Two days after the heartbreaking scene, Kaylee found Jayne on the same couch where River had cried her heart out. She took a moment to remember going to get Simon, who carried his finally unresisting sister back to her room--where she'd been ever since. Simon had asked Kaylee what was wrong, why SHE was crying too. And she almost told him. But he'd have never understood. He couldn't; not yet.

Back in the present, Kaylee looked at the man as if he'd grown another head.

Jayne, man ape gone wrong, was reading...a book.

"Afternoon Jayne!" she greeted him brightly, after the shock of it wore off.

He grunted in return.

"'Spect we'll be at the Sky-Plex sometime tomorrow."

"Yep," came the terse response.

"Cap'n's got us some excitin' crime lined up."

"'Spose so."

"Ya think we'll get a chance to see the casino?" she asked him.

"Dunno."

"I bet it's as shiny as that party on Persephone, what with all the people and the clothes and the chandelier," Kaylee said dreamily.

He only grunted again.

"Have you seen River?" she asked shyly.

"Nope."

"Simon says she ain't doin' so good," she told him with a worried frown.

"Guess he'd know."

Jayne sighed, put the book down and continued, "Look, Kaylee...just STOP, ok? I don't know how you knew--"

"Saw you after you fixed the septic pump."

"...but it don't matter none--WHAT?"

"Saw you kissin' her in the cargo bay after you two came in from fixin' the pump. I thought it was real sweet."

"Well, as I was sayin', it don't really matter none what you thought cause nothin' happened. Much," he amended. "It was all manner of dumb and it ain't gonna happen again. Girl's just gonna have to come to grips with that."

"She ain't just a girl, Jayne."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Ain't a little girl and it's high time people stopped treatin' her like she was. By the time I was her age...wasn't much I ain't done, if you know what I mean. She knows her mind. Well, she knows what she wants, anyway."

"What about what I want? Like some ruttin' peace and quiet!" he roared.

Kaylee got up and headed toward the door as if to comply. She turned and looked at the scowling mercenary.

"Sometimes a body can't help who they love, and out here in the black...that's something special. Something worth fighting for, no matter the risks," she told him.

"It just has to be" she whispered, more to herself than him, and stepped out.

Jayne looked up at where she had been standing and snorted.

Love? Whatever. Jayne Cobb don't love nobody but my Ma...and maybe Vera. But I certainly ain't gonna fall for some moonbrained girl, half my age, no matter how beautiful she is or how delicious she smells, he thought to himself and huffed.

As if to belie his statement, however, he went back to reading the book he had discovered that morning--one hand holding it open and the other on the pillow, his fingers splayed to completely touch the tear stained fabric.

The book, was Romeo and Juliet.

After a particularly quiet and morose dinner, Jayne took his turn in the kitchen washing dishes. River had yet to come out of her room.

And yet, as if by thinking about her, she appeared at his side.

She reached to take the pot from his hand, but he pulled back hesitantly. Silently he questioned her presence and her intentions.

"Work," she said simply, and grabbed the pot from him to start drying it.

After each item he'd wash, she'd take it, dry it and put it away. Jayne wasn't entirely sure if where she was putting them was where they were supposed to go, but he didn't see the harm in it.

Finished, Jayne dried his hands and turned to leave the room.

"Please stay," she pleaded softly.

"River..."

"Dragons came in my dreams. We're too close Blue Hands--I can feel them, circling."

Jayne nodded, somewhat understanding. He pulled the tattered book from his pocket and sat down at the table to read.

Behind him, River curled up in the chair and finally fell into a restful sleep.

A while later, Mal came back through to refill his coffee and noticed her.

"Doc's sister doin' any better?" he asked.

"I reckon so. She helped me with the dishes."

"Really now? I s'pose that's a good thing. Maybe now I can have my crew back, bright and shiny."

Jayne nodded. Mal then glanced again at the sleeping girl--who he noticed was wearing something a might bit peculiar:

A stained, cut-off, tattered, cut and mended Blue Sun T-shirt.

Mal shook his head, unsure of what to think about it, or of what he saw two nights back.

So instead of thinking, he turned to leave.

"Set it right, Jayne."

"What?"

"Set it right," he repeated and left without getting his coffee.

"That's what I did, Mal," Jayne whispered.

Angrily, Jayne shut the book and slammed it down on the table.

River roused fom her slumber and asked him softly what was wrong.

"Gorram idiots got themselves dead, that's what!" he told her. "What kind of moonbrain wrote this piece of go se?"

"Shakespeare."

"Yeah, well..."

"It certainly is tragic--a sad tale of two lovers. But at least Juliet HAD her Romeo," she said accusingly.

Eyes narrowed in suspicion he confronted her, "Oh, I get it now! You leave this by my door? Thinkin' it would make me change my mind?"

"NO! But I wish I'd thought of it," she threw back with a hiss.

"Well, this ain't Earth-that-was. This ain't no gorram fairy tale. When we talked of dragons, we meant it metaphor--symbolically. I ain't getting myself spaced on account o' you and your looney ideas. That ain't a good reason. I ain't goin' out that way. Not without a fight!"

As he turned to head for his bunk, she yelled, "At least Romeo had the guts to TRY!"

Jayne growled back, dangerously, "I gots guts aplenty, little girl."

"Not from where I'm standin'," she said snidely, mimicking his tone, his accent. "He DID fight!"

"Go to hell," he snarled. "I just ain't willin' to get 'em spilled on something as stupid as lo--AS THIS!" he yelled back as he hurled the book across the room.

They both stomped off in a huff.

Well. That didn't work, thought the Shephard as he walked back to the sanctuary of his room and finished packing his meager bag.

He missed Jayne creeping back into the room to pick up the book, smooth down the cover, and put it back in his pocket.