Chapter 3: Lesson Learned

**Warning for Violence**

My Tumblr: Klaroline-Westeros

Notes: Thank you for all the kind words, I'm glad that there are people who are enjoying the fanfic this much!

Sansa felt her heart pounding against her rib cage as her eyes continually shifted between the two men and the door. That was the only exit and they were blocking it. Sansa scrambled back clumsily, wanting to get far away from them and watched in horror as one of them basically fell on top of the Inn Keeper. Why was the woman just lying there? She wasn't screaming or even putting up a fight.

"Stay away from me. My husband will be back soon. He will kill you for this!" Sansa shouted desperately at the dark haired man that was now only about a foot away and still lumbering towards her. She had said the first thing that had come to mind in an attempt to scare these men into leaving them alone, or at least make them pause and think about what they were doing and if it was worth it. She prayed to the gods that The Hound would return soon.

The stranger stared down at her with a lopsided grin that revealed missing teeth. Now this was what she expected bad men to look like. Dirty, roughed up, easy to tell that they didn't live the same lives as Lords and Ladies. She had been fooled by Joffrey's charm and good looks, but it hadn't lasted long and it had all been an act. In her mind, the King was even uglier than the man standing in front of her. People were frightened of The Hound, but it was the ones that were bad on the inside that should be feared the most.

"Husband?" he sneered, laughing at her. "If you've been fucked by that beast then you should be glad for the chance to have me inside you." The man said, reaching down and grabbing her leg, dragging her towards him. "No, girl. He won't be back anytime soon. Last we saw, he was drinking in the pub and talking. My brother and I will keep you and the other whore company while he's off getting drunk." he said, his eyes full of dark threats and promises.

Sansa cried out whenever his fingernails dug into her thigh cruelly as he dragged her towards him. She began thrashing around, doing anything and everything in her limited power to prevent this from happening. Sansa screamed, only to have his hand clamp down over her mouth. She turned her head to the left, trying to dislodge his hand and saw the other man pushing the Inn Keeper's dress up, past her thighs.

The older woman was looking straight at Sansa. Their eyes met for a few brief moments and she saw tears leak out of the corner of the woman's eyes. "Just give them what they want." the Inn Keeper whispered, and Sansa wondered if this was the first time that someone had hurt this woman. She also wondered why those words sounded so familiar, but didn't recall at that time that The Hound had once given her similar advice concerning Joffrey. After that, the older woman closed her eyes as the man began kissing her neck. It was as if she were trying to pretend that this wasn't happening.

The man must have thought that Sansa was going to listen to the woman, and so he removed his hand from her mouth. Sansa thought about taking her advice, but decided that she hadn't left one monster behind only to fall victim to others on her way home. Sansa saw the tray that the Inn Keeper had dropped on the way in. It wasn't far away. Glancing at the man, she saw him fumbling with his breeches. While he was distracted, she stretched her arm out, grabbed the tray and brought it down on his head as hard as she could. There was the satisfying sound of bone connecting with wood. It had the desired effect, as he was momentarily paying her no attention. His hands moved up to clutch his head and he let out a string of curses. The other man simply laughed, but otherwise paid little attention.

Sansa hurried to turn over onto her belly and began trying to crawl out from underneath the man. "You stupid cunt!" he bellowed, and she heard the sound of ripping cloth as he tore her dress before his hand tangled in her hair, yanking it up roughly. Sansa screamed once more, and he slammed her head down, her temple connecting hard with the wooden floor. He raised her head up again, but before he could do anything else, there was another sound. The sound of something crashing hard into the door.

Seconds later the door splintered open and she felt the weight of the man lifting off of her. She heard him making a strangled sound but didn't see what happened as she was still on her stomach. Looking over she saw the other man getting off of the woman and pulling a dagger out, lurching past her towards someone. Sansa moved quickly to the woman's side, pulling her out of the way. She turned just in time to see The Hound cut the man's throat. The other one lay on the floor, motionless with blood pooling around him.

Sansa felt as if she were in shock, numb to everything that was happening, her mind still struggling to catch up. It had all happened so quickly. The Inn Keeper suddenly moved out of her arms and ran towards the door where there were two boys standing, watching what was happening. They were younger than Sansa and the woman was clearly trying to move them out of the room, where they couldn't see what had happened.

Before they had made it out, The Hound grabbed the woman by the shoulder and pushed her roughly against the wall, his sword at her throat and Sansa knew that he meant to kill this woman just as he had killed their attackers.

"No, stop! It wasn't her." Sansa told him, struggling to stand. Once on her feet, she felt a wave of vertigo and something warm run down her left cheek. She looked down in confusion at the dark liquid that was dripping onto the floor, and brought her hand up to her face, touching it and feeling something warm, and sticky. Pulling her fingers away she saw the blood and only then registered the sharp ache at her temple.

"Little Bird." The Hound said gruffly, the Inn Keeper all but forgotten as he moved to steady Sansa whenever she swayed on her feet. Sansa's hand landed on the cold metal of his armor as she tried to regain her balance, while her other hand pressed against the wound on her head.

"Don't kill her! She didn't have a choice." Sansa pleaded. She didn't want this woman to die, especially not with those two young children watching. She knew what it was like to watch parent be killed right in front of your eyes and she wouldn't wish it on anyone.

The sound of a door shutting drew both of their attention and whenever Sansa looked, the woman and her children were gone. Sansa realized that the Inn Keeper had tried to shut the door, but it was too badly damaged to close properly since The Hound had forced his way inside.

"The bitch led them right to you. I should kill her." He stated, his hand gripped tightly around his sword but his eyes were focused on her. "Later." He muttered, almost to himself as he dropped the sword and picked Sansa up, depositing her onto the bed.

"If she hadn't, they would have killed her. That one hand a dagger at her throat." Sansa said, feeling light-headed and noticing that her hand shook as she raised it to point towards the corpse of the man she was talking about. "Please don't kill her. She doesn't deserve to die. Why is everyone so violent?" She said, her voice edging towards hysteria. She began to finally let what had happened and what had almost happened sink in.

"The world is built by killers. You better get used to looking at them." The Hound told her, simply stating a fact rather than mocking her. A quick rap on the door caused The Hound to retrieve his sword, before striding over and yanking it open only to stare dumbfounded at something on the floor.

"What is it?" Sansa asked, blinking rapidly as blood matted into her eyelashes, temporarily blurring her vision. Still, she could see well enough to know that there was nobody on the other side. Wiping her hand over her eye, Sansa watched as The Hound bent down and picked something up. He turned around and kicked the door shut, still staring at whatever was in his hands.

"Her attempt at a peace offering." He rasped, walking towards Sansa before sitting beside her. His answer only confused her more until she finally saw what he was holding. It the coins that The Hound had paid the Inn Keeper stacked on a tray along with a waterskin and a small white cloth.

The Hound set the tray onto the floor, before picking up the cloth and using the waterskin to dampen it. "Hold still." he said, and Sansa found herself staring at him as he dabbed at the blood around the wound on her temple with the cloth. She knew that if she looked at the dead bodies that she would start to cry, so instead she focused on the man in front of her. She was finding it easier and easier to look at his scars. They didn't bother her anymore.

His actions reminded her that this wasn't the first time he had done something like this and was again surprised at how gentle and almost delicate his touch was. It contrasted drastically with what he he had just done to the two strangers in this room. "Thank you." She said, flinching as the cloth came into contact with the open wound. "This isn't the first time that you've saved my life." Sansa added, knowing that he had done so multiple times.

"Let's not make a habit out of it." He said, seeming uncomfortable with her thanking him and Sansa realized that it probably didn't happen often. Back in King's Landing, he got little respect. The only thing that people respected about Sandor Clegane was his abilities in battle. "Next time, don't open the door for anyone but me. You put too much faith in people. It will get you killed if you don't change your way of thinking." The Hound advised, sounding angrier than usual.

"I'm sorry...please don't be angry with me." Sansa said, feeling on the verge of tears. Right now, all she had was The Hound until he got her home, and already she was doing stupid things and almost getting herself killed.

"I'm not angry with you. I'm frustrated because you refuse to open your eyes. You've learned a bit in King's Landing, but you're so blinded by what you expect the world to be like that you can't see it for what it really is." he said, his voice harsh. "There's a reason why I keep telling you these things. Someday, you will listen." He continued. Finally he finished cleaning her cheek and temple and she was surprised at how much was on the cloth whenever he pulled it away. She had bled more than she had realized.

Sansa let his words sink in. She wanted to argue that after King's Landing, she had learned her lesson. There was nothing worse than Joffrey and that she knew what the world was like, but what had happened tonight proved her wrong. Sansa remembered him once telling her that he was honest, it was the world that was awful. She was beginning to finally understand what he meant.

It only took one glance at the dead men on the floor for Sansa to lose what little control she had left. The tears that she had been holding back flowed freely down her cheeks. The Hound pushed against her shoulder, silently urging her to lie down and Sansa complied. She covered her face with her hands and cried for what had happened tonight. She also cried for her family, both the dead and the living, wondering why it had all gone so horribly wrong. Sansa was oblivious to what The Hound was doing and eventually she had no more tears to shed.

Emotionally and physically drained, Sansa lay there with her eyes closed for a long time before she felt the bed dip as The Hound settled down beside her. She opened her eyes briefly to see him lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He still had his armor on and the chainmail rustled with every little movement that he made. "Do you ever take that off?" She asked, her hand reaching out to touch his arm, showing that she meant his armor.

"Not in places like this. It takes too long to put back on." he replied, lifting his arm and propping it behind his head. Almost instinctively, Sansa scooted a bit closer to him. She wasn't afraid of him right now. He had once again saved her, and if she were being honest - Sansa felt more safe around The Hound than she had felt in a very long time.

She unwilling felt her gaze drawn to the door, before she closed her eyes. The Hound would protect her. She would be able to sleep safely tonight, she knew the threat was gone for now. Sansa eventually drifted off, her last thoughts were of how strange it was for her to be in a room with two corpses, nestled up against The Hound and feeling utterly safe. Maybe she was had hit her head harder than she thought and was losing her mind.