ic contact post

[givingback]

audio | video | text

Comments

[nineteenfortyfive]

[She tries to find her hand, needing to hold it, to give her strength.]

Thank you.

[seventeenfortythree]

Do not thank me for a vow I've never been able to keep.

[ He says it, even as he holds onto her tightly. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

Don't. If not for you, Bree and I could be long dead. She might not have had the chance to be born.

[He saved them from the aftermath of Culloden. And even before that, he saved her life more than once.]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie knows better than to insist or pursue this. Especially with Brianna between them. When he feels Bree jerk in her sleep, he whispers to her softly. ]

M'eudail. Dinnae cry. We're here. Both of us. Dinnae fash.

[ He soothes her, stroking her hair again until he feels her slowly relax. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

He had nightmares, too.

[He being Fergus. Jamie wasn't there, locked away in the Bastille, and so it was Claire that comforted him when she heard him cry out in the night. When they were especially bad, she let him sleep in the bed, his tiny form occupying the space Jamie's once took.]

What helped you?

[Asked as her fingers stroke the hair at Bree's temple.]

[seventeenfortythree]

You.

[ It's the truth of it, and he doesn't hesitate in his answer. ]

You, Sassenach. Even if ye dinnae think it.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[His reply has her falling quiet for a moment. The tears still fall, because if she doesn't cry now, she won't get a chance to again. She has to be strong for Bree.]

Then she's better off. She has the both of us.

[She might not have a moment of privacy with Jamie again for some time, she realizes.]

I need to tell you why she came through the stones.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie's forehead creases. Christ, the fact that she went through the stones at all has been the last thing on his mind. ]

What was it, then?

[nineteenfortyfive]

It was to save us. She found out that we died in a fire.

[Somehow, sometime. Claire holds Bree tighter.]

Not that it matters much here. With all the worlds gone. But... that's why she went through the stones. It was for you and me.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie's eyes close, and he drops his nose into Bree's hair before speaking quietly. ]

A 'nighean mar a mathair. Our daughter with heart so much like yours, Claire.

[ Selfless. Brave. Strong and able to endure. ]

It's how I ken she'll make it through.

[nineteenfortyfive]

I was thinking she'd make it through because she's so much like you.

[Too much, now. What a horrid thought.]

[seventeenfortythree]

Perhaps it's the strength of both of us, Sassenach.

[ Jamie reaches out again and strokes Claire's cheek tenderly. ]

Ye should get some rest. She'll need you, come morning.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[She places her hand over his.]

What did you hit?

[Hopefully not whom. He's more likely to take out his frustrations on objects, not people.]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ He doesn't look at all regretful about the way his knuckles have been bloodied. ]

A wall. It wasna very forgiving, but I cannae say I could feel much at the time.

[nineteenfortyfive]

I'm so sorry, Jamie. Everything is--difficult, waking up here, but on top of it...

[Nothing to apologize for, she knows, but she is sorry. The other night was good, father and daughter meeting, and then they spent the night together, holding one another. And then it all went downhill.]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Isn't that just the way of their lives? Happiness, then devastation. He'd hoped North Carolina would be an end to it all. But it wasn't to be so. ]

No apologies are needed here tonight, Sassenach. No' from our daughter. And no' from you.

[nineteenfortyfive]

Then not from you, either.

[She can feel the guilt radiating off him.]

We can't change what happened, but we can make sure that she has an easy a time as possible, going forward. I think she'll feel better once we're back in Olympia.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Yeah, well. He won't apologize anymore but that doesn't mean the guilt has gone. ]

To be in the home ye've created for her, in her own bed, aye. I'm sure it will do her good.

[ And it would be good, too, to be able to hold his wife the way he'd like when not restricted by such a small bed. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Claire's thinking along the same lines.]

I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep.

[seventeenfortythree]

Try. For me, Claire. For Brianna.

[ He strokes her hair softly. ]

I'll be here. Watchin' over ye both.

[nineteenfortyfive]

We can both watch over her.

[She'd urge him to sleep, but. He just woke up.]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Christ, his wife is stubborn. But tonight at least, he won't say anything about it.

Bree definitely gets it from her though, so. ]

Then we will.

[ But he keeps stroking her hair. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

I love you both.

[She has the two most important people in her world with her, in this bed. She only wishes they weren't all hurting so much.]

[seventeenfortythree]

I love you more than my heart can take. Both of you.

[ His voice breaks, just a little, his hold tightening a bit. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

I know. I think she knows, too.

[She reaches over their daughter to touch his face, fingers stroking his cheek.]

It's all right, Jamie. We'll be all right.