fenella | Huh.

Fandom: Firefly - post Serenity (movie)
Ship: Jayne/Kaylee
Rating: G
Words: 1,996

My first attempt at writing Firefly Fic. It's late. This isn't proof-read.

<><><><>

Chorus Line

<><><><>

“This record is dedicated to me.”
--- Rufus Wainwright

<><><><>

If you don’t look out for yourself, there ain’t no one in the verse that will.

The Captain’s been through a war and then some, and he still hasn’t quite figured this out - but Jayne, Jayne Cobb the hero of Canton, was born knowing that it’s the truth; plain and simple.

Jayne’s not stupid or immoral, no matter what folks like to say to his face and behind his back; he’s just big on self-preservation is all. Turn on the other man before they get the chance to turn on you, cheat you and rob you blind – they always do.

And Jayne, for all that people paint him as the lawless mercenary, has his own sort of code – he’s more or less followed it for thirty-some years. Stripped to the essentials (Jayne’s not one for fancy words and tact), when a man’s outlived his usefulness, you one: take what it is he’s got you want and then, you shoot ‘em before they shoot you.

It’s not crass – Jayne might double cross, but he’s never bothered to hide his somewhat ambiguously shifting loyalties.

Also, he makes a point of not shooting at the ladies until they’ve shot at him first.

Jayne has been shot his share of times too, to be sure. Only stabbed once – that was back when he was eleven and not even a third of the size that he is now. Even so, he’d learned his lesson real quick: you shoot ‘em before they get close enough for stabbing.

Guns have been his favourite long since, and he loves them something fierce. But then Kaylee happens, and Jayne finds a day going by in which he doesn’t polish Vera to perfection.

It seems Kaylee got tired of chasing after the doc, one argument after another – Jayne doesn’t really know what they were about, except that they started getting loud, cutting into his sleep – and she came looking for a real man.

Now Jayne’s never been one to say no to a woman when she comes looking, but he thinks about Mal and the airlock, and how he’s not keen on going back to sharing a bunk and getting a small seven percent of the take.

Jayne’s always liked Kaylee too, else he might have done her then and there, just to annoy the doc. Hell, the doc’s never been a very good shot anyways.

Then there’s the air lock, again.

“Come back when you’re looking for me, and not anyone who’s not the doc,” he tells her gruffly and Kaylee’s eyes widen, her mouth stops moving.

Jayne’s not so worried about her misinterpreting his intentions for taking the moral high ground. Actions are what count when the day’s haul is in – not what he meant or didn’t mean to do.

“That’s not…” but Kaylee doesn’t finish her sentence and Jayne turns back to loading the cargo. He doesn’t see her leave, though he hears her every step.

<><><><>

For days after, he can feel her watching him and it’s all kinds of unsettling.

She looks at him like she’s seeing him for the first time, and every time he turns to say anything, she’s working on something else or deep another conversation with River or Zoe.

One night (or day – it’s all the same out in the black) after Mal, Zoe and him come back from a job scratched, but alive, Kaylee catches him outside his bunk.

“Hey,” she says pointedly, all kinds of serious and just a bit twitchy. “I’m looking for Jayne. Is this his bunk?”

Jayne’s eyes narrow and he squints down at her.

“Are you sure about this?”

And when she doesn’t say anything he adds, “If the Mal’s gonna go protective and violent at me now, I don’t want it to be for nothin’.”

Kaylee rolls her eyes at him.

“The Captain doesn’t have nothing to do with this, as far as I see,” she says.

Jayne hopes that she’s right.

“Now,” Kaylee continues and backs Jayne up to the ladder that leads down to his room. “Do you want me to strip in the hall here, or can we go in?”

<><><><>

They don’t tell anyone at first and it makes Jayne real jumpy – he’s sure that Mal knows, and is ready to jump on him at any second.

Then there’s the little witch River – she smiles at him more than usual, like she knows a secret, and it goes a long way in creeping him out. The girl doesn’t say anything, but she must know, being a reader and all.

At least Inara hasn’t been on the ship for a good while; Jayne figures that she’d know for sure, even if Kaylee did manage not to tell her all the little details.

It all comes to a head at dinner - after Jayne and Kaylee have been sneaking around for months, almost a year - when the crew, or what’s left of the crew, is sitting around the table.

“Now,” says Mal. “We’ll be landing near the training house tomorrow – Inara’s made a point of asking that we try not to embarrass her. So, Jayne…”

Jayne looks at the Captain, all indignant like. “Aw hell, Mal, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Mal pauses and looks at Jayne, as if he’s said something especially troubling.

“No, I expect I don’t,” says the Captain, mulling things over out loud. “You’ve been all,” a pause as he takes a bite of the suspect looking dinner, and searches for a word. Finally he says, “…decent in public, as of late. Mind telling me what’s up?”

The captain smiles, one of his smug little smiles and Jayne chooses to keep his mouth shut, for once in his life.

“Sir,” says Zoe with a smirk. “It could be Inara was talking about your conduct - ”

Mal pretends not to hear, and turns back to Jayne. “You know,” he says, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you’re in love, Jayne.”

There’s a profound silence as Jayne clenches his jaw, and shifts his gaze to his plate.

“Oh. My. God.” Says Simon finally, in the sarcastic ‘I’m better than you’ way that irritates Jayne the most. “I must say, I’m very impressed; I never thought that you, of all people. Wait - ” the doc interrupts himself. “- Who is she? It is a she, isn’t it? And she must be quite the woman at that…”

Jayne smirks at Simon, not bothering to swallow before speaking. “She is,” Jayne says.

Kaylee drops her fork and it clatters on her plate.

“So, what about that dinner?” She asks a little too brightly, smile a little too forced. “Captain, I’ve never tasted anything like it – what did you do?”

“It’s protein, Kaylee – same as always, surely not as well done as if you’d cooked it yourself.” Mal looks at Kaylee, suspiciously. “And now I think that you know something about this woman that’s got Jayne all worked up.”

“Nope, not a thing, Captain, Sir.” Kaylee avoids Mal’s eyes.

“Yes you do.” This is River; she’s been silent until now - looking around the table with great intent. She’s obviously enjoying herself, and smiles at Kaylee who is getting very flustered.

Mal smiles at River, “Thanks darlin’ – I’m always glad to have the voice of insanity on my side.”

River glares daggers at Mal, but is too intent on the Jayne situation to do more than give a dignified sniff.

Everyone is looking at Kaylee, waiting for her too spill – except Jayne, who is watching with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Well,” says Kaylee nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s me.”

Mal stares a moment before bursting out laughing. Zoe smiles a little, and Simon looks confounded some. River looks on, interested.

When the Captain stops howling for a breath, he says “No – seriously, Kaylee.” And then he catches the looks that Jayne and Kaylee are exchanging and frowns.

“What’s so funny, Captain?” Asks Kaylee with a frown of her own.

Mal’s eyebrows shoot up and he shakes his head as if to clear it. “Wha – now – you mean to say that you an’ Jayne are…?”

Jayne watches worriedly as Mal throws him a puzzled glance and Kaylee looks at him, too.

“A little help here?” Kaylee hisses across the table at Jayne.

“It’s true,” Jayne says after a moment, finding some sort of backbone that he didn’t know existed. He smiles (it turns out as more of a grimace, really) at Kaylee who rolls her eyes back at him.

Mal puts his head in his hands, dinner abandoned and elbows on the table.

“Zoe?” He asks, still looking at Kaylee “You help me out here?”

Zoe looks out of her depth, but more than a little entertained. “I’m afraid you’re on your own, Sir.”

Simon, for his part, looks as though someone’s told him that he’s failed his med exams and that saving people ain’t shiny after all.

“There’s plenty of other men you could have there Kaylee,” says Mal.

Kaylee raises her eyebrows back, “Yeah? Who’d you have in mind, Captain?”

“Well,” begins Mal, clearly at a loss. “There’s doc here – he’s a fine, educated, well-mannered man.”

Zoe grimaces, “Yes, because we all remember how that ended so well last time.”

“I just don’t understand…” says Simon, looking at Kaylee for some explanation.

“Don’t tax yourself doc,” grins Jayne and Kaylee looks at Simon, unrepentant.

Simon pushes his chair back and leaves the table in a hurry. Kaylee looks at River worriedly – she don’t enjoy hurting folk, even if she does a bit now and then. River smiles back serenely, “He’ll be fine, once he finishes wallowing and throwing things around.”

Mal stretches and stands, headed towards the bridge. “Throwing things sounds like a fine idea, right now.” He turns at the door at looks at Jayne. “We’re going to talk later, dong ma?”

Jayne shifts. “Sure Mal, ‘long as it's things and not people being thrown - 'specially out the airlock.”

The captain clears his throat. “We’ll see.”

River seems to float out of the kitchen, shadowing Mal. Jayne doesn't even see her leave the table. “Don’t worry,” she says to him with a knowing smile. “Mal will have other things to worry about soon. You’ll live at least another two months.”

He blanches and Kaylee pats his hand reassuringly from across the table as Zoe gets up to leave; she gives Kaylee a small smile.

Jayne looks at Kaylee and grins with all the confidence of a man who has at least another two months to live. “That didn’t go so bad.”

A corner of Kaylee’s mouth turns upwards and she sighs. “Suppose not. But they left us to do the dishes.”

“Huh,” says Jayne looking around in surprise at the dishes littering the table. Then he asks innocently “Us? I seem to recall it being your turn tonight.”

Kaylee fixes him with a look. “Well,” she begins, deciding to use ‘what’s in it for me’ Jayne-speak. “If you help me, they’ll be done faster… and then, we’ll have more time for - ” She grins suggestively.

Jayne smirks and starts to stack plates in a hurry. “I like the way you think. I found me a smart girl – not only pretty – to marry.”

Kaylee makes to swat at him before freezing mid-air. “Did you say marry?”

He stops, mouth open, head to one side, to think about it. “I did, didn’t I?”

Kaylee tackles him, arms around his neck.

“Maybe we ought to wait a bit,” he suggests slowly. “Else the Captain and them might die from shock.”

“Captain this, Captain that,” mocks Kaylee before smiling. “That’s real sweet.”

Jayne grins, “Or we could get married now and take the ship when they all die.”

“Jayne!”

“Just joking, Kaylee.”

“No you weren’t.”

“Okay, so I wasn’t. But neither of us can fly this gorram thing anyways.”

<><><><>