Hello everybody and welcome to part four! As it is not yet midnight where I live(although it's getting close), I believe I still got this out on time, if a bit later than normal. I know that last chapter sucked so I thank you all for struggling through that mess to reach this chapter. Without further ado, let's meet the Firefly crew! ...That rhymed.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds was fairly quiet as he made the slow trek across the Eavesdown docks to meet up with Badger. His thoughts were occupied with the mechanic he had hired Gou cao de in the engine room. He had no idea what he was going to do.

His first mate, Zoe, walked silently beside him. That was one of the things that he liked about her, she didn't feel the need to talk all the time. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with his crew. Zoe hated the pilot he had hired. He had to admit, Wash's cheerful personality and endless jokes took some getting used to, but he was an excellent pilot. Bester was another issue. He was arrogant and hwen dan, but he unfortunately was an okay mechanic. Mal knew that as soon as he found one that even came close to Bester's level of expertise, that boy would be off his ship.

Mal and Zoe were stopped at the door that led to the underground complex that was Badger's base. That description made it sound like a government base, but it was more like a maze of tunnels that, while nicely taken care of, had uneven rock floors and walls. This was Mal's first meeting ever with Badger and he was hoping to be able to get a quick job to get into Badger's confidences. The word around Persephone was that Badger may not be particularly friendly or tell everything, but he would always keep a deal once struck. He seemed like the sort of guy that Mal wouldn't mind taking a few jobs from.

The two were let in and led to what looked like a fancy meeting room, something right out of the rich core planet dwellers homes. The floor was covered in a plush carpet and there was dark colored wooden paneling on the walls. There were a few paintings on the walls and a couple bookshelves filled with old tomes. Mal was surprised at that bit. Hardly anybody had real books anymore. It was so much cheaper to invest in one piece of technology that could hold all of your books instead of buying several books with very expensive paper. In the center of the room was a beautiful wooden desk with several leather chairs in front of it and one more behind.

"How does a smuggler get this rich?" Mal muttered to Zoe who shrugged.

"You don't start as a smuggler," a voice answered. Mal and Zoe looked around and found that a man in an expensive looking business suit had entered the room from a door on the other end. This must be Badger. He was shorter than Mal was expecting.

"This business is just something that I enjoy," the man said, coming up to Mal and Zoe. He held out his hand. "'ello. I'm Badger."

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds," Mal replied amiably, shaking Badger's hand.

"First mate Zoe Alleyne," Zoe introduced herself.

"Pleasure," Badger said. He walked around to sit behind the desk and and gestured towards the chairs in front. "Please, sit. Let's talk business."

Mal and Zoe did as asked.

"We're working on establishing some more connections at the moment," Mal began. "We've been smuggling for a couple years now, but I believe you would find that we are good at our job."

"Hmm," Badger hummed. "Tell me about your crew."

Mal was confused by the odd request, most potential clients just wanted to know about the business itself, but complied. "We've got a pilot, Hoban Washburne. He's damn good at it too. Only got one other and that's our mechanic, but we're looking to replace him. We're on the look out for maybe one more fighter and perhaps somebody to rent out one of the shuttles, but that's it."

Badger hummed again. "I've heard of your pilot. One of the best from what I've heard, but pictures show that he could work on his fashion sense."

Mal managed to hold in his laughter, but Zoe had to give a little snort.

"I have a mechanic for you, if you'll have her," Badger said after a moment. "She's probably the best in the 'verse, but she's just looking for a bit of adventure. She's friendly and easy to like, but she's no wimp. She'll put up a good fight."

"Why would you help us find a mechanic?" Mal asked. "We haven't even done you a job yet."

Badger stood up and started pacing. "Because I can tell that you two are good people. Any successful business man can tell you that they get a sixth sense around people and I would consider trusting you with Kaylee. If you do take her, you're guaranteed jobs from me with full disclosure."

This was almost too good to be true. Mal couldn't believe their good luck. Get a good mechanic and guaranteed work? It shouldn't be possible.

"Can we meet this girl?" Mal asked, keeping a calm face even though he was jumping for joy inside.

"Sure," Badger shrugged. Mal expected him to call somebody to the door to fetch the girl, but Badger stood up and walked to the door in the back and stuck his head out. "Kaylee!"

Mal and Zoe exchanged a look at the very informal summoning. They were even more surprised when a girl who looked to be thirty practically skipped in.

"What's up, Crowley?" She asked cheerfully.

"I've got some people here that I would like you to meet," Badger explained and led her over to Mal and Zoe who stood up.

"Kaylee, this is Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his first mate, Zoe Alleyne. Captain, Ms. Alleyne, this is Kaylee."

"Hi!" Kaylee said happily. "How're you doing?"

Her speech was a bit unusual, but Mal shrugged it off. "We're fine, thank you. Badger here was telling us that you're a damn good mechanic."

Kaylee's eyes lit up. "Oh yes! I love ships, even built a few myself."

Mal looked her over with a careful eye. She was definitely energetic and cheerful, but maybe that would be what his ship needed. If she was as good as Badger said she was, she could definitely be a good addition to his crew.

"We're in the market at the moment," Mal explained. "Would you be willing to try us out?"

The way he phrased it made it very much Kaylee's choice as to whether or not she wished to join the crew. Both Badger and Kaylee had small smiles on their faces as they caught on.

"I'd be more than willing. What type of ship do you have?"

"We have a Firefly class," Mal answered. If it was possible, Kaylee's eyes lit up even more.

"I've always wanted to work on one of those beauties! I always love the concept. It's a shame they're not around much anymore."

Mal had to smile at the girl that had just complimented his ship before even meeting her. Kaylee was definitely on his good list so far.

"Well we're grounded at the moment for some reason that our current mechanic can't figure out. If you can get us in the air again, you've got the job," Mal offered.

"No problem," Kaylee said with a smile. "When would you like me down there?"

"Would this afternoon work?" Mal asked. "We're hoping to get moving soon."

"Sure thing," Kaylee said with another smile. "It was nice to meet you two. I'll see you tonight!"

With that, she skipped from the room again. Badger watched her go with a small chuckle. "She's quite the one, isn't she?"

"That she is," Mal agreed. He could already see Kaylee getting along with Wash and maybe should could even soften the battle-hardened Zoe a bit. "If she can get the job done, I can see her being a good part of the crew."

"Even if she doesn't get the job done, which I really doubt since the ship would have to be completely wrecked for her to not get it going again, she might stay anyway," Badger said with a small chuckle. "She loves those old Fireflies."

"If she keeps complimenting my ship, she might get the job even without having one ounce of mechanical ability," Mal said with a small laugh. Badger chuckled with him.

"But even if you don't take Kaylee on, I do have a job for you if you want it," Badger told them. "It's just a simple pillage. Some of my scouts reported a wreck about a week and a half journey from here. There's no Alliance in the area. It was a passenger ship, but it's engine blew. By the time anybody got a distress signal, nobody was still alive. The Alliance decided to just leave the ship drifting instead of going through the hassle of dragging it in. It's a bit far from a planet so nobody has really come across the wreckage. I don't even know what's on it. Grab anything valuable, bring it back. Simple."

"Sounds like a job we can do," Mal agreed before settling in to discuss money for the next hour. Yes, this arrangement could work well.


Kaylee was beyond excited. Okay, she hadn't been completely honest when she said that she had never worked on a Firefly before. In fact, she had helped design the first one. Unfortunately, the company didn't value the opinion of a thirty year old girl much so she was let go. If anything, the design for the first Firefly was the best and they just went downhill from there, but she couldn't tell them that for that would make her nearly eighty years old. If they let her, maybe she could rework the engine back to her original design.

She had packed a small trunk with everything she would need if she did go. For now, she would only bring her workbag with tools and such. She didn't want to assume too much. Most of her things would stay here. Crowley would take care of everything. He had promised aswell that if she ever did find a ship that she would want to stay on full time, he would bring her the food that she needed.

She hurried out of the complex with her bag over her shoulder. It didn't take long for her to find the Firefly ship. She stood outside, gazing at the incredible ship that may become her home. She read the name "Serenity" on the side. She remembered when the whole Serenity battle had been announced back here. She had no doubt that at least the Captain was a Browncoat.

"Well? Are you going to come in?"

She lowered her gaze to the ramp leading to the cargo bay. The Captain stood there, waiting for her. She nodded eagerly and walked up the ramp. She followed him back to the engine room where a blond was sleeping, propped up against a wall. Mal sent an evil grin to Kaylee before shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Bester!"

The man, apparently Bester, shot up and hit his head on a pipe. "Ow!"

"Bester, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Mal said impatiently. Bester looked around with sleep clouded eyes before finally seeing Kaylee.

"Who is she?"

"This is Kaylee," Mal said proudly, as though she were already a part of the team. "She's a mechanic. She's here to see if she can get Serenity off the ground."

"No Gorram girl can be a mechanic," Bester denied with a snort and a shake of his head. "Besides, the secondary grav boot is shot."

"I should kick your pi gu (ass) for that comment," Kaylee said absent mindedly as she dropped her bag down and slid herself underneath the engine.

"Besides, you're wrong," came the muffled continuation. "It's not the secondary grav boot. Your reg couple is bad."

"The... What?" Bester asked, flustered.

"This," Kaylee said, pointing to the part. When Bester still looked confused she sighed. "Whatever. It doesn't matter much anyways."

Kaylee pulled the part out and gave it to Mal. She didn't trust the Bester guy with any sort of machine part. She pointed to a wrench as she started tinkering with the engine. "Hand me that, please. These things don't really do much, just tend to gum up the works when it gets tacked. So I figure, why even have one? Better to just take your g-line, plug it straight into the port-pin-lock, and that should, uh..."

She smiled as the engine starts turning again. She turned to look at her audience. Mal was looking at her proudly.

"Badger wasn't lying 'bout your talent."

Kaylee glowed at the comment as Bester waved his hands at the part still in Mal's hands. "Don't we need this?"

Mal didn't even spare him a glance. "You've got the job if you want it."

"Really?" Kaylee asked in excitement.

"Really really."

"Thank you!"

"But Mal, what do you need two mechanics for?" Bester protested.

"I really don't," Mal said before walking away.

When Bester realized that he had just been fired, he turn to glare at Kaylee who shrugged and gave him an apologetic smile.

"You Go Neong Yung Duh!" He snarled. "You lost me my job!"

Kaylee stood there as he charged her. Her old training kicked in easily as he went to punch her sloppily. She leaned a bit to the side to avoid the punch (not that it would hurt much anyway) and kicked his legs out from under him while he was off balance. As she did that, she quickly extended the claws on one hand to cut his belt. His pants started to fall down as he hit the ground, tangling up his legs. She retracted her claws quickly before anyone could see.

I may be a Go Neong Yung Duh, but at least I can fix an engine," Kaylee said as she walked off.

She could hear Bester struggling to breathe as she exited the room to find Mal right outside. He was watching her in amazement.

"Where did you learn to do that?" He asked. "I was hoping that he wouldn't try anything stupid, but I suspected he might so I stayed close by to help just in case. Looks like you didn't need it."

"I can defend myself against that half-wit."

"I'll say," Mal said with a bit of a chuckle. "Come. I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew."

He led her up to the bridge where they found a blond haired man and Zoe watching a screen with a picture of the engine room. Bester was still on the floor, trying to figure out some way to keep his pants on. The blond was laughing out loud at the fired mechanic's struggles while Zoe had a faint smile. When she and Mal entered the room, both people turned to look at them. Zoe gave her a respectful smile while the man shook his head in amazement.

"You," he said, pointing at her, "are incredible. That man needed to be put in his place for ages! You're gonna be great on this team!"

Kaylee smiled at him for his praise and looked to Mal for introductions.

"Wash, this is Kaylee, our new mechanic. Kaylee, this is Wash, our pilot. And you've already met Zoe."

"It's nice to meet you," Kaylee said warmly as she shook hands with Wash. The man had a bright smile but a ridiculous mustache on his upper lip. He was also wearing a Hawaiian print shirt. Over all, it was a bit of an eye sore, but she could tell that he didn't care. Good for him.

"Do you have more things to bring with you?" Mal asked her.

"I've got a small trunk, but most of my stuff will stay with Crowley," she informed them.

"You called him that earlier," Zoe observed. "Why do you call Badger, Crowley?"

Kaylee shrugged. "That's just what I've always called him. I've known him most of my life. He didn't always go by Badger. He's practically family. He helped me get through some hard times."

"Well so long as you get us guaranteed jobs, you're always welcome here," Wash joked.

Kaylee laughed. "Crowley probably would've given you plenty of jobs anyway, even if you didn't take me on. He's good at telling what sort of person you are just by meeting you. He probably wouldn't have offered to let me check out your engine if he wasn't already thinking of working with you."

"Good to know," Mal said with a smile. "Now, let's go get your stuff."

Kaylee and Mal exited the ship and took the short walk back to Crowley's place. There, she led him right past the door guards, who greeted her by name, and strait to her room. She knew Mal was examining her room to figure out exactly what sort of person she was.

Her room was simple. She didn't care about the lavish furniture or carpets that Crowley enjoyed. He had, in fact, brought most of his stuff here from his mansion back in Hell, stating that he couldn't survive with out his creature comforts. She, in contrast, had painted the rock walls a light blue color. There was a grey carpet on the floor. She had a good sized bed with an emerald green comforter. There was a desk in the corner piled high with technical diagrams and books on various spacecrafts. There was a small closet to the side that held most of her clothes. Normally the door was closed, but she had forgotten and her stuff was there for everyone to see.

She didn't realize that Mal had wandered over to her bedside table where there were a few pictures of her and Jacob until he pick one up.

"Who's this?"

Kaylee froze. One of the pictures was of her and Jacob when he was eighteen. Especially now, when age was measured by the amount of dirt in your wrinkles, most people considered her to be younger than her actual age of thirty four. If she told him that it was her son, there would definitely be some questions asked about how a girl in her late twenties could have a son so old.

"That's my little brother, Jacob," she said after a moment. "He died a bit back."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." Mal tried to backtrack.

"It's okay," Kaylee said. "He died saving my life. I think he would be proud to go that way. I miss him, but I know that he wouldn't want me to sit here grieving, so I try to make the most of life."

"That's a good way to live," Mal said softly.

Kaylee hefted her trunk up. The trunk wasn't heavy for her, but it was bulky for her small frame. Mal offered to carry it, but she had already shown that she could pick it up and she knew that he would struggle more than her so she refused. She said a quick goodbye to Crowley and was on her way.

Back at the ship, Mal showed her to her cabin. He apologized that it wasn't what she was used to, but she assured him that it was perfect. She managed to get her trunk down the ladder and set it at the foot of her bed. She collapsed on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. This is it. Her new home.

So? Better? I hope so.

I've been noticing a distinct lack in reviews for this story. I'm not asking for a review every chapter, but just a little thing to tell me what you like/don't like would be lovely. Seriously, those things motivate me to write more than anything and as I've run out of my stored chapters and am now writing on a weekly basis, that motivation is desperately needed. I promise you, this story will never be abandoned, but chapters might start coming out late if I can't find the time or motivation to write so please please please review!