Heroes by asesina
a/n: first Firefly fic. Jayne-centric oneshot. Jayne reflects on heroes after the events of Jaynestown.
disclaimer: Joss is Boss.
Enjoy!
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Gorram Mudders.
Jayne let out an irritated sigh as he leaned heavily against the cool hull of the Serenity.
He curled his broad hand into a fist and slowly uncurled his fingers, working as much tension and intensity as he could into the simple gesture.
He never wanted to let this whole Canton deal bother him, but it was really starting to wear him thin.
It wasn't just the fact that he was worshipped for something he never did, although that did bother him a little.
The way that the Mudder kid threw himself in front of that bullet was the real issue.
None of it made any sense. How could an entire group of people be so naive, so trusting?
It almost made him sick to take advantage of them like that.
Almost.
Jayne Cobb had never been a principled man, or even a moral one for that matter.
However, that group of backwoods people on a tiny dustbowl of a planet really got to him for some reason.
Hell, they even made him feel guilty for pretending to be a hero.
Jayne Cobb wasn't a contemplative man, either, but this was shaping up to be a hell of a dilemma.
Mal's words still didn't really make much sense, but they were no more cryptic or backwards than his own thoughts.
On the surface, Jayne loved intimidating people, and he'd often show them a flash of Vera to get them to surrender their goods, land, and women.
However, deep down, Jayne really didn't mind being thought of as a hero, even if none it was true.
In a way, it made him believe that he could be better, even though such aspirations were highly uncommon among mercenaries.
As long as the Jayne hero-worship remained exclusively on Canton, he didn't mind.
He just couldn't have that kind of good reputation preceding him.
After a long period of silence, Jayne finally conceded that he would never understand the backwards mentality of his throng of admirers on Canton.
Even so, he knew that he had given a small group of people hope for the first time in their lives, and he was content to let them cling to that illusion.
End.