Disclaimer: Own them? I wish. Nope, they're all Joss'.
Author's Note: It, uh….this is so someone else's fault. I'll blame my muse. Please forgive the obviously out-of-character Simon, but he just really needed to hit...someone. Takes place about 3 months after the movie.
Summary: An unexpected stop on Osiris leaves the crew on edge and brings both Mal and Simon a world of trouble. Well, perhaps a bit more trouble for Simon, truth be told.
There were a least half a dozen other planets that they could have chosen to take Inara for her yearly physical; unfortunately all of them were more than three days hard burn away and entirely out of their way. So they had ended up here, on Osiris, despite Simon's deepest protestations.
Mal could hardly blame the boy, because he was about as keen on the whole situation as his resident medic. Mal had never been to Osiris before, which mattered not a wit, because it was still a gorram Core planet, and Malcolm Reynolds hated Core planets.
They docked on the outskirts of Capitol City, and Mal got off the boat only long enough to see the dock warden about dockage for two days. He ordered everyone else to stay put and even went so far as to threaten to lock anyone in their room who dared to set a foot out of the airlock. No one was terribly interested in arguing with him.
He saw Inara on her way; checked to see Kaylee had started a full engine check; made a purposeful pass by the infirmary to ensure the resident fugitives were all accounted for; and then settled himself on the bridge with Zoë.
Simon had barely glanced up from his inventory of supplies when Mal had walked by. The Captain had briefly inquired about River's whereabouts, but had seemed satisfied enough when Simon had said she was in her room drawing.
Simon sighed; it was not easy to return here, to this place he had called home, knowing it was no longer home and that he was no longer welcome. River had asked if they could get off, of course; if they could see daddy. If Mal hadn't forbidden them, Simon would have, but it was hard to see the sadness in her eyes. She had been well since Miranda, or at least more normal then she had been since the escape from the Academy. Well enough to entirely understand that they could never see their parents again.
Simon's fingers stopped going through supplies and he leaned against the counter. They could never see them; never truly return home. Even though they could land on Osiris, it wasn't the same.
But Simon also realized that it was one thing for him to walk away from it all, but for River, who was still partly that fourteen year old girl who had left her family to start a new adventure, it was something else entirely. Simon had said his goodbyes, knowing it meant forever, but River had never had that chance.
And though Simon had not forgiven his parents for not believing that River was in trouble, his sister did not harbor any such grudge. She deserved a chance to say goodbye. And Simon deserved the chance to explain to his parents what had happened.
Simon put his list down and turned to leave the infirmary. He jumped in surprise when he saw River leaning against the doorframe.
Forcing a smile onto his face, he edged out of the room. "Did you finish your drawing, mei mei?" he asked as he led her over to the couch.
But River did not smile back, and her brother knew she had picked up his train of thought. "Time to say goodbye." It was not a question.
"Yes. Would you like to write them a letter? Maybe send Mother one of your drawings?"
She nodded. "I won't say anything," she assured him, even as the thought flitted through his mind.
"I know." And this time the smile was genuine. "I'll ask Mal to take it once you're done."
"I'll be quick," she said and practically skipped out of the room.
Simon sighed again, and then rose to scrounge pen and paper out of the nearest drawer in the infirmary. He had a letter to write too.
Gabriel Tam's fingers hesitated before opening the letter. He wasn't quite sure what had cause it; certainly not the postal stamp that identified it as mailed yesterday within the city; or that it had been months since they had last received a written letter; but perhaps it was the vague familiarity of the handwriting.
He shook out the letter and then stopped as a second page slipped from his hand to drift to the floor. Surprised, he stooped to pick it up, and gasped. This handwriting was more than a little familiar.
"River," he breathed, in something less than a whisper. Suddenly worried, he looked around to make certain none of the servants or his wife were in sight. And then he went and locked himself in his study.
Malcolm Reynolds froze as a pounding echoed through the cargo bay; it's origin the loading door. He did not generally startle easily, but since this was a Core planet and he was harboring known fugitives, and he was just paranoid when it came to the Alliance, he pulled out his gun before he'd fully registered the motion. Keeping himself as hidden as possible he crept towards the hatch. There was little point in pretending no one was home, because if it was Alliance they would just pound the door down, and if it wasn't they would likely guess that no one would be stupid enough to leave a ship unattended at the dock.
Mal reached out cautiously for the hatch handle, and then stole a quick glance through the window. No Alliance, but something much stranger.
A single older man, dressed in the kinda clothes that marked him as the type of person Mal generally avoided. But then, if he was looking to hire for a job, rich clothes meant money, and Mal was really never one to pass up money.
He sighed and swung the door open, stepping back to let the man enter. But he kept his gun gripped in his hand.
The man took a brief, disgusted look around the hold, and then shot an even more disgusted look at Mal.
"I'm looking for Simon Tam," he said.
Mal carefully schooled his expression from one of shock and anger to as blank a look as he could manage. But he tightened his fingers on the gun.
"I'm afraid you'd be looking in the wrong place, sir. Ain't no one on my boat by that name."
Apparently that wasn't going to be enough to dissuade him. Gorrammit, Mal thought, he knew coming back to Osiris would be a recipe for disaster.
"I've already checked with the Docking Master, and he says there were only two non-Core ships that docked here yesterday. Since I've already been to the other ship and discovered it to be an absolute despicable heap, I'm left to assume this is the ship I'm looking for, whatever you may say."
Mal opened his mouth to give an indignant retort when a cry behind him made him frieze.
"Daddy!" And suddenly River was racing by him in a blur and throwing herself into the arms of the stranger. Mal resisted the urge to groan, but instead he put his gun away. No need for it…yet.
"River?" He heard Simon call out from the back and turned to observe the good doctor's face when he recognized the man. Mal wasn't disappointed.
Before he could do anything, Simon had strode across the bay and rammed his fist into his father's face. Gabriel Tam went down like a stone.
Mal bit back a grin, but allowed himself a moment of deep respect for the doctor's nerve.
"Simon! You are such a boob!" River shrieked and took a swat at her brother. Simon was busy gasping for breath and trying to ease the pain in his fist.
"Everything alright, sir?" Zoë called from above. Mal blinked a few times at her before answering. "It's, uh, under control. I think." She raised an eyebrow and returned to the bridge.
Mal turned his attention back to the scene in front of him. Gabriel Tam seemed to be recovering his senses and was sitting up with River's help. Simon was still huffing and glaring angrily, so Mal decided he better take charge before anything else involving violence took place. It looked as if Simon was very much contemplating hitting his father again.
"Mr. Tam, allow me to help you," and without waiting for an answer he hooked an arm under the man and was leading him towards the infirmary. Despite Simon's obvious indifference to the fact that his father's lip was bleeding rather profusely, Mal didn't really want blood all over the place. And so, while Simon stood at the entrance to the med bay, Mal found a piece of gauze to soak up the blood. River seemed to be thoroughly upset, though whether that was over her father's bleeding lip or her anger at her brother for causing it, Mal was not entirely sure. She was making up for it by talking faster than she could breathe, and Mal was rather amazed that her father seemed to be able to understand the endless flow of words. Mal had lived with the girl more than a year, and even since Miranda he had a hard time understanding her.
"Simon," she finally whined at her brother. That seemed to snap him out of his haze, but he continued to glare meaningfully at his father as he examined the damage his fist had caused.
Mal took it as his cue to disappear. Besides, he was sure Zoë would find this whole thing quite amusing when he relayed the story.
"You'll live," Simon announced to his father, in a voice laced with disappointment. River glared at him again.
"He doesn't mean what he thinks, only what he says. I missed you daddy." But Gabriel Tam was ignoring his daughter.
"I think he meant it full well. Tell me, Simon, did that feel good? Taking all your frustration out on me?"
"Actually, if felt damn good, and I'd like to do it again." Simon paused, and seemed to attempt to calm himself. "River, would you mind letting us talk? Why don't you go help Kaylee?"
She seemed about ready to protest, but then decided against it. Though she made sure to thoroughly glare at her brother some more on her way out.
"Any what, pray tell, do you want to talk about?"
"Oh," Simon said, "I can think of a few things. I left most of them out of the letter, because somehow, it just didn't feel good enough to write them down on paper. They needed be spoken…forcibly."
"How dare you." Gabriel was rising from the table and looked about ready to swing his own fist. But Simon was not the weak child he remembered him to be.
"So, you want to hit me too? Go ahead, if you think that's going to end this conversation." A pause, and then his father stormed out of the room. But Simon wasn't going to let him get far.
"Why did you come? You think you can just waltz in here like it's the estate and order us around? We're not under your control anymore, and we've done quite fine on our own the last while."
"Fine? Fine!" Gabriel Tam had obviously had enough. "You call this fine? Living on this piece of go se smuggling ship, breaking the law, taking up with God knows what kind of people, somewhere at the ass-end side of the galaxy, with your sister? How could you expose her to this? How could you do this to us? Do you have any idea what our friends thought went you up and vanished from the hospital one day? We had to tell them all you'd been transferred!"
Simon couldn't believe his ears. "You're mad at me for that? For ruining your precious reputation? They were torturing her! The gorram Alliance was cutting into her brain, and you have the balls to complain about your social status! If I hadn't left to find her she'd still be there! Is that what you want? Maybe that's why you didn't seem to care, you were just happy to be rid of her!"
Gabriel visibly flinched at the accusation. "How dare you! Your mother and I love her. She was the one that wanted to go!"
Simon's mind registered the fact that they were shouting loud enough that everyone on the ship could hear. And that everyone was probably watching too, but he didn't dare to turn around and check. He just hoped it didn't upset River too much. "Because that makes it better? That justifies you just leaving her there when I told you she was in trouble? How do you get off—?"
"How do—? You broke the law! You became a wanted fugitive and made her one too! She had everything, and you took it all away to live on this gorram boat!"
"I haven't heard a single complaint from her. And better this life than living as a lab experiment for the Alliance!" He'd just opened his mouth to hurl another insult when a scream from the catwalk above made him stop.
"Stop!" River's voice was piercing in its intensity, and Kaylee who was standing beside her, scrambled to plug her ears. She waited until her brother and father were both giving her their full attention. "Stop yelling; you're hurting everyone's ears. Simon, you shouldn't be yelling at daddy. He just wanted to see us again. And daddy, stop being mad at Simon. He's right, you did leave me. I waited for you to come, but you didn't come. Simon came. And he rescued me. And he's taken care of me. I love you, but you need to leave now."
Shocked into silence, her father just stood and stared.
"Go," Simon said, taking a step forwards. "We're happy here. That should be enough for you."
Gabriel Tam looked between his children. Anger began to spread once more across his face, and with a jerk of his hand he cast the letters onto the cargo bay floor and strode off the boat, slamming the hatch door behind him. Simon winced sharply at the noise as he bent down to pick up the discarded letters.
Small hands took them from him, and then proceeded to tare them into little pieces. River watched them fluttered to the ground like snowflakes. "Bye daddy," she whispered. Simon could only stand and stare as she left the bay. But there were no tears in her eyes, he noticed.
"Oh, Simon," Kaylee comforted as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry."
"It's my fault. Look what I've done now. She deserves parents and I've just driven them away."
"Wasn't you, sweetie. He drove himself away just fine. Maybe he loves you, maybe not, but you've done fine here, just the two of you. You're all she needs." Simon wanted desperately to believe her. "Come on; come help me with the engine." Despite the fact that that thought held little interest, Simon still allowed her to lead him out of the hold.
He just made out what Jayne said from the catwalk as he disappeared into the lower rooms.
"Huh, though'd it was just the sister was screwed up."
Simon made a mental note to have a 'talk' with Jayne later on. He glanced at Kaylee. Much later on.
Hum, perhaps there should be something more to this. But Simon's a little upset at the moment, and needs to calm down first. My ears are still ringing.