Title: Stand Up 3/?? Rating: PG-13 Pairing: Jaylee Characters: Jayne, Mal, Simon, Kaylee, Inara, Zoe Disclaimer: I do not own Word Count: 1119

Author's Note: Not betaed.

Part 1 Part 2

Kaylee buzzed the comms, her voice shaking as she spoke. “Zoe? ‘Nara? Anyone hear me?” she called out. Her hands worked and changed to a new frequency. It wasn’t secure, but it went out further. “Zoe? ‘Nara?” she called again.

“Kaylee?” a static filled reply came. Relief flooded her at Zoe’s voice.

“Zoe! Jayne’s back. He’s been drugged, got blood all over him, but Simon says he’s fine. Cap’n thinks there might be some danger. Wants to leave now,” she explained quickly.

“We’re coming back in,” Zoe responded. With that settled, Kaylee ran back towards the engine room just as Mal was coming out of the infirmary with the collapsible stretcher.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she walked along side him in the narrow corridor.

“Moving Jayne to the infirmary,” Mal quickly explained. She nodded as the two of them reached Jayne’s unconscious body. “Man weights a lot. I’m going to rock him forward; you move the stretcher under him. When Simon gets back from waking that sister of his up, we’ll take him to the infirmary,” Mal said. Kaylee nodded then assembled the stretcher. The two of them kneeled next to the mercenary’s body, Mal’s hands reaching for the man’s arm to push him up on his side.

“On the count of three. One…two…three—“

“Cap’n!” Kaylee cried as Mal lifted Jayne forward revealing his back soaked in blood worst than his front had been. Mal froze, his hands holding Jayne in place as he stared at the blood soaked shirt.

“Kaylee get Simon,” the captain order.

“But Jayne—“

“Don’t argue with me,” Mal snapped. Kaylee shut her mouth in surprise. It took her a moment but she rose and ran off towards the passenger dorms. Mal sighed and laid Jayne back on his back. He reached for the big man’s arm, slowly easing it out of its sleeve. Once the arm was free, Mal rolled him forward again, peeling the bloodied shirt away from Jayne’s skin.

“Ai ya,” he mumbled, staring at the lashings that criss crossed across his back. The flesh was torn and parts were still oozing blood. Didn’t know how Jayne could have walked very far with the pain he must have been in. Footsteps approved and Mal rolled Jayne back. Kaylee didn’t need to see this.

“What’s going on?” the doctor asked as he came into view first.

“Need you to look at something, Doctor. Kaylee, I need you to get Serenity warmed up. River ain’t up yet and we need t’leave just as soon Zoe and Inara are back,” Mal said.

“Cap’n what’s wrong with Jayne’s back?” Kaylee asked, her voice edging on fear.

“Just get this boat up and running and once the doc here figures that out we’ll let you know,” Mal said, hoping that would appease her. She nodded slowly and headed for the bridge to get things up and running.

“River?” Mal inquired.

“Coming around slowly,” Simon answered. “Give the medicine about 15 more minutes to work and she should be fully awake. What’s wrong with Jayne’s back?” Mal didn’t say anything, just reached forward and pushed Jayne up on his side again.

“Tianna,” Simon whispered. He shifted into doctor mode, examining the wounds with calculating eyes. “These need to be irrigated and cleaned.”

“Don’t want Kaylee to see this, ‘least not yet. Girl’s been through enough as it is. Maybe once they’re cleaned up and bandaged…”

“Let’s get him to the infirmary, I can do more there. I don’t know how long you can keep this from Kaylee though. Good or bad, she’ll want to know what is happening with Jayne,” Simon said. “And if I were in her shoes I would want to know as well.”

“Thanks for the advice Doc, but why don’t we stick to what you’re good at and that is fixing people up. Here, lets get him on the stretcher, we’ll get him to the infirmary and then you do your job while I do mine.” Simon started at Mal before finally shaking his head and complying.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kaylee’s hands worked quickly as she fired Serenity up. She was a mechanic, not a pilot, warming up a ship wasn’t really what she did, but she’d helped Wash and River do it enough times to know what to do. As she worked she could hear Mal and Simon talking, but what they were saying was lost to her, there voices muffled by the distance. Mal was keeping something though and she wanted to know what it was. She had a right to know what it was.

When Serenity was set, Kaylee moved to the comm. to check on Zoe and Inara. “Zoe? You comin’?” Kaylee asked. She released the button and waited. There was no reply and so she tried again. “Zoe?”

The comm. crackled and Zoe’s voice came quietly over the small device. “Kaylee listen to me but do not respond. We are approaching Serenity but we are not alone. Do not allow us to dock I repeat, do not allow us to doc.” The comm. went silent and Kaylee stared down at the console. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to talk back to Zoe, ask her why they shouldn’t let them dock, how many were there, but Zoe had said not to respond. The mechanic turned to try and look for Mal, but she couldn’t hear him any more. “Cap’n!” she called out. When there was no response she flipped the button for the intercom. “Cap’n I need you on the bridge!” She set the device down and waited. It was a full minute before Kaylee heard Inara’s voice coming over the console and Mal still hadn’t responded.

“Serenity this is shuttle one requesting permission to dock,” Inara said. Her voice was cold and emotionless and Kaylee had to swallow hard before she could even open her mouth to speak.

“Permission denied,” she responded back. Her eyes searched for the captain again but didn’t see him. Sighing, she punched in a few buttons, locking the docks so the shuttle would be unable to dock.

“Kaylee, what the hell are you doing?” Mal snapped from the doorway. He moved and unlocked the docks.

“Cap’n Zoe said not to,” Kaylee shook her head. Mal paused and looked at her.

“Got someone with them?” he asked. Kaylee nodded her head.

“Well we ain’t leavin’ them t’fend for themselves,” Mal shook his head. He leaned forward and grabbed the comm. up. “Shuttle one you are cleared for landing.” He dropped the communicator and looked at Kaylee.

“Stay here. I’m going to meet them at the door,” Mal said, reaching for his gun as he headed for the cargo bay.