Yes, its over! Congrats to Spacie who guessed in the last chapter :)

The first ten 'days' can be found here:

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

Day 8.

Day 9

Day 10.

Thanks to Tamsibling for the beta.

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The Prisoner

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Epilogue

They made it out without too much trouble, Mal wondering all the while how a simple Shepherd knew the way out of this detention facility. It had been a maze of corridors and cells, of foul-smelling rooms that Mal was grateful Simon had been too unconscious to see. This wasn’t a normal Alliance facility. This was one they kept secret, didn’t acknowledge its existence. Political prisoners entered this place, were tortured horribly for information – and then never left again.

“The Geneva Convention doesn’t exist here,” River said simply as she approached on light feet. She ignored the confused looks her comment generated and pursed her lips together.

They met her near where they’d entered the facility and she paused briefly to touch her brother’s bruised face for a moment. Her eyes scanned him but her expression remained impassive as she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. She looked instantly toward the Shepherd, her eyes boring into him, through him, before moving ahead to lead them back to the ship.

The Shepherd’s mouth twisted into a wry smile as his eyes fell on the waif-like girl ahead of them. So this was their big secret. This girl. Part of a secret project gone wrong that he had been recruited to fix.

When they reached the ship, Kaylee and Inara greeted them at the ramp. The anxiety on both women’s faces grew when their eyes fell on the unconscious Simon.

“Let him work,” Mal said as they pushed by the women and went directly to the infirmary, Mal standing tensely behind the Shepherd, watching his every move. He remembered all too clearly the last time he’d taken a man of the cloth onboard his ship. Every passenger had a story – and it usually wasn’t a dull one – so Mal remained tense, cautious.

Mal fixed his eyes on the scene before him as the Shepherd tended to Simon’s injuries with the precision of a trained doctor. Zoe assisted, cleaning the infected lash marks while the preacher attended to sewing closed the deepest ones, and binding ribs and other badly bruised limbs.

Kaylee stood back, anxiously bouncing on the balls of her feet and waiting for permission to come closer. Inara tried to calm the mechanic but nothing did much good.

River had returned to the bridge to get them off world before the facility was alerted to its missing inmates. Mal and Jayne stood on either side of the door, fingering their weapons, Jayne unblinking as he stared at the Shepherd.

“I don’t think we got your name,” Mal said when the man finally stepped away and Kaylee moved in to take his place at Simon’s side.

He glanced down at the young woman, guessing her to be the beauty from Simon’s delirious tales. It was clear she cared for him in the way she rested her cheek gently against his, whispered words for his ear only, clutched his fingers desperately, but carefully, in her own. The preacher nodded, knowing that Simon had not lied about the young woman and the man predicted he hadn’t lied about the rest of his story either.

With a deep breath and a resigned smile, the man said, “The name’s Book.”

Three sets of guns cocked instantly in his direction, and Kaylee’s eyes shot up from where she had been intently studying an unconscious Simon’s face.

“What did you say?” Kaylee asked, her brows knitting together in confusion. His voice was oddly familiar.

The man didn’t look at all surprised and raised his hands, knowing that this would be the outcome of his revelation. “I see the name is known to you.”

“You could say that,” Mal snapped, his eyes narrowing.

“I think you’ve got some explainin’ to do,” Zoe said, her finger hovering over the trigger of her shotgun.

“An’ you better start talkin’,” Jayne sneered, his own gun aimed at the dark-skinned man.

A slow nod later, the Shepherd began. “My brother and I took the oath together, but it was simply a cover – for a time, a cover for the work we had been specifically requested to complete for Parliament.”

“You’re a Fed?” Jayne asked incredulously, his finger tightening on Vera’s trigger.

“You’re a plant,” Zoe said. It was not a question.

“You weren’t – the Shepherd, he was –.” Kaylee stopped, her mind whirling with the unexpected revelations.

The man nodded slowly and confirmed. “I was not a prisoner.”

“What kinda work?” Mal demanded, his jaw set.

Three sets of eyes darted toward Mal before settling on their newest passenger, waiting for an explanation – one that would save or condemn him.

“Detain Simon Tam and return his sister to the government school from where he’d kidnapped her.”

All eyes turned to River, who stood motionless in the doorway, her body tense but on her face was a hint of a smile.

The Shepherd nodded. “Yes. That was our mission. My – brother failed.”

With a quick glance between River and her brother, Mal tightened fingers around his pistol. No one messed with his crew. “An’ so will you.”

END

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