Now, if you haven’t figured this out yet, I’m a huge Simon/Kaylee fan, as is my friend Megan. So, Megan and I were talking and we wondered if Simon and Kaylee weren’t the only two available singles on Serenity, would they still be good friends and, possibly, fall in love. The following story takes that idea and runs with it. In this hypothetical world (AU or elseworld) River didn’t go to the Academy, preventing Simon from having to go on the lam. In this world Kaylee’s past is different too. She’s on Osiris, Capitol City, working as mechanic in the hospital where Simon is a trauma surgeon. It’s a snapshot of their lives and, just to warn you, it’s very bittersweet.

Would you, Could you?

“Well, hey there Dr. Tam,” Kaylee said in her warm familiar way.

“Hello Kaylee,” Simon replied, politely holding the door for her as they exited CC General's E.R. staff entrance. “What are you still doing here, I thought you got off at four?”

“I do,” Kaylee sighed as she reached behind her head and pulled out a grubby bun, letting her soft brown hair cascade down to her shoulders. “Some brilliant nurse spilled a cup a green tea on the CCAP controls so’s a course it shorted out. An’ then when I get into it I sees they got the whole thing cross wired with the M-Dar, which just don’t even make sense but floor manager told me they got them machines from the same company and had some zui huai dan, pardon my Chinese, install the ‘quipment an’ so, since neither machine weren’t gonna be wrokin’ ‘till CCAP’s circuits dried out I figured I mighta’well clean up the whole mess then’n there. ‘Caus ya know, if I don’t, nobody else would and then one a them would have some serious problem an’ the whole set would be down fer a week!”

Kaylee looked up from her impassioned monologue to see Simon chuckling softly.

“What?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” Simon said, shaking his head, “It’s just I’ve never met anyone as passionate about medical equipment as you. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh at you . . . that is, I wasn’