One of these things stayed the same: the disclaimer or the soundtrack. Which one? Well, turn on: "Catch My Disease" - Ben Lee and ponder it for awhile... :)

"Kaylee, get me the bright-light!"

"What? Somethin' wrong, Simon?"

"River," he replied, and that was all the hurry she needed.

"Gorram girl's fixin' t' die on us!" Jayne yelled down the corridor. "Mal, you's better get in here fore she goes!"

"She isn't going to die," Simon said, attempting to sound confident even though he wasn't really sure what was going to happen. He checked the monitor; her heart rate was rapid even though she had stopped breathing again. Her lips had gone blue, as had her nail-beds. Her back arched, once, twice, and her head slammed into the bed. "Come on, mei-mei, don't do this again."

Mal appeared in the doorway. "Ruttin' hell, what's goin' on?"

"She's having another seizure," Simon explained as Kaylee rushed in with the bright-light. "Shine it on her face, see if she opens her eyes."

Kaylee did so. "River? River, sweetie?"

"How far are we from Spake's Fault?" Jayne demanded of the captain.

"Maybe three hours. But they ain't got medical facilities there, nothin' that could help her."

"She's not dying!" Simon said exasperatedly. "I just… I wish I knew what was in that drug Miles gave her."

River gasped a breath and tried to say something. "Shh, shh, sweetie," Kaylee said. "Don't talk." Then she looked up at the crew. "Or are we letting her talk?"

"She can sing fer all I care," Jayne replied, attempting to say so off-handedly but failing somehow.

"River, mei-mei, listen to me. Come on, I know you're in there. It's Simon. Come on back, you hear me?"

Her back arched again and her feet slapped the bed hard, her arms flailing. She gasped again. Simon pursed his lips and grabbed a needle off the counter next to him, filled it with the remaining anti-convulsant he had in stock and injected it into the line still running into her arm.

"That'll do it, Doc?" Mal asked worriedly.

"As long as she keeps breathing," Simon said, not taking his eyes off his sister's face. "Kaylee, keep up the light. River, open your eyes, you hear me?"

Kaylee flashed the bright-light across River's face again, her own face tight with worry.

"River, open your eyes," Simon said, louder. "River, listen to me."

One more gasp, then her breathing became regular, if fast. When she was on the verge of hyperventilating, she gasped once more and her head fell back, slack.

"River, listen to me, open your eyes. Shine the light, Kaylee."

"I went away again," River said groggily, squinting in the glare of the bright-light.

"Damn straight you did," Jayne said.

"But we're all still here," Simon said. "Here, swallow this for me." She opened her mouth obediently and he fed her a spoonful of sticky orange glucose syrup, designed to prevent all sorts of evils. It must have not tasted very good, for River made a face and tried to spit it out. He had no idea whether or not it would prevent another seizure, but he figured it was his best plan. His heart was pounding, he guessed, almost as fast as River's. She had been close to the edge, but… no. He wouldn't even think of it. It was over; he had played the hero again, fought death and won. "Swallow that, River. Jayne, will you take her to her bunk? Make sure this stays connected to her arm, please."

"What're ya doin', Doc?" Mal asked.

"Bring in the spy. It's time I do some interrogating of my own."

"Fer some reason I like th' sound o' that," Jayne said as he lifted River off the bed, gently carrying her and her IV line. "Come on, Crazy. Yer goin' t' bed."

"I'll get Mr. Cromwell," Mal said, following Jayne out of the infirmary.

"Whaddya gonna do, Simon?" Kaylee wondered as she switched off the bright-light.

"Honestly?" Simon asked as he moved around, trying to clean up the mess he had made taking care of River. "I don't really know. I just want to find out what this guy's… master plan is, I suppose."

She nodded. "Sounds good t' me. You need this anymore?" she questioned, gesturing to the bright-light.

"Keep it charged, just in case River goes off again," he replied. "If you would."

"Will do, Doc." She gave him a radiant smile, grabbing the bright-light, and left.

Mal reappeared in the doorway, supporting the spy. "Yer patient, Doc," he said, only a mite sarcastically.

"Oh, God!" the spy was yelling. "You shot me!"

"Is he still talkin' bout that?" Mal asked Simon, as though the spy was deaf. "Seems he'd have figured out that I did it fer all the right reasons."

"Don't worry, Mr. Cromwell," Simon said as politely as he could muster. "I'll take fine care of you."

Mal and Simon hefted the passenger up onto the bed, where just moments before, Simon's sister had been fighting for her life. The spy leaned back, breathing heavily. "Now, Mr. Cromwell," Simon said, trying to keep his voice level and polite, "I'm going to have to anesthetize you."

"Fine, fine, do whatever you need to do!"

"I'll leave you two alone," Mal said. "I'll be just outside if ya need anythin', Doc. You just holler and I'm here."

"Thank you, Captain," Simon said. Mal left, and Simon saw him through the windows take up residence at a chair right outside. For some reason, Simon felt better knowing that Mal – and his guns – were at an easily accessible distance.

"What are you going to do first, Doctor?" Miles asked in a very soft voice.

Simon looked back at the spy, startled. "Well… uh… first I thought I'd…"

"Just admit it, Doctor. You're going to torture me until I give you what I want."

"You must have misunderstood," Simon said a bit shakily. It was as though the spy was reading his mind! "I'm a doctor, I heal, not torture. If anybody's going to torture you, it'll be the Captain out there." His hands moved to a bottle of anesthetic and he drew a needle-full. "I just… I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Ask away," the spy said, waving his hand like a ruler bestowing mercy on his subjects.

"What was the drug you gave my sister?"

"I can't tell you that."

Simon set the needle down and picked up a pair of scissors, which he used to cut open the spy's pants. "Why not?"

Miles gasped in pain. "I just… I can't."

"Who gave it to you? Nobody on Wanderlust has that kind of drug." Simon was guessing, as he didn't know what the drug was.

"How do you know?" Miles demanded, his eyes wide with pain. "I could have my sources. Spies usually do."

"You didn't remember you were a spy until the Captain interrogated you," Simon shot back. "Where did you get the drug? Who gave it to you?"

"Why're you so interested, Doctor?" Miles questioned. "It's not like she's going to survive the night anyway."

Simon backed up as though he'd been shoved. There were a score of drugs he know could induce seizures in "normal" people. The list of drugs could reach into the hundreds with River, as he had no idea what would set her off. Only a few of them were green. Only a few of them could kill. "She'll survive. River's a survivor," he attempted to assure Miles, though it sounded to his ears as though he was reassuring himself, rather pathetically in fact.

Miles smiled, a bit sadly. "There are some things that people just… can't survive. Even your genius psychic sister."

"You better tell me what you did to her, or you won't be surviving."

"I've already served my purpose, Doctor, I am not afraid of death. And you are not a very good negotiator."

"Your purpose?" Simon asked, bringing a pair of tweezers closer to the bullet hole in the spy's knobby knee. "What was that, exactly? Killing River?"

"Dear Doctor, I am only a pawn in a much greater game of chess." Miles's eyes were closed in pain. "Are you going to take that bullet out without anesthetic?"

"It wasn't my first plan."

"Then I suppose I should tell you something, huh, in reward for using drugs? That's a sick little trade, Doctor."

"That'd be nice, instead of you wasting my time and bleeding all over my infirmary." Simon was surprised at how harsh his words sounded.

Again with the smile, except this time it was a little more genuine. "I was born…"

"I really don't care where you were born," Simon informed him.

"My dear Doctor," Miles said, "I believe I am still the one in control."

"Why? Do you have an antidote for the drug you gave to River?"

"I might," the spy said offhandedly.

Simon sighed. He disliked this game of cat-and-mouse but he knew that he would have to play by the spy's rules, especially if he was telling the truth. "Fine. Go ahead."

The spy smiled once more, grateful that Simon was going to play along. "I was born on Ariel, to a wealthy family. It was always expected that I would do great things."

Simon tried not to shudder; it was as though the spy was recounting Simon's history instead of his own. Hopefully the next few sentences would reveal the man's deep-seated psychosis, which would differ from Simon's life.

"But instead I decided to become a spy. Well, not a spy exactly, that term is so crass and outdated. I was going to serve! But, sadly for me, my dear Doctor, I was denied access to any of the Alliance's armies. So I went underground. I joined up with the Starboard Force."

"Spies," Simon said in disgust.

"I told you I dislike that term," Miles said with a tense but polite smile. "I was a servant of my people."

"But you only had one assignment," Simon reminded him. "Which, so far, you've failed at."

"Ah, my dear Doctor, you only know what you have seen on those disks. Yes, I know you took them. Are you all really innocent enough to believe that a spy – if you choose to call a man that – would save his full assignment on a disk where it could be discovered and used against him?"

"I suppose not," Simon admitted. "So what was your full assignment?"

Miles shook his head; it was clear the pain was getting to him. "You think I'm stupid enough to reveal that? I'll tell you and you'll just run off and spill it all to your beloved captain."

"Why are you here?" Simon demanded.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Doctor." Miles closed his eyes.

"Hey, come on!" Simon said, sticking the tweezers into the bullet hole. "You have to tell me what you did to River!"

"Doc!" somebody was yelling from down the corridor. "Doc, you'd better get in here!"

Simon took a minute to lock a pair of cuffs around the spy's wrist and the bed. He had no intent of letting the man go to wreak further havoc on Serenity and her crew. The man fell silent and watched as Simon collected a few supplies hurriedly, his eyes large and pain-filled.

"If my sister dies, Mr. Cromwell," Simon swore as he was hurrying out of the room, "you are going to die with her."

"Kaylee, get the gorram bright-light!" Mal yelled the order down the hall. "Jayne, we need that orange syrup stuff and a spoon!"

"Comin' right up, Cap'n!" Kaylee called back, running for the engine room where she'd stashed the bright-light.

"I'm on it!" Jayne shouted in return, making for the infirmary. He blew in, not even noticing the spy, who was still cuffed to the bed, unconscious now from pain. "Good thing yer out," Jayne muttered as he was leaving, glucose syrup in hand, "otherwise I'd shoot ya."

Simon was standing over River as Jayne reentered the bunk. Kaylee had arrived lugging the bright-light, which she had switched on. Mal was standing at the door, looking nervous, his hand on his gun as though that would save them yet again. "Okay, Jayne," Simon said, beginning to move into crisis mode, "I need you to give her some of that syrup."

"How much?" Jayne asked, the bottle of orange syrup looking very tiny indeed in his large hand.

"A spoonful or more. Kaylee…"

"I know. Light duty." The mechanic obediently switched on the bright-light and flashed it across the girl's face, which was contorted in the throes of the seizure. "River? Sweetie?"

"How long has she been like this?" Simon asked Jayne.

"Jest since I called fer ya." It was the first time Simon could remember Jayne looking scared. Reavers didn't faze the man that much, but throw him in a room with a seizing mentally traumatized psychic genius and watch how quickly his face grew pale. Jayne noticed Simon watching him and quickly busied himself getting the cap off the bottle of orange syrup, which he found to be a difficult task.

"What did he tell ya?" Mal questioned.

"Nothing, except some boring go-se about his lousy life and his only assignment. And he dislikes the word 'spy,'" Simon replied a bit sarcastically. "I really wish we had some more…"

"Some more what?" Mal demanded before the doctor could finish his sentence. "We can try t' get ya some stuff on Spake's Fault."

"Mal, there ain't nothin' there," Jayne said, having successfully removed the cap from the orange syrup. "They ain't got medical facilities t' speak of. They got maybe one doctor… ain't sayin' he's good or nothin'…"

"Are you sure that was the last bottle?" Kaylee asked, ever the optimist.

"I'll go check," Mal offered. "What did it look like?"

"It was small and glass and had a blue label on it," Simon answered, trying to take River's pulse without being smacked in the head with her flailing arms. Mal darted out.

"Is she breathing, Doc?" Kaylee asked, flashing the bright-light at him accidentally.

"Hey!" Simon yelled, a little louder and a little more angrily than he'd expected.

"Sorry!" The bright-light was quickly removed from his vision and refocused on River, whose spasms were slowing, becoming a little less frequent.

"Yes, she is. But maybe not much longer. Especially if she chokes on that syrup." Simon was rapidly reconsidering his first decision.

"Hey now!" Jayne exclaimed. "I'm just doin' what you told me t' do."

"I know," Simon said faintly. He was growing more and more panicked by the minute, minutes River obviously did not have. "Just… give it to her. It looks like she's all done… seizing. See if she'll swallow."

Jayne tipped the spoon into the pale girl's mouth and a bit of the sticky syrup disappeared. River gagged. "Simon," she said, or at least that was what it sounded like she attempted to say. Then she swallowed and her head jerked back.

"Come on, mei-mei. Don't do this to me," Simon said, his voice falling to a whisper. "Don't die on me. Not now. Not after everything we've…"

Mal ran back in, clutching a very small glass vial in his very large hands. "This it, Doc?"

Simon breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized the label written in its precise Chinese. "Yes, yes!" he exclaimed, trying not to grab the vial from Mal.

"Brought ya a needle," Mal continued, and handed it to him.

Simon filled the needle. "River, listen to me. I know I promised no more needles…"

She choked out something garbled by the orange syrup that Jayne had tried to put in her mouth.

"…but I think this time you'll agree that you need this one." He stuck it in her arm and her eyes closed, some of the panic and fight going from her face.

They all were holding their communal breath. Jayne, looking oddly feminine with the spoon and bottle, was trying not to bite his lips. Kaylee flashed the bright-light again. "Sweetie? River?"

River said something garbled again and orange syrup ran out of her mouth and over her lips. Simon grabbed for a cloth and wiped the syrup away. "What was that?" he asked her.

Her eyes opened and they were wild. "I have to get up!" she said, her voice almost a yell.

"No," Jayne said before any of them could speak, and moved to hold her shoulders down. "Yer not goin' anywhere, you gorram crazy." Strangely enough, his voice held no animosity as he struggled against the pale girl, who fought against his strong hands.

"Doc, a sedative perhaps?" Mal suggested.

"I have to get up! Listen to me! They're coming!"

"Attention passengers," Wash's voice said over the intercom. "We are heading for atmo and should be at the lovely paradise of Spake's Fault within a half hour."

"They're coming! They're going to want me! I have to hide!"

"Nobody's coming fer you," Jayne said.

Simon stuck the needle into her arm and had almost finished pushing the plunger when Zoë called out from down the corridor, "Sir! Trouble, ten o'clock!" and a gunshot rang out.

"For God's sake, what now?" Mal demanded irritably.

River took the opportunity of gunshots to swing her free arm at Simon and knock the needle from her arm. "Hey!" Simon yelled, grabbing her chin, ignoring the sticky syrup which was all over her face. "You do that again and there's an embolism in there for you!"

Her eyes went wide with shock. He realized quickly that his words had been full of too much anger, and they had sounded strangely like the spy's words from earlier. Jayne was even looking at him oddly. "Sorry," he whispered. "I just…"

"She knows. She forgives you," River assured him. To Jayne she said, "You can let go."

"Like hell I can," Jayne said.

Mal shouted into the corridor. "Zoë, that better have been you shootin'! Our spy better have himself another shiny bullet hole!"

"Oh, he does, sir," Zoë assured him.

"Better be in his nutter head," Jayne muttered.

"No, not quite," Zoë said.

"We're fixed t' set down in Spake's Fault within ten minutes," Wash's voice, still perky because he had no idea of the trouble occurring in the ship, informed them all over the intercom.

"What's going on?" They all heard Inara's voice in the corridor, behind Zoë. "What's our passenger doing bleeding all over the grate again?"

"Where'd you shoot him?" Jayne asked.

"Was aimin' fer his head, sir," Zoë said, "but missed and got his arm. I'll clean it up this time," she reassured Inara.

"His ruttin' arm?"

"It'll slow him down a bit, specially if Doc doesn't have time t' treat him," Zoë informed him. "Do you?"

Simon looked down at River, still in shock from his angry speech. "Yes, I can treat him now. River's all right."

"Cept fer still bein' crazy," Jayne said very softly.

"I can hear you," River said a bit fuzzily, though with a smile. "Your mouth can speak quietly but is still very large."

Simon closed his eyes. He heard Kaylee switch off the bright-light. "Doc?" her quiet, kind voice said. "You all right?"

"I will be," he answered, his eyes still closed. "I just… he said she was going to die."

"River? Die? Jian ta-de gui, Doc," she said. He opened his eyes and found she was smiling at him. "She's a fighter, dong ma? And fighters are made to live through… anythin'. Heck, if she survived Reavers, there ain't much else can harm her."

This time, he was the one kissing her.