Firefly - Unwelcome Housecalls

(Set after Objects in Space)

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Simon Tam looked at the readings from his diagnostic kit again. There was no way to be sure that the drug would work the way he had hoped. River's nightmares were becoming more and more frequent and her random outbursts were becoming harder and harder for the rest of the crew to understand. Simon had purchased some of the Grade 3 serum from an Orion class planet. It was blackmarket and extremely rare, the chemical had been smuggled out of the Alliance's top medical research facility.

Simon was afraid he could not meet the cost when Jayne beat the middleman into submission. After discovering that no more of the serum could be obtained, Jayne cut the man's throat. The middleman's body flailed on the ground until the crimson red pool of blood spread out everywhere. Zoe held Simon back, softly reminding him it was a hard luck universe. Jayne merely looked at the doctor and grunted out that they were now even.

The problem of course was that Simon had no idea how River would react to the new drug. There would be a point soon where her immune system would become resistant to the various doses he was giving her now. The doctor feared he was going to make her condition worse rather than better.

There was only one way to know for sure. And he was the only one with the same blood type as Rivers. If there was a cure, he wouldn't feel it, but if there were any painful side effects, he would take the brunt of them.

Simon Tam rolled up his sleeve and picked up the hypodermic. He thought about his sister as he injected himself.

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The planet Narssius was a run down piece of rock on the outer rim. There were a few old mines worth digging into and many poor homesteaders came looking for a new life. In one of the dusty towns, Mal, Zoe and Jayne had just finished delivering a few crates of smuggled supplies to the local mayor.

The one eyed man looked at Jayne curiously.

"You're cheating"

Jayne looked up with a mix