"Crew meetin' in the mess in ten. Got some news worth sharin'," blasted Mal's voice from the intercom.
Gorram it. Jayne hated when Mal interrupted his workouts. Now he'd done lost his count. Weren't like Mal had anything worth listenin' to most times anyway. They hadn't had their usual post-job pow wow. Thinkin' on it now, nothin' in particular gone wrong, 'cept for Moonbrain almost tearin' up the place. But, in his 'pinion, that was just downright amusin', and not-just-a-little sexy. He'd gotten her to a workin' calm within minutes so he figured no harm, no foul. 'Cept Capt'n probably thought there be some harm to nearly tearing a guys arm outta its socket. But hell, if stupid fool didn't have 'nough smarts not ta touch the girl when she's Readin' then he deserved what he got. In truth, Jayne was 'bout ta tear his other arm just fer touchin' her in this first place but things got all chaos-y there 'fer a bit and leavin' seemed the smarter move.
Jayne threw the towel over his shoulder and made his way to the mess. If'n the Cap'n had somethin' to say 'bout the job, Jayne figured might as well hear it out now so not ta ruin dinner. Didn't like when anythin' ruined dinner. 'N fact, Jayne been likin' dinner even more than usual, with the crazy's hand grazin' his thigh once in while. Or her being so close he could watch his pulse throb in her silky neck. He 'specially liked the nights when they got clean-up duty together. All alone, all sudsy and slippery. Girl could do things with wet hands that should be illegal.
"Everyone take a seat," Mal ordered.
Jayne saw Mal shoot Inara a nervous look and she smiled weakly back. Sorta in an encouraging sort a way. Great. Bad news then, Jayne figured. Everyone else looked as clueless as he felt so he figured it was either 'bout the ship or the pay. Probably the pay.
"Well, ya'll might notice we're missin' ourselves our itty-bitty assassin," Mal started.
"Oh, sorry Captain, I'll go find her," her brother offered as his chair scraped back from the table.
"Well, Simon, thata be a right nice trick seein' she ain't on the ship no longer."
Jayne found this all sorts a funny and tried hard to hide his smirk. Crazy girl and her crazy pranks. Likely holed up under the engine coil. He knew no one knew 'bout that hiding place but him. Girl gone so far to make him pinky swear that he'd never tell. Never pinky swore on nothin' a'fore but he wasn't opposed ta any such touchin' on the girl, even it were just her bitty little finger.
"What do you mean she isn't on the ship? We left her behind? What the hell, Captain?"
Simon was runnin' his prissy mouth, full of big words and no-so-terrifying threats, while the others just looked to the Cap'n to continue. Jayne woulda returned to his weight bench by now but this prank was all sorts of chaos and he wondered for a minute iff'n maybe Moonbrain done this little joke 'fer his benefit. The Girl knew he liked when everyone was in a uproar, 'specially when it was none of his doin'. Maybe it was like Crazy's version of a present.
"Sit down, Simon," Mal shouted. "Let me git this out. Hard 'nough without ya' yapping at me like that. Everyone listen up 'cause ain't likely to say this but once." He held up an envelope. "Found this in my bunk after we returned from the job. Figure it's best I justa read it. Save me the translatin'."
Jayne witnessed another one of those encouraging smile from Inara. The hair on the back of his neck tickled in the place that usually told him that nothin' good was on its way. Now, lookin' out over the crew, Jayne was thinking that maybe now the girl gone too far. There was a frightful lot a hand wringing and such and lil' Kaylee was snifflin' and wipin' her eyes. Jayne looked over his shoulder all casual-like, hopin' ta see the tips of the girl's long brown hair blowing in the breeze out past the hatch. But they weren't. His neck was now atingle and Jayne felt a moment of panic jump to his chest.
Mal took a deep breath and started in on the readin'. "Friends. The time has come for the girl to leave the proverbial nest and fly away to places unknown. You all know that the last six months have been a struggle. Releasing secrets that weren't mine, that helped a lot. It freed me my mind up enough to begin to put the pieces of myself back together. In that short time, I feel I have picked up all the big pieces I could. Sister. Dancer. Friend. Reader. Daughter. Pilot. Weapon.. All of these pieces have been found and for that, and to each of you, the girl is grateful. I am nearly whole but not complete. At my feet, I see the shards that are too sharp to grab, too small to hold. The girl can no longer rely on Serenity to put the girl together. Nor can she expect anyone else to either. I want to thank each and everyone one of you (and two that are gone) for getting me to where I am today. I am an adult. I have confidence. I can protect myself. The road less traveled is often traveled alone. My heart can't handle goodbyes right now so it's best I just leave silently. Serenity has promised me she will watch over you, take care of you, love you and protect you. Don't worry about Serenity's girl. Mind takes flight. Body must follow. It's simple physics really. As for my destination, I've chosen to keep that secret, for your safety. The Alliance still wants what was stolen. Serenity's family will be safer not knowing. Time to go. The road is calling. Yours always, River"
Jayne didn't wait for the fallout from the letter. He jumped up and ran down the hallway to her bunk. Even as he entered, he could see her bunk was still full of her things, everything in its place. Her sketch pad at the center of her bed. Her weapons still stored above her bed.
"Jayne," Kaylee whispered and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Kaylee. She ain't gone. She's just wantin' ta play hide n' seek or some girly nonsense. All her stuff's here. Girl wouldn't just leave everything behind, now would she?"
"Jayne, she ain't playin'," Kaylee whimpered. "I just found these in my bunk and Simon is off readin' a letter he just found in his bunk."
Jayne looked down into Kaylee's hand to see some pretty yellow ribbon hair ties and a small note. He gently lifted the note and scanned the swirly handwritin'. These are for you. I hope you like them. Take whatever you want from my bunk. There's nothing here I need.
"This is bullshit," Jayne yelled. He flew up the hatch in a flash and stomped down to the cargo bay. He felt the cold of the rails in his deathgrip and clenched his eyes closed to settle himself. "This ain't funny no more, Moonbrain. Ya' come on out in two minutes or I'll find ya' and ya' know better than anyone that I gonna find ya'. Best tracker in the 'verse and all. And when I find ya' I'm gonna kick yer ass from here until tomorrow… fer making Kaylee cry. I swear ta God girl, this ain't funny."