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[givingback]

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[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.

[givingback]

[ Bree shifts uncomfortably, swallowing and wetting her lips. ]

I married Roger.

[ She hadn't meant to blurt that out, she'd been trying to figure out how to tell her, and that's how it comes out. But then the truth of her own decision follows swiftly. ]

And after is when he told me he knew what happened to you and Jamie all along. I was so angry that I told him to leave. To go back.

[nineteenfortyfive]

Married?

[So much for keeping her cool. Claire practically reels back, needing to set a hand down on the bed to steady herself. Thank God Bree had the sense to not say this with Jamie in the room. Roger was a good one--or so Claire thought before leaving Boston.]

Well. It's not counting here. Not unless you wish it to count.

[givingback]

I don't.

[ She says it with surety. ]

It was a handfasting. Only good for a year and a day.

[ But, still, she has to ask. ]

What if he wakes up?

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Handfasting. She's familiar, thanks to Fergus and Marsali, and so she visibly relaxes. It's more like a long engagement. Easily broken.]

Then he'll deal with Jamie and I.

[givingback]

It was all the same day. Being happy to see Roger, the handfasting, then the lie and then the tavern.

[ She rubs a hand over her face; she's never understood bone tired before, but she does now. She's exhausted and sore, mind still reeling from trying to reconcile two very different worlds, one which has ended. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Again, Claire feels like it's about to be her turn to be sick. She manages to swallow it down as she reaches for Bree again, needing to hold her in her arms.]

They're far away, now. [Roger, and the monster that hurt her.] I'll get you more comfortable and braid your hair. We'll crawl into bed together and make Jamie fetch us something to eat.

[What else is a husband for?]

And I won't leave you alone. Only if you want me to. All right? I promised to take care of you, and I will.

[givingback]

I don't want you to leave me.

[ She says that quickly, a flash of panic in her eyes at the idea of it as she lets herself collapse into Claire's arms again, taking a deep breath. ]

Will Jamie come back?

[ She knows he isn't angry with her, but she has no idea how he processes anger or hurt. ]