Alright, so here's the last - and probably most wanted - part. I'm quite unsure about it, don't know if I think it's good enough but since I don't know what to do better, either, I'll just upload it...
Hopefully you'll be satisfied!

Almost an hour later, they heard someone coming near. It was Jayne carrying a bucket filled with water if the slushing sound coming from it was anything to go by.

"Don't know how all the people living here can only have one well. Had to search the whole gorram town to find the stupid thing!" He stopped next to Mal and Zoe who were still sitting on the ground and looked down at Fornett. The man had fallen asleep at some point, the alcohol being stronger than the fear and the pain.

Mal got up, brushed the dust from his trousers and held his hand out. Jayne handed him the bucket and Mal barely waited the second necessary for Zoe to get out of the way before he splashed the bucket's contents over Fornett's head. A few drops flew astray and hit Mal's bare forearms. Satisfied he noticed how cold the water was.

Sputtering, Fornett came back to life. His head and upper body were dripping wet and he was clearly confused, not knowing where he was and why he was soaked. His unsure motions made it obvious that neither the little nap nor the cold water had done much of a difference and that he still was pretty out of it. He was looking left and right, trying to make out his surroundings.

Mal moved towards the guy but Zoe held him back once more.

"It's no use, captain, guy's still drunk as a lord."

"I don't care! I've waited long enough, his reprieve is over now!" With that, he broke away from his first mate and with a quick and well-practiced movement pulled Fornett up while simultaneously putting him in a chokehold. The man had no chance to fight it. And before he knew it, Mal had grasped his arm and twisted it behind his back. Right arm across the man's throat, left one gripping his wrist, the man had no way of escaping. And Mal knew, pain and fear would soon enough clear the man's head so he would know why he was beaten senseless.

"Wha'?" Bleary eyes were looking up at them, still not knowing what was going on. Mal shot a glance at Jayne and Zoe. His two comrades were standing in front of him and Fornett, neutral expressions on their faces. It was obvious, they wouldn't mind whatever Mal decided to do to the man. On the contrary in fact. The murderous looks in their eyes clearly stated that they would even have their share in what was to come.

"Oh, you'll see what", Mal said and twisted the arm further, to breaking point, and held it there. He could feel the bone bending, right to the edge of snapping.

Fornett screamed. His whole body tried to escape the pain but Mal's grip was made of steel.

"Stop!" The man's voice was squeaky. "Stop, please!"
Suddenly, Mal had Inara's voice in his head, how she would sound saying those same words. He couldn't help but imagine how she had pleaded for Fornett to stop when he started to hurt her. At first, surely, she would have tried to reason with him, than to escape and fight, but finally, she must have started begging. Mal shook his head, trying to escape the images and sounds his mind came up with. He was already angry enough at the man, the pictures only caused his concentration to falter. Until now he had mostly managed to ban the thoughts of how it must have been for her, and with good reason. It caused him almost physical pain to even think of it.

In order to make the man stop and thereby shutting down his imagination, Mal contracted the muscles in his right arm and pulled. The man's throat was closed now and even in the pale moonlight bathing the scene, Mal could see him slowly turn from white to red to blue in the face as he was cut off from oxygen. When he felt the man getting even wobblier on his legs than he already was, he loosened his grip. Fornett gasped for air. He had barely filled his lungs again when Mal bent his left wrist a little and by that made the pain in the man's arm close to unbearable.

The screams coming from him were kind of satisfying. Mal didn't think of himself as a cruel man and usually he didn't take any delight from hurting other people but the memory of Inara, lying on her bed, broken and barely conscious, erased his every rational thought until only rage was left. Rage and the burning desire to let the man live through at least as much pain as he had put Inara through.

After a minute, Mal released some of the pressure until Fornett became still again, now only gasping for air, trying to breathe through the pain.

"You think he's clear now?", he asked Zoe who took a step closer and intently looked at the man.

"Yes, he's ready."

"Ready for what?", Fornett asked.

"Oh, you'll see", Mal answered. "Jayne, would you give me the honour of switching places? I'd like to look our friend here in the eye."

"'Course, capt'n." Swiftly, Jayne took over Mal's position.

Mal placed himself right in front of Fornett, Zoe a little to his right, and lowered himself a little so he was at the same height as the man.

"I take it you remember the night before last?" The man looked at him, still confused, obviously not really knowing where the question was aiming. "Don't tell me you forgot. You've been going on and on about her."

An understanding grin dawned on Fornett's face. Somehow, he seemed to have forgotten in how bad a position he was and out of nowhere had gained some bravery.

"Oh, her, of course. This is about her? Really? What do you care about a filthy whore?" The lecherous expression from earlier that evening was back on Fornett's face and if he had ever had a sense of self-preservation, it was clearly gone. Erased by the alcohol's aftereffects and probably adrenaline pumping through his veins.
The man's audacity let Mal see red. "She is not a whore", he snapped. "And she belongs to my crew, so whatever she does to earn her living, she's under my protection."

The man started to laugh. "Your crew? What kind of crew is that with a whore among it? Oh, wait, I understand. She's yours, isn't she. Do you take her in turns? Or maybe a threesome every now and then with that bitch over there?" He looked at Zoe. "Where does she come from anyway? I can't remember being led here by her. Only your two ugly faces."

Jayne snarled at the comment but didn't do anything. Mal was hard pressed to finish the man right on the spot, if only for the implications he had just offered. But he refrained himself. He carefully made a step towards Fornett, laid both hands on his shoulders and thrust his knee into the man's groin. It seemed somehow fitting to hit him where it hurt most after what he had just said.

Fornett instantly doubled over, thereby putting pressure on his throat which was still clamped in Jayne's arm. Mal beckoned to the mercenary to keep holding the man up. Fornett had barely caught his breath again and looked at Mal, when the captain's fist hit him in the face. Mal heard the nose break with a satisfying snap. Blood shot out of Fornett's nostrils and over his face until it was dripping from his chin, staining his shirt.

"Oh yes, she belongs to my crew. And no one", he emphasised the expression by pressing his thumb onto the broken nose, "hurts my crew."
Fornett tried to escape the pressure by turning his head, but his movements were too limited. Tears of pain started to run over his face when Mal crooked the man's nose but Fornett refused to make a single sound. Quite the opposite, in fact. Although clearly being in pain and with no way of escaping the situation, he tried to grin nastily at Mal.

"No one hurts women", unexpectedly came from Jayne. Hatred and disgust were written all over the mercenary's face, not something to be seen often.

"Pah, I can do with them whatever I like." Unbelievably, the man still dared to get cocky. "They're women, they're meant to serve men. And if we like to hurt them, it's not their place to complain."

Mal couldn't believe his ears. He had dealt with more than just a few lunatics during his dubious career, but someone, something, like this had never crossed his path before. He didn't even have the chance to do anything further because all of a sudden Zoe took the three steps necessary to draw level with him.

"Please, captain, may I?"

"Of course", he said and bowed a little before moving backwards and giving her space.

Zoe carefully checked if her sleeves were still tightly rolled up, then looked at Fornett. There was not as much fear in the man's eyes as she would have liked. And not as much pain either. In a rapid movement, she pulled her right arm back and then punched him in the stomach with all the strength she could muster. Once more the man doubled over, this time Jayne loosened his grip at a sign from Zoe and stepped away so she could take his place. As soon, as she got hold of Fornett's arm, she expertly twisted it with enough force to simultaneously dislocate the shoulder and break both bones in his forearm. The snapping sound was clearly audible, even over the instant screams of agony coming from Fornett's mouth. The man went limp in Zoe's grip but she held him up and whispered in his ear.

"You know, I truly am one for equality. If you ask me, a woman has exactly the same rights as any man. So", and now she smiled with the amiableness of a hungry shark, "if you're entitled to hurt me, I'm entitled to hurt you, don't you think?"

With that, she thrust him to the ground where he rolled onto his back, clutching his injured arm, and wailed.

"You know, Inara is my friend, and I don't like when someone hurts my friends", Zoe said.

Mal sent her an approving glance when she stepped back again and he moved closer to Fornett once more. By now, the man definitely looked worse than Inara had when Mal had first found her, he noticed with satisfaction.
He had debated killing Fornett, but somehow it seemed too merciful. If the man was dead, he couldn't suffer for what he had done. And make him suffer was what Mal had wanted.

"I'd say, I hope you've learned something from this", he told the man, "but honestly, I don't. Because if you haven't and you'll ever do something like this again, if you ever even look at a woman the wrong way again, we'll know. And then we'll kill you! But not in the nice, quick way. We'll make you regret every single second of your life!" He pretended to start and turn away but at the last instant stopped. "Oh and until then I want you to know that we deleted your faked files and sent a lead to the authorities to look into that shady character of yours. Guess they'll keep a close eye on you from now on." He didn't get a real reaction from Fornett anymore. The pain had finally drained every strength, both of will and body, from the man.

After that last statement, Mal put his foot on the man's left leg and pushed down hard. For the third time that night, the snapping sound of bones breaking could be heard.

Fornett didn't even scream any longer, he just lay there at their feet, face contorted in pain and with blood all over it, still clutching his arm and his leg now sprawled away from his body at an unnatural angle. He was barely conscious anymore.

Finally, Mal turned and started to move away. He could feel Zoe following him, but he couldn't hear Jayne's heavy footsteps. After a few meters, he stopped and looked back, checking for the mercenary.

He was standing over Fornett, silently watching the man. Then, suddenly, he lifted his foot and let his heel crash into the man's midsection.

"No one hurts women, not even whores", he stated before following after Mal and Zoe.

They left the once great Ascon Fornett, literally bloody and broken, lying in the dust to at some time be found by a coincidental bypasser. Because he surely wouldn't move anywhere on his own for the foreseeable future.

So, that's it! Thanks for sticking with this (actually rather short) story although it took me three months to continue writing. And know I never would have done it if it hadn't been for you demanding more :-) Thanks again for that, there's no bigger compliment an author can get!

Currently I'm working on something about "Castle". It's completely plotted, I just have to write it. So if anyone has watched that show (and if it only was for the awesome Nathan Fillion), maybe you'll come back checking out that one, too, someday.

See you :-)