My apologies once more for not getting the slang right, now even more than before with the 'new' characters! Oh and of course for not using any Chinese...
Have fun reading!

"You don't intend to leave alone, do you?"

The voice of his second in command had Mal spin around on his heels. Zoe was coming his way, Jayne only two steps behind her. Both looked grim and determined.

"In fact, I do", he replied, turning back to his preparations.

"Won't happen", Jayne said as if it settled the matter.

Mal faced them once again, already opening his mouth to protest, when Zoe cut in.

"You're not the only one who cares for the crew, captain! We have as much right to punish the man responsible as you do." She was now standing only a few feet away from him, hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. Mal involuntarily thought about the appreciative comment Wash would make about his wife if he could see her now. Sometimes he wondered how he had ever managed to get that woman under his command. She wasn't the type who let herself be told anything.

He grimaced slightly at her argumentation. "That might be true for you but don't tell me Jayne suddenly developed brotherly feelings for Inara." He didn't care his words were unduly harsh, he just wanted to be left alone so he could proceed. Although he suspected there was no getting rid of Zoe now that she had set her mind on coming with him. In fact, he should have known she would want to come. Staying back when one of her comrades was hurt really wasn't her thing. Jayne on the other hand... The mercenary's sense of honour was more than just a little twisted so Mal never knew what exactly the bulky man would do next. But he was pretty sure he wouldn't care if something happened to Inara. The man had never liked the companion who was so different from him. Admired her looks, maybe, but never cared for the person behind the beautiful facade.

"Won't let no one hurt a woman and go unpunished", was all Mal got as a response from the man.

The captain sent an inquiring look at his crew member, astonished. He had never spent a single thought on what exactly Jayne saw in the fairer sex but now that his mind was on it... He might reduce them to an almost entirely sexual being without much other purpose – although Mal didn't know how he managed that while constantly being around Zoe, Kaylee and River – but he never spoke about them in an aggressive or even violent manner. In fact, now that he thought about it, Mal remembered how Jayne had pleaded to get Saffron for himself, arguing that she would have a good life with him.

Once the thoughts had settled in, his picture of the man tilted slightly and Mal couldn't see Jayne with the same eyes as before anymore. The man's morale code dictated him to protect woman, whether he liked them or not, and Mal wouldn't be the one to suppress any good intention in the otherwise so erratic man.

Wordlessly, he turned back to his preparations. He could hear the other two shuffle to stand next to him. They had interpreted his lack of final veto on their coming with him exactly as it had been meant. A silent agreement.

"So, what do we have?" Zoe asked.

"Ascon Fornett", Mal answered, almost feeling bile rising up his throat at the mere thought of that bastard. He hadn't known he was able to hate someone more than he hated Niska, but apparently, he was.

"Son of the wealthiest man on this planet and heir to the family company. Everything the Alliance likes in their VIPs", he continued disgusted, the task at hand momentarily forgotten. "Kaylee had some difficulties with his file but River managed to get through. The asshole had his records altered, made himself seem like the perfect core-bred citizen. Turned out he was charged with sexual offenses in several cases and his former wife accused him of violence against her. Of course, all charges were dropped in the end. Must be nice to have a father who can bribe half a planet." The bitterness and hatred in Mal's voice were so obvious, he could feel even Jayne twitch in anger next to him.

"Then let's go get him to justice", Zoe stated, taking the extra ammunition Mal was still holding and packing it into the bag before him. Jayne just walked away, murmuring "I'll get Vera".

"Five minutes, shuttle two", Zoe called after him and got a confirming grunt in return.

"Come on, let's go", the woman said and took the now finally packed equipment in one hand while using the other to give Mal a push.

The flight to the estate where Fornett lived was silent, no one felt like talking, all of them caught up in their musings about the man and planning their revenge.

It took barely half an hour to arrive at the excessively huge estate that marked the Fornetts' home. A pompous house surrounded by spacious gardens, acres and acres speckled with exotic plants that were most definitely not native. Mal detested it at first sight and not just because of the owner but because it represented what he felt the Alliance stood for. Pure, unnecessary extravagance and the will to control everything, even nature if possible.

They left the shuttle a little way off and marched towards the gates that marked the entrance. Mal felt his heartbeat picking up, anticipation rising in him at the thought of what was to come. He itched to see the man who had tortured Inara, the desire to make him pay almost painful. Next to him out of the corner of his eye he could see Zoe to his right and Jayne to his left. While his second in command was as tense as he himself, the man had his usual unconcerned air about him.

"Do we have a plan?" Zoe asked shortly before they arrived at the heavily decorated iron gates.

"Find the man and beat him up", Mal answered unceremoniously.

"Beat him up until unconsciousness, until blood flows, until bone breaks or until he stops breathing?" Jayne inquired from his other side.

"Depends on how he behaves himself, I'd say."

"Works for me", Zoe answered.

Finally standing in front of the entrance, Mal rang an almost ancient looking bell that fit the gate's design.

"Yes, who is this?" a male voice almost immediately answered through a speaker slightly above their heads.

Mal shortly looked at his two companions. "Malcolm Reynolds, Zoe Washburne and Jayne Cobb." He had debated using false names but ultimately decided that they already were wanted criminals in one way or another and therefore it wouldn't make much of a difference. In addition, he wanted his revenge to be complete which meant that everyone interested should know it was him who had taken Ascon Fornett down. If that led to the Alliance searching for him, he didn't care. He had never been one for hiding. He stood up for his morals and should anyone ever have a problem with that, they were welcome to challenge him.

"Antric, head of household, at your service", came the voice from the speaker again. "How can I help you?"

"We're looking for Ascon. He's an old friend of ours and since we were in the area we thought we could pay him a visit."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Master Fornett has gone into town about an hour ago."

A look of grim satisfaction spread over Mal's face. Even better, so they could get to him, separate him from everyone else and deal with him in peace and quiet, undisturbed by overly protective staff that didn't appreciate their master screaming in pain.

"Oh, not a problem", he said friendly. "We'll go after him and meet him there. If you could just tell us where exactly he planned to go?"

"I believe he was on his way to an establishment called 'Limelight'. It's not very far. You just have to follow the road to the first houses, turn right after the second one and left again at the next corner. You can't miss it."

"Thank you", Mal said politely before motioning to the others and walking away again. A grim determination had taken hold of him and he knew, nothing would stop him now until he had found the man and made him pay.

Their feet caused little clouds of dust to swirl up every time they touched the ground. Although this was no desert planet, the last shower of rain seemed to have been a while ago. The air was dry and warm, the sun shining from a blue afternoon sky.

When they walked back the way they had come, they could make out the vague shape of their shuttle hidden behind the outskirts of a forest.

Reaching the first buildings didn't take long. After only ten minutes of quiet walk they crossed a wooden house which lacked every bit of glamour the monumental estate behind them possessed. The next ones that came into sight weren't much different. All looked shabby and were coated with a layer of dust. The streets they followed, first right and then left again, were almost empty. Only once they crossed paths with a woman who held her head down and hurried past them.

"Certainly one of the happiest towns I've ever come through", Mal sarcastically commented.

"Guess they don't have much to laugh about with that local patron of theirs", Zoe answered.

A few steps ahead of them, the sign of the 'Limelight' motionlessly hang from a house that looked even shabbier than the ones around it.

"Ok, we go in there and see if we can lure him out and get him somewhere more private", Mal summarised his plan. He turned to his second in command. "Zoe, you better stay back, he may get suspicious if he sees us with a woman." When she nodded, Mal switched his gaze to Jayne and beckoned him to follow.

When they entered the bar, a wall of noise greeted them. The room was only half-lit and the air smelled of alcohol and too many bodies in too little space. The clouds of cigarette smoke hanging in the air made both seeing and breathing difficult. Mal instantly envied Zoe who could stay outside and simply wait for them to come back out.

Both men instantly started to scan the crowd for the face from the file Kaylee and River had hacked. After half a minute, Jayne pointed to the other side of the room with his head.

"There", he simply said.

Ascon Fornett, a tall, brown haired man who was probably considered handsome sat among a group of others, all of them obviously drunk, no matter it was barely late afternoon. It cost Mal everything he had not to just run over there, grip the man and beat the living daylights out of him.

Instead, he explained his plan to Jayne in a low voice. When the mercenary nodded in understanding, Mal started moving towards the bar, Jayne following him.

They slowly made their way over, aiming for a spot a few metres to the right of Fornett's group. Ordering a drink each with a wave of a hand, they sat down on the barstools.

Hours passed by with nothing more happening than Mal occasionally reminding Jayne that it was vital they stayed sober. The task ahead of them was too important for them to mess it up just because they had been bored and started to drink. The mercenary wasn't too happy with his captain's determination but he complied. Obviously he felt the other man's serious mood, which was uncharacteristic but underlined the situation's severity.

"He's leaving", was the first thing Mal said after half an eternity of silently sitting in front of a half empty glass. His whole body tensed as he watched Fornett getting up, swaying a little and grinning broadly. With a last comment towards his friends, the man started to make his way through the by now a little less filled room. Considering the amount of alcohol Mal had watched him consume, he was astoundingly steady on his feet.

"Showtime", he said and got up, Jayne only seconds behind.

They followed the slightly ragged looking man out of the bar and into the dark alley outside. Mal instinctively tried to sense Zoe. She had to be near somewhere, probably hiding behind the corner left of them. He made an inconspicuous gesture for her to stay out of sight and follow them. Years and years of working together had made the two of them the perfect team, no words needed.

When the man in front of them hesitated briefly and tried to orientate himself in the now dark street, Mal approached him. He did his best to make his voice sound light and as unthreatening as possible.

"You're Ascon Fornett, right?" he asked when he drew level with the slightly unbalanced man. "The Ascon Fornett?"

The man jerked a little and tried to focus on Mal. "Yyyyes, I am", he slurred. "And who're you?"

"Oh, I'm Mal", he answered brightly. "And this is Jayne." He gestured towards the mercenary who was standing about two feet behind him. "A friend told us all about you and since we were in the area we thought, we'd pay you a visit." The urge to simultaneously strangle the gorram bastard and to gag at the thought of his doings nearly took over his body when Mal continued. "We heard you liked beautiful women with certain talents..." he trailed off. The grin on Fornett's drunken face was sickening.

"Hm, d'you've someone for me?" A wave of stale alcohol washed over Mal when the man came near and practically breathed him in the face. It cost him all his self-restraint not to push him away. Only the thought of how much better his revenge would feel if he took the time to execute it properly kept him from killing the man with his bare hands right there and then.

"Yeah, we do", he answered with a forced smile. It was lucky the man was too drunk to notice anything apart from the obvious content of Mal's words. "I tell you, she's gorgeous and very... talented. Isn't she?" He turned to Jayne who was still standing behind him, silently watching the scene.

"Oh yeah, she is!" The other man managed a far better facade than Mal, the captain noticed, but he knew the mercenary and could see the anger boiling in him, too.

"Well then, let's go see her ", Fornett said and started staggering to the left. After a few steps he stopped and watched back at Mal and Jayne. "Where'll we meet her?"

"The other way. She's waiting at a place at the edge of the town."

"Oh, right, so let's go there", the man said and turned. He didn't manage on the spot and overbalanced before getting his equilibrium back. If his disgust hadn't overshadowed his every other thought, Mal could have laughed about how drunk the man was.

The three of them started walking down the dark alley, passing shabby houses with dark windows and garbage littering the street. Mal thought he could hear Zoe behind them but knew it had to be his imagination. This woman didn't make any sounds if she didn't want to.

After a couple of silent seconds, Mal bit down his repulsion and started a new conversation. He wanted to keep the man talking so he didn't start to think. So he didn't get a chance to realize that there shouldn't be any woman in this town he didn't already know.

"So, you've got any recommendations for us? Where I come from all the women look the same and most of them aren't really my type. Too... pale. I like a dark-haired beauty, someone with an air of mystery to them. Know what I mean?"

Instantly, Fornett's eyes clouded, Mal could even see it in the dim moonlight that was their only illumination.

"Ah, ya, I like them, too. Had this whore a few days ago. Gorgeous, I tell you!" Mal usually didn't even think twice about calling Inara a whore, not even to her face, but hearing someone else say it and with this lecherous expression was almost too much. He clenched his fists and forced himself to keep his breathing even when he guided Fornett around the last corner.

The end of the street was almost in sight. And with that, their destination. There were only some abandoned buildings at this edge of the small town and even if someone did hear them, Mal wasn't too worried that anyone would try to intervene. In towns like this no one minded anything other than his very own business. If someone got tortured next door, no one would care apart from the noise that made it hard to sleep at night.

Fornett kept on babbling. "Oh, the things we did. I did. It was... delicious." His tongue almost stumbled over the word. The alcohol had finally taken its full effect on him. "I love it, when they scream. It makes all this sooo much better. T'hear their pain is just like heaven, don' you think?" Listening to the slurred words, Mal started to slowly count backwards so he didn't attack that beast of a man before they reached the back wall of the last house. That was where he intended to finally give in to the ever growing need of punching the man senseless and he didn't plan on ruining his own revenge.

They had barely reached the bushes covering the edge of the town and Fornett seemed confused, looking left and right, searching for the promised delight, when Mal's fist hit him in the stomach with full force. The man instantly doubled over in pain and gasped. Before he could take another breath, the furious captain struck again, this time aiming for the temple. Fornett stumbled back at the impact and crashed into the bushes behind him. They softened his landing but at the same time scratched his skin badly until blood started dripping. When Mal drew back his foot to kick the man lying on the floor before him, a hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder. He froze mid-motion and looked at the person daring to interrupt him. It was his first lieutenant.

"Don't, captain. Not like this, not when he's so drunk he won't remember a thing."

Mal hesitated, fought the longing to finally get justice for Inara. He looked down at the slightly whimpering man who didn't seem to have the energy left to even ask what was happening to him.

"If he lives at all to remember. I won't guarantee anything", he said gruffly before forcing himself to turn away. "But I won't wait until he sobers up on his own, there has to be another way!"

"'Could take him to the doctor and ask him, he made me clear in the head again that one time, remember?" Jayne's voice unexpectedly sounded from behind.

"No!" Mal's instant reply was harsh. "I won't take that monster anyway near Inara ever again. Not even with that many closed and secured metal doors between them!" The thought of Fornett being even remotely near Inara made Mal shudder. He'd rather wait another three days than have the two of them within less than twenty miles of each other.

"Jayne, go see if you can find some cold water. Zoe and I will make sure Fornett here doesn't try anything he could later regret."

All Mal got was an indistinctive noise and the sound of feet shuffling over the dry ground. Zoe and he settled down on the bare earth as soon as Jayne was gone and watched their whining target wordlessly.

So, not much left anymore. I hope I'll manage to upload the final part tomorrow, but I can't guarantee it.