This is what me being sick for a week with the flu brought on.

It's written in little snippets out of each day, which makes it about a page in length.

Maybe I'll post more than one a day. We'll see. It's all done. It just depends on how much I want to flood the BSR with little chapters.

Thanks to Tamsibling for the beta!

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The Prisoner

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- Day 1 -

The day began like most others in the last four months since Miranda.

Tightening his arms around Kaylee, Simon muttered something about sloppy landings before opening his eyes and scowling at the closed shoji door. He knew his sister well enough by now to know that she’d jostled the ship on purpose to make sure those still abed would be more inclined to get up.

As usual, she’d brought Serenity in a few hours ahead of schedule. It constantly amazed the Captain, and more often than not annoyed Simon as he was usually still sleeping or engaged in other more pleasurable activities. Which, of course, was why River did most things.

He was required to go on this job today – to make sure the medical supplies and equipment they were transporting were the advertised stuff. Kaylee wasn’t happy about it and neither was he, but as there hadn’t been many wounds sustained on the ship in recent weeks, the Captain had insisted their resident doctor earn his keep. Which, as Mal so sternly reminded Simon every chance he got, did not include cleaning Kaylee’s plumbing on a regular basis.

He didn’t remember much of that day except kissing Kaylee goodbye as he left on the job with Mal, Zoe and Jayne. Somewhere in the middle of a gunfight he could only imagine Jayne started, he was snatched from behind, a sharp jolt to the head, rendering him instantly unconscious.

He could feel himself falling; falling into darkness with no one there to catch him. To his horror, he found the descent to be never ending. Simon’s heart raced and his hands clawed for purchase to slow his fall.

Only when he gasped loud enough to shake the unconsciousness from his mind, did the darkness recede from his dreams – only to be replaced with the all encompassing darkness of a waking nightmare.

~*~

Kaylee stood stoically in the galley as River piloted Serenity out of atmo, racing away from the planet as quickly as possible so that they would not share Simon’s fate. She waited patiently for the rest of the crew to return, her face an emotionless mask as she watched the Captain sink gingerly into the chair at the head of the table.

Mal, Jayne and Zoe all sustained wounds from the day’s job, but the biggest one that had hit the heart of Serenity could not be seen. Kaylee’s face had remained impassive as she watched in forced silence – and waited for Mal to explain.

After one look at Kaylee, Mal averted his eyes, which angered the mechanic even further than his silence. River wasn’t there yet, and she knew Mal would wait until his entire crew was together. But Kaylee couldn’t wait any longer.

“You left ‘im,” she finally said, her eyes boring into the Captain’s.

“Did what I had to do to save lives, Kaylee.”

“An’ end Simon’s,” Kaylee finished what Mal had left unsaid.

“There ain’t no proof of that,” Zoe answered from her place at Mal’s side.

Inara reached out to take Kaylee’s hand but the younger girl clenched her fingers into fists, barely controlling the anger that spread across her face.

“Not dead,” River said as she walked quietly into the room and stood beside Kaylee. “Would know if he was dead. Would feel it.” She placed a willowy hand over Kaylee’s heart. “And so would you.”

TBC

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