A/N: I'm glad to be well recieved :)

Part One ~ If I Am a Stranger

To tell the truth is hard enough without a lover who you want to hide your darkness from so they won’t let you down If I am a stranger now to you, I will always be, I will always be Stronger now than me, stronger than you Our love will always be and if we let it go I will try to be there for you, I will try to be there for you If I can, but what if I can’t?

~ Ryan Adams, If I Am A Stranger

“Don’t make me shoot ya,” Jayne growled, cocking his gun and glaring at the man. “Not that I don’t wanna…” he grinned wildly. “But bet ya ain’t so keen on it.” The man shook his head. “Then just give us the money…” his grin instantly melted off his face. “And I won’t hafta.” The man reluctantly handed the money to Mal, who smiled and wiped his hands on his jacket. “Pleasure doin’ business with you,” he said, flashing a grin. “We’ll be on our way now.” Jayne kicked at the ground and grumbled. “I really wanted to shoot ‘em, too,” he said. Mal laughed. “There’ll be plenty more people for ya to shoot, Jayne.” “Yeah…but he was afraid!” Zoë looked blankly at him. “Aren’t most people afraid of big, scary men with guns, Jayne?” Jayne looked confounded. “Well, usually I don’t give ‘em enough time to really look at what they’re dealing with.” Zoë and Mal exchanged looks and started to laugh. When Jayne cocked his head to the side, Zoë shook her head. “Never mind. Let’s get back. The others will probably be wondering if the deal went bad.”

*** That was this afternoon. Now, back on Serenity, waiting for dinner to be done, Jayne stands in the doorway to the engine room, watching. Ai ya, she’s pretty, all grease in her hair and total concentration. He almost, almost wants to disturb her. Instead, he just watches, and smiles to himself. It’s developed into something less feral than he thought it would, and that terrifies him. He gives her one last long, gazing look and then shoves his hands in his pockets and walks away, whistling.

At dinner, he gives her a private smile, a smile with his eyes so that no one else can see. He’s secretly delighted when she grins back, unashamed, but he still looks around nervously at the others. Do they know? Do they see it, feel it? But even moonbrain is quiet, and Jayne feels safe.

As a rule, Jayne Cobb ain’t afraid of much. But he’s sure as hell afraid to find out what the cap’n would do if he found out just how much his merc likes his mechanic.