The sixth installment.

The whole table of prompts I have to follow can be found here. And the previous installments can be found: one, two, three, four and five.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss'.

Feedback: Oh, you know I want it, baybee. Comment (*please*) or send an email: wily_one24@yahoo.com.au

Comment: There are two more installents to go. I'm three quarters of the way through. Woo.

Also? I'm thinking not everybody has been paying attention to the summaries that have remained *the same* for each installment. Have a look, go on, I dare you. It's even written on the banner.

That said, enjoy the fluff while you can...

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Prompt #064: Ocean. Word Count: 620.

RIPTIDES.

There was a very fine line between helpless and helpful, she knew it. When Jayne first woke her up, she was the former, breath tight in her lungs and sweat beading on her skin, her mind a mix of images that she couldn't stand. Had made good and sure over the last year that she wouldn't have to stand.

Sometimes she choked on it, how easily that could be ripped away and she ended up cringing behind Jayne or someone else. Nothin' but the bitty girl they used to tease her about being. Sometime after Early they'd stopped, didn't make fun of her being too girly to stand up for herself, but she still heard the words.

With the appearance of Mal and the knowledge they were alone and relatively safe, she'd slipped right into the latter. Intruders that wanted a fight she couldn't deal with. Engines that stopped working, that was her specialty, that was when she took charge and had the answers others didn't.

Her shoulders twisted as she reached in under the engine, hands sliding over parts she'd recognize through touch before sight.

"There." Kaylee wasn't even sure if anyone was still there to hear her. "I think I found it."

"How is she?" Apparently Mal was.

"I ain't gonna lie to you, Captain." She let her face fall into a worried crease. "It's bad."

"Bad?" There was an edge to his voice. "Bad like, it's gonna take a while to fix it bad? Or bad like, I'm gonna end up bleeding and close to death again bad?"

Her fingers kept reaching and she stretched her arm further, deftly feeling around. The metal there was warm to the touch, warmer than it should have been, and she felt the residue of ash cling to her skin.

"Bad like, we're gonna have to land somewhere 'til I can fix her, bad. And that's only if we can find the parts."

"But you can land her?"

"Me? No."

There was a slight pause in the air and the unspoken knowledge of who she'd been talking about. It stung, worse than the caustic air that held the smell and taste of burning that stung their eyes. She looked at him and tried to smile an apology.

"Maybe?" She offered.

"It's okay." It wasn't in the words, so much as his voice and the way he ran a comforting hand down her shoulder. "I'll see what River can do. We were fairly close to Three Hills, last time I checked."

He walked out and left her with the engine.

"It's okay, baby." She whispered as she caressed the broken parts. "You'll be good as new soon. I promise."

It rolled over her like a wave when Serenity didn't answer. There was no thumping or whirs, no rhythmic pulsing that she knew as well as her own heartbeat. Nothing but her own hollow breathing echoed back at her.

Alone again. One of these days there wasn't going to be a miracle fixit and she wasn't going to have the answer. The edges of helplessness began to creep over her skin once more.

She slid out from the machine and sat up, resting her back against the wall and bringing her knees up to her chest. It was impossible to breathe through the riptides of it, the adrenaline that finished surging through and sat there, stagnating in her blood.

"You still in here?" Jayne folded up his body to sit down next to her. She felt his slow, steady gaze. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah." She used the palm of her hand to wipe away any tell tale moisture in her eyes before she let her head lean into his shoulder. "I am now."

***

Prompt #065: Vast. Word Count: 371.

TOW.

Jayne reached into the pit and grabbed her hand.

"You right?"

Her fingers curled around his.

"Yeah." Her face came into view and he could tell she was almost flush with her success, but things were still a little far from celebration. "We're attached."

Inara passed the message through the com to the bridge where, Jayne figured, Simon was relaying it through to the small tow ship that had recently just sealed over Serenity's airlocks.

"Will she hold?"

Kaylee gave him a look as she stood up.

"'Course she will, I know what I'm doin'."

"Yeah ya do."

And he kissed the top of her head.

They all felt the lurch of sudden movement. He guessed the message had gotten through fair enough and they were now bein' towed back down to Three Hills. Towing a ship through atmo was difficult at best, darn right risky at worst, but there wasn't much choice to be had.

Serenity had no engine. And a ship with no engine don't break atmo. Even Jayne knew that.

The three of them made their way up to the bridge to watch the approach. Simon and River were already sitting in the chairs. It felt kinda weird, the five of them steering the ship around without Mal or Zoe. They'd gone down in the second shuttle first thing to arrange all this.

The fiery haze of burning atmo broke and they got their first good look at Three Hills.

"That it is it?" Jayne sniffed. "Don't look like much."

"Aren't there supposed to be hills?" Simon asked, eyes searching the landscape. "You'd think there'd be at least one."

"Well." Inara lifted her chin in feigned disappointment. "I guess I can give up any hopes of replacing my lost clients with anyone here."

"Dunno, Inara." Jayne grinned. "Don't look like they'd have much of a whore house, reckon you'd be pretty popular."

Kaylee whacked him on the arm, but Inara just gave a tight smile in response.

"I choose to take that as a compliment."

River wrinkled her nose as she eyed the world, but she stayed silent.

Kaylee sighed and Jayne ran a hand down her arm.

"I wouldn't bet on finding any suitable parts here, either."

***

Prompt #066: Empty. Word Count: 402.

EMPTY BEDS.

She opened the hatch of his bunk and found the footing with her feet.

"So?"

His voice was already thick and drowsy.

"Just like I thought." Kaylee answered as she slid the coveralls off her shoulders. "Nothin' I can use, but we put an order through the cortex. Parts should be here in a day or so."

"Mm."

The heat of the planet was already filtering through Serenity's air flow and she stepped out of the pants, feeling air rush over her skin. It'd be just fine to sleep in nothin' but her shirt.

"Thought you'd be asleep by now."

Especially curled up to Jayne.

"Was waitin'." Came his reply in the dark. "Bed just feels wrong without you now."

"Looks wrong without me."

Even though she couldn't see it, couldn't see much at all. But she could feel it as she lifted the blanket and eased right into the wall of heat. Her body slid against his and she smiled as his arm reached around her waist to hold her tight.

"Was waitin'." He said again, mouth hot against the back of her neck. "Couldn't sleep without ya. M'all tense."

"Tense?" She could play dense, 'cause she liked when he nipped at her ear for it. "You want me to get you a smoother? Relax you some."

"Don't need no drugs, babygirl."

It was gravel and sand, his voice, everything that cracked her open.

Sometimes he liked it fast, but sometimes he liked it real slow. Liked to wrap his arms around her from behind and trap her hands up close to her chest, liked to press his front all up against her back. Surround her with his body so she couldn't move at all.

He'd grind so slow against her, work her up into a writhing, whimpering, needy little mass of flesh as he placed soft, light kisses on the back of her neck, down her shoulders and up again.

And then he'd slide whatever clothing they had to the side, not even bothering to take them off, just moved 'em so they weren't in the way. She couldn't stop pressing back, pushing her rump against his hips, couldn't stop the slow moan as he slid right in.

With the push and the pull and him holding her still, sucking the sizzle right out of her skin, Kaylee felt herself tighten, felt everything build into a crescendo that crashed brilliantly.

***

Prompt #067: Choices. Word Count: 257.

CHUMP.

"How 'bout now?"

Jayne frowned into the hat that covered his face as he lay on the ground.

"No."

"C'mon Jayne." Kaylee leaned down close to him and it was like she was trying to force the cheer out of her voice and right into him. "There's a whole planet we could be exploring."

"It's a rock." He mumbled, stretching his limbs out into the heat of the dust. "There ain't nothin' to see. Just more rock."

There was a shift and he could feel her sigh next to him. Yeah, like he needed to feel like more of a chump. He was right, of course, there weren't nothin' on this rock he wanted or needed to see an' if they were getting their parts tomorrow and she could fix the ship, then he wouldn't have to.

"It can't be all bad."

For a while, when he'd first met her, Jayne had spent a long time tryin' to figure out how one person could be so damn happy all the time. Seein' good in everything, hell, she probably found a bright side to having that bullet rip through her belly.

"Fine." He lifted the hat from his face and blinked up into the sun. "Which way we headed?"

He'd worked it out. Kaylee didn't come about her whole stock of sunshine and smiles just 'cause they fell outta the sky. She chose it, she chose to look at everything that way, 'cause she liked finding the good.

"You choose." She grinned down at him. "I'll just follow."

***

Prompt #068: Lost. Word Count: 229.

DIRECTION.

"Jayne?" Kaylee shielded her eyes with her left hand and reached behind her to feel for him with her right. "Do you even know where we are?"

His bulk brushed up against her and she closed her fingers around his arm.

"We're on a rock." He sighed and she turned to grin up at him. "We been on a rock, all day."

She let her hand trail up his arm, over his shoulder and across the curve of his collar bone. Slowly, although she could tell by the glint in his eyes that he knew what she was doing, she trailed her hand down his other arm.

"You know."

Her hand reached his, stretching out his limbs as she struggled to pry the canteen from his hand. He fought to hold on to it for a second, before releasing it. She could tell by his playful mood that he wasn't worried in the slightest.

"'Course I know where we are." The way he watched her when she swallowed made Kaylee figure they should head back to the ship soon. "What kind of tracker you take me for?"

"One whose been watchin' my ass more'n the direction we been walking."

He laughed as he gave her a quick whack across the said appendage.

"You just stick with me, Kaylee." He took the canteen back. "An' I'll never get us lost."

***

Prompt #069: Found. Word Count: 359.

DECLARATION.

He took her face in his hands, fingers spreading over her cheeks and under her chin as he turned her head to the side a little and pointed off into the distance.

"You see those big boulders over there?" She nodded against the weight of his hands. "Serenity's just behind 'em."

Jayne felt her mold in against him and he let his eyes slide down over her.

"I love it when you do that." She whispered up and her words made his breath catch in his throat. "You always make me feel safe."

"Yeah?" Couldn't help the husk in his voice as he dipped his mouth to her cheek. "Well, I love makin' you feel safe."

Small, throaty laughter and his hands smoothed over her hair, down her neck and to her waist, pulling her to him, all up against him. Her flesh was always soft and supple under his fingers, he could feel them press into the sides of her hip.

"God." She groaned. "I love when you do that."

"Really?" He slid his tongue up the side of her neck. "That's good, 'cause I love doin' it."

Her hands were running up his arms then, small, deft fingers pressing into the grooves of them. She knew the kinks of his body, knew where the tightest knots in his muscles were and she pressed firmly into one of them now.

"I love makin' your face do that." She teased.

He growled low in his throat and turned his head to kiss her on the lips, hard.

"Yeah?" Didn't even know the words were comin' out of his mouth until it was too late. "Well I just love you."

Kaylee gasped against him and he knew he couldn't take the words back. Suddenly, he was sure he didn't want to. She pulled back from him, looked up into his eyes. Girl was so surprised, she'd even forgotten to smile.

"Really?" He nodded at her. "I love you, too, Jayne."

"Glad that's settled." He nodded, trying not to let her see the grin that was about to break out all over his face. "Now let's get back while we can."

***

Prompt #070: Full. Word Count: 393.

STONE.

She couldn't stop glowing. Kaylee didn't know how anyone else couldn't see it, couldn't look at her and just know something was different. Had anyone asked, she would not have been able to tell them exactly how long it had taken them to walk back, how many steps it had been.

Hell, far as she knew, they'd passed an elephant and a unicorn playing jump rope while singing Happy Birthday to a leprechaun.

Had they asked how many times he'd turned to sneak a smile at her when he thought she wasn't looking, she'd be able to answer that no problems. Not a one. Fourteen. Not counting the time she'd turned quick enough to catch him and smiled back.

He'd said it and she'd said it back and it was the first time.

Now they were sittin' at tables set up just outside the ship, eating dinner that they'd helped some of the locals make up. Far as she could tell, they were friendly folk. Maybe a little skittish and too eager to finish up and go home, but friendly other than that.

Her hand slid under the table and found his waiting by her leg. The glow factor of her skin amped up and she had to bite down on her lip. Across the table, River was grinning at them both.

But Simon wasn't. His eyes burned and she watched him reach out for the glass in front of him. He swallowed in one long pull and if the glass hit the table a little harder than it should have, almost nobody noticed.

River flinched a little and Kaylee let her fingers loosen until they were out of Jayne's grasp, bringing her hand back up to the table.

"You ok?" Jayne's breath echoed against her neck and she felt her skin prickle.

"Yeah." A quick turn of the head so she could look in his face. It didn't hurt that to do so, she had to put a little distance between them. "'Course I am."

He smiled at her, all crinkly eyed and it made her smile back.

"I need air." Simon declared and stood up a little suddenly. "I'm going for a walk."

Kaylee couldn't look up, her chopsticks clattered down to her plate and she pushed her food away. A stone sank into her belly, heavy and solid and familiar.

***

Prompt #071: Fall. Word Count: 363.

THE WARNING.

"How long you people gonna be here?"

The pastor bit off a piece of meat from his fork. He was nice enough, a bit gruff, but Jayne couldn't have cared less right then. Not when he had Kaylee sitting next to him.

"Not long." Mal answered for all of them. "We got a few parts comin' in. Thought they'd be here by now, should be here by tomorrow. We'll be outta your hair by then."

"No rush, no rush." The man tried to smile as he ran his eyes over their table. "Just, you know, be careful."

"Careful?"

Zoe looked at the man and Jayne felt himself looking as well. No matter how distracted he was, one thing he'd learned was to pay attention when Zoe's voice got like that.

"Don't wander off." He spoke mostly to Mal, keeping eye contact. "Especially the ladies here. Don't let them go out alone."

"You got a problem?" Jayne kept his voice level.

"Not so much." The pastor was quick to reassure them. "Just the usual, you know. Sometimes people go missing."

"Missing?" Mal arched his brows. "You got people going missing and there ain't no alerts posted on this planet?"

"No, no." The man tried to smile again. Jayne felt his own eyes narrow in suspicion. "Nothing like that. It's not a problem, just a universal thing. It happens everywhere."

"Bullshit it happens. An alert stop the trade 'round here, will it?"

But Mal's fierce look stopped any further words and Jayne chewed on a potato to cover his frustration.

“Don’t you have some form of law enforcement?” Inara asked casually, but Jayne could see the thread of calculation underneath.

“We have police, of a sort.” The Pastor sniffed. “They keep things reasonably quiet.”

"Simon." River said, her head turning to look off into the dark. "He walked off. Someone should..."

'Course he did. Jayne let his fork hit his plate and stood up.

"I'll go get him."

"I'll help." Kaylee was quick to stand. "I know where he likes..."

"No." Jayne was even quicker to stop her and he felt eyes on him. "You stay here with the others. I'll find him just fine."

***

Prompt #072: Myth. Word Count: 578.

CIRCLE.

Kaylee found him hunched over by some rocks.

"Simon!" He flinched away when she reached out to touch him. "We were worried."

"No." His voice was slurred and she realized he must have drunk more than she originally thought. "You weren't worried about me."

"Yeah, I was. We all were." She tucked her dress in under her thighs as she sat down next to him in the dust. "You might've missed the pastor's warning, he said..."

Her words trailed off when his hand rested on her naked knee.

"Kaylee?"

Soft and whispered. She had to close her eyes for a second.

"Don't, Simon."

Very carefully, very deliberately, she lifted his hand up and placed it back on his lap.

"Yes! Of course not, sorry." She hadn't heard him sound so confused and baffled and beaten down before. "It's just, do you ever...?"

"No." It was stilted again, awkward like it hadn't been for such a long time. "No, Simon, I don't ever."

"I do." A sigh, so deep his whole body moved with it. "Sometimes I think I could be better, that if I could just show you..."

"I don't wanna see." Kaylee swallowed and looked up at the sky, suddenly wishing that they'd never been forced to land here. "You and me, Simon, we're done. If we ever really started in the first place, we're done now."

"But..."

"But nothing." There was a hard edge to her voice now and she let it stay there. It had to be said and maybe she'd made a mistake in not saying it before now. "I gave you plenty of chances. For a whole year, I gave you everything I knew how."

His eyes swam to focus in on hers.

"And by the time you started to give back, I guess there was nothing left. You made me empty." She couldn't look at the way he flinched if she wanted to keep talking. "By the time we got together, I think I was more in love with the idea of you than the reality. We, the two us? We were a myth."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah." The sadness in her voice matched his, wistful and pain filled. "Me, too."

Silence stretched out and they sat, side by side, looking up into a black sky.

"Jayne, though?"

She sighed. Her answer was so simple that it couldn't be mistaken for anything else, there was no room for argument in the way she made him see it.

"He gives back." She nudged him again, tried to smile. "Not to mention he'll kick your ass eight shades of black an' blue you keep this up."

"Most likely." He turned to face her, reaching out to run a finger through the hair over her ear. "I miss you, though. Nothing will stop that."

Her hand came out and caught his, holding it for a second by the side of her face. He'd done it countless times before and each one had a different meaning. This one felt like goodbye.

"I miss you, too." They shared a soft, sad smile. "I still care for you, Simon, I probably always will..."

She didn't get to finish that sentence, didn't get to say that it was in a different way than it had been and they could never go back. Because they both heard a snap and turned to look at the noise.

Jayne's eyes flashed something that made her stomach twist into knots and stole her breath.

***

Prompt #073: Secret. Word Count: 668.

BRUISE.

"Jayne!"

He breathed in and kept walking, feet stomping into the ground.

"Jayne, wait!"

She was running after him and he couldn't talk to her right now. Knew that if he stopped to face her he was gonna say something he'd regret. He couldn't get the image outta his head, the two of 'em so close and her sayin' those words.

"I got nothin' to say." He called it over his shoulder. "Best go back."

"Well I got plenty to say!"

There was a scramble behind him and he heard the sound of gravel shifting and sliding. His first instinct was to turn and check if she was okay. He fought it. He fought it hard as his fingers clenched.

"Jayne!" It was the fear in her voice that made him stop, the hitch of her throat when she hit the y. "You can't leave me here."

It hit him then, just what she meant. Damn it. The pastor's words came back to him and he remembered the warning that they shouldn't be out alone. Especially not the girls and especially not at night.

"What do you want me to say, Kaylee?"

He still couldn't turn to look at her, didn't want to see her face flushed with embarrassment or, worse, paled and drawn with tears. Didn't think he could take it if she cried on him.

"You don't understand, Jayne." She was getting closer to him now, walking towards him and he stiffened, prayed that she wouldn't touch him. "It wasn't what it looked like."

"What?" Couldn't help himself, he had to spin around and face her. "You tellin' me you weren't close up with him, his hand in your hair and you tellin' him how much you still care for him?"

"It wasn't like..."

"You made me..." He bit his lip and his hands wrung into themselves. "I said I loved you, Kaylee. An' I don't say it often."

"I know." She was reaching out, slowly, as if to a wild animal, as if she didn't wanna startle him away. "I know, Jayne. I said it back, remember?"

He stepped back, away from her.

"Fat lotta good it did." He made his voice low and cruel. "I thought your word meant somethin', Kaylee. Guess I was wrong."

Her face looked like he just slapped her.

"Jayne, listen to me!" She stamped her foot and there it was, she was cryin'. "I was tellin' him I cared, but not like it used to be. 'Cause I'm with you, now. That's what I was sayin'."

God, he wanted to believe her, wanted to believe it so bad.

"Really?"

"Yes!" Relief flooded her features and she took the last few steps to meet him. "Yes, that's all it was."

Jayne still couldn't move as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pushed against him in a hug, burying her cheek against his shoulder. His arms stayed out straight, hanging heavy in the air.

She pulled herself back a bit, so she could look up at him.

"Why?" He asked. "Why were you sayin' it all now?"

"Because." Her voice rushed in to answer, quick to reassure him. "'cause he was all on about second chances and how he could do better and I kept tellin' him it was over."

"I thought that was done?" Suddenly it made more sense, much more sense to him than anything else his too slow to think, but quick to get angry and explode brain had come up with in the last ten minutes. "I thought he was all good with that?"

"Not really." Her voice quivered again and he let his hand drift up to the back of her head, curved around her skull. She still fit against him in every way. "He's been a bit tetchy, lately. I don't think he's okay with it at all."

"You knew?" It was like a bruise he couldn't stop pressing, couldn't stop trying to make it hurt. "You knew an' you didn't tell me?"

***

Prompt #074: Truth. Word Count: 488.

KNOWING.

"Why you gotta do that, Jayne?" She shrugged out of his arms. "You either believe me or you don't. Don't keep pushin' at it."

The look he gave her made her shrivel a little bit more.

"This ain't about me, Kaylee, I ain't done nothin' wrong."

"Neither have I!"

Oh, but this was gonna run around and around in circles and she didn't know how to make it right. She hadn't realized how cold it was getting, out here at night.

Now that she was standing all by herself.

"I don't know." And he didn't, she could see it in his eyes. "I don't know what to think, Kaylee."

She wasn't sure how, but these words cut her more deeply than any accusation. He could look her right in the face and not know whether she was telling the truth and the knowledge of that slid over her skin.

"Don't you trust me?" She tried to keep the tears from falling, she did, but they pricked at her eyes, burning like little drops of acid. "Jayne, I wouldn't..."

"But you did. You already did, once."

The words hit her like bricks, hard and fast, slamming into her and making her gasp out loud. His face registered shock, as if he hadn't been expecting them, himself.

She saw it in slow motion, the way he reached out to take her arm and she couldn't imagine why. Her face folded into a flinch as she twisted away from him.

"Don't. Don't you touch me."

"Kaylee..." He sounded miserable and she couldn't help but hope he felt it, too. "I didn't mean..."

"Yes you did." She bit through the tremble of her jaw, didn't want to start bawling out loud right now. "You meant every word of it. And you wanted to hurt me."

"No." Even his soft voice sounded hard. "I never did anything to hurt you, Kaylee."

"Really?" She gaped at him. "'Cause it sure feels like it now."

"Don't do that." It almost sounded like the tables had turned, that he was pleading with her instead. "C'mon, Kaylee, don't do that."

"Do what?" She glared. "You're throwing things in my face and I didn't do anything to you. I didn't..."

It was messy, the sobs that burst from her throat, bubbling up and making her clutch her elbows in close, hugging herself.

"Shh." His hand settled on her arm and she didn't throw him off this time, didn't skitter our of his reach as he pulled her to him, his voice a blanket that covered the jagged rawness she could feel bleeding from her skin. "It's okay, Kaylee. C'mon, it's okay."

"No." But she was already melting into his arms, already sighing against him, curling into the way his hand came up to pet her hair. "It's not alright, Jayne, I didn't... I wouldn't... not to you... "

"I know." Soft and soothing, he cooed at her. "I know."

***

Prompt #075: Lie. Word Count: 618.

STING.

He had no choice but to stand there, with his arms wrapped around her and holding her close.

Jayne couldn't stop to think on why it felt better to him that she felt worse, he didn't want to know what made him do it. He'd always figured himself a mean sonuvabitch, but somehow Kaylee had always been past that.

He'd thought through his every move with her, been so very careful, had never wanted to throw away any moment and now, now he'd just gone and ground her into a pile of quivering dust just to lighten the image burned into his brain.

"We should get a move on." Suddenly, it was more than just a way to get her to look up. His eyes scanned the rock crop in front of them. "You know where we are?"

"What?" She shifted in his arms to look around. "No, I just followed you."

"Come on, then." He took her hand tightly in his and didn't give her enough room to pull out of it. "We gotta get back."

They walked like that for a few minutes and he could feel the tension building between them. He knew she wouldn't leave it be, she just had to bring it up right then so they could be right. That was fine, he agreed with that, as long as he could keep an eye out and try to figure out where they were.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Jayne."

"I know." There was a bunch of trees to the left and he tried to remember if there were trees in sight of the ship. "An' I'm sorry I said you did."

Or the large expanse of rocks to the right. He definitely remembered rocks, didn't think there'd been so many of them, but still. Rocks.

"There." And he started leading them towards it. "An' I wouldn't lie to you, either, Kaylee."

She snorted a little and he stopped to look at her.

"What? I wouldn't." Her eyebrow rose. "Not about the important stuff, anyway."

If they could just get to and over those damned rocks, Jayne was sure they'd be able to see the ship, sitting on her haunches, gray and sulking with being left useless. Great, now she had him thinkin' on the ship like a person.

"What about that time I burned the stew last week?" She challenged him. "An' you sat there eatin' it like nothin' was wrong with a big smile on your face."

"That's not important!" It took him a second of dragging her to the rocks before he thought about what he'd just said. "An' I didn't lie. It tasted just fine."

"Liar." She shot back.

He frowned as felt he felt the pin pricks in the back of his neck and his fingers ran over the two small bumps there.

"Kaylee..."

"Oh, come on." She turned to sigh at him. "I was just joking."

"Gorram it. I told you to stay with the others. You shoulda…" He dropped to his knees. "Run."

"Jayne!"

The world got kinda blurry and he tried to blink it off, tried to tell if he really felt her kneeling next to him, her hands running over his arms and shoulders, her voice cracking.

"I said run." But he couldn't figure if the words had come out or not. "Kayl..."

"Well, well."

That was definitely the cold feel of a gun against his head. Jayne heard Kaylee squeal and turned to see her being dragged to her feet by two men. He lunged forward and felt the gun hit the side of his head for all his trouble.

"Didn't your momma ever tell you not to talk to ladies like that?"

***

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