Missing ARIEL scenes

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were ready to save some lives."

"Now all we need is a couple of patients."

"Corpses, actually. For this to work River and I will have to be dead."

" Huh. I'm starting to like this plan."

Simon scowled at Jayne. When he spoke, he directed his instructions to Mal. "Just give me about a half hour to mix the drugs, and convince River to take it. We should be out by nine-thirty—er, twenty-thirty, ship time, I guess."

Mal nodded. "I'll leave ya to it, Doctor."

"Thanks…uh," Simon reached up and tugged on his ear. "I'll also have an antidote made up. I'll leave them in the infirmary. When you get us to St. Lucy's morgue, a shot on the inner bend of the elbow should bring us out in about fifteen minutes."

"Will do."

The Doctor nodded, and wandered away.

"This should be all kinds of fun," Jayne snickered.

"Jayne," Zoe warned.

Kaylee came over and smacked his arm. "Can you just try an' be nice? He's doin' this for his sister."

Jayne snorted, and went to lean against the side of the ambulance skiff. He could already feel his muscles tightening up. He didn't exactly feel good about what he was going to do, but he felt ready. He wished he could go and grab some of his guns—especially Vera—and a change of clothes, but he would have to make due with the ones he had on under the EMT uniform. Not like he could come back here once the Tam's were gone. Mal'd shoot him dead, so it was best to high-tail it out once he got his reward.

With all that cash, he'd be able to buy more cloths and guns, anyhow, he thought with a smirk.

&&&&

Mal slapped his hands down on his knees. "Welp, it's time. Wash, you warm the skiff. Zoe, pop the stretchers. Me an' Jayne'll go get our corpses."

Jayne grunted, and started ahead of Mal down to the passenger dorms. He tried to keep his pace slow and casual, but he was itching to get this done. As soon as he slid the door of Simon's room open, he froze. They really did look dead. He'd seen someone who OD'd before, and they syringe on the floor next to the Doc's hand looked exactly like the one next to Mikey when he kicked it.

"You goin' in, or are ya just gonna stand there?"

He sent a glare back over his shoulder at Mal, and moved into the room. God, they were so pale. It gave him the crawling jeebies just looking at them.

Mal moved over to the girl laid out on the bed. "I'll get her, you get the Doc. Don't want you bangin' her into anything tryin' to get back at her."

Jayne snorted. "Prob'ly a good idea."

He hefted Simon's dead weight over his shoulder, and led the way out of the passenger area, back up to the bay. Once the Tams were snapped into the stretcher-coffin-things, Jayne climbed into the skiff, and started rehearsing his line.

"We applied the cortical electrodes, but were unable to get a neural response….We applied…"

&&&&

Once in the morgue, it was Mal and Zoë who moved Simon onto one of the cutting tables, and Jayne who got stuck with the girl. He flipped open the catches on the top of the stretcher, and found himself looking down at River, pale and small and seemingly dead. He felt a twinge of anger, near hatred, fizzle through his chest and stomach as he crouched down and lifted River onto the opposite table.

She was light and limp as a doll. Her hair swung against his arm and thigh as he pivoted with her. The girl's face was peaceful for the first time since he'd known her. No tantrums, no crazy fits, no spooky comments about blue hands. Her mouth opened a little as he picked her up. He closed it as soon as she was settled.

Mal nodded at him to step back, and then he moved in with the meds that would wake them up. Jayne watched the girl as the Captain moved on to Simon. He knew it was going to take them a few minutes to wake up. It should give him enough time to contact that McGinnis fella.

"That should bring them out of it in a few minutes. Once they're up, get them to the imaging suite. Let Simon do his thing, and haul it back to the rendezvous. Fifty minutes."

"Got it. I'll just sit right here."