There is a part 3 to this as well, called Waking Up, but it's really just a bit of gratuitous smut,and doesn't have to be included in the story for the story's sake. Just wanted to showcase Jayne's...tender side. You're welcome to read it at my live journal page, here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/cynnamon37/

The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Firefly' are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

No infringement of copyright is intended.

Repercussions

“Hey, Doc, good to see you up and about! How’re you feeling?” Wash looked up from his breakfast and greeted Simon when he appeared at the door to the galley. Six heads turned toward the doctor, and he grimaced a little self-consciously as he limped to the table. Most mornings no one would have been eating this late, but here they all were today, grouped around the table. He managed a weak smile in Wash’s general direction. The walk from the infirmary had been more difficult than he’d expected, and his leg was throbbing in protest.

“Better. Still a little sore, but-“

“Yeah, takes a while to get over being shot. But you’ll get used to it.” Mal grinned at him over his coffee cup. Simon noted that the bruises on the captain’s face were already fading. The man was an amazingly quick healer.

“Well, I suppose that’s true, but I rather hope…not… to be getting used to this,” he gestured towards the wound, his tone ironic. He leaned his weight on his good leg.

Book stood up and urged the doctor into a chair. “Here, Simon, have a seat. I’ll get you a plate,” he smiled down at the younger man and went to the stove to dish up a bowl of protein mush.

Simon sat. He looked around the table, noticing the two empty chairs.

“Would you like a cup of tea, Simon? Or perhaps some coffee?” The Shepherd placed the bowl in front of him and waited, a friendly hand on his shoulder.

“Tea would be wonderful, thank you, Shepherd.” He said politely. River reached over and patted his hand, beaming at him. Was it his imagination, or were her eyes clearer today, more focused? The Shepherd placed a steaming cup of tea in front of him, and Simon sipped it gratefully. His eyes went back to the two empty chairs.

“Is - is Kaylee okay? She’s not sick, is she?” Simon looked at the others questioningly.

“Kaylee?” Mal shrugged. “I’m sure she’s fine, just sleeping in a little. She and Jayne were working on the engine most of yesterday, probably got tuckered out.”

“Oh. Well, good. Good. So, no ill effects from - from what happened the other night?” Simon took a bite of the mush, discovered it tasted like sawdust in his mouth. Inara smiled sweetly at him and handed him a jar of honey substitute.

“Here. It goes down a little easier if you add some of this.” He nodded his thanks, poured some over the glop in his bowl. It still tasted like sawdust, only sweeter. He decided he wasn’t really very hungry after all, but River held the spoon up to him with a frown, and he took another bite.

“Ill effects?” Mal considered the words. “Nah. Kaylee’s tougher than she looks. Bounced right back. Can’t keep our little mechanic down for long.” Mal finished his coffee and pushed back his chair, took his bowl over to the sink and ran water in it. He decided another cup of coffee wouldn’t come amiss, and went to pour it. He looked at the crew around the table, all occupied with talking and eating and good-natured joking, and rubbed his hands together.

“Well, I’d best get busy. Wash, we on course for Athos?”

“We sure are, Cap’n,” the pilot nodded. “Should be there in two or three days. Kinda glad to be giving New Melbourne a miss, truth be told. Zoe said you might have a potential buyer for the Lassiter on Athos?” He noted Zoe’s quick frown. Oops. Was that supposed to have been a secret?

“That’s what I hear.” Mal paused, cast a sideways glance at Inara, who studiously ignored him. “And if not, maybe we can pick up some other work. Seems there’s a bit of a textile industry on the planet. Might be they could use some goods picked up and delivered for a fair price.”

“Honest work?” Wash’s eyes widened. “I don’t know, Cap’n, think we can handle that?”

“Oh, I think we could, if-“Mal broke off as Kaylee came into the galley, followed closely by Jayne. They were laughing, and Jayne had his hands on her waist, guiding her in front of him.

Mal moved over to the counter, out of their way, and blinked when he caught Jayne giving Kaylee’s rear end a too-familiar pat. Blinked again when Kaylee didn’t turn around and slap the mercenary senseless. He felt a sudden twisting sensation in the pit of his stomach.

“Told you,” Wash leaned over and whispered to Zoe. Their bunk was next to Jayne’s, and Zoe had sworn he was imagining things during the night. Often. During the night. She tightened her mouth, but he noticed an odd little quirk at the corner, trying to pull up into a smile. He wondered, as he so often did, what was going on behind her bland expression.

“What’s for breakfast? I’m starved!” Jayne sniffed hungrily, looked in the pot on the stove and scowled. His lips curled in disgust as he took two bowls down from the cabinet and started to fill them. Poured two cups of coffee, put cream and sugar in one before he handed it to Kaylee, who had sidled up close to him, her hand resting on the small of his back. She took it, brushing his fingers with hers, and went to sit down at the table. When Jayne brought their food over, she scooted her chair over to make room for him.

“Mornin’, everyone.” Kaylee beamed at all of them, her gaze lingering on Simon. “Simon! You’re up! How’re you feeling?”

“Fine, thank you.” His gaze was riveted on her hand. The one that Jayne was holding. “And you? I was worried when I didn’t see you yesterday.” He managed to get the words through the lump of mush that seemed to have lodged permanently in his throat. There were five other sets of eyes looking at those clasped hands as well, coming to their own conclusions. Only River seemed oblivious to the mounting tension.

“Oh, I’m shiny. Had a lot to do, you know. I looked in on you a time or two, but you were sleeping.” She applied herself to her breakfast, ignoring the muffled snort from the man beside her. She squeezed his hand, though, so he wouldn’t think she was ignoring him. Probably they should have talked about how they were going to tell the others. Yep, no doubt that would have been a good idea.

Book cleared his throat. Smiled at Jayne, his expression one of polite inquiry. “Jayne, will you be needing any help today? The captain tells me you’ve agreed to give the other shuttle a thorough cleaning while Kaylee does some upkeep on its engine.”

“I did? Oh, yeah, I did.” Jayne swallowed the last of his mush and chased it down with a scalding gulp of his coffee. Had to eat that stuff fast so you didn’t taste it. “Sure, preacher, you know I wouldn’t turn down a helping hand. You thinking of renting that shuttle out, too, Cap’n?” He looked over at Mal, who was leaning back against the counter with his arms crossed, glaring at Jayne and Kaylee’s intertwined hands. Jayne realized he had been absently stroking her hand with his thumb and stilled. Kaylee just kept eating, not raising her eyes.

“Yeah, Jayne, I’ve been considering doing just that.”

“Good idea. Every little bit helps, huh?” Jayne finished his coffee and stood, but not before bringing Kaylee’s hand to his mouth for a quick kiss. He stretched mightily, then put his hands on Kaylee’s shoulders, gave them an affectionate rub. She leaned her head back against him and all but purred. He sauntered over to the sink with his dirty dishes and started to wash them. Aside from the noise of running water, there was utter and complete silence in the room now. All eyes were on Kaylee. Waiting. She glanced around the table, looked over at Jayne, who had his back to her, and she just couldn’t help it. She grinned ear to ear and blushed.

Simon pushed back abruptly from the table and limped out, leaving his dishes on the table.

River looked at Kaylee, then at Jayne. “Wolves mate for life, you know,” she informed them solemnly before following her brother out the door.

Jayne finished his chore and headed towards the door. If he had heard River’s comment, he chose to pretend otherwise.

“Well, guess I’ll get started, then. You coming, Shepherd?” Kaylee couldn’t tell if Jayne was intentionally ignoring the strained silence at the table, or if he really didn’t notice it. Then he winked at her. She shook her head at him and rolled her eyes. Great. Leave her there to face the inquisition all on her own. Her hero.

“I’ll be along in a minute, Jayne. You run on.” Book smiled pleasantly. He thought perhaps Kaylee would need an ally in the coming confrontation which, judging by the stern expression on Mal’s face, would not be a pleasant one.

After Jayne left, whistling, Mal leaned over the table, facing Kaylee, hands balled into fists as he placed his weight on them. His voice was relatively calm as he said,

“Kaylee? You want to tell me what the hell that was all about? Why Jayne all of a sudden is acting like he has a right to put his hands on you?”

Wash and Zoe were looking at her with something approaching sympathy. Inara’s eyebrows were drawn together in a puzzled frown. Book, however, was watching the captain intently, ready to jump to Kaylee’s defense should she need him to do so.

Kaylee shrugged and said, “Well, Cap’n - I guess it’s cause - he does. Have a right, I mean.” She twisted her hands together, looked straight at Mal and raised her chin ever so slightly. “We - Jayne and I - we, um, we’re kind of - together now.” Saying the words for the first time, out loud, she realized how it must sound to the others. Crazy, was what.

“Together?” Mal did that thing where he raised his eyebrows and kind of shook his head, like he was sure he could not possibly have heard what he just heard and wanted to rewind the conversation. Back to where it made sense.

“Yep. Together. Me and Jayne.” She said it again and nodded for emphasis. They all just kept staring at her, similar expressions of incredulity on their faces. Obviously, this was going to take some convincing on her part. She sighed. She supposed she should start from the beginning.

“See - the thing is - well, I was really upset yesterday about what happened with that… bounty hunter. What he said and did to me, to all of us, and I just couldn’t make any sense out of it. How it made me feel, I mean.” Kaylee was uncomfortable even now, remembering. The others were nodding their understanding. Well, everyone except Mal, who was looking at her like she had just slapped him.

“You said you were fine yesterday when I asked you,” he protested.

Book spoke up, his voice gentle. “How did it make you feel, Kaylee?”

She shot him a grateful look. “Just…all… dirty inside. Like…like I wasn’t clean, you know? And real scared. Helpless. Mad at myself for being that way. I couldn’t even go back in the engine room until Jayne went with me. I ain’t figured out how, or why, but he just seemed to know what I was feeling. No one else noticed anything, Cap’n, not even you. But he did. And he - he knew what to do to make it better. Helped me set up an alarm system and increase the security so I’d feel safe.”

Mal relaxed a little. “Well, that’s good, Kaylee. That’s real good.” Maybe, he was thinking to himself, he’d overreacted.

“And then last night he offered to sleep in my bunk-“

“He did what?” Mal roared. Wash and Zoe unobtrusively edged their chairs away, out of the line of fire. Shepherd Book got up and came to stand behind Kaylee, his hands steady on her shoulders. She reached up and patted his hand.

“Courage, child,” he murmured.

Kaylee straightened up and glared right back at the captain.

“He slept on the floor, Cap’n. Didn’t even make a pass or nothin’. He was just…there. Just so I wouldn’t be scared, is all. And I wasn’t scared, not one bit. I felt safe, and…protected. Only, then I had this nightmare, about - Early, and I reckon I screamed. Jayne was just trying to comfort me, Cap’n, and we - I -,” she cleared her throat, felt the Shepherd squeeze her shoulder, and went on, “I kissed him, and then - well, the rest ain’t really nobody’s business but mine and his. But, I guess you could say we’re… together. Now.” Her voice was stronger, firmer as she said the last part.

“Did that hwoon dan stay in your bunk last night, Kaylee?” There was no mistaking the not-so-heavily-veiled threat in Mal’s voice, and that was the last straw as far as Kaylee was concerned. She stood up, smiled sweetly at Book, and walked around the table to where the captain was standing. Putting her index finger on his chest and pushing, she backed him up against the counter.

“No, Captain, he didn’t,” she answered. She watched him close his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, before adding softly, in a slow, even tone that rivaled his for menacing.

“I spent the night in his bed. And it was wonderful. In fact, it was downright…perfect. I’m planning on staying there tonight, too, so you’d best get used to the idea. Me and Jayne. Together. Dong ma?” Her eyes were flashing fire up at him, and her chin was lifted into the air like a prizefighter about to take a punch. Mal’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. For once, he was rendered speechless.

She smiled at him, the same way Jayne smiled right before he aimed a punch at someone.

“Now, if you all will excuse me, I need to go see Simon and explain something to him. And then I’m going to go work on the shuttle. With Jayne. I’ll see you there, Shepherd.” She put her hands in the pockets of her overalls and stalked out of the room.

“Well.” Shepherd Book said quietly, and there was a wealth of meaning in that one word.

Mal found his voice and started cursing as he swept his hand across the table, knocking off every dish and cup on that end. When he strode purposefully out the door, muttering about killing someone, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was headed for the shuttle, and Jayne.

“Should we -?” Wash gestured after him. Zoe shook her head, that odd little smile twisting her full lips. “No, dear, I think this is something they’ll have to settle between themselves. Alone.”

“Can we watch, though?” Her husband asked hopefully. “You know, at least make sure no one actually dies?”

Zoe chuckled. “Have you ever been to a bullfight, sweetheart? Not a pretty sight.”

“Yeah, but, I’m just saying-“.

“You know,” Inara spoke for the first time, slowly and thoughtfully, as if an idea had just occurred to her. “This would certainly explain a lot of Jayne’s behavior towards Simon.”

They all turned to look at her, curious as to where she was going with that remark.

“I mean, aside from the fact that he is an uncouth brute. He was jealous, obviously. All this time, he must have had feelings for Kaylee, and none of us ever picked up on that. How odd.”

Wash scratched his head. “Feelings? Jayne? You think?” It was a concept that would take him some getting used to, no doubt about it. Not to mention what Kaylee had said about having a perfect time in Jayne’s bunk. Perfect?

Zoe opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it. “Well, we’d better get this mess cleaned up,” she said. That quirk that wouldn’t go away was back tugging at her lips again. Poor Mal. His crew just kept complicating matters for him, didn’t they?

*************************

Jayne could hear the captain stomping towards the shuttle about two minutes before he got there, could feel the adrenaline starting to pump through him in a familiar rush. He put down the cleaning supplies and leaned against the wall, waiting. He reckoned he’d let the captain hit him a time or two, get it out of his system. But no way was he gonna do what the captain was fixing to order him to do. No way in hell.

Mal stopped in the doorway, bracing himself with his arms on either side,

“Jayne.”

“Cap’n.”

“This ends today. You hear me?”

“I hear you, Cap’n. Being as how you’re shouting, it’d be hard not to.” Jayne didn’t bother to keep the smartass inflection out of his voice. He straightened to his full height and stared the captain down.

“But you got no say in when this ends. Best you understand that right now.”

Mal snorted. “No say? I got no say?” He advanced slowly, his face twisted in an ugly grin. He didn’t stop until he was less than an inch away from Jayne, who, he noticed, was not backing down. Not one bit.

“I seem to remember us having this same gorram conversation before, Jayne. Looks like I’m gonna have to explain it to you again, though, real slow this time, so it makes it through that thick skull of yours. This is my boat. You’re on my crew. What I say goes. And unless you want off this boat and off this crew, you’ll do as I say.”

“No, Mal.” Jayne was shaking his head, a muscle jumping in his jaw from keeping it clenched. “You got a right to tell me what to do on a job, who to shoot and when, what my chores are, when my shift is, such as that. But you got no right to tell me who I can sleep with. It ain’t your gorram business.”

“I’m telling you right now, you ain’t sleeping with Kaylee again!” Mal shouted. “I told you that when you came on board this boat. You agreed to it.”

“That I did.” Jayne admitted reluctantly. “But-“

“There ain’t gonna be no buts, Jayne. It ends today, or you’re off this boat.” Mal was in his face, willing the larger man to back down. Which he wasn’t showing any signs of doing.

Jayne shook his head again. “It ain’t ending, Cap’n. You wanna throw me off this ship, I can’t stop you from that. But this ain’t ending, not on your say so.”

Mal was speechless for the second time in five minutes, and that had to be some kind of record. This time, though, he took action. Before he even realized it, his fist had drawn back, made a direct beeline for Jayne’s face. He saw the other man take the punch and shake it off. His eyes turned that cold, steely gray they did right before he went for his weapon, but Jayne kept his fists at his side. Which made Mal that much madder, so he punched him in the stomach, enjoying the sight of Jayne doubled over in pain. Followed that up with a jab to his ribcage which improved his mood even more. Still, the big man would not defend himself or fight back or … back down.

Mal snarled at him, “Kaylee ain’t some jian huo that you can fuck whenever you feel like it and leave when you get tired of her, Jayne. She’s-“

“I know what she is, Mal.” Jayne was breathing hard, hands braced on his knees, holding onto his temper by a fragile thread.

“I ain’t as stupid as some folks like to think, Captain.” Jayne spat the word captain out like it was a curse word. “I know Kaylee’s above me, and I know I ain’t fit to touch her. But-“

“No buts, you ta ma de hun dan,” Mal hauled off and punched him again, putting all his force into the blow, wincing when he felt his knuckles crack against Jayne’s face. Blood started pouring from the big man’s nose. And still he kept his fists clenched at his sides. He was gonna let the captain beat him to a bloody pulp if he had to, but he was not going to agree to end the best thing that’d ever happened to him. Reckoned he’d better tell the captain as much while his jaw was still working.

He took a deep breath, steadied himself, wiped the blood on his sleeve. Looked Mal in the eye and ground out between clenched teeth,

“Don’t matter what you do to me, Captain, the only way this ends is if Kaylee says it does. You got that? I kept my promise about not chasing after her, and you know that. Been keeping my hands to myself all this time. But-“

Mal grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him back against the bulkhead of the shuttle. They were nose to nose, and Jayne was returning Mal’s ferocious glare with one of his own.

“But what, Jayne? You saw your chance yesterday and took it? Took advantage of Kaylee when she was defenseless? Is that how it was?”

Jayne reached up and took ahold of the fists that were bunching up his t-shirt. Applied some pressure. Enough to get Mal to ease off a little. Mal didn’t think he’d ever actually seen murder in a man’s eyes before, but he was staring at it now.

“No, Mal.” Jayne’s voice had that silky edge to it. The one that said he’d reached the end of his patience and things in his vicinity were gonna start breaking any second now. Bones, most likely.

“You want me to tell you how it was? You’d best listen up, then, cause I ain’t saying this again. That gorram bounty hunter tied Kaylee up. Told her he was gonna rape her. Told her all manner of evil things that sweet girl had no business hearing. He violated her, Mal. And I slept through the whole gorram thing. That ain’t ever gonna happen again. Not while I’m alive.” There was no mistaking the anguish in Jayne’s voice as he added quietly, “I’d die for her if I had to.”

Mal stared at him through narrowed eyes. Jayne could see the very second when what he’d said clicked into place in the captain’s head.

“You tellin’ me you got feelings for Kaylee?”

“Exactly what I’m tellin’ you.” Jayne nodded. He’d done all the talking he was gonna do. If Mal wanted to hit him again, this time he was gonna hit back.

But Mal took a step back. Took a really deep breath and let it out with a whoosh.

“Huh.”