This is a collaboration between myself and a friend, Nicole. You can find her profile here: /u/1622334/ . We appreciate any and all reviews as this is our first posted collaborative work. Thank you!

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"Time to put up or shut up."

Alere took one final look at her cards and heaved a heavy sigh. "Mr. Jenks," she began slowly. "You do play a tough game of poker."

""I've been told that before." the rotund man grinned wide enough to show his small row of pearly little teeth. One of his fat hands reached out to grab the pot.

"Ut." Alere cut him off with a word. "Said you played a tough game, didn't say you won." her face contorted into a smug grin and she laid down her hand. Jenks's face fell.

Jayne and Mal were at the bar. Their faces were buried into their drinks, trying to not draw attention to the fact they were watching the girl from their vantage point.

"That's the Alere Dex, huh?" Jayne asked low. "Hell, she don't look like much to me."

"She's enough, alright." Mal said more to himself than Jayne. Looking at this girl made him start to rethink his decision to find her. She had a renegade streak to her that he hadn't banked on. A fact which was proven as the card table flew over and within the blink of an eye the girl had the pudgy little man up against the wall with a blade at his throat.

"We pocketing Aces, now? Are we, Mr. Jenks?" she asked reaching into his front pocket and pulling out two of them.

The heavy man began to stammer and spit. "No, No…Alere, I…"

"Oh, stop your blubberin'." Alere said and let him go. "You aren't worth the effort it would take me to clean up after I cut you." Alere reached down and gathered up her winnings as Mr. Jenks backed out of the bar quickly. She picked up the table she had knocked over and looked at the crowd who had been sitting near her, none of them bothered to meet her gaze.

"Back-birth." Alere muttered under her breath before turning around to the bar with a smirk.

"Yep," Mal sat down his drink. "That's her alright." He began to walk towards her.

"Fair enough." Jayne said downing the last of his drink, and followed the captains lead.

"Alere Dex?" Mal asked. The girl's smirk disappeared instantly as her eyes met his. Her hand went close to her side arm, though she tried to do it on the sly.

Jayne, not to be outdone, pushed his jacket to the side, showing her well and all he had brought something pretty to the party.

"Do I know you?" she asked, taking in the sight.

"Never did meet face to face." Mal answered with as friendly a smile as he could muster, knowing the girl and Jayne were admiring each other's hardware. "I reckon you may have heard of me though, Malcolm Reynolds."

"Might've heard a whisper or two," she nodded. "You here on friendly terms?" Alere asked with a flash of curiosity but certainly confidence in her eyes

"I sure as hell ain't looking for trouble." Mal put his hand up to shake her hand, but also to show her he had no intention of drawing on her. "I'd like to talk business. I may have a job for you."

"Well, that puts a might different spin on things." Alere relaxed right away and took Mal's outstretched hand. "Let me buy ya a drink with my winnings." She walked past the two of them and over the cards still on the floor, to the bar. She ordered two shots. Mal took one and Jayne reached for the second, but Alere snatched it up and downed it before he could. Jayne, whose mouth which was already open for the drink, gave a noise of confusion.

"Heard tell you ran with a woman, Reynolds?" She asked, as she swallowed the burning liquid. Jayne grumbled and plopped down his own change for a drink.

"That's kind of why I'm here." Mal said as he sat the shot glass back down. "There was a woman in my crew, Zoe, I ran with her since the war. We lost her awhile back after a squib with some Reavers."

"Sorry to hear that." she swallowed hard. The name Reavers didn't set well with her, nor anyone else out here on the border. "The good ones die young, eh?" she said, sounding sincere. Mal just nodded, to cut off that particular line of conversation.

"The thing is," Mal went back to the business at hand. "We're going to meet a man, name of Badger, says he has a job for us. About a weeks worth of travel out and the job is definitely a three man job. And that's where you come in, if you want in?"

The slight look of sympathy Alere had moments before all but vanished into a smirk.

"Don't go puttin' the cart before the horse, Reynolds. Lets talk percentages." Her sudden selectiveness was all for show. Work had been scarce since the war, and scarcer still since her organ mule had went and got himself missing.

Mal knew that whatever compromise they worked out, she would agree to... and he knew he'd have to agree to it as well. A reputation such as hers didn't come cheap and the clock on Badger's offer was running down.

--If you like please review. TY