"Go away." Eliza said as she held on to Dream-Jamie tighter. The tapping sound got louder.
"I said go away!"
"Eliza!" She heard Dream-Jamie say as he started to pull away.
"No, no, five more minutes." She tried to hold onto him, but he started to float away from her and then she opened her eyes to a harsh light.
She sat up quickly, feeling panicked. She tried to look around, squinting, to protect her eyes from the sun streaming in. She took in the plush bed she was curled up in, naked except for the nice thick blanket keeping her warm. After a few seconds, reality slowly came back to her, and her dream, sadly, started fading away.
"Eliza! Are ye in there?" Except for the tapping and Dream-Jamie's voice.
"Eliza!"
Wait! That was the real Jamie!
"Ja-"
By the time her voice came back to her, she tried to call out, but it was too late, Jamie burst into the room.
"Eliza! Are ye alright? I've been knockin for a long time, I hope-"
He stopped and took in the sight before him. She was laying in the bed, her head propped up on a mountain of pillows, her beautiful, golden hair was loose, spilling all around her like a halo again. She was clearly not wearing any clothes, not even a night shirt. Her hand was clutching the covers tightly to her chest, her face was flushed and she was breathing heavy.
He quickly turned around.
"A Dhia! I'm so sorry, lass. I didna mean to intrude. I just- The mornin' was gettin late and I wanted to make sure ye were alright. I was knockin and knockin and I got worried when ye didna answer and I-"
"It's alright, James." She interrupted him with a quiet voice, "I didn't mean to sleep in so late, I just, must have really enjoyed sleeping in a real bed."
"Aye, I ken what ye mean. I slept like a bairn last night."
Her face flushed even deeper, if it was possible, when she thought of him laying in bed, naked as the day he was born, his muscles-
She awkwardly cleared her throat.
"If you uh- want to just wait outside, I'll get ready to go. It shouldn't take me too long."
"Aye, Aye. I'll wait for ye downstairs." He then made a hasty exit.
Eliza let out a long breath as soon as the door closed and dropped her head into her hands.
That man will be the death of me.
But what a way to go.
After a late start, the duo was on the road again. They traveled for a few hours until they stopped in the afternoon to water the horses and themselves.
"It looks like it'll start rainin', we should probably find some shelter soon." Jamie said as he looked up at the skies above.
Eliza looked up as well. "How can you tell? There's barely a cloud in the sky."
"Och! I can smell it." He said to her with a grin.
"Really?" She asked in disbelief.
"Aye. And I think it'll be a strong storm comin in."
Eliza was skeptical of his self proclaimed skill, but nodded at him and proceeded to eat her cheese she had gotten from the kitchen at the inn. She offered Jamie a chunk, he gratefully accepted it and sat down next to her on the log she had chosen to rest at.
"I still don't understand it." Jamie said after a few minutes of companionable silence.
Eliza looked at him in confusion, "Understand what?"
"How ye took those men down yesterday. I ken ye were taught how to fight but ye're just so- well ye're so..."
"If you are about to call me 'wee' again, James Fraser, I will kick your ass right here and now."
He grinned at her.
"Oh, really? Ye think ye can?"
"I know I can." She said matter of factly.
It was his turn to be skeptical of her. "I dinna think so, lass, not only am I a lot bigger than ye, but I've fought in my fair share of battles."
"And so have I." She then stood up. "Look, if you don't believe me, I'll prove it."
"Prove it?" He looked up at her, his eyes as big as saucers.
"Yes, I'll prove it, come on." She backed up and bent into a fighting position and beckoned him towards her with her hand.
He shook his head at her, "I think ye may have gone a bit mad, lass."
"Aww, what's the matter? You're scared to get your ass kicked by a 'wee' girl like me?"
He stood up then and came towards her, towering over her, well over a foot taller. "No, I'm no scared, but I would never hit a woman."
"It wouldn't be hitting, James. It's called sparring. I do it all the time, even with Johnny."
His eyebrows shot up then, "Really?"
"Yes, but he refused to do it again after I bruised his ribs the last time." She said sheepishly.
Jamie's mouth dropped open.
"But I mean, I would go easy on you, of course."
Jamie shook his head again in disbelief. "Ye've definitely gone mad, very mad."
She smiled at him, "Oh, come on, I'll even let you have the first move."
He just stood there staring at her, refusing to move.
"I'm not leaving until you make it."
Jamie sighed heavily, realizing how stubborn she was. He slowly pulled his arm back and lazily threw a sloppy right hook at her.
She easily dodged it and laughed at him. "Oh come on, you can at least put a little effort into it Lachlylock, I won't break."
He shook his head again and then threw a left at her with no strength behind it, she easily caught his arm and flipped him over her shoulder. He landed on his back with a loud "oof".
"Christ, lass, how'd ye do that?"
She smiled down at him and offered her hand to help him up, "I'm stronger than I look."
He looked at her hand for a moment, then he slowly grasped it with his right, but instead of getting up, he pulled her down on top of him. She gasped out of surprise and went down, unprepared for the move. He then rolled over, trapping her beneath him.
"I'm stronger, lass." He looked down at her with a smug grin. "And it's Lochlannach."
She looked up at him with a wicked grin in response and before he knew it she had brought both of her knees up and kicked him off of her with unbelievable strength. She then threw herself at him before he could recover and he landed back on the hard ground again. She pounced on top of him, trapping HIM beneath HER.
"I like the way I say it, Locklylack." He growled at her then and tried to get back on top of her, but she was prepared for it this time. He couldn't make her budge at all, no matter how hard he tried to push her off.
She smiled down at him, prettily. "What's the matter, James? I thought you were stronger?"
He grunted and continued to try to buck her off, but she stood her ground. After a few moments, he locked eyes with her and slowly stopped moving all together. He was breathing heavily with his exertions, Eliza watched his chest moving up and down, sweat was glistening on his forehead. Her hands were gripping his forearms, she could feel the muscles bulging beneath his shirt.
Their faces were just inches apart, Eliza could feel his breath on her lips. She slowly moved towards him, closing her eyes, and ever so gently placed her lips on top of his. She felt his sharp intake of breath, and then she felt him respond to the kiss slowly. His arms wrapped around her back, pulling her flush against him. She groaned loudly at the feel of his body.
The sound seemed to jolt him out of the trance and he let go of her, like the touch of her burned him. She felt the change in him and quickly pulled away in horror.
"Eliza." He said in a calm voice. She scrambled her way off of him and backed away as far as she could, trying to catch her breath.
"Oh my god, James! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, lass, really, I'm the one that's sorry, I shouldna have...I just...we shouldna-"
"No, no, no, we shouldnt have...because...why exactly shouldn't we?"
"Well, I'm uh...I'm a lot older than ye, lass."
"Right, right. And that's important?"
He ducked his head, "Aye, I think so, maybe... I didna ken, I just...I'm not...Eliza, I can't..."
"No, James, we don't have to talk about it. It was a dumb mistake, I shouldn't have thrown myself at you like some desperate schoolgirl. It won't happen again, I promise."
"Eliza." He said in disapproval.
"No, James, it's okay, really...we should go soon, like you said, it's going to rain and we need to find shelter."
She moved to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm. She tried to pull away, but he held on with a brutal grip.
"It's no okay, lass. I dinna want ye to think that I don't...I'd be a fool to say I wasna interested."
She looked at him in surprise, "Really?"
He shook his head at her. "I havena been able to get ye out of my head since the first moment I laid eyes on ye."
"James, I-"
"But I'm not...we can't be together, no like that."
She stuck her chin out defiantly, "Why? You just said that-"
He sighed heavily and let go of her then, he turned away from her, unable to look her in the eyes. He looked out into the woods surrounding them, trying to gather his thoughts.
"Because...I'm not..." he turned back to her then, pinning her with his gaze, "Ever since Claire, I'm...not a real person anymore, half a man, barely. And ye deserve so much more than that, Eliza. Ye deserve someone who can give ye the world, who will worship ye, like the goddess ye are, not an auld, broken man like me."
Tears were shining in his eyes from his quiet admission. She tilted her head down, her own eyes filling with sadness at the grief she could feel coming off of him.
"I uh...I understand." She said quietly, refusing to look up.
He lifted her head up gently with his finger to make her look at him, "But I... I want ye in my life, lass. I want us to be friends, good friends. I want ye to come back to Lallybroch with me and stay with me, just fer a while. My family will love ye. And I could show ye around the farm and the town."
She smiled at him sadly, touched by his words. "That sounds nice, James." She said quietly.
He smiled back at her, "Good, good...well I uh- I should get the horses ready." He turned and started walking away when her voice stopped him.
"You're wrong, you know?"
"About what?"
"You're more of a man than most of the ones I've met."
He smiled softly at her, "Ye must not meet many good men then, lass"
She laughed lightly, "Well, you could be right about that."
She watched him walk away then, feeling like her heart was being ripped out with every step he took. She inhaled deeply and nodded to herself.
Her relationships never worked out anyways, sometimes ending in more than just emotional pain, in physical pain as well, mortal danger, really.
Maybe it was better this way.
She didn't know who she was kidding, her heart or her brain, either way, she was screwed.
—-
They rode on in a somewhat awkward silence. After about an hour, Eliza felt a drop of water fall on her cheek. She looked up and saw the dark clouds looming ahead.
"James? I think we really should find that shelter soon."
"Aye, just beyond those trees, there's rock over there, maybe there's a cave we can hide in. Come on."
They sped up their pace as one. They rode for about twenty minutes before they heard a loud boom and a bolt of lightening flew across the sky, the clouds then opened up and the rain immediately poured down on them.
"JAMES! It's really coming down! I think we need to stop!" Eliza yelled over the sound of the pelting rain.
"We're almost there." He shouted back.
When they finally made it to the mountain of rock, Jamie jumped off of his horse and quickly tied him to a tree, Eliza followed suit. Along the mountain, there was an alcove of sorts, it was tiny, but it would keep them somewhat dry for a while.
"Come on, Eliza, over there, we can get some cover."
He grabbed her hand and they ran to the rock together. With Jamie being much bigger than Eliza, it was a tight fit, but they made it work.
"Are ye alright, lass?" Jamie craned his neck awkwardly to look at her, he could see her shivering.
"I'm alright, just cold."
He nodded, " Do ye- can I- I'll put my arm around ye, keep ye warm."
She looked up at him in surprise. She didn't think she could bare his touch after their awkward talk earlier, but she was FREEZING.
She nodded lightly and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Even though, he must have been just as soaked as she was, she felt like she was being cuddled by a furnace. She sighed happily and melted into his touch, thankful for the warmth.
They sat there like that for a while, watching the rain pound into the earth.
"You really were right, this is a wicked storm."
"Ye sound surprised by that lass. Ye think I was lyin before?" He said with amusement.
She nodded, "Oh yeah, I thought you were full of it..Smelling the weather? Who does that?"
He chuckled at her and squeezed her shoulders.
"That'll teach ye to doubt me then, lass, won't it?"
She smiled, "Maybe but I-"
BOOM!
They were interrupted by a loud burst of thunder then they heard the whinnying of their horses and a loud snap, like a rope breaking.
"Oh, no, the horses. I've got to check on them, they could hurt themselves bein so spooked, stay here, lass!" He stood up and ran back towards the horses who were out of their sight, on the edge of the woods.
Eliza made to go after him, "James! Wait! I don't think it's safe to-"
All of a sudden, there was a loud crackling noise and a flash of lightening. Eliza and James stopped where they were and looked up. There was a large oak tree to Jamie's right, there was smoke coming off of the branches on top and they could hear a loud creaking sound.
By the time Eliza realized what was happening, it was too late, she tried to yell for him, "James!"
She was then thrown onto her back by a large invisible force of wind. She took a few moments to gather her wits and then stood up slowly to find James.
But instead of finding the handsome Scot, there was a large branch, twenty times her size, in the same spot that James had just stood.
"James! James!"
She ran over to it, not caring about the rain pounding onto her. She saw a patch of red hair peaking through the branches and heard a loud groan.
She sighed with relief, "Oh, James! Are you alright?"
She kneeled down and pulled off the small branches around his face. He groaned again.
"I didna think I can move my leg, lass."
She looked down and saw the large hunk of wood that was pinning his leg down. It looked like it weighed over two hundred pounds, not something a mere mortal could move.
"It's alright, James, I can get you out."
Just then, a sizzling sound registered to both of them and Eliza saw that the tree was on fire were it was hit by the lightening. The flame was slowly making it's way towards them. Eliza took a deep breath and tried to lift the log, but it didn't budge.
"Okay, okay, it's alright, I just need you to work with me, James."
He shook his head, "No, lass, ye need to run, the log is too heavy."
"I'm not leaving you here, James!" She cried out in disbelief.
"Aye, ye are! Even if ye could lift it, my leg is crushed, I canna run anyways. Now go! Eliza, ye gotta get outta here!" He too saw the fire heading towards them.
She shook her head stubbornly, "I'm not leaving you."
He growled at her then, "Eliza Winters! Ye better leave this instance! I willna have ye killed because of me!"
"And I will not have you killed because of ME!" She shouted. "Now on the count of three, I'm going to lift this log and you're going to pull your leg back as hard as you can, okay?"
"Eliza, that's not-"
"One"
"It's not gonna work-"
"Two"
"Eliza!"
"Three!" And with that she grasped the wood tightly and lifted with all of her strength. It took a moment or two before it finally started to move and she raised it up at least a foot allowing Jamie enough room to wiggle himself free.
But he didn't move, he just stared at her in disbelief. She was standing there, holding up something five times her size, there was smoke surrounding her, the rain was pouring down all around her.
"Oir Bandia"
She took a deep breath, "I can't hold this all day, James!" She shouted at him angrily.
He came to his senses and quickly rolled out from under the tree. She dropped the log once he was safe with a heavy sigh.
"Come on, we gotta get back to the cave! Can you walk?"
He looked down at his leg, while it wasn't actually crushed, it was rather painful to put weight on it.
She watched him assess himself and then quickly made a decision. She wrapped her arms around him, gripping him under his armpit and carried/dragged him back to the cave which was far enough away to keep them safe from the fire.
Once they made it back, she propped him up against the wall and sat down in front of him with her back to him in a protective manner. He just looked down at her in shock. He was in such disbelief that she had just saved his life so selflessly that he couldn't form words.
They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours.
Finally, the rain seemed to lighten and Eliza could see the sun peeking out through the clouds.
"I think the storms passing." She said quietly.
James just nodded at her. She crawled out from their shelter and turned to get a good look at him.
"How's your leg?"
"I think it's alright. I just uh- should probably rest a bit longer."
She nodded. "Do you want me to look at it?"
He shook his head, "No, Eliza, I'm alright."
They stared at each other then, getting lot in one another's eyes.
"Ye should have left me" Jamie finally said.
"What?" Eliza shouted out in surprise, "Left you? Why would I do that?"
"Ye coulda died, Eliza!"
"Yeah, so could you! What? Do you think I'm some sort of sadist? That I would have just sat there and enjoyed watching you suffer?" She spat at him angrily.
His mouth fell open then, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. A million memories started flying around in his head. Memories of Claire. Of things that she would do that other girls wouldn't. Things that she would say because she was from the-
"What did ye just say?"
She looked back at him with equal surprise, "What?"
"Ye just said-Christ! I canna believe I didna see it before!"
"James? What-"
"It makes sense! The way ye talk, the way ye dress, the way ye act! It's just like how she-...I shoulda realized..."
"James! What on earth are you talking about?"
"Ye."
"What about me?"
"Ye're from the future."