Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly. It belongs to Joss.

Author's Note: Maleena is my character, and to people who ask permission to use her. Also Wash and Shepard are alive in my verse.

"Hello" means talking

'Hello' means thinking

A Rebel's Heart

Mal's first thought, upon entering Havenwood, was that Maleena didn't really need help. She stood in the doorway to the bar holding her .45 rather protectively while one man lay moaning thirty paces from the building and the other two stood a good amount of space back.

"Ahh shoot" whispered a sleazy voice "Be reasonable Mal. There's no need for anyone to do anymore killin'."

"Reasonable!? Being reasonable flew out the window when you tried to take two of my friends. Now unless you the last thing you want to see is the end of my gun, I suggest you get." Maleena pointed the gun towards the men's face. The slaver looked around for anything that might help him, and spotted River. Before anyone could react, he had River in his arms, and pointed a gun to her head. She paused for a minute, but only for a minute.

Maleena dropped her gun, and rushed toward her victim. She swiftly struck him in the throat, and brought her knee up to meet his chest, as he doubled over in pain. He quickly dropped to his knees and hands. Maleena pulled a boot knife out, straddled his back, and promptly slammed the butt into the back of his head. His body dropped to the sand out cold. She glanced behind to take care of the leader, but he was already unconscious, and River was being checked for any injuries by which Maleena assumed was the doctor.

"What took you so long Gem?" River asked.

"Unlike you, I haven't really been able to train in my skills. Heard about Miranda, was it true?"

"Now wait just a moment, you two know each other?" Mal inquired.

Maleena shared a small smile with River. "You might say that. We knew each other in school. Maleena Jasmine Winters, but you can call me Mal. You must be Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Pleasure to meet you sir. Where's Shepard? He told me you had a mechanic could fix one of our machines." Maleena stooped to pick up the gun she had dropped in the struggle.

"Oh, so you know our Shepherd too?"

"Is there a problem with that Captain?" She glared at him.

"Now, now. Let's not have anymore shooting here. Maleena this is Kaylee, our mechanic I told you about. She said she would be delighted to help you fix our machine."

Maleena and Kaylee started walking to a huge building when Maleena called out, "Shepard? Could you make sure those three mongrels get off this planet okay? Thanks."

Author's Note: What is this mysterious machine you ask? Read the next chapter to find out.