A/N: Long time no see, sorry I haven't been around, life has been very busy, and one of my deleted stories is giving me grief so it's hard to repost it on the BSR. In better news, I have recently rescued and adopted a kitten named Kaylee (and yes, she lives up to her name), also, I was inspired.......

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They had been together for six months.

It was possibly the toughest six months of their lives. Since Miranda, since the slaughter of all of their contacts and the fight at Maidenhead, the crew had found jobs scarce. No one wanted a group of scoundrels that were connected to the deaths of so many in the seedy underground theiving circuit. No one knew the reason for the killings either, as the Alliance had been doing extensive damage control. Thus the remaining few that Mal, Zoe and Jayne knew, wouldn't even so much as send a wave back to Serenity, in fear of being targeted next.

So for the first eight weeks, Serenity was on the drift.

Mal and Kaylee ran her at minimum power to conserve energy, and the Firefly seemed mournful herself as she slowly floated about in the black, waiting for work, engine a low sorrowful whine. Finally after the two months, and many heated arguments as the lack of work meant diminishing foodstuffs and frayed nerves, Mal brought his faithful boat to rest on Shadow. With no prospect of work on the horizon, they touched down on what used to be the flourishing Reynolds cattle ranch. Flourishing was past tense, as it was sad and in need of attention. Weeds grew up in the ranch home's floorboards, fences had been broken by either the bison or delinquents, the roof needed patching, a herd of goats once tame had proliferated and taken over the rundown barn, and a very ornery bear had taken residence in the small outpost cabin at the far end of the property.

So with noting better to do, and Malcolm and Zoe having a deep discussion of how to keep their crew together, the captain gave a speech the day they touched down. They were going