A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger. This one does not have near as bad a cliffhanger though there aren't exactly any peaceful resolutions for several chapters lol. But at least you'll get Tywin! Enjoy!

Chapter 36: Missing

There was a shift in the air as darkness fell heavily over the North. There was no moon, and only a few stars. Even a torch provided barely enough light to see. This was the time that most usually retreated inside to escape the cold. Yet, as Jaime passed through the courtyard, he noticed an unusual flurry of activity. Men shuffled through the courtyard at a faster pace than normal, muttering to each other. In the distance, he heard a wolf howling, as if in panic. He saw Robb preparing a horse while Sansa Stark pleaded with him.

"It's completely black out there. You can't go out now. You won't be able to see a thing."

"I have to. If he's been taken then...then we can't let them get far."

"You think just one person took him? Or are you going to fight the culprits alone in the dark?" Sansa asked. "Think for a moment Robb. You have other men to send out looking."

"He's our brother. Do you expect me to-"

Jaime was so caught up in listening to them that he didn't notice Catelyn Stark until she nearly ran him over. He caught her shoulder to steady her. "Lady Stark. What is it?"

Catelyn Stark shook her head. "We're...looking..."

"Looking for what?" Jaime asked.

"Not what. Who," Catelyn said. "Bran is missing. His chair was found abandoned in the god's wood."

That was a troubling thought indeed. The crippled boy could not just get up and walk. No...He had to have been taken by someone. That explained Robb's desire to charge into the night. "I can help you look."

"No," Catelyn muttered. "We don't need your help."

"It seems you do," Jaime said. "My lady, I know you don't like Lannisters. But it can't hurt to have more men looking. I'll set my guards to the task."

Catelyn did not respond for a moment. Then she gave a small nod.

"Good." Jaime looked around. "Where's Arya?"

"I..." Catelyn Stark's voice had suddenly gone very soft. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen her."

Now, something inside Jaime went cold. When something was wrong, Arya was the first to notice it. If no one had seen her...

"I'll find her," Jaime said, stepping back. "I'll find her now."

But Arya was nowhere to be seen. Not inside the walls of Winterfell or out. When he called out her name, it fell into the silence like a rock into deep water. She, like Bran, seemed to have vanished without a trace. But Jaime was not willing to accept that she was missing until he went to the Godswood. There, in the snow near the wheel of Bran's chair, he found a tiny knife. Her knife.

"Fuck," Jaime muttered, which did not even begin to cover the situation.

By the next morning, barely anyone in Winterfell had slept, least of all Catelyn Stark. She sat in the great hall with Sansa and Talisa, pulling at the dry skin of her nailbeds. Every part of her was exhausted but her fear laden heart would not allow her to asleep.

Robb and his men were still out searching with every hound in Winterfell. The Lannister men had gone out searching in the other direction. But neither had yet returned and Catelyn had an awful sense that when they did, neither her son nor daughter would be with them.

Gods, why were her children always in such danger? Ever since Bran had first tumbled from the tower, each one of them kept tumbling into greater and greater troubles. And she kept praying for their return.

Those prayers had worked for a while. After Bran fell, she prayed for him to awaken and he did. When Robb road to war, she prayed he would survive it and he did. When her daughters had been taken prisoner in King's Landing, she prayed that they would return to her. Sansa had. Then Arya too, though she was not truly free. When Bran and Rickon had been held hostage by the Greyjoys, she prayed they would not be harmed. They survived. She prayed that Robb would return from the south when he road to swear loyalty to the throne. He had.

But as of late, her prayers were beginning to fail. Rickon fell sick and she prayed that he would survive. But he had died. She prayed that her children would not fall into anymore danger and now Bran and Arya were missing. Perhaps she had run out of favor with the gods. Perhaps she had used up all of her prayers.

"They will be fine," Sansa murmured. "Wherever Bran is, Arya is with him. She'll protect him."

"Who will protect Arya?" Catelyn asked.

"She'll protect herself," Sansa said. "She protected herself in King's Landing, didn't she?"

Yes. Arya had survived nearly four years as Tywin Lannister's ward. Catelyn had to believe she would keep surviving.

But if she didn't...

What if she didn't survive?

Only Catelyn's grandchildren seemed immune to the panic. Talisa had not told them Bran and Arya were gone. She told them their father was out on a ride and would be back soon. Little Ned toddled carefree around the hall, playing with a toy soldier on a horse, imagining it was Robb. Lyanna crawled after him, nipping at his heels, pretending to be a wolf. And little Ben slept soundly in his mother's arms.

"Don't bite too hard, Lyanna," Talisa called with a soft smile. "You don't want to injure him."

"I do!" Lyanna replied with a big smile. Catelyn wondered if she even knew what 'injured' meant.

She remembered when her children had been that way, running carefree about Winterfell, naïve of any troubles in the world. Bran and Arya chased each other and competed to hold a toy sword. Sansa screamed and protested when she accidentally got caught up in the chase. Robb was quick to separate them all from each other, all while little Rickon laughed and laughed.

Gods, what she would do to have those days again. To have her children not know war or death.

The doors to the great hall opened and Catelyn stood as Robb entered. She looked for some hope in his face. Some good news. But his face was grim and his silver eyes were hopeless.

"The trail is dead," he murmured. "We don't know where they are."

Behind him limped a wolf. Summer. He had taken an arrow to the shoulder and was whining desperately under his breath. Long ago, Summer had fended off an assassin meant for Bran. No doubt he had tried to protect Bran again.

But whoever took her son and daughter was prepared for wolves.

Jaime Lannister returned with the same news hours later. His men had no better luck with the trail. Whoever took Arya and Bran knew how to cover their tracks.

"Wildlings maybe," Talisa suggested. "Jon did say they were preparing to attack the wall. You say wildlings are good at moving without being seen."

"Wildings? Aye. It's possible. It wouldn't be the first time they threatened Bran," Robb said. "But Tywin Lannister's letter makes me wonder otherwise."

"What was in the letter, Lord Stark?" Jaime asked. "What did he warn you about?"

"You don't know?" Robb asked suspiciously.

"My father rarely shares plans with me," Jaime said. "We have a complicated relationship."

Robb exhaled. "He warned us about two families. The Boltons and the Freys. The Boltons were here a few days ago...but they acted in the interest of our family. I had Arya watching them and they did not do anything to cause suspicion."

"The Freys then?" Jaime asked. "It's possible. If it's either of them, they will let you know. They'll want something in exchange for the safe return of Arya and Bran."

"Something," Robb repeated. "Will it be a price I can pay?"

Jaime hesitated. "I...doubt it. Whatever the case, I should send news of this to my father."

"Why must you bring him into this?" Catelyn muttered. She had no more desire for the Lannister to interfere in the affairs of her family. Where they went, hardship always followed.

"Because he will want to know," Jaime said. "She is his ward, and that's common knowledge. This may be a play against him as well."

"A play against him? As if he would care." Catelyn glared up at Jaime. "He would not lift a finger to help her."

"That may not be true," Robb murmured. "What's that you Lannisters like to say? About debts? You always pay them, do you not? Good and bad."

"Yes," Jaime said.

"And your father owes my sister a great debt. One that could not quite be paid by a sword," Robb murmured.

"So she told you," Jaime said. "Father would be angry at that."

Catelyn looked between them. "What is he talking about?"

Jaime exhaled. "Over a year ago, my father was almost assassinated. The...culprit hoped to throw the Starks and Lannisters back into war with each other. Without my father around, Joffrey would have killed Robb without hesitation. Which your daughter must have known because she was with my father at the time of the assassination attempt. She saved his life."

Catelyn did not know how to process this. Imagining Arya fighting off an assassin was almost impossible to her. Imagining Tywin Lannister owing her girl a life debt was even more impossible.

"That's the reason for the sword," Jaime said. "But it's not exactly equal payment."

"No. And if your father takes debts seriously, he will respond," Robb said. "Write him. And we will see what his word is worth."

Jaime Lannister sent the letter with a rider to be sure it reached his father. And then they waited. Waited to hear from Arya and Bran's abductors.

A fortnight later, they received a letter with the seal of House Frey. Robb called on both Catelyn and Jaime Lannister when it arrived. The two towers made Catelyn tremble with rage. Walder Frey had always been an awful man. Ever since she was a girl, she loathed him. Now, her fury only grew. And it kept growing when Robb broke the seal and read the letter.

Give us what was promised and we will give you back what's yours.

Catelyn's heart thundered in her ears as her gaze went from the letter to the envelope. There was still something in it. Something with weight. Robb's hand was shaking as he looked inside.

"Show me," Catelyn muttered.

Robb shook his head once. "Mother."

"Robb show me."

Robb exhaled and turned the envelope upside down. Two small fingers tumbled onto the table. The smallest fingers from someone's right hand.

Catelyn thought she might vomit. If hatred alone could kill a man, Walder Frey would have choked right then.

"Whose fingers are these?" Jaime muttered. "Arya's or Bran's?"

From his place on the ground, Summer let out a soft whimper.

Catelyn swallowed hard. "They're Bran's."

"Then what about Arya's fingers?" Robb asked. "Will they come later if we do not respond quickly enough?"

"Maybe," Jaime said. "Unless Walder Frey has gone completely mad."

Tywin received the letters within days of each other. The first letter came from Jaime at Winterfell, short into the point.

Arya is missing. So is her brother Bran. We suspect someone has taken them. We are doing everything we can to find her.

Anger rushed through Tywin when he read the words. He had expected someone to strike back at the Starks, but not so soon. If he had sensed an immediate threat he would never have allowed Arya to go north. She was not meant to be caught up in this mess.

He had two immediate suspects in mind. The two families he wrote Robb Stark about-the Freys and the Boltons. After Genna warned him of the Freys, Tywin had set Varys and his little birds on the task. And he quickly found that Genna was right. The Freys had not relaxed since the end of the war. Oddly, Lord Walder had been sending quite a few of his sons out to talk to the smallfolk most affected by the violence, as well as the smaller noble houses of the Riverlands. They did so under the guise of charity. Of helping the affected. But Walder Frey did not have a single charitable bone in his body. Of course there was another purpose.

"The people of the Riverlands do not think fondly on you, which is no surprise," Varys had reported to him. "But they seem just as angry at Robb Stark. They say he used the Riverlands as his battleground and that the Tullys let it happen because he was family. They view the Freys more favorably. In time, the other lords will join them."

The Frey's popularity was of little consequence to Tywin. Even if the entirety of the Riverlands turned to their side, they could not march on the Capital or Casterly Rock. The Riverlands were broken by the war. But it was notable to Tywin that the Freys were working to undermine the Stark and Tully names as well. Walder Frey wanted revenge for vows broken. They thought they would have the Riverlands at the end of the War of Five Kings. Instead they were left with the Twins and a burnt out countryside to which they had no claim.

Tywin knew less about the Boltons actions since the war, but if the Freys planned to strike at the Starks, they would look to the Boltons as their allies. Plenty of northmen had been displeased with the peace for different reasons. The Karstarks wanted revenge for their patriarch and his sons. The Umbers preferred a foolish fight to the death than a smart retreat. That was to be expected.

But the Boltons, by all outward appearances, were surprisingly content. And that piqued Tywin's suspicion more than anything. They thought they would have a chance at becoming the Wardens of the North and Tywin took that away when he made peace.

The Boltons were also more dangerous because the Starks did not know to fear them. They feared the Freys because of the broken vow to Lord Walder. But Robb Stark never knew that Roose Bolton had been in frequent contact with Tywin.

That was why Tywin wrote the letter to him and charged Arya Stark with delivering it. He would not take ownership of any of the plots made during the War of Five Kings. But he at least wanted Robb Stark to be wary. That way, if the Freys and Boltons did become a problem, he could use the Starks to solve it, just like he had with the Greyjoys.

Now Arya was missing. Who was behind it? The Freys? The Boltons? Or were they working together? Had they been plotting all along in the shadows while Tywin was distracted by more pressing threats?

A few days later, Tywin received the second letter, sealed with the twin towers of House Frey. Inside was a short note accompanied by two fingers.

Give us what was promised and we will give you back what's yours.

Tywin's fury froze him. For a long moment he did not even draw a breath. When was the last time he had felt such intense rage? It had been quite a while now. It was as if there was a storm inside of him, the kind of storm that could flood the world.

These were Arya Stark's fingers. The two smallest ones from her right hand. And if he found out who had severed them he would make them beg for death. Did the Freys truly think they could they could play this game with him? He would raze their house to the ground, from Walder Frey to the youngest of his many sons. And if the Boltons were involved, he would add them to the pyre.

Something in his mind snapped into place, like the loaded spring on a trap, ready to crush any unfortunate creature that wandered into its path. He had felt the same way when the Reynes and Tarbecks dared to challenge the Lannister name. When Aerys paid him the insult of making Jaime a King's Guard. When Robert neared his victory. When Catelyn Stark took Tyrion prisoner. When Robb Stark captured Jaime. When Petyr Baelish admitted to having conspired to assassinate him. There was only one path forward. Only one. And he would see it to the end.

He wrote several letters that day. The first he wrote to his brother at Casterly Rock, bidding him come and watch over Tommen. The second he wrote to Jaime and gave to a rider to make sure it was delivered. The third letter was Genna warning her to excuse herself from the conflict of her husband's family. The fourth, fifth and several letters after that, he wrote to his Bannermen, calling them to action. The Freys and all those loyal to them had declared war on House Lannister and they would answer for it. The Tyrell forces would stay and guard the king while they dealt with the traitors in the Riverlands.

The last letter he wrote to Walder Frey. Short. Unsigned, but with the seal of House Lannister.

And soon the rains weep o'er their halls, with not a soul to hear.

A/N: Yeah, did I mention that one of my favorite tropes is: enemies team up for a common goal? Cause it is. Starks and Lannisters are gonna cooperate and they're going to LIKE it. AND SO ARE YOU GUYS! This also means I get an excuse to write more conversations between Tywin and the Starks lol.

Side note, you guys have gotten me over 100,000 hits on this fic. Truly, I can't emphasize enough, how grateful I am for all of you. This is the longest I've gone updating a fic without falling off the wagon and it's all because of your amazing comments and encouragements :) As always, review, subscribe etc. and I'll see you next time!