Author's Note: I finished Firefly tonight (of writing this author's note) and I'm actually super frustrated because, guys, this could have been my new fandom. This could have been my new thing, and I've needed one for so long, but NOOO, no, it has to just have one season.

But oh… what a season :,)

Anyway, I'm gonna try to hang onto my inspiration and obsession for as long as possible, so here we be.

Chapter 1:

The Serenity crew had been given a rare window of on-planet free time, and, considering their marketplace location, most of them had spread away to do some shopping.

Or, window shopping, at least. The crew hadn't scored a job in what felt like weeks, and funds were running pretty thin. But still, it was nice to pretend, to wander the streets looking at the dusty luxury goods that could maybe, someday, be theirs.

Simon had had enough of luxury to last him a decently long time, so he chose to trail behind Kaylee like a domesticated turkey: awkward, puffed up, and ugly (but hopefully in a cute way?). Window shopping was one of Kaylee's favorite activities, though it always filled her with insuppressible longing.

"Just look at all that pretty stuff," she sighed, hanging on to Simon's arm as she gazed up at department store displays. There was one particular line of skirts Simon could see her eyes locked on: floor length and impractical, looking almost like a layer cake decorated with icing.

"Hmm…" he replied, not quite seeing the appeal. He'd witnessed women clothed in the highest luxury garments before—in fact, Inara was often dressed fairly opulently.

—and they never looked like this. This wasn't beautiful, it was almost… tacky.

"Imagine if I were ever rich enough to buy that sorta thing," Kaylee went on, not registering how noncommittal he'd been. She reached out and brushed her fingers through the dust on the class, leaving behind clear streaks and powdery fingertips. "I'd have a closet full of beautiful things that I could look at and touch and wear whenever I liked."

Dissatisfaction, as a concept, worried Simon. He'd seen it a lot in River as a child when her studies weren't engaging her. She always moved at the breakneck speed of Wanting More, and it pained him to see that same interiority in Kaylee, just with material goods instead of intellectual pursuits.

"You don't need any of that stuff," he told her soothingly, giving the hand wrapped around his elbow a light pat. "Why do you need to be pretty? You're a mechanic."

Before the last word had even left his mouth, Simon knew he'd messed up big time. A wall slammed over Kaylee's face: her mouth tightened into a line, the crinkle in her eyes vanished, she yanked her hand from his arm and seemed to curl in on herself, shoulders hunched.

"No, wait, Kaylee-" he started, clapping a hand to his head. "I didn't…"

He'd seen this reaction to his careless, unintentionally hurtful words so many times, usually only realizing his mistake when she shut down. But this time, her reaction went one step further, and instead of turning stone cold her face began to crumple.

"Why are you always sayin' things like that?" Kaylee demanded, eyes swimming for only a second before the tears were pouring down her cheeks. "Do you hate me or somethin'?"

"Kaylee, no," Simon tried, tried to reconcile, tried to reach out for her.

Kaylee stepped back quick, scrubbing at her face and pushing her tears up to her hairline. Sometimes she acted in a way that was almost childlike—not immature, but vulnerable and open like only a child who hadn't seen the monster of life could be.

Which, for the record, made no sense, because Kaylee had seen dozens of monsters. She'd seen good men shot and had shot some less-than-good ones herself, she'd seen families ripped apart and communities destroyed, she'd seen people without medicine or food or homes, and yet, she was still glowing. She was a little firefly herself, their Kaylee.

And now he, Simon, idiotic insensitive domesticated-turkey jerk Simon, had made her cry.

"Kaylee," he began again. "I didn't mean that, I swear. It didn't come out right."

"Oh, sure," Kaylee spat, backing away some more. "No, you prob'ly meant to say just a mechanic, didn't ya? A dirty little mechanic who shouldn't want anythin' pretty or nice for herself, including you? Lemme ask you this, Simon, why do you let me drag you into the backwater with me, huh? Why don't you just throw me out, mechanic trash that I am?"

"Kaylee!" Simon protested, his gut wrenching. "None of that is true!"

"Oh, just leave me alone," she sobbed, turning away fully and taking off at a run.

Simon began to follow her, desperate to make amends and not just leave her to stew in this pain and hurt he'd inflicted. But as he reached the town's busy intersection, Kaylee took a sharp left, and before he could follow a group of tourists holding shopping transporters cut in front of him and blocked his path.

By the time he untangled himself from the cumbersome bunch, Kaylee had disappeared into the dirty streets.

Kaylee didn't particularly know where she was going, but all she could think about was getting away. Simon didn't deserve to see her cry: he wasn't safe enough, clearly, since he was always the one causing her tears.

Why did he have to act like that? One minute he could be making her feel like the prettiest, sparkliest, shiniest cog in the engine, and the next she was like a rusty piece of junk to him, set to be thrown out at the next trash dump.

She deserved better, didn't she? She deserved someone who thought she was worthy of lovely dresses and jewelry, even though she was just a mechanic and Simon didn't think she was even pretty.

An echo of his words washed over her again and Kaylee sobbed harder, so many tears in her eyes that she couldn't even see.

So, she shouldn't have been surprised when she slammed, fully-body, into another person.

The two dropped hard, dust exploding into the air on impact. Kaylee had been so excited to leave the ship, but now she hated this stupid, dry planet with its stupid dresses and stupid people who were getting in her way. And she hated stupid Simon. Maybe she could convince Mal to take off without him.

She lifted her head, wiping smears of salty mud, dirt mixed with her tears, from her face as her eyes smarted.

And there was River.

"I tried to catch you," she said forlornly, hands spread open in her lap. She'd somehow landed squarely on her knees and was now sitting comfortably. "But you were too small. You fell right through."

Now she was small, too?

"Well, thanks for nothin'," Kaylee spat, shoving herself to her feet. "And sorry for bumpin' into ya."

River's head floated into a tilt and she gazed up at Kaylee with a soft expression on her face. "You're not crying because you fell on the ground. You're crying because you fell for Simon."

Of course River would know what was going on. She always knew, she knew a creepy amount of information, she knew everything, but Kaylee didn't want her to know this. Not right now.

"Leave me alone," she mumbled, trying again to clean off her face but only getting more dirt in her eyes. All she wanted was to wash up and then be alone in her engine room and tell Serenity everything that had happened that afternoon.

"Simon is so stupid," River told her flatly. "And his tongue doesn't work."

"Stop makin' excuses for him," Kaylee snapped. "Every time I think he's gettin' better he's just mean to me all over again. It's like there's two different Simons."

River nodded her understanding and lifted to her feet. She was so slender and graceful she sometimes looked like an actual body of water, weightless and shifting with the slightest current. Kaylee was almost jealous of her sometimes but… truthfully, with the amount of trauma River had endured and how cracked her mind was, Kaylee didn't exactly want to be her.

"We should go back to the ship," Kaylee said, wrapping her arms around herself. "Or… I'm gonna go back to the ship. You can do whatever ya like, I s'pose."

River stepped in close and took her hand. "I would like to stay with you." She paused, and smiled lightly. "Because if I see my brother, I will tie his legs together in a bow."

That was just enough to make Kaylee crack a smile. "Thank you," she whispered, and allowed River to lead her off.

For a few streets, all was normal. Then River began to go tense. Just slightly at first, each of her fingers tightened one by one, then her light steps began to stutter, then at each corner she began stopping entirely.

"River?" Kaylee questioned, her own steps slowing. She'd learned by now to trust River's intuition and notice her body language, and this was a classic River tell of something being off.

River flapped the air by her head, looking rapidly between buildings. The crowd flowed around them as they came to a full stop, right in the middle of the street.

"Bang bang," she whispered.

Then Kaylee screamed as two gunshots split the air.

Author's Note: Could someone please explain to me why physical violence is the only thing that inspires me enough to write a multichapter fanfiction?