Persephone, a few months later:
In a dark alley, a man was awaiting someone. He looked at his watch, indicating that his appointee is more than a little late. Until he suddenly appeared right behind him.
"Mal!" the man yelled, with his cockney accent, "We should not be seen together."
"That's why I'm late." the one called Mal, replied, "I had to be sure that Zoe could be here without seeing us together."
He pointed to the woman accompanying him, who had her back turned to them, so that she would indeed never have seen these two together.
"You an idiot or something?" the man said.
"They say I have a knack for that." Mal said flatly, "Especially when doing business with you, Badger."
"Look, I don't know how you got her." the man, Badger started, "But I'm supposed to be meeting with someone else right now."
"That wouldn't be some girl who can do your English?" Mal questioned, while using Chinese to describe how he feels about Badger's English.
"Hey!" Badger replied, "I'm serious here. You can't just show up to me like you once could."
"Actually, I can." Mal replied, "Before, I had to go to you for a job, but now you're just desperate to get any yourself."
"Clever." Badger said, when the tone in his voice started to change, "But not enough."
He clipped his fingers, when suddenly a few more men appeared from out of the shadows.
"Woh!" Mal sounded surprised, as he held his hands up in the air, "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Things never go as they should, cap'n." the woman, Zoe, remarked.
"I'm sorry Mal." Badger said, although he didn't sound sorry, "But with the Core gone, I can't take any more chances."
"So what?" Mal wondered, "You're gonna steal from us now? Didn't think you're that..."
Badger interrupted Mal, the second he used a Chinese insult: "I'm not interested in you, but your ship."
Mal chuckled: "My ship? You've been breathing in too much atmo?"
"I might." Badger said, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it you who got to broadcast that message all through the Cortex? And wasn't your ship somehow involved with this?"
Mal was speechless for a moment, but then said: "Your point being?"
Badger chuckled: "An old piece of junk, and it somehow overthrew the system's leaders. I must know your secret."
Just when Mal was about to say something, Badger interrupted: "And don't say it's love!"
Mal cursed something in Chinese, before Zoe said: "It was worth the shot, sir."
Badger was about to search Mal's pockets, but that's when Mal decided to try and fight back. He grabbed Badger's wrist, then pushed Zoe to duck down with him, as the other guys started to fire their guns. Those who shot, had really shot each other, however it wasn't enough, as five of them were still strong enough to stand up. Mal punched Badger out cold, so he could run to hide behind a wall, take his own gun and start firing it to the others. Zoe, meanwhile, when she hit the ground, she rolled herself towards the fallen men, to pick up one of their guns and shoot everyone else.
Once the shooting was over, Mal turned back to Badger. He picked him up, smacked his face until he awakened, then asked: "I'm just guessing, but you had no job ready for me, did you?"
Badger smiled: "I was just hoping for a quick hump with that girl, but instead the next best thing..."
That's when Mal punched Badger's face, knocking him out cold again. Then he ordered Zoe: "Check them."
She did, but after mere seconds, she was already done: "They were desperate, alright. They ain't got anything on them."
Mal looked at Badger again, was about to punch him once more, but changed his mind at the last second.
"Come on, Zoe. Let's get back." he told her.