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Who: Brianna Randall (

givingback) & Claire Fraser (

ninteenfortyseven)
What: Bree comes out of stasis and it's not Good.
When: 12-29
Where: Stasis chamber
Warning(s): cw for torture.

[ No part of Brianna could have prepared her for this.

She knew the 18th century was different; women were treated differently, they were still seen mostly as property. By all rights, Jamie Fraser was a man ahead of his time according to her mother. Still, knowing the danger, Bree still has to try and save her mother and Jamie from a fire. At least, that's what plays out while she's in the stasis chamber.

When she wakes it's the same as before, nausea, a headache, but this time she can't find her footing and she falls out onto her hands and knees. One hand is clutching something, she's bleeding from her nose, and she hurts.

She's also dressed like a Highlander.

Shaking she closes her eyes tightly and tries to gather her bearings, fighting the urge to vomit. ]

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[When Brianna's nowhere to be found, Claire searches only a short while before checking stasis. It doesn't take long to find her. She stares, for a long while, and then simply leaves. Three days, give or take, and people tend to come back if they're going to come back at all. It's what she tells herself over and over and in the meanwhile, she tries to carry on as usual. At least she's a fairly decent actress in that regard.

At the end of the third day, she returns--just in time to see her daughter fall to the metal floor. Different looking, to be sure, but Claire can't register it yet as she hurries over and falls onto her knees beside her, immediately wrapping her arms around her.]

Christ! You've done a good job of worrying me, Brianna.

[This is worse than the romp on the woods. But, again, it's not her fault. Claire doesn't blame her for it at all.]

[ There have been times when all she wanted was her mother. After Roger in North Carolina, after the handfasting, after the fight.

After she was dragged into a room, door shut firmly behind her. What Claire says doesn't even register as Bree just collapses into her, breathing hard as she tries to keep an actual sob at bay. But when she speaks, the single word is choked and tight with unshed tears. ]

Mama.

[She does know that these brief returns to stasis often are accompanied by new--memories, or time given. How to ask hasn't even formed in her mind when Bree speaks, and she hears it. And then she feels that the hands that are rubbing her back are rubbing against wool, thick highland wool, and she can feel the boning of a corset beneath.

Her body stills for a very long moment. She wants to pry her away enough to look at her, to see for herself, but she can feel that what her daughter needs right now is to be held. So, Claire does, arms tight. There's time for questions after.]

Darling. I'm here. You're fine, I'm here.

[ Her hair is wild; she can feel dried blood on her lip, in her nose, but those words, that's it for her.

You're fine.

But she isn't, and there's a small sound, a whimper, the only warning there is before she just starts to cry. Not hysterically, but with a deep-seeded hurt, tears that come from her soul, not just a minor hurt. ]

I haven't...I haven't seen you in so long.

[ At least according to her memories before waking. ]

[She'd expressed some regret over sending Claire back to Jamie, if only because she didn't suspect she'd miss her as much as she did. Claire's sure that's fresh again, and she smooths back her curls before kissing her hair.]

You'll be back to seeing me every day, whether you like it or not, from here on out. I promise, Bree. I'm here.

[ Bree pulls back to look at her, all puffy eyes, bloody nose and tear-stained cheeks. ]

I was trying to find you. You and Jamie; it was like being back, I didn't...I didn't remember any of this.

[Now that Claire can get a clear view of her, her face, her own loses all color entirely. Gently, she cups her face, eyes looking for more injury than the obvious. I was trying to find you.]

You went through the stones?

[ Bree's free hand, not clutching a ring, wraps around her mother's wrist lightly as she nods.

There's so much more than Claire can see. ]

I found your obituary. You both...there was a fire. I was going to warn you, to try and save you.

[She might be sick. Claire has to look away, trying to process her daughter following through.

Let alone that she and Jamie apparently die in a fire. A bloody fire. After all their suffering? Well, maybe none of it matters, if she's here, but. Still. She'll handle that later.]

Oh, Bree.

[What can she say? Her daughter is brave and foolish and she loves her for it as she loves Jamie for it, too. So, she hugs her again.]

I couldn't...I couldn't...

[ She sinks into Claire again and tries to stop shaking; it just happened. Everything just happened.

Give your mother my regards.

Bree knows, in the back of her mind that she's in shock. She's in shock, she's cold, she's nauseous. The last one begins to win out. ]

I'm...I think I'm going to be sick.

Shh. It's okay.

[Sometimes, you just need to let it out. And so Claire gently grabs her shoulders and angles her away from her, so that she can be sick and not get it all over her mother. But she does keep a hand on her back, rubbing between her shoulder blades.]

I'll take care of you.

[Be sick. She'll gladly clean her up.]

[ How long has it been, since her mother took care of her like this? Years, and yet...not at the same time. Bree closes her eyes tightly, trying to swallow back the feeling of her mouth sweating.

Even as she's quiet, she can't stop the way her mind races. Her argument with Roger, the fact that he knew about her parent's death and said nothing. The ring. The man. It's the last thought that finally makes her stomach roll and she can't help it; the first time she woke from stasis she was able to get past the nausea incident free. Not this time.

When she finishes, she presses the back of her hand to her lips, fingernails still curled into her palm as her free hand keeps her braced upright. ]

I'm sorry, I can find something to clean it up.

[Claire's feeling more and more unsettled. It helps her to have Bree needing her so, but her daughter shouldn't be so distressed to begin with. In her pocket she has a kerchief, and she pulls it out so she can wipe her face.

When she gets to the blood, she's careful, but determined to get it off of her.]

We can leave it, Bree. Don't worry. What matters most right now is you.

I really want to lay down. I want to lay down, please.

[ Her voice is shaking, and as her mother cleans blood off of her, tears fill Brianna's eyes again. She doesn't say anything though and they don't fall. The tears are just there. Waiting. ]

[Standing probably isn't a very good idea right now. Claire moves back, dragging Bree with her, so that her back is against the cold metal pod of some poor soul. It gets them a foot or two away from Bree's sick, but Claire turns her anyway, urging her to lay down on her lap and skirts. There's enough fabric between the both of them to spare her from the cold metal floor.]

Here. Rest your eyes for a bit, and then we'll go and get you into a real bed.

[And try to figure this out. What the hell happened when she went through the stones?]

[ Bree closes her eyes and curls up, small again, afraid of something but safe here. ]

Is Jamie still awake?

[ She asks quietly, voice a little muffled by skirts. ]

[She pets her hair. She'd just done this for Jamie, before finding Bree was missing.]

In Nadril, yes. We'll go there soon. He'll be relieved to see you're awake.

[But not so much everything else.]

[ Bree nods, exhaustion creeping into her bones. ]

I'm so glad you're here, mama. That you're safe. I just...I just wanted to get to you.

My brave girl. My brave, strong girl. But you'll have to let me take the reins from here.

[And she's probably not letting her out of her sight ever again.]

[ Bree doesn't get anything out before she does exactly what her mother soothed her to do. She's safe, and she lets herself fall asleep, though she's tense, even in her sleep.

But she's here. And her mother and Jamie are alive. Maybe that's all that matters for now. ]

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