete truth.

"It could wait til you're healed some, and 'M plenty sure the wait'll make it all that better when we finally get to it. 'Less you wanna do more'n one installment of it." She wouldn't mind that so much, either. The more she can learn about people, the better. If there's more than one Wee Little Bit of Scotland she might get to know that much more about Jamie.

"We can find somethin' else in the meantime, though. 'Wee Little Bit of Whatever We're Feelin' Like This Week.'" Her imitation of Jamie's accent is terrible, and she ends up just giggling at herself. Yep, sticking to Space Drawl.

"Your accent's a wee bit muddled, lass," Jamie says, trying to sound serious - and failing. The amusement in his voice is pretty obvious. "But ye have a point. It can wait, aye?"

Speaking of parties, he's curious about something. "Did ye have something in mind for what type of setting ye want for your shindig?" As turn about is fair play, the last couple of words are done in an approximation of Kaylee's 'Space Drawl'. He's had some practice with imitating accents, and while it's not as dead on as when he does the Doctor, it's not bad. However, it still needs work, so he doesn't maintain it long.

There's a bit of a grin on his face as he adds, "That is, unless it's a secret and ye canna tell me."

"Aye!" And there she goes again. If there is one good thing to be said about the situation, it is that at least they can both keep a decent sense of humor about them. Makes it better for everybody.

She only laughs harder at his attempt at her accent. "Pretty good, that one. Might have to teach ya some Chinese next, see if you can't manage that." It would make for good, quality (or not) entertainment, that's for sure.

There's a pause as she thinks the question over, before she shakes her head. "Don't got any set theme in mind, no. Somethin' enough to lighten up everybody's moods a bit. Good, lighthearted fun. We've been lackin' in it a lot lately. If you've got any ideas, though, I'd be happy to hear 'em out..."

It probably would be rather funnier to Kaylee than it would to him. Jamie has an idea he'd get awfully frustrated with that awfully fast. "Aye, well, maybe," he says. "We can talk about that later."

Whether or not he actually brings up the idea of learning Chinese ever again is debatable. Locations for the shindig are much more palatable, and he turns his attention towards that instead.

"Well, ye could..." He breaks off suddenly and goes quite quiet, motioning for Kaylee do so as well. He picks up his stick and uses it to push himself up so he can hobble over and listen at the hatch.

Kaylee's a decent teacher for it, and patient enough, so it might even be a possible idea, but she'd only really teach him a couple basics. Hello, thank you, all that good stuff. She won't push if it never comes up again, though.

She's all ears, in any case, for his ideas on party themes, and has already stopped her giggling by the moment he starts speaking. It isn't too hard, then, for her to fall completely silent and look at Jamie with mild--alright, so maybe it's a little more than mild--worry.

As Jamie limps forward, Kaylee slides around him to get back to the front of the tank, though she pauses between the driver's seat and the hatch to watch and listen. It's all well that Jamie's down here listening, but if he tries to climb that ladder...well, she doesn't know what she'd do. She's honestly too scared, at this point, to want to stick her head out of the tank to look, but she also doesn't want Jamie hurting himself more.

Cross it when you get to it. For now, wait.

He doesn't try to climb the ladder - he just listens. In the silence, a low hum of a plane can be heard, and the occasional explosion as it drops its payload on targets below. After a few tense moments, the sound fades as the plane takes off in another direction.

Jamie lets out a breath in relief. "I thought that flying beastie might be heading this way." He's very glad to be wrong.

However, the incident has caused him to focus more on their surroundings and the fact that safe is really only a temporary situation, right now. He bites his lip and looks over at Kaylee. "I think we may need to move soon. How much longer do ye think we'll be able to use the tank?"

Kaylee's been in this situation before, ducking around mountains and under ice bergs to get away from the enemy, only to find them trying to bomb you out. She's not sure if it's better to stay put or go, but if they are trying to flush them out...

"Give it a bit, maybe more'n that." They'll be watching and waiting, and suddenly Kaylee's not so sure the tank is the best thing to be keeping around at this point.

She shakes her head. How frustrating. "Dunno how much she's got left--gauge is busted. I could check it from outside, though." If it's worth keeping it, they can. If not, she doesn't know what they're going to do.

Jamie frowns. "I don't know if I like the idea of ye going out there by yourself," he says, eying the ladder. If they're trying to flush them out, there's a possibility that they may also be sending in group troops as well. It's really not safe for her by herself. Question is, can he convince her to let him go, too?

"I'm coming with ye," he says - and yes, there is that hint of that stubbornness in his voice again. Round two of 'Who Can Out-Stubborn The Other' coming up!

Oh, this again. An eyebrow raises, and Kaylee's face hardens some. Of course it wouldn't be as easy as that. Her eyes go down to his leg, then back to his face.

She shakes her head. "Might not like it," she replies, hands on the ladder to head out, "but there ain't a way 'M lettin' you up 'n down this ladder with that leg. If we're leavin' for sure, then yes, but if it's just back 'n forth, you're stayin' put." She's halfway up before he can say any different.

"Look, Kaylee..." But she's already halfway up the ladder. His eyes narrow just a little. Okay, we're going to play it that way. Jamie folds his arms against his chest. "Fine. Ye go, then. I'll stay here." He does not look pleased about this at all.

He hobbles over to the nearest seat. If his leg was better, he'd plunk himself down into it. As it is, he seems to be carefully moving his leg so he can sit without pain. And, for some reason, this seems to be taking him an awful long time. Longer than before.

Unsure of whether or not she's glad he didn't stop her, Kaylee continues up the ladder and out of the tank, ears and eyes open for anything. The outside of the tank isn't so slippery now, and there's only minor stumbling as she gains her footing and makes her way to check the tank.

She's all but positive there has to be someone nearby, and she's as quick as she can in checking before ducking back toward the hatch and trying not to scramble down the ladder. Instead, she calls down to Jamie, "'Bout half full."

Jamie had been keeping an eye on Kaylee as she made her way up the ladder, and continues his "attempt" to sit down until he's sure she's all the way outside.

Once he's certain of that, however, he quickly stands back up and makes his way over to the ladder, fully intending on sneaking his way outside and making sure she's safe. The Doctor has problems keeping Jamie from doing things like this - there's no way Jamie's going to let Kaylee keep him from following.

He's actually managed to make it partway up the ladder itself when Kaylee's face appears in the hatch and Jamie is well and truly caught. Oh well, he thinks, when she starts yelling, at least she doesn't know his middle name. He doesn't think she does, at any rate.

She should have known better, really. Men and their gorram sense of honor. It was nice, really, most times. Kaylee's not exactly a fighter, and there's been more than one occasion where she would have gotten herself into plenty of trouble if somebody else hadn't been there to help.

It doesn't stop her from glaring at Jamie some. "You're s'posed to be sittin'," she says simply. No yelling. Even when she's mad at Mal or Simon, she doesn't yell.

If she did have anything to add, though, it's broken off by shifting rubble not too far off. Kaylee freezes, a panicked look toward the noise, before she slides around to the opposite side of the tank from where it came from. "Might not wanna bother with the tank," she whispers, though she's not sure Jamie can hear her.

Jamie is about to reply when he hears the sounds of rubble as well, and he finishes his climb out of the tank as quickly as possible. He doesn't respond to the whisper, as Kaylee's already moving to hide. Instead, he readies his rifle and very cautiously heads towards where the noise originated. It might be nothing, but better to be sure.

He creeps forward slowly, trying to put as little weight as possible on his bad leg. He's pretty focused, though, and not about to let a little pain slow him down.

Alright, so maybe she would make an exception to her rule and yell at him for this later. What is he even thinking, rushing out like that!? What if there is someone there, and they see that he's injured, and--

--this is not a likable situation. At all.

She's watching carefully out of the corner of her eye as Jamie investigates, but she's also already looking for a back way out, just in case.

Well, if Jamie's dead, there won't be any yelling. But nothing attacks him before he makes it to the rubble and some better cover. The rubble shifts again, and Jamie raises the rifle, ready to pull the trigger if need be.

And...nothing.

The rubble had just shifted of its own accord - possibly from the vibrations from an explosion, possibly just from gravity.

Once satisfied, he heads back towards Kaylee's hiding place. He actually makes it back there in one piece and opens his mouth, about to give her the all clear.

It's then that the sound of footsteps can be heard, and murmured whispers - but not from the same location. These? Happen to be from directly behind them, just past the other side of the rubble.

There are few options for getting out of their hiding place. The way they came in is the most obvious, but there are a couple tunnels leading through the rubble that might be decent if escape is needed.

She's listening into one of these tunnels as Jamie comes back, ready to report. Thankfully, they both hear the voices before either of them speaks and accidentally gives away their location, though Kaylee does shift a little closer to Jamie.

The murmured voices on the other side continue. It's a fairly calm discussion between two young men with British accents - they seem to be debating if they should climb the rubble here to investigate or if they should find a place with better footing.

Jamie takes a moment to touch her shoulder on her good side and give it a little squeeze - as if to say it'll be all right. Then he moves toward the tunnel she was listening at. Like he tends to do, he goes first to defeat any fierce beastie (or, in this case, enemy solider) he may happen across.

The men sound calm, which means they haven't been found out...yet. Either way, they sound like they're planning on getting in sometime, and that doesn't bode well for Kaylee and Jamie if they've got reinforcements waiting out.

She fully intended on following Jamie, if anyone asked later, but ideas were ideas, and if this one could help them get out it was worth a shot. The tank. Kaylee's mind is working a mile a minute, and she's got a plan that just might work, at least in distracting the men away from them. It'll just take a bit of rigging...

Quietly as possible, she creeps back toward the tank. The bottom panel is long gone, thankfully, and she can reach the wires without problem. A few switches (not without a few burned fingers, thanks to the rain and its sharing water), and Kaylee motions for Jamie to go ahead into the tunnel before she shoves the last of the wires together. The tank comes to life with a deafening rumble after such a long silence, and the shouts on the other side of the rubble are immediately. It only takes another fix or two on Kaylee's part to get the tank moving, and then its heading out of the shelter while the mechanic is darting back toward Jamie and the tunnel.

The tunnel is clear, and Jamie enters - but turns back quickly just past the entrance. He'll hold the tunnel until she can reach it. The distraction works like a charm - the British soldiers turn away from the rubble and move so they can try and get something quickly set up to fire at the vehicle.

This leaves the escape route open, and Jamie motions to Kaylee - as if doing so would help her make her way in faster. Once she's in, though, he concentrates on leading them through the tunnel and away from the soldiers.

Once he thinks they're clear, he says, "Och, that was a grand distraction ye came up with, Kaylee."

Thankfully, the tunnel's clear all the way through, and it doesn't take much for them to duck into another broken building, away from the enemy soldiers. Gunfire at the tank begins, but it's lost as they leave the scene behind.

Kaylee is genuinely surprised by Jamie's reaction. Some folks--a lot of folks--would have yelled at her for it, and she fully expected a tongue lashing. That he's complimenting her, though, well she really can't hide how pleased she is by it. "If it gives us a better chance at gettin' away..." She is a bit disappointed at the loss of the tank, though.

The Battle That Ended The Century

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