Author's Note: Set after "Ariel," this fic explores the aftermath of Jayne’s betrayal, and he and River come to an understanding.

Jayne wasn't aware of how much time passed as he leaned heavily against the bulkhead that separated him from the rest of Serenity. The hard metal was icy against his sweaty forehead, and his heart thumped a painful rhythm between ragged breaths. Though he could be a little slow on the uptake sometimes, he knew how close he had come to death, to painful freezing and suffocation in the bleak emptiness of space.

The thing was, he understood Mal’s motives entirely. If it were him in command, he would have dealt a swift — or maybe agonizingly slow, just for fun — death to any crewmember who disobeyed him. A man couldn't make a living if he had to constantly glance over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being stabbed in the back.

A surge of anger swept through Jayne suddenly as he recalled Mal's final words, spoken with fierce rage. The next time you stab me in the back, have the courage to do it to my face! Jayne Cobb was no coward; he would easily stand up to a challenge. He'd shown that even today, when he'd fought the Feds who had double-crossed him in return for his own betrayal of the pretentious doctor and his crazy sister.

It wasn't like he'd been betraying Mal, Jayne had tried to explain. He could clearly see that Mal didn't enjoy harboring two fugitives who brought them nothing but trouble and unwanted attention. Maybe Mal was just sore because he hadn't managed to trade the two off for some profit.

Well, Jayne wasn't sorry for what he had done. Dealing with the Alliance, however, had shown him that he needed a roundabout method instead of facing the Allied planets head-on. That done, he could go on his merry way.

He was so caught up in his rare introspective thoughts that he didn't notice Mal approach the airlock. The bulkhead shot upward with a c