To all the folk who endure traumatic events and somehow find the courage to rebuild their lives.

Disclaimer: Not mine, no coin changed hands. This story has not been beta-ed. Please accept my apologies for any errors or correct me.

Rating: NC15, Adult language.

Remarks: The next section in my long story arc following Jayne and Kaylee as they define and strengthen their relationship. Takes place between the series and the BDM, three weeks after my previous story, “Leaps of Faith”. Click on my name to read the backstories.

Italics indicate internal dialogue.

Feedback: Sincerely appreciated when civilly offered; that’s what it’s all about. Some of you have expressed distress over this story’s title. Please consider the following:

Definitions: Source: The Random House Dictionary of the English Language Raping – (3) The act of seizing and carrying off by force (7) Plundering. Serenity – (1)The state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil.

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Raping Serenity

Chapter 15 – Home Again

About daylight, Jayne’s body finally breaks down the last of the booster that’s been keeping him going. He can feel his heart struggling and he’s weak and shaky. Kaylee is still sleeping hard and doesn’t even respond when he presses a kiss to her cheek.

I knew I’d crash, but figured the stuff’d hold out a little longer. Better try to rig up some breakfast while I can, then radio Mal.

He pours a little water in the pot with the crusty remains from last night’s bacon and beans and crumbles the few bits of hardtack into the resulting gruel. Still got a couple of protein bars I could pitch in there, too. Can’t taste any more awful than some a the fei oo Wash cooks. He chops the bars up and adds them to the mix, then stirs up the coals and sets the pot in the middle to heat.

He’s crouched on the hearth, stirring, when he feels a nudge in the small of his back and turns around to see Kaylee’s poking him with her booted foot. She yawns and smiles tentatively.

“Whatcha cooking? Smells awful.”

“Hey, darlin’. Probably tastes awful, too. Good to see you smile again.” The merc’s mighty shaky and sits down on the end of the mattress. He gently lays his hand on her leg and asks, “How’s your head doin’ this mornin?”

“Still hurts some, but mostly I gotta go pee before I pop. Can you help me up?”

“Uh, yeah…sure. I need a good piss, m’self.” He looks around for his cane, thinking he’ll use it to help himself stand, and realizes he left it outside before killing Kurtz. No luck, he thinks and manages to struggle to his feet, then helps Kaylee to stand.

“Better let me get that chair. It’s jammed under the doorknob pretty hard. An’ Kaylee, honey, just so's you know, there’s a lot of blood on the ground outside from… well, yesterday. Best you just go ‘round the right end of the cabin an’ stay close.”

++++

When they return, the pot on the hearth is simmering merrily, although it smells no better than before. Kaylee’s still very quiet and settles back down on the mattress beside Jayne.

The big man dips the spoon into the gruel and grimaces. “Guess it’s only fair that I taste this go se, since I cooked it. Don’t wanna poison you after everything I went through to come to your rescue.” He blows on it and then gingerly tastes it.

“Kinda bland, but it ain’t no worse than some of Wash or Simon’s cookin’.” He’s found a couple of old tin cups and spoons out helpings for both of them.

While Kaylee blows on hers, she looks sidelong at Jayne. Gratitude, relief and the love she feels for him make a big lump in her throat.

Finally she’s able to get it out. “Thank you for comin’ after me, Jayne. I mean it. Never been so mad or scared in all my life. Scared of what that luh-suh hundan was gonna do, but even more scared I’d never see you again…”

Those impossibly blue eyes twinkle and Jayne smiles.

“Kaylee, darlin’, don’t you know by now I’d give up everything to make sure you’re safe?”

++++

The mercenary explains to Kaylee about the meds he’s coming down from. With the booster and adrenaline gone from his system, Jayne’s really crashing now and can hardly keep his eyes open.

“Can’t put this off no longer. Best to call Mal now…”

He switches on the radio, “Hey, Cap’n, Wash? Anybody listenin’ for this gorram thing?”

There’s a lot of static and the voice on the other end is faint. “Hey big guy!” Wash responds, surprised. “Any luck catching up with Kaylee? I hope she’s okay, ‘cause we got a trailer full of Serenity’s electronics in need of her magic touch.”

“Roger that. Couldn’t give her any better news, Wash.”

Kaylee overhears this and grins.

“Can you home in on this transmitter in auto mode?” The merc’s running on empty.

“Sure can. Do we need to bring the doc along?”

“Might not be a bad idea. Over and out.”

++++

In the medbay, Simon and Mal are talking softly. The space is overly warm and dimmer than usual with the ship running off auxiliary power. Simon’s just finished looking Kaylee over and she’s sleeping on the med-table while Jayne is crashed out on a pad on top of the cabinet, snoring loudly.

“I’d say that most of her trauma has been emotional, Captain. I suspect she’s had a mild concussion, although with my monitors unavailable, I can’t confirm that. Nothing that won’t heal in time. Of course, she’s suffered a lot of bruises and abrasions, but they’re superficial.”

Mal looks down at the sleeping girl with obvious concern. “Did he…? Was she…?” He can’t bring himself to say the words.

Simon shakes his head. “According to the little bit she told me, no. Apparently Jayne’s timing, for once, was perfect, and she wasn’t violated physically.”

Mal runs his hand through his hair and looks relieved. “That mean she’ll be up to helpin’ Wash with repairs on the ship when your sedative wears off?”

“I said she wasn’t violated physically. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t been profoundly traumatized emotionally, Captain, and we’ll all need to be sensitive and let her come along at her own pace.”

“It ain’t that I’m unsympathetic to her sitution, but Doc, I’m dead in the water as long as I got a boat with no electrics workin’. And, ‘case you don’t recall, we was in the middle of a pretty significant job when we got scarped, one we can’t afford to pass off to someone else. I need Kaylee up and workin’ soon as she’s able, dong ma?”

Mal glances over at Jayne. “What about him? How long’s he gonna be out? I’m askin’ ‘cause we got some issues to resolve.”

Simon looks sideways at the captain. “Maybe 48 hours?” he ventures, unsurely.

“You boosted him, didn’t you?” He can read the facts in Simon’s face. “Hard to believe he managed to cover more’n six klicks across that gorram desert and up a mountainside, an’ that with a bum leg. Ornery sonuvabitch, but he’s one hell of a tracker, ‘though don’t you go tellin’ him I said so.”

“I got Captainy things to go tend to, but you let me know when they wake up.”

++++

Elsewhere on Serenity, Wash has begun the tedious process of replacing the monitors and equipment they have recovered, starting with the primary drive controls and their Cortex links. Book and even River have passed him tools and wiring and helping to pull cable.

Zoë appears with a cup of tea and sits down next to the console Wash is working under. “Brought you some fresh darjeeling, Baby.” She pats his ass. “Figured you could use a little break. You’ve been going at this ever since they got back with Kaylee and Jayne.”

The pilot wiggles out and kisses his wife, taking the cup of tea from her. “Mmmm.”

Wash sips his tea, then shakes his head. “Mal’s about to burst a kidney to get us reassembled so we can fulfill our contract with Benning, and to be honest, I don’t know how long before Kaylee’s in any shape to help. The Shepherd and River have pitched in, but it’s not the same. Kaylee’s just amazing, Zo! She’s really a genius with this stuff.”

He looks sad. “Poor kid, she didn’t deserve something like that.”

Zoë shakes her head, "Baby, nobody ever deserves it.”

++++

River makes her way to the medlab and finds her brother is elsewhere. She glides over to Kaylee and gently touches a strand of the sleeping mechanic’s chestnut hair with her finger. In a soft voice she whispers, “Welcome home, little Queen. Your knight rescued you. Don’t worry Kaylee, the sun will come back out and you'll make Serenity whole again.”

The slender girl slips over to Jayne and stands, looking down curiously.

“Gallant knight, you saved your lady.”

Jayne struggles up from deep sleep, somehow aware of a presence near him. He cracks one eye and finds River leaning over him, peering intently at his face.

“Gorram, girl! What in the hell’r you doin?” the startled mercenary yelps out.

River takes a step back and smiles. “Came to see the Queen. She’s safe now. Don’t be sad, Don Quixote. Dulcinea’s just fine.” With that, she turns gracefully on one foot and leaves.

The merc scratches his head, puzzled. “What the hell’s a Donkey Otay?”

++++

Wash has managed to patch together the main Cortex link up on Serenity’s bridge and Mal waves Chester Benning.

“I’m so sorry to hear of your recent unfortunate experience, Captain. I’m afraid you’ve gotten a rather negative impression of our little world. Will your injured crew members recover?”

Mal’s stalling and trying to figure out how he can buy some time with Benning and not lose out on the lucrative transport job now surely to be delayed.

“They’ll be well enough and thank you for the askin’. It would be a kindness if you can just bear up with us a little longer, Mr. Benning. I think we can make up some of the time we’ve lost once we’re off world.”

Benning grins broadly. “Shouldn’t be a problem, Captain Reynolds. By the way, I couldn’t help noticing that mighty fine coat you were wearing yesterday. A particularly handsome shade of brown, as I recall.”

Mal is startled and then smiles with understanding. “Yep, favorite color of mine. Had that coat ever since the war.”

Benning laughs. “Got a few brown coats in my own closet. 457th Light Artillery. Held onto Betos long as we could. Lost my brother there. One of the reasons I’m taking such pleasure in ‘liberating’ whatever tantalum ore I can divert from the Alliance. I must say, it pleases me to be screwing them using a ship named after the battle of Serenity Valley.” Benning looks smug. “You take whatever time you need to get your people and Serenity back to rights, Captain Reynolds. The ore and my buyer can wait.”

“Oh, and one more thing. Next time we see one another, we’ll drink a few in memory of those who didn’t make it.”

Mal's eyes twinkle as he smiles. “It’ll be a pleasure, Mr. Benning.”

++++

In the corridor outside of Jayne’s bunk there’s a huge pile of stuff. The big merc’s banging around below, gathering up the remainder of his gear.

Mal happens to be heading for the galley and encounters the chaotic mound of duffel-bags stuffed to bursting, ammo boxes, guns in their cases, and a stack of crates. He leans over and yells down the open chute, “What in the holy hell is this pile of fei oo doin’ in my corridor?”

The big merc comes climbing up his ladder with another duffle on his shoulder. “Gun dan, Mal! I’m just getting’ my gear packed up. I’ll be off the ruttin’ boat in an hour.”

“An’ where you goin’ with all this stuff, Jayne?” Mal takes up his arms-crossed, no nonsense position. “In case you ain’t noticed, I need me a mercenary, preferably a big, mean-assed one can track like a tah mah de.”

The big merc looks both peeved and confused. “But I quit, remember? So’s I could go after Kaylee? Figured you’d want my ass off the ship soon as I woke up.”

Mal cocks his head and chuckles. “Jabber, jabber, jabber. Your mouth’s talkin’ again. Might wanna see to that…”

“You mean I ain’t gotta leave?”

“Not after you traded me back my mechanic for a new mule.”

“Huh?”

“Guess you ain’t looked down in the cargo bay. Along with all the parts we retrieved, got ourselves a heavy-duty hover mule. You missed out on a right fine piece of action, Jayne. Lil’ River took down a guard with a spot-on shot you’d a been proud to make. Even had the Shepherd blessin’ the grenades before we pitched ‘em.”

“Ya’ll used grenades without me?” Jayne looks genuinely disappointed.

“Yep. Now get this pile of fei hua off my deck and get your lazy ass back to work. There’s gear to be unloaded. Besides, Kaylee’d probably kill me, I let you go.”

“Ai ya, Mal. Least ya couldda done is told me before I pulled down all my pinups!”

++++

Jayne’s sitting astride a chair down in the medlab, just holding Kaylee’s hand and watching her sleep, much as she did following his injury weeks before. Her eyes shift rapidly beneath their lids and she whimpers as she dreams.

The big man smoothes her hair back and reassures her, “It’s alright, gal. I’m here. You’re okay. Don’t got no need to fret.”

Perhaps awakened by his familiar touch, Kaylee rouses and smiles up in a drowsy way. “Hey, Jayne… we back on S’renity?”

“Yep, we sure are. And so’s all the equipment them hundans took. Wash says he needs your help just as soon as you feel up to it. Gonna put her all back like she was before.”

“Tha’s right… shiny…” She’s still weak and uncertain.

“An’ Kaylee, folks all want to do whatever they can to see you better. We know you been through a bad thing an’ ya just gotta tell us what you need. Promise?”

She nods solemnly. “I promise.”

He steps over the chair and pushes it aside. “I got a surprise for ya. Feel up to it?”

Kaylee remembers some of Jayne’s other “surprises” and isn’t quite sure.

“Depends…”

“Well, then, just trust me.” He slips one arm under her shoulders and the other under her knees and easily lifts her off the medtable, rolling the sheet around her.

He carries her down the lower corridor and out into the cargo bay. In the midst of crates and the retrieved ship’s electronic gear sits a large, bright yellow hover mule.

Kaylee’s jaw drops agape and she stares, then giggles. “That’s ours?”

“It is now.”

“Put me down, Jayne”

“You sure, babygirl?”

“Yep.”

He sets her gently on her feet and she tucks the sheet around herself like a sarong and immediately goes to the machine. She walks all around it, touching it and talking softly to herself. Then she moves to the stolen equipment, patting each piece as if affirming all her lost children are home.

Noticing something missing, she asks anxiously, "Where’s the main Cortex link?”

“Oh, Wash has already got that back in an’ he’s workin’ on the main engine controls.”

Kaylee scoots back over to the merc and quickly smooches him right on the mouth before heading up the stairs. “Tell him I’m gonna get some coveralls and I’ll be up to help him in just a minute.”

“Gotta get my Serenity together again,” she announces over her shoulder.

Jayne chuckles and smiles up after her, then murmurs to himself, “That’s my good girl.”

(THE END. Thanks to all of you who've graciously shared your insights and comments. The greatest joy in writing a story comes with sharing it with others. Be watching for the final story in my “Faith” trilogy, titled “Faith, Love and Serenity”, coming soon.)