“I can see where you would think that,” Book nodded. “You’ve had a hard and difficult life, Michael. . .”
“The name,” Jayne ground out, “is Cobb. Jayne Cobb. And don’t try that psycho-babble on me, neither, Preacher. Talkin’ ‘bout my ‘hard and difficult life’ ain’t the way to reach me.”
“What is, then?” Book surprised him. “What is the way to reach you, Michael. To reach past the man you want others to see, and talk to the boy who once was?”
“That boy is dead,” Jayne assured him harshly. “Gone. Died a long while back.”
-- ARCHANGEL -- Chapters 1-3 by badkarma00