Erin knew this was a disaster, she'd done nothing but cause trouble for herself since arriving at the fort.

Upon finishing helping Cora, she lied, once again, that she needed to see her father before retiring for the night. She walked the still quiet corridors, afraid that Uncas would be waiting for her around every corner and she would just exacerbate things, the spark igniting the situation into a fire she couldn't even dream to dampen down.

She retreated to her cupboard, her dark little sanctuary, nervous glances over her shoulder all the way, until she was enclosed by its narrow walls.

She clutched at her arms, trying to hug herself, her skin felt cold and clammy. As Erin so often did in times of crisis she reached for music. She checked her phone, 45% now, and placed her ear buds in. She swiped past songs until she felt she found one that expressed her overwhelming emotions, and the desperate, bluesy, distorted guitar twangs of Two Feet's 'I Feel Like I'm Drowning' filled every inch of her body. The confident lyrics spoke of how toxic the subject was; Erin felt this song was about her right now, she was the problem and she was drowning in her own hubris.

She could imagine Uncas saying the exact words now being sung:

'My life's okay, just when you're not around me.'

She allowed all the self pity to wash over her and sat in her feelings, and her feelings felt like utter garbage.

The song finished, drifting to happier beats and words, and she relaxed back against the wall, breathing in all the smells around her that were grounding and earthy, willing herself back to some form of reality and calmness.

Now her pity party was over, and she'd had time to understand her emotions were perhaps a slight exaggeration of her current predicament, she knew she still had a task to do. She'd left it all half finished, now Uncas knew, not everything, but a little, perhaps she still had a chance to make him understand. But he'd been so angry, not just at her idiotic tales of child eating, but of claiming to know his fate and that he couldn't change most of it, that had hit a raw nerve.

Erin tried to imagine just how she'd feel if some self righteous, obstinate blowhard claimed to know exactly which direction her life would take, and how it would all end, and that she had no freewill over who she loved, or what she did.

She may as well have marched up to him and blurted:

"Hey Uncas, so you're going to be a stupid idiot, and run off after some woman you barely know, and die for the glory of tragic romantic love, that'll make people totally swoon in the future, yay! But hey, I can stop you from dying, but everything else is set in stone, my dude!"

'My hero,' her mind admonished, with a sharp snark.

Yeah, it didn't sound good, and Erin knew she'd have angrily balked against anyone who'd said something similar to her, as if she was doomed to be held captive to a fate she had no autonomy over. Of course Uncas had lashed out in rebellion at being told he had no freedom over his own damn choices! Hadn't he already hinted at not liking the whole idea of a predetermined life?

No, wait, had she just presumed that? Or had it even perhaps been a ruse he'd used to gather information from her?

She didn't know anymore, everything felt so complicated and wrapped in a tangle of half truths and lies.

Erin took in a deep breath. She had to think of a way out of this, but the thought of confronting him again, of explaining what she'd meant, made her feel squeamish.

The hour was late and she had to accept, there was no more time for regret.

She wandered slowly back down the corridors, in no hurry to return to her bed, and on her slow travels she passed by a large room, she could only guess it was a kind of mess hall for higher ranking soldiers. It was empty and still, most candles having burnt out at this late hour, but a shadowed figure sat hunched beside the dying fire, and the sight stilled Erin for a brief moment - before she felt a ripple of panic and the urge to run, just in case it was anyone she did not want to bump into again tonight.

She gave a sigh of relief as the form turned, revealing a very tired and disordered looking Duncan Heywood. He had been drinking from a large mug and the yeasty tang of ale hung in the humid air. He hadn't yet noticed her presence.

Erin hesitated, feeling the heaviness of his melancholy, and understanding why it was there. She pushed her palms against her skirts, deciding she would at least try and offer someone kindness tonight, it was the least she could do.

"Major Heywood?" Her voice was soft and low, determined not to surprise him.

"Ah!" He started at the noise anyway. "Miss Cooper," he greeted, trying to sound warm but instead he sounded so very tired. Erin's heart tugged. "It is very late."

"I know," Erin said, venturing closer. "Are you... all right?" It seemed like a useless question, she already knew he was not.

"I am perfectly well, thank you madam." His retort was cold and stand-offish and, Erin noticed, also slurred.

She did not listen to the note of displeasure in his tone, or his body language that stated he wanted nothing more than to be alone. Erin could feel his exhaustion at putting on an act and very much wanted to offer him solace, she felt exhausted too.

"My father always said drinking alone when you're sad just makes you feel more sad."

Duncan let out a huff of unconvinced humour. "Did he?" It was clear he did not want or require an answer.

"Pain makes you stronger. Tears make you braver. Heartbreak makes you wiser," Erin said, trying to sound sagely.

He gave Erin a look verging upon contempt as she spoke, before turning back to his drink.

"And beer makes you not remember any of that shit!" She sat down on a chair nearby with a heavy exhale of breath.

He coughed a little into his ale at her crude words.

"I get it," Erin said, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration at the whole damn scenario. "Sometimes, drinking is just easier." She found she wanted nothing more than a good stiff drink right about now.

"Where on earth did you hear that saying?" His tone still held that formal note of reprimand, but there was inquisitiveness there too.

Erin shrugged. "On some cheap sign at a bar. You know; live, laugh, love!" She mimed each action with sarcastic mockery. "And all that hogwash nonsense." She was done with all the pretence tonight, it didn't feel like it could hurt, he was three sheets to the wind.

He eyed her with a wary look but then smiled, a soft chuckle bubbling from him, no doubt inspired by his over indulgence. Erin couldn't help but laugh too, the whole situation was rather ridiculous.

Duncan drained the rest of his mug before turning his attention back to her, his eyes avoiding her own. "You've spoken to Cora?" he asked, with no further details.

"No," Erin said honestly, "at least not directly about you. But... yes, I know."

Duncan again laughed. "Am I so obvious?" His eyes didn't match his smile, they were flat, resigned to a deep pessimistic dullness that only left Erin feeling all the more pity for him.

"I am sorry Major." Erin knew how much knowing you weren't enough for someone you loved hurt, no matter the reasons behind it.

"Duncan." He smiled then, his handsome features valiantly trying to gain some warmth back to them.

"Yes, Duncan," she affirmed.

Silence hovered a moment between them before he seemed to decide something and ploughed forward with a volley of words. "I don't understand her choices; why she is being this way. Once we are away from here, I believe..." He paused, "She will understand, I want nothing but the best for her."

Erin felt her heart tug again, knowing this man truly believed he was the best for Cora, and in his own way, he did love her, he'd prove that at the end... at his end. She felt a little jolt of sharp regret, she hadn't even considered Duncan's own fate until this moment.

She let her eyes take in all of the man before her, the living breathing person, and sighed once again at the length of her own self absorption.

"I know you do," Erin breathed. "But maybe..." She caught herself, unsure if she should even try to meddle after what had occurred tonight, but Duncan stilled her thoughts with a gentle touch upon her arm.

"Maybe?" He urged.

Erin glanced at him, uncomfortable with the situation.

"If you have advice, I would hear it. I am in need of it." His words were more slurred now, it was quite obvious he had drank enough.

"Maybe, if you love someone..."

"I do love her, Miss Cooper." He reached out, grasping her fingers in an ardent grip to accompany his words. "Since we were children, I have loved her, and wanted nothing more than to make her happy. Why she would turn me away..."

"Yes, well..." Erin patted him upon the hand in reassurance and he let go, his expression like a lost puppy. "If you love her, maybe you have to... you know... let her go."

"Go?" He said the word as if it were the strangest notion he had ever come across.

She nodded. "If you two are truly meant to be together... she'll come back to you. If she doesn't, it's for the best for both of you." It was the kindest form of rejection she knew to offer him, hope with acceptance.

"But, I... She doesn't know what she is doing! This place, those men... that man... have confused her thoughts."

Erin shrugged off the discomfort his words brought, she could feel his bitter resentment towards Nathaniel and knew it would not take much encouragement for him to march off and challenge his rival to a duel or fisticuffs... or whatever men did over perceived slights here.

Erin took in a breath, definitely not wanting a bar brawl to break out. Besides, she could sympathize with him in a way, Duncan Heywood had seen his whole life happily mapped out for him, his career, his wife, and his future, and now it was slowly slipping away, all thanks to a chance meeting with a trio of trackers.

"Trust her to know what she wants," Erin said softly. "If you force her to stay... she'll resent you forever."

He looked up from his brooding, into her eyes, shock clouding their brown depths. "I would never..." he began, but Erin continued.

"Sometimes..." Erin paused, waiting for him to settle and accept his arguments held no sway for her in this moment. "If you love someone, you have to let them make their own choices."

"Mistakes!" Duncan flicked his hand into the air.

"Yes, well, mistakes too."

He settled back into his seat, pondering the words. "It is a mistake," he mumbled, like a grumpy child.

"Then, it is hers to make."

He slowly nodded his head, far too many times for any sober person, his thumb tracing the line of his bottom lip in deep thought. "Yes, I suppose so. I cannot make her see my way."

Erin nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

"Cora is very stubborn," he said, frowning, and then as if a wonderful memory had flowed into his mind he smiled, a true warm smile that revealed just how young this man still was. "It's one of the things I most admire about her."

"Then, if you admire her for it, surely it's something you wouldn't want to reform?" Erin felt a flutter of hope building against her stomach. If Duncan changed, maybe his future could too? Maybe she really could alter things here! "If you respect who she is, then you have to let her live whatever life she chooses."

He stayed motionless as if caught in his own inner thoughts, the dreamy smile still upon his lips.

"Duncan?" she pushed.

He seemed to regain himself, and with renewed vigour he placed his mug down upon a nearby table and rose to his feet, before gentlemanly offering Erin his arm. "Come Miss, I shall walk you to your quarters. It's far too late to be out alone."

"Oh, yes... thank you," Erin said, taking his arm gingerly, feeling the slight sway of his drunken body. She wondered absently if anything she had said tonight had made it through the haze of alcohol.

They walked back to Munro's private rooms in amiable small talk. Erin discovered he was quite the humorous storyteller when relaxed.

"And would you believe it! There was that same damn villainous goose! Spooked my horse quite up the road and I had to chase it for a good part of my free afternoon!" He made quite the pantomime of looking distraughtly around for his imaginary horse.

Erin dissolved into laughter and he chuckled along, his face ruddy and full of merriment.

They'd reached their destination and Duncan gave Erin a small but floppy bow.

"I thank you Miss Cooper for your kind companionship and consoling words." He paused, looking so very young. When he was the stern, proper British army Major he seemed so much older, now Erin could see their ages were indeed very close. In another life and time they may have been friends returning home after a late night meet up. "It helped me to see the whole affair differently."

Erin felt a little jolt of pleasure at him admitting such a thing, had she really changed his mind?

"I shall wait until we are back in Albany before I press the matter with Cora further. You are right, now is not the time. She needs to be around what she knows again, the way of life she knows. Not this dreadful state of siege and war." He waved his hand in the air in dismissal of the whole thing. "Her cousin will aid me, and her father too, once his mind is not so... preoccupied." He smiled gallantly and Erin deflated.

She hadn't said anything like that at all, he'd only heard what he wanted to hear. "I see." She eyed him with a reproachful look, which he seemed to be quite unaware of.

"I was a fool to expect her unclouded answer here. You are quite right," he grinned.

She hadn't said that either.

Erin sighed.

"Well, Goodnight." He bowed again.

"Goodnight Major," Erin said, entering the room and leaving Duncan and all his stubbornness behind.

/

A/N

Hello on this fine Friday (at least it is here, we finally have some sun!)

I hope you enjoyed this latest instalment of Erin flapping around like a chicken lol although at least this time she really did try and be somewhat level headed.

Duncan never seemed like the type of guy who would just accept Cora's rebuttal at face value to me. From the scene in Albany, he seems to have been chasing a semi reluctant Cora for quite a while and we know he is very stubborn, so this seemed to all fit together in this chapter of Erin failing to change things again.

I also think Duncan was a really fun guy underneath all his pomp, we see a bit of it at the beginning. I think he'd be a jolly companion if you got on his right side, or at least not a Major in war mode.

I'm grateful again for the reviews from MonhawkWoman and BlueSaffire, without you, editing this nearly three year old story would feel a chore, but you make it a joy. Your comments and opinions are always very welcome. Thank you :)