While Mal was gone, Simon just looked at Kaylee’s resting body, replaying both River’s and Inara’s words. He had to be there for her. He couldn’t stumble over his own words or he’d mess up and might not be able to help Kaylee at all. That option was not something Simon was willing to accept. He WOULD help the girl and he would be there for her, maybe even tell her how he truly felt, if he could build up the courage after what had happened to her. Hearing a low moan from the girl, Simon squeezed her hand and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. For whatever reason, the young doctor began to sing a song from the old Earth by a group known as The Beatles. “Blackbird singing in the dead of night/take these broken wings and learn to fly/all your life/you were only waiting for this moment to arise /Blackbird singing in the dead of night/take these sunken eyes and learn to see/all your life/you were only waiting for this moment to be free/blackbird fly/blackbird fly/in the light of the dark black sky/” Kaylee’s unconscious grip upon Simon’s hand seemed to loosen as he sang, her body relaxing. River looked at her brother, eyes widened. She hadn’t heard him sing since before she’d been sent to the Academy. Maybe he wouldn’t mess up this time, maybe. “How is she, Captain?” Mal looked to Zoe and sighed quietly. “The doc says she’ll pull through. Now, our job; it’s a legal one, so we there’s less of a chance the Alliance will follow us. We need to get three crates from here to Osiris. Medicine transpo.” “Isn’t that…?” “Yes. We can actually use this to our advantage, so long he and River stay on board…so Wash if you’ll…” Once again, a comment was cut off, this time by a crash in the hull. “What is going on in here?!” Mal glowered as he stalked towards the Hull, to see Bester standing there, looking out of place, which he was. “Bester what is the meaning of this?” “I was wonderin’ if you needed a mechanic.” “No. We have…” Zoe put a hand on Mal’s shoulder. “It might be good to have one at least to Osiris, that way Kaylee can recuperate.” Mal thought it over some than nodded. “Fine; Bester, we’ll hire you for this one job, but at Osiris, you need to get off. Do you understand?” “Yes, sir!” “Good. We’ll set you up in the passenger compartments as we’ve no where else for you to be. Zoe, will you lead him there. I’m going to go check in on Kaylee.” Zoe nodded and led Bester towards the Passenger Department, not liking the fact that he was here, it just did not sit well with her, but she knew that they would probably need a mechanic for the week trip to Londinum, and felt it was important for Kaylee to rest. Upon entering the Infirmary, Mal noticed that Simon was singing, so he cleared his throat, causing the doctor to jump. “Any change?” “She’s relaxed some.” “Good. We are headed to Osiris, so if there is any information you can think of that will help us get to the main Hospital to make this trip go faster, now would be the time to tell me.” “Why…” “The old one wants his job back and wants the new one to himself.” Mal and Simon looked at River, who was still lying next to the sleeping Kaylee. “River…” “Don’t worry. He is only here for the trip to Osiris so that Kaylee can rest.” “Who?” “The mechanic we had before Kaylee.” Mal left out the part about how he had met Kaylee. It didn’t seem appropriate. As Simon nodded, the captain noticed how tired Simon looked. “Why don’t you go get something to eat or drink? River and I will look after Kaylee.” While Simon didn’t like the idea of leaving Kaylee, he knew that Mal was right, and it would only be for a few moments. Getting up, Simon walked to the kitchen, and made himself some coffee. While there he heard Zoe and Wash talking. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Bester, as in the Bester that took to having sex with Kaylee in the Engine Room is on board?” “One and the same.” Simon spit out what coffee he had in his mouth at that comment. “E…excuse me?” Wash and Zoe looked at Simon than each other, before Wash answered Simon’s obvious unspoken question. “Bester was our former mechanic. One day Mal found him and a girl in the Engine Room doing, well, you can imagine. Anyway, to make a long story short, Bester hadn’t fixed the ship, claiming it was messed up, but Kaylee corrected him. Mal was impressed with her knowledge and the fact she made the engines work again and offered Kaylee Bester’s job.” Simon nodded slowly. This was a lot of information to digest, and it would appear he might have competition for Kaylee’s affections. Wait! What was he thinking? This was no time to worry about his own wants and needs. The main priority was being there for Kaylee, he couldn’t let his jealousy interfere with the mission. Mind made up, Simon headed back to the infirmary, none too happy about the information that he had just learned, but determined not to let it interfere with his original goal of helping Kaylee through this dark time, to ‘warm her soul’ as River kept putting it.

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So yes. Don't expect anything from me until I'm guessing Monday. But I figured I'd get this up before I leave. Hope you all enjoy.