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bookaddict43Series Title: Them that choose it
Title: Reflection: chapter nine: prompt #20
Author: Bookaddict
Characters: Jayne/Kaylee, crew, OCs
Rating: PG
Timeline: Post OIS, the BDM isn’t going to happen
Disclaimer: Firefly and all its characters are the property of Joss Whedon.
Word count: 1497
Comments: Originally written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
philosophy_20. Previous chapters and prompt table here. Thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bookishtype for the banner.
The patterin’ of raindrops woke Jayne from a sound sleep. The hollow they were hidin’ in had pretty good cover so he and his charges weren’t gettin’ wet yet, but if the rain got much harder they would.
Kaylee was still doin’ her stint as lookout, sittin’ propped up against a tree, half asleep. Rollin’ onto his knees, Jayne leant over and shook her shoulder.
“Jayne,” Kaylee opened her weary eyes. “Is that rain?” She sat forward quickly, and checked on her father.
“Yeah, lucky for us,” Jayne shed his sleeping bag rapidly and stood up.
“Why?”
“The rain’ll hide our tracks.” He started rummagin’ through their supplies. “We’ll leave your daddy in the sleepin’ bag, its waterproof. You and me can wear our coats.” He tossed her a protein bar, “eat up and we’ll get goin’.”
“Wish we had the mule,” Kaylee thought wistfully of all the modifications she’d done on the vehicle. The mule was a part of Serenity, it didn’t seem right to just leave it there. She wished somehow she’d been a better driver, been able to save it. Then they wouldn’t be walkin’ now and Jayne wouldn’t have to exhaust himself carryin’ Daddy.
“It weren’t yer fault it turned over, ya know,” Jayne said. “It’ll probably still be here when we get back. Get the Captain t’ salvage it and ya can fix it up good as new.”
“That’ll be good. But what about now? Daddy said its another half a days’ walk to the hidin’ place.”
“The ain’t anythin’ else to do.” Jayne pointed out. “We need to get there and I’m the only one here strong enough to do the totin’.”
********************
Mal heaved a sigh of relief as he and Wash finished replacing the crates in the cargo bay.
The Sheriff and his men had done a thorough job of searching the ship. They’d even found some of the cubby holes that no previous searches had found.
As soon as they were gone, the crew had rushed off to check if there was any damage to the ship. He’d been relieved that both the engine room and flight deck were relatively untouched, except for some dinosaur death at the pilot’s console.
“Any other damage?” he asked the rest of the crew as they all converged in the bay.
“The infirmary’s a mess, but nothing got broken.” Simon was indignant. “Someone took some of the drugs though. Don’t they know how hard they are to come by?”
The Captain rolled his eyes. “That’s why they got stolen, I’m guessing.”
“They pretty much trashed the bunks.” Zoe interrupted. “Of course they couldn’t do much to that cell Jayne calls a room. But Kaylee’s bunk is different, it’s a mess. The only place they didn’t do any damage was Inara’s shuttle.”
“Exert some of that Companion charm on them, did you?”
“I merely reminded them that the Guild did not take kindly to its members, or their property, being mistreated.”
“They confiscated Jayne’s weapons sir, because he helped with the escape or some such.”
“You gonna tell Jayne about his girls?” asked Wash.
“Nope. None of us can do much about it right now. We’ll wait, and when the time comes, we’ll get them back,” said the Captain with determination.
While the lawmen had searched Serenity, Mal had taken the opportunity to study Brett Willock; to see what sort of person they were up against.
The man was confusing. The Captain shook his head he hadn’t quite got a handle on the fella yet, except to notice he harboured a lot of resentment toward the town folk here. He was obviously smart, yet he’d lost all his money. His men were pretty well trained, yet they let Jayne and Kaylee pull a jailbreak. He just as obviously was takin’ his orders from someone else – just like Kaylee’s family had said.
He’d think on it more later, here came the Shepherd and Kaylee’s mama.
It had taken some persuading on Book’s part to keep Lily from rushing straight over to check on everyone.
Fortunately her house proud nature had triumphed and they had stayed to tidy up. Of course that had led to all sorts of questions about Jayne and if he would look after Jack and Kaylee. The Shepherd was doubtful that any of his reassurances to Lily had worked. She wouldn’t be totally reassured until she saw her family for herself.
“We came to see how Serenity fared?”
“We’re shook up some, but nothing that can’t be fixed.” Mal answered. “Have you heard how our people are doing? The Sheriff was mighty close mouthed about it.”
“By the Sheriff’s account, Jayne shot down a hover mule and killed quite a few folks.” Book replied. “We’ve heard nothing else.”
“How do we know they haven’t been caught, and are bein’ kept somewhere secret?” asked Lily.
“If they were caught, they’d be paraded through town, like as not.” Mal replied, “your man’s a symbol. He stood up to them and now he’s escaped. That might encourage other folk to do the same. If he got caught, he’d have to be shown, so the power is still in their hands. Without that power, they’re easier to defeat.”
********************
Jayne was bone-weary and soakin’ wet. They’d been walkin’ for more than half the day and Jack was no light-weight. He’d had to stop every hour or so for a rest and it was irritatin’ him mightily that he couldn’t do more.
Kaylee ranged slightly ahead, keepin’ lookout and she was gettin’ tired too. With him laden down, she was carryin’ a couple of bags full of supplies, their most essential things. He was gonna have to go back and get the other stuff once they arrived, wherever in the seven hells they were goin’.
Right now they were walkin’ straight toward what looked like a sheer cliff; all he could see in front and around them was rock wall. “Is this right?” Jayne queried
“Keep walkin’.” Jack confirmed. “Follow the stream.”
“Great, more gorramn water,” Jayne muttered, signallin’ to Kaylee to come back.
They walked alongside the stream until it disappeared into a crevasse in the wall. Jayne’s sharp eyes fastened onto a shadow back of the crevasse and movin’ forward found a small gap. “This it?”
Jack nodded. “Gap’s not big or very long. Another five minutes and we’ll be there.”
“Good,” Jayne grunted, carefully judgin’ the distance between Jack’s head and the gap’s walls. “Kaylee ya go first.”
Kaylee nodded and walked along beside the trickle of the stream as it ran through the gap. “We’re here,” she exclaimed as she reached the end and stood gazin’ into a small grassy canyon that was surrounded on all sides by sheer walls.
********************
“Jayne, why are ya still in yer wet things?” Kaylee shivered. She’d been so glad to get out of her clammy clothes, but Jayne was standin’ there still drippin’.
“I gotta go get the rest of the supplies, no sense gettin’ changed till I do that.”
“Don’t ya think ya should rest?” the concern in Kaylee’s eyes confused him. He weren’t used to people worryin’ ‘bout him much. It sorta made him uncomfortable.
Jayne shook his head, “nope, that’s no good. I’ll be too slow to get goin’ again. The rain’ll have slowed the bad guys down some. I don’t want them findin’ our stuff. Without Jack slowin’ me down I should be back by nightfall.”
********************
Kaylee sighed; in an effort to stop herself worryin’ ‘bout Jayne and what might be happenin’ at home, she’d been tryin’ to keep busy.
She’d tidied up what they’d bought and checked on Daddy. She’d lit the old stove in the kitchen and now had time to look around some.
The house weren’t that big, it was probably only ever intended as emergency accommodation. They’d bedded her father down in the room nearest the kitchen and in her search Kaylee found only one other bedroom.
She figured that she and Jayne were gonna have to do some sortin’ out. Find another mattress and take turns sleepin’ on the floor or out in the kitchen. Maybe there was another hut or somethin’ out back; on reflection, she seemed to remember seein’ more than one building when they arrived.
Kaylee stepped out onto the back porch and wrinkled her nose when she located the privy, a bit back from the house. Half a shed stood not far from the privy buildin’. Kaylee jumped off the porch and went to explore, stoppin’ with a delighted exclamation at the sight in front of her.
Standing square on the floor of the shed was a big, old wooden bathtub. Attached to the tub was an ancient chip heater that looked like it had come from Earth-that-was.
Fixin’ it would give her somethin’ to do while Daddy was asleep and Jayne was gone. Spurred on by the thought of a hot bath, the mechanic immediately started goin’ over the heater.
Title: Reflection: chapter nine: prompt #20
Author: Bookaddict
Characters: Jayne/Kaylee, crew, OCs
Rating: PG
Timeline: Post OIS, the BDM isn’t going to happen
Disclaimer: Firefly and all its characters are the property of Joss Whedon.
Word count: 1497
Comments: Originally written for
philosophy_20. Previous chapters and prompt table here. Thanks to bookishtype for the banner.The patterin’ of raindrops woke Jayne from a sound sleep. The hollow they were hidin’ in had pretty good cover so he and his charges weren’t gettin’ wet yet, but if the rain got much harder they would.
Kaylee was still doin’ her stint as lookout, sittin’ propped up against a tree, half asleep. Rollin’ onto his knees, Jayne leant over and shook her shoulder.
“Jayne,” Kaylee opened her weary eyes. “Is that rain?” She sat forward quickly, and checked on her father.
“Yeah, lucky for us,” Jayne shed his sleeping bag rapidly and stood up.
“Why?”
“The rain’ll hide our tracks.” He started rummagin’ through their supplies. “We’ll leave your daddy in the sleepin’ bag, its waterproof. You and me can wear our coats.” He tossed her a protein bar, “eat up and we’ll get goin’.”
“Wish we had the mule,” Kaylee thought wistfully of all the modifications she’d done on the vehicle. The mule was a part of Serenity, it didn’t seem right to just leave it there. She wished somehow she’d been a better driver, been able to save it. Then they wouldn’t be walkin’ now and Jayne wouldn’t have to exhaust himself carryin’ Daddy.
“It weren’t yer fault it turned over, ya know,” Jayne said. “It’ll probably still be here when we get back. Get the Captain t’ salvage it and ya can fix it up good as new.”
“That’ll be good. But what about now? Daddy said its another half a days’ walk to the hidin’ place.”
“The ain’t anythin’ else to do.” Jayne pointed out. “We need to get there and I’m the only one here strong enough to do the totin’.”
********************
Mal heaved a sigh of relief as he and Wash finished replacing the crates in the cargo bay.
The Sheriff and his men had done a thorough job of searching the ship. They’d even found some of the cubby holes that no previous searches had found.
As soon as they were gone, the crew had rushed off to check if there was any damage to the ship. He’d been relieved that both the engine room and flight deck were relatively untouched, except for some dinosaur death at the pilot’s console.
“Any other damage?” he asked the rest of the crew as they all converged in the bay.
“The infirmary’s a mess, but nothing got broken.” Simon was indignant. “Someone took some of the drugs though. Don’t they know how hard they are to come by?”
The Captain rolled his eyes. “That’s why they got stolen, I’m guessing.”
“They pretty much trashed the bunks.” Zoe interrupted. “Of course they couldn’t do much to that cell Jayne calls a room. But Kaylee’s bunk is different, it’s a mess. The only place they didn’t do any damage was Inara’s shuttle.”
“Exert some of that Companion charm on them, did you?”
“I merely reminded them that the Guild did not take kindly to its members, or their property, being mistreated.”
“They confiscated Jayne’s weapons sir, because he helped with the escape or some such.”
“You gonna tell Jayne about his girls?” asked Wash.
“Nope. None of us can do much about it right now. We’ll wait, and when the time comes, we’ll get them back,” said the Captain with determination.
While the lawmen had searched Serenity, Mal had taken the opportunity to study Brett Willock; to see what sort of person they were up against.
The man was confusing. The Captain shook his head he hadn’t quite got a handle on the fella yet, except to notice he harboured a lot of resentment toward the town folk here. He was obviously smart, yet he’d lost all his money. His men were pretty well trained, yet they let Jayne and Kaylee pull a jailbreak. He just as obviously was takin’ his orders from someone else – just like Kaylee’s family had said.
He’d think on it more later, here came the Shepherd and Kaylee’s mama.
It had taken some persuading on Book’s part to keep Lily from rushing straight over to check on everyone.
Fortunately her house proud nature had triumphed and they had stayed to tidy up. Of course that had led to all sorts of questions about Jayne and if he would look after Jack and Kaylee. The Shepherd was doubtful that any of his reassurances to Lily had worked. She wouldn’t be totally reassured until she saw her family for herself.
“We came to see how Serenity fared?”
“We’re shook up some, but nothing that can’t be fixed.” Mal answered. “Have you heard how our people are doing? The Sheriff was mighty close mouthed about it.”
“By the Sheriff’s account, Jayne shot down a hover mule and killed quite a few folks.” Book replied. “We’ve heard nothing else.”
“How do we know they haven’t been caught, and are bein’ kept somewhere secret?” asked Lily.
“If they were caught, they’d be paraded through town, like as not.” Mal replied, “your man’s a symbol. He stood up to them and now he’s escaped. That might encourage other folk to do the same. If he got caught, he’d have to be shown, so the power is still in their hands. Without that power, they’re easier to defeat.”
********************
Jayne was bone-weary and soakin’ wet. They’d been walkin’ for more than half the day and Jack was no light-weight. He’d had to stop every hour or so for a rest and it was irritatin’ him mightily that he couldn’t do more.
Kaylee ranged slightly ahead, keepin’ lookout and she was gettin’ tired too. With him laden down, she was carryin’ a couple of bags full of supplies, their most essential things. He was gonna have to go back and get the other stuff once they arrived, wherever in the seven hells they were goin’.
Right now they were walkin’ straight toward what looked like a sheer cliff; all he could see in front and around them was rock wall. “Is this right?” Jayne queried
“Keep walkin’.” Jack confirmed. “Follow the stream.”
“Great, more gorramn water,” Jayne muttered, signallin’ to Kaylee to come back.
They walked alongside the stream until it disappeared into a crevasse in the wall. Jayne’s sharp eyes fastened onto a shadow back of the crevasse and movin’ forward found a small gap. “This it?”
Jack nodded. “Gap’s not big or very long. Another five minutes and we’ll be there.”
“Good,” Jayne grunted, carefully judgin’ the distance between Jack’s head and the gap’s walls. “Kaylee ya go first.”
Kaylee nodded and walked along beside the trickle of the stream as it ran through the gap. “We’re here,” she exclaimed as she reached the end and stood gazin’ into a small grassy canyon that was surrounded on all sides by sheer walls.
********************
“Jayne, why are ya still in yer wet things?” Kaylee shivered. She’d been so glad to get out of her clammy clothes, but Jayne was standin’ there still drippin’.
“I gotta go get the rest of the supplies, no sense gettin’ changed till I do that.”
“Don’t ya think ya should rest?” the concern in Kaylee’s eyes confused him. He weren’t used to people worryin’ ‘bout him much. It sorta made him uncomfortable.
Jayne shook his head, “nope, that’s no good. I’ll be too slow to get goin’ again. The rain’ll have slowed the bad guys down some. I don’t want them findin’ our stuff. Without Jack slowin’ me down I should be back by nightfall.”
********************
Kaylee sighed; in an effort to stop herself worryin’ ‘bout Jayne and what might be happenin’ at home, she’d been tryin’ to keep busy.
She’d tidied up what they’d bought and checked on Daddy. She’d lit the old stove in the kitchen and now had time to look around some.
The house weren’t that big, it was probably only ever intended as emergency accommodation. They’d bedded her father down in the room nearest the kitchen and in her search Kaylee found only one other bedroom.
She figured that she and Jayne were gonna have to do some sortin’ out. Find another mattress and take turns sleepin’ on the floor or out in the kitchen. Maybe there was another hut or somethin’ out back; on reflection, she seemed to remember seein’ more than one building when they arrived.
Kaylee stepped out onto the back porch and wrinkled her nose when she located the privy, a bit back from the house. Half a shed stood not far from the privy buildin’. Kaylee jumped off the porch and went to explore, stoppin’ with a delighted exclamation at the sight in front of her.
Standing square on the floor of the shed was a big, old wooden bathtub. Attached to the tub was an ancient chip heater that looked like it had come from Earth-that-was.
Fixin’ it would give her somethin’ to do while Daddy was asleep and Jayne was gone. Spurred on by the thought of a hot bath, the mechanic immediately started goin’ over the heater.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 02:41 pm (UTC)I think Jayne's going to be in desperate need of a long, hot soak after toting all their stuff, and getting soaking wet in the process. And maybe some of Kaylee's special brand of lovin'?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 03:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 12:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 12:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 03:03 pm (UTC)There's a recipe for Jaylee lovin' right there *zones out*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 12:52 am (UTC)Mmmmmm Jaylee loving - hopefully I'm writing that for the next chapter...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 04:57 pm (UTC)And Mal can't quite figure the bad guy out...that's not good! I wonder what's really going on...
I think it's so cute that Kaylee found a bathtub! I wonder what's gonna happen with that?? *G*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 12:56 am (UTC)I'm not sure about the bad guy - and of course the job can't go smooth. Cause when does it ever?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 02:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-23 10:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 10:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 01:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 01:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 09:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 05:38 pm (UTC)Horror of horrors!!!
Jayne's GIRLS?!?!??!?!?!
[prepares for the carnage once he finds out and retrieves them]
[grins evily]
I love it! I love Survival the Jaylee game, I love Kaylee's Daddy and I LOOOOOOVE the possibilities for the tub...
yay! Can't wait for more!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-23 10:06 am (UTC)I also love all the ?! for Jayne's girls - I'm very worried for them....
And the tub + Kaylee + Jayne could = possibilities *grins*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-20 05:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-21 03:02 am (UTC)