Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me, they are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox

Chapter 5....Simon and Jayne have a little talk.

Feedback is, as always, MOST welcome.

This takes place about a year after Ariel...a couple months after OiS.

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Jayne stood just outside the mess looking in at the desolate figure sitting at the table with his head resting on his arms. He knew Simon was there waiting for River to need his help. He just couldn't bring himself to trust Jayne not to cause his lil' sister harm. For a moment Jayne thought of heading back to his bunk and River, but he was hungry and Simon would have to be faced eventually, might as well get it over with now. 'Sides, wouldn't want anyone thinkin' he was scared to face the Doc, and a little voice whispered in his head that Simon's feelin's on this were important. Jayne just hoped he didn't make to much of a ruttin' mess of things, neither him nor the Doc was known for talkin' about feelin's an all. He tried to stifle the snort before Simon heard it, but no...Simon lifted his head and looked up at him.

"Bored with her already?" Simon asked harshly as he sat up straight in his chair.

"In your dreams, Doc" Jayne snarled back. Oh, not good...nice Jayne, be nice, he thought to himself as Simon started to stand. Jayne put a hand on his shoulder and pressed him back down in the chair. "Don't..." he said "we need to talk, not fight."



Simon watched him warily as he fixed himself a plate of leftovers, probably scared that those words had actually come out of his mouth. Truth was Jayne was a little scared he'd said them himself, gorram girl was makin' him all soft. Jayne sat across from Simon at the table figurin' it'd be best if the Doc couldn't reach him too easylike.

"Ya know why I didn't like ya none when you came onboard Doc?" he asked Simon after a moment of silence.

"Because you're an ape?" Simon answered, trying to goad him he knew.

Jayne forced the retort back down, be nice, be nice becoming a mantra in his head. "No, it was because Kaylee liked you. Got all sweet on ya right away. See, she's like a lil' sis to me. I left my family a long time ago Doc and never found me no one that cared for me like that till I got here. Took me a long time to see that they was familylike to me, 'cept for little Kaylee. And I just knew a prissy little core Doctor like yourself was going to cause her pain" Jayne noticed Simon's surprised look but kept on talkin', "and then you used her life as your little bargainin' chip and I knew you was trouble." Good, flash of pain and shame there in Simon's eyes.

"I didn't mean for that to happen." he said softly.

"Ah hell Doc," Jayne said roughly, "we all done things we ain't proud of out here, me more'n most." Jayne looked at Simon closely, trying to judge how to say what he needed too. "....it weren't just about the money, ya know. Not sayin' that wasn't a part of it an' it don't make it right, I know that, but way I saw it you and your sister brought a threat to Serenity that I wasn't willin' to accept back then. And if I got rich off of removing that threat so much the better." Jayne looked down at his plate, noticing he was pushing the food around rather then eating it. "It was wrong, what I done...and I'm sorry." There, that'd been easier to say then he'd feared. "Can't say I blame ya none for not trustin' me after that, but things have changed since then. I ain't the same, well, I am...but..." Damn it, he was no good at this "expressing" himself crap. Jayne scowled down at the plate.

"You actually care for her" Simon said, a look of shocked disbelief on his face.

"She's the best gorram thing ever happened to me in all my miserable life Doc, and I'm full aware I don't deserve her. So's at least you and I can agree on that." Jayne found himself grinnin' at Simon. Surprisingly Simon smiled back, a bit weakly...but it was a start.