One Genius Mechanic, Chapter 13
Title: One Genius Mechanic, Chapter 13
Author: Kalli
Rating: T
Pairing: Established Jaylee
Thanks: To anyone who is reading or encouraging me
A/N: Have a job that can keep me off the grid for weeks at a time. I am home this week and making the most of it. Earlier chapters were posted on this site, and I appreciate everyone who took the time to read and comment. If you have any suggestions or more detailed feedback, feel free to hit me at kalliopekore@hotmail.com.
Summary: Kaylee was stolen away by the crew of the Tempest to lend her expertise to the kind of crime they pull. The situation has gone from bad to worse as she ship’s first mate Drake has all kinds of designs on Kaylee that have nothing to do with her mechanical aptitude. Jayne and Mal have finally gotten ahead of Kaylee’s captors, and are fighting to bring her home safe and sound.
Chapter 13
For a man of his size, Jayne had tremendous physical discipline: silent and fast. He made his way through the ship from front to back in search of trouble, and found only two of Trent’s crew. He subdued them both with more force than necessary but less then he had to offer.
Wash had gotten him a floorplan off the cortex and he had committed it to memory not long after Kaylee got took. Cargo bay, galley, crew quarters, infirmary; Jayne had enough control of the space to move onto his objective: the engine room. Her wavs said that was where she was being held. Jayne took the steps to the engine deck two at a time. He threw one quick look over his shoulder as he reached the top of the stairs, and finding no one alerted to his presence he approached the doorway. The door was open and in the center of the room was a column, where he could see Kaylee sitting, back to the pole, arms fastened to it high above her head; her head hanging to her chest.
It took every ounce of discipline he had not to rush to her. He took the time to be careful, inching towards the room and checking every corner until he was sure they were alone. Then he let himself take in the sight of her.
She wasn’t moving, and breathing a little more shallow and quick than normal. She was wearing the same coveralls she had on the day Trent took her, tied around her waist. Her hair was longer, and she was thinner, too. He could see cuts on her wrists telling him this was a fairly typical position for her. The short sleeve shirt she had on made it possible for him to see the bruises and marks on her arms, some normal engine scrapes and some the size of a large man’s hands.
All of that was enough to make him crazy, but it was her face that broke his heart. There were still tears on her face where she had cried herself to sleep and bruises that only come from being beat on. She had a gash on her right cheekbone that would’ve gotten stitched if the Doc had been around, but was now likely to scar.
He caught a glimpse of the keys on a bolt by the door and got them before he bent down in front of her, steadying himself with one knee on the ground. He reached to wake her by brushing her arm. Despite the gentleness of the touch her reaction panic.
Kaylee began struggling at her chains. She pulled her knees up to her chest trying to protect herself and jerked her wrists trying to get them down from the pole. She was grimacing in pain before Jayne could even get his first words out.
“Kaylee. Babygirl. It’s me.”
He unlocked the bindings and held her hands there a second longer than he had to until he was sure she had her bearings. Once her eyes locked on his he let go, only to have her fling herself at his chest crying. “Oh Jayne.”
“Shhh. You’re OK now, Kaylee. You’re gonna be fine now. I promise.”
With a quick kiss to her forehead, he took hold of her upper arms and leaned her back against the pole. He reached up and placed his hand tenderly on her face; his thumb brushing over the cut that was there. He winced imagining the force of the blow that had put it there, but Kaylee didn’t move.
“I need you to tell me if you’re OK. Can you stand up? Can we walk out of here?”
She nodded her head quickly up and down, and Jayne took hold of her, lifting her to her feet. He didn’t like the way her face showed the pain, letting him know there was plenty wrong that he hadn’t yet seen, but he pushed it out of his mind.
“It’s a trap. Drake brought the men. They figured out what I did. He’s looking to hurt Maestro. He’s…”
“Maestro ain’t alone. He has plenty of muscle with him, and Mal and Zoe. They aren’t going to let anything happen. Let’s just get you out of here.”
She nodded her head again.
“Now stay behind me.”
Another nod, but as he turned to lead them out she made a noise like she remembered something. She turned, too quickly for her current physical state, and had to steady herself on the pole. She used the pole, engine casing and wall to help her make it over to the far side of the room.
“Kaylee, what..”
She reached behind a panel and pulled out a book that looked a lot like a diary. She slid it in the back of her coveralls until it was secure and went back to standing behind Jayne. He didn’t ask any questions: just asked so he could be sure. “You ready now?”
One last nod, and they were gone. Kaylee grabbed his hand and followed.
When they got outside Kaylee’s eyes had a hard time adjusting to the light. She hadn’t been off the boat in nearly 5 weeks. As they ducked around the corner, Jayne saw she was having trouble keeping up. “You need a hand, Kaylee?”
She shook her head. “Where’s Serenity parked? You can go ahead and help Mal and Zoe and I’ll get back to the ship. I know this dock like the back of my hand.”
“Them two are fine, and I ain’t letting you out of my sight ‘til you’re back on Serenity.” He wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her, and she leaned in letting him support her weight as they walked to the landing pad. He knew he was pushing her faster then was comfortable, but he was desperate to get her back on board and out of danger. He encouraged her the whole way, all but carrying her along side. He still had hold of her as they made their way up the ramp.
“Jayne?”
“Yeah, babygirl?” He turned to see her face.
Her hand stayed on his arm. “Did you hurt yourself? You OK?”
Jayne looked at his arm and twisted it trying to see what she was talking about. In taking out one of the Tempest’s crew, he must’ve gotten cut. It had stopped bleeding and was nothing more than a scratch now. He looked back at her, laughing and shaking his head. “Me? Am I okay? You looked at yourself lately?”
Just as Jayne panicked that he had said the wrong thing, Kaylee smiled; just a soft indication that depite her pain, her spirit was intact. “Actually, no. Pretty bad, huh?”
Jayne put his hands on either side of her face and gently kissed her forehead. “Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
She rested her head against his chest and grabbed hold of him.
A slight sound of footsteps drew Jayne’s attention, and he saw Inara out of the corner of his eye. He needed to get Kaylee to the Medbay and get himself back to the yard. “‘Nara!”
“Kaylee!” Inara made her way down the stairs in record time and as she hugged the younger girl Jayne shifted Kaylee’s weight and arms to be leaning on Inara completely.
He put his hand firmly on Inara’s shoulder. “Get her to the Doc and stay with her.”
Inara nodded her head quickly.
Then he reached for Kaylee. “I need to go back to Mal and Zoe. You’re gonna be safe here, I promise. Need you to get checked out by the doc and stay put. We’ll be back in no time. Can you do that for me.”
Kaylee nodded her head, and he kissed her again on the forehead. Inara took hold of Kaylee and was guiding her towards the medbay when Simon and Book arrived. Simon immediately began helping Inara with Kaylee, and Jayne motioned for Book to come over to him.
Jayne grabbed one of his girls from the holsters on his leg and handed it to Book. The preacher took a small step back and shook his head, but Jayne interrupted the protest. He took Book’s hand and placed the gun into it. “Don’t have time for you protesting what we both know is all over your past. You lock this boat up tight and keep her safe till we get back.”
Kaylee looked back over her shoulder at Jayne. He gave her a wink that brought the hint of a smile to her face and he headed back to deal with Drake.