Jayne Cob reviewed his mental checklist of weapons he would take on the job the next day. After Miranda he never went anywhere without grenades. Unfortunately Vera was too big to take, so he had to decide on whether to take Maggie or Pearl as his primary weapon. After spending quite a bit more time to decide, he put the decided weapons neatly in a bag, locked up the rest, and headed for the mess. . He climbed up the ladder, stepped into the hall, and closed the door behind him. He listened and could tell the captain and Zoe were in the cargo bay makin sure the truck didn’t have any problems that Kaylee would have to fix beforehand. He could hear Kaylee from what sounded like Simon’s room and suspected from the little giggles that escaped that she’d probably be spending the night there. Shaking his head, he took a step towards the Mess then stopped. He craned his head and swore he heard the sound of someone crying. Frowning, he followed the noise up the stairs and onto the bridge. He didn’t see anyone in the pilot’s seat or in the front, but he turned and his eyes widened when he saw River crumpled in the corner against some sorta machine, her forehead pressed against her knees and her little body shakin. “What is it, girl?” he asked, crouching down and she looked up through tear-filled eyes. “Can’t stop the sounds….crawl out of the canyon and reach for you….millions of them, pulling you down and down till you can’t see what’s up or down….the voices, they claw at you…rip away pieces and pieces because they won’t stop because you can’t stop them….I….can’t…I can’t stop them,” she said dissolving into tears once more and Jayne frowned. “Can’t stop who?” he asked, and looked around. “The voices,” she replied. “So loud when so close together…not like the sky.” Jayne frowned. “You mean the people, here on Faemont?” he asked, and she nodded. Comprehension slowly dawned on him, and he realized for once what she meant. They had just landed on Faemont, a heavily populated world, a day early to gather intel. With so many people, it must be harder to keep all their thoughts out of her head. He put a hand on her shoulder and firmly shook her till she was looking at him again. “Listen, girl, ya gotta focus. Captain sees ya like this, and he won’t let ya go on that job tomorrow, dong ma? Ya wanna go on the job, don’tcha?” he asked, and she nodded. “Just gotta focus. I know there’s lot more people here than out in the black, but just keep em out. Try listenin to that song ya keep talkin about,” he said and she smiled. “The Song of Serenity,” she sang softly and Jayne grunted. After a few moments, her body stopped shakin and it seemed to Jayne that some color returned to her face. But then, her smile disappeared once again. “Can’t hear it, if we leave to do the job.” “Well, er…hell, just focus on me if ya have to. Can’t promise it’ll be pretty, but if captain thinks I ain’t takin care of ya, he might jus throw me in the airlock.” “Again,” she added and Jayne’s eyes widened. “Ya weren’t supposed to know bout the first time,” he said and she grinned. “Nobody else did. Cept maybe Zoe.” She frowned. “Can’t tell for sure about her. Keeps her thoughts locked tight, even to herself….since Miranda.” “Ya, well, can’t say I blame her. Now come on, get up,” he said and took her arm to help her up. Once she was standing on her own, he put a hand on her shoulder and inspected her. “Ya allright?” he asked and at first she nodded, then a change came over her and tears sprung once more into her eyes. “She’s hurting….a man’s hurting her and she can’t stop him….and there’s a boy….he’s so hungry that he just wants to stop..and…” “Girl!” Jayne shouted, shaking her. “River!” With both of his hands on her shoulders, he could feel how bony she was. Hell, this close he could even smell her. He shook his head. “River!” he said again, and hearing him she opened her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes filled with tears, and she fell into his arms. Not knowing exactly what to do, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to him as she sobbed. For several minutes he just stood there holding her thinkin of ways he might convince Mal to kill him that didn’t hurt so much. He really didn’t want to be thrown into the airlock again. “Perhaps I could be shot, and bleed out,” he thought enthusiastically. He’d been shot before, it wasn’t so bad. Course Mal probably knew lotta torturin ways that killed ya slowlike. He dimly rembered Shepard Book talk about the special hell and momentarily thought if he would go there by huggin an 17 year old girl. Mean, it weren’t like he had feelins fer her or nuthin. Well, she had a good body, there was no fault there. She could be funny too, when she weren’t bein crazy. And she could fight, too. That was the really sexy thing…not that he thought of her as sexy…bein just a moonbrain girl and all. But he remembered her dive into that room full of Reavers, and he heard what she did…and seein the door open with her there holdin their own weapons and blood all over her….she looked a gorram lot more than just a girl then. Finally she quit crying, so he let go of her. “Ya allright?” “Am now that you’re here,” she said. “It’s easier when you’re here…the thoughts aren’t so loud,” and Jayne grunted. “Doubt that has anything to do with me, girl,” he said and River shook her head. “You make them go away…help me get control.” She looked at him. “This isn’t a good place….so much pain here….can’t sleep tonight with it all.” Jayne frowned, worriedly. “Gotta sleep, girl, to be rested fer the job,” he said and looked at her. She was wavering on her feet, and looked exhausted. “So tired,” she murmered. “Hard to block them when I’m tired....not so bad that you’re here…stay with me, ja..” she said, then collapsed. Jayne put his arm beneath her legs and lifted her up. “Shia taing se,” he muttered. “Now what am I gonna do?” He momentarily contemplated just putting her in her bunk. But he firmly put down that thought. Girl said herself it was easier to block out thoughts when he was there. He walked down the stairs gently so as to not wake her. He stopped in the hall, in a complete loss as to what to do. Cursing quietly under his breath, he made a decision. With her leaning against him, he used his thigh and his arm to balance her, then opened the door to his bunk once more and carefully climbed down. Once down, he placed her on his bed, then went back and closed and locked the door. As he climbed back and saw her lying there, lookin all helpless he reexamined the smartness of his decision. But how was she gonna get a good night sleep without him? Tryin to touch as little of her as possible, and especially particular parts of her, he gently moved her aside and climbed into the little bed beside her. She moaned and ended up mostly on top of him, and he couldn’t help but notice a little grin was on her face. After a couple of minutes, he started getting sleepy, and was thankful for how warm she was. “You’re learning how to dance Jayne,” she said softly, her eyes still closed. Jayne looked at her. “Moonbrain girl’s crazy if she thinks I’m helpin her to be nice” he thought frowning, and River opened her eyes and smiled in that annoying psychic sorta way. “Learning how to dance to the Song of Serenity.” Still, smiling, she closed her eyes once more a drifted off to sleep. Jayne frowned. “Crazy moonbrain, doesn’t know what she’s sayin,” he thought then stopped abruptly when he discovered there was a smile on his face. Yep, I’m goin to the special hell.