“How much air we...” Zoe paused. “How much *CO2* buildup we got left?” “With the size of this level...” Gabriel began to tally the math in his head. “I reek at math.” “Three thousand, two hundred and seventy two divided by five hundred and twelve,” River managed, having calmed just a bit and taking over where Gabriel had gotten stuck, “equals six point three nine zero six two five.” “Thank you, River,” Gabriel ingratiated. “So we got six to six and a half hours.” Simon winced. “The hemotransfer should only take thirty to forty five minutes, but your body still has to process and become accustomed to the shock before you’ll even regain consciousness.” He shook his head. “We might all be dead before you even get a chance to wake up.” “It’s a risk we’ll hafta take.” “Gettin’ the blood in the first place is a big enough risk, in itself,” Zoe reminded. “There’s about three thousand if’s in this scenario, which brings us to the not-likely-to-survive scenario.” Gabriel smirked, the expression seeming far more empty than any he’d given before. “Aw, don’t worry ‘bout it, Cap. Have I ever let you down yet?” “It’s perfectly fine if you wanna just stay here with us,” Kaylee included, her voice cracking from her throat tightening as she fought to not cry. “I know how I feel, an’ I bet the rest of us will agree with me. *Nobody* actually expects you an’ Simon an’ River to pull this one off.” Zoe gritted her teeth as a low moan threatened to escape her throat. *This is a nightmare,* she thought to herself. *Gotta be. Gotta be a nightmare...* Gabriel shrugged. “I know. Still, are ya that ready to just *accept* the end when ya don’t gotta? I gotta-” “No gloves,” Jayne interrupted, strolling into the room with a yellow bundle in his muscular arms. “It’s a medical ship,” Simon replied, sounding exasperated. “They *have* to have gloves.” “I found better.” Jayne unfurled his bundle, which turned out to be a rubber biohazard suit. “A bio-suit!” Simon exclaimed, glancing over the length of the shiny, yellow material. “No breathing in the rubber, whatsoever...” His expression brightened just slightly. “We throw enough duct tape around the elbows, knees, ankles, where the hood fits into the suit...” “But will cold weather gear be able to get squeezed into that getup?” Inara inquired. “I’ll think thin thoughts,” Gabriel assured her, his tone very absent. River managed to get to her feet and moved to Gabriel’s side, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing. It was obvious that this would cause extreme discomfort, even pain, for the man, but Gabriel showed no signs of it. Instead, he put one arm around her shoulders and continued to engage in the debate. “Apparently,” Zoe observed, “this is more the expertise of the doctor an’ the ‘big reader’.” She eyed both Simon and Gabriel conspicuously. “What do we need?” Simon took a breath. “Well, I’ll need to start the blood transfer immediately, or we won’t have enough time to even *try* this sick experiment. While I’m doing that...” He paused just long enough that Gabriel decided to jump in. “We need Kaylee to test the suit. Use half a roll of tape if ya gotta, but stick that hood on the suit, cut a tiny hole an’ fill the sucker with water to test for any tears or leaks. We’ll need the hole, anyway, to suck as much air out of the suit after I’m in it as possible. Anyone else who wants to can scour the level for any sort of warm padding. Jayne and Officer Nanaka, notably. There’s a winter suit in a locker fifteen feet down the hall an’ in the room to the left. Locker next to that’s full of powered thermal pads. Those’ll be real handy.” He gestured toward one of the nearby doors. “Any extra padding we can scavenge will work. It’s a med ship, so cotton balls are aplenty.” Gabriel glanced down at the girl attached to his side. “I want River with me while Simon performs the transfer.” He shrugged and gave a little grin. “If I die on the table, I want someone I’m in love with holdin’ my hand.” “You are so crude!” Kaylee shot back, attempting to lighten the grim mood with a bit of joking. Regardless of the false cheerfulness, the mechanic’s chin began to quiver, and Zoe finally noticed the tears dripping from it. “You’re *serious?!*” she asked of Kaylee, trying to cheer the girl up. “We’ve been livin’ with Jayne for *how* long, now, an yer askin’ about crude?” *************************************************************************

“So whaddaya think?” Kaylee inquired from the next room as she began fitting the hood into the bio-suit. “What do I think?” Inara repeated. “I think it’s suicide, but any tiny chance of success at this point is worth a shot.” “I think Gab feels guilty,” Kaylee professed, reaching for a roll of duct tape. “We don’t know what the Reavers made him do, an’ we prob’ly’ll *never* know.” She sighed, her inhalation short, choppy, and a bit bubbly, and her exhalation sounding like more of a moan than a mere expulsion of air. “I think he’s tryin’ to make up fer somethin’.” “I disagree,” Inara presented, tears rolling down her cheeks. “It’s Gabriel.” She paused, taking several moments to dislodge the painful lump that had grown in her throat. “I think he’d...” She had to stop, finding a seat and collapsing into it. As she began to cry, Kaylee’s levees finally broke, and the two women spent several moments sobbing in each others’ arms. “*I think he’d do it, anyway,*” Inara finally rasped against Kaylee’s shoulder, and that brought the cries to a whole new level of anguish. *************************************************************************

“Are we ready to do this?” Simon inquired as he inserted the intravenous needle at a fifteen-degree angle into a vein on Gabriel’s right arm. “Ready as apple pie on a sill,” Gabriel slanged, his eyes never leaving River. For her part, River knelt next to the table on which Gabriel was prone, squeezing his left hand with both of hers as if she’d never let go again. “*It’s okay to hurt my hand,*” he whispered to the girl. “You prob’ly can’t, anyway, an’ if you do, the pain will remind me I’m still alive.” “And of how much I love you,” River added tearfully. “You two keep this up,” Simon admitted, turning to flip several switches on a machine and moving to insert a second IV into the subject’s left arm, “and I’m liable to start crying, myself.” River stared up at her brother with watery brown eyes. “And what would be wrong with that?” she inquired honestly. “Trust me, Doc,” Zoe, standing to the side with arms akimbo, assured. “If that little girl weren’t squeezin’ that young man’s hand, I’d be crushin’ it, myself.” Zoe hadn’t shed a single tear for the future probability. She probably never would. *That woman’s made of stronger steel than any man I’ve ever met.* “I hate this,” Simon confessed, “I really do, but we’re *really* pressed for time. We’ve got to start this now.” Pressing a slow, gentle kiss to Gabriel’s lips, River breathed, “*I love you,*” before sobbing again into his chest. Gabriel kissed the top of River’s head, audibly inhaling the scent of her hair. “I love you, too,” he returned. “Elevate your feet,” Simon instructed, and Gabriel complied as the doctor moved several cushions behind his knees. Simon administered a sedative into the side of Gabriel’s neck and turned on both the siphoning machine and the Hemosynth machine. “If I make it through all this,” Gabriel slurred lazily, “Mal’s gonna *kill* me.” It was the last thing he said before losing consciousness. There were long minutes as the procedure progressed. Ten minutes turned into twenty, then thirty. Suddenly, every muscle in Gabriel’s body seized, and were it not for River’s psychic abilities and her quick withdrawal of her hands, the bones would surely have been crushed by the tightening of titanically-strong fists. “What’s happening?!??” Zoe shouted, rushing to the table. “What’s wrong?!??” “His body isn’t adapting to the new fluid!!” Simon exclaimed, adjusting several knobs and diving for his injection gun. “Right behind you; top left cabinet! Twelve cc’s of Endropofoline!!” Zoe rushed for the cabinets so quickly that her thighs and stomach slammed painfully into the counter top. Her eyes scanned frantically until she located the appropriate drug. She grabbed a handful, spun on her heels, and leaped back to the table. Simon grabbed a vial, jammed it into the back of his injection gun, and plunged the needle into Gabriel’s jugular. “Another!!!” The empty vial fell to the floor, bouncing and skittering across the vinyl tiling as it was replaced with a full one. This, as well, was entered into Gabriel’s new bloodstream. River shrieked, the sound as that of a banshee woman at the river wailing for her deceased children. “Tamade hundan!!!” Simon shouted. “Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gai si!!!” He adjusted several more knobs. “Morphine!!” “*Morphine?!??*” Zoe shouted back, shocked. Morphine was rarely used anymore, and only for pain. “His heart’s about to *explode!!!*” Simon screamed. “*Morphine, now!!!*” Zoe retrieved the prescribed drug, and another needle was plunged, this one into Gabriel’s thigh. Not once did Simon stop the blood transfer. Once the procedure had begun, Gabriel’s death would be a certainty should anything interrupt the process before its completion. “*RIVER!!!*” Simon burst, reaching for a saline bag and an IV tube and needle, “*IF YOU DON’T STOP THAT SCREAMING RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR TO GOD...!!!*” River clamped both hands over her mouth to stifle her uncontrollable outburst. It barely worked. Simon inserted the IV, got the drip going, grabbed a respirator bag, and began pumping air through Gabriel’s lungs. After a few moments, the seizure ceased, and the muscular man sank so quickly and deeply into the table it almost appeared, for a moment, as if he were melting. Simon sighed with relief, the exhale becoming choppy as he choked back a sob. “*Thank God,*” he gasped. “He’s breathing on his own.” “He’s gonna make it?” Zoe inquired for confirmation. Simon collapsed backward into a chair. He buried his face in his hands, taking five seconds to gather himself together before finishing the procedure. “He’s gonna make it,” he confirmed, on the verge of tears of joy. *************************************************************************

It took Gabriel only two hours to regain consciousness. When he did, he lay, staring at the ceiling for five minutes without speaking or responding to those in the room. “Gabriel!” Kaylee continued calling, shaking the catatonic man. “Gabriel!” “This isn’t a side-effect of the procedure,” Simon decided, checking vitals and tweaking the machinery. “This is something different.” Abruptly, Gabriel sat up and glanced distantly around the room. “Suit ready yet?” He eyed Simon with a sullen expression and hollow eyes. Simon glanced fleetingly toward River, who had been watching Gabriel with a haunted look ever since they’d boarded the ship. *He’s in very bad shape,* Simon thought. *He’s barely a shell of the man I knew two weeks ago...* “Doctor!” Gabriel spat, snapping Simon’s attention back to home base. “Is the suit ready?” Simon looked toward Kaylee, who nodded. “It’s as ready as it’s gonna be,” she informed. Gabriel nodded, swinging his legs sideways across the table and attempting to stand. He paused for a moment looking very swimmy in the head. “I feel...” he muttered, struggling to gather his thoughts. “Hot.” “You look hot,” River flirted, still holding the man’s hands. “It’s your body adapting to the new oxygenation process,” Simon explained. “Your metabolism is also being altered dramatically. Eventually, your body temperature will drop to *below* a human average.” Gabriel nodded, his head hanging in fatigue. “How much... air we got left?” “Just under three hours,” Zoe replied. “Congratulations,” Simon presented. “This was the final straw. You are now a full-fledged biological cyborg.” “Sounds shiny to-” Gabriel never finished the sentence, because he was interrupted by vomiting all over the floor. “Truthfully,” Simon continued, no evidence of sympathy in his tone, “I was expecting that as soon as you had awakened.” “Right,” Gabriel croaked. He cleared his throat. “Down the hall, next to the locker room where the winter gear came from. Bathroom. Mouthwash.” “Why bother with mouthwash?” Jayne inquired. Gabriel looked down at River. “So I can give this girl a kiss ‘fore I jump out into space.” *************************************************************************

“Well...” Kaylee surmised, looking Gabriel up and down. “It looks warm enough.” Gabriel glanced down at the extreme cold weather gear he was bundled into. Every cotton ball that would fit was also stuffed inside the gear. “I feel like a snowman,” he grumbled. “An’ the thermal pads are makin’ me sweat. Bring on the giant condom.” “Careful!” Kaylee warned as she and Jayne worked to worm Gabriel’s legs down into the bio-suit. “Careful! We don’t want any new leaks in it. Here, twist his torso this way... No, the other... There we go!” Now, Gabriel was a yellow rubber snowman. “Two and a half hours to dock that big girl over here,” he reiterated as Kaylee began wrapping duct tape around his ankles, knees, waist, elbows, and wrists, “so we gotta make the goodbye’s quick.” He twisted a half-smirk out of his mouth in Zoe’s direction. “I get any last requests?” Zoe looked shaken. “Of course, Gab. Whatever you want.” Gabriel nodded, pursing his lips. “Good, good. I’ll need two things from you. One is don’t call me Gab fer the rest of my time here.” Zoe chuckled. “Think I can accommodate that.” “Excellent. Second thing is to keep this band of misfits alive.” “That goes without saying.” Zoe hugged Gabriel, barely able to fit her arms completely around the fat tower of rubber-coated padding. After the goodbye, Gabriel turned Park. “If I may ask a favor... Try not to arrest these ingrates unless ya gotta.” Park shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do.” “Simon should know what I want from him,” Gabriel called over his shoulder. When he turned, he was facing the barrel of a gun. Gabriel grinned. Looking down the sights of the pistol, Simon cocked his head peculiarly to the side in a very Gabriel-ish motion. “You didn’t flinch.” Gabriel’s grin widened. “Neither did you, last time I pulled a gun on ya.” Simon set the gun to the side. “No, I didn’t. And now I know why.” He extended his hands and glanced about his surroundings. “This place, this way of life, and these people...” He lowered his hands. “I’m finally home.” “Yer not a priss,” Gabriel returned. “Not no more.” Kaylee released a sob and pressed her face into the slick yellow of Gabriel’s chest. “I got nothin’ to do for ya,” she whimpered. Gabriel lifted the woman’s chin with a finger. “Yes, you do,” he argued. “You just keep bein’ the same li’l sweetheart ya always are.” They finished the embrace, and Kaylee moved to press her tear-streaked cheeks into Simon’s shoulder. “What can I do?” Inara inquired tearfully. Gabriel mulled it over in his head for a moment. “Well,” he decided, “soon as all of ya get back to Serenity, ya can go down to the infirmary an’ give that suspender-wearin’ son of a bitch a big sloppy kiss for me.” Inara giggled a bit, and then it was her turn to hug Gabriel. “‘Bout all I can do is kick some Reaver ass for ya, Kid,” Jayne suggested, arms folded across his chest. Gabriel turned to the big man very seriously. “No,” he spoke. “I have a very, very special job for you, Old Man.” Jayne let his arms drop. “Anythin’.” “I want you, specifically, to pray for me.” Without hesitation, Jayne nodded. “Absolutely, Kid. Absolutely.” Gabriel closed his eyes and sighed. “I like air,” he spoke aloud, opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling. “I’m gonna miss it.” A tiny form bumped into his side, and he looked down to see River clinging to him like a spider. She turned her teary eyes up to stare at him in wonder, sorrow, and love. “I ain’t askin’ nothin’ from you, Hon.” With a gloved finger, Gabriel wiped at some of the tears that River still managed to squeeze out after all this time. “You already gave me the best thing anyone in the ‘Verse ever could.” River would know what Gabriel was about to say, but he said it anyway. “You gave me a reason to live.” It was hard for Gabriel to bend down with all of the layers of material separating him from the outside world, so he placed his hands around River’s waist and gently lifted her to his level. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to his lips, and for that instant, the medical ship didn’t exist. The other six people in the room didn’t exist. The threat of asphyxiation and of the following naked space walk just did not exist. It was just Gabriel and River in the center of the Universe. “*I will always love you,*” River whispered into Gabriel’s ear. “I know,” Gabriel returned, setting the girl back onto the deck. “And I you. You’re my world.” He took a step back. “Okay, hood me an’ tape me up. I got a job to do.” Jayne grabbed several of the powered thermal packs and began to wrap them around Gabriel’s face. A single tear ran down the mercenary’s scarred cheek. The last thing Gabriel saw before a thermal pack across the eyes darkened his world was River’s eyes. They were full of purity, innocence, and good. “We about good to go?” he inquired. Kaylee squeaked, but said nothing in intelligible English. “We’re ready,” Zoe replied in the mechanic’s stead. “Good,” Gabriel responded. “Time to spar with the Devil.” He huffed and puffed, forcing himself to hyperventilate. Then, he blew every bit of air out of his lungs that he could, held the air out, and waited for the hood to be applied. He heard the tearing of duct tape as the seam between the hood and the suit was caked in the strips. He felt the puncture of a needle as a huge syringe was used to extract as much air as possible, then the hole was sealed with lots and lots of duct tape. Gabriel stumbled backward, partially because the lack of oxygen was already affecting his motor functions, and partially because an image sprang into his head of the airlock door. “It’s working!” River squealed, shocked and delighted. “He can see the door!” Without further hesitation, Gabriel lumbered forward. He was certain that, in lighter situations, the appearance would have been comical. *I’ll see you in a few hours, River Tam,* he thought toward his girlfriend. *Love ya, Kid.* Gabriel stepped into the airlock and closed the door behind him.