Chapter 25

Ned- Tuesday Night

He was exhausted. All day with Robert and Stannis arguing had given him a headache. Cersei was asking for all kinds of paperwork involving Stag Constructions there was no telling what she was up to. The piles of paperwork Robb had left for him to sign were stacked on the edge of his desk waiting on him.

He sighed and grabbed the first paper off of the stack. He started to wonder if Stag Construction was worth all the stress. His wife walked in halfway through the stack of papers. "Cat"

"Ned, do have some time to spare for your wife?" Catelyn said lovingly.

"Always."

Catelyn smiled at him. "This man that Arya is seeing, you know him?"

"Yes, He's Robert's eldest boy." His wife didn't seem surprised by that piece of news.

"Ned they look just like them."

"Yes dear, it's hard to see." He hadn't been happy when Arya pushed Gendry through the door. It was like reliving a piece of the past. It was like the first time that Robert had walked in hand in hand with his baby sister. Watching Jon glare at Gendry reminded him of that first time he saw Robert kiss Ly. He had punched his best friend in the face. One of his main problems was there were to many memories and it was hard to separate the past from the present.

"Ned it can't happen again. You have to do something. Arya will listen to you." He took a sip of his drink.

"Father tried to forbid Ly from seeing Robert. You know how that worked out Cat." Ly had been furious and threatened to run away with Robert.

"Is he like his father Ned?" He took another drink and glanced at the paperwork that wasn't getting done.

"He has his father's temper." Cat began to frown. "It's not as bad as Robert's through. He also seems to have Stanis' sense and Renly's charm. You saw that for yourself last night." He wasn't thrilled about Arya seeing Gendry but anything that made his little girl smile the way she did last night was worth fighting for.

"He is a construction worker. Is she supposed to just settle?" He held his flare of anger in check.

"Cat, be serious. Do you really thing that Arya could ever be happy being a Lady of a prominent man. It would destroy everything she is, her happiness."

"I can't let her go through what Lyanna and Robert did. Not if I can help it."

"Gendry is not Robert and Arya is not Lyanna no matter how they look together. Besides you were the one who told me to let her grow up. Gendry makes her happy. Didn't you see her smile?"

"That's why I'm worried." Catelyn walked over to him and hissed him on the cheek.

"I am too, maybe we shouldn't have had so many kids, less to worry about that way." He joked.

Cat playfully pushed his shoulder and leaned down to push his and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "But a lot less fun, are you coming to bed?" Cat kissed him again and walked to the door before turning around. He couldn't help thinking how beautiful she is. The papers caught his eye and he sighed.

"In a moment dear, I have to finish a few things." It was an hour before he finished the day's work and made it to his bedroom. Cat was in her night gown asleep on the bed. He smiled and pulled the covers over his wife gently, kissed her forehead and got slipped into bed curling around his wife for the night.

When he woke in the morning Catelyn was already up and dressed. He slowly put on his suit and walked to the table for breakfast. Rickon was eating cereal in his underwear and Cat was scolding him for not being ready. "Dad?"

"Yes, son" Catelyn set his breakfast in front of him.

"Can I get a job?" He glanced over at his son who appeared completely awake now.

"Why do you want a job?"

"I want to buy my own car." It was a good answer but a scary thought.

"Where do you want to work?"

"I was hoping I could shadow Andy Blade. She is a genius with cars."

"A mechanic?" Catelyn didn't approve he could tell by her tone. "You can't make a decent living working as a mechanic Rickon. You should be focusing on your school work."

"But mom, I get good grades and I like cars. Can you ask her for me dad? Please?"

"She did say that she could use some help in the shop." He couldn't think of any reason his son shouldn't get a job. In face it would be good for the boy to have some responsibility.

"Ned! You can't be serious."

"Cat, Andy made a very lucrative business out of cars besides it would do the boy good to be around someone who respects cars so much." Cat quirked an eyebrow as she looked at him. He could tell she wasn't convinced. "If his homework gets done and if his grades stay up then he can get the job." He added to placate his wife.

"Yes!" Rickon jumped up.

"I'll talk with Andy about it in our meeting this afternoon." He stood up and kissed his wife while grabbing a piece of toast to go. "I better get going. I love you."

"Love you too." Cat said as he ruffled Rickon's already messy hair.

He slid into the passenger seat of the waiting car. He glanced at Jory. "You're all dressed up."

"Naw, just some new clothes. He smiled to himself; he had some idea why Jory was dressed up an it most likely had something to do with his meeting today.

The phone was ringing when he got to his office. "Hello"

"That bitch is suing me!" Robert hadn't even given him time to sit down.

"For what?"

"The whole fuckin company." Robert yelled.

He sighed and slumped back into his chair. The day was already starting off terribly.

"I'll call Stannis see what we need to do." He stated reasonably. It wouldn't do any good to sit here and argue with Robert.

"Have you talked to Blade yet? I've already made a few calls. We'd have more sites than we would handle if we had Valyrian steel." He cussed to himself for telling Robert anything about Blade Co.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Robert."

"She's trying to take my fuckin company." The secretary came in with a note telling him that Stannis was waiting for him.

"Send him in" he told his secretary before turning his attention back to Robert. "Robert, Stannis is here. I'll call you back when we can figure something out." Stannis walked in and sat stiffly across from him.

"Call me soon." Robert hung up.

"My brother I presume."

"Yes"

"Is Blade Co a legitimate option?" Stannis went straight to the point. He really appreciated that.

"It maybe, but I'm not counting on it to fix all of these problems." Stannis nodded as if he understood.

"Ned, this can't go to court. It would never be resolved and Stag Constructions would go bankrupt from the legal fees."

"Tywin made his move. So what are our options?"

"Short of a buy in, I'm afraid that our funds won't last more than a year and that's without a drawn out trial or a messy divorce."

"Have the test results come in yet?"

"No, they have been conveniently delayed." Stannis' voice was clipped with anger.

"The financial information?"

"Both sets." He looked up at Stannis.

"Robert had Baelish shuffle fund around. I have the true figures as well." This was the first that he had heard about this.

He wasn't entirely happy with his friend right now but he was in this mess. "Let's get to work." Stannis pulled himself closer to his desk and they both began to filter through the numbers. He had lunch delivered. There had to be a way to tie Cersei or the Golden Lion to the fraudulent sites.

The intercom filled the room. "Mr. Stark your three o'clock is here." He glanced up at the clock. They had been pushing numbers since nine that morning.

"Send her up." He looked a Stannis. "If you'll excuse me this meeting just became a lot more important." Stannis nodded and left without another word. Andy entered shortly after on her crutch but moving much faster than he had seen her before. He stood to greet her. "How are you doing?"

"Tired of being crippled." Andy answered with a small smile. "Willow has filled me in on everything."

"She is a hard worker." He had been impressed with the girl who had managed to get almost everything he needed while her boss was in the hospital.

"I know, it's not really fair to call her an assist."

"Perhaps a promotion."

"Probably," Andy sat in the chair that Stannis was in. "Sammy tells me that the cost to convert one of your warehouses is relatively low."

"We are state of the art. I believe that we just need the machine that actually melts the metal. If I'm not mistaken it's custom."

"Sammy is getting me a quote on the build for a larger machine a few of my smaller ones can be moved until it is complete."

He nodded. The next piece of business was one he really didn't want to bring up. "Do you have any concerns? Your thorough paperwork and projections have made the decision on my end very easy."

Andy sat back in the chair. "Stag Constructions, I know that you are involved in the company in some way."

"We handle a large part of their metal distribution."

"The company is in trouble." It was a statement not a question.

"Yes" There was no need to sugarcoat anything. "We believe that your steel can help with that. Robert has several sites that could be used to test the metal in buildings."

Andy chewed on her lower lip. "And the lawsuit?"

"It's already public?" It never failed to amaze him how fast news traveled. Andy just nodded. "Tywin backed a lot of Robert's company. With the divorce he loses that backing and it could be hard to operate without the funding."

"And you're tied to Stag? He paused and took in the business woman in front of him. Most of the time around her it was hard to believe that she owned a large company let alone ran one. Now was not one of those times.

"Yes to a certain extent."

"If Stag goes under how does Winter Steel stand?"

"It would be a hard hit for the entire city, but I believe we would survive." He let Andy sit back and think.

"What would it take to pull Stag Constructions out of the mess they are in?"

The person who knew the answer to that would certainly be making a lot of money. "I don't have an exact number if that's what you're after. We have briefly talked about a backer but bringing more people in is never easy to navigate."

Andy started shuffling through her briefcase. "I have looked into the other steel manufactures in the area but the cost of getting them up to date is too high. I'm worried that if Stag Construction goes under it will cripple Winter Steel." It was a legitimate worry, one that had been causing him restless nights.

"I will be honest that is a possibility but I believe with a Blade Co., Winter Steel partnership we can prevent that from happening and save a lot of jobs." Not to mention save his best friends company in the process but that wasn't a priority for this meeting.

Andy finally found what she was looking for in her briefcase and pulled it out to check some figures. "I decided to go with Winter Steel awhile ago and I still want to despite my concerns. We already have a rough outline of the agreement."

"Yes, while you were off I added a few more numbers to try and smooth out some of the rough spots in the agreement." He handed her a folder with the newest terms using most of the parameters that Andy had originally wanted. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement easily."

"Good the sooner we get this wrapped up the sooner I can get back to my cars and out of these damn heels." He smiled Andy looked out of place in the business suit even though she knew what she was talking about.

"Maybe for our next meeting we can try something more relaxed. Oh, before I forget about the cars. Rickon, my youngest is quite a fan of your cars."

"Yes he already called me."

"He's quite excited about the idea of working for you. I have to tell you that he can be a handful though."

Andy laughed. "That's what Jon said about him. I don't mind as long as he works. I was the same way before I found cars. I told him if his parents agreed to it I could put him to work."

"I'll leave the specifics to you two. His mother and I agreed that if his homework continued to be completed and his grades stayed up he could have a job."

Andy stood to leave. "Very well, I have some reading to do so I'll let you get back to your work." That was the last thing he really wanted. "I'll be in touch."

"I look forward to it. Maybe we can have this deal done by the Winter banquet."

"That would be great." Andy shook his hand before she left. He saw Stannis waiting in the front room and sighed to himself. Stannis came back into the room and they went over different possibilities to pull the company out of the lion's den.

Jon – Wednesday

The DT test took him less time than he thought it would, which was making him a little nervous. He kept feeling it should've taken him longer to complete the exam. He had been over the material on and off for a couple years and he understood how the questions circled each other. It still didn't ease his nervous habits.

The psych evaluation was a little later to, so that kept filtering back into his mind. He really wasn't looking forward to it. There was no way a shrink would pass him if they found out about his sleeping habits or more realistically lack of sleeping habit.

Luckily Val wasn't up front when he came in and he still hadn't seen her yet. He wasn't sure what eh protocol was with her after last night; he wasn't sure if he was supposed to acknowledge it, kiss her, hug her, or act like nothing happened at all. He walked downstairs to the rec. room to wait for his psych evaluation.

The room was in complete chaos. The walls had a fresh coat of paint on them and all the old furniture was gone. Pyp was mounting up a large TV on the wall across from a state of the art computer board. The refrigerator from 1960 was gone and a stainless steel monster took its place. Yoren was sitting in one of the new office chairs directing traffic. "What's going on?" he asked as he sank into one of the other comfy chairs.

"You get that test taken?" Yoren asked without looking at him.

"Good, you better have passed."

"That's not the one I'm worried about."

Yoren chuckled. "You'll be fine. No one that takes the black is completely sane. And to answer your question, we received an anonymous donation to redo the rec. room. Whoever it was they gave the department a shit ton of money to fix things up in here. Every computer in the station is being upgraded too."

"Who would give us all that money?" He wondered out loud.

"No clue, but there is a pool going, my money is on the rich girl that you recently saved."

"What? Andy? Why would she do that?"

"You ever tell her how shitty the break room was?" He had mentioned how out of date everything was but that didn't mean it was her.

"Is it legal?" It sounded like a bribe to him.

"As long as it's done through the city it's legal. There is also a rumor going around that there is a deal with GM and Chrysler for new cars as well." Andy was offended when he showed her the cars they were driving. It was easier for him to believe she had something to do with the cars than the money donation. "How is the girl?" Yoren smirked slightly when he said it.

"I don't know I haven't talked to her lately."

Yoren stood up and eyed him. "You better not fuck this up boy. I need a new car the piece of shit I'm driving has over 200k miles on it." The guys at the station continued to haul in computer tech and furniture. One of the guys brought in a state of the art coffee maker. There was a large box of his favorite coffee that came in with it.

"I'll see you later; I'm going to go take my psych evaluation." He left before Yoren could keep him any longer. On his way out he caught sight of Val near the front door; she was talking rather animatedly with someone he couldn't see.

"Nice wheels man. Where did you get it?" Grenn came to stand next to him as he watched Val at the front door still not certain if he was supposed to say hi.

"It's not mine."

"Andy?"

"That girl has some kick ass rides." Grenn was watching Val get louder and louder with him. "Cat fight?"

"Who's she talking too?" He turned and asked Grenn.

"Andy, Her apartment was released. I guess she's gutting it. Can't say I blame her." He looked bark towards Val but still couldn't see Andy. The two of them moved closer to the chaos. He got close enough to hear part of the conversation.

"Just don't mess with him." Andy said in the same voice she used with Thorne.

"Or what?" He got a little closer to the conversation. "You'll kill me? You seem to have a good track record with that. What's the count now 2, or 3?" He stopped in his tracks not believing what and how Val was talking to Andy. "Or is it just the people that are close to that die?" Andy clenched her fist and he moved to interfere but he wasn't close enough to stop Andy from swinging. Luckily Grenn had continued to get close enough to grab Andy mid swing and pull her away.

"Let's get some air, Andy." Grenn said as he carried the fuming brunette outside.

"What the fuck was that Val?" He turned to speak with her after seeing Andy disappear with Grenn into the parking lot.

"Jon! What are you doing here?" Val asked surprised.

"Trying to stop a fight apparently." His temper flared.

"There wasn't going to be a fight silly."

"No she would hit you then get put in jail."

"You didn't hear what she said Jon." Val whined.

"Not now Val." He followed the direction Grenn and Andy had disappeared to. He spotted Grenn leaning against a car as Andy attempted to pace on her crutch. "Hey Andy, I'm sorry about Val."

"Shut up Jon. It's not your job to apologize for her." He didn't thing she was capable of that kind of anger.

"Grenn?" He needed to talk to Andy alone.

"I'm gone, bye Andy." Grenn left quickly.

He watched Grenn walk away. "I thought you were gone." He couldn't look at her directly.

"I had business to take care of back home." Andy shifted her weight the majority of the anger was gone now.

"Okay, It had nothing to do with the other night?" He had to make sure.

"Don't flatter yourself. I've already forgotten about it."

He hadn't but he nodded his head anyway. "Are we good?"

"We're fine. You better get back to your girl." That didn't sound fine to him.

"She's not my girl and I'm on my way to my psych eval."

Andy's face softened. "So soon? I figured they would give you more time."

"Me too, Mormont is made me take the DT exam today too."

"Sounds like they really want you back." Andy wouldn't look at him. "A word of advice Jon; no matter what they ask, tell the truth. They don't expect you to be fine, just dealing with everything."

That was the best piece of advice that they had since he heard he had to take the eval. "Thanks Andy. The car…"

"Keep it or just park it for all I car. I'm not taking it back. Bye Jon." Andy pulled herself into her truck.

"Can we hang out sometime?" He wasn't ready to part ways.

"Ask your girlfriend." Andy didn't like Val at all and after today he couldn't blame her. Andy pulled away and left him standing there. The psychiatrist across the street form the station was waiting for him when he got there.

"Mr. Stark please sit down." He did. "How are you doing?" Pretty shitty. Was his first response but he thought a few moments before telling the doctor exactly how he felt. It didn't matter any more if he didn't pass he just had to tell someone. He spilled about the shooting and his lack of sleep. He left Andy and Val out of the conversation. The doc gave him a prescription for some sleeping pills when he left at least.

Gendry – Wednesday

He couldn't believe that he had agreed to ask Robert for this. Some how he had to ask is absentee father to give his girlfriend of less than a week access to the crashed car that killed Lyanna Stark. Should be easy. He left the site and went straight for his father's office.

The young receptionist kept staring at him as he sat in the waiting room. He was mostly cleaned up but still felt out of place in his father's world. The magazine he was flipping through barely held his attention but the clicking of heels made him look up. He recognized her immediately. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her predatory green eyes were plastered on every real-estate billboard in the city. He wanted to wither under Cersei Baratheon, no Lannister's gaze but he refused to let her do that to him. The expensive heels clicked once again as she crossed the waiting room to stand next to him.

"Such a handsome boy." A smile that didn't reach her eyes spread across her face. He didn't speak; he wasn't sure what to say. "Are you here to see your father?"

"Yes ma'am." There was no reason to deny it. Her green eyes narrowed.

"So polite, a credit to your mother no doubt, if I were not seeing you with my own eyes I wouldn't believe you were his." He could feel the hostility under Cercei's words. "Do not get to comfortable here boy. It will not be Stag Construction for long."

The need to defend his father surprised him as it built inside of him. "I'll be around for as long as necessary." Robert walked into the room behind Cersei.

"Come boy." He bit his tongue already tired of being called boy.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Baratheon." He used her married name on purpose. "Excuse me." When he stood he was a good six inches taller than Cersei in her heels.

"Run to daddy now." He stepped around her and followed his father. He could feel the heat from her stare on his back.

"I see you've met my loving wife." Robert said dryly.

"She's beautiful." He answered honestly. That was about all she was.

"And as cold as a Stark's winter." Robert fumbled in his desk for a fancy tin and poured out some tiny white mints. "She's suing me."

"For what?"

"The company, she thinks that her and he father own it, but you aren't here to hear my problems."

"No sir, I need to ask a favor." His tongue was heavy and he hated saying the words.

"Anything you want Gendry." He was afraid Robert would say that.

"My girlfriend." It sounded strange coming out of his mouth. "She is doing an investigation for a class and she found out that you have some evidence in storage."

"NO!" Robert's face turned purple as he yelled.

"Please Robert. It's important."

"I said no. No little nosy bitch gets to shuffle through my past." He felt that familiar fury building inside of him.

"Don't you dare call her a bitch." He pushed forward in his chair.

"She has no right." Robert yelled back. It was becoming a pattern for them to yell at each other.

"She has every right it was her family." He yelled back with just as much force. Robert stared at him in disbelief.

"You're dating Sansa?"

He shook his head. "No, Arya." Robert continued to watch him as the tension drained from his face. "She wants to be a journalist. The crash is what she is choosing to investigate for her class. She already has someone to look over the car." He knew Arya would convince Andy to look over the car. His girl had a way of getting what she wanted. "Robert, she is brilliant and believes that something is off on the case. Let her do this." He sat across from his father man to man and watched the man think.

"Does she really look like her?" Robert was staring at the painting behind him.

"She's beautiful and doesn't even know it."

Robert chuckled. "Ly knew she was. Make sure you tell her everyday."

"Arry would beat me bloody if I did."

The room echoed with Robert's laughter. "Little hell cat then. So she's not exactly like Ly." He smiled despite himself. In all his years he never dreamed that he would be having a conversation about women with his father. Robert quickly doubled over and grabbed his side. He moved forward worried.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine my liver just wants a drink. I'll pass." Robert stayed like that for a few moments before sitting back up. "Where does she need the car?" He couldn't believe that Robert was actually agreeing to this so easily.

"Can I call you later with the details?" Robert gave him his phone number and got up to show him out.

"Sorry to rush you but business waits." He glanced at his watch on the way out before sending a quick text to Arya. Her reply caught him off guard. Arry wasn't the type to give cliché pet names. He cussed to himself realizing that he was going to be late. The drive to the university was rushed.

The parking lot was packed when he got there and he cussed out loud again. After circling the lot a couple times he said. "Fuck it." And put his Jeep in four wheeled drive and jumped the curb and climbed the muddy hill and parked next to the parking lot on the grass. He cussed one more time knowing he was going to get a ticket before hurrying to his class for his test. The door to the classroom was closing just as he got there. The instructor hesitated but let him inside. Once the doors closed no one got inside.

He sat down in his normal spot and immediately received his test. The next hour was full of equations and structure flaws. He flew through the test easily and was the first to leave the classroom. He was completely exhausted by the time he got home. Arya hadn't answered him about where to take the car yet so he called her. It went straight to voicemail. He threw the phone down and pushed away the insecure feelings of being ignored. Arya wouldn't be there tonight so he kicked up his feet and turned on a game.