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Who: Brianna Randall (

givingback) & OPEN
What: Heading back to where everyone's hanging out in stasis.
When: September 12th.
Where: The Station
Warning(s): death of a parent conversations likely.

[ It's not even mid-month yet, and already, Bree's had a more exhausting September than she's ever had in her life. Her mother? Possessed - literally. That would be enough, but the ghosts, the wailing, the missing of the dead was all too much. Enough to push Bree into finally getting back to the station, back to where everyone is still in stasis.

It's not hard to find the room once there, and as she stares at all the pods she wonders how they choose who gets to wake and who doesn't. A daughter needs her father with her, right? Or maybe it's enough that she has her mother. Maybe it's enough that she has a father she doesn't even know well yet. Walking among the pods, she finds Frank easily enough. His glasses are on his face and she closes her eyes for a second against a laugh that's half amusement half...something else. ]

Can't forget your reading glasses.

[ She murmurs that softly, touching the pod feather lightly before looking up at his sleeping (?) face. ]

You have no idea how much I miss you. Sometimes, back home, it still felt like a dream. I keep walking back through that day because it seems so impossible. You were alive in the morning when I came downstairs. You were alive when I went to the library. You were alive when I was at the movie. And then you weren't. You were just gone. You were gone in between me buying popcorn and watching Tunga Khan executing all the missionaries. It isn't fair.

[ Taking a deep breath and wiping away a tear, she slides down and sits on the floor right by his pod. And she talks to him. About everything. He probably can't hear her, but she tells him she knows about Jamie, about the stones and all the rest of it, talking to him for hours before finally sounding like she's wrapping up. ]

I wish they would wake you up. I'm here, and we could have more time together. All you have to do is wake up, dad.

[ She's not even aware that anyone else has entered the room with her, sitting with her knees curled up to her chest. ]

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I like the curls.

[No big surprise. Claire never made a fuss over what Bree did with her hair--and in a way it helped her not to think of Jamie every time she looked at her, though not by much--but it's nice to see it as it should be.

Poor Roger. Claire misses the young man, and wishes he'd wake, too. Though...]

I've been thinking. Do you think we need a bigger home? You're not too crowded by the boys, are you?

[Or the dogs.]

Yes to the bigger home. Absolutely, how can I help contribute toward making that happen?

[ No hesitation on her part. She feels like a recluse, staying in her room with the door always part-way open or closed altogether, but she doesn't like these dogs that aren't hers very much. ]

I don't mind living with everyone, it'd just be nice if we all had more space to ourselves, I think.

I'm not sure, yet. I'll have to ask around. But I'll let you know.

[Distraction is a success. Claire does think it might be time for a larger place, though.]

We could probably use another shower, definitely.

[Sometimes Claire just considers going over to Peggy and Steve's and borrowing theirs.]

[ Bree's definitely good and distracted now, and she thinks about it. ]

What's earning money like here? I mean, do you get paid for the work you do at the clinic?

I do. There are donations, too, but most of it goes right back into the clinic.

[Or the house.]

I have made some friends here, in Olympia. I'll see what I can find out about larger living spaces.

[ Bree hasn't moved from the confines of her mother's arms, staying there pretty willingly. ]

What kind of house do you live in now? In Scotland, I mean.

[ Yeah, she isn't really aware of all the crazy adventures yet. ]

[Claire's perfectly content to keep holding her daughter like this. She'd prefer it not be right in front of Frank's sleeping face, but she's not about to pry Bree away.]

House? [Yikes.] Well... we didn't really have a house. More or less, right when I got back, we set out on a ship for some months.

[There was a brief stay at a brothel, and then Lallybroch, but... those weren't home. Lallybroch wasn't even home anymore.]

It's not at all the same kind of life, is it? Do you like that better, or is it just a part of it, I guess?

[ She isn't sure if there's a calm version of this or if her mother simply gets into a lot of tough situations, more than normal. ]

Well. [Claire sighs, fingers twirling one of Bree's newly freed curls.] I was hoping for an actual home, going back, but it is different there. I loved our home in Boston, but there was always something that felt... not quite complete about it.

[They bought a home, then. They didn't make one. She's not sure if that's the difference or not.]

Well, for one you didn't have the husband you wanted.

[ She doesn't think at all for a second that Claire would trade being with Bree or raising her, but she really did leave so much behind. ]

And even with me, you still missing Fergus.

No matter where I was, I was going to be missing something. Or someone. There was no winning, Bree.

[She could never have her daughter and her husband--the husband she truly loved. To have one meant giving up the other.]

[ For some reason, that makes Bree want to comfort her mother, a reversal of their momentary roles, and she tightens her arms this time around Claire. ]

I know. It's okay, you don't...you never have to worry about whether or not I understand that part, because I do.

[ She may wonder about how Claire and Frank's love functioned, how it was different from the way she loved Jamie. But she doesn't really fault the decision making anymore. It was a situation no one had the right answer for. She gets that now. ]

I know. [Bree might have been angry when all of this came to light, but now Claire knows she understands. It was all for her.] And do you know what else?

[ Bree tilts her head just enough to be able to see her mother's face. ]

What?

You're my favorite person.

[Like, ever.]

And the best thing to ever happen to me.

[ The warmth that blossoms in Bree's chest at that makes everything else, her sadness, her worry about the future, seem to fade away entirely. When she turns to wrap her arms around Claire it's less sad daughter and more genuine, heartfelt love as she buries her face right against her mother's neck. ]

I love you so much, mama. There's no one else who could ever take care of me the way you do.

I'd hope not. I'd have to have some words with them.

[Frank was a good father, perhaps the better parent all around, but there's something so special between her and Bree now that the truth's been told. This is how their relationship always should have been.]

And I promise, I'll always take care of you. You're my little girl.

[ She would normally refute that; she's not little, but she gets the sentiment. ]

Will you show me the rest of my family?

[ While they're up here, might as well, right? And Claire probably knows exactly where they all are. ]

We might be up here for a while.

[Jenny and Ian made sure there were plenty of occupants in Lallybroch.]

But I don't mind. It just depends on where you'd like to start.

You'd be the expert, but...Jamie's sister, Jenny. Let's start with her.

[ She should know her aunt, even if it's just like this. ]

Is she a nice sister-in-law to have?

[Yikes. Claire stands, extending her hands down to help Bree up and buy herself a moment to think.]

We've had our ups and downs. She's not a woman to cross, or slight. At all.

[ Bree takes her hands and gets up, then keeps one arm looped through Claire's. But she does smirk a little. ]

Well, that sounds like someone I know.

[Daughter in tow, Claire's glad to step away from Frank's pod. No doubt Bree will be back, eventually, but Claire herself will try to avoid another visit.]

Jenny's a force to be reckoned with. She ran the household at Lallybroch since she was a little girl, when your grandmother passed. Helped raise Jamie, and now she's raised a small army of your nieces and nephews.

[She's incredible, in a terrifying sort of way.]

I couldn't imagine running a house. I can't even stand being in our house alone.

[ She admits that quietly, pausing, faltering. ]

I was going to sell it.

Oh?

[Claire pauses, too. That's a surprise. While she never had a family home to inherit herself, that had been the hope of Frank and herself--she'd always have the place, as long as she wished, but she never supposed it'd be for so short a while.]

Well, I did hand it over, didn't I?

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