Yes, its almost over. Epilogue will follow tomorrow - maybe.

The first nine 'days' can be found here:

Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Day 4. Day 5. Day 6. Day 7.

Day 8.

Day 9

Thanks to Tamsibling for the beta.

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The Prisoner

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Day 10 - very early

“If they come for me, tell them that I’m sorry.” Simon’s weak voice cracked after being silent for countless hours.

The man had made a decision in those hours; one that would change the course of his service. “I won’t let you die in here, boy.”

Simon started at the determination in the man’s tone and his senses tingled at the firm familiarity of the man’s voice. He struggled to blink away the haze enough to get a better look, but it was too dark and his vision too clouded.

Simon’s much larger cell-mate hefted the younger and lighter man into his arms, amidst a bout of unhealthy coughing and groaning.

“Who are – “ Simon’s voice trailed away when the stone door slid open, revealing a very dimly lit corridor behind it and a very stone-faced Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

If anyone could have seen the smile on the prisoner’s face, they’d have known that he’d been expecting the rescue.

“Who are you?” Mal leveled his gun at Simon’s cell-mate as Zoe and Jayne hurried in behind him, gingerly taking Simon out of the bigger man’s arms.

“No one of importance.” The dark-skinned man raised his arms and made no move to exit the room.

Simon’s head swam with dizziness and his stomach churned with nausea but his eyes widened when he noticed a familiar face, and heard Jayne’s all-too-familiar grousing about moonbrain and women as he stepped back out of the cell to make sure the coast was clear.

Zoe held his head tenderly and without a word, injected Simon with the painkiller that Kaylee had given to her. If she looked surprised at the wounds that covered his pale skin, she gave no indication.

Simon tried to speak but Zoe shushed him with a warm finger to his lips. “Quiet now. We need to get you out of here.”

“I believe I know the way,” the prisoner ducked his head and entered the corridor. Glancing back, he motioned for them to follow. “The guards will be changing shifts right about now.” He smiled knowingly at Mal, “but I believe you already knew that.”

Mal smirked his response and leveled his gun around the nearest corner before motioning Zoe and Jayne to follow with Simon. River, he knew, was silently taking care of anyone they might encounter despite her desire to be first on the scene when they found her brother.

Mal’s eyes narrowed when he turned around and got a better look at Simon’s cell-mate.

“You’re a Shepherd?”

The man inclined his head respectfully. “Indeed I am.”

“Other than the knowin’ duds, you don’t look like one.”

“I haven’t always been a Shepherd, Captain Reynolds.”

Mal eyed him skeptically for a long moment, recalling those words coming out of another man’s mouth once upon a time. He didn’t bother to question how the man knew his name, figuring, instead, that Simon had spoken about him. He’d chastise the boy later.

The dark-skinned man glanced back at Jayne, carrying a very non-responsive Simon. “He needs medical attention – badly.”

Mal’s eyes swept down Simon’s bruised and bloody body. “I’m noticin’.”

“If you’ve got medical facilities –“

“We do,” Mal’s eyes shifted suspiciously toward the Shepherd before a small smile tugged at one end of his mouth. “But I’m guessin’ you already know that.” Familiarity tugged at the back of the Captain’s mind, but he pushed it away in favor of getting out of this facility before they were discovered.

“Let me help him?” The Shepherd owed Simon for the torture he’d endured. His eyes pleaded expertly with Mal, knowing the kind of man he was simply by what little information he had gleaned about the man from Simon. And he needed to know what had truly happened on Miranda, and the events directly preceding it; if Simon had been telling the truth, or lying. “I have some training in the medical field.”

Mal hesitated only a moment, knowing that a decision would have to be made quickly. He glanced at Simon again and winced. Torture, he was intimately familiar with. Knew how it felt, how it could break a man. And as strong as the doc was, The Captain didn’t figure his body could take the strain he knew the Alliance could inflict. He nodded almost imperceptively. “What’s a Shepherd doin’ in that cell?”

The man’s lips twisted into a brief smile as he caught the Captain’s small nod. “That is a very long story.”

“We get out of here,” Mal glanced around a corner as they began to move. “You’ll have plenty of time to tell it.”

END

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Yes, there will be an Epilogue.