Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly… and if I did well let's just say heaven help the cast and crew.

Author's Notes: Hmmmmm… okay I just want to say if I get good feed-back I'll post more…. This is my first attempt at a chapter story…so don't be angry at me if it takes time to get the next chapters out. Oh and I hate the title so if you guys have any suggestions please tell! ...Oh, oh I almost forgot this is an AU, so some things will be very different…

The Merc Club

I lay there on the grassy ground under a tree, waiting for the man that had been watching me for the past thirty minutes to approach. A Stetson hiding my face and my gun belt resting on my chest, I could only barely see an impatient face. He huffed as if that would make me move and he walked forward. A couple seconds later I felt a booted toe tap me gentle in the side.

"Hey, I heard at that store you were looking for merc work…" His voice was a bit gruff but I could tell it was just for show. "Hey boy, I'm talking to you…"

I keep my breath even as though I was still sleeping. I pondered on the man. His thoughts were like a desert dry and gruff, but warm with small oases. He wasn't completely happy with having to hire a new merc, but now that his first mate was pregnant he needed the extra muscle. A slow grin spread on my face as he thought how little I was, but the cashier had told him that I was a dangerous hwoon dahn.

"Hellooooooo… Anyone home under there!" He said as he knelt and began tapping me in the shoulder with two fingers. While busy with his tapping he didn't notice, my small hand snake out a knife and hold it at his groin. A second later a sharp intake of breath told me, he felt the metal. "Duh liou mahng!"

My grin widened as my other hand moved my hat from my face, his eyes widened.

"YOU'RE A GIRL!" His voice hitting a higher note and his cheeks turned red as it hit him that a girl probably no more than eighteen years had him in a very compromising situation.

"I'm a girl ,Really?" I asked sarcasm so evident in my voice I was surprised that it didn't burn. I began to sit up, my gun belt sliding from my chest and I finally looked the man in the eye. He reconsidered his first thoughts of me, I was a dangerous little hwoon dahn.

"You mind, I have no malice intended." He said in a voice that, I would guess, would suggest defeat and with gesture at his situation. I grinned, gave him a pert nod and slowly removed my hand and slid the knife in its sheath that was in the inside of my pants on my hip. He stood and looked down at me as I grabbed for my gun belt and fastened it around my hips loosely and rested my beloved hat on my head.

"You here just to talk," I said as a stood with my dancer grace, "Or are you here on business?" I stood as though I was as tall as him and evenly matched if we fought hand to hand. He was probably two heads taller than me and packed with lean muscle.

"Name's Captain Malcolm Reynolds, I own a ship named Serenity." He started out, suddenly at a loss about what to say. I shifted from one foot to the other waiting patiently for the Captain to say more.

"I was wondering if you want a job. You'll get a cut… I mean pay, a room and board and a say about our certain endeavors…" He stopped waiting and watching to see if his meaning got through.

"Hmmm…Well see I got a little proposition of my own then." I said looking at him as I spoke. "I know this guy, my brother actually, that's a great doctor… and I don't go anywhere with out him." I said the last bit with no nonsense.

He looked at me and I looked at him, we had a right good stare down until he finally broke the silence. "Let me go talk to my first mate about this… Where can I find you when I have an answer?"

"My brother and I have a room at the hotel in town. You can just ask the desk clerk." I said a knowing smiling, he had already made his decision and he asked for more time just to regroup.

He started to walk off the wrong direction for town, probably for his ship… Serenity. He stopped and turned, "Hey girl, what's your name?"

I looked at the ground, then back at him, "Name's Tam, River Tam."

Author's Notes: Please, please review… this story is near and dear to my heart…Oh and if you didn't pick up on this River loves her cowboy hat…