A few hours later, Mal and his crew were walking through the streets of Beaumonde, on their way to the Maidenhead for another meeting with Fanty and Mingo. Mal strode confidently down the crowded street with River right by his side and Jayne following closely behind.

“Can you explain to me why we’re dealing with those two niao-shi de liu mang again after what they put us through last time? Jayne grunted, not carrying the same amount of confidence as Mal.

“Well, the way I figure it, last time we didn’t go in with any leverage against them. We had no real way to bargain against them. So this time, we bring River with us.” Mal replied cheerfully.

“And how’s she going to make them give us our fair take?” Jayne snapped back waspishly.

“Make them afraid,” River said softly with a glint of a sinister smile on her face.

“Exactly. I figure that they’re likely to remember our little Albatross here and are not going to be too keen to have a scene like she caused last time, especially if they’re among the body count. So we show them River, they piss their pants in fear and we walk out a bit wealthier.”

Jayne raised his eyebrows a bit and grunted a response that told Mal Jayne understood what he was saying and thought it was a good idea. The crew then entered the Maidenhead and headed down the stairs, seeking out the twins. After a few moments, they slipped into view from behind the stairs with a pair of smug smiles attached to their faces.

“Mr. Reynolds,” said Fanty.

“Mr. Reynolds,” Mingo repeated.

Mal and the Serenity crew turned to face the twins whose faces immediately fell when they noticed River.

“Fanty, Mingo, nice to see you boys again,” said Mal brightly. The twins, however, merely gazed at River, horrified to see her. “Oh, right, I forgot, you haven’t been properly acquainted yet. Boys, meet River Tam. River, this is Fanty and Mingo.” River curtsied gracefully before the two brothers who nervously laughed and adjusted their ties.

“Care to do some business?”

***********