Jayne stood up, wincing as the blood rushed back into his legs. Kneeling on the catwalk for the past two hours probably wasn't his smartest idea, but he had to keep watch over Kaylee while that gorram city-slicker doctor had his hands all over her.
When the final pieces of lead came out of her, and she was all bandaged up Jayne went in search of the fed looking for some place to vent his anger. Well if he was going to be honest with himself, it was mostly guilt he was hoping to relieve – everybody had their job on the ship, and his was to protect the rest of the crew. Bad enough he let some Alliance scum shoot one of the crew, it had to be the most defenceless one of the lot of them. Kaylee brought sunshine to the depths of the black - shoulda just handed over the crazy and saved them a whole boat-load of trouble.
Lotta people reckon time's pretty meaningless floating round out in the black, but for the next few tense hours Jayne felt like every minute dragged itself out to the span of a week, just to be ornery. Apart from the promised fun of cutting into the law-man, and having a laugh at Simon's expense, he prowled around Serenity on high alert looking for any signs of further trouble.
Once Wash landed them on Whitefall, Jayne was itchin to be off in anticipation of a job and maybe getting to kill a few folk. He managed to forget his worries, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine that came with being planet side. But once them Reavers showed up, Jayne felt his mood plummet, and the scowl return to his face. How was one man expected to protect a whole boat-load of people from Reavers?
So it was with considerable relief that Jayne helped Wash and Kaylee pull off their "Crazy Ivan". He had always taken Kaylees hard work for granted, but having to fiddle round with all them wires in the engine room gave him a new appreciation for her skills. It was extremely touch-and-go for a few minutes, but with Kaylees guidance, Jayne and the Shepherd got everything hooked up right enough.
With a huge burst of light and power, Serenity surged forward, toasting the Reaver ship in her wake. Jayne scrambled forward to catch Kaylee as she almost went flying from her spot on the ground. He held her tight as Serenity cut through the blackness of the Verse.
Once they were sure they had shaken the Reavers off their tail, Wash slowed the ship down and set a limping course to the nearest planet to organize for repairs and to fuel up. The Shepherd left, likely going to clean up his still-bleeding head wound, as Jayne gently hoisted Kaylee into his arms. "Reckon you need to be back in the infirmary, have the Doc check out your wound." Kaylee let out a sigh and attempted to tighten her weak hold around Jayne's neck, murmuring "Naw, I feel shiny. Could I just sit here awhile – the engine noises are awful soothing don't ya think?"
Jayne just grunted as he looked around the room. Spotting the colourful hammock in the corner, he eased them both into it, Kaylee resting between his legs with her head on his chest.
Still feeling the crushing weight of guilt ever time Kaylee gave a wince of pain, Jayne tried to think up some way to make it up to her. Testing the waters, he eased his hands into her hair. The only response Kaylee gave was a hum of approval and relaxed into his chest, so Jayne starting gently combing through the silky strands of brown hair, like he'd seen Inara do a few times before.
After all the excitement of the day, Jayne's last thought was that the engine noises were quite sooting, before drifting off to sleep, his hands still tangled in Kaylee's hair.