Title: Bearer Author: bookishtype Character: Jayne Rating: PG Word Count: 434

Jayne pulled back the curtain that shielded the ladies from the world. He leant over and picked up Vera...

It was the coup de grace that always got Jayne thinking. He knew exactly when the movement was and what that movement would do. He would always go into a fight that final blow in mind. Wondering when it would be only to know it the moment before he dealt it.

It was one of the things that came with being a runner, a thief. Using what brains he had for learning and anticipating the movements of the other person in a fight. It was a clincher. Jayne learnt that when it came to fights people moved the same way and reacted the same way. He could parry one way and know that the other person would react to his movements in a particular order. It took awhile but Jayne learnt to work with those reactions and this is when he learned the coup de grace. The first time it happened, Jayne was dumbfounded and pleased until a blow knocked him out of this oblivion. This is what made Jayne smart. He had learnt the hard way and learnt it well.

However the coup de grace had it place also when it came to weapons. Jayne always gave credit to his girls for that kill. He took care of them and they always did what he asked, it was an agreement made long ago and one that he made whenever another lady came into his hands. Vera, Cynthia, Sally and Teeny all had their specialities that Jayne discovered whether it was in a fight or when he cleaned them, they all spoke their secret and gave Jayne his due.

A guns coup de grace can be utilised at any given moment Jayne realised. That found him to be might tetchy around folks who didn’t know guns and his ladies in particular. For in a fight the bearer of the gun who uses that coup de grace must know what they are doing for it to be a mortal wound. A coup de grace movement may in fact only be debilitating not a kill. Jayne learnt long ago that he had to have his movement down pat before execution. A lesson told by the scars that ran across his body.

... Jayne smiled and ran his hands along Vera’s body. She was a beauty. She was the bearer of good and evil and a funny feeling low in his gut. Jayne sighed and placed her back in her place and pulled the curtain back into place.