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Lights	By : antilogicgirl Category: 1 through F > Firefly Views: 4341 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or any of the characters therein. No monetary gain is had from the writing of this fiction.

Chapter List
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Title:“Lights”
Begun: December 1, 2007
Completed: December 4, 2007
Summary: Relationships fall apart sometimes. Kaylee knew that. What she never counted on was who would be there to pick up the pieces.
A/N: Thanks everyone...all of you that have commented, or given favorites and alerts. Now we get to see what happens when Jayne brings Kaylee her tea. I like this chapter, mainly because of Jayne. Keep up your comments, if you can, even if they're not logged in!
Legal Stuff: I do not own Firefly or any of the characters therein. Joss Whedon, creator. OC mentioned (Dara) is mine for future use.
Chapter 2: Tea Lights
Zoe passed another tissue to Kaylee, who was crying, yet again. “You know,” she said quietly, “this is the third time in two months you’ve come crying to me about Simon.” Kaylee’s red-rimmed eyes opened, puffy, and confused. “I know you don’t want to hear it, Kaylee…”
Sniffling, the girl shook her head. “No, Zoe. Don’t say…please don’t. Do you have any idea how long I waited for him?” Zoe chuckled slightly. Yes, she knew exactly how long Kaylee had pined for their resident trauma surgeon. But, she explained, that didn’t make him worth crying over. No man could make you feel bad about yourself unless you let him. After blowing her nose in a very fog-horn-like fashion, Kaylee answered that. “I know. But I just…what am I gonna do, Zoe? I honestly don’t know what happened. We were fine. Really. But lately I just…” And then she collapsed into a fit of tears once again.
It was the acceptance that was the hardest part. That was something she knew from experience. While her particular experience was very different from Kaylee’s, it boiled down to essentially the same thing. When something was slipping away—or was ripped out of your hands the way Wash had been—you go through a pretty distinct pattern of emotional phases.
First, you just can’t believe it. There is no way that it can be happening to you. Then, you get angry. When you’re in that stage, people had best steer clear of you, because as Jayne found out with Kaylee, you lash out at anyone or anything within reach. Once you’re done being angry, you’re pretty resigned to what has already happened, and some people even get apathetic, or just cry until they make themselves ill. And then, you accept it, and you eventually move on.
Zoe? She was pretty well stuck on the anger stage, and she figured it might stay that way for a good long while. But Kaylee was going through those stages so fast it was making everyone’s heads spin. Inara had gone to the Captain, trying to get him to lay off of Kaylee, because she was fast approaching the crying stage, but was still somewhat stuck on angry. Zoe kept wondering if she was just going to crack and throw a spanner at Mal the way she did Jayne, but so far, her assaults on the ship’s owner were strictly verbal.
As always, Inara’s requests were largely ignored, and Kaylee continued with an overabundance of work, seeing as how Mal had asked her to re-wire most of the synchronizers that linked the drive engine with the starboard atmosphere thruster a few days back. They’d been on Persephone for only a day and a half, and already, Zoe was starting to think that maybe Inara really had something with that nervous breakdown theory. So far, Kaylee had been insubordinate with Mal five times, including this afternoon when she cut off the intercom to the engine room completely.
Not to mention the knock-down, drag-out fights she kept having with Simon, which ranged all over the ship. The last one, at least, Zoe had not been witness to, but when questioned, Simon would only say that he did not understand why Kaylee was so upset with him, and why she’d asked him to leave her alone. Smiling sadly, Zoe leaned back against the end of her bunk, and let Kaylee put her head into her lap. Stroking the girl’s hair, she was suddenly struck by the similarities between the young mechanic and her own sister. “It’ll be okay,” she murmured as she started carding fingers through Kaylee’s hair like she used to Dara’s.
Kaylee’s voice was muffled by the wad of snotty, tear-stained tissues she was still using to wipe at her nose when she said, “Thank you, Zoe…” It was times like this that she really missed Wash. They had some amazing fights, but somehow, they’d gotten through them all. And she still wished…wished that they hadn’t waited on having children. All she had now were memories to remind her.
It was almost three in the morning when Kaylee woke up, a rough blanket pulled up over her shoulders, and her head still in Zoe’s lap. The first mate was asleep as well, leaning against the hard metal wall. Kaylee always wondered how she managed to stay so sane, so calm, with all of the things she’d seen and been forced to do. And with her husband gone. In a way, she looked up to Zoe more than she did the Captain. Sure, Mal was the Captain, but Zoe was so much tougher, but somehow, she still managed to keep herself from becoming inhuman.
But, as she sat up and gently lowered the first mate onto the bunk before covering her with the blanket, Kaylee was glad that there were moments when she could show how fragile she was. The older woman spent so much time taking care of everyone, protecting them, that no one ever realized just how badly she needed someone to do the same for her. And maybe that was why she had taken to Wash the way she did. While he had been silly, and downright strange at times—God rest his soul—Kaylee saw the way he could penetrate that thick skin of hers. “Sleep good, Zoe,” she said as she pushed the release for the door lock.
It was hard to shut the door to Zoe’s bunk without the hinge creaking, but somehow, she managed. She’d crossed the hall and kicked open the hatch to her own bunk when she heard the grate start rumbling. Who else was up at this time of night? Kaylee shook her head, starting the descent into her quarters. When she only had her head above the floor grating, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, coming from the aft of the ship. Turning her head to the right, she saw a strange thing.
Jayne was walking slowly down the corridor, a mug held carefully in his big hands, while he obviously tried hard not to spill what was in it. Kaylee couldn’t help but smile at that. In a lot of ways, Jayne acted like a little boy. His eyes rose from the contents of his cup to see her watching him, and he suddenly looked flustered. “Uh…hey, Kaylee.”
“Hi, Jayne,” she replied, watching him shift from one foot to the other for a moment, looking very uncomfortable. “’Night, Jayne.” She started to go down the ladder again, but stopped when he called out to her.
“Kaylee,” Jayne called, sounding even more awkward than before. He took the last few steps over to where she was, and crouched down, holding out the mug, which smelled of chamomile and lemon. “Here.” Confused, she reached out to take the cup. It was warm, and just the smell was enough to calm her nerves a bit. She thanked him, but he scratched his head and made a dismissive wave with his hand, seeming much more like the Jayne she knew when he said, “It weren’t me, really…River made it.”
“Thanks all the same, though,” Kaylee said, trying to balance hanging on her ladder and holding the cup at the same time. It was starting to feel kind of awkward there, and she wasn’t sure it was just the position she was in. “Well…I gotta get to bed…”
Jayne stood up, suddenly, and gave a little cough, clearing his throat. “Yeah. I, uh, gotta go get my guns. Left ‘em in the galley.” He stayed where he was for only a second longer, fidgeting with one of the string lights that framed the entrance to Kaylee’s room, then turned on his heel and stiffly walked back in the direction of the galley. Wait. Jayne left his guns in the galley? Didn’t he say that River was in there?
Jayne never left any weapons where River could get to them. They all knew what she could do, given the correct motivation and firepower. And another thing…River made the tea, and gave it to Jayne for him to bring it to her. Why not just take it herself? The other girl’s mind worked in strange ways, that was sure, but really, she wasn’t sure what all this was about. Thinking about it was making her head hurt, and hanging on the ladder was making her arm hurt, so she carefully climbed down into her bunk. It was way too late in the day to be opening that big of a can of worms.
Jayne re-entered the galley, finding River gone, and his guns completely reassembled for him. That was slightly off-putting, and his eyes automatically glanced at the knife caddy on the kitchen counter. All cutlery accounted for, he breathed a sigh of relief. The way he figured it, she was at least slightly less psychotic than she had been. He wasn’t dead, so that was something.
And Kaylee looked better, which was something else altogether. She must have been talking to Zoe again. It seemed like every time her boyfriend made her cry, she ended up in Zoe’s bunk. Probably hoping for some womanly advice, and a shoulder to cry on. Far as Jayne could figure it, Zoe was the last person to be able to give that kind of advice. He hadn’t been able to check her for parts, but he was sure that she was at least half man. Broad had more balls than most men he knew, including Simon Tam.
Gathering up his guns, he sucked a tooth. Maybe he should have a little talk with the doctor, after all. Vera didn’t have to be in on that chat. He figured he could use his intimidating demeanor to convince Simon that his attitude toward the mechanic better change fast. Because in spite of the fact that the man wasn’t exactly a baby, the pretty-boy wouldn’t be able to keep from pissing his pants if Jayne really decided he needed threatening.
Simon sat up, yawning. His hand moved to turn off the alarm clock, but he found another one doing it for him. It was a very large hand. “Mornin’, doc.” Simon had only a split second to wonder why Jayne Cobb was in his room before he had his head bounced none too gently off of the wall. “Sorry for my…uncivilized behavior, doc. But I just wanted to get you a little message.”
Simon’s head was still reeling from nearly having his skull cracked on three-centimeter-thick steel plating. He wasn’t sure he heard that right. “Excuse me?”
The hand that had been gripping the front of his pajamas let go suddenly, and he slipped back into his bed. Jayne grabbed the lone chair in the room and dragged it over to the edge of Simon’s bed. Once he’d seated himself—in a most uncivilized position—he fixed the young doctor with a glare that might have melted glass, if given the opportunity. “Listen up, doc, ‘cause I’m only gonna say it once.” Nodding, Simon indicated that Jayne should continue with what was probably going to be an inane threat of some kind. “You better be a man and step up. I don’t want you makin’ Kaylee cry no more. Got me?”
Blinking rapidly, and trying to process what had just been demanded of him, he was in the end still at a loss for words. “I’m not sure I understand.”
Laughing in a very unpleasant way, Jayne produced a large knife and used it to scratch an itch on the side of his face. “It’s pretty simple, Simon. Either you be a man and keep her happy, or I’ll introduce you to Vera.”
“Who’s Vera?” He asked, even more confused than he had been. And that was completely disregarding the fact that Jayne was interfering in his and Kaylee’s obviously failing relationship.
“Oh…Vera’s a very touchy lady. Got an explosive temper, if you get my drift.” And suddenly, it all made sense. Jayne named his guns, and Simon vaguely recalled an oversized assault rifle that had been dubbed ‘Vera’ at some point. After he indicated that he understood the man perfectly, Jayne smiled, seeming genuinely happy…which was odd in and of itself. “Now you should get up and have some breakfast, doc. Most important meal of the day, as I comprehend.”
When the hulking man had exited the room, politely sliding the door shut behind himself, Simon collapsed into bed again. This was going to be a very, very bad day. He could just tell.
A/N: Hehe. I hope you enjoyed it. I sure did. Don't miss the next installment, "Soul Lights", when River thinks about various things, Mal becomes a puzzle for her to solve, and Zoe teases Jayne, who is starting to realize what's really going on. Ah, yes. And we get to see what makes Jayne Cobb blush.
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Lights