Title: Just What She Wanted

Occasion: Mercsgoodgirl's Birthday! (Dec 2)

Rating: M

Pairing: Jayne/Kaylee

Disclaimer: I don't own diddly. Joss is da man! Just letting the muse play in the sandbox for fun.;D Self-beta'd, so all goofs are mine. Please enjoy! ;D

Author's Note: I have to credit the ever-so-talented Mercsgoodgirl for getting me started in fanfiction in the first place (Thanks, Ma'am!). For darn near a year, I lurked and read, devouring her wonderful fics before I tried my hand at one myself. And who was kind enough to beta that first fic, offering supportive comments and fixes of boo-boos? Well, Mercsgoodgirl, that's who!

Thank you for the delicious reading, for your many contributions to the Firefly fanfic community, in written word and support of new writers and the many other ways you simply rock! In appreciation, and for your birthday (belated, though I did start this on that day), I offer you my first attempt at Jaylee… Hope your day was wonderful, and your year is super shiny!

Part 1/2

.~.~.~.~.

Kaylee let the wrench hit the floor with an echoing clank and a streak of cuss words that would have made her Momma wash her mouth out with lye soap.

"Sorry, girl," she said, patting Serenity's floor grating under her back. "Ain't meanin' none of it toward you. Ain't your fault."

Damn it, it weren't fair, not a bit of it, she groused to herself, cussing everything from the Cap'n's rotten luck…

(And just how come it was her had to stay behind to fix the gorram problem, when it was him what told her not to spend coin on them new parts she'd done told him fifty-eleven times was wearin' thin, and him what got to go to out on the town with 'Nara while she stayed here, today of all days, and tried to reroute the whole gorram system so as to not need them parts just yet?)

…to the oppressive heat on Jianying…

(Just once, would it be too much to ask for the atmo cooling system to break down somewhere, oh, cold?)

…to not a one of her ship's family wishin' her a happy birthday…

(Figures, she was the only one what kept up with that sort of thing. Didn't expect no cake, nor nothin' but a 'Happy you was born, Kaylee', wouldn't kill nobody. )

…to Simon Tam's return to the Core…

(Think ya know somebody, think they can change. But the second the Feds lifted them bounties on him and River, well, all a sudden, Ol' Man Tam remembered he had young'uns. Didn't take but two waves to Simon and the fancy pants doctor's gone.)

Kaylee swiped the sweat from her eyes, feeling a little bit spiteful about thinkin' that. Point of fact, it had taken more than just Gabriel Tam whistling to get Simon home, but it still stung anyhow. That first wave had told the Doc that his folks wanted him back. His pa had even got his job back at that fancy Core hospital he'd left, and was willing to pay twice the coin to get him.

'Course, Simon had flat refused, knowing he couldn't take River nowheres near the Core, even if the 'Liance said they wasn't after her no more. Couldn't trust the Feds half as far as a man could chuck them, and Kaylee'd been real proud of Simon that even he hadn't been that easy of a mark.

She'd been fair certain everything was gonna work out just shiny with Simon after that, even if they didn't quite see eye to eye on everything. Like the sexin'. Oh, sure, it was right romantical, the way he was so sensitive, how he wanted to court her a while, with lots of hand-holdin' and Core-fashioned notions about what was 'proper'.

Was just like somethin' outta one of them fairytales, when he did get round to sexin' her, lots of tender emotionin' and kissin' … it was sweet, that's what it was. Damned near made her cry, that first time. And the second. And…well after bout the tenth time of missionary position, and him gettin' apoplectic when she'd try to change things up a bit, ride 'cowgirl' style, or when she'd bent over and wiggled her pi gu at him, wantin' it a little more dirty, a little less… Simonish…

Well, it were damned near borin', was what it was. And she could just forget about either of them gettin' oral sexin' worth layin' down for, cause that were too 'unsanitary', he'd said with that painful look on his face he got like he'd been asked to lick the inside of the septic vat.

Kaylee wrinkled her nose at the memory. Kinda ruint the mood, when she wanted him to go down, but he'd got up first and fetched himself some of them an-ti-septic wipes to swab her nethers down fore he'd hesitantly put his mouth on her. She'd tried to be supportive of his inhibitions, told him it was okay, she understood, least he had tried and maybe someday…

That old saying keep going through her head, about being careful what ya wished for, cause it might land square on your lap.

"Guess I didn't think on that, when I's pinin' after what I thought I wanted," she muttered, rifling through her tools for the right sized wrench.

Didn't matter long, though, not once River up and did what she did. Didn't see that coming, that was for sure, but it made sense after everybody got over the shock. After Miranda's secret got spilled, the girl hadn't been quite so feng li (she could think it now, without feeling too awful bad bout it, knowin' there'd been a reason River couldn't keep all her marbles lined up straight.)

After her daddy's wave to Simon, River had got this quiet, sad look all over her. Spent a few weeks just staring at her brother like he'd gone to the gallows or something, finally muttering cryptic like about him being stuck with what life he had, not the life he'd prepared for.

Kaylee squirmed a bit, not too proud of what she'd thought during that time, since she'd read River's new attitude as relating to Simon being stuck with Kaylee, havin' to 'settle' for a Rim-rat and not the fancy Core heiress he'd been raised up to marry. Weren't but a few days after that, when they'd touched down on Persephone for business that River had disappeared.

Didn't nobody realize it till they was in the Black again. River had begged off going into town with her, saying she felt sick, like 'little bugs crawling on her brain', and was going to lay down in her room. She had locked her door, like she'd taken to doing for the past few weeks, and not a soul thought to question it till she weren't there for dinner.

Mal had used his captain-y override of the door locks, but the only thing in River's room was a neatly made bed and a couple of envelopes. The one addressed to her was short and tearstained, but Kaylee had understood immediately. Simon fought with the Cap'n to turn around and get River back, but Mal had thrown up his hands and stormed off. When the Doc finally sat down and read his sister's note, he got real quiet and quit fighting.

"Dear Simon," he'd read for them all in the lounge later, after he'd composed himself, as River had asked him to, "I love you, all of you, but you won't find me. Please don't try. You gave up everything for me, Simon, and you saved me because of it. But because of me, you're kept from living your life as you would choose. To live for yourself. And the responsibility for that is more than I can continue to bear."

"I want you to be happy, whatever form that takes, but so long as you bear the weight of obligation to me around your neck, you will be the hero and consider only my well-being. It is time for you and I both to be free, to live by our own design. My destiny lies in another direction. Yours is in your hands."

She'd gone on to explain how she would elude him, if he sought to track her down. That she was capable, thanks to him and the crew she'd come to love and consider her only family, of taking care of herself. That with Miranda's horrible secrets purged from her mind, she could now function and access the knowledge and training the Academy had forced upon her, and those would keep her safe whether the Feds liked it or not.

To his credit, Simon had stayed on with Serenity even after that. Stayed with her, and not said one word about the job offer on Osiris. But then his father had waved again, this time with his mother beside him.

Simon had figured the hospital had been working with the Feds, using him to get River back, but the invite still stood once he told them bluntly that she was gone, and wouldn't be found. Regan Tam had cried open tears at that, and old man Tam's face had got that pinched white look Simon's did when he was scared but didn't want to say so. They'd nodded sadly, saying she'd always had a stubborn streak, but that weren't why they waved.

Seemed now that all their old friends knew he weren't an outlaw no more, it was all good and shiny to associate with the Tams again, and that made Simon Tam a very sought after commodity once again. There'd been invitations to fancy shindigs and high teas and more than one offers of marriage from respectable families. One of them offers had come from the family of the gal he'd been set to marry before River had wrote him that coded message about how the Academy was hurting them.

Kaylee had felt like hot hydraulic fluid had been poured on top of her heart. All this time… all the things she'd shared with him, personal things good and bad… and he hadn't once even mentioned he had been engaged. Din't one time even hint about it.

She could see it in his eyes. River needing somebody to watch out for her had been enough to keep him out here in the Black, living on the edge of No and Where, giving up all that proper, fancy society life he'd be bred to live. Kaylee wanting him to stay, loving him, was not enough.

So she made it simple for him. Didn't cry. Didn't throw a spanner at him, though she wanted to after he just nodded and looked relieved. That hurt the most, she thought, that he didn't even try to deny it or look like she had it wrong, but looked at her like she'd given him a pardon from a hanging. Next port of call, he'd been off the boat and that was that.

Kaylee swiped at her neck, not her eyes, since she'd shed her last tear over Simon Tam. Sure, she'd gone back to spending a goodly amount of her wages on batteries, but at least when the buzzer was cold and unresponsive, she didn't have to ask herself why. But weren't nothing cold right now, and weren't gonna be, she didn't get this system fixed.

Scooting back out from under the engine, Kaylee leaned over to the little fan she'd set up for some cool air. Her tank top had done got soaked through, and even though she weren't wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off shorts, the fabric still was keeping the fan's air from getting her cool as she could be.

A little blush come over her at her next thought, but gorramit, why not? Weren't nobody on the ship but her, no how. Not one of 'em had offered to stick around in the hotbox when they could be out in the breeze dirt-side. That rankled her a fair bit, too, though truth be told she didn't blame none of 'em for not wanting to melt. And weren't nothing she could have scrounged up for them to do, 'cept sit there and keep her company and melt. 'Sides, if anybody was around, she couldn't strip down to her drawers and get a bit of cool relief.

Kaylee peeled out of her clothes, leaving nothing but the little lacy panties she'd bought back when she'd had such high hopes for her and… well, didn't matter no how. Never got the chance to wear them for him. Bracing herself against the wall in front of the fan, she moved a bit side to side, trying to get the slightly cooler air to as many spots as she could.

Gorramit, that was nice, the little breeze from the fan hitting the sweat on her body, sending a wave of relief through her. She spread her feet a little, so the coolness could caress the heat from her inner thighs and nethers, so lost in the blissful feeling that she didn't hear the jauntily whistled song until it was coming down the back corridor. Somewhere in the relief-filled haziness of the back of her brain, she recognized the tune, just before the deep male voice started belting out the chorus.

"Oh! Susannah! No, doncha cry for me… 'Cuz I come from A-la-bam-a with a – ruttin' hell!"

To be continued in Part 2/2…

Hope you enjoy, reviews are most welcomed! ;D