Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or any of Joss Whedon's characters. I only own Roz and the baby she carries.

Warning: There is some violence in this chapter.

Chapter Eight

Roz was slowly walking from the infirmary. She enjoyed spending time with Kaylee but to be quite honest, she was exhausted. It had been a long hard day and she was ready to fall into bed. "Roz," a voice called out behind her. She paused on the steps to look and see who was calling her name. She was pleased to see Jayne making his way around boxes and equipment to reach her.

"Roz, we're goin' to be settin' down soon enough and I would like it if you were to stay safe and sound in your bunk."

"Now, this would be a suggestion and not an order, right Jayne?" Roz responded with a small smile.

Jayne frowned down at her with his hands making tight fists by his side. It took him a moment before he let out a grunt, which Roz assumed was a yes. "Jayne I would love to go to my bunk, however…I don't know exactly where it is."

"I'll show ya," Jayne jerked his head back towards the infirmary. "Yur past the Doc's place and in the back." Roz tiredly followed Jayne back the way she came looking in at Kaylee as they passed. Soon she was standing in a small room with a tiny bed and closet…and it was absolutely perfect. Looking at Jayne, Roz noticed he was tense and glancing furtively at the door.

"What are you going to be doing on Whitefall Jayne?" Roz asked suspiciously as she sank down with a quiet groan of gratitude on the bed.

"Captain needs to do a quick exchange is all," Jayne shrugged carelessly. "Shouldn't nobody run afoul."

"So…you'll be safe?" Roz asked tentatively as she fluffed her pillow on the bed.

"It'll be all good Roz," Jayne stiffened as he walked towards the door. "I'll come'n see ya when I get back."

"Just be careful Jayne," Roz spoke at his departing back. "I'll pray for you." With a sigh, she toed off her shoes and swung her legs onto the bed. Closing her eyes, Roz prayed furtively until sleep finally claimed her.

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"You know the plan, right Jayne?" Mal asked as he checked to make sure his gun worked before re-holstering the weapon.

"I know what I'm doin' Captain," Jayne grunted as he jumped onto the mule and pulled the goggle's down over his eyes to keep the dust out. He was ready to get this thing done and over so he could…what? He narrowed his eyes and felt decidedly uncomfortable when he realized he wanted to talk with Roz when he was done. "That woman's goin' to be the ruttin death of me," he murmured to himself and received odd looks from Zoe and Mal.

The moment Serenity touched down Zoe and Mal walked calmly down the ramp while Jayne drove quickly around them on the mule. The bumpy ride allowed him to clear Roz from his mind and focus on their mission. They needed to get rid of the cargo quickly and receive the money they were rightly due. Hurrying as fast as he could, Jayne found a spot to bury the containers and returned back to the ship. He stowed away the mule before standing next to Mal and Zoe. He dug into his coat pocket and handed one of the bars to the Captain. He didn't realize the Captain had put the gold bars in with the food Patience was expecting.

"I buried 'em good. The equipment's back on the boat." Jayne crossed his arms over his broad chest and looked out at the expanse of the valley, rocks and brush jutted out over low hills and a few birds called out to each other as they circled above. Jayne frowned as he felt like a piece of dead meat the birds were waiting to grab. If they weren't careful, they would soon be food for the birds. It was a great place for an ambush so Jayne had to be on his toes.

"All right. Patience is gonna figure we buried the cargo. Which means putting us to our ease 'fore there's any action. She'll come at us from the east, talk the location out of us. She'll have the coin to show us first. We get it, give the location, snipers hit us from there and there." Mal pointed up along the hills at two different spots.

Jayne followed his finger and narrowed his eyes as if hoping to be able to see them from their current position. "You figure they're in place yet?"

"Should be. Feel like taking a walk around the park?"

Jayne grinned as he felt the adrenaline course through his body. He was ready for action and quite frankly, ready to hurt people. Ever since…she…came on the ship he didn't feel like himself. He felt as if he were hiding a part of himself from her and the rest of the crew. Now, he could do what he had been made to do, kill.

"Sure you don't wanna back down like you did with Badger?" Jayne smirked as he slowly began to back away, not resisting the attempt to poke at the Captain. Mal's head turned to Jayne's direction and sent him a scathing look that the big mercenary expected. Jayne liked making Mal angry before a meet because it gave the Captain an edge.

"Walk soft. I want Patience thinking they're still in place. Don't kill anyone if you don't have to. We're here to make a deal." Jayne gave a small nod before turning his back on the two crew members and climbing the hills quickly.

When he grew close to the first spot Mal pointed out, Jayne crouched low to the ground and took his gun out. Aiming low, the big man moved cat like through the brush, a silent predator in search of his prey. Jayne caught sight of the idiot man. The sniper rifle sat to the side, untouched as the man took a nap, apparently waiting for Patience to radio him whenever he was supposed to ready himself. Jayne snuck up easily on the man and before the thug even knew it he was dead. Pushing the body to the side Jayne picked up the rifle and went in hunt for the next victim.

The second man was a bit more wary. He lay on his stomach, rifle in hand and no doubt sighted on Mal and Zoe, however he wasn't paying much attention to what else was going on around him. Jayne brought the rifle he carried down on the other man's head knocking him unconscious, followed by a swift crack of the neck and he was dead instantly.

Jayne took a moment to look down at the man he had just killed and wondered if it was necessary, the Captain's parting words ringing in his ears. The man was unconscious after all, there was no reason he needed to die. Growling low, Jayne kicked the body off the small cliff and watched it roll down the incline. Of course he needed to die. From his experience, men left unconscious were only given the opportunity to come back and kill a man. Jayne didn't let people live if there was a chance they would come back and kill him, he learned the hard way a long time ago. Why would he think there could be any other way?

Easing down to the ground, Jayne pulled his cap out of a back pocket and flipped it onto his head. Keeping the setting sun out of his eyes while he checked the rifle to make sure everything worked and there was plenty of ammunition. Setting his sights on Mal and Zoe, Jayne settled in. A sense of calm overtaking him as he made sure his comm was on and watched as Patience and her crew approached.

Remembering the conversation he had with Dobson, Jayne panned his sights from Patience to Mal who stood with his hand over his holster looking purposefully bored. Jayne gritted his teeth as his trigger finger itched to put a bullet in the Captain's head. Just think, you could be Captain of Serenity. No one would tell you what to do. You'd be the boss. It's what you've always wanted. Dobson even offered Jayne some money if he were to kill the Captain. Quite honestly, Jayne was confused why the Captain wasn't dead yet. A picture of Roz formed in Jayne's mind and he sighed loudly as he knew she would hate him if he killed the Captain. In fact, everyone on Serenity would hate you and most likely try and kill you for murdering their beloved Captain. Jayne frowned as he realized he didn't want them to hate him. Shaking his head, Jayne turned his attention back to what was going on below him. The Captain would live to fly another day…for now.

"I don't see my cargo anywhere." Jayne heard Patience say softly over the comm. Mal and Zoe came in loud and clear but Patience's voice was barely picking up. He panned between Mal and Patience as they discussed payment.

"And you're not gonna 'til I'm holding two hundred in platinum."

"Oh, come on Reynolds. I'm supposed to take it on faith you've got the goods?"

Jayne pans over to Mal who takes the bar from his coat pocket and throws it to Patience. She looks at it warily for a moment, rips off the foil and puts it close to her nose, smelling it.

"It's pure Patience. Genuine A-grade foodstuffs. Protein, vitamins, immunization supplements. One of those'll feed a family for a month. Longer, if they don't like their kids too well."

Patience nibbles the end and nods her head before wrapping it back up. "Yeah, that's the stuff." She reaches for her pocket and instantly Jayne is ready but she pulls out a small bag and throws it to Mal. Jayne forces himself to relax before setting his sights on Mal. "So where's the rest?"

Mal looks into the bag and counts the money before handing it over to Zoe. "We buried it, so you and your men are going to want to walk about a couple feet south then east half a mile, bottom of the first hill. You'll see where it's been dug."

"I reckon I will," Patience nodded.

"Well then," Mal rocked back on the balls of his feet impatiently.

"Yep."

After a moment of silence, Jayne felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

"I'd appreciate it y'all turn around and ride out first," Mal spoke congenially but there was a hint of hardness in his voice.

"Well, you see, there's a kind of hitch."

"Both made out on this deal. Don't complicate things."

"I got a rule. I never let go of money I don't have to. Which is maybe why I'm running this little world and you're still on the dinky old boat sniffing for scraps."

Jayne tightened his left fist as he saw Mal take the money bag back from Zoe and throw it to Patience. "Got the money back. There's no need for killin'."

"We're just gonna walk away sir?" Zoe asked softly.

"Guess that's up to Patience here. Could be messy."

"Not terribly," the older woman chuckled. "Mal, you just ain't very bright are you?"

Jayne let out a soft laugh, he could agree with her at times. Mal stepped forward and nodded to one of the men. Jayne tried to pan around and see who he was looking at, but it was very difficult from far away.

"That's quite a rifle. Boy must be your best shot to carry that."

"He's called Two-fry. Always makes it quick and clean," Patience replied with pride in her voice.

"Two-Fry," Mal smiled. "Nice hat."

Jayne, who had been scanning Patience's men, grinned when he saw a scruffy looking man with a shiny top hat. A quick pull of his trigger sent the man clean off his horse. The shot triggered a string of chaotic events. Men were diving off their horses to gain some coverage, bullets flew everywhere, and movement kicked up the dust so Jayne had a hard time picking off the men. Jayne spotted a bald head behind a rock so he angled the rifle and took the top of the man's head clean off, watching as the body slumped to the side.

Jayne ducked low as the men began pointing up in his general direction. They knew there was a sniper up there but didn't know exactly where. Spotting a man on horse Jayne aimed and missed. "Hwin dan!" (A**hole) Before he could fire again, Jayne's man fell off the horse and face planted in the dust. Looking around, he saw Zoe stand painfully up holding a gun at the runaway man. Jayne had to admit, Zoe was a pretty fearsome woman and at times he wondered who would win in a fight between them. Turning his attention back to the scene, he realized the only people left alive were Patience and one other man. The thug already dropped his gun and put his hands in the air. Jayne smirked as the little man quivered in his dusty boots. Pulling up the rifle Jayne decided Mal and Zoe could deal with the remaining two individuals on their own.

Standing up, Jayne crack his back and stretched, he looked up into the sky briefly and was shocked to see something glinting off in the distance. Not many people came to Whitefall so the presence of another ship was suspicious to say the least. Walking down the hill Jayne strained his eyes as he peered into the bright blue sky. The ship grew steadily closer and Jayne saw the tell tale sign of black smoke. It could only mean one thing.

"Jayne?" A voice echoed through his comm and Jayne tapped it impatiently.

"Yeah?"

"You gotta get out of there. You've got…"

"I know Wash. I'm grabbing the others now." Jayne blanched as he ran down the hill towards Mal and Zoe. They needed to get back to Serenity.

Mal was grabbing the money bag back from patience when Jayne skidded to a stop beside them. "Mal! It's Wash! We got a ship coming in. They followed us. The gorram Reavers followed us!"

Ok, so I am so sorry about the lack of updating properly. I hadn't finished the last two chapters because I thought I would have more time over the summer, but that was a big fat lie. I seem to be more busy now then I was during the school year. That's crazy!

Anyway, I'll try and finish the story this week so I can update in a timely manner. Please don't throw rocks at me, but feel free to throw reviews my way!

I really liked this chapter because we get to see Jayne in his element. Jayne is a violent man and his background has to be riddled with deceit and violence. As Roz struggles to become independent, Jayne will struggle with the fact he has "friends" and people to rely on. His violent nature will be a source of problems between him and Roz. I hope you liked this chapter as much as I liked writing it.

Please review!

P.S. There were some things I changed or left out from the episode so don't think I'm going crazy.