Story: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Author: SheRanInPatches
Category: Game of Thrones- AU
Disclaimer: The Game of Thrones does not belong to me. Neither does the series A Song of Ice and Fire. I own only my plots and my OCs.
Really, I thought that would've been obvious.
^O_O^
"Don't let go. Don't you dare let go. I swear to God if you let go Dany- I'll kill you!"
Dany laughed despite herself, the chuckle tearing at her vocal chords.
"What is this? The Titanic?"
Sansa sobbed unashamedly, struggling to hold on to the slippery metal grill with one sweaty hand, the other one fisted in her best friend's jacket.
"I swear to God Dany, if you let go now… I'll … I'll…"
"I won't," Dany reassured her as her own panic mounted. "I won't. I'm stupid, not dumb."
From somewhere below them- and Sansa didn't know exactly how far down, she'd rather die than face the furnace below them head on- there came a muffled snort.
"This coming from the girl who thought the boulders in the park were dragon eggs."
"Give it a break Snowstick!" Two voices chorused. If this had been any other situation, Sansa would have laughed. Her brother and Dany never agreed on anything- openly at least. But as it was, they were in this situation. There was a fire raging below them. They were dangling above it, hanging on to a broken walkway grating and each other for dear life. And if they fell, even if by some miracle they managed to avoid the flames, they would die from the impact alone. Papa's warehouse may not have been the biggest in King's Landing, but 10 ft was still fatal enough. They'd received proof of that only a little while back.
"Let her go!" Robb bellowed from across the room, at the other end of the walkway. Sobbing, Sansa clawed in vain at the arm around her waist.
"Robb! Help Robb-" A searing pain in her abdomen cut her off and Dany hurled abuses as Sansa gasped for breath.
"How many times," murmured the soft voice in her ear, "must I tell you to SHUT. UP." The grip on her waist tightened and she whimpered. She'd been clawing and shouting for what felt like hours and there was something wet on her face. It could be blood, she thought, fighting the fog around her vision. He'd hit her so many times, she'd lost track.
"Robb-" this time her head snapped to the side from the force of the blow.
"I said SHUT UP." he howled. "Shut up, shut up shut-"
Hanging limply from the arm around her waist, her head down, Sansa caught the barest flicker of something pale coming from the door at the end of the walkway. The same door that Joff was half dragging, half carrying her towards.
"-shut up!" She felt him shake her hard enough to hit herhead against the railing at the edge of the walkway. "Shut UP! Shut up-"
His eyes, crazed and shining unnaturally from whatever form of "courage" he'd taken before this were on Dany and Robb though, and he didn't see what she saw. He didn't see her brother's best friend making his way slowly towards them.
Sansa knew what Jon was going to do before she met his eyes. It made sense. When they had found a baby bird dying in a ditch as children, it had been Jon who had carried away the little thing so the other children wouldn't have to see it killed. When a mistake was made and her father wasn't available, it was Jon who dealt out the penalties. When it came to the dirty work, Jon stepped forward. That was his lot.
Catching her eye, Jon Snow raised one hand as if willing her to stay quite. Honestly, she thought, as the boy's face began to fade, what was the point? She could barely move let alone talk.
Silent as the ghosts he loved reading about, Jon crept closer, until he was almost close enough to grab her hand. Or Joff's leg, depending on whatever it was he was aiming for. Sansa wasn't quite sure. It was all so strange and confusing.
Oblivious to the third member of their audience, Joff kept screaming.
"Shut up!"
And that proved to be his undoing.
Sansa felt the mad boy's grip on her go slack as his knee buckled from Jon's blow. As she hit the creaking, swaying walkway, she saw stars. Bright, crackling stars, on the wall. Like the sparklers Mother had let her hold once, only louder. And as the boys struggled above her head, she kept her eyes on those stars.
There was something off about them.
Stars didn't grow on walls.
They didn't sprout from snakes.
And they didn't crackle and spark-
...spark.
Her eyes widened, and in that same instant, Jon dodged a tackle. Roaring, Joff hit the railing- or he would have, if there had been anything for him to hit. Instead, he hit nothing, and fell, still screaming, till the god awful noise was silenced by a sickening thud.
"Jon," she whispered, as the boy struggled to drag her away from the edge.
"Hush," he pleaded, "Robb's coming. He'll keep you safe."
"No," she begged, willing him to look at her as she kept her eye on the crackling sparks that kept falling down, down, down. "Jon- the sparks!"
"What sparks?" He asked, finally looking at her.
Down fell her stars. Down on to the boxes and wires and rags and-
The walkway shook with the force of the explosion and Dany and Robb stumbled on their way over to them and Sansa closed her eyes as she heard Dany scream. She didn't need to look down to know what had happened. She knew a fire when she heard one.
The walkway was swaying dangerously now as Dany and Robb made their way over, running now. Sansa heard Jon shouting at them to stop, to go back. Something about the grates and their weight. But of course Dany didn't listen and of course the walkway shifted and of course they all ended up holding on for dear life over a furnace for what felt like ages and ages. They stayed like that, the girls wrapped up in each other and the boys in the same position a little lower, Robb having climbed down to help Jon. They stayed like that.
Till their voices grew hoarse.
Till their fingers started to slip.
Till it was all the others could do to stop from yelling at her to just. Stop. Crying.
For a long, wavering moment, the crackling of the flames was the only sound the girls could hear. Untill-
"Dude, if we weren't facing possible death right now… this could have been really awkward."
Sansa choked back another sob.
"Jon! You bastard!" Dany yelped as Rob aimed a kick at the boy below them, almost knocking them all off balance.
"Rob!"
"LISTEN TO HIM. JUST LISTEN TO HIM. We're hanging inside a furnace. A blazing furnace for God's sake! And the git wants to crack JOKES! I'll give him awkward! I'll-"
All four off them looked up at the sudden creaking above them. Sansa's eye's widened as she zeroed in on the thin strip of metal fastened to the wall-ten feet of the ground her father had told them proudly. All held in place by a few bolts each side. The metal plank connecting the two ends of the wide cargo hall had been hacked away from it's fastening on one end already by- him. Sansa shuddered as she remembered the clammy, clumsy hands groping at the air where she had been frozen in fear moments before Jon had snatched her away. She barely registered Dany's grip tightening round her waist as the tremors wracking her body just grew because they didn't understand.
Because that creak had been the sound of the first screw of the remaining three- slowly giving way. Almost as if summoned, something detached itself from the wall above. And the four of them watched in horror as the tiny, insignificant piece of metal gave way and fell.
A second passed.
Two.
Thre-
And the boys gritted their teeth as Sansa let out another scream of unadulterated terror as the metal grill shifted a good five inches down.
"Climb" Robb ordered through gritted teeth. "Just climb!" louder now, he pushed them up the grill. "There are few more to go. We can make it, come on just climb!"
And then, just as he turned to give Jon a hand up, another creak sounded above the blazing din below.
And Sansa froze.
"God dammit San move! There are a couple left-"
"No," she chocked. "There's only one left."
"Kia?" Dany panicked even more if possible. Even Robb and Jon stared up in shock and fear. But Sansa, when she did reply, was strangely calm for the first time since the phsycopath had set chase that night.
"Remember what Father said? The workers broke a part of the grill by accident. The one with the middle screw in it. So if we just lost one…" and she trailed off.
Robb was staring up at her with wide eyes, but she was oblivious. This is my fault.
Jon had taken control, shaking Robb's shoulder, telling Dany to calm the hell down but Sansa barely heard him. This is my fault.
He was calling her now, frantic. Something about her hands. I deleted Joff's emails. I hid the stalking. Sansa! Sansa! He came after me. Papa got hurt because of me. The fire started because of me. Sansa! Sansa! He found us because of me. He broke the grill because of me. Sansa! "..nah!" Dany, Robb, Jon- they got involved because of-
"SANSA!"
She blinked as her hand slipped. The bar was there, she could grab it. But do I deserve to? And she slipped from Dany's sweaty grasp and fell.
Past her friend.
Past Robb.
Past Jon to the fires.
I'm going to die, she realized and closed her eyes.
But the flames never touched her.
She opened her eyes with a gasp as her stoal snagged on something and a voice barked "Oye! Not so fast!"
Choking, she twisted on the flimsy stole as some one tossed her back up and caught her before she fell back down. Blue met brown as she was held in place and she realized what had happened. Jon had slipped down the grill after her, snagging her before she reached the flames.
"Is she ok?" Dany's frantic voice hit her as she met Jon's gaze. The boy flashed her his trademark grin before looking up and yelling "Yeah, She's good."
He looked back and opened his mouth to say something before her brother cut him off.
"Good! Tell her from me that once we get out of here: I am going to kill her dead! Dead, you hear me?"
She was frozen. Jon's brow, slick with sweat creased a little as he gave her his full attention.
"What was that stunt you just pulled? Oye-" he hissed at her as she came to her senses and twisted he shook her a little with the arm around her. "Idiot! Robb may choose to ignore that stunt. But I saw that. Why didn't you grab something?" She froze again. "I'm right, aren't I? You let go, Sansa. Why would you do that?"
She opened her mouth to tell him to bug off. To tell him it was none of his business. To tell him to let her go and let go and let her die. She wanted to. But she stopped.
For a second he stopped as well, her wide eyes alerting him to a new change and he looked up, half expecting the last screw to fall in front of his eyes. But when nothing happened he looked back and opened his mouth- only to be silenced by shock.
Because that sound, rising over the crackling of the fire and the splitting of wooden crates. Over the creaking of the strained metal and cracking glass. It was the most beautiful sound in the world. And it, and the moment needed to be savored. In silence.
It was the sound of siren's blaring, growing ever closer.
Of a firetruck.
Of people screaming their names.
It was hope.
^O_O^
A/N: Sometimes, my stories make sense. Admittedly, this may not be one of those times. Sometimes, they're messy. This may very well be one of those times.
In an effort to actually publish this, I will now stop typing.
Till next time!
-She
^O_O^