Jayne nearly jumped out of his skin when River's sudden scream pierced the silence, and as his heart slowly found its way back to its normal rhythm again, he gritted his teeth. After all he should have expected something like this.

True enough, the girl had been on her best behavior the time they'd been alone. Jayne had been a little worried about her flipping out when her brother had not returned the night before like he'd said he would, but she hadn't. She'd stayed calm and quiet, and she'd retreated to the passenger dorm by her own accord when it was time for bed.

Jayne had gone to catch some sleep too, wondering a little what kept the others but not really worrying. He knew they could take care of themselves. He'd unceremoniously lowered himself down the ladder to his bunk and fallen asleep almost instantly, fully clothed, and at no point during the night had he heard anything out of the ordinary, except for the fact that it was a lot quieter than usual.

He hadn't bothered to set the alarm, but he'd still woken up early. Getting up was hard these days. His leg always felt cold and dead in the morning and his aching muscles and joints needed time to get warm and flexible, and it all made him feel like an old man. He'd rolled out of bed with a groan and hobbled to the sink to splash some water on his face, but his shirt didn't smell too bad so he hadn't bothered changing it. Then he'd started on the task of getting out of his quarters. He'd thrown the crutches out first and then he'd hoisted himself up and soon found himself ungracefully sprawled on the floor in the hallway. Usually Book would help him at this point – which was fine because he was discreet and never made much fuss about it – but he wasn't here now and Jayne had had to struggle a little to get up on his healthy leg, glad River hadn't been there to see him.

She'd walked into the galley half an hour later while he was whipping up some breakfast, not even offering h