Title: Coming Together (2 of 10) Rating: Pg to Pg-13 Pairing: Jaylee Warning: Characters and places do not belong to me and are property of Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, & Universal

Authors note: story takes place post series, movie will not be happening. Prompts 11 through 20.

11. Yesterday

Jed looked around at the group of men he was getting ready to lead out. There were seven altogether, including Mark and himself. "Alright boys, we head out now!" Jed announced. He mounted his horse and turned to face the men. They were all about his age, with families at home they were trying to feed. Times were hard and sometimes you had to do a little crime to get by.

The wagon was prepped and ready for the salvage. Jed looked off at the horizon again. "When we get there, you see anyone alive, you shoot to kill. Those survivors we left was the ones who got us pinched last time. Ain’t lookin’ to leave no trail behind for the Alliance to poke their noses in."

"Jed?" Mark asked. "Jed, we ain’t killers. Least we weren’t yesterday, bank robbers and petty thieves, yes, but not murderers."

"That was yesterday, Mark," Jed said. "We need this salvage and I can’t be going back into lockdown because of some survivors with big mouths. No survivors, dong ma?"

"I git ya," Mark replied grudgingly.

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12. Today

Jayne dropped down to his bunk and surveyed the room. Most of his things had been tossed around in the crash. Jayne let out a painful groan when he saw Vera laying on the ground. The gorram ship seemed to be putting all his favorite girls through a thrashing. Checking her over, Jayne made sure she didn’t have anything wrong with her. He smiled when he realized she didn’t even have a dent. Strapping her over his shoulder, Jayne started to load up on guns. No telling how friendly a place would be.

"Jayne!" Mal’s voice called from his bunk doorway. Jayne grumbled and turned to look up at the captain.

"What d’you want, Mal?" he asked.

"Thought it might be good if you left soon….like today sometime. Ain’t playin’ around, Jayne," Mal said, slapping the door frame twice before leaving. Jayne just rolled his eyes and finished gathering his girls up. He wasn’t exactly happy about being send out to get the gorram water, but if Kaylee needed it, he wasn’t going to argue.

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13. Tomorrow

Mal stood in the infirmary doorway, watching Simon stare down at Kaylee oddly. The captain cleared his voice and watched as Simon nearly jumped and turned around. The guilty look on his face made Mal wonder what exactly the doctor had to feel guilty about. That wasn’t his main concern right now.

"How’s she doing?" Mal asked.

"She’s improving. The sedative I gave her is pretty strong. She won’t be up for awhile." Simon crossed his arms over his chest and looked over at Mal. The Doc was giving him a curious look.

"Just came by t’see if you needed anything from town for my mechanic or any one else. Jayne’s headed out, so now is the time to speak up," Mal informed him.

"Um…no, we’re fine here," Simon said, looking around the infirmary.

"When she gonna be up you think?" Mal asked.

Simon let out a long breath as he slipped into doctor’s mode. "Tomorrow at the latest. She’ll be coming around in a few hours I would guess."

"Keep an eye on her," Mal said, before turning and leaving.

"I will," Simon replied softly once the captain was gone.

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14. Sunshine

Mal had to cup his hand against the bright sun in order to see the shadowy figures that were riding towards them.

"I count six, sir," Zoe said, mirroring his movements in an attempt to see just who was coming towards them. Mal was a little concerned. They had sent Jayne north, but these riders were coming from the west. The sun was getting ready to set and making it extremely difficult to see.

"Could be some townsfolks who saw the crash and are coming to help," Mal said. He didn’t have a whole lot of faith in people, but in this instance he was hoping. They were a gun man down and in no position to make a run for it if they needed to. With Kaylee unable to move, they were pretty well sunk if these people had ill intentions.

"Could be," Zoe agreed, though her confidence was seriously lacking. "They have a wagon."

"Could be they brought it in case we had any injured," Mal offered.

"Could be," was Zoe’s only response.

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15. Darkness

"I don’t like this," Mark announced. He pulled the looking glass away and looked over at his brother. Jed didn’t look too happy.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"There are two, waiting in the cargo bay. Fighters from their stance; won’t be easily put down. We go in guns blazing and they’ll lock that ship up nice and tight. If they have working comms or if they’ve sent someone for help already, we could get pinched." Mark watched his older brother as his expression stayed cold.

"What’re you thinking, Mark?" Jed asked.

"We can’t just go in shootin’ like we was sayin’ before. And I agree with the no survivors thing. But what if there was another option?" Mark licked his bottom lip. He didn’t like this option any more than he liked killing people, but at least this way folks wouldn’t end up dead.

"Spill it," Jed said.

"Slavery. I know a man who works in the slave trade. Decent man, will pay good money for any strong ones we find, decent money for the weaker. Won’t turn ‘em away ‘less they’re hurt bad or sickly. We could go in, friendly like. Offer aide, long enough for Mandle and his men to show up and take ‘em off. Salvage the wreck, set fire to it and it’ll look like ship just exploded on impact. Fire leaves no bodies, dong ma?" Mark’s hands tightened on the reins of his horse. He didn’t like the slave trade much, thought it was right evil, but it was better than killing folks.

"Excellent plan, little brother," Jed said after a moment, his eyes darkening a little. "You head back, get Mandle and his men down here. Don’t want to have to make nice for long."

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16. Friend

Mal placed his hands on his hip, fingers resting right near his pistol. As the six men approached, he could see them dismounting, one riding a little further ahead than the rest. He must have been their leader. Mal took a few steps down the ramp, Zoe hanging back, ready to close up Serenity if these men tried anything.

"Why hello there," Mal called.

"Hello there, friend," the man from the front of the pack said. He moved up the ramp towards Mal. "Name’s Jed."

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds," Mal said, reaching out to shake the man’s hand.

"Saw your ship go down, grabbed a few friends of mine t’see if you needed any help out here," Jed explained.

"That is right kind of you," Mal said with a nod. "We could certainly use any help if any of your men know anything ‘bout machines. Mechanic was injured in the crash."

"Sal here is a natural with machines, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind taking a look at your machine," Jed said with a nod. Sal hurried up the ramp and shook hands with Mal.

"I’d be glad for the help," Mal said with a nod. "Zoe here can show you to the engine room." He looked over at her, Zoe’s expression told him a lot. She was suspicious. So was Mal. He would have to keep a close eye on these people. Mal just couldn’t afford to turn away help right now, no matter how uncertain he was of their friendly intentions.

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17. Love

It was strange to think that love was what was driving Mark to seek Mandle out. Love for his brother, and love for his family. Pam was becoming skin and bones, giving her food to the kids when there wasn’t enough. A man should be able to provide for his wife. Jed and Mark were given a sour lot in life though. Whenever they tried to be good citizens seemed to be about the time their luck took a turn for the worse. So maybe they just had to make their own luck.

Knocking on Mandle’s door, Mark waited silently. When it finally swung open, Mandle was standing in the doorway, his large body filling the door frame. "Mark!" he called.

"Mandle…good to see you," Mark said, reaching out to shake his hand.

"What brings you to my neck of the woods?" Mandle asked.

"Think we might have a package for you," Mark said, eyeing Mandle so the man knew exactly what he was talking about.

"How many?"

"Not sure," Mark replied. "Ship crashed a few miles away. Know at least two strong survivors. Jed’s there now to salvage the crash. Can’t have any survivors to point fingers at us," Mark explained.

"Maybe you boys should just walk away then," Mandle said wearily.

"Martha’s pregnant. We need this job, can’t afford t’walk away from it. Ain’t askin’ for much. You could bring your boys down, take a look around. Don’t think anyone will miss these folks. I’d consider it a kindness if you did. Don’t pick these people up and Jed’s likely t’put a bullet through them all."

"Don’t know your brother ‘cept what you told me ‘bout him, but do you really think he’s capable of that?" Mandle asked.

"Don’t think—I know he’s capable. The quicker this is done, the easier it will be," Mark said, letting out a long breath. Mandle nodded.

"Fine, I’ll get my boys together, we’ll do this quick. I have a contact who’s been looking for some more workers, we can get ‘em placed easily enough."

Mark nodded and rattled off directions to get to the broken ship. "Don’t be long," he warned, before turning to leave. He would catch up with Jed and tell him the meet was on.

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19. Hate

Jed was getting sick of waiting. He wanted this job to be over with now. He had sent Frankie to go around and do a casual count of survivors. He came back with seven in total. One laid up in the infirmary , two fighters, a preacher, a doctor, the pilot, and some crazy girl who kept spouting off poems and yelling at him in verse. Jed had seen the crazy girl as well, she seemed familiar some how. Now she was staring him down, like her eyes were trying to tell him something.

"What?" he snapped.

"He loves you, but you can’t stand the sight of him," River said softly.

"What in the hell are you talkin’ ‘bout girl?" Jed asked, not really caring to hear the answer so he moved away from her. His men were working on clearing the debris for the captain, so he quietly joined them. The girl followed him though, her eyes searching his.

"It won’t work," she said, leaning down as he did.

"River!" the captain called. River looked up as Mal started down the steps into the cargo bay. "Think you should leave that man alone."

"He’s here to steal from us, take what isn’t his," Rive announced as though it was nothing important. The captain paused and Jed watched his eyes. The captain believed her, Jed knew that immediately. Without a thought, he reached out and grabbed the girl by the hair, whirling her around in front of his as a shield. His gun was out in his hand in a breath and pointed at her temple.

"Everyone stay calm!" Jed announced. His men looked up at him, their hands going for their own weapons. The captain had his gun out and trained on Jed. "Lower your gun captain or the pretty girl here gets a hole in the head." Mal hesitated a moment, but Jed’s men all had their guns on Mal now. He didn’t have a way out of this one.

"Gorramit, I knew this was going to happen," he mumbled, more to himself than anyone as he tossed the gun to the ground.

"Frankie, keep your gun on the captain. James and the others round up anyone who’s able to walk and shoot. I want them tied up and ready for when Mark gets here. Ed, you get the rope from the wagon. Lets start tying these two up!"

Jed’s grip tightened on the girl’s hair. Stupid girl had to go and mess everything up. He hated it when his plans went awry. Damn Mark and his gorram plan; should have just stuck to shooting everyone.

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20. Isolation

Kaylee was cold. Could feel consciousness in the distance, hear the sounds of footsteps and talking around her, but she couldn’t quiet grasp it. It was like being under water in a lake that had frozen over. There was a wall of ice keeping her from breaking through to the surface. But ice wasn’t solid and slowly she could feel it melting until finally she was able to force her eyes open.

"Jayne?" No response. He was the last thing she really remembered. Him cursing up a storm about all sorts of things she couldn’t remember. Kaylee looked around and realized she was in the infirmary. "Cap’n? Simon?" No one was around. She sat up and groaned in pain. Something hurt, but it was a dull ache really. She must have been medicated. She wasn’t looking forward to the medicine wearing off.

Moving to slide off the bed, she noticed her wrist was wrapped. Must have hurt it somehow…the crash…Serenity! Kaylee ignore her pain and stood up. She had to check on her girl, make sure she was alright. Kaylee moved for the door, trying to open it, but the thing wouldn’t budge.

"Hello?!" she called, moving to look through the windows. She couldn’t see anyone though. Using her good, but bruised hand, Kaylee pounded on the door. "Anyone there!" No answer again. Her hands pulled at the door, pressed the buttons, but nothing would work. Why’d they lock her in here?

Kaylee didn’t have much energy to keep standing, so she moved back to the infirmary bed and sat down. Where the hell was everyone? Where was Jayne?