Violent Heart Chapter Four: Hard Burn rated R/17 *lemon warning & a itty-bitty Heart of Gold spoiler.* FEEDBACK MUCH NEEDED; PLEASE REVIEW!

1.

While Serenity's insides cooled down to a soft simmer, Jayne's fever was heating up. He figured ain't no one noticed it really getting bad, except himself.

And it was probably just as well that he and Kaylee hadn't gotten down to talking much about current developments. Which was just fine with Jayne. Not much good at talking anyway. Not much use for it in a situation like this. She had come to his bed every night for the past three days. Been awhile since he had that kind of attention unpaid for and unasked.

Wasn't about to question it. But he found it a might strange that she hadn't had the mind to.

Something wasn't quite right with all this when you got down to the bottom of it.

He sat there in his bunk, itching at something under his skin. He looked down at the figure curled up in his sheets, asleep. Her breathing was slow and long. Lost to the world.

Okay. So maybe he was questioning it a little. What was she doing there with him? There was this clear memory of the two of them staring at each other across a dirty table in a saloon on Outpost 10. It was the only image left in his head from that night that was coherent in the least. Hell if he knew what had gotten into her that night, 'cept a heap of trouble.

And when she woke up this morning would he be out of her system? Or would she come to him again later that night?

Without a careful thought of waking her up, he threw off the covers and got out of bed. It came with a learning that little Kaylee slept even heavier than the dead. She told him that she'd never felt so rested in her life sleeping there in his bunk.

He turned to look at his reflection in a dingy little mirror that hung on the wall, a irritated growl caught in his throat. He scratched at it.

Restful sleep, his ass. She'd had nightmares every night since. He hadn't brought himself to mention them. Didn't seem she might wanna remember them. Wasn't his place, no how.

He stared at his God awful reflection without really looking at it, ignoring the beads of sweat on his forehead. There was a huge dark splotch on his neck. That's funny. He seemed to keep getting new ones. And this one itched like five kinds of hell.

There as a sudden whimper from behind him, and he craned his neck around, already knowing what he'd see, his ailments forgotten.

At first, she appeared to be untroubled. She lay where he left her. But it was a single act of clutching and unclenching a fist full of blanket against her breast that made him keep his distance.

"Please. Don't. Oh...god, no." Kaylee continued this way, shaking gently and sobbing quietly into his pillow. Jayne stood there, strangely weak with a foreign adrenaline from watching her. Whole minutes seemed to fly by. They'll die away like the others, he told himself feeling a bout of uncomfortable coming on.

There'd been enough dark details over the last few mornings that he knew what the dreams were all about. He wasn't the right guy to deal with that kind of hell.

Then, in the midst of her sudden silence, he took a step toward her.

Her voice was clear of sleep and cracked with fear.

"All forfeit. There's nobody can help me."

He couldn't control the harshness with how he shook her awake just then, and it was a tremendous effort to pull her back from wherever she was, and back to his bunk.

"Kay... Kaylee... gorramn it... "

2.

"Kaylee."

He knew her name. How could he know that? It was as if he had come from a deep crevice in her mind; some barren stretch of prairie long lost behind her where men didn't carry much in the way of bullets and where the roughness of their palms were enough to hurt and to set things straight.

She looked frantically around to find the sky and found only the metal of Serenity instead.

Strong, passive Serenity. 'He broke into you, too'.

Why was she so sad? But she knew why. It was happening again. Where was the Captain? Where was Zoe?

She was all alone -

- with this dark, hard figure towering over her. She knew it was a dream now. His face kept on changing. It was like the weather on the plains back home, all rushing clouds and windy sky. Bounty hunter. Wildcat. A void of nothing. And then a face of a boy ...

And it was speaking to her.

"There's nobody can help you. SAY IT."

All alone. A tremor passed, strong, as if it had traveled from the center of some planet.

"There's nobody can help me."

She waited for the promise to come - he had said he wouldn't hurt her if only she adhered to his rules - but it never came. Even that was lost.

"Ain't nothing but a body to me," Jubal Early stated simply, his face melting and re-arranging. He wasn't just going to tie her up this time. No. "And I can find all unseemly matter of use for it... "

Serenity disappeared leaving her in the black. Her arms hurt. He had them in a grip.

"Kaylee!"

She opened her eyes and even the murkiness that was Jayne and his bunk made her eyes water and burn. It was all fading fast. She reached out. Touched a well muscled bicep. Traced the tattoos there with a fingertip. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

He came a little more into focus and she saw how unsettled he was and trying not to show it. "Jayne."

"Uh-huh."

"What-t? Was -"

"You was all frettin' over somethin."

Just an observation. He wasn't asking no questions.

"Don't suppose I've been making myself too welcome in the mornings."

"Uh, now I didn't say that." A vague smile.

She sat up and leaned against the wall thinking things over as her consciousness cleared a bit. She tossed an apologetic smile his way. How long before he gets tired of all this? she wondered idly, picking at the sheet. She was actually surprised at how comfortable she felt in this bed. She had many dawning revelations as to why that was, however confusing they might be. But Jayne wasn't that complicated.

So why was he looking at her as if she had a third eye in the middle of her forehead, as though he wanted to ask her somethin' important but deciding against it. She didn't think Jayne had any kind of censor in that crude brain of his. Whatever it was, she wished he'd just come out and ask. She reached out to test what looked to be his feverish brow, and he stood up, pulled out the sink from the wall, and began to wash his face.

She sighed, feeling all of the sudden like she had to explain something. Something he might not understand. Where to start?

"You know when we all went to rescue the Captain from Niska?" Of course he knew. He just looked at her, wiping down his front with a towel. It had just been in a days work for him, and she told him as much.

"Well, it wasn't for me. I ain't no good with guns. You know that. But I wasn't about to stay behind."

He watched her, eyes narrowed, wondering what was coming. This was the most they had talked all week. It made him wary. She could see this. Maybe this wasn't exactly the story he was expecting to hear. He opened his mouth -

"Wait a minute-"

She stood and got real close up on him, held up a hand, hardly expecting it to quiet him. But then again, maybe it was just her nakedness. She had to try to get this out. She was getting tongue-tied. Would he really understand this little need of hers? A need that had been nagging at her since before Early came on board. A need that could explain why she was here with him now. Because she knew for a fact that he couldn't (or more than likely - wouldn't) handle all the other stuff that had resurfaced inside her head as of late.

"The shepherd heard you holler for cover, and before I knew it he and Simon had left me all alone..." She threw up her arms. "Just up and left me. That gun might've been filled with water for what good it woulda done. I was a little angry later. But then I realized it wasn't at Simon. It was at myself. Hated feeling like that, all helpless. Never wanted to feel like that again... But, I -- I -"

She was looking through him as she talked, not seeing. He reached out gently, reflex and need coiling in his belly, brushing his fingertips over the edge of her breast. She didn't flinch or move away. Just stood there baring herself to him, and it only made him want her more. Was this about her needing him? It sure wasn't nightmare talk, like he was expecting. He could see she was getting a little flustered. Light dawned on the situation a little. He wanted to stop her before she got all mushy on him.

"Hey."

His rough voice cracked through her reverie. She looked up the length of him. Was suddenly aware of his hands on her. Felt the warmth through out her body. He seemed relaxed now. But she didn't think he *really* understood. Not completely. She sighed inwardly. Ran a hand through the coarse hair on his chest. Tried to speak again.

"I ... just -" But his mouth was on hers and his hands had found her face and were inching through her hair with a fierce strength. Pulling her to him. She could feel him, hard against her belly, and she reached down, stroking him with one hand and gripping the back of his neck with her other. He was on fire! For an instant, she thought to pull away, look him over, make sure he wasn't going crazy. But she was already lost in him. She wanted him inside her. All that strength that she so desperately wanted for herself. She wanted it all from him. Now.

He picked her up and set her on the edge of the sink. She spread herself apart for him and leaned back against the cold mirror, shivering, finding her balance as he fell between her thighs. He found her breasts with the roughness of his face. He nibbled at their erectness; playfully at first, then all hungry - like he couldn't get enough of her.

"Jayne!" She hardly recognized her voice, begging and near delirium. She thanked god that Serenity's walls were so thick. He watched her face as he entered her. Long strokes at first. Keeping it steady. But only a few seconds were gone before they both needed more. The sink shook beneath them, vibrating through their bodies. She kept one hand on his chest, and one for herself and it gripped the sink as if to crumble it to pieces. Deep, hard thrusts drove her head back against the mirror. Kaylee closed her eyes against the intense pain and pleasure ripping through her. She was loosing her breath. But strength was gained from the sounds he made over her; hard and audible grunts and moans. And he began to say her name, over and over again, uncontrolled and relentless, like that night in the alley, and for a single instant he was hers and that was more powerful than anything, even going for hard burn in space.

Even afterwards, he continued to rock into her gently, whispering - burning up - and she closed her lips over those saying her name.

3.

One hand on the ladder, on her way up, she stood there, slightly flushed. An awkward pause. Smiling. But not really looking at him. She reverted back to small talk again - '... was he going up for breakfast?' - and - 'she should get going; Capt'n might be looking for her'.

Her sudden shy rambling didn't matter to Jayne much. He sat there numbly. Nodded at what he assumed were the right places. The loud hurt in his head had crept back. He saw her lips moving, but he was watching a silent picture. She didn't seem to notice. He watched her go; was thankful when she finally did.

He couldn't keep appearances up for much longer.

He sat there forever afterward, praying the buzzing would stop. There was static in his head that was talking to him, none of it making a damn bit of sense. He gripped his ears until he thought they'd bleed.

He knew something wasn't right. But he didn't care anymore. His neck and shoulders itched. Now that he was alone, there was no Kaylee to distract him from it. The bruise on his throat had grown to a bump. Or at least, that's what it felt like.

He closed his eye's against the voices. They were getting louder.

And the bump was moving.

4.

The vacant shuttle was cool and musty with unuse, but Mal put her to work on rewiring it's faulty grav boost; something there had been no time to do until recently.

Kaylee sat Indian style before a large hole of her own making under the main console, staring absently at the jungle of colourful wires.

It was like looking at her insides - confusing, even for her.

At this rate, she'd never be able to tell jayne EXACTLY how she felt about him - she reached into the tangle and tore out a pair of yellow and red wires. Everything was cut and dry with him. He'd never understand.

Maybe that was okay. She doubted anyone else would either; her smiled was lopsided in the semi-darkness as she thought of the rest of the Crew finding out. Highly amusing and frightening pictures leapt to mind. No words; just pictures. And none so surprised as Simon himself.

But how could she explain? The exhaustion of being caught up in the intensely blind courage that surrounded River had left her wanting for more ... especially when the incident with Early had found her lacking in it. She began to covet what she couldn't find within herself. It was no wonder that the attraction to Jayne grew so quickly that it even surprised her. It was so simple.

And private. So private that she hadn't been able to put it into those exact words for the one man who was making her feel this way. But she was glad for the impromptu lovemaking; it had spared her an embarrassed rambling attempt that surely would've failed.

"Ouch!"

Kaylee yanked her hand out from the tangled mesh to find a large gash across the knuckles. She put it absently to her lips before the blood could drop. Argh. It was deep. A sudden wave of guilt washed through her as she thought of a trip to the sickbay, and she sighed.

She hadn't meant to go on to Jayne so much about Simon and the incident at Niska's. She'd just been venting and confused, and she had never really felt any resent at all toward the doctor for rushing off to help the others. How could she? But Jayne certainly didn't need any help with his dislike for Simon.

And that was assuming he cared for her enough to bother.

5.

Jayne wasn't sure what he was looking for. The stillness of the cargo bay that afternoon was rudely interrupted by his fevered mumblings as he thrashed his workout equipment about, tipping over a stray crate or two in the process.

He barely heard anything around him. Just the rushing of a blind need to search and destroy the innocent cargo of geniseed.

Gorramn it. He'd lost something. Something devoutly precious to him. What the hell was it.

That he could not think of it was driving him insane. Literally. He barely stopped to wipe the sweat from his face before talking the ramp stairs three at a time. Stopping. And coming back down.

Voices. Not in his head this time. He peered down the cramped stairwell that led to the Infirmary. That was Kaylee's voice. She was talking to someone. He inched closer, the metal of Serenity whispering underfoot.

A tint of sadness laced her words as she spoke. He suddenly had the uncontrollable urge to see her face, so instead of listening on the steps, he crouched outside the Infirmary windows in the upper corridor.

Her hair shined in the harsh incandescent light of the medical bay as he looked down on her. On them. The young doctor stood before her, seeming to bandage Kaylee's right hand in a swath of gaze, also listening intently.

He should've known.

And was it just him, or was that meddling little weasel getting her talkin' 'bout her nightmares?

Blood had stopped flowing where he clutched his knee, his jaw frozen in unadmittable jealousy.

So she couldn't talk to him. So what. Did he really want her too?

Hmph. That was besides the point.

There was a name she kept mentioning here and there that he didn't recognize.

Dasque. A boy. How long ago was this??

The facts were lost on him as a strange coloured anger curled in his belly.

6.

Vulnerable. Raw.

The pain in her hand was nonexistent in comparison. Simon. Had she really just said all those things out loud? What was it about that boy that she'd invested so much trust? Despite his sometimes condescending nature? She stood outside the Infirmary, staring at the bandage and not really seeing it. Distraction came a moment later.

Jayne. He was acting so erratically, how could she not know he was there? It was as if someone had released an angry moose in the cargo bay.

He'd been listening. Decided to play like he hadn't been. And angry seemed to be an understatement. At her? At Simon's attention? Had she missed some sorta personality change since this morning? What the hell was he looking for anyway; he was messin' her ship up in the process.

"Jayne." A careful voice.

Maybe he hadn't heard. "Jayne." More forceful this time.

"Gorramn it. Someone took her! I know it!"

"Took what? Jayne?"

She made the instant mistake of trying to calm him down - never touch a rabid dog - by resting a bandaged hand at his back - he was on fire! - and something sparked in her mind -

"You mean Vera?"

It was like lightning the way he gripped her offending hand in his, crushing it till it bled again, and staring her down as if he couldn't see her.

"Where the fuck is she?!"

"Jayne! Stop it! You're hurting me!"

Something snapped his his eyes and he released her instantly, focusing on her in confusion. But she'd had enough. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" Kaylee held her hand to her chest, the pain ebbing away as her anger at him grew.

She for-went shock. Took a threatening step toward him. He was sweating. Out of breathe. Her words were like venom. "I don't want no part in this. Ya hear me!?"

The strongest thing she'd done all week was to just walk away.

7.

Mal had been on one of his hunts for Kaylee when he found Jayne.

The corner in the Cargo Bay was strangely darkened and Jayne sat silently on the bench press, his back to Mal, and head in his hands.

Mal took a step toward him and something crunched under foot.

Broken lightbulb.

"What's all this then?" His moves were nonchalant as he stepped into Jayne's view.

"It fell." Came the dead reply. Jayne didn't look up at him.

Mal thought about letting it go. But Jayne's attitude was just too strange as of late. Mal crossed his arms and stayed put.

"Wanna tell me what's going on with you lately." It wasn't a question.

Jayne looked up at him then, a dark smirk on his face. "Why don't you mind you're own business?"

Mal had known Jayne a while. Had gotten used to the joyful sullen presence that was the wonderful Mr. Cobb. But he'd never seen him like this. But Mal barely flinched.

"Ya know, it's been more than a week since we pulled you outta that gutter back on '10', and you still ain't lookin' too pretty."

"You're words hurt me, Captain."

Mal glanced about them and saw many other things amiss and tossed about. They were too far out in space to have them selves a little soap opera. "Nor, have you seemed to remember anything about that night. Now. I find that a little odd, don't you."

Jayne stared hard at him then, most of his features in shadow. "...What makes you think this has everything to do with lil' ol' me?"

There was something to the way he said it that made Mal's blood run cold. But he let Jayne keep going.

"You have an awful lot of enemies, Mal." Jayne stood up, his dark, full form slumped slightly like an old monster from a moving picture. "Come on," he shuffled toward Mal and into a slice of dim light. "Just cuz someone followed me down a dark alley one night, don't mean they was after me." He pointed hard at Mal, barely touching him. "You just can't admit that maybe someone got to your precious crew after all."

Neither of them moved. It was a stand still. Luck of the draw. It gave Mal a chance to really see him. And what he saw, he didn't like. Hard veins coursed in his neck and jaw in a fever; his eyes clouded and hard.

When Mal finally did open his mouth, it was in warning. "Get yourself together, or go see the Doc."

Jayne smiled, and stepped back in avoidance, the tension slipping away. "That ain't happening, Capt'n."

"I ain't offerin' a choice. 'less you like the idea of taking a walk outside."

Jayne stepped through a corridor and threatened to disappear. "It's a might hot in here nowadays, anyhow."

Mal couldn't agree more.

8.

The dinner table was all a bustle with noisy activity for which Kaylee was grateful. 'Don't look at him, girl. Just don't look at him."

She was pissed.

He sat across from her, like he always did, but he was staring hard at his mashed potatoes for once instead of her.

Good.

Yet, scary how he seemed so suddenly subdued. Just the fact the he had the balls to sit there at all was awfully brave.

Brave.

She began to catch bits and pieces of Wash's ramblings from the other end of the table and they began to break down the wall she was creating around herself. It was warm and rambunctious conversation and their words began to wrap around her like a soft blanket. It had begun with the lighthearted dilemma of just how many woman had actually made a pass at him since his marriage to Zoe which had her and Book and Simon listening with amused interest.

"The last time I thought a woman was hitting on me, it saved my life."

"Do go on, dear."

He smiled. "Wait a minute. Maybe Kaylee should be telling this story!"

"Excuse me?" she mumbled, surprised, around a mouthful of food. Unseen, Jayne chanced a confused glance toward the other end of the table, his face suddenly becoming animated and mirroring her question.

"Ah, come on, Kaylee. We've all been spouting on about our heroic deeds. It's your turn!"

"....What?"

"Don't play coy, darlin'. Okay, I'll tell it, since ya all are being modest. We're at the Heart of Gold, and Kaylee starts askin' if I think she's prutty - "

"Don't editorialize, darling."

"- and the next thing I know, we're racing off together toward Serenity. About to rev up the engines and save the day! We shut ourselves in, and right away, all excited-like, she throws herself at me!"

"Yeah. Just in time to save your butt from being shot all to hell." Kaylee smiled ruefully.

Wash ran a hand through his unruly hair in mock surrender. "Just like a woman. Always gotta have a reason." Then, as the snickering died down, he look down the table at her in sincerity and said, "Still. Pretty brave. You saved both our butts."

Kaylee looked down at her food, hiding a faint blush. It was nice just to be included in their camaraderie, not to mention being at the center of their tale telling. It was warmth and safety that had gone missing from the last few days, she realized, and it had been substituted with heat and want. And not often she was referred to as brave, hence her current situation.

"Well, I don't know about that," she muttered, still smiling into her plate. She caught sight of her bandaged hand and glanced unwillingly up at Jayne, however, briefly. "Ain't ever really given anyone reason to be saying I'm brave, of all people."

The others were oblivious to the sudden uncomfortableness in the air between the two. To Kaylee, Jayne seemed to be dealing with some sort of inner struggle as his gaze on her went from soft to jaded.

Finally, he started back into his food with a huff. No one else saw it coming. But Kaylee was armed and ready when the growl emitted from his mouth -

"Stop feelin' so ruttin' sorry for yourself."

The handful of mash potato hit Jayne square in the face before anyone had a chance to react. The table was deathly quiet as they all watched Kaylee storm out of the room.

9.

She had wanted to go straight to Inara when she left the dinner table. She was almost glad that the Companion hadn't seen that little display of immaturity. The men made her feel enough of the child to begin with. Well. Jayne and Mal at least.

But she'd stopped herself. Again. She'd end up tellin' everything. Inara just would not understand. Not about Jayne.

And although she, herself, may have reason of doubting the sanity between her and Jayne, she didn't want anyone else making those decisions for her.

She'd gotten herself into this blindly. But, gorramn it, if she was going to end it the same way.

10.

He hated to admit to it, but maybe Mal had started to get through to him a little. It was just like another itch under his skin. It was easy to keep the rage flowing, the state he was in and all. Just as it seemed easy, in his usual Jayne kind of way, to stay pissed at Kaylee, just because she was pissed at him.

Jayne prowled the upper corridors outside the adjacent shuttles, inside one of which Kaylee was no doubt taking out her anger on Serenity.

But it didn't work that way. Mal was right. Something WAS wrong. And he didn't want Kaylee around him when a line was crossed. In fact, a moment of clarity was bringing about the notion that he should simply push her away and be done with it.

He stared at the vacant shuttle door.

Obviously there was a part of him not letting that happen. And maybe it was a selfish part of him. Hell. Let's not kid ourselves. He was 99% selfish.

He was an asshole.

But an asshole that hadn't meant to hurt her.

11.

"Can I come in?"

Kaylee felt him at her back, watching her there where she was back on the floor of the shuttle, under the main controls.

"No." She kept working.

He came in and shut the door.

Her jaw set, but she ignored him and kept working.

"Don't know why I should, but I think I need to explain some things to you."

Kaylee sighed. Already he was on the defensive. That left her the offense.

"Get out, Jayne."

"I ain't budging from this spot. Look at me, gorramit."

Well, at least he's managing to put sentences together. Still.

"Gunkai," she muttered.

"Shénme??"

"You heard me!"

Heavy footsteps behind her were his only response, and suddenly she was pulled to her feet. That he did it gentle-like made no never mind to her. She was furious and her chinese was slurred as he pinned her arms tightly at her sides as he held her still. "Chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo!" Damn him. He smelled like mash potato and grease and sweat. And why was she calming down? Because he was whispering to her now, his voice all painful :

"Zhùzuî. Zhùzuî. Shhhh. Kaylee. Gorramn." And finally. "... Please ...?"

She stood against him like that forever, wondering what was coming next. Slowly, he let her arms go and all at once the absence of his touch caused a chill. She silently turned the curses on herself instead.

She watched his face carefully; he seemed to be looking her over - her arms - the bandage hand that was now dirty from work.

"Duìbùqî."

An apology? From him?? She wanted to touch him. Didn't. Shook her head in wonder.

"What's happening to you?"

"I don't know. Look. Just. I don't know. I gotta get through this." He picked up her wounded hand in his, treating it gently, and she let him. He took to looking at it instead of her face. "I don't give a damn if you believe me or not. I ... I would never ... intentionally hurt you. Trust me."

She didn't know what to say. But he took it as a negative response and got all huffy. She took her hand back. "Or don't! Gorramn it, I ain't ever asked nothin' from anyone, especially no woman."

She turned away from him. Walked toward the console. The colourful lights twinkled back her in the sudden indignant pause.

"Hell. You can see I ain't no good at this. I didn't mean that." He stumbled up her her. Gingerly put his hands on her shoulders.

Would she have responded were it not for the sounds of desperations in his voice?

"Just stay 'till ya hear me out."

Finally she turned to him, intensely curious, with what had to be a huge question mark on her face. "Okay."

He took a deep breath. "You remember that time, a whiles back, that gorramn Fed got careless, put a bullet in your belly -"

It wasn't really a question of her not remembering, so she kept quiet, intrigued.

"Well. You never knew it. But those hours they was working on ya, making you better, I was there. Watching. I couldn't stop. Not till I knew you was okay. And watchin real close, making sure that liúmáng doctor wasn't some sort of butcher. If he'd made one wrong move, I woulda - "

She let him go on a little while, repeating himself, trying his hardest with words to make her believe. And she did. She couldn't help herself. She never knew. All this time. That he'd cared enough for her, even way back when. She touched his chest. Found his frantic heartbeat.

And now she watched him as he spoke. Even in this dim light, and suddenly she saw how bad off he really was. His eyes never still. His skin shaking. Face withdrawing as he ran out of words. It filled her with fear.

"Jayne." She clutched his face gently.

His eyes stared into hers as quick as they were fading out. He was passing out. "Would never want anything to happen to you ..."

"I know, Jayne. I think we should get you back to your bunk." Her arms went around him, and she led him through the dimness to the shuttle door, her work forgotten.

"Wô hên hâo," he mumbled.

"No, you big bèn dàn. You are not 'fine'."

12.

He had fallen asleep content (at least as well as *he* could be) knowing she was there with him in the darkness. Her breathing was slow and steady like a lullaby. He had curled a finger into her hair on his pillow as he drifted off. She had put a cold towel across his forehead, before getting into bed with him, after he refused any meds she offered him, and after he'd more than refused to let her examine him or any of his newfound bruises.

After that, he didn't remember much else about that night.

Only a vague sensation of being torn deep inside himself and making an idle observation on just how unexpecting little Kaylee really was.

13.

Mal strolled the corridors of his ship, the talk he'd just had with Zoe repeating itself over and over.

It was about Jayne.

And when Zoe had said, "I think we should check on Kaylee," Mal found himself walking toward the vacant shuttle at a renewed pace.

The doorway was open and dark.

He poked his head inside. "Kaylee?"

Empty.

It *was* late. She was probably asleep in her bunk. This was silly. What was Zoe thinking? Jayne would never lift a finger -

Something strange was glowing on the floor in the darkness, near the pilots chair. A flat disk that was changing colours.

A lone postcard perhaps, fallen from someones coveralls.

From the Slaughtered Lamb.

The infamous advertisement crackled and died in a cough of sparks as Mal drove his boot heel into it.

Then he turned, heading for a certain mercenaries sleeping quarters. He and Jayne had something personal to discuss...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

last chapter coming soon - I promise. w/ a short 'sequel' to follow.

Feedback much needed. Thanks for reading.