Author's Notes:
Hey all – just a beginner, so try to go easy on me. I love Simon slash fics, especially Mal/Simon or Jayne/Simon, and this is partially in homage/inspired from a fanfiction author named Juli, who wrote a one-chapter fic on Simon struggling with fitting in and a spring in his mattress, the poor baby. Her work is awesome (pm if you want a link to her site), and hopefully this will be my own version and extension of some of her ideas.
Definitely gonna be AU diverging from some point before Ariel. I may work in aspects of Safe/Ariel into the story later on, but it's definitely not going to be canon and or missing obscure little details so no complaints! My writing, my artistic liberty, mwahaha! Of course, general critic is always welcome. Flamers will burst into little poofs of sunshine and rainbows.
I will take suggestions for shipping, because I'm not sure exactly where this story is going to wind up. Just enjoying writing something un-science/research related.
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"meimei...River! You need to take your meds -"
Simon grunted as River squirmed and struggled, escaping his grasp with one last frenzied kick and an elbow into his solar plexus.
CRASH
Simon stopped his attempts to restrain his sister, gazing down at the shattered syringe on the floor.
"Won't do it – not helping!" River shouted, eyes glistening in frustration as she stood in the corner of the infirmary. "You said it was time to wake up, but you're the one stuck in the dream. Your hands are staining blue, just want the pretty dancing doll, but don't know how to make the glue to stick the pieces back together."
"What is going on in here?"
Simon turned to see Mal standing at the infirmary's entrance, frowning at the mess of equipment and the broken shards of glass on the floor. River took Simon's temporary distraction to skirt around the glass and Mal, quickly disappearing. Simon sighed in frustration, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off the headache growing quickly at his temples.
"I'm sorry, River -"
"Apologies won't replace all the equipment and supplies you seem to have broken or wasted in the short few months you've been on my boat." Mal crossed his arms and leaned forward. "Your sister is your responsibility, son. Now I've gone out of my way to help you two to remain out of the Alliance's reach, let your stay on my ship, but it won't be at the cost of my crew. What happens if one of them gets injured in the next job, and we ain't got no supplies to patch them up because your sister seems determined to escape you?"
Simon's frustration peaked, his voice rising with each sentence. "I can't help figure out what's wrong with River if I have no medical supplies either! You haven't landed a job in months, I can't buy replacement medical supplies for the infirmary with no mone-"
Mal matched his raised volume, barking back at him. "You're not crew, and you don't get paid whether we have a job or not! I'm letting you and your sister stay on this damn boat in exchange for your medical skills, and MY money is not gonna be spent on supplies that are wasted because you can't keep the girl under control."
Simon flinched, backing down at the captain's angry words. He continued, seeing that he had taken control over the argument. "Persephone's our next stop. You broke it, you bought it – I expect to see those supplies replaced, no more excuses. Don't matter much how you do it, we'll be there for a few days. Maybe barter some of your doctoring skills to them that need it, but you'll do it with none of our remaining supplies, and the next time this happens, you'll not like the consequences. Dong ma?"
Simon nodded, head down.
Mal turned and strode out of the infirmary, leaving Simon to slowly sink to the ground, sitting on his heels and staring a hole into the ground. He had no money, having sacrificed everything he owned to rescue River from the Academy. If he couldn't use the ship's supplies, he very likely would be unable to treat anyone on Persephone for money, and if he risked trying a clinic, even a backwater one on the outskirts of Persephone, he might be identified and handed off to the Alliance. But he didn't bother explaining that to the Captain, not when it would only make things worse. He could try selling some of his clothes...what little he had brought with him, most was still in good condition, but it wouldn't cover the cost of replacing the supplies.
Simon sighed, standing back up and beginning to sort through the mess. He'd have to think of something soon – they were supposed to land in Persephone in two days.
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"No!"
"Meimei..."
Simon could feel his headache turn into a roaring migraine as he cornered his sister for the second time that day, this time in the corridor outside their rooms. As she lunged to get around him he managed to wrap an arm around her waist, finally raising the injector to her exposed shoulder. For his efforts, he was brutally kicked in the shin and knocked back into the base of a ladder, River darting away only to bump into the Shepard who had just stepped out of his room hearing the commotion. Book held her upright, stopping her own fall and keeping her from running for a third time.
Simon sat up, wincing in pain. "Thanks Shepard, I -"
"I think it's best you two were separated for a while, from the sound of things." Book commented, frowning down at the ruffled doctor sitting on the floor. His voice sounded mild, but when Simon met his gaze, his eyes were cold and his expression disappointed. River sniffled into his shoulder as he continued.
"I know you want to help your sister, but it might do you some good to stop being her doctor and start being her brother. You have a sharp mind, son, but you got to learn to handle things a mite gentler. That sharp tongue of yours has already hurt Kaylee. It seems to me you could stand to shed some of that core-bred pride and stop looking down at folks and expecting them to always see things your way. You do that, and maybe you'd see your sister hurting from *your* actions."
Simon swallowed at the shepard's scolding tone, and the sight of his sister crying and comforted by someone else. "But I..."
"I'll look after her for the rest of the evening."
Giving in to defeat Simon nodded silently, and Book led River down the hall and out of sight. Alone and aching, the silence only added to his frustration and despair. As sounds of cooking and laughter began to emerge from the kitchen some time later, he couldn't bring himself to eat, instead getting up from the floor and moving into his room, curling up on the hard mattress. He didn't know what to do. It felt like from the moment he had stepped foot on the ship, everything he said either seemed to make people angry or hurt.
He had grown up on the core, a place that was supposed to be the definition of fine breeding and behavior, but everything he knew about how to act and what to say seemed to always be wrong. And once Kaylee had gotten over her crush and was offended not only by his words but his lack on interest, her anger had swayed Inara. Wash understood his occasional slip of the tongue and sarcastic wit that were mistaken as sharp barbs, but Zoe and Jayne were inherently mistrustful of anyone core-bred.
Now, to make things even worse, his failure to find a cure for his sister's fluctuating symptoms would get them both tossed off the ship. The chances of them getting lucky again and finding another ship or location safe from the reach of the Alliance was slim to none, and he had no doubts that the moment that happened, they wouldn't last a day before he lost her forever to the Alliance. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen. As Simon drifted off to sleep, he promised himself that whatever it took, he'd find a way to keep the infirmary stocked...keep them on Serenity.
