CHAPTER ONE

"No gorram way." Jayne Cobb crossed his beefy arms across his beefy chest.

"Do you know what happens to a soldier who don't follow orders?" Captain Malcolm Reynolds leaned toward Jayne, staring him down.

A brief look of consternation visited Jayne's face.

"We ain't havin' this conversation anymore." Mal spun neatly on his heel and headed for the door of the tavern.

Zoe looked at Jayne as she rose from her seat beside him. The look was one of her most infamous harsh looks. "They get dropped," she stated matter-of-factly and left Jayne in his corner.

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Kaylee was waiting for the others to return. She had the ramp of Serenity down and everything. The captain and Zoe's boots clunked loudly as they entered the cargo bay. Mal walked past Kaylee without the normal greeting.

"Hi, Cap'n!" Kaylee greeted him jovially nonetheless. "What's with the Cap'n?" she asked Zoe. Zoe sighed in response. "Where's Jayne?"

"You really can't do it can you?" Mal called from halfway up the steps.

Kaylee turned. "Do what?"

"Not talk," Mal stated. "Don't bother 'bout Jayne. Close up." He continued up the stairs.

Kaylee sighed and pushed the button.

"No wait," Mal yelled back down.

Kaylee pushed the button again. Mal disappeared into the upper hallway. He returned not three minutes later with a large crate in tow. Mal pushed the crate off the top landing.

"Shove that out first," Mal commanded then ducked back to the deck.

Kaylee looked after him for a moment, confused. Then she saw a bit of orange tassel sticking from beneath the lid of the crate and understood. She dragged the crate down the ramp and watched it as the gap closed.

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It didn’t take Jayne long to realize he'd been left behind, truly and surely. He arrived at the landing spot just in time to watch Serinity break atmo and disappear into space. He cursed a bit, as was his wont, and kicked up the dirt. He even fired a shot or two into the sky to prove his anger. But he was angry more at himself. He had finally pushed the captain further than he could. Jayne sighed and dragged his crate back to the tavern.

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Wash was in a good mood. He had just learned the news. No more Jayne. He grinned in spite of himself. Sure, they'd be down a man who was good with guns, but hey, he was a loaded gun himself. Wash leaned back in his seat with a look of smug satisfaction.

-------------------------- Mal sat stiffly on the edge of his bunk, his head in his hands. He had made a grave decision. He had purposely left a member of his crew behind. And now he was down the best fighting man. But Jayne had merited the drop. Oh, yes! Mal wouldn’t have done it differently. But the feeling of guilt lingered.

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Simon was curious as to what had caused the abandonment of Jayne. Not that he cared about Jayne really. He'd always been just an annoyance to Simon. This marked the end of crude sexual references and harsh language. Simon could certainly get used to that.

-------------------------- Zoe lay on her bunk thinking. She didn’t give a damn about Jayne, but she worried about the captain. She had fought with him; she knew how attached and protective he could get. Man, this must be hard for him, she thought. She let out a long sigh, then stood and climbed the latter in search of Wash. Not that he'd be hard to find. He was always only one place. Especially when he was happy. And Zoe knew her husband was happy indeed.

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Shepherd Book stared down at his Bible sitting on the dining room table. Something was not right about this whole situation. He, like most of the others, had no use for Jayne. He was the toughest crew member and certainly the most in need of a little spiritual medicine, but Book was not worried about his situation. He was worried about the effect it would have on the rest of the crew. Mal was obviously upset; Book could tell this because of the terse manner in which he treated the crew upon his return. Zoe also was tight-lipped. It made Book wonder exactly what it was that had caused this disagreement and separation. Mal had not even allowed Jayne to come back aboard for his things. The whole thing had a bad feeling to it, and Book resolved to ask the captain about it as soon as he saw fit to come out of his bunk and socialize.

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River was the only person on Serenity not thinking about Jayne. Instead she was concentrating on a small beetle that had found its way aboard during landing. Gently, River flipped it onto its back and watched its legs flail.

"Helpless." River stated. Maybe she was thinking of Jayne after all.

CHAPTER TWO

Book looked at the bench for a bit, feeling a fleeting longing. His spotter was missing. He sat down on the bench, a thought suddenly occurring to him. He stayed seated for only a moment before regaining his feet and walking off in search of the captain. He found that the captain was already engaged in conversation with Simon Tam.

"But, Captain, he knows things!" Simon protested something previously said. "He could ruin us. You know I bear him no love, but we're all going down because our fate is in the hands of that yu bun duh pee-goo."

"Believe it or not, Doc, I am actually aware of that." Mal hissed. He looked up at Book at the hatch. "Can I help you Shepherd?"

"Oh no, Captain, I was just making sure I was not the only one who realized the imminent danger."

"Fine. Danger. Don't y'all think I can handle this? Don’t I always." Book stared at Mal calmly, but Simon was forced to turn away so as not to roll his eyes directly at the captain. "Go on now, it's late, and I have captain-y things to do." Mal more-or-less shoved the two from the bridge. After they left, he slumped into the pilot's chair. "Go se!"

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River was still playing with the beetle, but it was dead now. She pushed it along the floor with her bare toe mumbling softly to herself. She bent slowly to investigate the departure of one of the insect's legs. She then picked the dead creature up by another of its appendages and carried it delicately to the hallway. There she deposited it neatly in front of her brother's bunk door. She sat facing the same door.

A few moments later Simon came from the bridge. He was preoccupied and only gave River a fleeting smile before sliding open his door. He was startled when she let out a cry.

"Stop!" She yelled, pointing to his foot.

Slowly Simon raised his shoe from the floor to reveal the crunched remains of the beetle. "Aw, mei-mei, I'm sorry, I didn't see it! It's ok, it's just a bug." He crouched down in front of her.

"You don’t understand." She said calmly, looking into his eyes, "You didn’t kill it, you just destroyed it. Look." She held up the intact leg. "A keepsake." She turned and skipped off down the hall, leaving Simon to ponder.

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"Gorram it." Mal sat stoically, staring out into the vastness of space. Zoe watched him, saying nothing. "What can I do? I mean, he deserved it!" Zoe still remained quiet, knowing that Mal was ranting to himself. "What do they 'spect I shoulda done? I couldn’t jist put him in the airlock forever. We have to use it sometimes!" He gesticulated wildly.

"There is a security problem, sir." Zoe finally added.

Mal turned a brief glare on her. "True. Gorram it!"

"You know, we could always just go back and kill him." Wash stated, interrupting them from the door. "I mean, I think we all could take him." He began to look slightly apprehensive.

"I'm not gonna kill him." Mal's eyes glinted. "But… Yeh, I think we do need to go back."

Wash nodded and took the controls. "Back to Osiris then." He flipped the obligatory three switches before entering the coordinates.

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Jayne had not left tavern for the two days since Serenity left. After retrieving his crate, he immediately drank himself into a stupor and passed out. He was aroused by someone trying to break into his crate. The man had retired with a cracked jaw and Jayne ordered more to drink. However, at the end of the second day, the keeper told him to leave. Uncharacteristically, Jayne complied. Perhaps it was because he was drunk, but maybe, just maybe he was brooding on his current disposition. He slumped outside the tavern for a few moments until he regained most of his senses, then he rummaged in his crate and strapped on as many of the weapons as he could. As the final touch he places his ragged orange cap upon his head. He then strode away, leaving the crate and its few remaining items. -------------------------------

"So, whatcha thinking'?" Wash looked expectantly at his wife.

"Why do you ask?" Was her terse reply.

"Well, you just take things in. You don't ever discuss your personal thoughts. I mean, obviously I don't even know what happened back there, but here we are going back. To do what? Talk to me, woman." The last sentence was his way of lightening the mood.

She had that look that was both understanding and annoyed. "I don't guess it matters much what I think. Captain made the decision."

"There you are, pulling that again. I don’t care what Mal thinks. I want your opinion. Stop being the soldier for just one minute please!" The look in his eyes told her everything.

"I think it's a bad idea." She stated simply.

"But you'd never tell Mal that."

"I'd never tell him."

"That's what I just don't get. You can disagree with me, and anyone and even him sometimes, but when he gives an order, you just close down."

"You don’t understand."

"No, you're right. I don’t. But I do understand one thing." Wash lifted a finger. "You have as bad a feeling about this situation as I do."

Zoe could only nod.

"So, what are we gonna do about that?" Wash's voice began to get a bit high and desperate.

"We do as the captain directs. We have to. In the meantime…" She moved toward him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be in our bunk."

Wash watched longingly as she paced off down the hall.

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A/N: Translations (by the way, I don't know Chinese, the syntax is rough):

Yu bun duh -- stupid Pee-goo -- bottom (more or less) Go se -- crap (more or less) Mei-mei -- little sister