Not to be mistaken with what might be owed by the still overly confident man with the bowler hat, but the gratitude and odd sense of family he felt for people's he had previously only valued as business arrangements, Badger opened his eyes too see the rubble that once was his home.

The uncontrollable shaking from within his veins told him that he knew all around him were slaughtered. Being under his employ was their down fall, half of them would never had seen this coming. The other half would never have wanted to see this.

The piercing sunlight dancing across debris that once created daily memories. Heat and smoke pulsating off of metal remnants of a business in full swing. The flies that seem to be the only living thing brave enough to explore the after affect of one man toying with the lives of hundreds simply to coax a brother and sister out of hiding. The other half would never have wanted to see this, Badger did not want to see this.

Only a last minute wave and security sirens had Badger fleeing from his office and scurrying to throw his favourite possessions out of his 1 meter by 1 meter lead lined safe, and clambering inside saved his life.

The man on the wave had looked angry for reasons that had nothing to do with Badger this time. His plea was simple.

‘Best lie low, as low as you see me and many others on the outside of your little world. I know we got our differences and if need be I would put a bullet to you myself. But there is NO need with him, and I aint got a sense for sensless killings.’

‘Wha’s he after then? Sounds a precious cargo. You must have pissed them off something mighty for the Alliance to send an Operative into fetch mode? Don’t they only go after fugitives these days?’

‘Yes. But the who’s, if’s, and why’s wont concern you any more if you’re eatin dirt and staring at the devil for all eternity will they?’

Ordinarily Badger would not have taken a warning from anyone so seriously, but Malcolm Reynolds was the man delivering the warning, and of all the men and a few women in which Badger dealt with, Mal always wore his moral heart on his sleeve when it came to his crew. That and the mercenary asking ‘would he like the bodies arranged in any particular way over Serenity’s hull’ was proof enough, especially when the name ‘Shepard Book’ was used in the same sentence as the word ‘died.’

There was little noise inside the tomb that was previously home to Badgers antique guns and money collections from Earth that was until the gunshots started. Only then could Badger tell the caliber of the guns being used and that they weren't civilian weapons. These guns were Alliance issued, special ops. Mal was definitely telling the truth.

Various bullet noises could be heard as they tore through wood, fabric, flesh, and bounced off walls and the outer surface of the safe Badger was hiding inside of. His hear rate increased to speeds he'd last felt during the times of the cullings back at his homestead where he vowed never to let men control his emotions again. The first time since then Badger feared for his life.

After the seconds of reality passed amongst the hours inside the safe, and Badger heard the last sound of life from his crew escape a random mouth and thud to the ground with a padded sound effect, silence haunted around the safe. Enclosing it. Badger didn’t dare move or even breath.

He knew his men were dead, but he also knew there was still life outside the safe. Life he never wanted to meet.

Footsteps walked confidently passed the back of the safe.

Mumblings of one man were amongst the last noises Badger heard.

‘If Cooperation was a simpler word…’

The stretching of tape, clicking of wire cutters and faster footsteps and Badger knew the intruding murderer was gone.

He reached for the door of the safe and as his hand grasped the handle a deafening noise roared around the safe. Badger screamed thinking death had found him. The walls of the safe burned and the air that Badger was now gasping to get into his lungs slowly vanished as the temperature rose.

The heat remained within of the safe, so Badger remained within the walls of the safe. His head grew heavy and a few moments of giving up crept into the back of Badgers mind. As his head slumped for what would have been the last time, it connected with the wall of the safe and pushed open the damaged metal door. Badger rolled forward and drew in a deep breathe before deciding he would rather pass out for a while than come to terms with what he knew had happened outside the safe.