Title: Mercenary
Author: Slipstream
Summary: After the blast doors close, Jayne gets ready to do his job. Spoilers for the BDM.
Rating: PG-13 for language and dark themes
Them blast doors are thick, mufflin' the sounds of the carnage pretty good, but Jayne can still hear the howls and screams of the reavers behind it. Can't hear the girl, though. He wants to think that she's dead, but he's seen what a reaver will gleefully do to a person, so he ain't optimistic.
The sounds here on this side of the blast doors're just as bad. Simon's pained, gurgling sobs for his sister, Inara's helpless attempts to shush him, Kaylee's horrible silence, Zoe's heavy breathin' as she drags herself into a shooting position and starts reloading her shotgun. The hard set of her mouth and the cold burn in her eyes makes Jayne glad that he's not gonna be on the recievin' end of her gunfire. Sonnuva bitches fucked up big time when they took the little man down.
But he's kiddin' hisself if he thinks that Zoe's anger and his guns are gonna get them out of this. His grenades are gone, and his left shoulder is too fucked up to aim Big Beth proper no more. It's down to the handguns for Jayne. He props himself against the cold steel wall and sets about reloading Freda and Pauline. Pretty as his girls are, they sure as hell won't be able to take out all a' them reavers bangin' and hungerin' for their flesh outside, but they'll be enough for him to do his job, to protect the crew.
Won't take much, he might even get by with just one clip if he shoots it right. He's already got the order all lined up in his head. Take the most defenseless out first—Kaylee and Simon—then Inara and the crazy girl if she's still alive out there and somewhere where Jayne can hit her. He'll give Zoe a few more moments to take out her grief with her shotgun before reuniting her with her husband. Hell, Jayne'll even shoot Mal, something he's thought of doing once or twice under different circumstances, if the old bastard makes it back in time.
Jayne hopes to God the reavers don't get to him before he has the chance to put one of his girls to his own fool head and pull the trigger. It'll be a bitter sort of end, not one Jayne would've normally chosen for hisself, but it'll be far better than the alternatives.
Besides, Mal trusts him to do his job, and he's not going to let him down. He's the mercenary, the hired gun, and while he ain't no saint, bent scope or not, he does know a thing or two about mercy.