Hal sat down at the bar and ordered two drinks. As he waited for his beer, a bald man sat down next to him. He was a short man with pure white skin, like he never saw the sun in his life. His face was rough, filled with scars, including one that ran from his forehead, across his right eye, and down to his chin. That eye had a coat of white over it, while his other eye was red as hellfire. He lifted his hand and signaled for something to drink. The bartender nodded and handed him a glass of rum and vodka before handing Hal his drinks.

"Hello Hal."

Hal took a gulp from his glass. "Hello Richard. Did you stop by to talk business or buy me a drink?"

Richard laughed before waving the bartender over. "Put this man's drinks on my tab", he said before turning to Hal. "Might as well buy you a drink if you got me what I wanted."

"Don't worry, I've got it."

"Good. So, where is it?"

"It's safe. Now let's talk about my crew's and my fee."

Richard nodded, his bald skull reflecting the dull yellow lights overhead. He turned around and got up. "Follow me."

Hal took a last gulp of his beer and followed him across the room. Richard pulled open a door and beckoned him in. Hal paused, wary of Richard. He never liked doing business in closed rooms alone. It gave leverage to whoever invited him into the room. He didn't have a gun, but if Richard had one, he might have a bit more of a bargaining tool. From the corner of his eye, he saw River tensing up, ready to strike. What the hell, he thought. I'm not going to be alone. If I need help, River's probably going to know about it before I do. He shook his head slightly to River, and she relaxed, her eyes still cautious. Hal walked through the door and someone closed it behind him.

"So", Richard said from his seat as he motioned Hal to sit down. "What percentage were you thinking?"

"Well, I was thinking 100%, but I don't think that will do for you."

Richard smiled. "No, I don't think that will work."

"How about we split it 50-50?"

Richard started to laugh.

"Now look here, you're so called Intel did nothing to help us except to tell us where the bank was and how much was in it. You didn't get any password; you didn't get any information on how many people were guarding it. For all we knew, there could have been twelve guards instead of two. Plus we're taking all the risk."

Richard frowned. "Yes, I heard about the shooting." He paused and stood up. "Alright, here is my final offer". He leaned over the table. "Nothing."

"What?"

Richard pulled a file out of his briefcase and tossed it over to Hal. Hal suspiciously looked at Richard before opening the file and pulling out its contents. It was seven posters, each one with a picture of his crew. At the bottom of each page, below the picture, there were different numbers for each person. But what caught his eye was his own figure.

"Congratulations Hal, you're worth 10 million dollars. That's a hard thing to do for a small time smuggler."

"When did you get this?"

"Three days ago. As you can see, the Alliance is very desperate to find you. Anyone that finds you will be quite a rich man." He took a sip from his glass. "Which brings me to my next point. The reason I brought you here was because someone wants to see you." He clicked a button and a door behind him opened. From the doorway came a cloaked figure, his face hidden from sight by the hood.

Hal leaped up and charged Richard. Richard smashed his glass into Hals face before giving him a solid kick to the groin. Hal doubled over in pain. He looked up as Richard was about to kick him again when he heard a familiar voice.

"Stop."

Richard paused, looking at his guest. He slowly lowered his foot. "Sorry. So, now that you have him, where's my money."

The guest's hand flew out like lightning, striking Richard in the side before twisting his hand. Richard froze, his face full of panic as he realized he had been tricked. The man removed his hood and smiled at Hal. "Hello Hal", the Operative said with a grin.

Hal looked up with hatred at the Operative. "So, you still want to bring me and my crew in."

"Not at all. I came to warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

He was about to speak when the door flew open. River stood there, staring at the two men as a drop of blood ran down her forehead. "We need to go."

The bar's patrons were scrambling as the Alliance soldiers stormed in. They open fired, shooting at anything that moved. They flipped over the tables as they searched the fallen bodies.

River tossed Hal his gun as they hid in the room. The Operative removed his robe and motioned for the two of them to follow him before disappearing through the door he came from. River ran to the door only to be stopped by Hal. "Hold on, are you sure he's safe?"

She looked behind her. "He's safer than them", nodding towards the soldiers.

Hal looked back and forth at both doors. "Good point."

The narrow hallway seemed to go on forever. The only light was from the windows that ran along the hallway. They finally caught up to the Operative, who was starting up his ship in the hanger. "Get in", he yelled as the rockets ignited. The two jumped into the cargo bay of the small ship and sealed it shut as the ship left the hanger and headed away from the city. "Where's your ship?"

Hal was about to yell up your ass when River quietly said, "Head north."

The Operative turned the ship and headed north. Finally, River pointed at a series of cliffs in the desert mountain and the Operative set the ship down at the edge of the cave. The bay door opened and Hal started to step off when a round of machine gun fire hit the ramp. Hal jumped back and yell, "Whoa! Watch it!" He looked around, trying to find the shooter when Jayne stepped out from behind a rock pile, his machine gun in his hands. "What the hell was that!"

"Sorry boss, but we saw the ship coming and we thought it might be Alliance or…" He raised his gun again and pointed it at the Operative as he stepped off. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"He gave us a lift."