A continutation of the story arc beginning with Twelve days of Christmas.

Fight.

Jayne dropped his weapons. The bad guys had a gun pointed at his weak spot so he just gave in and down to the ground they went.

“Mr Niska” the ugliest one spoke into his communicator “we’ve got them.”

Jayne cursed as Kaylee looked at him in disbelief, brown eyes wide. He wanted her outta there.

They hadn’t searched her yet, she still had the pop gun he gave her hidden in her sock.

They’d already taken his guns but his knives were the closest weapons anyways, close to Kaylee’s feet, and she was near the alleyway exit. He signalled her silently with looks from his eyes and finger movements.

From the look in Kaylee’s eyes Jayne knew she wanted to argue with what he was askin’. He frowned at her impatiently and her expression changed to one of unhappy acceptance as she slumped into a pretend faint.

The two captors holdin’ her arms bent forward, a third turned round to see what the fuss was about and Jayne took his chance. Lungin’ forward he grabbed for his knives as Kaylee pulled her gun and shot the men holdin’ her.

“Go” he yelled as he ducked behind a convenient crate.

“I’ll get the captain Jayne” Kaylee whirled and ran just like he wanted.

The Captain was out somewhere on the planet and Jayne doubted that he would arrive in time to help.

If Mal did come, good, but Jayne was set anyway on makin’ sure none of the bad guys followed Kaylee. He’d die first. If that was goin’ to happen, he figured that he may as well take as many of the wang bad ans with him as he could.

Didn’t much care what happened to him, so long as his family were safe.

Wang bad ans = bastards

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Finis

When he received the message from his underling, that one of his people had spotted Jayne Cobb, Adeline Niska could barely contain his pleasure. He immediately began to formulate his plan of revenge.

His hate for Malcolm Reynolds had grown so much that it had further curdled his already warped brain and now extended to the entire crew of Serenity.

Cobb, along with Reynolds’ second in command, had been instrumental in the attack on Niska’s skyplex and was therefore a legitimate enemy. When further reports added that the mercenary was accompanied by the mechanic who kept the ship flying, someone the Captain prized highly, Niska’s glee knew no bounds

Since the attack his precious reputation had been damaged. People no longer feared him as they should; it had taken almost a year’s work to win back what he had lost. To further improve his invaluable reputation, Niska knew that revenging himself upon the ragtag crew who had brought him down would ensure that no-one disobeyed him again.

Hurting Reynolds himself had been a miscalculation. Killing after first humiliating members of his crew would be much more fulfilling. Picking the helpless girl and stupid mercenary as his first victims was the ultimate satisfaction.

However his plan had developed a glitch. It seemed, according to the last communication, that Cobb had fought back and the girl had escaped. All further attempts at communicating with his troops met with failure.

People were going to suffer for their inefficiency, Niska vowed as he gestured to his bodyguards to follow him. Cobb especially would suffer the tortures of the damned for upsetting his carefully laid plans.

Entering the alley he stopped in momentary shock as he saw Cobb still standing and most of his useless troops already dead. He realised that he had miscalculated again as his bodyguards fell without firing a shot.

He realised that he had truly lost his reputation when fury and hate in blue eyes were the last things he saw as a knife buried itself hilt deep into his favourite stomach.

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Fatal

The Shepherd didn’t want to find Jayne dead, but he’d seen in Kaylee’s terrified face that she thought he might be.

The memory of that look and the smell of her bloodstained clothes stayed with him as they jumped onto the mule. In the brief moment before they left he had, knowing it a lost cause, tried to dissuade Zoë from coming. But now as they stopped at the entrance of the alley Kaylee had directed them to, he was glad of her presence.

The carnage that greeted them was overwhelming; no-one was left standing. At first glance all appeared dead. Wordlessly they walked past the dying and dead bodies towards Jayne who was propped against the wall, unconscious, knives still grasped in his hands.

Book closed his eyes in relief when Zoë nodded that she had found the big man’s pulse. Given that sign of life he knew that this time Jayne wouldn’t die.

The same could not be said for Niska who they found gasping his life out in the dirt. He was dying because he had made the fundamental mistake of targeting Kaylee. He had earned for himself and his minions the unrelenting killing fury that was Jayne protecting his wife.

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Faith

Mal heard the news of Niskas’ death while sharing drinks with their new client.

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person,” the man grunted. “Didn’t you and yours have a run in with him?”

Mal nodded. The only others to leave Serenity today were Jayne and Kaylee and he knew without a doubt that the slaughter being described had involved them. He shivered and contained his anxiety to get back to the ship until business had been settled. The moment it was he rushed back to Serenity.

He wanted to be off planet mighty quick before the authorities decided to make enquiries or started poking round the ship.

Most of all he wanted to check on the safety and health of his crew. His worst fears were realised when he entered the cargo bay, saw the mule covered in blood and looking toward the infirmary saw all his crew gathered around.

Kaylee was standing against the cupboard arms around her stomach hugging herself while the doctor concentrated on operating on Jayne. Mal walked over and put a comforting arm round her shoulders.

“See, this is why I don’t like shipboard romances.”

“Captain” Kaylee looked at him her eyes drowned in tears “that’s real comfortin’. ‘Sides Simon tells me Jayne’s gonna be alright this time.”

“Don’t know how you stand it mei mei, always worrying that you might lose him.” The Captain was voicing his own fears, the thing that kept him from going down the same road himself.

His practical mechanic beamed at him, “it might not be Jayne that dies. Could be me. We decided when we got together to enjoy life while we could. Better to die knowin’ we’ve been happy together, than to live sadly apart.”