Jayne Goes Home

Jayne lay in his bunk, glaring at Kaylee knowing that his glare doubled her meddling. "Come on Jayne, Cap'n says he needs everyone on side for this. This town can be a mite ornery 'bout strangers and if they find they don't meet all of us well we might lose the job."

"Tell Mal I'm sick." Kaylee fixed him her widest shiniest smile and called out for Simon.

When the doc walked in he looked warily at Jayne's gun collection. Putting on his best serious-doctor face Simon checked his temperature. "Kaylee would you please go tell the captain that Jayne is indeed ill and unable to join us."

"Right you are Simon, and Jayne I'm sorry I thought you were faking." With that little remark Kaylee bounced out of the room.

"Why are you so anxious to avoid this place? It's not another town where you're a folk hero is it?" Simon sat on the chair across from Jayne and stared at him.

"Naw. I'm just sick is all."

"Jayne, I can go and tell Mal that you have made a miraculous recovery, or you can stop being a pathetic infant and tell me." The options as Jayne could see them were this: Tell the truth and have the whole gorram crew know his past, lie and have the whole gorram crew think they know his past or he could shut his mouth and then the cap'n would find out he was fakin and drag him on this job, by his neck, then the crew would find out everything all on their own. "Look I pulled a job here a few years back and went south, the other guy shot through with everythin and I was left with nothin."

"Ok, forget I asked I will tell Mal you're sick- you can keep up this charade as long as you need, but just remember Kaylee will mother you and I won't stop her and if she finds out we've been lying I'll say you threatened me and I won't be the one getting berated."

The crew spent a long day in town getting to know the locals, as policy on some border moons dictated. As it approached dusk, Mal sent his crew back to Serenity to start making some supper. He however had some business to set up