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[givingback]

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[nineteenfortyfive]

[Claire knows that Bree always found the most comfort in Frank. There's something between fathers and daughters, she supposes, and it breaks her heart to see it so plainly here. Jamie is a strong man, they all know it, and their daughter is seeking him for comfort and protection.

If only the circumstances were different.

Quietly, she sits beside them, putting a hand on Jamie's elbow. It's not good.]

We won't let anything happen to you, Bree. You're safe.

[So she hears it from both her parents.]

[givingback]

[ Bree finally pulls it together, and she takes a deep breath, finally sitting up, shifting so that she can sit between them rather than be too far out of Claire's reach. ]

I made it all the way to Wilmington.

[ She clears her throat, then looks down at her closed fist. ]

I went to a tavern to sleep. Someone was playing cards and he. Asked me to hold a ring for luck.

[ Now, Bree opens her hand and there, in her palm, is a ring identical to the one her mother still has, so Brianna knows she hasn't gone through that, the world ended for her before she could. ]

I knew it immediately.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie looks at the ring and loses all color in his face. He goes white as a sheet and reaches out with a shaking hand to take the ring from the palm of Brianna's hand. ]

A Dhia...

[ He knows in an instant. He knows it. The same man that terrorized his wife terrorized his child. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Her ring. Claire looks down at the identical one on her hand. Jamie had told her about a man he helped, who in turn, attacked her and stole her wedding ring. He'd been so upset over it, even if it had been some time ago in his life, and not in hers at all.

Seeing Bree with it makes her blood run cold.

Claire doesn't say anything because she can piece it together well enough in her mind. Why her daughter is like this now. What sort of man she met. Abruptly, she grabs Bree to pull her close, her turn now to hold her.

She can't look at Jamie and so she squeezes her eyes shut against the tears that want to fall.]

[givingback]

[ Bree has no idea why she says the things she does, but Jamie's reaction, her mother pulling her in immediately, it just comes out. ]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I tried to give him money for it, I tried, I...he wouldn't...

[ She's shaking again and just presses her face against her mother's neck where it's safe. ]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie's head is bowed, but when he looks back up he's crying, tears freely falling down his face as he reaches out to rub her back. ]

Much, mo naoidheachan, much.

[ He tries to soothe, tries to make it better, but he can't. Again. He can't. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Christ. Christ. Claire feels her throat tighten, wanting to cry as well, but one of them has to hold it together. She knows how much this hurts Jamie. For a number of reasons. She risks a glance at him and regrets it. Oh, but she can't hold both of them right now.]

It's not your fault. There is nothing to apologize for, Bree. I won't hear it again.

[givingback]

[ Now that they know, now that both of them know, Bree just lets it all go. She doesn't mean for her words to invoke more emotion, but she was just trying to do something good. ]

I thought it...it would be a surprise. A good surprise I could give to you. I could see you for the first time and give you the ring.

[ She was only trying to do something for her mother. ]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Every word is like a knife slicing through his heart. A ring that shouldn't have been stolen from Claire to begin with. ]

Don't ever apologize again, Brianna.

[ His words are somewhat choked as he clears his throat. ]

One day I'll kill him. I swear it to ye, Bree.

[ It's all he can do, all he can offer. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Just as Fergus had hoped to surprise her with perfume. Christ. Claire holds her tighter, kissing the top of her head.]

[givingback]

[ Bree wants to talk more, but maybe only to her mother. No disrespect to Jamie, but she can't explain the way it hurts and talk about it in front of Jamie ]

I didn't...know what to do. After.

[ Then, her voice drops. ]

He told me to tell you hello.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie desperately needs to hit or punch, and he gets up, rubbing a hand over his face. It's a rage he hasn't felt before in his life that's building in his heart, a blackness at the edge of his vision he hasn't seen since Randall had his wife.

He can't do this in front of them, in front of Brianna especially, so he looks at Claire. ]

Do ye have her?

[ Because he needs to get out of this room that's too small so he can go hit a wall. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[She doesn't know Stephen Bonnet, but he's already a notch above Ramsay and Randall in her books. He hurt her daughter, and if she ever met the man, she'd kill him herself.

Her rage is better contained than Jamie's. He's about to boil over. So, she gives him a nod. He can go do what he must.

Once the door's shut, her voice is soft as she talks to Bree.]

I think we should get you cleaned up and into bed, hmm? I'll brush your hair for you.

[She'd tried to tidy up the mess of curls, but between the hugs from both parents, it's a mess again.]

[givingback]

[ Bree is quiet, trying to decide whether or not she wants to speak up about anything else. But she's a doctor, and Bree knows she needs to tell her. ]

Mama, it...it hurts.

[ She looks down, closing her eyes, remembering a flash of a conversation.

Did it hurt? The first time.

Yes, but I liked it.

God, she feels stupid for so many different reasons. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

I can heal you. [Thanks to the Natha and their gifts, long ago. Nothing new to Bree if she's been with Claire at the clinic. She tends to default to her herbs and salves, but in this instance, she's glad for a quick fix.

She kisses her forehead.]

Let's get you out of this dress, first.

[Which, looking at now, looks awfully familiar.]

[givingback]

[ Bree nods and slowly stands. ]

I met Uncle Ian. He gave me a trunk full of your clothes. The shift though, it was...

[ Well. ]

...Marsali's.

[nineteenfortyfive]

I thought this looked familiar.

[She supposes some of Marsali's things could have ended up at Lallybroch, which is where Claire assumes Bree headed first.]

You saw Lallybroch, then? And met your aunt Jenny?

[A conversation to distract her as she begins to undo her laces on the front.]

[givingback]

Jenny was helping a woman give birth. No, I...

[ She hangs her head a little. ]

I was hurt and Laoghaire found me. She took care of me. Until she realized who I was in relation to everyone at Lallybroch. I met Joanie. She was sweet and helped me get out of her house when her mother wanted to revisit the witch trial idea.

[nineteenfortyfive]

Laoghaire.

[There's a woman Claire's happy to forget. Bree managed to meet some of the worst people in the century, didn't she?]

Marsali and Joanie are nothing like their mother. Thank god.

[She falls quiet then, remembering that Jamie took off with the second ring. She hopes he's all right, wherever he's gotten off to. And once Bree is down to her shift, Claire guides her to sit on the edge of the bed.]

Jamie will be glad to know you met Ian, at least. That's his best friend.

[givingback]

He was kind. Gave me money. He said I was a true Fraser.

[ Bree smiles just a little, then sits with her arms wrapped around herself, shivering. Not because she's cold, just at feeling bare. ]

Everything happened...so fast.

[nineteenfortyfive]

And now, there's no rush. Everything is at your pace. Whatever you need, I'm here. And if I can't do it, Jamie will.

[She's beat when it comes to big, strong hugs. That's all right. When Claire sits beside her, she reaches for one of her hands.]

I love you with all my heart, Bree. And so does Jamie. We both are here for you.

[givingback]

Are you upset that I went through the stones?

[ Bree holds onto her mother's hand, knowing, or at least feeling like, it's a real possibility. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

No.

[She replies easily. But.]

It's not what we would have wanted for you. I understand, though. Why.

[Jamie nor Frank would never, ever want her to go to the past. For good reason. Her time was safer.]

[givingback]

Roger was upset. He followed after me, he told me it didn't matter, that you were already dead for two hundred years. But it mattered to me.

[ She shakes her head. ]

If I could do this for you, save you, how could I sit at home and let that play out?

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Claire supposes, ultimately, it doesn't matter. Dead is dead. But how a man could expect anyone to sit on their hands when they have a chance to change things is absurd. Even if Claire's own experience proves it's not always possible.]

We do what we must.