OK Folks, It’s Jaylee. It’s a ruttin’ Jaylee Epic. Not your cuppa? Keep on walkin’.

Disclaimer: Not mine, no pay.

Thanks: To Jacqui, Josh and to Rion, my own personal BDH. You guys are the greatest.

Rating: NC17, adult situation

Remarks: A long and rambling tale of the challenges faced by Jayne and Kaylee as they struggle to define their relationship. Some of you are complainin' that things aren't quite so heated as you'd like. While I understand, I've got a story to tell and Jayne and Kaylee don't perform on command. Especially not Jayne. Set after “Objects in Space”. Inara has departed from Serenity and the crew has been through a rough stretch. Click on my name to read the backstory. They’re all backstory.

Feedback: I do appreciate it.

Leaps of Faith

Chapter Twenty-Two

Early the next morning, Kaylee and Wash are busy unloading the rented mule and sorting the components and parts they scrounged the day before.

“Let’s pile anything goes to the engine room over here, electronics for the bridge here and odds-n-ends can go in that storage locker ‘til we need em.” Wash grins and rubs his hands together.

“I’ll be so tickled to get this new sensor array installed. It’ll boost our capacity at least 75% and, with as many folks as seem to be out to get us lately, the extra ‘heads up’ can’t be a bad thing.”

Kaylee grabs an open crate and gently stacks bits for Serenity’s engine room in it, heavy stuff first. “How ‘bout that last night, Jayne rescuin’ Simon an’ River? I didn’t even know he’d gone into town. To be honest, I had no idea he was well enough to get out and about like that. Pretty good thing he come along when he did, huh?”

“Simon’s mouth probably wishes he’d showed up ten minutes sooner, but yeah, not exactly what I would have expected, given the history between those two.”

Together, Wash and Kaylee lift a large, heavy part off the cargo bed of the mule and set it to one side. The girl pushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear and sighs deeply. Wash looks at Kaylee with concern, suddenly noticing that she’s haggard looking and has lost weight.

“How are you holdin’ up? I mean, Jayne getting shot up so bad and all?” Wash is rememberin’ their conversation not so long ago, when Kaylee asked how he handled the risks Zoë faces as part of her job. “I guess this puts a hiatus in things for you two lovebirds, huh?”

Kaylee flops down on the fender of the mule and buries her face in her hands. Her shoulders start to shake and Wash suddenly realizes she’s crying.

He’s all flustered. “Kwin-gwe-je deh! Hey Kaylee, I’m sorry. What did I say?” The pilot sits down beside her and puts an arm around her shoulder, doin’ his best to comfort her although he has no clue why she’s so upset.

Kaylee pulls herself together and wipes her face on her sleeve. ”It ain’t nothin’ you said or done, Wash. The last few weeks have just been real hard. ‘Nara leavin, jobs goin’ bad, wonderin’ when the Cap’n’s gonna read us the riot act, tryin’ to sort out a lot of stuff with Jayne, an’ him nearly getting himself killed. He done a bunch a talkin’ while he was so sick and now I’m feeling like I just don’t know what I want anymore.”

Wash really doesn’t want to pry. In fact, he’s not sure he wants to hear any more about Jayne and Kaylee’s relationship that he’s already heard through the bulkhead between Jayne’s bunk and the one he and Zoë share. But Kaylee looks so miserable, so lost, that he can’t help but want to comfort her. “I’m no counselor for the lovelorn but I can be a good listener. You need advice, you’re better off going to Book or Mal. Only, you can’t exactly go to Mal about this, can you?” This gets a chuckle out of Kaylee.

“See Wash, ya always make me laugh.”

“Yeah, that’s what Zoë says, usually when I’m in the middle of making love to her…” He makes a face. “But really, maybe you’re just pushing yourself too hard about all this. Like you said, a lot of rough fei oo happened lately. Maybe you and the big guy just need to ease up, give it some time.”

She nods tentatively, her chin tucked and dark eyes wide. “I just keep wantin’ easy answers, wantin’ to have things sure and clear, and it just don’t work like that, does it?”

The pilot’s often felt the same thing and understands her longing completely. “Not too often,” Wash agrees, patting her shoulder. “Not too often.”

++++

Her hair smells so good, clean and sweet, like lavender, and her mouth melts and merges with his. Beneath him, the warm mass of her body writhes and shifts, as she rakes her nails down the length of his back, pulling him into her heat. He bends to nibble at her breast and grins as she arches in response. His mouth shifts wetly upward to the hollow of her throat and he sucks hungrily at the tender flesh he finds there, listening to her hoarse, needful panting. He twines his fist in the thick silk of her hair and ravages her mouth, driving his diao more deeply into the molten core of her…

And awakens, face down on his bunk, the pillow clutched in his fist and his body short seconds from release.

“Aw, ruttin’ hell…” the merc blurts out, before rolling onto his back and finishing up what his dream of Kaylee has initiated.

As his breathing returns to normal, he grabs a dirty t-shirt and mops up, thinkin’ to himself, Girl’s got me spoiled. It ain’t been all that long since we tangled and here I am, dreamin’ about her like a half-grown boy. Better get used to doin’ without, since she ain’t givin’ no indications she’s anywhere close to thawin’.

Jayne finally makes it up and out of his bunk a bit later than usual – the hike into town and back has brought home the realization that while he’s healing, there’s a ways to go before he’s back to his usual level of stamina. He pulls on a pair of sweat pants and digs out a clean t-shirt, but his leg is still achy and stiffer than he’d like.

In the galley, he rummages around for some belated breakfast and chases it with a couple of cups of strong, sweet, black coffee. One thing has come out of his experiences in town yesterday – he’s made up his mind to ask Mal point blank whether his job’s secure for the time it takes him to get up to speed.

Jayne runs into Mal as he’s headed down to the bay and the captain ribs him, “Well if it ain’t the Hero a Canton – and Brandemere – his very own self!” Mal laughs, “You recovered from them noodles yet? Never seen a man done in by Kaylee’s cookin’ before. Made dinner downright dramatical!”

“Glad ya found it so gorram amusin’, but then, you wasn’t the one getting’ poisoned, was ya? And I believe it was the moon-brain who added in the firepower, not li’l Kaylee.”

As Mal chuckles and turns to continue down the corridor, Jayne asks, “Cap’n, have ya got a minute?”

Mal pivots back. ”Yeah. What’s up?”

Jayne’s fidgety, awkward. “Well, I was wantin’ to talk to ya about my leg. The doc’s told me it’s gonna take a bit before I’m fully back to speed, but probably not no two or three months like Kaylee said. I’m doin’ everything I can to get it all re… ah… dabilitated -- aw hell. All fixed. You know what I mean. I know you need me to be fully able and mostwise I am. Just wanted to know if I still got me a job here for the next bit.”

Serenity’s captain slaps the big man on the shoulder and laughs. “Any man who can eat River’s Dreaded Noodles of Fire and live to tell about it is man enough for me. Don’t worry, Jayne, unless’n ya do something seriously stupid again, you still got a job on my boat.”

++++

Simon meets up with Mal and Zoë in the cargo bay. His lip is still quite swollen and bruising now darkens his face.

With the rented mule unloaded, the three climb in and head back into Brandemere to pick up the medical supplies Simon has arranged to purchase.

“Folks see you lookin’ like that,” Mal points out to Simon, “They’re like to think we’re buyin’ all these goods to use on you, ya know.”

++++

Wash has carried some of the electronic equipment upstairs to the bridge and Jayne arrives in the cargo bay as Kaylee is struggling with the heavy crate of engine parts.

“Hey there, let me get them for ya.” The big merc slips his arm around the crate in the girl’s arms and balances it against his right hip, then smiles warmly down at her.

“Thanks, Jayne, that’s real sweet of ya ta help me. ‘Specially since them noodles nearly did ya in.”

“Oh, I’ve had hotter”, he brags, puffing out his chest.

“Oh yeah? Like just when?” Kaylee challenges him.

The merc sets the crate down and leans his cane against it. Ever so gently he frames Kaylee’s face between his big, rough hands and studies her up-turned face, noting the twinkle of mirth she cannot conceal from him, then bends and kisses her with all the tender longing in his soul.

When their lips finally part, Kaylee is shaking and beet red.

Jayne smiles down at her. “Like just then.”

(To be continued...)