This is also half Wendy again. ;) So thankies to her. Keep in mind, these are more vignettes than an actual successive plot.

~~~~~~~

Jayne sat on the landing of the cat walk, his legs hanging over the edge as he sharpened his bowie knife, keeping an eye on the cargo. Not that it was going anywhere, his jaw clenched with resentment. He was stuck on the ship babysitting Kaylee and River while everyone else except Wash was planetside.

He pressed his blade into the grindstone viciously, even the Doctor got to leave the ship, tagging along after Book in search of some illusive medicine he thought he needed to cure the crazy girl. Even Jayne knew you couldn't cure crazy.

He caught movement below, a flash of honey brown hair and coveralls moving between the crates. He stilled the movement of the blade, watching her kneel down beside the charred Mule to gather the tools she'd been using in her attempts to repair the poor beast. Ever the optimist, thinking she could breath life back into it. 'Course, if anyone could, it was Kaylee.

He stifled a smile, watching her struggle with her overfull tool box for a moment. "You hurt yerself, Mal's gonna blow me out the airlock, Kaylee."

Kaylee whipped around and looked up at Jayne. He was looking mean and ornery up there with a huge knife in one hand. "Oh I'm fine! Just this things seems t' get heavier ever damn time. Can't complain though. I 'member when we hardly had a speck a tools. Now I can't carry 'em all." She set the box down and started to unload some of the larger pieces.

He jumped to his feet, sheathing his knife. "Don't be doin' that. I'll help ya."

Kaylee watched his progress as he made his way down the stairs. "Well, that's nice of ya, thanks. Best be careful though, might start thinkn ya got some soft feelin's in there some where," she said grinning and punched him playfully in the arm.

"Feelin's? What're those?" He replied, keeping a straight face.

"Jayne." She rolled her eyes and started putting the tool back into the box.

"Only feelin's I got are of the self-preservation variety." He helped her add the last tools before she snapped the lid closed.

"C'mon, now that ain't true." she said lifting the buckler wrench which was nearly as large as she was. "You got feelings fer Vera."

He settled the box easily on his shoulder, looking down at her with a faint smile, "Well, she's my girl."

"Jayne she's a gun." She said, then smirked at a thought. "Course I guess I understand. I mean Serenity's my baby girl. Some folks try'n say she's just a ship, but she ain't. Not to me."

"You an' the captain both."

Kaylee smiled. "Yeah guess I have t' share her with him huh?"

"And what're the rest of us?" He arched an eyebrow as they started up the stairs together.

Kaylee looked up at him a bit surprised at such a probing question from Jayne. Then she looked thoughtful. "Well, yer family." She said smiling. "Serenity don't have a purpose with out all you t' fly around. I reckon she likes having a purpose."

Surprised, he missed a step and looked up after her, "Family?" He shook his head, his voice lowering to a grumble. "Gotta bunch of ben fei fei for relations." Watching the sway of her hips for a moment, he looked away, tamping down the less-than-brotherly thoughts that were cropping up more and more frequently.

They made their way up to the engine room, and Kaylee turned a winning smile on Jayne as he dropped the crate at her feet. "Now, I’ve got to work on the environs... again." She sighed and pulled out the tool she needed. "If the Captain would just let me get some new wiring, she'd be shiny, but..." she drifted off. No use rehashing the obvious. Money, or lack there of, was a right boring subject.

Jayne peered at the mess of wires, "Awful small to cause so much trouble."

"Oh you'd be surprised at the kind of ruckus a little bad wiring can cause." she said. "All kinds of havoc just cause someone’s too lazy t' do a little maintaining'." She swiped her wrist over her nose as she spoke, leaving behind a smudge of dark grease. "This little thing here has the power to keep everything nice and cozy."

He clenched his hand into a fist, resisting the urge to brush the smear of dirt away. "Why'd we need that when we got you around, all warmth and sunshine?" Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

"Um," she looked away, her smile faltering at his tone. "It does more then warm and cold, it balances everything."

"What else need's balancing?"

“Well, everything. There’s the atmo, and the gravity, the temperature, lights. The timers for day and night. this little bit right here does all of that," she ascended the small ladder she’d set up, and patted the small box fondly.

"Oh," he was silent for a moment, shifting his weight now that his job was done. He knew he should go back to the cargo bay, but... "Well, what's wrong with it?"

"Ain't nothing wrong right now," she said, her voice straining as she reached to work on some piece he couldn't see. "That's the point. Tends to get some nasty corrosion if ya don't tend to it regular, and my daddy taught me to tend to the machinery. He ever saw a speck a the stuff on a machine I was in charge a keeping he'd have my hide fer sure. hand me that other screwdriver, the flat one."

Jayne pawed through the well ordered box, looking for the tool she described. He should be heading back to the bay, but for some reason he was still here, asking about parts of ships and things he plain didn't give a damn about just so her could listen to her talk.

"Thanks, Jayne," she smiled when he handed her the tool. "You don't have to hang 'round if you got somethin' better to do."

He looked up sharply as if she had read his mind. "Uh...um I aint doin' nothin' important, might as well help you. 'Sides, I don't want ya having t’go up an down those steps, might fall. Break something. That takes us right back t' Mal serving me my liver up fer supper.” He cleared his throat, “What was that you were sayin’ 'bout yer pa?" He rambled out the last bits in a rush.

"Well, once, there was this fella, brought his ship in, hadn't had maintenance done so long every wire on the whole gorram thing were completely corroded..." Kaylee continued cheerily from where she was buried up to her elbow in the wiring.

Jayne smirked, listening to her dissertation on repairs she'd made back home. His grip on the ladder she stood on held her steady, but also allowed him a very nice view of the curve of her bottom beneath her cover alls.

Not that he noticed.

"Told him off, didya?"

"You kiddin'? I didn't get the chance, my daddy was laying in to him something’ fierce! Never seen a grown man look so contrite." She turned and waved a hand toward the tool chest. "Grab me the spanner would ya?"

"The what-er?" He looked in the tool chest for something that looked like it might span things.

Kaylee laughed, "It's the..." a change in the sound of the engine interrupted her. "What the?" She started down the ladder.

Jayne put a hand on her waist as she descended, just to keep her steady. "Sumthin’ wrong?" He glanced at the engine.

"Why's he heatin’ her up for? Everybody can't be back yet." Kaylee hopped the last three rungs, and headed to the com. "Wash what are you doin' I got the environs all torn apart down here, I can’t finish with the engine runnin’." She looked at Jayne and frowned when she got no response from the pilot.

"Try him again," he ordered, drawing his side arm and moving carefully toward the open door.

Kaylee's honeyed eyes widened at the sight of the gun. She turned back to the com, her hand shaking slightly as she pushed the button for the bridge again. "Wash? What's goin' on?" She looked back to Jayne "I'm gettin nothin' but static."

His hackles were raised, "Knew something weren't right 'bout this moon." He turned to Kaylee, eyes fierce. "You stay right here and lock the door behind me. Don’t you open for no one. No matter what you see or hear, dong ma?"

Kaylee nodded, her eyes still wide she moved toward the door. “O-okay.”

~~~

Up on the bridge, Wash was scowling as he disengaged the stick and maneuvered Serenity's engines into take off position. His head was pounding with his racing pulse, but he pulled back on the stick, lifting the ship up off the ground. He reached up to wipe a drop of blood from the cut on his cheek, but didn't bother looking anywhere but straight ahead. He knew the gun at his temple was still there, as well as the three behind him. He flinched as Kaylee's voice broke over the com again. "Wash?" Even with he tinny reception her could hear the fear in her voice. “You okay? You not gonna answer me?”

Wash flinched cursing himself. He should’ve shut off the com, now the bastards not only knew she was on board, they knew right where she was. He hoped she had the sense not to let on the there were two others on the ship besides them, his fingers inched toward he com when he heard a low husky growl accompanied by the click of the man's weapon. "Don't even think about it, flyboy. You just get this heap o' junk in the air."

He brought his hand back to the stick, and swore under his breath. "Now no need fer language," The man beside him laughed. Wash figured him for the leader, the others called him Darwick. There were three more Wash knew of, all looking scruffy and disreputable. They'd stepped onto the bridge before he'd heard a thing. One had clocked him across the face with a pistol, and another had yanked him up by the arms and shoved him back into his chair.

Since they’d taken over, he'd learned there were at least two others scouring the boat, looking for passengers. He hoped Jayne had the sense to stay hidden until he thought of a plan. If he thought of a plan.

~~~~~~

Jayne had a plan.

It wasn't particularly complicated or ingenious, but it was effective. Get to his guns, and shoot the hell out of whoever it was invading their ship. From the engine room, he'd caught a glimpse of movement in the galley and cursed inwardly, there was no way to get past him without alerting the man or men on the bridge to his presence. He moved silently to the stairs that would lead down to the cargo bay and the gun locker there. He could hardly launch a full scale attack with the hand gun and no extra clips. Well, he probably could, but he didn't like his chances. 'Specially since he didn't know how many of them there were.

He hoped that they didn't know he was here, and he would be able to take them each out one by one. He made a quick silent dart to the stairs, and then waited to make sure Kaylee closed the engine room door like he’d told her.

"Good girl," he murmured to himself before descending the metal stairs silently, no easy feat for a man his size. He paused, checking the hold for any movement.

A man pacing the empty cargo bay. Medium height with a tattoo on the back of his bald head, he had his rifle slung lazily over his shoulder. He stopped to snoop in one of the boxes. Jayne sneered. This is the kinda stuff they left behind for him? It was too easy.

Gliding through the portal, he moved across the floor of the cargo bay, a predator after his prey. Re-holstering his gun, he drew his freshly sharpened bowie knife from the sheath at his back. The grim smile on his face was the last thing the man saw before he died. Silently.

Jayne hauled the body off to the side and stuffed him unceremoniously into one of the secret compartments hidden along the wall, pocketing his radio, and divesting him of his weapons and ammo. He felt the ship vibrate slightly beneath him, and he recognized it as the last pulls of natural gravity as they left atmo.

One down. He didn’t know how many were left, but there didn't seem to be any others in the cargo bay or on the catwalks. He made quick work of getting as many of his weapons as he could hold. He glanced up toward the engine room, hoping that Kaylee was keeping calm.

He moved to the nearest com, hitting the code for the engine room. "Kaylee?"

Kaylee looked up from where she was hiding curled up behind the engine. She quickly unfurled and scrambled over to the com. "Jayne? What’s going on, what's happening?"

"Not rightly sure yet." He held the button down, "We left atmo though, and I don't think the Cap'n gonna be too pleased about it.”

“No,” she replied with a sound of despair, “He ain’t gonna be happy.” She looked around at her surroundings and her gaze settling on the rotating engine. Her baby wasn’t gonna fall into the hands of some pirates who wouldn’t treat her right. “I’ve got an idea Jayne, you go do what ya gotta do.” She moved away from the com and stepped toward the humming engine. She made a distressed sound through her teeth as she looked at it. “Oh, I’m sorry, girl, but I gotta do this. I promise t’ fix you right back up once these guys are gone.”

~~~~

The hazy blue of the atmosphere around Serenity thinned and then parted altogether and the black came into view through her front windows. Wash thought it was the first time in his life he wasn't happy to see them.

"Here," said the man leaning over him with a gun. "Enter these coordinates into the navigation system and set the auto pilot." he demanded, and shoved a piece of dirty paper under Wash's nose.

He looked at the paper with distain and took it reluctantly. He started punching in numbers, noticing their destination would be in the middle of nowhere and not too far. It gave him and idea. He did the math quickly in his head, just the tiniest adjustment to this heading was all he needed. Hopefully, Jayne was actually out there doing something, otherwise the whole attempt was pointless.

"There." he said dropping his hands. Suddenly the ship lurched, and Wash instinctively grabbed the stick and checked the boards. Then everything went quiet except for the soft beeping of the monitors.

"He chu sheng za jiao de zang huo! What the hell is going on?" the leader glared at Wash.

He held his hands up, “Wasn’t me.”

The other man leaned over and checked the console himself. “The engine’s stopped! What's that mechanic of yours doin'?" He shot a nasty look at one of his larger henchmen, "Find the engine room and fix it."

"On it." The henchmen said and moved to leave the room. Wash chewed his lip, worry for Kaylee turning his stomach.

The henchman came back giving Wash a dirty look, "Bitch locked herself in."

"There another way into that room?" The boss asked prodding his gun into Wash's temple . "No." Wash spat.

"Get up flyboy, let's go." Wash didn't move. "I said get up!" he shouted.

One of the thugs yanked Wash out of his chair by the back of his flight suit and gut punched him, and he fell back against the console, with a loud grunt.

"Let's go get our little grease monkey outta her hole." The two henchmen grabbed the shoulders of Wash's flight suit and pulled him forward. His hands dragged over the console. Making one final adjustment before the shoved him toward the portal.

Gorram it, Wash thought, where the gui was Jayne?!

~~~~

Lying in wait on the stairs for the men to return for Kaylee, Jayne cocked his rifle. He saw them approach, forcing Wash along ahead of them and cursed the pilot. Oh well, Wash was good at ducking for cover. He took careful aim, and waited until both men were in close range. He was about to pick them off when he felt cold metal against the back of his skull. "I'd think twice before doin' that."

Jayne cursed under his breath, and held up the rifle as if to surrender. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the man reached forward take it from him. At the last moment, he turned suddenly and sharply, grabbing the pistol with one hand shoving it away. His other fist he planted in the guy’s face, sending him flying backward tumbling head over heels down the stairs.

The men in the hallway opened fire on the passageway, three of them closing in, forcing Jayne back down the stairs. He retreated to the first turn and drew another gun from his belt.

The leader grabbed Wash by the back, holding him close, and sprinted passed the hallway to slam the pilot hard into the door to the engine room. He pounded forcefully on the door to the with the butt of his gun, using his abundant size and weight to pin Wash against it. Behind him he heard return fire from who he assumed was the crews mercenary pinned on the stairwell. "You open up this door now little girl." He hollered. "I need that engine back up an runnin' now!"

He reached for the nearest thug, holding his gun firmly to the base of the pilot’s skull, shoving him back toward the galley growled, "Get him pinned from the back, Willis," attempting to keep his voice down so the mercenary wouldn't hear. He turned back to the engine room. "I said now, girlie."

Kaylee stayed huddled behind the engine, her knees pulled into her chest with her arms tightly wrapped around them. Tears were leaking out of the corner of her eye despite her best effort, and she shook her head in response to the man's demand even though she knew he couldn't see her. "You listen here little girl. I got your pilot out here with a gun to his head." the gruff voice shouted. "Seems like a nice enough guy, but if you don't open this door, I'm gonna splatter his brains all over this here corridor, dong ma? Now open the gorram door!"

Kaylee wrapped her arms around herself, pressing her forehead to her knees, repeating Jayne's words over and over in her head. She wouldn't open the door, he'd come, and get rid of these bastards and Wash would fly them back to the Captain and everything would be fine. If there was one thing Jayne was good at, it was taking folks out.

"I ain't askin' again." That rough, horrible voice warned her before the gun discharged and Wash's agonized scream echoed against the door.

Kaylee scrambled out from her hiding spot and looked out the small window. Wash was still there his forehead pressed against half the window. His face contorted in pain, but he opened his eyes and looked at her, shaking his head. The other half of the window was filled with the ugly man that she knew went to the voice she'd been hearing. "There now see. I can be reasonable, just don't expect it to continue fer too much longer." He brought the gun up and pressed the barrel hard into Wash's temple causing the pilot’s to tip his head sideways.

Kaylee still hesitated, tears streaming from her eyes, and the man smiled triumphantly watching her weaken. "Don't think the boy can stand if he loses the other foot."

She stood unsteadily to her feet, her shoulders shaking with her sobs, and moved toward the door. Wash glared at her and shook his head sharply at her again, but the man with the gun just pressed it in tighter, causing him to flinch. Kaylee stepped forward and wrapped her shaking hands around the handle and yanked it back. It flew open instantly and she was shoved back landing hard on her backside.

The man pushed Wash forward and then whacked him hard on the back of the head with the butt of his six-shooter. He fell forward, collapsing at Kaylee's feet and lay still. She sobbed loudly and moved toward him but the man's voice stopped her. "Ah ah ah. Lets see about settin’ this engine right shall we?"

Her stomach dropped and she nodded fearfully, moving away from Wash, her eyes still on his prone form. She rushed to do his bidding, her hands shaking and causing the task to take longer than normal.

In the passageway, Jayne let loose a long fluent string of Mandarin. They had Kaylee, Wash and pretty much everything, and it was his fault for leaving the cargo bay with Kaylee. He swung out from his position and fired several shots, then turned and took off down the stairs, heading for the other entrance. No longer worried about being quiet, he thundered down the stairs and flew through the doors to the passenger lounge.

Suddenly a face popped out from behind a crate. “Peek-a-boo, I see you.” River sang, and Jayne yelled, startled, and his gun swung up to press against the pale skin of her forehead. He'd completely forgotten she was still on the boat.

"Gorram crazy girl," he breathed, dropping the gun from between her eyes. "Go get hid, don't need you complicating things." He was already on the move again.

Taking the stairs two at a time with his long legs, he had just reached the cat walk when he came face to face with one of the thugs trying to sneak up behind him. Surprised. both men fired their weapons and missed. Willis lunged for Jayne, and the two men tumbled down the stairs and landed in a heap on the floor at the bottom. Jayne recovered first, and rolled them over so he was on top, and sent a fist into the other man's face. Willis wasn't as easily taken out as his companion, and he came back with a hard right of his own allowing him momentary advantage over Jayne, and their positions reversed.

Jayne knew how to take a punch, and he took two, letting the other guy think he was in control, before he head butted him, and threw him off, pulling a gun from it's holster at his ankle and putting a few bullets in the man's chest.

He turned to go after the others only to find the apparent leader perched on the catwalk above with a gun held tightly to Kaylee's head. "Hold on right there, Merc. The bitch is expendable now she’s got that engine goin' again. 'Course, I'd hate to blow a hole through this pretty head without spendin' some time between those sweet thighs o' hers. We'll all be happier if you'd put that gun away nice and slow like."

Jayne glared at the man for a long moment, his gun still aimed for the pirate’s broad forehead. He might be able to get a shot off before he pulled the trigger if he was real fast. His mistake was letting his eyes slide to Kaylee's tear stained face. He let the gun fall, hanging from his finger, his glare increasing as the last henchman came forward to take it from him.

"Now, enough with all this trouble, this was supposed to be a milk run,” the man holding Kaylee said. "So, let's move this shindig down to the cargo bay." He turned Kaylee around and shoved her toward the stairs, she stumbled slightly and Jayne growled. The hun dan behind him jabbed him with his own gun and Jayne moved forward, his eyes fixed on Kaylee above him as she moved across the catwalk.

~~~~

Jayne gave Kaylee the most reassuring smile he could manage, trying to convey with his eyes that he'd get them out of this. He never was much for smiling, but he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her, least of all these gorram liu kou shui de biao zi he hou zi de ben erzi. He hoped she knew that.

He heard movement from the other end of the bay, and looked to see Wash stumble in through the portal. The smaller man grimaced and fell as he was forced to put weight on his right foot. Blood was oozing slowly from the top of his shoe, and Jayne didn’t begrudge Wash the pain he knew he was feeling.

They were tied up and set down next to a row of crates. Wash, his face damp and pale, labored to push himself into a seated position. Jayne looked around trying to find the advantage, but the leader wouldn't move his gun a centimeter from Kaylee's temple. "Now, we’ve got an engine runnin' nice and sweet like, and our destination all programmed into the autopilot. We should be meetin' up with my compadres very soon. So you all just sit tight and I promise to drop you off on a nice little moon instead of just spacing you out the air lock. But first I need to know who else is on this boat." Kaylee's eyes widened but the man wasn’t looking at her.

"Ain't no one else left on the boat. Ever one else was in town fer the day." Jayne said easily. The leader looked to Wash, who nodded.

"He's right." He said weakly. "There’s nobody else on board." Wash had no idea where River was, but he was glad she was out of sight. Things could go all kinds of wrong for everyone if these guys discovered there was a wanted fugitive on board. Not to mention how annoyed they’d probably get from her odd sort of chattiness. Cranky people were more likely to shoot, and he’d been shot enough for today.

"Sides,” Jayne was saying as the third man joined them from the passenger lounge. “By now ya already took a look around. You know there ain't no more on board."

Once Jayne had been secured and thoroughly searched, producing several weapons that were now piled at his feet, the leader sat down on one of the crates and pulled Kaylee onto his lap. Jayne growled audibly at her small whimper of fear as the man wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing his pistol up to rest under her chin.

"Darwick, I want a piece of that, too." One of the others called out, Wash figured he might have been a blond under all that dirt. "Don't go hoggin' it all."

Darwick didn't take his eyes off Jayne as he answered. "I'm the Captain here, Lan, I'll take what I want, and you'll get what I say you can have."

"You'll keep yer fucking gorram hands off her iffen you plan on livin’ to see another day." Jayne said low and harsh, his arms pulling at the bindings, but his wrists were tightly secured behind his back, and the plastic cuffs only dug into his wrists.

Darwick nodded to Lan, smiling darkly, "You can play with him for a while." He watched Jayne as he slid his dirty hand possessively over Kaylee's thigh, laughing as Lan landed a solid kick straight to Jayne's jaw. His head whipped to the side with an excruciating thwack. "Oh, this could be a lot of fun.” Darwick chuckled. “It's a long ride, we'll be needin' the entertainment."

Jayne spit blood out onto the floor and yanked harder at his bindings, only succeeding in causing them to break the skin. All three men laughed and he could feel frustration eating him from the inside, clawing away at any ability to think clearly. He swept his eyes over the room again and cursed inwardly. "Look girly, yer man is gettin' all tetchy at the thought of me touchin' ya. Isn't that sweet?" he asked as his fingers took hold of the zipper at her front sliding it down. The other still held the gun, pressing it against her chin and tipping her head back. Kaylee sobbed.

Wash swore loudly and tried his bonds as well, but he was too weak now, and dizzy from the two blows to the head. Lan stepped forward and kicked his injured foot, stepping into the small pool of blood that had gathered around his heel. Wash gasped in pain, his head falling sharply backward against the crate behind him. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on not throwing up.

Jayne took advantage of the distraction and managed to get his feet beneath him, tearing everyone's attention away from Wash and Kaylee and back to him. Where it belonged. He got another solid kick in on Lan before the both of the other men were on him. Forcing him back to the ground with sheer weight. They pummeled him, simultaneously. Lan focusing his violence on his face while the other kicked him repeatedly in the ribs.

"Stop!" Kaylee cried, unable to watch anymore. "Please, just stop. I--I'll do whatever you want, please," she whimpered, her entire body shuddering when the biggest slammed Jayne's head into the corner of a crate. "Please, just don't hurt ‘im anymore. Don’t hurt either of ‘em."

"Gorram it, Kaylee, shut the hell up!" Jayne growled, trying not to display the pain talking caused his ribs. He rolled onto his side and tried to push into a sitting position, but it was useless. They’d broke a rib, maybe more, and he felt the stab of a hot knife into his side each time he tried to lift himself up. Deciding to save his strength for the right moment, he stayed where he was.

"There, see?” Darwick was saying, grinning darkly at Jayne whose cheek was pressed to the cold metal flooring. “She knows a good time when she hears about one. Don’t’cha sweetie." He pinched her cheeks and pulled her in for a wet kiss. Jayne struggled harder cursing his body for weak, his brain for worthless as he watched the bastard shove his tongue into Kaylee's mouth. New tears glistened on her cheeks as he pulled away. "Now set him up so he don't miss the show."

Kaylee met Jayne's eyes and looked away at the rage she found there, as he fought relentlessly against his bonds, oblivious to the blood now dropping from his wrists. Tearing her eyes away, she looked to Wash for comfort, but found only frustration and fear in his blue eyes.

She felt Darwick's hands in her hair, yanking her head back to reveal the smooth skin of her neck, "Look it all that pretty skin," he growled, "Don't think she'll mind if a mar it a bit." He laughed as Jayne lunged toward them, but took another fist to the mouth for his trouble, this one finally splitting his lip. "What's the problem?" He taunted, "She don't let ya leave marks?"

Kaylee screamed when he bit her.

"Gan ni niang!" Jayne shouted, his whole body shaking, as he fought the men restraining him. Wash to cursed loudly, and leaned forward. His voice was barely audible now as he spoke.

"You fellas might wanna check your heading before you get too involved in anything..." he stopped, unwilling to complete the sentance. Just as long as that shen jing bing stopped touching Kaylee. Darwick jerked his head up from Kaylee's throat. "What did you say?"

"Never was very good at math, miracle I ever made it through flight school," Wash lied.

Jayne would have killed Wash himself if he'd been able, as it was, he was thankful he'd distracted that monster from Kaylee. He could see spots of red welling up where his teeth had broken her skin. Oh, the man would die, he vowed narrowing his his eyes narrowed, two ice blue shards, focused solely on Darwick. The bastard would die, and he didn’t care who went down with him.

"Carter," Darwick nodded to the other of his men, "Go check it out." The man turned and hurried up the three flights of stairs. "If you messed with the system I'm gonna put a bullet in yer head here and now!" Darwick spat leaning down into Wash's face.

"Oh..." Wash said, working for his breath now, "You... know how to fix it then?"

"Cao! Just for that flyboy," he glared, "I'll make you hold her down while I'm vi-o-latin' her."

“Fuck you!” Wash said.

Carter thumped back down the stairs at that moment, yelling as he came. “That gou si pilot humped us Darwick! We’re headed back to the gorram moon!”

“Well, get your ass up there and try to turn us around!”

“Good luck with that.” Wash said. Darwick snarled releasing Kaylee and lunging for Wash with both hands.

He didn't reach him.

The moment the gun had left Kaylee’s neck, a blur of black and pink descended from no where onto Darwick's back, slamming him head first into the grate flooring. Kaylee dove behind a crate, and Jayne jerked back, in surprise, then took advantage of the situation ramming his body into Len behind him. He fell to the ground, pinning him with his shoulder.

Carter came running down the stairs and in one fluid moment, River brought her leg up slamming her combat boot into his mouth snapping his head around and sending him to the floor his skull bouncing off the stairs as he fell.

Jayne spotted Darwick struggling to his feet and using all his strength to throw himself headlong into the man who’d dared to touch Kaylee. He pinned him to the ground with his body and tried to work his shoulder against the man’s neck.

River pulled a long knife swiftly from Carter’s waist. She twirled the gleaming blade between her lithe fingers and then deftly swung it towards Jayne’s back, a sight that would've scared the hell out of him if he wasn't so focused on Darwick. But the sharp blade cut through his bonds like butter. His hands came free, and she turned in the same fluid motion and gracefully tossed it through the air and into the man Jayne had left behind.

The moment his hands were free, he flexed his fingers, feeling the rush of blood tingling through them and gave the sorry excuse for a man the most fearful smile he was capable of. After the first swing, he felt the satisfying crunch of bone under his fist, feeding the bloodlust that had been clawing for release since the moment the gou cao de hun dan touched Kaylee.

He held the man’s head slightly aloft, with a fist wrapped around a wad of his shirtfront, and snapped his head back repeatedly. Punch after punch plowed into the man's face, Jayne's own twisted in rage until it was no longer recognizable as his. It was several more punches before he felt the small hand on his shoulder, heard her sob behind him. He turned to see Kaylee standing over him. She was shaking her head, her golden brown hair swinging about her face, clinging to the tears on her soft cheeks. Jayne let Darwick's head drop to the floor.

"I don't think he likes his pie Jayne." River said in an almost giddy tone as she peered closely at the battered man.

"There's one more I gotta take care of," Jayne started pushing to his feet.

"Nope, no more dingos." River said, "You'll see. It's all very shocking." Jayne whipped his head around truly taking notice of River for the first time, but his attention was immediately drawn back to Kaylee as she fell into his arms.

"Shhh, bao bei," he wrapped his arms around her tightly, not caring who saw or what they thought it meant. "It's over, Kaylee. It's over."

"Not quite," Wash said from where he still lay on the floor. His voice was faint and raspy. "We're on auto pilot headed back to Zumbo, in a round about way, but auto pilot’s not going to put us into orbit."

"Returning as a ball of fire." River said softly.

"I have to get up there." Wash said. He started to push himself up but fell back almost immediately, his vision blurred.

"He's in a bad shape, lost a lot of blood," Kaylee said thickly her arms still wrapped firmly around Jayne's neck.

"So did you," he mumbled, the calloused tip of one finger tracing the bite mark on her neck, before remembering himself and releasing her to go to Wash’s aid.

Kaylee kept her eyes on him "You’re not looking too pretty yourself."

"Never did," he replied, a hint of a smile touching his mouth.

Wash took Jayne's offered hand and let the larger man pull him to his feet, where he was met with immediate and excruciating pain. He fell against Jayne's side, squeezing his eyes closed as the room spun. "C'mon little man, lets get this here ship back to where she's s'posed to be." Jayne said as Kaylee stepped in to help support Wash.

Together, they got him into the cockpit, River trailing behind them as if by accident. "Weren't supposed to see," she told Kaylee as she stood behind Wash's chair once he was settled, her hand resting on his shoulder.

She looked away from Jayne, standing a few feet away, staring out into the black, "What's that River?"

"Treasure," she smiled happily at her friend and turned to stand before Jayne.

He gave her a disgruntled look, "Lookin' for a thank you, better look somewhere else, girl. Ya should'a stayed hidden like I told ya. Damn freak. You any idea what Mal’d do to me I let you get taken by some pirates and get sold off to the Feds? Well? Do ya?"

She smiled and patted his cheek. "You serve good pie," and with that she walked to the back and curled up near the door.

Wash rubbed at his eyes, blinking rapidly to try and clear the spots, and Kaylee turned from River to look at him with concern. "You gonna be able to land her?"

He didn't answer but just reached up a shaky hand to flip switches over head.

~~~~

Mal stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the spot his ship had once been in. "Where the hell is my gorram boat!"

He'd already asked the question fifty times since they'd arrived on the spot, his face was a deep red, and Zoë was sure that if such a thing were possible, there would be steam coming out of her ears by now.

"I'm sure there is a very good reason for their absence." Book said soothingly looking to Simon for a little support in the peace making department. Simon however was looking nearly as angry "If that monster took my sister..." he turned on the Captain, all the injustice in his life focused on him. ”How could you leave her with him?! You know what he did, what he's capable of!"

Mal shot Simon a deadly look and the doctor fell quiet. Then he turned back to Zoë, "Your husband doesn't turn up with my boat soon I may have to kill him."

"'Fraid I can't let you do that, Sir." she said, her eyes trained on the sky. Mal would’ve jumped on her insubordination if her voice hadn't betrayed the ache of worry under her words. It was something she didn‘t often reveal, even to him.

Book attempted to calm them all, a feat not easily accomplished given that he wasn't feeling so terribly calm himself. "There must be some way we can contact them."

"Coms don't reach that far." Zoë said, "Need subspace to reach them if they've left atmo."

Mal let off a long string of Mandarin.

"And we're sure they've left atmo?" Book pressed.

Simon turned on him, "Well, do you see a spaceship anywhere!?"

"No need to lose our tempers.” Book chastised Simon, who looked immediately contrite for having yelled at a Shepherd.

"Doc could be right. Damn Merc's been itchin' to take over." Mal pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes and seeking some sense of calm. He was frustrated as hell. He doubted Jayne had taken the ship, he knew you’d nearly need to kill Wash to get him to leave Zoë behind, and Kaylee… He released a controlled breath as Zoë spoke up.

"We don't know anything for sure yet, Sir ," Zoë responded. Her eyes narrowed into the pale blue of the sky. "'nother ship’s comin’ in."

"Ours?" He peered up at the sky as well, only to see a small blur. Zoe'd always had the better distance vision. Zoë frowned, the ship looked like Serenity but it was coming in uneven, swaying slightly from side to side. "Somethin’s wrong." She said stepping back from the landing pad, her hand coming to rest readily at her belt.

"Oh no, really?" Mal asked sarcastically. Zoë didn’t even bother to acknowledge him.

Serenity descended rapidly and off center, slamming the landing struts into the pad with a loud reverberating bang. A moment later the bay door began to descend. There was no one waiting there to greet them.

"Book," Mal narrowed his eyes as he drew his weapon. "You stay with the doc till we give you the all clear. Zoë, you're with me." She tossed her com to Book before following Mal.

Mal entered the bay first with Zoë on his wing. He tapped the com and got no response. They swept the bay, moving slowly toward the back. Half way there they came across three men laid out on the floor. Two appeared dead, one with a knife protruding from his chest, the other looked like he’d been beaten to death. Mal figured the man’s mamma probably wouldn’t recognize him now. Another groaned but didn’t move. His hands were tied behind his back, and one side of his face was swollen and bloodied.

He and Zoë shared a look then continued up the cat walk where they found another body, this one full of bullets.

“Well, it’s safe to say something happened.” Mal said giving Zoë another significant look.

They made their way quietly up to the bridge. Familiar voices reached them as they made the corner. "What the hell is goin' on!" Mal yelled as he caught sight of Jayne. He stopped his impending tirade at the sight of the mercenary’s battered face.

"Where's Simon?" Kaylee called desperately, ignoring Mal's angry tone. "Wash’s been shot, and I think somethin’s wrong with his head. He passed out just before we landed."

"What the hell?" Mal asked looking from one to the other as Zoë shoved past him to get to her husband who Jayne was lifting from the pilot’c chair and settling on the floor.

"Go get the doc and tell him he gets to earn his keep today." Jayne said Mal nodded, lifting the com at his belt to relay the message to Book.

“Let’s get him down to the infirmary.” Zoë said crouching next to her husband and looking him over. She helped Jayne lift him and together they made their way down the corridor passing the captain as they went.

Mal caught sight of Kaylee's face as she followed Jayne and Wash with her eyes, her expression on the bad side of devastated. "C'mere, lil Kaylee."

That was all it took to break through what little dam she'd been able to build to keep her emotions in check. The horrors of the last several hours, as well as many other things churning on her insides, ripped through her in the form of an agonizing cry as she collapsed onto Mal’s chest. Mal tightened his arms around her, his heart lurching in his chest. Nothing could be right in the verse if that sound coming from his Kaylee.

He felt the barely concealed anger rising up again, "How’d this happen? How’d those men get in here? Jayne was supposed to be on guard! That lazy--”

"What? No! Jayne was h-helpin' me." Kaylee sobbed. "He didn't do it Cap, he-- he," she shook her head and sobbed again unable to put those things into words just yet.

"Okay, okay," he rubbed her back, attempting to soothe her. "Shh, mei-mei, it's over now. It's over. I ain't gonna let anything happen to you."

She sniffled into his shirt, "Let's go see to the others now." he said knowing with Kaylee's unselfish nature, it would be a good way to bring her around. Give her something else to focus on.

She gave him a watery smile, and brushed away the tears from her cheeks as she nodded, "Wash was...very brave. He didn't want me to...even when they shot him..." She released a sharp breath. “And Jayne, they were holdin’ him down and beatin’ on him…”

"Don't you worry, Kaylee." He took her hand, squeezing it as they headed below deck to the infirmary. "You don't need to explain. I'll get the story from 'em myself. You ain't hurt yourself, are you?"

He stopped suddenly, running his eyes frantically over her.

"I'm fine," she said softly, stepping away from him. She smoothed her hair covertly over her neck with her hand. "I just wanna go make sure they're alright. There was so much blood." She shook slightly and Mal wrapped an arm around her and lead her to the stairs.

"Sure, bao bei," he murmured, "Whatever you want."

Kaylee heard the endearment and for a moment remembered another voice saying the words. She took the steps quickly, suddenly in a bit more of a hurry to get to the infirmary.

"Kept his promise." River was saying to her brother as he worked over Wash. "Took away tomorrow."

"He needs blood, our stores are too low. We need the Captain, if he's willing."

"I am," Mal said smiling at Zoë as he stepped forward and unbuttoned his sleeve. "Some of it's his after all."

"Actually, the..." Simon began, but then stopped his exposition. He allowed himself to enjoy the sentiment, without the doctor in him getting in the way.

Mal rolled up his sleeve letting Simon get him prepped, and gazed around the small room. "Where's Jayne? I want to know what the hell happened here. Since Wash is unconscious, River is...well, River, and Kaylee ain’t in a state to be reliving whatever the gorram hell happened, I need him down here now."

"I'm here Mal, I was just disposing of the trash." Jayne growled. He looked a somewhat pitiful sight for such a large man as he stepped under the unforgiving white lights of the infirmary. His face swollen and cut, he looked back at Mal through a matching set of black eyes. Mal let a bit of his irritation go. "S'my fault," Jayne said low, his gaze drifting to Kaylee, and then over Wash's unconscious form. “I was up helpin’ Kaylee 'stead a guardin' the door like I shoulda been."

"No, Jayne, you don't even know what way those guys came in!" Kaylee said stepping forward. "Don't go takin’ the blame just cause you feel poor about what happened."

"Can it, Kaylee," he growled, not wanting, or deserving her absolution. "My fault, plain an' simple, Cap'n. Weren't for the walkin' assault weapon there," he gestured to River, "We'd all been dead and you'da lost your ship.

"Wait," Simon said looking up, the remains of Wash’s shoe still in his hand, "What's River got to do with this?"

"Spider, spider on a thread, you don't see her till you're dead." River sang.

"She jumped outta thin air like a goramm freak. Clobbered one guy and knifed another!" Jayne said glaring at River.

"Bi zui!" Mal said loudly, "Enough with the fault laying, just tell me what the hell happened..." he held up a hand at their open mouths "From the beginning."

Jayne recapped quickly, leaving out the part where Darwick had his filthy hands all over Kaylee. "And then little miss bug house comes flyin' out of no-where--even though I told her to stay hid--takes out one guy, and cuts me loose. It was over pretty quick after that."

"Well that's an interesting story." Mal said. "Now, I reckon we should lock up nice and tight so's it don't happen again. Seein' as it looks like we're without a pilot for the time being." He watched as Zoë ran her hand gently over her husband's hair. "Someone'll need to contact Inara. Zoë, you're probably the best choice for that job, though you can wait till the doc’s done with Wash. The rest of ya get started puttin' things right." And they all moved to do as he said, "Jayne," Mal called out as the large mercenary moved to leave. “You best wait too, till ya get patched up."

"Don't need no patching," he growled, shooting a distrustful look at the doctor.

"Well, I say ya do. I'm here I won't let the Doc get ya." Mal said with a grin, and Simon smiled slightly without looking up from the work he was doing on Wash's foot. "Sit down Jayne." Mal reiterated when the man stood frozen in the door way.

Muttering under his breath, Jayne entered the room and found a seat furthest from the doctor before sitting down gingerly. He wasn't about to let them know he was hurting, even if the physical pain was the least of it. "Ain't nothin' wrong with me."

~~~~~

It was late when Jayne finally headed off to bed. After Simon had wrapped his ribs, declaring three were fractured, and given him medicine the swelling and pain, he'd escaped the infirmary and gone to collect his weapons only to find them each cleaned and laid out in a row on the table in the galley, robbing him of at least two hours of busy work. He wasn't exactly eager to be going to bed, not sure whether dreams or nightmares were waiting for him.

He passed the hatch to Kaylee's room, noting that it was open and she wasn't inside. He told himself he was going to bed, but somehow walked straight past his bunk and turned toward the engine room. When he was close, he slowed, not wanting to alert her to his presence, figured she'd probably had enough of him after today. Just wanted to make sure she was safe. Take a quick peek and then go.

"Who's there?" Came Kaylee's voice quickly, her tone wavering in the fear she was trying to cover. She gripped the biggest wrench she had with her and held it up.

Damn.

"Jus' me," he admitted, stepping into the light, so she could see his face, such as it was after the fight.

"Jayne," Kaylee sighed in relief letting the hand wielding the heavy tool fall to her side. "Why are ya lurking about out there? Plum scared the crap outta me!"

"Sorry," he looked at his feet and shrugged. "Noticed you weren't in your bunk. Figured you'd be tired after everthing."

Kaylee turned back to her work and away from his concern. When had that happened anyway? This was Jayne, right? "Didn't think I was likely to sleep anytime soon." She answered softly, toying absently with the adjustment on one of her tools.

"Doc probly has somethin' you could take so ya don't dream," he suggested.

"Nah, don't much like the idea of taking drugs for that sorta thing. Just figure I'll go till I can't no more, then I'll sleep no matter what." She shrugged. "’Sides Serenity always has a way of making things feel right again whenever the go all wrong.” She was quiet a moment, and then hesitant when she spoke again, “Wanna keep me company?"

He studied her for a few moments, wondering if she was asking for her own benefit or for his. Finally deciding that she likely didn't give a good gorram whether he needed company or not, he entered the small space, but kept his distance. "Might as well, can't sleep neither."

"Okay then," she smiled and push her hair behind her ear. She reached back into her tool chest and pulled out a large odd shaped tool, a hint of playfulness back in her smile. “This here, is a spanner.”