Simon was sorting through his inventory when Mal stepped into the doorjam.

'Doc. Need ya for a second.'

His head snapped towards Mal, eyes skipping over him to rest on Kaylee, who was hovering behind her captain, eyes downcast.

Simon turned his full attention to the pair, but kept himself from rushing up to them.

'Yes?'

Mal didn't answer right away; he was too preoccupied with taking Kaylee by the hand to lead her into the room.

'Got a patient for you,' Mal stated, returning his attention to Simon once he knew Kaylee wouldn't bolt, her hand safely captured within his own.

He stepped back as he gently pulled Kaylee forward, effectively handing her over to Simon when he released her fingers from his own.

Kaylee turned fearful eyes back towards Mal when she realized that there was noone left to hide her from the doctor.

'S'okay meimei.' Mal said, quirking his lips into a smile for her. As much as he hated to know that he had put that expression on her face, he knew that she needed to sort things out with the doc, though he hardly knew what, and that doing it now rather than later would undoubtably be less painful. 'I'll be right outside the door; you gotta have a talk with the doc. All that fancy doctor-patient confindentially means that I gotta leave, hmmm?'

When his eyes met Simon's with a significant look the doctor gave him a belated nod back, staring for a moment at the spot the captain had recently vacated.

Simon's gaze then shifted to Kaylee and he watched her for a moment, waiting for her to turn around, but after a stretch of silence he drew his courage together and moved forward to take her hand.

She flinched but didn't turn around, and Simon further gathered himself, drawing and releasing a breath before beginning to speak to her.

'Kaylee' he softly began, giving her hand a gentle squeeze to encourage her to turn her head back towards him. 'What's wrong?'

'Oh,' she pulled her eyes from the door, moving her head back towards him but keeping her eyes on the ground. 'Nothin' much really; just caught up my hand on the engine.'

She made no move to show him her hurt, and so he had to reach for her other hand, turning her body more towards his own as he did so. He glanced to her face for permission, though her eyes were still downcast, before taking her injured hand into both of his hands. He used his thumbs to spread her fingers away from her palm, frowning at the torn skin and blood.

'Here,' and Simon led her over to the bed, sitting her down on the side before bustling about the room, grabbing salves and bandages. He then made his way back to her, 'Give me your hand.'

She silently complied, staying still and silent as he cleaned and wrapped her palm.

Simon stayed as quiet as she was while he worked, returning her hand to her lap once he was finished. He then reached up, tipping her chin until her eyes met his own. She looked away as soon as their eyes made contact.

He sighed, 'Kaylee, you're shaking. Will you please just tell me what I've done?'

Tears welled up behind her eyes and a sob left her throat.

'Kaylee...'

'NO! No, Simon, it ain't you. Don't see why you're bein' so nice... I wouldn't be surprised if you never wanted to talk to me again.'

And she dissolved into tears, her actions betraying her lies.

Simon blinked in surprise, pulling the hand under her chin back only to replace it with both of his palms on her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake to get her attention.

'Kaylee, what're you-'

'I told him, okay? I told him, and you should hate me, an', an'-'

'Told who what? Early?'

'Where you an' River were! You've both saved my life and I couldn't even do the same... I just told him and-'

Simon leaned forward and hugged her, effectively cutting off her rant. She sobbed and shuddered in his arms, and for a moment it was all he could do to rub her back and make calming noises. When her violent shaking had abated slightly and he knew she could hear him, Simon began.

'Kaylee, listen to me, alright? There's no way I blame you for anything-'

'But-'

'No, just listen for a minute, okay? What that bastard did to you is unforgivable, and he did it even though you gave him all the information he asked for, right? Can you imagine what he would have done if you hadn't told him?'

He paused at this point, making sure that she was paying attention before he continued.

'He would have killed us all... none of us would have made it, and for that we all owe you. If you hadn't stayed there with him, if you hadn't been brave enough to stay silent instead of screaming and scaring him off, River never would have had the time to pick up on your feelings and alert the crew before he found us. We would probably all be dead right now. So I don't ever want you to blame yourself for any of what happened, okay? In fact, I want you to promise that you'll stop all of this silliness right now, and just focus on getting better, okay?'

Simon paused for a moment, panting slightly, listening to her quiet snuffles, when the colour drained from his face and he realized what he'd just said. He pushed her back away from his body to look at her face.

'B-but I don't mean that I wanted you to - for him to - I mean to say that, it's just, if you hadn't -' he broke off, seeing the beginnings of a smirk on her face. Thankfully he hadn't messed up like he usually did.

He leaned forward, tipping up her chin again, and this time she let their eyes meet and hold.

'What I mean to say - and what I mean to mean - is that you're very brave, and that nothing that man has done to you or that you did in response that could make me hate you or love you any less-'

She blinked at him in surprise.

-'aaaaas a fellow crewmember, and, you know, a friend too.'

He coughed a little bit, a faint blush starting to colour his cheeks.

There were a few moments of near-quiet while Kaylee snuffled herself into speaking.

'Thanks Simon.'

He nodded, pulling her into a hug, 'You're welcome Kaylee.'

There we go, finally up! It's been written for a while (along with a bunch of other stuff, actually... another two oneshots for Firefly and one for Bones, so watch for those). Sorry about the lateness; my Grandmother has been sick and things have been a little stressful; hopefully the next update won't take nearly as long! Thanks again to ferocious mope; love the reviews! Wish that I could say more here but I'm about to run out of power on my laptop, so I had better just post this.

Ciao to all of you, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter! -Moksgmol