Title: Reciprocation Series Title: Both Sides (5 of 18) Author: Humbug Rating: PG-13 Fandom: Firefly Pairing: Jayne/Kaylee Word Count: 551 Summary: Told from both sides of Kaylee and Jayne's relationship Disclaimer: Joss is Boss. I'm just borrowing his characters for fun!! Warning: Jaylee goodness! But other characters can't help joining in.

Authors note: Thanks to bookaddict for betaing.

Find the previous chapters under my username.

*********************** Thanks for daring me to write my own Jaylee story, Squish and Bookaddict!

Be gentle! It’s my first fanfic story. It’s told from both sides of the relationship. Each part is from Jayne or Kaylee’s point of view, or both! Other characters pop in and out. Some chapters will be from their point of view. The plot bunny came from the Philosophy_20 prompt table at Live Journal #7 both sides. Enjoy! (I hope….) ***********************

Part 5: Reciprocation

Kaylee kept as quiet as she could as Jayne dressed her hand. It started really smarting the moment he took her hand out of the steady stream of water from the tap.

She was glad he gave her that smoother, ‘cause every time he touched the burn it stung like blue murder…

Biting her lip to take her mind off the pain, she blinked hard so he wouldn’t notice the tears welling in her eyes. Gorramit! What an idiot she was to burn herself on the engine she knew like the back of her hand….

If she hadn’t of been thinking more about how to get Jayne to notice her than the delicate repair work she was doing on Serenity……

Ai ya! But that man was fine. Real swai and strong, but he could be surprisingly gentle too…

And where did he learn to dress a burn so well? That man was plum full of secrets and surprising skills….. Ones she wanted to discover for herself!

“How does it feel now?” he asked, his blue eyes showing all the concern he felt.

She tried to smile to hide her gasp as she moved, “It’s startin’ ta ease.” She smiled through the pain.

As he tucked her up in his Ma’s blanket on the couch, she felt so safe and cared for….

“Thank you, Jayne.”

“You’re welcome! You’ve done this for me more times than I can count! I’m just repayin’ the favour.”

“Is that the only reason?” she asked as she closed her eyes.

Her heart soared as she listened to his tentative reply.

“Well……. You’re ma crew mate, a gorram useful one, and you’re ma friend, ma best friend here on Serenity. Ya stuck up for me plenty of times the Cap’n wanted to throw me out the airlock, and ya the shiniest, happiest thing on this here boat. I reckon that’s plenty o’ reason to take care o’ ya every once in a while….”

She struggled to stay perfectly still as he knelt down on the floor beside her on the couch.

“Hush now, Bao-Bei!”

She felt his gentle kiss on her forehead. “Ya get some sleep now. Rest up and get better. ‘Cause we need ya here on Serenity, healthy and well, lookin’ after ya girl, keeping her runnin’ smooth. We need ya Kaylee ‘cause ya light up the whole gorram boat with that beautiful smile of your’n.”

She felt his rough hand gently caress her cheek.

“Kaylee girl, Rest up and get better ‘cause I need ya. I’ve loved ya since I first came to Serenity. Ya gorram near broke me with all ya moonin’ about over that prissy doc. But now ya looking at me again with that shiny smile o’ your’n, I feel like I got a chance again. And I wrote my Ma about ya. She asks in every letter after ya. Make me real proud if ya’d write a few lines to my Ma. Awww, gorram it!! I know I’m gonna have ta say this all again ta ya when you’re feelin’ better….. “

Then, as he sat down beside her, she felt his warm, firm lips kiss her cheek and then, sweet heaven, gently press against her lips.

She couldn’t help but sigh and press her lips back, warm and willing.

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To be continued