Disclaimer: I own nothing belonging to Firefly.

This chapter will be largely written in the perspective of Jayne.

Chapter Five

After a few moments of quiet silence, Roz gnawed on her lower lip the thought of seeing Kaylee laying on the floor, blood seeping from her stomach nearly turned her stomach. She desperately hoped Kaylee would be okay, but her life wasn't often filled with good things. Maybe it was illogic, but Roz couldn't help but think her presence on this ship was a bad omen. Is it possible I brought my bad luck to these good people?

"Rozalynn," Jayne spoke roughly, pulling out of her embrace so he could look down into her eyes. "I'm goin' to check on Kaylee and meet up with the captain."

"Of course," Roz nodded her head in agreement. "Please let me know how she is?"

Jayne jerked his head in a way Roz could only assume was a yes. She looked at him warily and noticed him pulling away, both physically and emotionally.

"Are you all right Jayne?" Roz asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'll find ya later," he answered curtly and walked out without looking back. Roz couldn't help but feel a little hurt by his response. Frowning, she waited a couple minutes before heading back to the kitchen, the one place on the ship where she felt comfortable.

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Jayne took his time checking up on Kaylee, he wouldn't admit it to anyone but he was worried over the little mechanic. He'd been shot about a million times it seemed like and he always came out just fine. He only hoped the same could be said about Kaylee.

After looking in on Kaylee, the captain told him to check with the prisoner, and gleefully Jayne nearly ran towards the guest compartments. Zoe was keeping guard on the prisoner, Jayne almost pouted because he knew Zoe wouldn't let him do what he really wanted. He also caught sight of the Shepherd in the corner, no doubt making sure he or Zoe didn't kill the Fed. Jayne gave the older man a feral smile before turning his attention to the man before him. With Zoe and the Preacher's watchful gazes he had to be content with checking the ropes binding the man to the chair, taking a small amount of joy in pulling them tight and watching the spy wince in pain. Zoe only allowed that for a small amount of time before ordering him out of the room. Knowing better than to cross Zoe, Jayne slouched out of the room closing the door behind him and leaning a hand against the wall in the hallway.

After seeing the Alliance scum, he realized once again how close Roz had come to being shot by that man. Closing his eyes and tightening his fist, it took all his will power to keep from barging into the room and beating the man senseless. Little did the crew members of Serenity know that Jayne was actually a patient man. He couldn't have grown up poor and waited for the right time to provide for his family without patience or will power.

Pushing off the wall, Jayne stalked down the hall and decided it was time to have a little chat with Rozalynn. His first guess was the right one as he found her in the kitchen; she was cleaning everything in sight, even though he knew she had taken time to clean after dinner. He could see how her hands shook as she tried to wipe down the counters. Roz's eyes were red from crying and tear stains streaked her lovely face.

Taking a moment to curb his anger, he spoke her name softly hoping not to spook her; but he cursed himself because she jumped nearly a foot in the air. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream and took a few deep breaths in and out to calm herself down.

"You scared me Jayne," she remarked with a soft tremble in her voice.

"Sorry, didn't mean to." Jayne replied as he stepped closer to her. He didn't miss the compulsive step away from him as he walked towards her. She seemed to be warring with herself because she stopped moving away and lifted her head proudly in defiance.

"Have you come to yell at me?" Roz asked.

"Yell at you? Gorram it woman, I didn't come ta yell at you, though I wish you had some common sense in that there brain a yours. What you come bargin' into a dangerous scene like that for? Ya could've gotten yourself shot dead. Thought I told you to stay where it was safe."

"Maybe it wasn't the smartest decision," Roz conceded. She set the wash rag down and folded her arms over her belly. "But I spent my whole life under the rules of a man. I didn't run all this way to trade one life for another. So I let my own personal problems get in the way of my safety. But I will not take orders. I would however take suggestions."

"Fine," Jayne rolled his eyes in exasperation. "The next time we get into a gun fight, I'll remember to ask you all politely and all to stay out of the way."

Roz giggled in response, which stopped Jayne's breath for a moment. He never knew that something insignificant as laughter could cause his heart to stop beating. Seriousness over came Roz as she thought about the events that had just transpired. "How's Kaylee?"

"Don't know," he said suddenly. "I watched the Doc cut into her a bit but I didn't see nothin' else. Don't know what's rightly goin' on."

"I'm sorry Jayne, I know she was your friend. For the short period of time that I knew her, I considered her a friend, and hoped that we would grow in our friendship only given the time." Rozalynn stepped closer to Jayne and hesitantly placed a comforting hand upon his arm. Jayne was looking down at the floor and didn't expect the human contact and jumped a bit. Hastily Roz took back her hand.

"I'm sorry," Roz sputtered.

"No," Jayne replied gruffly. Tentatively he took the hand she had just taken away and placed it on his arm, letting her grow comfortable with his touch.

Jayne's head jerked to the side when he heard running down the halls and Simon yelling. He looked down at the woman who held onto him with such trust, he couldn't bear to see her hurt, but that meant emotionally as well.

"I need to go and see what's what. You can stay here or stick next to me."

"I'm with you," Roz smiled sweetly up at him and squeezed his arm.

"Ok then, let's go."

Jayne headed towards the loading dock, following the voices of Mal and the Doc. "Stay away from that!" He heard Simon order but Jayne had covered a lot of ground with his long legs and quickly came up behind the Doc, swiftly cutting off his oxygen with an arm around his throat. Roz was only a step behind and gasped when she saw Simon in a headlock. Jayne's arms loosened visibly but still held on tight enough for Simon to stay put.

"Where's the fed?" Mal asked as he strode towards the doctor's luggage.

"Secured, the shepherd's with him. He seems to think he's not safe alone with me."

Mal walked directly to the fancy cargo that the good doctor had brought on board with him. It seemed almost high-tech in a way. He pulled it out from the storage and unlocked it. The top popped open and steam came out from underneath.

While the captain was uncovering the secrets that Simon was so desperately trying to cover up, the rest of the ship seemed eager to find out what the doctor was hiding as well. All of them seemed to realize something was happening in the cargo hold and came to investigate.

Mal stood before the cargo with a mysterious gleam in his eye and looked at Simon. "Well, let's see what a man like you would kill for." Mal raised his leg and kicked the top off the cargo.

"No don't!" Simon yelled but he could do nothing with Jayne holding him back.

Mal tried to wave away the thick steam that was rising out from the carrier to get a better look. Roz drew nearer to Jayne who had let go of Simon to pull her behind him. His gun was out quickly as he aimed it at the cargo, seemingly not trusting whatever was in there. Mal moved closer and peered inside the cargo container and Jayne saw his eyes light up in shock and disbelief. Mal looked from the cargo, to Simon, and back to the cargo. "Hu."

Simon started to walk towards Mal when Jayne grabbed onto the back of his shirt. Mal didn't appear to be worried so Jayne figured whatever was in the cargo wasn't worth shooting and he re-holstered the gun. "I need to check her vitals," Simon huffed in frustration.

"Oh, is that what they call it?" Mal asked as he looked at him with disgust.

"She's not supposed to wake up for another week. The shock…"

"The shock of what? Waking up? Finding out she's been sold to some border-world baron?"

Roz gasped in horror. Jayne looked back at her and desperately wanted to wring the neck of the scrawny doctor for hurting her. Truth be told though, he wanted to shoot himself for letting her come with him. But at least Jayne had figured out what was in the box…a woman.

"Or…I'm sorry. Was this one for you? Is it true love? Because you do seem a little…"

Mal was cut off when the girl awakened with a high pitched scream. Gasping for breath the girl looked around at her strange surroundings, unsure of where she was. She crawled out of the box, completely naked, and fell into a heap on the floor.

Simon pulled away from Jayne to run to the girl on the floor. "River," he knelt down next to her. She backed away as he grew closer until she had her back to the carrier. "Hey, it's okay." Simon reached out to grab a hold of her shoulders so she would stop moving.

"Simon," her eyes focused on him briefly before growing wide. "Simon, they…they talk to me." Her shaking hands indicated her head. "They want me to…they want me to…"

"No, they're gone," Simon reassured her. "They're gone, they're gone," he spoke softly and gently as she continued to whimper incoherently. "They're gone. We're safe now, we're safe."

River looked into Simon's eyes as he held her face still in his elegant hands. She started to sob and he took her into his arms. "I'm here, we're safe."

The crew looked on, unsure of what to make of all this. Jayne saw Roz look on with sadness and began to take off her sweater to give to the young girl. Jayne placed a hand on her arm to stop her, and instead he shrugged out of his brown leather jacket and threw it to the Doc.

"What the hell is this?" Mal asked softly gesturing to the couple huddled on the floor.

Simon looked up at him, his eyes filled with grief and anger. "This…is my sister."

Sorry this chapter is so short. When I wrote it, it was pages longer but it was too long and there really was no other good way of ending it so I decided to stop here. The next chapter will be a lot longer.

I decided to write this and the next chapter mostly from Jayne's POV because I wanted to find out what he thought of Roz and figure out what he thinks about the happenings on the ship. Others think they have Jayne pegged as a mindless mercenary but I always thought he was a mystery. It will be fun to delve into this character and past.

Thank you to those who have reviewed. I try to respond to everyone, but to those who don't sign in and can't be thanked…Thank You! I appreciate all your comments and constructive criticisms. I hope to continue growing as a writer and you all help me in that way.

Thanks again!