Rating: PG-15 for graphic violence and multilingual adult language

Characters/Pairings: Crew, OMC. Implied S/K, potential J/K.

Disclaimer: All belong to Joss. I got nada.

A/N: Written for the LJ Firefly Fanfic Fest prompt: “Jayne meets an old flame in port” , and cross posted from my LiveJournal. Hover for translation. Comments and feedback are always appreciated. If you read and enjoy it, please let me know.

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Even If The Odds Are Lousy

Part Two

By the night of the fight, Jayne was psyched and nervous as hell. Spontaneous bar brawls between honest folk were one thing and the lethal style of fighting he would face that evening at the arena was something else entirely. He’d managed to acquire the gear he needed and sat restlessly on the training table in the holding room backstage at the arena while Simon taped his wrists and hands.

“I’m no athletic trainer, Jayne, and have no idea if I’m doing this correctly.” Simon carefully overlapped the turns of tape over Jayne’s hands the way he’d been told, then studied the man before him. The idea of one man brutalizing another for money frankly horrified him. He tried once again to reach the mercenary. “I know you really want that gun back, but no weapon’s worth risking your life for.”

Jayne looked at him matter-of-factly. “You clearly ain't never loved a gun, Doc.”

“No, Jayne, I can’t say as I have.” Simon held out the gloves and Jayne slipped his hands into them one after the other. “Just – just use some common sense out there. Please?"

Jayne pretended to tap Simon on the jaw and fluttered his eyelashes at him. “Aw shucks, Doc, I never knew you cared.”

Simon rolled his eyes and pushed the rubber guard into Jayne’s mouth – at least that would shut him up. “I’ll be waiting in your corner, just in case.” Simon hesitated. “And Jayne… good luck.” He studied the big man for a moment longer, then turned and headed for his station by Jayne’s corner of the fig