Jamie POV:

The first time I met the sassenach, I hadn't really bin payin' attention. I was too distracted by th' blinding' pain tae even realize she had bin brought in th' room. It wasn't until I heard a strange English accent shout out, "don't you dare," that I even knew there was a lass aroond.

She was a sassenach alright, not just from her speech but everythin' about her seemed to be foreign, from how she held herself, to the way she walked... how she knew what ta do ta fix me up. Even her eyes seemed to belong to another land, I swear I had never seen another pair like em, the clearest most crystal like brown I had ever seen, almost like the color of whiskey.

She intrigued me, seemed to have me under her spell almost immediately, strange thing was... I was happy to be there.

We had to ride out again on Dougal's orders despite the sassenach's protests. It was decided she would be riding with me, I'm not sure why... I was still weak from injury but it seemed the other men hadn't wanted the responsibility or the distraction... perhaps they thought to put the two weakest links together, easier to cut us loose if we ran into trouble instead of abandoning two horses maybe.

Either way I had the form of a beautiful woman, sassenach or no, pressed against my front, it was almost enough to distract me of the pain in my shoulder... a price I'm not sure I minded paying to keep her round 'arse between my thighs- Damn it, it was thoughts like that which had me feelin' shamed. I had never been the kind to reduce women to their parts before, it was not how I was raised, what was it about this lass that suddenly had me so hot blooded?

I was distracted from my wayward thoughts when I felt her body shaking against mine, I reckoned the lass must of been freezing... she was without a cloak and the dress she had on was not of very thick material, in fact I had never felt such thin material before, it seemed strange anyone would waste a whole garment on the thing, I had seen shifts of heavier weight.

Not liking the idea the lass might be sufferin' I tried to free my plaid enough to wrap it around the both of us, but my shoulder wasn't makin' it easy.

"Careful! Don't twist like that, or your dressing will come off! What are you trying to do?" The lass so "politely" asks me.

"Getting my plaid loose ta cover ya, you're shivering." I tell her and it seems to calm her down some,

"Oh... well, thank you, but I'm fine, really." She tries to tell me.

"You're shaking so hard it's making mah teeth rattle." I tell her back.

"I wasn't expecting a nighttime ride when I dressed today." The lass sasses.

"The plaid will keep us both warm but I canna do it one-handed. Can ye reach the clasp of mah brooch?" I say askin' for her assistance.

She awkwardly reaches around and is able to loosen the wide plaid to cover us both. I feel like I have her cocooned in my plaid wings protecting her from the elements.

She seems to accept my protection as I feel her relax for the first time tonight, she even slightly snuggles against me getting more comfortable... that action had me more warm than the thickest wool would have been able to.

"So tell me Sassenach, how's it ye come to join our group of merry men tonight?"

"Were you not present for the whole whore debacle?"

A who'er surely not, I cinna imagine a beautiful intelligent lass as her bein a who'er.

"I was too distracted by min pain to truly be payin attention."

She was silent for a moment but seemed to decide she could trust me enough to tell me as much as everyone else had learned of her so far.

"A captain Randall was attacking me when your friend Murtaugh rescued me only to then knock a rock against my head and drag me back here... I suppose it's lucky for you he did."

Randall, would I never be free of that disgusting excuse for a man? It drove me crazy thinking of what he might have done ta her and surprisingly I found myself pretty angry at my godfather as well, what was he thinking hitting her over the head after all she had already been through?

Still I wondered what an English lass was doing out here for Randall to attack her in the first place...

"An what brought ye up this far north before ye dust up with Randall?"

I saw the back of her head dip down, I looked around to see what had suddenly got her attention and I was able to make out the shine of a ring on her wedding finger... the lass was married. Why did that news feel like I had been run through by a dull sword?

"My husband... I had to get away, he is... he was a cruel, barbaric- bastard. I thought no one would ever think to look for me here."

"Ye came here to run from danger? Did ye not think of the danger that'd be waitin for ye here?"

The idea her husband had harmed her enough for her to run to Scotland had me feelin' sick but surely the lass must know it was no sanctuary she'd be finding here.

As if the dark haired beauty had been able ta read mah mind she started to explain more,

"It didn't matter the danger, that I might die..." She whispered, "as long as it wasn't by Frank's hands, I'd consider it a victory."

She spoke so strongly then, and with a grace I'd never seen a woman possess, she was like a queen. I wondered how any man would want to dim the light in her and not just sit in awe of it and feel lucky just to be near it. Suddenly I had a thought back to something she had said,

"Ye said he was cruel... did ya kill yer husband b'fore escaping?"

"What? No! I could barely make eye contact without feeling I might loose my bladder with the man, I would never have been brave enough to fight him, I can't believe I had enough fight in me just to get away let alone stay and stand my ground in a severely outmatched showdown."

"I'm sorry lass I dinna mean to insult ya, I was just curious how he came to be in the past tense."

"I didn't kill him." She reiterated strongly.

"I believe ya. But ya know him to be deceased?"

"Yes... it's complicated, I got word and it shocked me... distracted me, I behaved carelessly, I felt free for a moment and didn't pay attention to my surroundings which is when I found myself unfortunately crossing paths with Captain Randall."

She sighed and I could tell the conversation was over for her. I still didn't understand how word of her husband's passing would have made it to her but I did trust the lass when she said she didn't kill him. I decided it was best for me to let it go for now.

Some time later, she spoke to me again, and despite my aches and pains I felt lighter than air with happiness.

"Where are we going?" She asks me sleepily,

"Tell ye the truth, lassie, I donna know. Reckon we'll both find out when we get there, eh?"

Soon after I feel her body go slack and the lass has found sleep against my chest, her head resting on my good shoulder. I canna tell ye what possessed me ta do it but I turned my nose into her hair and inhaled her sweet comforting scent.

... Ohh brither was I in trouble.

**Claire POV:

I pretended to sleep following my brief interrogation, I was just thankful that I had not been facing him, I had been told I had a glass face and could not lie well at all. Though it wasn't really all lies, I did come here to escape my husband and it was true he was no longer alive, not yet, not here. But saying word got to me of his demise, that part had been a fib... but I needed some story to tell and it needed to be as close to the truth as possible if I was going to have any hope of selling it.