Note: I thought of this when I was running one morning. I decided to write it because it could be fun. (I finally said "To hell with waiting to release this chapter!" and released it anyway.) :D

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Serenity: The last Firefly

Chapter Three: Shepherd Nyle

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Serenity was landed in a larger city on the outer rim. Mal ordered a series of mechanical repairs on the ship over the course of time the crew was landed on that planet. Kaylee, Simon and River wandered off to buy perishables and anything else they would need as food and water. Zoe, Jayne and Mal, on the other hand, wandered off to the local bad-guy hot spot for a new deal with a new smuggler. The job was going to be easy from Mal’s point of view. Crash in on a small settlement, play the bad guys, steal the old Alliance’s gear from the impoverished people, and sail off into the starry sky.

Jayne kept one of his ‘girls’ tucked away nicely under his leather jacket which he stole from the last bar the crew went to. Mal sauntered into the bar before the rest of his ragtag half of the crew. Sitting silently in the corner of a bar was a skinny man dressed in a black, pressed suit and tie. He tapped his fingers on the table in an anxious manner. The two large guards in full black with sunglasses stood at his sides.

Mal stepped up to the skittish man. “Panties up in a bunch, Tux?” He put his weight on one foot and set his thumbs in the corners of his pockets to let his fingers dangle. Zoe and Jayne took either one of his sides and kept their cool as Mal did all the talking.

“You’re 20 minutes late. Trying to do business with those who can’t be on time is rough on the senses. You made me think you all got cold feet or somethin’.” He pointed to a seat across from him for Mal to sit. Zoe and Jayne stood as Mal took his place across from the jittery old man.

“Well, we ran into some… Nasty turbulence on the way here and had to make some odd turns. Now, let’s get to the chase here, what do you want us to do, and I want to see the money first.