Title: Stand and Stand By

Author: Ana Sedai

Rating: PG

Character(s): Simon

Prompt: 086 - Silver

Word Count: 1,000

A/N: 21/100 for Mal/River Joss100.

Summary: Simon weighs in on Mal and River’s relationship…thing.

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It had been raining. That was really all Simon could remember about the day that he’d left home. It hadn’t been a storm, just a slow, steady, silver drizzle that made it seem like the entire planet was crying.

He himself had moved beyond tears long ago. All that was left now was cold hard purpose. His goal was clear: get River out. Everything else was details. His parents’ disappointment, his career in the toilet, cutting ties to everyone he’d ever cared about, none of it meant a damn thing. His baby sister was in pain, and he was going to save her. That was all.

Well, he’d gotten her out. Saving her, however, had proven to be infinitely more challenging. The wide-eyed girl of fourteen who had wanted so badly to learn had become…something else. Some one else. Oh, she was still mostly the old River, with her dances and wild stories, but she had an edge now, an edge as black as night, as black as the space that they now called home.

He hadn’t considered this a good thing. His mei mei had no business knowing how to most efficiently kill a man, or how to fire a gun, or knowing secrets worth killing hundreds for. But he’d be lying if he said she hadn’t borne it well. Her darkness was a part of her now, as much a part of her as her grace or her intelligence. She was more than forceful; she was a Force.

On some level, he knew that the days when he had the final say over River’s life were long gone. Kaylee had reminded him not-so-good-naturedly that River was almost a woman full-grown. “You gonna try and stand between her and everything the ‘verse dishes out? Can’t be done, Simon. You know that better’n anyone.”

And he knew that. He did. But…she