"What was that Jayne? Told ya upfront this was to be all quiet-like and friendly, and not the tearin'-up-the-place-and-leave-a-bunch-a-corpses-behind friendly," screamed Mal.

Jayne was storming up the ramp, headed straight to the infirmary, trying his best to ignore the scolding. Focusing on the pain a couple broken ribs brought with it. Weren't the first time he got hisself busted up, but somehow this time pained him more than most. Might be that it had just been some time since he got any injury that were more than mentionin'.

Jayne tried to push past the all-sort-of-red-faced Capt'n. "Shit, Mal. We all got paid. We all got out. End of story," stated Jayne.

Jayne felt Mal's grip on his arm and spun to face him. Jayne were certain he'd seen Mal as serious and as deadly as this afore, he just couldn't think a when. He decided that givin the man a bit a time ta cool down might be the better move than shovin' a fist in his eye socket, which was the other option Jayne was currently thinkin' on.

"Yer wrong, Jayne. This ain't the end of the story," Mal hissed through clenched teeth. "Fact is, we're gonna have words 'bout this real soon. But right now, I gotta mighty pissed off client to talk down and a mess of local law enforcement to flee from so ya best get the Doc to patch ya up, and Jayne," Mal growled, "yer confined ta yer bunk 'til further notice."

"Ya can't be serious," Jayne whined. "Tweren't nothin' but a few low-life barflies. Can't think that no one will miss 'em."

"Jayne, I ain't got the time nor the inclination to be discussin' this further with ya. And, truth is, I'm about through with ya' entirely. Either you get patch up and to yer bunk or you get yer stuff and get off this ship right here and now. Ain't no other choices for Jayne. Ya hear?"

Jayne thought on it fer longer than Mal had expected 'cause Mal's eyebrow crept to his brow. Might not be a bad time 'fer leavin'. Not much worth stayin' fer. Damn Capt'n and his rules. 'S enough ta make any man want ta strike out on his own. But the mess he made back at the bar would have the law on him on no time, 'specially on this piss-ant dust bowl of a moon. Probably best stayin' on fer now. Time enough ta get off this piece of go se boat, just needed a bit more coin, he figured.

"I heard ya', Mal, but I sure am lookin' forward to our lil' chat later."

"Don't push me, Jayne. Had me my fair share of headaches from you in the past three weeks ta last a lifetime," Mal hissed. "And if you don't stop tearing up the 'verse like a mad man, I predict my lifetime is gonna be a great bit longer than yours."

Before Jayne could shoot back a remark 'bout who'd taken more bullets into their sorry ass body, Mal had spun on his heel and marched off toward the bridge. Tearin' up the 'verse? Hadn't yet scratched the surface, far as Jayne figured. Mal didn't rightly know who he had on board. Only one ta ever really know him, the good, bad and ugly weren't here no more.

Maybe 'twas time they found out how bad Jayne Cobb could get. Not like he owed this sad bunch a misfits much anyway. Protect the cargo. Protect the crew. Just 'cause it 'twas his job didn't mean he had ta like 'em. Hell, ever since…, well, since last couple a months, seemed like no one on this boat had a sense a humor 'bout much. 'Specially the pansy ass doc starin' at him from the infirmary right now. All whiny and lost puppy dog since his beloved lil' sis done dumped him like a hot potato.

"Jayne. Come in. Let me look at that."

Fer a second, Jayne wanted Simon to get a close up look at his fist but he knew the Capt'n would throw him out right on the spot if he harmed one hair on the Core-boy's head. "Fine, but ya' ain't shootin' me up with no smoothers."

"Jayne," sighed Simon. "If I'm correct, you have a least a few broken ribs and potentially some internal hemorrhaging, you are going to need something to help with the pain."

Jayne grabbed at the boy's shirt, ready ta strangle him where he stood. "No pain killers. No smoothers. Just patch me up and I'll be on my way."

"All right, Jayne. Have it your way. You want pain? Well, it certainly looks like you got it in spades this time." Simon lifted Jayne's shirt to look at the blackened contusion. "This is going to hurt but I have to feel around a bit to see how damaged the tissue is."

Jayne winced at Simon's pokin' but didn't make a sound. Pain? This tweren't nothin'.

He watched as the boy walked through the motions of a thorough exam, explainin' every damn thing along the way. Jayne stopped listenin' a while back, his body finally lettin' down after the fight, drawin' his thoughts toward somethin' more like quiet. He thought on his bunk only for a moment. Even though he stopped sleepin' there couple weeks back, Jayne was needin' ta get away from Simon somethin' fierce. Damn fool couldn't keep his trap shut fer more than the time it took ta take a breath.

"Jayne, are you listening to me. It is important that you stay awake for the next couple of hours. I don't want you sleeping at all until after dinner."

Jayne nodded, shrugged his shirt back on and headed out the door. "Not 'ta worry, Doc. Not sleepin' ain't a problem."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I don't know, Zoe. I'm not sure what's goin' on with him but I'm leanin' toward the solution being getting him off the boat." Mal cupped his coffee, hoping to warm the chill produced by worryin' on his crew like such. "He's gotten reckless lately. He's gotten dangerous. I'm not sure I trust him anymore."

Zoe smiled slightly, thinking that men were so clueless sometimes. Was a true wonder their gender survived 'til now. "Sir, if I might say, it ain't like ya' ever really trusted Jayne in the first place. Plus, he's only gotten reckless since River's been gone."

Mal's eyes shot up. "What's River's leavin' got 'ta do with my merc going feng le?"

This time Zoe actually rolled her eyes. "Well, if I were a bettin' woman, and you know I am, I'd be puttin' money on the fact that Jayne is actin' out 'cause he's hurting."

Mal's mug slammed to the table. "Ya mean to say…that my merc….and my 'Tross…."

Zoe laughed silently as Mal's wheels were spinnin' to process this new information. "Sir, what I mean 'ta say is that although I don't know nothin' fer sure, Jayne seems like a man grieving a mighty powerful loss. And since the only thing we've lost lately is River, well, I'm just sayin' it's a possibility that Jayne and River had somethin' going on that we didn't see."

"Thank Buddha I didn't see nothin'. Woulda space him."

"Well, sir. Jayne is a lot of things, but he ain't stupid. If he and River had feelings, it's likely the kept it secret," she smirked. "You know, to prevent the spacin' and all."

Mal stared into his coffee for a while, seemingly pondering over the possibility. It probably weren't easy for him, with being all fatherly toward the girl. Zoe sipped on her own tea in silence, waiting patiently for the Captain to catch up to his thoughts.

"Ya' thinking that's why she left? Something to do with Jayne?"

Zoe felt the Captain's sadness and realized he was grieving too, in his own way. "Well, sir, I couldn't say. But if that were true, it would certainly explain a lot about Jayne's behavior since she left."

Mal nodded. Apparently he'd figured the same. "Reckon not much we can do. Don't even know where the girl got off to. Couldn't find her myself, even with me callin' in all sorts of favors," he sighed. "Figure if Jayne wanted her back, he'd rightly have her back by now. Can't keep nothin' hid from Jayne. He really is the best tracker I ever come across."

"I mean no disrespect to Jayne's tracking skills, but he's never come up against an Alliance-trained psychic reader genius girl before. I reckon if she wanted to stay hid, it wouldn't be a hardship for her. Probably easy to stay one step ahead if ya' can see 'em comin'."

Zoe was a bit surprised to see Mal's eyes dull as the meaning of her statement settled in with its full weight. He looked her straight on. "I miss her, Zo."

"We all miss her, sir."

xxxxxxxxxxx

The sofa weren't comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a sure bit better than his bunk. Mal would probably scream at him fer' leavin' his bunk, but there were no way in hell that Jayne could stay cooped up in there fer' longer than it took him to either change his clothes or gather up his girls for a cleanin' or a job.

Dinner was long over and everyone had gone off to do whatever they do during night cycle. Sexin' most likely.

Jayne figured the talk with Mal had gone better than expected. Seemed like the Capt'n was even goin' so far as to bein' friendly. Kept askin' if'n there was anything to talk about. No figurin' Mal out. Should be bunkin' with the Companion. But he weren't. At least not in any permanent arrangement kind of way. Should be warning Kaylee against movin' too fast with Simon. But he weren't. Should be finding a new pilot. But he weren't. But worse thing. Mal should be off lookin' fer the moonbrain girl who, by all chances, had been grabbed up by those Academy apes again. But, nope, he weren't.

Mal had told him tonight that he had tried. Apparently even called on some people had no right cause to call on to see if he could find her, he said. Jayne had been a bit taken by surprise by that. He'd figured Mal had just read her letter and let 'er go. Said he still had people out there listening for any kinda word on the girl but nothin' come in the six weeks she'd been gone. Damn girl just vanished.

Jayne shifted to take pressure off his side. Damn ribs hurt something fierce. He hadn't had much in the way of a serious injury in a while. Hurt like a bitch. Well, probably hadn't been hurt serious-like since the girl had taken up to being his back-up when things took a turn 'fer the worse. 'Course, she'd say that it was him providin' the back up 'fer her.

His heart squeezed a bit at the thought of her teasing him about who backed up who's ass in a tussle. Truth was, Jayne didn't really care as long as he got to watch her fight. The girl was a right nice sight to behold. 'Specially when she was fightin', or dancin', or sleepin'.

Jayne twitched at the memory of how the girl looked sleepin'. His brain wanted to sort through every detail but Jayne took to thinkin' on the ship's ammo levels instead. He touched gently at the bandaged stretched across his chest. The pain's not lettin' up any, he thought, before he took to counting bullets.