Title: Memoirs of a Mechanic
Summary: When Simon wants to leave Serenity, will Kaylee be able to leave the ship she loves and go with him? Post-BDM.
Spoilers: The Big Damn Movie, possibly a few episode references here and there
Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly, cause if I did I'd make damn sure that it was still on the air. All the characters belong to the amazingly talented Joss Whedon, and not me. I'm just going to play with them for a little while.
Pairings: Kaylee/Mal, with some Kaylee/Simon until then
Author's Note: If you read this, please let me know what you think of it :)
Important Story Note: This is going to be a Kaylee/Mal story, even though it might not seem like it at first, so if that bothers you, I wouldn't recommend reading this.
Floating somewhere in the vast depths of space was a ship. This ship, a Firefly model, was nothing extraordinary -- at least upon first glance. But if you bothered to look beyond the chipping paint, and paid no mind to the chunks of metal that occasionally fell off its frame, you'd come to learn that there was, in fact, something very special about this ship. It's name was Serenity.
Aboard Serenity was a motley crew, to be sure. Take the captain – he was a former rebel, nothing but a washed-up browncoat, yet there was no man more loyal to his friends and crew. Under his command were a basketcase-cum-pilot, a dedicated first mate, a stiff (but genius) doctor, and a menacing (but dim-witted) mercenary. There was also a young woman with a naturally cheery disposition and an affinity for engines – the ship's mechanic, of course – and her name was Kaywinnit Lee Frye.
Kaywinnit Lee, or Kaylee as she was known to her friends, hummed quietly while tending to Serenity's engine, softly harmonizing with the ship's gentle purr. That wasn't a surprise, though -- anyone on board the ship could tell you that Kaylee and Serenity always seemed to be in tune with one another.
She loved being in the engine room because she always felt at peace there. Problems often came up, just like in the real world, but these were problems that she could always fix. The solutions were usually simple, whether she had to get a new part, do some fine-tuning, or just add a little bit of extra love and care to her work.
Kaylee's peaceful humming was soon disrupted without warning, however, once Simon (the aforementioned doctor) bustled into the room with a sense of urgency. If she hadn't seen her boyfriend make his entrance, she certainly would have heard him come in with all the commotion he was making. Reluctantly letting herself get distracted from her work on the engine, Kaylee was shocked to find an emotion on Simon's face that she wasn't accustomed to seeing -- pure, unadulterated joy.
As was usually the case with people's emotions, she found his to be infectious, and soon a large smile found its way to her lips as well. She was about to ask what all the fuss was about when he cheerily picked her up and twirled her around in a circle. A squeal of delight left her throat as she was in the air, and she wondered what in the 'verse could have gotten into Simon. He certainly wasn't being his usual reserved self.
"Simon, what's goin' on?" she asked laughingly, excited to hear what she knew would be good news.
"Oh, nothing," he said in a tone that told her there was definitely something, and that something was going to be big. "You're just looking at your non-fugitive boyfriend," he said casually.
"What?" she asked in complete surprise, and if possible, her smile got even larger.
He beamed back at her and took a deep breath, as if he was trying to stop himself from bursting. "There are no longer warrants for the arrests of River and I on the Cortex. The Alliance must have realized that it's useless to find us now that the truth has come out about Miranda. River and I are finally free," he said with so much emotion that he almost choked on his words.
"Shensheng de gaowan!*" Kaylee shouted and leapt onto Simon, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
Using his strong arms to hold her up, he laughed happily and pressed his nose against hers. "Interesting choice of words," he commented.
"I don't care much for words right now," she told him and kissed him longingly, as she had many-a-time before in that very room.
He returned her kiss with an equal amount of passion, and awkwardly carried her over to the hammock so that he could prop her down. Once he did, he started kissing her neck and she arched it back, partly because she wanted to give him easier access and partly from reflex. His kisses slowly trailed along her neck, heading upward toward her ear and making Kaylee shiver. "Now… this means… that I can finally… leave Serenity," he said between kisses, enjoying the feel of her skin under his lips.
Kaylee's eyes shot open at his words and she felt as if she had been slapped. Like a popped balloon, she was deflating with frightening speed. Immediately pushing him away, she looked searchingly into his hungry eyes. "What do you mean, leave Serenity?" she asked.
A frown found its way to Simon's features, and he hesitated a moment before talking. "Well, now that I'm no longer a fugitive I planned on trying to start a life somewhere," he told her.
His words sliced at her heart, and Kaylee understood all too well what they implied.
Simon had never been excited about living on a spaceship. Now that he finally had the chance to go somewhere else, he wouldn't think twice about leaving her behind. Swallowing the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat, Kaylee stood up, leaving Simon sitting alone on the hammock. "Well, I hope you have a nice life then," she said and walked away, not knowing where she wanted to go but just knowing that she wanted to get away from him.
"Kaylee!" he called out in a panic-stained voice. He reached for her before she could flee, making her turn around and face him. "I don't think you understood me," he said softly, using his thumb to wipe away the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks. "I want you to come with me."
"Come with you?" she asked with a furrowed brow, as if the idea of leaving Serenity was so foreign to her that she couldn't even understand it.
"Yes, Kaylee. Come with me," he repeated slowly, letting her soak in the words.
"But… but Serenity's my home, Simon," she protested feebly, wondering why he couldn't comprehend that.
"I know, Kaylee, I know," he replied, but she could tell from the tone of his voice that he really didn't know at all. "But you can't expect to live in a spaceship forever, can you?" he asked.
She was too self-conscious to tell him that she had, in fact, expected that very thing. As long as Serenity was in the air and as long as Mal would let her, she'd planned to stay. Serenity was more than a home to her— Serenity was her life.
"Think about it Kaylee," he started, as a faraway look entered his eyes. "We could live in a house or an apartment together. I'd work in a hospital, making a comfortable living, and maybe someday we could get married."
"Married?" she asked with wide-eyes, wondering if his words counted as a proposal.
"Well, yes," he said somewhat awkwardly, looking at her unsurely. "Have you never thought about it?"
"I guess I have," she said truthfully, "but I always imagined us living here afterward. Like Zoe and Wash did…" she trailed off sadly, sobering at the thought of the fallen pilot.
Simon sighed heavily and took her hands in his. "Kaylee, I love you," he told her and her mouth involuntarily opened in surprise. It was the first time he'd ever said those words to her in their six-month relationship. She was about to speak but he silenced her with his finger, needing to finish what he had to say. "I love you," he repeated, "but I can't stay here. Not for the rest of my life. So now it's up to you to decide whether you want to come with me or not."
Squeezing his hands tightly, she felt the tears from before starting to reform in her eyes. "I… I need more time, Simon," she told him and looked at him pleadingly.
He nodded, as if he had expected her to say something of the kind. "I can give you that," he said gently. After kissing her lightly on the cheek he walked out of the room, pausing at the doorway. He opened his mouth, as if meaning to say something, but then thought better of it and continued walking.
Kaylee watched him leave and then cuddled into herself on the hammock, unable to stop the oncoming barrage of moisture from releasing itself from her hazel orbs. A million thoughts assaulted her mind at once, but one silenced all the others. "If I really love Simon as much as I should," she whispered to herself, "then why is my heart telling me to stay with Serenity?"
*Shensheng de gaowan! = Holy testicle Tuesday!
Note: Should I continue? Please let me know if you'd like to read more.