Never Runs Smooth 4.5
Title: Never Runs Smooth 4.5 Part 2
Author:
terimaru
Rating: PG 13
Pairing: Mal/Inara
A/N: This fic introduces a new character on Paraiso, Ethan Morrell. Special thanks to
homespunfic and
quillscribe for their excellent beta work. Any goofs are mine. Thanks gals!
Zöe had just settled and tilted the straight-backed chair onto its back legs when a door across the street opened and emitted a man. That itself wasn’t surprising, but the fact that he looked straight at her, and started in her direction, made the hair on the nape of her neck stand up.
She toggled her com to standby in case she needed to get Jayne in a hurry and flipped the leather catch off of her holster. She was glad Jayne had insisted she keep the rifle he’d brought her. Her own rifle’s sawed-down stock made it difficult to use the sights for long-range targeting, and was designed for closer combat. If there were any shooters on the rooftops, Jayne’s gun would be far more helpful.
Zöe’s spine stiffened as the stranger crossed the dirt-packed street, obviously headed toward her and the clinic. She eased the chair down to all four legs with a soft thud, moving her hand a little closer to the trigger of the rifle that rested across her lap.
She sized him up swiftly; tall, early thirties, lanky, dressed like a local, not packing that she could see, unless he had a firearm in the book he was carrying, and fairly handsome in a rough sort of way. Her eyes met his boldly, having the advantage of the shaded porch. He stopped, one foot on the bottom step, eyes narrowed against the glare of the suns.
“Would you be Mrs. Reynolds?” His voice had a little polish to it, she thought. Local, but educated. Teacher, maybe.
“Not for a million in platinum,” she assured him, her voice pleasant enough, but cool. At the mention of Mal, her fingers slid smoothly to the hammer of the rifle where she could cock it in a matter of seconds.
“Perhaps you could point me in her direction?” he asked, noting her movements and the rifle. He stood very still.
“Perhaps you could state your business.”
“My name is Ethan Morrell. Abel Stoddard asked me to come by.”
Everyone in Paraiso knew of Serenity and her crew. Though Ethan had missed meeting them on most of their runs, he speculated that if this wasn’t the wife, this must be the second in command. He’d heard Captain Reynold’s wife was a real beauty. After meeting this woman, he couldn’t help but wonder what the ‘beauty’ looked like.
Ethan racked his brain trying to remember if he’d ever heard a name to attach to the face of the first mate. Nothing came to mind. With a sigh, he propped himself against the rail that ran up to the porch to wait. While Ethan could understand the woman’s mistrust of strangers, he wasn’t up to being polite and trying to break down defenses just now.
Truth be told, he was tired and a little depressed. He’d been visiting his parishioners, some of whom were dying. It always took something out of him when he left them - it made him sad and gave him a feeling of being ineffectual.
Zöe watched him carefully, looking him directly in the eye to see if she could judge the veracity of his claim. Something in his eyes made her speak a little softer than she normally did to strangers. He looked…troubled.
“Don’t recall seein’ you around town, Ethan,” she said and stood in a fluid movement so quick he nearly backed away from the step. She looked past him to check the street in both directions, and then the surrounding buildings with a practiced eye, keeping the rifle leveled more or less at his chest.
She didn’t scare him with the gun, but he swallowed hard at the sight of her.
“I live a ways out of town. I get in a few days a week, and of course, on Sundays.”
Zöe had turned her full attention back to him. Sundays? Her eyes went from his face to the book he held loosely against his hip.
“Abel sent us a preacher? Think you might have wasted your time, Shepherd Morrell. Captain’s not out of the woods, but he ain’t gonna be needin’ a preacher,” she said, suppressing her own anxiety at the thought.
“It’s not Shepherd,” Ethan corrected, trying not to let the irritation he was feeling come out in his tone. Abel had begged him to come here to see if there was a need for his services. Now, here he stood, practically held at gunpoint, with the suns burning a red stripe across the back of his neck and giving him a throbbing headache.
“Beg pardon?” Zöe was a little thrown by his answer and the unexpected exasperation in his voice. This wasn’t the reaction the she usually got when she held a gun on a man.
“I’m not a shepherd. I’m a minister here in this town who happens to have a lot of things on his plate today. Now, I don’t know your name, miss, but it’s hot out here, and I promised Abel I’d come by and speak to this Captain Reynolds that he’s become so fond of. I’d appreciate it if you either let me in or shoot me, because I’ve no time to be standing around out here waiting for you to decide.”
“Suppose I settle on shootin’ you?” she asked, oddly intrigued by him. A man that didn’t carry a gun around these parts probably should learn to speak softer to them that did.
“Then it’d be merciful if you’d go ahead and do it. Save me a sight of work, too.” It was a little late to worry about the irritation, Ethan decided. He was practically snapping at her now. She hadn’t moved a muscle, just kept standing there looking cool in the shade, staring at him like he was an interesting bug she’d found crawling up the stairs.
Zöe’s eyes flicked across the street to see the building that he’d emerged from then swung back to him. He did look a bit hot. When the suns hit their zenith here the temperature could climb to over a hundred in the shade.
“Saloon’s a funny place for a minister to be spending time. You in there speakin’ to the girls?”
Her tone sent a slick slide of rage into his belly and Ethan took a step without thinking. Zöe had the rifle up and pointed at his head before he shifted his weight to the new foothold. He didn’t look away from her watchful gaze.”
“I go by the saloon and have vespers with the girls. It’s a small town; some people can be a little narrow-minded. The women over there don’t feel comfortable sitting through Sunday service with a few of the wives and mothers glaring holes in their backs. It seems to work out better for everyone if we just have our own little meeting in the back room.”
He took another step toward her, needing the coolness of the shade. If she’d been going to shoot him she’d have done it by now.
Zöe let him come, lowering the barrel, chewing his words over in her mind. She remembered Shepherd Book telling her about Nandi’s girls asking him to have a few words of prayer with them. He’d told her later that the last shepherd there had taken his fee out in trade.
“You charge ‘em for this Sunday-school lesson?” She asked him, not bothering to hide the distaste she felt.
Ethan sighed heavily. He should have been an accountant like his mother had wanted him to be. “Yes, Miss…whatever you name is. I charged them. From the tone of your voice, I’m assuming you think I took my fees out in barter. Yes, I did. I got up this morning, fed my little girl breakfast, brought her to Abigail’s, and then checked in on six of my friends, two of whom are dying slowly from a disease that’s eating them alive.
That was the start of my day. Then I went by the church and tried to scrape up enough money to pay for some supplies and food for a family of twelve out my way who lost their father recently when he was stomped to death by a bull. But it turns out there is no money that we can spare if we want to keep the lights on.
That led me to Abel’s store, because he’s always someone I can turn to when we need things. He’s agreed to give them food for a while, but only on the condition that I come by here and see if you and yours have any spiritual needs to be met. So not having anything better to do, I had a service with the girls back there, slept with all of them, and now…here I am.
Now, I don’t mean to sound rude, but I’m not having a real good day. And after I get done standing here turning the shade of a lobster, I still have to stop on my way home and tell those children, again, that I don’t know why God took their father, then I’m going to have to talk to their mother. We’re going to have to see if she’s got any family where we can send some of the kids until she can figure out what she’s going to do.
So all things considered, maybe you should just shoot me - but if you do, please tell Abel to watch Sadie for me. I’d take it as a kindness.”
Zöe blinked slowly, and felt the corner of her mouth curl into a smile. She couldn’t help it. Maybe it was that he had a daughter. Or that he was worried about twelve fatherless kids. She couldn’t say. There was just something she kinda liked about him, and no one could’ve been more surprised than her when, in the same moment, she felt a twinge of desire in her lower belly. As Mal would say, ‘Wa’n’t that somethin’?
“Kinda cranky for a man of the cloth, ain’t ya?” she asked, her tone a bit warmer.
Ethan felt his face get hot. Some days it was harder than others to live up the image that people had of ministers. He wondered what she’d say if he mentioned that one of the girls had made him an offer before he left. Would she be shocked that the girl had offered or surprised he didn’t take it? He studied her a bit more, taken aback by her beauty. This one would be surprised, he figured.
“I do apologize, Miss…I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name?”
“Didn’t give it. I’ll let you in to see Inara for a bit, but I’m gonna have to pat you down.”
It took him a second to realize she was serious. Ethan simply held his arms straight out, wondering what else was going to go wrong on this crazy day.
She propped the rifle to one side and approached him with confidence, apparently used to… What had she called it? Patting men down. Her fragrance hit him as she got close enough to touch him. Something that smelled like the bottle that held it should be dark purple or black and topped off with a hint of leather and sandalwood. He was inhaling that scent when her hands skimmed down his torso, over his sides and stomach. Her hands left a trail of fire on his skin that had his breath whooshing back out.
When she stepped into him to slide her hands around to check the small of his back, he nearly moaned. He pulled away from her as if her touch burned him before she could slide her hands down to his groin area.
Zöe simply followed him back and gave him a slight shove that put his back to the wall of the house. She studied him, her eyes on his the whole time her hands glided down over his hips, and around to the outside of his legs, then up the inside of his thighs to check for concealed weapons. He waited for the inevitable gun-in-the-pocket joke, but she contented herself with an amused smirk. Ethan figured she must get that reaction a lot.
She stepped back from him and he was able to breathe again. If he was breathing a little faster than usual, he accounted it to the heat.
“You’re clean. Let me see the book and you can go in,” She said. He handed her his worn prayer book and watched as she rifled through the pages. Toward the last page, a paper capture fluttered out the book and onto the floor. They both bent to retrieve it, laughing involuntarily as they bumped heads.
“I’m sorry!” Ethan exclaimed. He put his hand on the side of her face without thinking, much the same way he comforted Sadie when she hurt her head.
He ran his thumb over the small knot forming there and started to say something, then his eyes met hers and he forgot everything. Hers were curious again, looking at him like he was a species she’d never seen, but found interesting.
His hand dropped. He forced a smile to his face, donning his coat of professionalism.
“I apologize, I hope I didn’t injure you, Miss…Are you ever going to tell me your name?”
“Zöe.”
It suited her. That was his first thought. Zöe was an exotic name. He’d never known anyone with a name like that. Captivating. That hair, those eyes… He dropped his gaze to her lips and stepped back a pace.
She held up a hand to keep him standing upright and leaned over to pick up the capture. She glanced at it as she handed it to him, surprised as she did so to feel a trickle of disappointment run through her. It was a family picture showing the minister, a woman who was obviously his wife, and a baby.
“Nice family.”
His whole face shut down. He took the likeness without a word and turned a blank face to her. Zöe raised her eyebrows.
“I really am in a hurry, Miss Zöe. If you could point me in the direction of Mrs. Reynolds, I’d like to share something from my prayer book, and then I have to be on my way.”
Zöe let him go, watching him with a peculiar look on her face as he disappeared into the clinic, listening with half an ear through the screen door as he greeted Simon and then Inara.
She drifted back over to her chair, eyes automatically scanning the street and buildings, pondering Ethan Morrell and his capture.