Jayne planned to sing Kaylee’s praises for days. Months even. The platform system she’d developed lowered him to the top of the train smooth as an elevator. A very windy, unstable, but overall quite safe elevator. It was really no more than a small, sturdy rectangular floor with four poles rising about a foot from each corner and connecting to four cables that met on the hook of the crane. A rim of cables attached to the tips of each of the four poles, binding them together, creating a low wall to keep things from sliding off if the wind shifted the level too much. But Jayne felt like the Captain of his personal platform with the wind whipping through his hair like it was. Unable to resist, he propped one boot on the lower rail and reached one hand out to touch the support cable. Yep. All the needed was a parrot and an eye patch and the picture would be complete. That and a boat, some nice ocean water, a salty sea breeze, cheap rum, and a crew… but damn if he didn’t feel like a pirate king with the wind whipping through his hair like that! He grinned fiercely and a bug smacked against his teeth. With a loud hock, he spit it out over the side, just shy of the edge of the train. Serenity matched the velocity of the train car and when the platform was a mere inch above it, Jayne called up to Kaylee to stop, then stepped out onto the roof of the box car. Easy as pie. Nothing broken or jammed. Wind thankfully not knocked out of him. The rest would be so much easier now, going in clean. Mal’s hands appeared through the roof, tipping up the access panel on the top of the car. Jayne called up for slack, then passed his platform through the roof to Mal before climbing down to help. Zoë was straining to move a pair of thick green boxes toward their platform. Jayne and Mal joined in with hardly a word. The boxes were heavier than Jayne thought they should be. It took all three of them to lift and shimmy the first into place. “Maybe we should do two loads,” Jayne suggested. Mal shook his head. “Not enough time.” Once the two crates were loaded, Jayne, Zoë, and Mal stood on the platform around them and Jayne radioed Kaylee to move. Jayne could see the cable stretching taut, but they didn’t lift more than an inch off the ground. When Kaylee suggested they take two loads as well, Mal and Zoë hopped off and told her to try again. “I think she meant the cargo,” Jayne protested, as his elevator started rising. Now he’d have to move the crates by himself (well, with Inara and Kaylee, which essentially meant by himself) before sending the platform back down. The added weight made the ride much smoother and less susceptible to swaying in the wind. Jayne didn’t like that as much. He looked down at the train, knowing Mal and Zoë had stayed behind because they had a second option for an out and they didn’t need to be worrying about losing the cargo. His stomach turned as the platform leaned to the left, one of the cables on the corner lengthening with strain. He and Kaylee had tested it for strength, making sure it could take both the weight and the wind sheer. Maybe they hadn’t tested enough. Or maybe their testing had stressed the cables too much. The ascent slowed to an eternity as Jayne watched the left corner cable strain to do its job. He placed a protective hand on their stolen crates, trying to shift balance away from that side, but there weren’t side-walls enough on this thing to compensate. Maybe he could relieve the stress by his own strength, pulling the ends to meet. Jayne’s worries were interrupted when he slid across the platform as the cable lengthened again, getting dangerously close to snapping. His foot catching on that lowest rim of cable, he cried out, his hands searching for purchase. Hanging precariously at an odd angle, he watched and waited for the weight to tip a little more and the crates to start sliding. He radioed Kaylee that there was a problem, but before half the words were out, the cable finally snapped. Jayne slipped again, his shins grinding against the surface of the platform, his arms reaching sideways to the two intact cables at the opposite corners. It was a stretch for him to span, and didn’t help when the two crates tipped sideways, slamming against his body, snapping his shoulders painfully out of socket. The world went a bit black and red after that. All he could think was to hold on to the platform, and make sure the cargo didn’t drop. He had a hazy notion that the radio was lost to the world, and an enormous pressure on his chest, demanding he let go and let gravity have its way. The vicious sunlight vanished when he came through Serenity’s door, and he was vaguely aware of Kaylee screeching and Inara talking over her. He waited until they set the platform to deck and the weight of the crates was off his chest before he fell backwards, reeling, stars in his eyes, pain shooting through his body. Blinking away the pain, he forced himself to sit again. Still had to finish the job. Can’t get paid if they don’t finish. “Kaylee, detach the platform! Inara get the harness!” “Where?” “Third shelf on the left,” he answered, grateful to see Inara obeying. Kaylee was a little slower to move. He would’ve detached the platform from the crane hook himself, but his shoulders screamed bloody murder with each move. He climbed up on one of the gorram crates to spur her and finally she climbed up too. He held her legs steady while she reached high on her tiptoes and detached the spent platform with the one broken cable. Once the hook was free, Jayne grabbed it and ran across to Inara. The harness was only meant for one, but it’d have to do. He desperately looked around for something to weight it with so they could get it to the train. Grudgingly, he sacrificed his heaviest free weight to the task. They dropped the harness in the general direction of the train like a giant fishing line. Inara had the controls. Jayne left her to finish the job and stumbled back to the stolen crates. In tact. More so than he at least. Jayne sank to the ground, his world an array of spots and lights. “Jayne?” Kaylee asked tentatively, kneeling by his head, sorrowful tears in her eyes. “Just restin’, girl,” he responded, reaching up a hand to take hers, despite the pain it caused him. He pulled her hand over his heart so she could feel it beating. So he could keep her in the present and away from that image of Simon that haunted her so. Kaylee’s hand pressed against his bruised torso, feeling his heart pounding against broken ribs. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Mal and Zoë rising through the hatch, Zoë in the harness, arms laced around Mal. Reason dictated putting the heavier man in the harness, but the harness was also the safer of the two positions and Jayne should’ve figured Mal would put Zoë somewhere she couldn’t be accidentally dropped. She was strong enough to hold him anyhow. As soon as their feet touched down and the door closed, Mal barked a few orders and surveyed the room, his eyes falling on Jayne. Jayne wanted to sit up and show he was okay, but just lifting his head brought spots to his eyes. His arms weren’t rightly attached, he knew. He settled on bending his knees to the ceiling as they weren’t more than a little scraped. Kaylee whimpered, running a hand over his head, which only managed to bring more sparkles to his eyes. He focused his energy on breathing, keeping his gaze on Kaylee, and feeling her hand over his heart. “Kaylee, go fetch the stretcher,” Mal said, squatting next to the pair. Kaylee didn’t move. “I can walk,” Jayne volunteered, hearing the slur of blood in his speech. In fact, he could taste it too. “My legs is fine.” “T’ain’t your legs I’m worried about. You caught two crates with your face and nearly had your limbs ripped from your body.” Jayne chuckled lightly, trying to keep up his invincible bravado as much for Kaylee as personal pride. The world went fuzzy again as Kaylee stroked his face one last time, then left to get the stretcher. Jayne watched her go, then looked back at Mal. “I swear I’ll walk outta here. Just gimme a minute.” “Jayne, we got the loot and we got away clean. Why don’t you pass out now and let us carry you a spell?”

*~*

It had been three days since the train job and Kaylee hadn’t come to visit Jayne once. Not that she ever came to the Infirmary these days if she weren’t dragged in at gunpoint or carried while unconscious. Jayne knew she’d be beating herself up over the broken cable, though and couldn’t fathom leaving her alone a minute longer. He waited until the ship was quiet for the night, since he was still under orders not to move. It hurt to breathe, but Jayne had broken ribs before and staying holed up in an Infirmary wasn’t gonna fix that. He pressed his arms across his midsection, grabbing his elbows to brace his shoulders in place. They’d both been relocated, but were still sore beyond the help of painkillers. Wincing with each step up the stairs, he forced his way onward, then down the hall to the engine room. He couldn’t tell if the popping sound he heard was in his own mangled joints or coming from the ship. The world spun a little as he passed through the last hallway, so he leaned against the wall, groaning loudly as his tender shoulder took his weight. “Jayne?” Kaylee’s head poked into the hallway, her voice all sweet and cheerful, not nearly as distraught as Jayne imagined he’d find her. Until she saw him leaning against the wall, that is. Concern washed over her and she rushed out to escort him the rest of the way to the engine room. Finding both his arms and waist to tender, she pressed herself against his hips and held him upright from there. “You shouldn’t be up and about,” she chastised, setting him on the floor of the engine room, facing the pulsing engine. Her hand was running through his hair, both smoothing and messing it up. “You didn’t come visit,” he retorted weakly, trying to relax against the wall, groaning as the popping in his head became more fervent – like an army of small pellet guns firing at once. “You okay?” she asked sweetly, managing to find a spot on the back of his neck that wasn’t bruised and massaging it. His head fell heavily against the wall and he moaned – hopefully not too needily. “What’s that smell?” “Popcorn.” Jayne blinked and lifted his head. Popcorn? That explained the army of pellet guns going off in his head. In fact, now that he knew the noise was external, it was much less troubling. “Why’re you makin’ popcorn?” “Engine’s just givin’ off heat. No sense wastin’ it. Hawk got it for me.” Jayne grunted reproachfully at the mention of the pilot. “You know he’s just teasin’ you, Jayne,” Kaylee giggled, her fingers massaging down his spine, managing to find more places that weren’t bruised and aching, but that needed relaxing. His mind calming, Jayne started conjuring ways he might turn the tables on Hawk and beat him at his own game. Any man that plays sly on you for a laugh should expect revenge. Kaylee stood up to retrieve her popcorn, hissing and fumbling the hot pot before spilling the treat into a bowl and bringing it over. She sprinkled it with a generous portion of salt, teasing and feeding Jayne every few bites as he was still reluctant to move his arms. “You okay?” Jayne asked seriously, when they’d laughed and eaten their way through half the bowl. Kaylee sighed and leaned heavily against the wall, clicking the tips of her boots together. “I don’t know, Jayne. That stupid platform. It was a bad idea.” “You kidding, little Kaylee?! I love that thing! We’re gonna fix it up right nice with stronger cables, and I ain’t ever jumpin’ out in that harness again.” “I got you hurt! Nearly killed!” “Kaylee, I always get hurt on train jobs. Last time I broke an ankle. Time before that I sprained my trigger finger and that made for some very unpleasant gunplay, let me tell you. I’ve bruised a kidney, jammed my spine, broke my nose, wrenched my knee … and that’s just the part where I jump down. I can’t tell you how nice it was to touch foot on that train without somethin’ already aching.” “Probably would’ve ached less if we kept to the routine.” “Or the sound of me falling on that train could’ve attracted undue attention and gotten us shot at,” Jayne countered, though Kaylee didn’t look convinced. Despite the pain in his shoulder, Jayne put an arm around Kaylee and hugged her, but hissed when she pressed against him. “Sorry,” she murmured, pulling away again and sitting upright. They sat there in silence for countless minutes, him with his arm around her, listening to the thrum of the engine and the quiet of the night. “Why’re you making popcorn in the middle of the night anyhow?” She placed a hand on his thigh, patted twice, then fed him a few more pieces of popcorn. “Because I couldn’t make it to the Infirmary,” she answered regretfully, and then added coyly, “And you couldn’t make it to my bunk.”

*~* * *

Up next: Didn’t Mal say he was taking Kaylee to a doctor when all this is over… so yeah, there.

Tears for Simon