The Contract: Good Clean Truth 4/7 Author: hisgoodgirl

Paring: Jayne/Kaylee Disclaimer: Joss's toys, my make-believe. No money changed hands and all that. Rating: PG-17 for adult language, later chapters R for explicit sex.

To read the other stories in this long Jaylee story arc check out my earlier fic by clicking on my name, above. This falls between "RED" and "Too Little, Too Late"

Beted by the lovely ArtemisPrime. Constructive feedback is much appreciated, and feeds my muse. Thanks!

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The Contract Chapter Four: Good Clean Truth

Through back alleyways and between buildings, Jayne shuffled the very frightened and inebriated mechanic as quickly as he could toward the back entrance to Clementine’s, where Zhang Li, Annie’s old caretaker, promptly admitted them.

“Cheeng jeen, Mr. Cobb. I tell Miss Annie you here.”

They entered into a laundry and service area for the bordello and by now Kaylee was shaking and her normally rosy complexion had taken on a decidedly greenish hue.

“Uh… Jayne… I think I’m… gonna be…sick…”

“Great…” the merc answered sarcastically. He glanced quickly around and steered the nauseated girl to a bucket just in the nick of time. Kaylee fell to her knees and retched as Jayne rolled his eyes heavenward. “See what happens when ya go drinkin’ too much, gal?” he lectured.

It was at just this dramatic moment that Annie entered, took one look at the scene and shook her head. “Now Jayne, you got no cause to be raggin’ on this girl after all she’s been through.”

Kaylee wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and turned a weak and quavering smile on the madam. “Howdy, Ma’am. Thanks for… “and back went her face into the bucket for another round.

Jayne just shook his head. He’d been a drunk and dealt with plenty of other drunks, but most of ‘em had been men. The option of sobering Kaylee up by dunking her head in a water trough somehow didn’t seem right, and he concluded he’d much rather pass the problem off to another woman.

He turned to Annie with a pleading look in his blue eyes. “I took care of one fella but I still gotta git myself over to Curtis Street and put the fear o’ God in them gals. Can I leave her with ya? I hate to ask, Annie, ‘specially as she’s such a mess, but I don’t know what else to do with her…”

The red-haired madam smiled and patted the big man on the shoulder, “Go on an’ take care of business, Jayne, and don’t fret about your little friend. The girls and I’ll care for her. Sure wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to sober up some gal had too much whisky in her belly.”

Jayne crouched beside Kaylee and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’ll be safe here, babygirl. I’ll be back just as soon as all this fei hua’s resolved. I promise.”

The girl nodded weakly and the mercenary stood and headed out into the alley headed toward Curtis Street.

++++

Swaying on her knees, Kaylee looked warily up at Annie.

“You poor dear.” The madam smiled kindly at the girl and helped her unsteadily to her feet. “First thing we need to do is get you clean and sober, then you and me need to have a talk.”

Gesturing to her caretaker, Annie asked, “Zhang Li, would you please fill my bath for the girl? Also, I want you to ask Serephina to take over out front for the time being, and then bring us a cup of strong, black coffee and a sandwich.” The elderly man bowed and left on his errands.

Annie retrieved a clean washcloth from the laundry storage, and moistened it with cold water before handing it to Kaylee. "Wash your face, now."

"Yes'm." Feeling quite miserable, Kaylee meekly did as she was told, then wobbled onto her butt, cross-legged on the laundry floor.

Rinsing the cloth again in the icy water, the madam folded it into a pad. "Now put this on the back of your neck - it'll ease the nausea." Kaylee sat like this for a few minutes before Zhang Li returned to advise his mistress that the bath was ready.

“Come on, honey. We ain’t goin’ far.” Annie slipped an arm under Kaylee’s and steadied the girl as they crossed through the laundry and down a short hall into what was obviously Annie’s personal apartment.

Kaylee peered around with bleary eyes. The place looked welcoming and comfortable. As she glanced at the big ornate bed, she couldn’t help but imagine “her” Jayne and Annie together there, an image more than a little disquieting.

The madam led her through a door into a room tiled in shades of green and white. The floor was covered in tiny white hexagonal tiles, inlaid with a floral border in green and yellow, and the gleaming fixtures were clean and elegant. Annie’s successful management of the bordello had allowed her to make many improvements, including this personal luxury.

The foamy, steaming water gave off a wonderful citrusy scent and Kaylee breathed in deeply. On a bench near the tub, Zhang Li had laid out clean deep green towels and a fluffy white bathrobe.

The late afternoon sun filtering through a tall, narrow window filled with pale gold, textured glass, gave the room an almost ethereal luminance, leaving the little mechanic wide-eyed in wonder at the contrast with Serenity’s spartan facilities.

“I’ll put your things here.” Annie looked at Kaylee kindly and pointed to the dressing screen in one corner of the room. “Can you get yourself undressed or do you need some help? And ‘scuse me, hon, but I don’t even know your name. Jayne never told me. I’m Red Annie, but I figure you knowed that already.”

Kaylee stepped out of her pink shoes, uncertain about how to relate to this woman. “I can get my clothes off m’self, Ma’am,” she answered hesitantly. “I’m Kaylee Frye, and me an’ Jayne ship together.”

Annie smiled. “From what Jayne’s told me, you two do a helluva lot more than ship together.” Seeing the crimson blush that colored Kaylee’s cheeks, the madam laughed, thinking to herself, Don’t you know that man loves you, girl?

“You get yourself in that tub and I’ll go see what’s holding up that coffee and food and check back in on you in a few minutes.”

The opportunity to soak in a hot bath was a true luxury for Kaylee. Since leaving home, she’d only experienced this once as part of a special birthday gift from Inara. As soon as Annie stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed, the little mechanic scrambled out of her clothing and gingerly climbed into the bathtub.

Still feeling a little swimmy headed, the girl settled herself into the steaming, fragrant water and sighed, “Oh lord, this feels good.” The day’s events were pretty garbled by the alcohol still in her system and she struggled to make sense of everything, especially of Jayne’s rescue and Red Annie’s kindness.

She ducked under the water to wet her hair and washed it and then the rest of her with the fragrant soap she’d found with the towels. She’d just begun to rinse herself when there was a knock at the door.

“Honey, it’s Annie.”

"You can come in.” Kaylee shyly covered herself with the washcloth and her free hand as Annie entered with a steaming mug of black coffee and a sandwich on a tray.

Annie smiled. “Girl, there ain’t no need to be shy ‘round me. I seen enough nekkid women in my time, I hardly notice ’em any more. You ain’t got nothin’ different from what I got.” Again the low alto chuckle. “Now drink this coffee. It’ll help you sober up a bit.”

Kaylee licked her lips. “Ain’t ate nothin’ since mornin’, and I’ll admit that smells mighty good.” She accepted the coffee shakily and thought about Annie’s comment. This woman had been and might still be Jayne’s lover. Kaylee surreptitiously eyed Annie’s rubanesque figure and full bosom, then glanced down at her own more slender body, feeling almost child-like in comparison with the older woman.

“Here, Kaylee, drink up your coffee and then I’ll rinse your hair.” It was obvious to Annie that this girl needed reassurance.

Kaylee ate the sandwich and sipped silently on the coffee until it was was gone and then handed the cup back to Annie. “So you knowed Jayne a long time?” she asked tentatively.

“Yep. Goin’ on near five years, now.” Annie used a big metal pitcher to scoop up water and pour it over Kaylee’s hair and back, rinsing away the suds.

“I know you gotta be curious, honey, and I got nothin’ to hide. Weren’t long after I went to work for the previous Madam, your beau come in looking for a trim. Swai, polite fella he was, and hired me for the whole night. Now that just don’t happen much in my trade. Fellas come and go, if you know what I mean…” Annie laughed lustily at her own joke and Kaylee couldn’t help warming to this bawdy, welcoming woman.

“He’d show up four or five times a year, whenever he was between jobs an’ flush with coin, and we’d have us a rare old time. Honey, that man of yours is better in the sack than any man I ever knew. You’re a gorram lucky girl, you know that?”

Finally feeling less self-conscious, Kaylee clambered out of the tub and into the waiting robe Annie held open for her. The girl mechanic wrapped a towel around her hair and then finished drying off. She started for her knapsack to pull out a short dress she’d packed but Annie waved her off. “Why don’t you wait on that for a bit, let your hair dry. I’ll brush it for you if you like. Such pretty hair, nice and thick like your man likes it.” She ushered the girl back into her boudoir and settled her before the mirror of her dressing table.

Kaylee looked at Annie’s own thick mass of copper curls and she thought about how much Jayne loved to brush her hair for her, a pleasure she’d first been introduced to by Inara.

The red-head blotted the remaining water from Kaylee’s chestnut hair and with a silver-backed brush, began to gently work out any tangles. The bath, food and coffee had done their magic and the girl who sat before her was far more sober and shiny than before. Seduced by the pleasure of the woman’s deft brushing, Kaylee’s eyes eased closed and she allowed herself to relax a little and listen to Annie’s story.

“Like I said, we got to be good friends on top of him bein’ a customer. I never asked him a lot of questions about his past nor what he did – them scars told me enough. But he was kind and we suited one another well enough. Nothin' more.”

Annie looked up and caught Kaylee’s dark eyes in the mirror’s reflection and smiled. “Then, come a few months ago, Jayne shows up and says there’s somethin’ he needs to tell me. Said he’d fallen hard for a little gal worked on the ship with him and wouldn’t be a’comin’ back for trim no more.” She watched as Kaylee’s eyes grew wider and her mouth fell softly open.

“Well, I weren’t too surprised,” Annie went on. “Man like him needs an anchor, someone steady to hold him to his course, give him a reason to step easy. So I wished him the best and every happiness and that was that.” She put down the brush and tuned the girl around to face her.

“Kaylee, honey, until I heard about the contract out on you and sent a messenger after Jayne, I ain’t seen him once. God’s truth. He’ll always be a dear friend, but his heart belongs to you now.” Annie tipped Kaylee’s chin up and bent to smile warmly at the girl. “You got no cause to doubt Jayne Cobb. He’s a stubborn cuss and sometimes ornery as hell, but when he gives his heart, he means it.”

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At the Curtis Street Cathouse, one very angry mercenary was busy putting the fear of Cobb into the madam and her whores. The bouncer there had tried to block his entrance, but the merc cold-cocked him with a hard right jab that left the man face-down in the entryway.

With Cassie in hand, Jayne stormed into the parlor and confronted Longshank Liza, the tall, angular woman who was the madam there. Seeing the glaring, towering hulk of a man brandishing a gun, the whores squealed and scattered, leaving their mistress to face the threat on her own.

“Jayne Cobb, you know I don’t allow drawn firearms in here. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Liza’s voice was sharp and imperious.

Jayne just kept coming, furious and implacable, until he had backed Liza hard against the bar. Although she was a tall woman, the merc still towered over her.

“You gorram cheap chou san ba! I know whattcha done, Liza.” Jayne jammed the pistol barrel up under the terrified woman’s jaw. “Badger’s man’s dead and I got no qualms about sendin’ you on to fuck him in hell!” He cocked the hammer and her eyes flared wide as she froze.

Gouging her skin with the gun, Jayne growled low and dangerously, “How many of them bastards did you hire ta kill Kaylee?”

Liza tried to make her voice soothing. “Yiqi shen luxi. Why would you think I’d hire killers?”

Jayne grabbed a fistful of Liza’s yellow hair and yanked her up straighter. ”Lyin’ bitch! I want the truth, less’n I shoot up th’ whole ruttin’ place, startin’ with you.”

The shaking woman babbled, “It was just the one man. All we could afford. Figured with that girl out of the way, you’d be back to mai bi soon enough.” Liza’s hands scrabbled at the bar to either side of her as the hard wood ground into her spine.

The big merc snarled and spit onto the floor. “You listen up and this goes for your gals, too. I ever find out you stupid whores’r trying to harm that girl in any way, I’ll come back and kill every last one of you and burn this luh-suh cathouse to the ground. Dong ma?” He shook Liza by her hair to make his point and shifted his gun barrel just enough to leave a powder burn on the terrified woman’s cheek when he fired into the ceiling. Bits of plaster rained down as the gun smoke swirled.

”Trim here was mediocre, anyways. Always has been…” he sneered.

With that matter resolved, Jayne backed out of the parlor, stepping over the unconscious bouncer, holstered Cassie and headed into the street.

Behind him, the setting Persephone sun was the color of beaten copper and illuminated the scattered clouds above in rose and lavender and gold. It had been one hell of a day and Jayne had to admit to himself that he was beat.

He paused on a street corner to decide what to do next and lit up his cigar.

I wuz plannin’ on goin’ straight back for Kaylee, he thought to himself,but she’d probably appreciate it If I cleaned up a little before pickin’ her up. I know she’s safe with Annie and won’t hurt none to give her a little longer to sober up. We still got time to git us a room somewhere, even if all we’re up for is a tussle in the mornin’.

His priorities sorted out, the merc headed back to Serenity to shower and change clothes before returning for Kaylee at Clementine’s.

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Down in his bunk, Jayne quickly stripped and wrapped a towel around his narrow hips, grabbed some clean clothes and his shaving kit and headed for the shower on Serenity’s lower level.

River passed him as he headed downstairs and smiled at him pointedly. “Blood has to go somewhere. That’s what the drain’s for.”

Jayne scowled at her in a way that made it abundantly clear he had no time for her babble.

“Party of two – don’t have too much fun or you’ll be late,” she warned him over her shoulder.

“Whatever,” he mumbled. He opened the door to the shower room. “Moon-brained girl’s off her rocker. Wish I knew what the hell she’s talkin’ ‘bout half the time,” he bitched.

The big man set his things on the bench beside the small sink and studied his face in the mirror.

“Ruttin’ beard grows so gorram fast… might as well shave again before heading back to Kaylee.”

He lathered his face and removed the day’s bristle from his cheeks and jawline, then rinsed the foam away and smiled at the results in the mirror. Hell, he knew he could be a slob sometimes, frankly didn’t give a damn how his general untidiness galled his shipmates.

But when it came to Kaylee, he could be as meticulous with his beard and hygiene as he was in caring for his guns. “Man has to have his priorities straight,” he nodded and told his reflection.

Turning on the shower full force, Jayne dialed up the heat. On planet, refilling was easy and there was no need to conserve. He hung his towel on the nearby hook and stepped into the spray, groaning with pleasure as his tight muscles uncoiled. He soaped himself down in a quick, no-nonsense manner, cracking his neck as the hot spray loosened the tension of the past twelve hours, rinsing the suds down the drain. He recalled River’s remark and thought about killing Raj earlier that afternoon.

“Huh. Guess it is blood down the drain…”

He turned off the tap, quickly dried himself and dressed, deliberately leaving his soiled towel on the floor, thinking with a smirk, That’ll bug the hell outta Zoë…

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To be continued… 4/7