She was in the process of turning back to check on her would-be attackers when that brought her up short. "Excuse me?" She looked up at her self-adopted big brother in wide-eyed astonishment. "He don't love me, ya got no call ta say he does. Could be just a wayside ta him, ya know that that. An' I don't need to be on no leash, neither." She waggled a finger under Sui's nose with an oddly sunny scowl.

"Ask 'im." he frowned and batted her finger from under his nose. "Ow." His hand still hurt. Turning, he continued to walk on, away from the two men rising slowly. "And y'do need t'be on a leash. Y'can't stay outta trouble."

"Oh, stuff it up ya butt, Grumpy Pants." With the strangely suicidal good manners she'd been brought up with, Aidyn turned back to face the rising men, moving over to them as Sui walked on without her. "Are ya two okay? I wouldn'ta shot ya, all ya had ta do was back off."

Sui caught her sudden about face with his peripheral vision. In a graceful, well rehearsed move, Sera was pulled from her holster and aimed at the one closest to Aidyn. As the man reached for her with a lecherous girn, he received a bullet through his hand for his effort. The man quickly withdrew his bloody and mangled hand and clutched it to his chest. The other decided not to take any chances and hobbled in the opposite direction. Sui glowered and stomped his way over to Aidyn. Holstering Sera, he picked up Aidyn and unceremoniously draped her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "You're the craziest girl I've ever met."

She let out a shriek as the hand reaching for her just about exploded in blood and flesh, spattering her cheek as she flinched back. She had been about to reach out to look at it when the world moved, and she found herself facing Sui's back from an upside-down angle. "Ya shot him! Ya dint havta shoot him! Put me down, he's hurt!"

"He'll live." he grunted as he carried her down the alley. When he got to the intersection of a busy road and the alley, he turned his head both ways. He missed his hat. At times like these, it shaded his eyes and kept him looking country dumb. "Think it's time we had a talk w'Chris."

"I mean it, Sui, ya put me down right now!" Little hands beat ineffectually at the small of his back. Thanks to the slight bounce of his gait, Aidyn couldn't see much; everytime she lifted her head, her hair bounced into her eyes. "Chris don't need ta know 'bout any of this, he'll only worry'n he's got 'nough ta worry 'bout with the 'hawke as 'tis!"

"He's done a bang up job on th'Hawke. It's purrin' like a kitten." he turned to his right and continued to walk down the road. He paid no mind to the people that stopped and stared, openly gawking at the rather tall man carrying the little girl. "Th'only thing Chris has t'worry bout is what his girl is doin' out and about in alleyways wi'out him."

"It ain't like I can't take care'a myself - Sui Cobb, if'n ya don't put me down right soon, I swear I'll make ya life as hellish as I can!" This, together with an elbow to the back of his head, was a sure sign that Aidyn's incredibly long fuse was burning low. Threats weren't really her thing; neither was any form of violence, though she could dole it out of necessary. She just wasn't very good at picking up on when it was necessary.

"Kinda hard ta learn anythin' when ev'ry guy I fly with is either tryin' ta get inta my pants or thinks I'm too little ta be able to hold my own inna fight," she pointed out without rancour, drumming her fingertips on the top of his head. You could say this for Aidyn - she never held a grudge, or stayed angry for long. Even if you deserved it.

"Well I'm gonna teach ya." he gave a nod and turned towards the pad that held the Hawke. "Keep m'mind offa Carson." he grumbled under his breath. "Y'see, bein' s'small y'have an advantage. I jus' look intimidatin'. So most don't mess with me. You? Folks think they can take advantage."

"Cap'n's smaller'n me, an' folks don't take advantage'a her," came the slightly resentful response to that. She'd heard the mutter, or at least, the name he'd muttered, and wasn't going to press it. If he wanted to talk, he would. Everyone talked to her, eventually. "I just ain't the intimidatin' kind."

"Cap's got a look about 'er. And that gorram hun dan Brent always about." He rolled his eyes. If ever there was a man that was obviously goo goo over a girl, it was Brent over the Cap. It was funny to Cobb that Brent tried to hide it. A shake of his head as he got back onto course. "Y'don't have t'be, Aidy. Jus' knowin' how t'defend y'self will put a stop t'the attacks."

Her knuckles rapped on his head. "Shouldn't be so nasty ta Brent," she reprimanded Sui somewhat sternly, ducking as they passed under a lower doorway. "Mebbe if'n ya stopped throwin' punches at the guy, ya could get along, huh?"

"Y'want t' know what I got against Brent?" He stopped for a moment, looking this way and that. His hands were curled around her thighs, keeping her from falling backwards. "Th' day we met, he called me Cobb. Cap called me Sui. Told 'em both, I preferred Sui. So Cap called me Cobb, and Brent called me Sui. S'what started th'whole blasted thing. I'd leave 'im be, give 'im the respect 'e deserves for bein' th' pilot and all. But th' man has no respect for anybody other than the Cap. And really, he has no respect for Cap, either. He makes his feelin's for her known 'round the wrong person and they'd both end up in body bags."

"He ain't never been nothin' but nice ta me," she shrugged, rolling her eyes. Apart from the occasional argument, Aidyn knew better than to put herself in the middle of a feud. "An' Cap'n knows how ta look after herself. Seems ev'ryone knows howta look after 'emselves, 'cept me."

"Yer li'l. Easy t'intimidate. And yer a girl." he shrugged and then pressed a button on the side of the Hawke to open up the cargo hatch. "Cap's too busy wrappin' her legs 'round 'im to give 'im much trouble." he walked up the large hatch and then closed it behind him. He hefted her up then, and placed her on her feet. "But I'm gonna teach y'how to defend y'self, Mei Mei. Don't wantcha gettin' hurt."

"Shouldn't talk that way 'bout the Cap'n," she warned him as he closed up the hatch, letting herself be manhandled back down onto her feet again. "Ain't likely m'gonna get hurt, Sui. Ain't never left on my own, am I?"

"Y'were today." he walked around her and put his hands on his hips. "Now, eye level. Tell me what y'see." He watched her carefully, hoping that she'd catch on quickly.

"My eye level, or yours?" She flashed him a cheeky grin, rolled her eyes, and sighed, paying attention. "Cargo hold," she shrugged after a moment, looking over at him. "Or ya chest. Ain't neither of 'em all that appealin', ya know."

"M'chest, good. Y'learnin'." He reached for her hand. "Make a fist." He watched her intently as the lesson progressed. He was a patient teacher and was determined that she would be able to protect herself in a hand to hand combat situation, if it ever arose.

A wicked little giggle followed him up the stairs and into the corridor, Aidyn close behind. "Ya mean ya don't wanna know where we bin sexin' each other up, just in case ya bin sittin' there'n not knowin'?" she asked cheerfully.

"Ah!" he started to literally run. "Stop! And if'n you says th' kitchen table I am gonna let CeCe know!" he shuddered again. "Shouldn't be talkin' bout such things."

"Why not? Ya do it all th'time," she objected, chasing him through the ship with another evil little laugh. "Talkin' 'bout who'n where ya gonna get yer trim next stop'n all ... 'sides, dontcha wanna be sure he's treating me right?" Nope, Aidyn wasn't going to let up with the teasing if she possibly could.

"I ain't got no trim since.." he growled, that one nearly slipped. Finally he stopped running to turn around and scowl down at her. "I ain't been seein' no bruises on yer face. Long as I don't see that, th'mech n'I have no problems." he gave a curt nod. "Now I 'ear somebody messin' in the 'firmary. Go see to it and leave me alone." Of course, he couldn't help but chuckle at the last part. His sense of humor had increased over the last few weeks.

"Ya'll miss me if'n I do," she teased him with a grin, then jumped up and hugged her self-adopted big brother, feet dangling as her arms locked around his neck. She pressed a big, wet kiss to his cheek. "Ya gonna keep ya mouth shut 'bout today?"

He hugged her back, accepting the sloppy kiss with a scrunched up face. "Tell me why I should." He grimaced and put her back down. But with his tone and his expression, it was already a done deal that he'd keep her secrets.

"Cos if'n ya tell on me, I'll get moaned at'n that means I'll be moanin' at ya for weeks until Chris stops gettin' protective on me," she shrugged lightly, tilting her head."'Sides, we're family, ain't we? Gotta stick t'gether."

He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. A pat to her little head. "Please no moanin' and groanin'. Th'walls are thin 'nuff that I cen 'ear Cap and Brent. Don't wanna be hearin' more. S'why I wear m'head phones t'bed now. Only moanin' I wanna be hearin' is when I get m'own trim." He grinned at her then, albeit a bit sadly. "Though that won't be for some time t'come."

"Ya really that sweet on her?" she asked gently, stepping up to wrap her arms warmly around Sui's waist and give him the little sister's hug she had perfected before she hit ten years old.

"Geez, Mei Mei." he shook his head and gave her a brotherly hug. "Not like that at all." He shook his head. "She's a nice girl and me n'nice girls just don't..." He shook his head. "Look, no need t'be gettin' all mushy and romanticized. Just not gonna be happenin'. Ain't no use in gettin' involved when y'got a price on y'head. Not fair t'her." He nodded.

"So y'are sweet on her." Aidyn nodded to herself. She understood why Sui wouldn't want to admit to it, but she wasn't one to just let him pretend otherwise. She smiled, winking up at him as she stepped back. "Mebbe next time we touch down in RhyDin I should go'n find her myself, talk ta her 'bout my big ol' heartsick bro." Despite the cheeky smile, it couldn't be more obvious that Aidyn would do no such thing without Sui's permission.