Fandom: Firefly/ Serenity

Setting: After Serenity so there are SPOILERS for the movie in it! Watch out!

Rating: Not too sure might be R-ish I think!

Disclaimer: Not mine! All belong to this car rental guy from Veronica Mars or so I have heard! Just playing with them for a while!

Summary: This is my version of a Firefly Christmas story! Hope you guys like!

Dedicated to k8cre8 and Daikath for getting me a Serenity bag - Wheeee! And also because k8cre8 is a hell of a beta reader!!!

Okay now these things definitely got too strange! He had gone mad, he was sure of it!

Book was just shaking his head at him. " Follow me Jayne!" He said and took him by the hand like a little kid. Jayne resisted at first but Book, strangely, seemed to be stronger than him. Soon they were flying through the air just as he and Wash did earlier. This time the flying didn't last long, since they landed directly in front of Serenity.

Seeing the ship the first time since he died, Book held his breath until they were onto the Cargo bay. Or at least Jayne assumed he did it because of that, though he wasn't sure ghosts or whatever Book was now needed to breathe anyway.

"You all right Sheppard?" he asked and Book just nodded. They continued to walk in silence until they reached the bridge. As Jayne looked through the door he could see Zoe and the Captain sitting on the pilot chairs, obviously waiting for him and the others.

" Captain, both Kaylee and Simon are way over time .. something's happened I'm sure of it! " Zoe was visibly uneasy.

" Zoe, maybe Kaylee just lost track of the time again and the Doc .. well .. !" Mal went silent for a while.

" Simon doesn't lose track of the the time sir! There's something wrong here, I can feel it!"

Now Book turned to see Jayne eyeing him curiously. "You know where they are, don't you?"

Jayne didn't say anything at first but then stammered. "Well the doc… he … but.. but I don't know anything about Kaylee!" he reassured Book who just watched him with a serious and accusing face.

" No .. it was just the Doc! I wouldn't allow them to take Kaylee! "

Book just sighed. "And you think they listened to you? Who do you think Kaylee is with at moment? Who do you think she went to town with?"

Jayne looked pretty beat "But .. !"

The glare coming at him from Book probably killed him. Well. If glares could do that sort of thing. Jayne was silenced immediately.

" I can't believe you could let them take anyone of our crew! I know you don't really like Simon but ..!" he took Jayne´s hand again and dragged him away from the bridge.

" Come with me .. I´ll show you what you did!"

This time they flew so fast that Jayne could barely blink before he found himself on the ground again. When he did, he blinked as he looked around, because he wasn't on Serenity anymore, he was in some kind of dark, moist smelling place which seemed to be an abandoned house Jayne shuddered at the coldness of the place even though he wasn't sure he could actually feel it.

" Where are we?" He asked Book. But he didn't get an answer. Then suddenly he heard something and a cold shudder went down his spine once again. Someone was here in this old, dark house. He was sure of it.

Slowly he followed the tiny noise and as got nearer to the source of the sound he could make out the sobs. And he didn't need to ask Book who was sobbing there. He knew.

The sobs got louder with each step and Jayne stopped in front of a large wooden door leading to a room. He knew the sobs had to come from here. He stared at it as if he was afraid to actually go in. Meanwhile Book was already went in the room, going directly through the wall, not bothering with the door. As he noticed Jayne wasn't following, he stuck only his head back through wall, which caused Jayne to jump even more.

" Are you coming? Or are you nothing more than a big man who makes a big noise? ?" He teased. Jayne followed him reluctantly through the wall.

Finally inside the room, Jayne immediately could smell the faint hint of blood in the air, combined with Kaylee´s now weakening sobs made him increasingly uneasy. The room was quite dark, only illuminated by a small beam of light forcing its way inside through the cracks in the floorboards in the ceiling. Jayne had a hard time making out Kaylee and Simon in that darkness. He could see Kaylee hunched in one corner, obviously chained to the wall and Simon lying next to her, unconscious. Kaylee was shivering, either from the cold, or her sobs. Possibly both. At that moment, as they heard a unexpected, loud banging noise from the room outside. Jayne had had enough!

"Shepherd! Get me out of here! I´ll help .. shouldn't hav` happened this way!" His words trailed off, Book could make nothing more out of Jayne's shouting before the door opened and two men entered, which made Jayne's screams intensify. Jayne recognised the men as the ones from whom he had gotten the money earlier. He knew that they would not stop after only killing Simon, so he directly went them.

" Taking her was not part of the deal!" he screamed, preparing for a blow. But the man in front of him didn't react at all. Jayne got even angrier as Book just sighed in the background. Just as Jayne most wanted to begin beating the man into a bloody pulp, the man walked right through him, causing him to shudder. Jayne stopped dead in tracks again, staring.

" Jayne... they can't see you. You knew that already!" Book motioned him to watch. The second man had switched on some kind of light and now Jayne could see the whole big mess. Kaylee was indeed chained to wall, looking really sacred and Simon lay on the floor, a bloody mess. Jayne also could see now that the men had guns and big, long knives, one of which was being aimed at Kaylee´s throat at that very moment.

" Now... what are we going to do with you little girl?!" The man with the knife snarled. It was hard to make out who was more scared now, Kaylee or Jayne.

Kaylee quivered from the cold steel at her neck and closed her eyes in defeat. The man laughed and started to grope her, rumpling her clothes, interrupted suddenly by the other man’s loud voice.

" Hold your horses, mate! Can’t you keep it zipped for more than 20 seconds? The boss hasn't told us what to do with her yet and I'm tired of cleaning your smeary bloody messes. When we have the okay from the boss you can take her and hack her into bloody pieces, I don't care! But for god’s sake follow the boss’s orders for once!"

Both Kaylee and Jayne let out an enormous sigh as the man got off Kaylee.

" Ha... until we meet again, sweetness, then I’ll hear you scream!" He laughed, and followed his companion out of the room, leaving his prisoners in darkness once again.

Jayne was totally hysterical now, walking up and down the room like a madman.

" Sheppard listen... I need to wake up now! I need to help her... please...!"

Book just nodded "Jayne, I expected nothing less of you... I’ll apologize for sending you a third tumble, but you have to listen to third ghost as well. Remember to listen! It’s important!" And before Jayne could say anything, everything went black around him once again.

It only took Jayne a few seconds to regain his balance once he was awake once more. Though his head was still throbbing like , he managed to get up pretty fast and run in Serenity's direction. Jayne didn't really care about the pain, physical pain had become an unwanted but common friend to him. What he knew has that he had a real friend, one he cared something about. Kaylee.

When he entered the cargo bay, Zoe was already heading his way; carrying some chunks of metal and other non-definable stuff which looked a lot like trash.

" Hey Jayne!" She greeted him. "Have you seen Kaylee and Simon? I was just about to head out and look for them…"

Jayne could only answer with a short " Kaylee…!" before destiny turned on him once again and Zoe, carrying all the heavy trash in her arms, slipped, and landed on him.

As Book had warned him, he was unconscious once again.

This time there wasn't even a ghost to greet him directly and Jayne was beginning to think Zoe had finally managed to kill him with the big chunks of metal. So he watched helplessly as Zoe called the Captain, and hauled his body into the infirmary, and failed to wake him up.

"He's not waking up... we need the Doc!" Mal stated the blatantly. Jayne let out a big sigh, knowing deep inside that if he died, it would be all his fault. He didn't even try to speak with Zoe and Mal this time, he just turned around and started to search for a ghost. He was sure there had to be one here somewhere.

" Hey, you gorram ghost thing or whatever you are! Get your ass down here!" He screamed, unsure if anyone, or anything, could hear him. "If Kaylee dies then it will be all your fault!"

Silence. Okay, he knew that last bit wasn't entirely true, but he didn't really know what else to say. He’d screwed up, big time!

"Hey! Show yourself! Now!" Again he shouted, and this time he heard a strange whooshing noise behind him.

"Jayne?"

When Jayne heard the voice, he wanted to scream, but instead all that came out was a strangled silent cry. He shot around, and his fears were confirmed. He was rewarded with the one of the faces he least wanted to see.

" Mum?" The word was barely whispered and yet held so much power.

"Jayne!" The voice was as soft and loving as Jayne remembered it. He shivered. No, this couldn't be true. No, he wouldn’t allow it to be true! But he knew. The very fact that his mum was standing here in front of him, obviously a ghost, could mean only one thing.

" Mum… !" He stated, not really sure if he could ask the rest of the question. " You … are you … dead?!"

Jayne´s mum just smiled silently and took him by the hand. This time Jayne followed willingly, although he knew that it wouldn't be a nice trip. They didn't say much once they were launched into the air. Except for an occasional sniffle from Jayne, their flight was silent.

It wasn’t a long trip anyway. They had landed again in front of Serenity. This time, it was clear that some time had passed; most of the ship was covered in snow.

Jayne shivered once again even though he knew he couldn't feel the icy snow, nevertheless he felt as cold as he never did before.

"I'm going to show you your future now… pay attention!" his mum said and Jayne took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was to come.

"You have to watch very closely, it's important!"

At that moment they both heard some voices and immediately turned around to look for them. There, only a few meters away from them, were Mal and Zoe, each of them carrying a rather large bundle. Jayne knew straight away what, or rather, who it was. Mal looked like the devil himself, eyes hardened and lost, his whole face tough, bare of any sign of smile or even the faintest hope of a positive reaction. He clearly had had a rough time recently and seemed totally beat up.. Zoe didn't look much better. It wasn't much of a surprise when Mal suddenly tripped over a branch on the ground. He landed with the face flat in the snow and it took him a few seconds to get up again. The cloth around Kaylee´s body had been loosened by the fall and Jayne couldn't help himself as he stared at the battered mess. It was all that was left of his former crew mate’s face.

" I didn't want her to .. !" He whispered but the look of his mother silenced him instantly.

Mal was now sitting next to Kaylee, attempting to cover her face with the cloth again, while Zoe was still standing behind him, the dead Simon in her arms.

" Do you think she will come back?" Zoe asked and Mal halted, shaking his head.

"I doubt it. She’s probably on a killing spree right now, which isn't surprising after what they did to her brother." He cradled Kaylee´s head again and sighed.

" I wouldn't want to be Jayne when she gets her hands on him. Though, right now, I honestly would kill him myself. That huan dan betrayed our or crew and for that I aim to make him pay!" His voice was quiet, which only made his threat more frightening. With that, he stood, taking Kaylee’s body into his arms again.

"But, that will hold. First, it must needs to get them the proper burial they deserve!"

Zoe just nodded and followed Mal silently towards Serenity.

Meanwhile Jayne was shivering even more. They knew!

How did they know it was him?

His mum just sighed.

"Jayne Percival Cobb! You knew it wouldn't take a genius to figure that one out! Especially since you showed up bragging with your money just after both of them disappeared! And River… well she…"

Jayne held his hand up stopping her in mid sentence.

"Okay, I see that I made a gorram mistake, can I go back now? I promise I´ll get Kaylee out and then…"

He didn't get any further because his mum was furious now. She grabbed him by his arms, dragging him up in the air once again.

" I can't believe you still haven't learned one bit! Come with me, I´ll show you what you did!"

The next place they landed was some sort of graveyard. Jayne could see Zoe, Inara and Mal standing before two freshly made graves, bearing the holo-pictures of a smiling Kaylee and a slightly more serious Simon.

Zoe and Mal still seemed very battered, though slightly improved. Jayne watched them for a few seconds while they paid their last respects to their friends. Suddenly, he felt the hand of his mum on his shoulder.

" Look !" she said and pointed towards a few bushes and it took Jayne a few moments to realize that someone was sitting there, hiding. It didn't take him long to see that it was himself hiding in the bushes and he wondered what would bring him here after all that happened.

Kaylee. Yes, he would come because of Kaylee. But suddenly he heard a voice behind him. It wasn't Mal´s or Zoe`s or Nara`s, so he turned around immediately.

No that couldn't be!

He wished that he could scream and warn the three as a tiny figure with a huge sword came towards them. Even though he knew it wouldn’t make a bit a difference, he couldn’t help but shout.

River seemed so petite and fragile walking barefoot through the snow but Jayne knew that there wasn't even the tinniest trace left of the girl he once knew. Her eyes seemed hollow and rigid and it seemed like her only goal was to complete her mission. The misson set by the men with the blue gloves. The men who were standing behind her at that very minute.

" Kill them!" One of them said and Jayne shuddered, turning towards his mum, shaking his head in disapproval.

"No !" He pleaded. But the horror show which had just started to play in front of his eyes wouldn't stop. Worse, he couldn't even quit watching it.

River was now standing directly in front of her prey, just about to swing her sword at Zoe, who still looked her in the eye hoping to find something left of her former crewmate. But River was too far gone for sentiment. All she could do was try to evade her attacks and hope that she, Inara and Mal managed to stay alive somehow.

What followed went on so quickly, that Jayne could barely see it. River swung her sword first at Zoe, serving her a fatal neck wound. Then Mal jumped onto her back in an attempt to stop her. While Zoe sunk to the ground, River had already given Mal the slip. He now was lying on the ground, directly in front off her.

" River please! You don't want to do this! There must be something of you left…!" he pleaded but River already had taken the sword both hands, aimed for his chest and stabbed him. Mal stirred, spitting blood and trying to reach out to River, a second before he exhaled the last of his life, his breath forever silenced.

Inara shivered, but remained where she was. She knew that running away wouldn't really help, but only exhaust her in the cold winter air. She watched as River slowly came nearer and nearer. She had tried to kick River a few times before she stabbed Mal, but that didn't have any affect. Ever since she had seen River fighting the Reavers she knew better than to be surprised by this. Nevertheless, she wouldn't die without a fight.

She didn't last long. River was so fast that Inara barely saw the kick coming before it hit the front side of her neck, breaking it in one fast move. Without making a sound she sunk down to the ground, lifeless.

The hidden Jayne watched the whole tragedy, too, and now he ran out of his hiding-place, shooting at River with a small gun.

River stared at him for about a second, looking rather unimpressed. She moved so fast, that she was in front of Jayne in an blink. Jayne could do no more than land a grazing blow on her arm before she took his gun and pinned him to the ground in front of her.

"Now, see what you have done … Jayne !" She hissed. In a nanosecond, a shot split the cold, dusky evening. Jayne stared in horror as the other Jayne clutched his neck which was bleeding like mad.

" Watch closely!" River repeated, leaving Jayne lying in the snow to bleed to death. She approached the two blue gloved men.

"Mission …!" She said and shot the men into the head before they even could blink. "… completed!"

With that she moved towards the bodies of Zoe, Inara and Mal, kneeling down next to them for second, touching them almost lovingly to close their rigid eyes. And then she walked to Simon`s grave. Sinking down to the ground and kneeling in the snow with her bare knees, she began to rock, slowly, to a melody which only she could hear. She didn't rock long, only about a minute or so, before she took the gun. With a final glance at the bleeding Jayne, she aims the gun at her own head, pulling the trigger. " Squish !" she whispers.

The shot echoes, leaving the gasping Jayne the only one left alive; But only for a few minutes. He follows them soon, extinguishing all what was left of the mighty crew of Serenity.

"See what you did?!" His mum whispers and Jayne couldn’t say anything at all.

" You killed your whole family. For nothing more than money!"

Jayne stirs at these words. He turns to face her, with a serious look on his face.

"Family?" He asks incredulously. “They weren't my family…. My family is you. And maybe Thomas…!"

"They were. They have been for some time now. You just were too yellow-bellied to admit it! " She watches him with a sad look on her face. "Listen to your heart for once Jayne! You will feel it!" With that she toke his head in her hands and kissed him on the forehead.

" Don't give something up before you even tried it!" she spoke softly, and then catches his eyes. "I will always love you, you know! But I'm gone now, and it’s time for you to realize what you already have! Take care of your new family. Do it for me, won’t you?"

Jayne held his breath, unsure of what to say, only able to nod. His mum smiled. As the world returned to blackness, he hears nothing but a soft "Goodbye!"

This time, Jayne wakes in the infirmary, and he immediately leaps down from the table, causing Zoe, who watched over him, to jump.

"Jayne? Are you all right?" she asks, trying to steady him. He pushes her aside. With uneasy steps he manages to get to his bunk, while Zoe, walking behind him, asking a steady stream of questions.

"Get Mal, we have to help Kaylee and Simon!" He barks the order to Zoe, and while she runs off to get the Captain he rummages through his bunk, searching for his weapons. Where the hell is Vera? He could have sworn he had put her on his bed. While he rummaged around, a yellowed piece of paper suddenly fluttered down his wall. Carefully, he picked it up and looked at it for a second, realizing it was a picture of his mum. Giving the photo a quick kiss, he put it back on the shelf and headed out to search for Vera. He found her, and met Zoe, Inara and Mal in the Cargo bay where he explained what happened.

"I saw how Kaylee and Simon got took and followed them to an abandoned house. But as I had no weapons I came here and got knocked out!" He eyed Zoe for a second and she sighed, giving him a more or less apologetic look.

So he hadn't entirely told the truth but they could deal with that later.

Mal was already suspicious.

"You went out with no weapons?" he asked. But Jayne knew better then to deal with his question now and gave a weapon to both of them. Only seconds later they were already heading out with the mule and a bunchload of medical supplies. Inara stayed at Serenity to wait for River, who still wasn't back from shopping yet, set to come back any minute. If they got no word, in the next three hours, they would come after them. In the meantime, They’d get the infirmary ready for any given emergencies.

Once they were underway, it suddenly occurred to Jayne that he didn't really knew where the abandoned house actually was.

But the powers that be actually seemed to like him today, because at just that moment he saw one of the men with whom he had made the deal.

"Follow that guy!" he bellowed. Thanks God Mal did as he was told and didn't ask any questions. It didn't take long until the guy entered one of the less crowded alleys and instinctively Jayne and the others got off the mule and followed him on foot. Their instinct were proven right, as the kidnapper entered a large, rather decayed, house.

"Yeah! That's what I s… I mean, where I followed him!" Jayne immediately cursed himself for his near slip, but Zoe and Mal were already too busy planning the attack.

Slowly they snuck into the house, constantly checking their surroundings for unwanted attackers. They were lucky, and got to the large wooden door from Jayne´s second vision unharmed. Jayne was already eager to kick in the door, but just at that moment, they heard an unmistakable clicking noise behind them.

"One more step and you’re dead!" Jayne remembered that voice all too well. He tried to remember why in the crackling cauldron of hell had he talked to him in first place? Right! Money! This was definitely one of his dumber ideas!

"Turn around with your hands up and..!" The voice began, but was strangely changed into an odd straggling noise. Before any of the three could turn around, all of the kidnappers were knocked out, with River standing triumphantly over them.

"Missed me?" She asked Jayne, as Zoe and Mal ran towards Simon and Kaylee. Jayne just stared at the slender figure he could barely make out in the weak light, as River walked past him.

He knew that she knew the truth, and that scared the hell out of him. He realized he'd probably end up like the men who were lying dead in front of him. For the first time in his life, he honestly thought he actually deserved it.

"Jayne would you quit that staring and just give us a hand here?" Mal’s remark brought him back to the present. Jayne went into the room and helped carry Simon and Kaylee to the mule.

While they drove back to Serenity, Jayne constantly glanced at River, expecting some sort of reaction, but she just took care of Simon´s and Kaylee´s injuries.

“Well then,"Jayne thought, “we'll get there, eventually.”

Once they were "home", Kaylee and Simon were immediately taken into the infirmary and taken care of, while Jayne stayed behind.

Now he only had to wait until River told the others, sealing his fate.

With a loud sigh he closed the cargo door and started to clean Simon´s and Kaylee´s blood off the mule.

It was only until a few hours later when Mal came down with a sad look on his face.

"Jayne... it’s your cousin Thomas… your mum… !" he didn't need to say more, Jayne instantly knew what he was talking about. A bit reluctantly Jayne went up to the com and was told things he already knew. His mom had died today, they suspected a stroke since it had happened so sudden.

"I'm sorry!" was all Mal could say before Jayne went to his bunk. He had to be alone now.

The three days until Christmas Eve had gone by fast and neither River nor the rest of the crew had confronted Jayne. Hell, he didn't even know if she had told them, but he still expected it to happen any second. Jayne mostly kept to himself these days, being a bit afraid to mingle with the others. He also thought a lot about his mum.

Both Kaylee and Simon were actually doing better. They would suffer no long term effects from their injuries, thank God. Kaylee was already up again, bringing happiness to the whole ship, even though her broken arm and the other scratches she got were still visible. She still had that Christmas vibe going and Jayne didn't know what to do, since he knew that once they found out, they sure wouldn't want to celebrate Christmas with him. Nevertheless, Kaylee didn't give up. This time it was impossible to avoid her, since all the work on Serenity was done for today.

"Jayne! We'll meet in the dining area at 6! I'm cooking Christmas dinner!" She smiled and went on to the infirmary, probably to see Simon.

Jayne sighed and tried to squelch the tiny bit in him that actually looked forward to the Christmas celebration. He’d best go, at any rate. It wasn't like the Kaylee-Christmas- commandos couldn't come to get him if he decided to stay in his bunk.

A few minutes before six Jayne got up and slowly walked towards the dining area. From afar he already could hear the laughter and joking. He wasn't surprised when everyone was already there when he entered.

" Merry Christmas Jayne!" Kaylee declared happily and everyone joined.

"Merry Christmas!" Jayne answered, sounding a bit awkward, then settled down and started to look around. Everybody except Kaylee was sitting at the table, each of them having a small package in front of them. Jayne eyed the packages suspiciously for a moment before he realized what had happened: he forgot the gift exchange!

Gorramit! The girl for sure wouldn't like it when he told her that he forgot her present and when she would read his mind she …

He didn't want to think about that. It was far too late to get a present. As Kaylee put the last bit of food on the table, she announced “Okay I'm ready! Lets exchange the presents and then indulge in the yummy!"

And so they started.

Kaylee was first. She handed her package to Inara who was happy to get her favorite type of incense.. Inara, in her turn, gave Simon excitedly a book for which he had been searching for months.

"Wow! How did you manage to get it?" he asked. She smiled. “Being a companion has its advantages. Including knowing lots of people who are interested in good books!"

More gifts were exchanged, and Zoe received a shiny new holster for her gun from Simon and Mal a small replica of a war weapon from Zoe.

But the biggest gift of the evening was reserved for Kaylee. She was shocked to find a shiny new dress from Mal. She grinned fit to split her face, and she tried it on immediately. In her excitement, she nearly forgot their meal.

"So, who's left?" Kaylee cooed when she finally sat down again. Jayne cursed inwardly as River got up.

"I have something for Jayne!" She said, almost shyly, and gave him a small package. He stared at it for a few seconds, before the " Open it up"- chanting got too loud to ignore. He opened it cautiously.

"I found it in your bunk and thought it needed a proper frame!" River declared. Jayne just stared at the gift, fighting the tears threatening to fall.

There, in his hands, lay the picture of his mum from his bunk. He'd always wanted to frame himself, but had forgotten. Now it had a beautiful frame, saving it from getting bent or otherwise destroyed. Below it was a framed picture of the Serenity crew, with Wash and Book, taken shortly before it all went to hell on Miranda.

The pictures elicited lots of "Awws" and "Ahhs" from the crew and Jayne smiled. A few days ago he would have been angry that River even dared to enter his bunk without asking, but now he was strangely happy about it.

Again, he blushed at the thought that he had nothing for River. As he caught her eye, preparing an apology and wanting to show her that he truly meant it.

" River, I don't have…!" he started, but River jumped up and declared happily:

" Jayne already gave me a very cool gift!"

Jayne stuttered. He had not expected that. "I have?" River look at him reassuringly. He nodded. "Uh yeah, of course. I have?"

"Yes, silly. And it's a secret and I won’t tell!" River giggled. "Let’s see. There were some ghosts and flying blackouts. And puppies. And you’ll hear no more about it from me. Secrets aren’t always for telling!"

Jayne nodded once again, slowly realizing what she had meant.

He didn't know if the ghosts had been real. Maybe River made him hallucinate, but he honestly didn't even care.

He was glad that she forgave him.

And happy that he had a family.

So i hope you liked my first ever Firefly Fanfic! Comments please? ;)!