Since there seems to be some confusion on the issue, this story takes place approximately two weeks after Jayne joins the crew. Feel free to post whatever criticism you desire. I'm a big girl,I can take it.

The First Betrayal by Judith Moffitt

"Sir, are you sure we should keep Jayne around? I mean I know it got us out of a tight place to offer him a job, but now that he’s been here for a couple of weeks, shouldn’t we dump him first chance we get? We already know he can’t be trusted."

"Zoe, trust me on this. I got a plan. You’re right; he’s not to be trusted. But he is good at what he does and we could really use his skills. Big guy like that - he’s used to pushing people around and having things his way. Ain’t used to respecting someone else. I do believe that if I can teach him respect, he’ll come around. At least enough to be useful. If it don’t work out, we can always toss him out the airlock later. Here’s what I’m thinking we should do."

As he told her his plan, Zoe got a big grin on her face. Even if it didn’t work; it would be hilarious.

***********

Jayne was coming back from the job on Boros. Mal had trusted him with the delivery of the loot and the pickup of the payment and he was quick to see the advantage to him in that. So when he returned to the ship, some of the payment wouldn’t be in the pile he gave to Mal. He felt good about the fact that he’d get paid twice for this deal and knew that no one would ever find the place in his bunk where he planned to stash the loot he’d appropriated. Even had come up with a good cover story. Man wouldn’t pay the full amount agreed, so he made the deal for what he could get. Yep that’s what he’d tell Mal.

Mal and Zoe were on the bridge when Jayne returned giving him plenty of time to stop by his bunk and store the money he’d stolen. ‘Course what Jayne didn’t know was that they were dealing with old friends of Mal’s from the war and that the job was a setup. Mal knew exactly how much was paid because it had come out of Mal’s pocket. Oh and he didn’t know about the surveillance cameras either. After they watched him store his stolen money, Mal decided now would be a good time for the confrontation. He strolled casually out to the common area and waited for Jayne to come find him.

"Hey Mal, here’s the payment. It’s not what they agreed to, but the man…" Jayne never got to finish his sentence as Mal punched him in the mouth and followed up with a swift kick to the groin. As he lay there screaming in pain, he heard the click of a gun being cocked and there stood Zoe with a rifle pointed at his head.

"Jayne, we both know that’s bullshit, so you might as well not waste your voice lying to me. You stole from us and I don’t take kindly to that." Wash came in at that moment with the money Jayne had stolen in his hands. "Hey Mal, see what I found, just where you told me it would be." While Jayne watched from the deck, Mal counted both piles of money. "Seems to be all here now. Funny how you had the exact amount of the discrepancy in your quarters. Wash, go take off, wouldn’t do to throw this low life out the airlock while there’s still air out there." Mal kicked him in the groin again to distract him enough so he could grab his hands and tie them together with some rope he’d stashed in the room. Then he tied Jayne’s legs together once he finished squirming around. They could all hear the thrum of the engines as Serenity took off. Mal looked at Zoe. "How the hell are we going to get him to the airlock? He’s awfully damn big."

She seriously considered the matter. "Well sir, if I took a leg and Wash took a leg, and you took his head, I think we could do it."

"OK, we’ll wait ‘til Wash has us on a course away from this planet then and can be spared from piloting. In the meantime, you got anything you’d like to say for last words?" This last sentence was addressed to Jayne.

Jayne was terrified now. These people were ruttin crazy. They might actually do that. The look on the captain’s face said he was dead serious and dead wasn’t exactly a word Jayne was real comfortable with right this minute. He started to babble. "Oh God, don’t kill me. I promise I won’t ever do anything like that again. I’ll promise whatever you want; just don’t kill me."

"Son, you’ve proven you can’t be trusted, so to win your life, you’re gonna have to … Damn I can’t really think of anything. You got any ideas Zoe?"

"You believe in God," she asked.

"Yes," he whimpered.

"Well sir, we could make him swear on the Bible not to ever betray you again. And maybe cleaning the latrines with a toothbrush every day for the next month might make him consider the error of his ways."

"Oh yeah, I’ll swear whatever you want, just please don’t kill me."

Mal scratched his nose. "I don’t know Zoe, he might not be scared enough of just God’s retribution. Let me think on it awhile. Ain’t no hurry anyway. It’s not like he can go anywhere." With that, Mal and Zoe left and went up to the bridge.

Jayne struggled to get free, but Mal was an expert and there was no ruttin way the ropes would come loose. The longer he lay there alone, the more afraid he became. These people really were gonna kill him over a lousy 200 credits.

A couple hours later, Mal came back alone. He sat down near Jayne, pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Jayne’s head. Then he very conversationally said, "You don’t know me very well or you never would have tried that nonsense with me. Let me explain something to you son. First, neither me nor the rest of the crew are to be messed with in any way. Second, you never betray me again. Third, we’ll be watching you very carefully, so don’t get it into your head that you could get away with anything. Fourth, the latrine cleaning idea was a hell of a good notion that Zoe had. Fifth, I catch you betraying me again and you will die. Is all this perfectly clear?"

"Oh yeah, Mal. I promise I won’t ever do it again."

Mal glared at him. "I’m serious here, Jayne. I want to be clear about that. No second chances. Oh, and I think you’ll have to write up those promises for me and sign them in blood. Make sure you promise before God since you believe. Best have that written promise to me before you sleep tonight or you won’t be waking up." Mal pulled out a knife, cut the ropes and walked away.