After their impromptu show and tell that morning, Eliza and Jamie rode on throughout the day in a companionable silence. A little past noon, Eliza was the one to finally break it.

"So...uh- where are we going exactly? I know you said Scotland, but where in Scotland?"

"Och! Lallybroch, it's been my family's home fer centuries."

"Oh, really? You have family there now?" With the way he stuck around Helwater, she had thought he didn't have any family left.

"Aye. My sister, Jenny and her husband, Ian, my best mate since we were wee lads. And their herd of bairns, and one grand bairn, last I heard."

"Bairns?" She asked, confused. Jamie looked over at her and smiled softly.

"It means babes, children. Ye never spoke to a Scotsman before, have ye, lass?"

Eliza felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment, "Umm. No, I guess not, my-uh- who I told you about before, he was from Ireland, does that count?"

Jamie made a look of disgust, "No, lass, that doesna count. The Irish are no the same, they're a buncha numpties, they have no pride, no respect, no like the Scots. Don't ever go round tellin' a Scotsman he's like an Irishman, lass, it willna end well."

"Oh, I didn't know that, I thought- but don't you both speak Gaelic?"

If it was possible Jamie looked even more offended. "No, the Irish speak 'GAY-lik', we Scots speak 'GAA-lik', it's verra different."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"Ye didna, lass, but if ye're gonna be stayin wit me and mine, maybe ye should learn the language."

"Oh, really? And YOU'RE going to teach me? Your whole language?"

"Aye, no the whole thing, just a few choice words, ye ken?"

She gave him a wry smile, "I hate to tell you this, but I was never a very good student, I took French for three years and I can only say one complete sentence."

"And what's that, lass?"

"Oui j'ai bien joui." She said with a proud smile, full of confidence.

Jamie nearly fell off his horse, "What did ye just say?!"

Eliza's smile faltered, her confidence starting to slip due to Jamie's reaction, "I envy you."

"That doesna mean that." He said with in a serious tone.

Her smile disappeared altogether. "What does it mean?"

His cheeks and the tips of his ears took on a deep shade of red, "It means...well...it means 'I want to sleep wit ye.'"

It was her turn to almost fall off of her horse. "What?! Oh my god! I definitely did not mean to say that to you!...I mean, not that I wouldn't want to... I MEAN NOT THAT I WANT TO... I just...You ARE very handsome and I imagine that we would have a great...NOT THAT I HAVE IMAGINED ANYTHING HAPPENING BETWEEN US... I JUST-"

Jamie stopped his horse then and burst out into uncontrollable laughter, tears started pouring down his cheeks.

Eliza stopped her horse too, first feeling affronted by his laughter, but then she met his eyes and broke into a chuckle. After a few moments, she cleared her throat.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go die of embarrassment now. It was nice meeting you and everything, James." She dramatically jumped down from her horse and started going through her bags.

"Och! Ye didna have to be embarrassed, a nighean." He jumped down from his horse as well. "I didna even really hear what ye said."

She looked over at him with a look of disbelief. He ducked his head and turned to grab his flask of whiskey from his bag and took a long swig. He turned back to Eliza and held the flask out to her.

"How bout a wee dram?"

Eliza gave him a skeptical look, but then took the offered drink and chugged down a few gulps before she even thought about what she was doing. She pulled the flask away from her mouth and coughed violently, her face twisted up comically.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's whiskey, lass, Scottish whiskey, a bit stronger than most." He smiled down at her, amused by her reaction.

"A bit stronger? I really don't think you're meant to DRINK that." She handed the flask back to him in disgust. He took it back with a smug smile and took another huge swig.

"Och! It's no so bad."

"Really? You're a-"

All of a sudden, a scream ripped through the air. Eliza immediately took off, running towards the sound. Jamie was right behind her. He was surprised how fast she was, he had to run hard to keep up with her.

"Eliza! Wait!"

They quickly reached a clearing in the woods. There was an old, worn tent set up, clothes and bottles were strewn about. There were three men, they looked like drifters, wearing dirty, ripped clothing. One of the men had a woman pressed up against a tree, her dress was torn, tears were pouring down her face. Eliza saw red.

She burst into the clearing, "Let her go NOW!" She said in a calm, deadly voice. The three men turned as one, surprised at the interruption.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" One of the men came towards Eliza.

Jamie grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.

"Och! Ye heard the lass, let her go!" He stood up at his full 6'4 height. His whole demeanor changed from the sweet, charming man that Eliza had come to know, into a warrior, ready to battle.

"Oh, that's what we should do, is it? What if we keep her and take your woman as well, you can go along your way and no one will get hurt." The man closest to them said.

Eliza scoffed loudly.

Jamie pinched her arm and whispered for her to be quiet. She rolled her eyes, but didn't say a word.

"Ye will do no such thing. Both lasses will be comin' with me."

"We'll just have to see about that. Come on, boys, let's teach our man here a lesson about interferin' in things he doesn't understand."

All three men started to come towards Jamie with their blades drawn. Jamie pulled out two blades seemingly out of thin air.

"Aye, I always loved a good lesson."

"Run, lass! Now!" He turned towards Eliza to make sure she listened to him, but his mouth dropped open at the sight of her. She had pulled two blades as well and had a fierce, determined look in her eye, the same one she had when she attacked him near the creek.

"Why? You think you get to have all of the fun around here?"

And with that she lunged at the man closest to her, and viciously slashed his arm open. The man dropped his blade to the ground out of surprise and Eliza ducked down and swept his feet out from under him with her leg, making him hit his head on a rock as he landed on his back, effectively knocking him out.

Jamie had been so surprised by her attacking the man that he didn't see the remaining two men coming at him. One of them grabbed his arms from behind while the other punched him repeatedly in the stomach, hard.

Once Eliza had taken down her opponent she ran towards the man beating Jamie and threw her whole body into him, taking them both to the ground. Eliza and her opponent rolled back up onto her feet.

"You know? I like a woman who has some fight in her. It's always more fun when they struggle."

Eliza curled her lip in disgust, "Yes, I'm sure that's the only way you can ever touch a woman. But don't worry, now you will be the one whose struggling."

He sneered at her and punched her in the face with all of his strength. He expected her to drop to the floor, unconscious. But she only turned her head with the blow, she turned back around and smiled at him with her now bloody lip.

"Is that really all you got, big boy?" The man growled at her angrily and threw himself at her in the same manner she had done, but Eliza was ready for it, she side stepped him and elbowed him in his side. He grunted in pain and turned to grab her but she was too quick, she kicked him in his chest with such force, he flew into the tree near by, hitting his head as well, rendering him unconscious.

"A 'dìoghaltas aingeal"

Eliza turned at Jamie's voice. Jamie had broken free of his captor when Eliza attacked the other man. They had fought fast and dirty, Jamie triumphantly stabbed the man in the shoulder and then punched him in the face, knocking him out as well.

"What did you say?" She asked nervously, Jamie was looking at her like she had grown another head. She knew she shouldn't have fought so fiercely, but it had been so long since she had a good brawl. She couldn't really control herself.

"A 'dìoghaltas aingeal. It means Avenging Angel. Where did ye- ye're hurt."

He came over to her and touched her face, pulling her close to him so he could get a better look at her bloody lip. She gently pushed him back.

"I'm fine, James. Just a scratch. And uh.. I'm no angel. Not at all." She laughed nervously. "What about you? Are you hurt?" She looked him over, making sure he wasn't bodily harmed.

"No, lass, I'm alright, but ye-"

They were interrupted by a loud sniffling. Eliza smacked her head, she had nearly forgotten about the whole reason they were fighting the men in the first place. She ran over to the girl with the torn dress, who was sitting up against the tree now, having watched the whole thing from there.

"I'm so sorry. Are YOU alright?" Eliza kneeled down in front of her. She saw some deep cuts on her face, a black eye, and scratches on her arms.

"Did they- were they able to-" the girl shook her head. She was staring at Eliza with awe.

"No." She whispered. "No, they didn't have time to, thanks to you."

Buffy smiled softly. Relieved that she made it there in time.

"Good. Good. Well don't worry, you're safe now. I'll get you cleaned up and James and I will take you to the nearest town, alright?"

The girl nodded her head gratefully. Eliza held her arms out and helped the poor girl stand up, she took the girls arm and put it around her shoulder and started to half carry the girl back towards their horses.

Jamie had also been staring at Eliza in awe. He blinked out of his trance when he heard the girl grunt in pain when Eliza pulled her up.

"Here, let me take her. It's easier fer me." Eliza gratefully handed the girl over to James. Normally she would argue with him, claiming she could easily carry the girl over her shoulder, but she thought that she may have already freaked him out with her abnormal fighting skills. That was probably enough showing off of her abilities, for today anyways.

They made it back to their horses quickly, having not gone too far from them. Jamie gently sat the girl down on a log. Eliza bent down and started fussing over the girl, thoroughly checking for anymore injuries.

"James, can you please grab my first ai- my bag, the red one with all of the bandages and a blanket please?"

Jamie went to grab the items she asked for. He found her red bag easily and grabbed his tartan. He wrapped it around the girl's shoulders and opened the bag for Eliza.

"Thank you. Will you grab the alcohol and some bandages?"

Jamie reached in and was surprised to find that he was very familiar with what was inside. There were bandages, tonics, herbs, alcohol, it was the sort of things that Claire always had on her.

"Are ye- are ye a healer, Eliza?" He asked her as he handed over the alcohol.

She shook her head. "No, no, I just um- well I tend to get hurt..a lot actually. So I like to keep some simple medical supplies with me, just in case. You know, for these sort of situations."

"I see. And do ye...do ye get into these sort of situations a lot?"

She looked over at him. "Define..a lot."

Jamie laughed. "Ye are a rare woman, Eliza Winters."

She smiled shyly. "Well, I think you are quite unique yourself, James Fraser.

After Eliza had cleaned up the girl, they had rode to the nearest town which was only a couple of hours away. They found an inn that would take the poor girl and help her. They had also booked two rooms for themselves, having been exhausted from their long day, Eliza was looking forward to sleeping in a real bed. Just as she was carrying her bags into her room, James gently grabbed her arm.

"Would ye uh- Would ye like to have dinner with me? There's a tavern, just a couple of buildings down."

Eliza smiled up at him, delighted by his shy invitation.

"A real bed and real food at an actual table? Careful Fraser, you'll spoil a girl."

He ducked his head, she saw the tip of his ears turn pink.

"Well it's the least I could do, ye deserve a lot more than that, lass, believe me."

It was her turn to blush.

They were sitting at a table in the middle of the tavern, it was rather late for dinner, so there wasn't much of a crowd.

"So, tell me how did ye do it?"

Eliza looked at Jamie, confused. "Do what?"

"Take those men down like that! I've never seen a woman who was able to fight like that...not many men either."

She blushed prettily. "Oh. Well...there was a man who taught me, he taught me everything I know...he was uh- more of a father to me than my real one ever was." Her voice had gotten softer.

"Aye, but that doesna explain how ye could take down a man- TWO men that were three-four times yer size!"

"Fighting isn't about whose bigger James. It's all about speed, agility, leverage. Yes being bigger helps, but not if you can't catch me." She said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Aye. Ye ken a lot bout it, I see. There seems to always be something new to learn about ye lass, something exciting."

"I'm not all that exciting." She said modestly. "What about you? I saw you take down that guy without breaking a sweat."

It was Jamie's turn to blush. "Och! It was nothin. And 'sides I was much bigger than him."

"Yeah, you were...James does that offer to teach me Gaelic still stand?"

He looked at her with surprise. "Of course, lass."

"How do you say 'Viking' in Gaelic?"

"Lochlannach" He said in confusion, "Why do ye ask?"

"Because I think that's what you are. Come on, Locklylack, let's go."
She said smugly.

"Oh Christ! That's the worst Gaelic I've ever heard, lass!" He said mortified.

"Well it's a good thing that you have plenty of time to fix that, isn't it?"

"I dinna think three hundred years could fix that."

She slapped him on the shoulder, "Come on Lackylock, play nice."

He made a cross with his right hand over his chest, "Oh, Lord, what have ye got me into?"