There have been clues to the Prisoner's identity in the last three 'days'. Any guesses?

The first five 'days' can be found here:

Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Day 4.

Day 5.

Thanks to Tamsibling for the beta.

----------

The Prisoner

------------

Day 6

Simon tried to push thoughts of her out of his mind. But every time he closed his eyes, he could feel her warm breath on his cheek, her soft lips flowering beneath his as they kissed. If his body ached from the beatings he had sustained, his heart ached with want of her.

He hoped she was safe, that Serenity had gone when he’d been captured. But he knew that hope was false. His sister, if no one else, would go to the ends of the ‘verse looking for him. They were too close, had been through too much together, for her to do otherwise.

Simon groaned as he thought about River, how angry he imagined she’d be if she was forced to abandon searching for him. And Kaylee, the sweet mechanic, innocent in some ways, not so innocent in others, forced to say goodbye to another.

He remembered finding her wedged into the corner of her bunk, of the engine room, staring at nothing, after Book and Wash had died. Their deaths had sapped a little of the energetic girl’s neverending cheerfulness and the thought of his death doing something similar made Simon’s heart ache to the very core.

“Still breathing over there?”

The question made Simon tremble with pain and chill. “Just thinking.”

“Don’t tell them about her.”

Simon tensed instantly, wondering what his cell-mate could be talking about. He hadn’t mentioned River or Kaylee, or anyone else – that he could remember. Had he been talking in his sleep? “What do you –“

“You’re thinking about some lost love.”

“H-how do you know that?” Simon struggled to control his sudden fear and he wrapped his arms around himself as another chill swept through his battered body.

“Been here a long time.”

“I can’t even see your face, how do you –“

“When one cannot see, the other senses become stronger.”

That made perfect sense to Simon and he relaxed a bit more, still trembling from the cold. “Oh. Yes. I’ve heard that.”

After a few moments of silence, the stranger asked, “Is she pretty?”

Simon knew the smile that spread across his face as he thought of Kaylee would have answered the question instantly were they not sitting in such a dark room.

“Beautiful.” There was a wistfulness to his voice that was not lost on his cell-mate.

~*~

“I’ll go after ‘im on my own if the Cap’n won’t do it, ‘Nara. Prolly won’t get far but, I can’t take all this waitin’ around.” The swish of fabric clearly indicated who had walked into the room and Kaylee didn’t bother to look behind her while she tinkered with something in Shuttle Two.

“Give him some time, Kaylee,” Inara pleaded, her eyes darting around the space at the mess Kaylee had made. She wanted to think that she knew how she would react if something like this happened to the man she loved – had a new, physical relationship with, but she couldn’t lie to herself. She would probably feel just as upset and helpless as Kaylee felt now.

The tool Kaylee held fell to the floor with a loud clang as the young mechanic whirled on her friend. “An’ let them hurt him more?”

Inara opened her mouth to speak but Kaylee plowed on. “I can’t sit here an’ do nothing!”

Inara could hear the desperation in Kaylee’s voice, the fear that when they got to Simon it would be too late. It had replaced nearly all the anger, despite how valiantly Kaylee was trying to cling to it. “We’re landing tomorrow, Kaylee. Mal has a lead. They’ll get him back.”

Hope lit Kaylee’s eyes for the first time in days. “I’m goin’ with ‘em.”

Inara didn’t have the heart to tell the girl that Mal had expressly forbidden it.

TBC

-------------------

Liked it? Hated it? Leave a review and let me know.