I was watching one of my all-time favourite westerns, Rio Bravo, when the plot bunnies attacked. _________________________________________________

Kaylee was supposed to be with Simon and River shoppin’, but when she’d paused to look at some pretties she’d lost them. Simon had probably chased after River and not given Kaylee a second thought. That made her mad and made her see reason.

She had been chasin’ a dream, somethin’ not real. That Simon could just leave her in the middle of the street and not even come back, showed he wasn’t that concerned with her. So she weren’t goin’ to be concerned with him no more.

So here she was wanderin’ along on her way back to Serenity when she spotted Jayne.

What was he doin’ in this part of town? He was supposed to be goin’ whorin’, not enterin’ a picture house. Maybe she’d just follow him and see what he was up to.

The picture house was an old one, paint fadin’, walls crumblin’. All the posters on the outside walls advertised cowboy movies from Earth-that-was.

Seein’ the picture house and the posters bought back a host of happy memories. Her Pa had loved the ‘shoot-em-ups’ as he called them. Whenever one was showin’, which weren’t that often given where they lived, he’d be there lined up, buyin’ a ticket. He always bought her a ticket too, sayin’ she was his movie watchin’ buddy. Kaylee had loved doin’ things with her Pa.

She stepped into the foyer blinkin’ her eyes to adjust to the light and was aware of eyes starin’ at her. There were three or four men standin’ there and one of ‘em was Jayne.

“Kaylee” he cast a swift glance behind her. “What are ya doin’ here? Ain’t ya supposed to be shoppin’ with the Doc?”

“That sorta fell through.” Kaylee looked at the floor avoidin’ Jayne’s amused eyes. He probably guessed she’d followed him in here, “thought I might watch a movie.”

“Well ya’d best sit with me then” Jayne glared at the other men in the room “these guys ain’t safe to be around.”

Kaylee smiled at them all when they made protestin’ noises. They were a bit rough, but she could tell that them and Jayne were almost friends, that this was a regular meetin’.

“I’m Mitch Miss Kaylee” the guy with the red hair grinned at her “’n’ I own this joint. You’re real welcome to watch the movie with us.”

Jayne grabbed her by the elbow and steered her into the theatre. “Better sit with me.”

“I should warn ya Jayne, my Pa said I was downright embarrassin’ to take to the movies.”

“Don’t think anythin’ ya do could be that bad Kaylee.” He reassured her. But once the movie started he could see why some folk might be embarrassed, Kaylee got real involved with the story.

When the hero got jumped she dropped her pro-corn all over the floor. She laughed out loud at the saloon owner’s antics, and cried when the sheriff’s friend got killed.

Kaylee clutched Jayne’s arm unconsciously whenever a tense moment happened and clapped her hands when the sheriff and deputy caught the first bad guy. Her breath caught loudly when the handsome deputy was tempted to drink. She gulped back tears when he fought the temptation.

She sat on the edge of her seat when the bad guys cornered the sheriff; her sigh of relief echoin’ all over the theatre when the young gunman helped him out. She sighed happily when the sheriff picked the pretty girl up and put her to bed. and hummed along with the songs.

She cheered when the old cripple appeared and shot a bad guy with the shotgun, and bounced up and down in her seat when the heroes used the dynamite. Gigglin’ happily at the final scene when the bloomers got thrown out the window, Kaylee’s eyes were shinin’ as the lights went up.

Mitch and the other guys came straight over, fallin’ over themselves to talk to her. Spending more time than Jayne liked discussin’ the movie, they growled at him when he took her away. He was never gonna hear the end of it.

“That was wonderful! Best movie I’ve seen in a long time.” Kaylee exclaimed as they walked back to Serenity. “Don’t ya think Jayne?”

“Sure.” Jayne felt like he’d been hit with a brick. He hadn’t seen one bit of the show, he’d been too busy watchin’ Kaylee. “Wonderful.”