“How did you get back here?!” Kaylee whimpered fearfully.

Kaylee was in her bunk, fearfully clutching a pillow against her chest, her eyes wide in horror. At the foot of the ladder to her bunk, bounty hunter Jubal Early stood pointing his pistol at her, a length of rope in his other fist. He smiled menacingly at her, glancing about the contents of her quarters while Kaylee cowered in the corner. His cold, black eyes fell onto the dress from the party on Persephone that Kaylee had worn and was now hanging at the foot of her bed.

“Huh, well color me shocked. Here I was thinking I had you all figured out little Kaylee. I didn’t peg you much as the fancy type, getting all gussied up. Never thought you’d go to that kinda length to get into the doctor’s pants.”

Kaylee whimpered softly, tears starting to leak from her eyes while Early walked over to her and squatted down in front of her, keeping his gun pointed directly between her eyes.

“As for how I got here, did you really think I’d be floating out there all by myself forever? This is a busy, busy world we live in; people always coming and going. I wasn’t floating out there but about a couple hours before an Alliance cruiser came by. They picked me up, tracked down my ship and let me go on my way. And now I’m back here to get the Tam girl. Only trouble is, I have business to attend to with you, first.

You all may have gotten the best of ol’ Early the last time but I’m not a foolish man. I know that the captain couldn’t have gotten out of his bunk and out the hatch to send me off without help. And seeing as you’re the only other person who wasn’t knocked out or in their quarters, I figure it must have been you who helped him, even when I very explicitly warned you not to. And now I’ve come back to pay you back for that little Kaylee. You ought not to have crossed me.”

Kaylee screamed as Early grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back. He tried to cover her mouth with his forearm but she promptly bit down upon it, causing Early to retalia