Kuikui was a den of thieves, murderers, gangsters and general misfits. And the pub The Tainted Heart was precisely what the name suggested, the tainted heart of the whole rotten community. Mal usually steered clear of the place, only the most desperate times would ever force him to this slum. Because the people who lived and traded here weren't just criminals, they were the worst kind of criminals. The petty kind. The lazy kind, who lacked either the ambitions or the brains to ever crawl out of this dirty hole and move ahead in the 'verse.

But now he was a man on a mission, and he must have looked the part too, because nobody tried in any way to stop them as he and Zoë entered the dark and noisy room. He asked for Miller at the bar and they directed him to an alcove in the far-end corner. He cast one last glance at Zoë, making sure she was still with him in this, and of course she was, stoic and determined as always.

They went up to the alcove, and Mal pushed aside a huge Mongol blocking his way. "Move! I have some business with your captain."

There was only one man sitting at the table, enjoying a meal (if it was ever possible to enjoy the food they served in this sewer). He was not especially intimidating, definitively not pretty, and he looked up at Mal with a mixed expression of arrogance and curiosity.

"Rufus Miller," Mal said coolly. "You know who I am?"

The man lifted his shot glass, saluting him. "Malcolm Reynolds," he said. "I know you. This business we're supposed to be havin', on the other hand, I don't recall."

"Well then, allow me to explain. I don't take a particular likin' to people shootin' my men."

The man just chuckled. "Found out about that, huh? Hell, I did you a favor, takin' out Jayne Cobb. That backstabbin' good-for-nuthin' would've sold you out soon as sumthin' better came along. Always did, that boy."

"Didn't sell out to you,