Untouchable

by Collier World

Modern AU. Off the streets of King's Landing, Arya Stark plucks an undiscovered talent. Charging headlong into the world of professional baseball, Gendry Waters must navigate more than the pressure to compete and the need to survive. His fastball puts him on the mound. She makes him untouchable.

32. Chapter 30

30

It was shortly after six o'clock when Gendry finally hobbled out of his hospital room prison on crutches, the mild painkiller Hullen had administered doing an adequate job of dulling away the pain that had intensified postgame. What remained was more than bearable, and much more than bearable when he reminded himself that he had just won the World Series and Arya was walking by his side happily smiling up at him, poised as if she were willing to leap out and catch him were he to trip and fall, foolish as that would be.

In the meantime, he was regarding her with an incredulous eye, his mind still trying to comprehend the entire story and implication that she had shared with him as Hullen finished off the cast. "So... your aunt had a thing with my dad?" He watched as she nodded. "Weird. And also with Rhaegar Targaryen?"

Arya nodded again. "You're taking this a lot calmer than I expected, actually. You know, considering what's between you and Aegon."

"There's nothing between me and Aegon," Gendry grumbled, in no mood to ever hear the jerk's name ever leave Arya's lips ever again. "He came, he saw, I struck him out, it's over. There was never anything in the first place, he just made it out to be something."

"Actually," Arya began, and Gendry tensed up, his mind immediately assuming the worst. "I've been wondering something about you and him. What did he say to you in the ninth inning that riled you so up?"

He tensed anew as he remembered the moment, Targaryen turning from the plate for the express purpose of shouting at Gendry, his face contorted in hate, the entire setting burning Gendry's blood so fast that he nearly hurled the ball at Targaryen's head then and there... in the present, very slowly, he allowed himself to relax, remembering the same thing that he had in that moment in the ninth. Remembering what Ned Stark had told him the last time he had thrown at somebody's head. Remembering that Arya was watching him, watching for him, and that she had chosen him above all. Her face had been the sight that had forced into him the resolution to be the better man. The resolution to not only win, but to be victorious.

"He told me that he knew why my father left me behind," Gendry told her softly. "He told me that I should have been thankful I was born a bastard and stayed where I belonged because I didn't deserve anything." From the look in her eyes as he spared her a glance, he didn't need to lay out for her what Targaryen didn't think he deserved.

"Well, he was wrong," Arya stated simply, as if it was obvious and unimportant. "And I guess he's just another asshole."

Gendry cracked a small grin, and paused in his crutching to gesture towards Arya significantly. "At least he makes a lot more sense now, what with the whole deal with my dad and your aunt. He still didn't have any basis for just making a beef with me, but at least I get it." He glanced at her. "And your father's stance makes more sense, too."

"He was still overstepping his authority by a lot," Arya growled back, before her features softened. "But he pretty much gave you his blessing. And he sounded when he was just talking to me like he was realizing that we weren't just going to fall out."

They passed a bustling, early-morning doctor and followed through a door into the floor's waiting area, Gendry releasing a breath against the tight ache of his leg that he succeeded in hiding from Arya. He tapped her on the arm as she led him through, bringing her to a halt so he could lean close with a meaningful look. "Did he... mention my contract at all?"

"No," Arya replied, but smiled up at him, reading his thoughts. "If he's happy with you to the point of letting us be together, I would bet that he's more than willing to offer you an extension, pending the surgery."

"Pending the surgery," he repeated, grimacing and glancing away.

Her hand on his cheek drew his face back to her, prompting his eyebrows to rise in surprise as her smile blanked his worries. "I really don't think you should worry about it. Everything's turning for the best. Just wait and see."

He couldn't help but smile as they started moving again. She was right; everything was turning for the better. "It's not only that, of course." She glanced up at him curiously, and he approximated a shrug the best he could in his predicament. "I'm not sure that when I come back, if I come back, I want it to be in Winterfell."

He was three crutch lengths past her before he'd realized that she had stopped. It was a rather hefty endeavor to turn himself around to look back at her, and once he had he found her stare intense enough that he almost wished he hadn't.

"What?" she demanded.

"Don't take it badly," he told her quickly. He would have hobbled back to her if he didn't think that would have led to a rather painful face plant. "I'm not saying that I wouldn't like to, I'm just saying I'm not sure it's what I want."

Arya's dazzling smile morphed into an indignant frown as she marched up to him and spread her arms in confusion. "You just won the World Series here, why wouldn't you want to come back to the Direwolves? You're loved here."

Her voice wasn't exactly soft, but a nervous glance around them verified that the waiting room was still too empty to have garnered much notice. A pair of nurses hunched over a desk were glancing in his direction giggling, but other than that the few other people slouching wearily in chairs or perusing magazines seemed oblivious to his presence. He turned back to Arya to find her watching the nurses moodily, as well, and she drew a smug smile from him as she pointedly stepped into his personal space and touched his arm while glaring after the two women.

"That's kind of exactly my point," he muttered to her, referencing her last words. "We won the World Series. We did it. We came all the way. And now they're making me out to be some hero, but I'm not. I love that I'm loved, but I'm not superhuman. And it's not my team, it's Robb's. I came for my time, now I've got to take time off to fix my elbow, and the team's going to go on without me." He paused in memory and grinned down at her anew. "I can promise you that I'll never forget last night as long as I live. At the same time, though..." He hesitated and rocked his head from side to side. "That chapter is over. We can do it again, of course, but after all of the drama with your father... I'm almost ready for something new. Maybe I'm being selfish, and I'm sorry if that disappoints you, but that's the way I'm feeling. Who knows, maybe nobody else will offer me a contract and I'll have to resign with the Direwolves. I'm just... keeping my doors open. I've got a few places in mind."

Arya watched him, her hand still on his arm, neither positively nor negatively. Coming to love her had generally given him an intuitive knack for guessing what was on her mind, but in that moment her thoughts were her own, until she finally spoke. "What places?"

Gendry swallowed, shrugging. "Well, places where you'll be, firstly. I'm got a couple in mind."

She eyed him cautiously for a moment longer before nodding. "I can't promise to like whatever team you play for as much as the Direwolves-gods help me, I might murder you if you go anywhere near King's Landing-but I'll do my best." She shrugged. "Any jersey looks better with your name on the back of it."

"If you say so," he hissed, but he was too busy releasing a pent-up breath to do anything but keep his shoulders from sagging off of the crutches in relief. Offering her an appreciate smile, he said, "If it's really important to you, we can talk about it later."

They looked deep into each other's eyes for a long moment, Gendry wondering if she could possibly enjoy staring into his as much as he loved gazing into hers. She rubbed her hand up his arm and stepped closer, going up onto her tiptoes to press her lips against his chastely. She pulled away and set herself back on her feet, and stepped closer, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her face into his chest.

He was unable to reciprocate with his arms pulled over his crutches, but she didn't seem to need him to, and after a moment she released him and they began to make their way once again towards the hospital exit and the early morning sunrise, neither of them, Gendry imagined, really sure of their destination, but the two of them bound to reach it together.

Only a few paces had been accomplished towards their goal when the both of them were brought up short by the sight of the hulking, bruised man in a jacket and jeans leaning up against the wall next to the door and the tall, auburn-haired and sweatpants-garbed woman with crossed arms who still had to crane her neck nearly skyward to make bright eye contact with him. The two of them turned and saw Arya and Gendry at just about the same time as they themselves were seen. Arya and Sansa both beamed at each other; Gendry, at least, nearly dropped his crutches in anticipation of the rematch, and Clegane looked as though he would rather be anywhere else in the world.

"Hi, Arya!" Sansa greeted brightly, as Arya tugged on Gendry's sleeve and began to move once more towards the other two. The older sister glanced at Gendry mischievously out of the corner of her eye as he stumbled after Arya, nodding to him as he approached. Just as brightly, she said, "I don't believe we've ever been introduced, sir. I'm Sansa, Arya's sister. It's nice to finally meet you! Arya's told me so much about you."

"Oh, yes, likewise," Gendry fumbled, wrenching a hand from his crutch to shake her hand unexpectedly. He tried to smile, letting her know that meeting her wasn't something he didn't want to do, but he yet expected Clegane to throw a right hook the moment he stopped shooting tentative glances out of the corner of his eye. "I've heard a lot about you, too. I, uh... I think I worked on your car once."

"That's right, that's how you two met," Sansa replied, glancing between the two of them with a smile. Clegane made a strange noise in the back of his throat, not looking at anybody, and Sansa turned to him as if just remembering he was there. Which would never have been the case for Gendry; set aside his personal feelings, there was no missing the giant man. "Oh, and this is Sandor, of course. He's grumpy, don't mind him."

Clegane glared at Sansa with a mix of something akin to annoyance and uninhibited adoration, which nearly made Gendry blink, but he only coughed once and muttered, "Yeah, we've met."

"Actually, he's been meaning to say something to you, too," Sansa said, glaring back up at Clegane as if she didn't realize that he probably weighed as much as two and a half of her and could have probably drop-kicked her clean out of the hospital. "He's been on about it all night."

Gendry expected Clegane to begin swearing, or else raise himself up to his full height and simply glare the older Stark sister into submission. Instead, nearly to jaw-dropping surprise, Sansa held her position, with her arms crossed, squared off against the brute, her face completely poker-worthy and eyes as demanding as her hair was red. Gendry and Arya watched, side-by-side, as Clegane's stubborn fury ruffled into a startled reluctance and ultimately withered in the sorriest look of resignation that Gendry had ever expected to see. As Sansa acknowledged her victory and grinned self-righteously, Clegane let out a sigh that was almost a snore and turned to face Gendry. The younger man nearly pitied him.

"Congratulations," Clegane muttered, as if he would rather chew bullets than utter the word.

He leaned back against the wall with a crossed grimace of defeat, as if he were sloshing acid around in his mouth, while Sansa glanced at Arya with a smirk that Gendry couldn't identify and imagined only a woman would recognize. Reverting to her poker face, the red-haired woman then happily announced, "Now, the two of you should shake hands straight away and be friends."

Gendry and Clegane both grimaced and glared up at each other in opposition, each of them all but shaking their heads to beg no. "Um," Gendry mumbled weakly, rattling his supports in emphasis, "I'm on crutches..."

Clegane was less reserved. "I would rather chop off my fucking-"

"No, Sandor," Sansa said sweetly, a hint of the steel returned to her eyes as she patted him on the arm, "you would rather shake hands."

Gendry opened his mouth to inform the older Stark sister that it really wasn't necessary when his eyes were drawn to Arya, and his jaw was slammed shut for him. The warning, the lightning, the cold promise of retribution that stormed in the back of her eyes made him gulp and suck in a noxious breath at the same instant, and though he wasn't sure exactly why he was suddenly deathly afraid of the girl a third of his size, he found himself eagerly hobbling forward and gripping Clegane's paw just as the large man did the same. It was a hateful embrace, a firm attempt to crush every bone in the opposite's hand with no regard for where they were. As it was, it was a surprisingly even match and even more unwelcome contact, and just as soon as it was acceptable the two men released each other like they were gripping hot metal, both of them the happier for the negligible love lost.

The Stark sisters shared another glance that was unmistakably self-righteous, and Gendry imagined he wore an expression that was as defeated as Clegane's had been a moment before. The two men once again shared a look, except this one, in their mutual demise, was nearly companionable, and Gendry quickly looked away before anything stranger and more unwelcome could happen.

"So," Arya said, nodding stiffly between her sister and Clegane, eyeing the brutal man carefully, "you two are all... worked out?"

"Yes," Sansa answered, glancing back up at Clegane, her smugness replaced by thoughtfulness. The irritation that had been smudged over his face, too, had smoothed into contemplation as he looked back at her, the two of them holding their own silent conversation for a moment before Sansa smiled. "We are worked out. A sincere apology can sure go a long way, can't it?" Clegane scowled anew, but Gendry thought it wasn't a true frown; only a frown with a purpose, and Sansa's smile as she turned and learned her back comfortably against Clegane's arm seemed to fulfill the purpose. "Even though it was like dragging Mom to a game to try and make him come here."

"Well, give Mom some credit," Arya laughed, "she actually swallowed her pride and came out to a baseball game again. It was actually really nice, wasn't it?"

"It was," Sansa agreed, "and with Jeyne and everything..." She trailed off, glancing at Gendry and then peering over her shoulder at where Clegane was watching her softly. Turning back to Arya, she shrugged with a knowing smile and muttered in a lower voice, "It was almost like something we'll all be doing together for a very long time."

Before Gendry or Clegane could do anything except find each other glancing at each other in subtle alarm and gulping in wake of the whisper, the doors they were grouped next to opened and a voice proceeded the two bodies that passed through. "Somebody just said your name, darling. They must be eagerly anticipating your arrival."

Gendry blinked in surprise as Robb bustled in with his aforementioned fiancé's hand threaded through his arm, both of them wearing wide smiles as they beheld the sight of siblings and significant others already congregated before the door. Jeyne immediately let go of Robb's arm and hugged Sansa and Arya, whilst Robb smirked over their heads at Gendry and Gendry didn't need to look very far to find a smirk to return. Clegane observed the newcomers like he was in the middle of a bad dream, but that only made Gendry smile wider and dare to clap the imposing man on the back. Normally something akin to a death warrant, the action only earned him a harsh glare that was distributed evenly between him and Robb, and the two friends were far too happy and safely located in the middle of a hospital to give it much heed.

As the three women commiserated delightfully, as though it weren't six o'clock in the morning and everyone else in the waiting room weren't glaring at them confusedly, Robb skirted around them to stand next to Gendry, a slight grin on his features as he eyed his friend peripherally. "So everything seems to be patched up, then."

"It is," Gendry agreed gladly.

"I mean, I just assumed that your nationally televised reunion was pretty official," Robb teased, apparently only becoming more amused as Gendry swallowed. Gendry opened his mouth to snap something when Robb added a little chuckle, but his friend added, "Not that I have a problem. I'm overjoyed, really. I'm relieved just that I don't have to watch you two dance around each other anymore. Having you both happy is a bonus."

His eyes turned back to the women before Gendry could decide whether or not he was serious or continuing to tease. Clearing his throat and shifting on his crutches, he let his own eyes return to Arya's happy face only a few paces away. "Well, I'm happy to be in this with her, too. And..." He glanced over his shoulder, half-expecting to find Ned Stark hovering with a baseball bat. Leaning towards Robb, he added, "What if I told you that your dad kind of actually said he was okay with it?"

"Not really surprising," Robb replied with another grin. "Arya would never speak to him again if he didn't. I don't think Sansa would, either." He paused for a moment, and then rolled his eyes. "Hell, I probably wouldn't have, either. Still, he did it before all of us could tell him that, so that counts for something a little more."

"I suppose so," Gendry grunted, not unkindly. He was far too happy at the moment to be unkind, broken leg and torn elbow and all. Arya glanced back over her shoulder at him and smiled widely when she caught him looking at her. A small bit of color entered her cheeks before she turned back to the conversation, where she and Jeyne and Sansa shared a good-natured laugh that may or may not have been at his and Robb's and Clegane's expense. He didn't much mind.

As the women's laughter died down and their faces became a little serious, their tones dropping and their heads drawing a little closer together, Robb cocked his head and eyed Clegane. "Well, Sandor, it looks like you and Sansa worked things out for the better, too."

Clegane nearly jumped, a comical event, turning to glare at Robb in relative surprise as he cleared his throat in a guttural grunt. "Uh, yes, we have."

Robb nodded, cracking a grim grin at the grim man. Very slowly, very unthreateningly, Robb held out a hand for Clegane to shake. Both Clegane and Gendry stared at it for a moment as if they didn't have any idea what it was, and then Clegane eyed Robb carefully before taking it. They shook stiffly, but Robb punctuated it by saying, "We may be enemies on the field, man, but off it, if you're with my sister, then that almost makes us family."

Gendry couldn't be sure, of course, but he was relatively certain Clegane would rather have Robb aimed a punch at his face or dealt him a select insult rather than offer a truce-like companionship, exactly as the Direwolves' captain had done. A short battle played out on Clegane's face in the form of several grimaces in several short split seconds, leaving Gendry coughing abruptly to restrain a mean laugh. Mid-grimace, though, Clegane's eyes flashed once to Sansa and his entire face, bruised and all, softened, something Gendry wasn't expecting to see. Clenching his jaw, Clegane turned his head back to Robb and gave a curt nod before the two released their hands. Clegane visibly relaxed thereafter, and though a decently awkward silence descended over the three men as they watched their women it was considerably less hostile than it had been before.

After a few more laughs, Arya, Sansa, and Jeyne finally turned back to them, each one of them wearing a broad grin as their eyes fell on their respective significant other. "Well," Sansa proclaimed, as she stepped back to Clegane's side, "this is a nice little get-together, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Robb agreed, adopting a cheeky smirk. "Enjoy it while it lasts, before Jon gets here and puts up as the seventh wheel."

It was subtle, hardly there at all, but Gendry still detected the very slight tension that gripped Arya's body as she sidled up alongside him, glancing too nonchalantly at Robb for it to actually be nonchalant. "Jon's on his way?"

"Yeah," Robb replied, evidently aware of her tentativeness. Gendry was watching her gingerly, too, the recent knowledge that Jon was not, in fact, her half-brother, still stirring around in the foremost of his thoughts. "He went back to the Manor with Bran and Rickon last night, and Mom never said a word about it. I think she even talked to him once or twice." The meaningful look that both Arya and Sansa gave Robb, followed by Robb's affirmative nod, impressed upon Gendry that such an action was nothing to be taken lightly. "Possibly a sign that she's letting the whole thing finally blow over? If you ask me, it's about time, but I'm glad it's finally here, in any case."

"Of course," Sansa agreed, nodding enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Arya murmured, glancing warily at the door. Gendry watched her hand flinch in his direction before it halted midair and returned determinedly to her side. He lifted his own hand from the handle of his crutch and touched her arm until she looked at him, a silent conversation between their eyes culminating in a sharp look that was her insisting silently that she was okay, after all.

Robb apparently noticed her continued apprehension and shared look with Gendry, for he cleared his throat after a moment and said, "I know Jon was really upset, Arya, about everything that happened. I'm sure he just wants to apologize."

"He already did," Arya replied, shifting between feet. "And I accepted it."

Narrowing his eyes down at her in concern, Gendry was the one who inquired, "Then what's wrong?"

"I don't know," she sighed, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. "Just residual mistrust, I guess. I suppose the only way it'll go away is if he re-earns that trust, so I might as well see and talk to him." She glanced up at her brother, who waited for her with understanding eyes. "Besides, even Mom accepted him back into the family. If I don't do the same, when I was always the one who told her she was wrong, I'll just be asking to tear apart something that's been broken for far too long." She glanced at Sansa, too, and then Jeyne, and then expanded her sweep to wash over Clegane and then finally land on Gendry, having encompassed them all. For him, she offered a small, happy smile, a smile which was much, much more brilliant than it appeared at first glance. "Especially when it can be remade bigger and better than before."

A silence fell over the group in the wake of her words, but it was not the same discomfort that had been between the men before. This one was filled with emotion, with promise, with meaning. Robb watched his fiancé with enough intent that Jeyne blushed even as she smiled proudly back. Sansa looked up at Clegane's marred face, which, even though rent with a scowl, looked as close to a smile as Gendry had ever seen on the man. She picked up one of his massive arms and wrapped it around her shoulders, and without further prompt the big man pulled her to his chest, where she rested her cheek and closed her eyes and remained with a safe and content grin over her peaceful features. It was one of the strangest and most heartwarming scenes Gendry had ever seen, even if the man in the picture had almost beaten him to death once.

For Arya and Gendry, their stare remained, the two of them in a bubble amidst a cacophony of a world. She reached out her hands and tentatively drew his fingers off of his crutches, bracing them between hers and squeezing lightly. Just the slightest contact... but much more than what they had both once hoped to ever have again. And there was more to come, so much more, days and nights and years worth of it. It was all ahead of them, promised by their eyes, and as long as he could still see the same storm in her eyes that he had first beheld in a car shop months and months behind, Gendry was content.

The three couples stood for a moment entrapped in themselves, all but dead to the world and each other except for the one who held their attention, and none of them had a word to complain about it. Gendry certainly didn't.

Calm was broken abruptly by the opening of the waiting room doors next to which they were standing, a pair of friendly, deep voices preceding the new arrivals. Jon Snow glanced up as he stepped through, a laugh dying on his lips as he looked straight at Arya, while Gendry tightened the grip of his fingers on hers to remind her that they were all in it together. Jon quickly swallowed and moved on to greet Jeyne, the nearest person, with a kiss on the cheek, while Arya smiled up at Gendry to tell him she was fine before she dropped his hands. Gendry barely noticed her do so, though, so surprised was he by the second person to step through the door. A darted glance to his right and left found Clegane and Robb both equally as stunned as he.

Tyrion Lannister, straightening a exquisite suit over his shoulders, stepped past Jon and grinned for a split second as he watched the man's interactions with his family. Gendry, Robb, and Clegane were helpless but to continue to stare at the small man as Jon greeted Sansa and then Robb, eyeing Clegane strangely and giving Gendry a stiff nod before settling himself in front of Arya. Robb finally turned his eye away from the Monarchs' executive, nevertheless shooting confused glances out of the corner of his eyes, while Clegane immediately found something very interesting to inspect on the ceiling. Only Gendry was left staring, his mouth still hanging slightly open in surprise, until Tyrion finally glanced away from Jon and looked right at the man on crutches, as well. A slight smirk appeared on the small man's lips, and he didn't look away.

"Hey," Jon said to Arya in the meanwhile. He opened his arms tentatively for a hug, as if he expected rebuke, but after only a short pause Arya gave him a small grin and stepped into his embrace. Even if it was not quite as eagerly as Jon had hoped, judging from his expression, relief flashed over his features after a moment, anyway, and Gendry felt the same relief mirrored in his own.

After a minute, the two siblings who were really cousins released each other, and Jon ruffled her hair affectionately. She cuffed his hand away with a glare, and just like that they were grinning at each other, and it was if the three Starks in attendance all released a breath of relief. Still grinning, Jon glanced up at Gendry and nodded his greeting. "Congratulations, on the win and your trophy. You deserved it."

Surprised, Gendry nevertheless nodded his appreciation. "Thank you."

"Yes, you did."

Tyrion Lannister took a small step forward, nodding his agreement and holding onto his smirk, and the group turned to face the newcomer, all but Jon appearing as though he were the last person in the world expected to be there. Robb extended his hand down to the man, where it was taken gentlemanly. "Mr. Lannister. A pleasure, as always."

"And you, Mr. Stark," Lannister answered, nodding to both Robb and Gendry. "Mr. Waters. My congratulations, as well, on your World Series victory. Probably one of the greatest battles baseball has ever seen. Truly a gritty win, and you deserved it. Well done, gentlemen." The two Direwolves muttered their thanks, their tones inevitably betraying their belief that his words weren't meant, but the little man kept smirking, even when he glanced up at Clegane. "And don't scowl too much, Clegane. There's always next year, after all, and the year after that, and the year after that. Besides, it looks like you've won something better, anyway."

Clegane just scowled more as Lannister turned away, while Sansa blushed and murmured something intelligible while gripping to the larger man's arm giddily. Arya hid a smirk while Lannister turned to face Gendry directly once again, his smirking widening for a fraction of a second before his face became all business. "Forgive the intrusion, Mr. Waters. I've come just in hopes for a quick word with you, if you've a moment to spare. I don't want to disrupt your time with family any more than I have to, but there's a matter I would like to bring to your attention."

A small ripple coursed through the assembled people as the word "family" washed over them in a way that was impractically familiar and correct, and many of them shared small smiles with each other, Jeyne even offering a small one to Gendry in the process. In the meantime, Arya and Gendry exchanged a subtle glance, a glance between confidantes, but enough for him to convey to her his acceptable comfort in the moment, even though the request was as much a surprise to him as it was to her.

"Of course," he said aloud, nodding to Lannister, almost as eager as he was wary to know what the little man had to say.

Lannister nodded, but immediately after turned his mismatched eyes unto Arya with an amused expression. "And is it all right with you if I borrow him for a moment, Miss Stark? I promise to give him back."

Arya opened her mouth before the frown took her face, as if she thought she was being mocked. Then she looked down and apparently realized that she was gripping Gendry's fingers in a fist, as if holding on for dear life. Sheepishly, far too sheepish to avoid a muffled and amused reaction from the majority of those assembled, Gendry included, she eased her grip and let her hand slide off of his, nodding frantically at Lannister. She glanced up at Gendry and one last meaningful look and smile passed between them before he hoisted himself on his crutches and followed Lannister across to the opposite side of the room, where the small man gestured eagerly for Gendry to seat himself before doing so himself.

It took a moment for the general manager of the Monarchs to pull himself into the seat and straighten his jacket again, sighing contentedly after he was finally seated properly. Once so, he wasted no time in fixing Gendry with the familiar grin. "Well, your reunion on national television did yank the cat quite rudely from the bag, but, nevertheless, it actually pleases me quite a bit to see that you and Miss Stark have overcome your differences for the better."

A brief drunken memory of sitting with the man in a dark bar on a sad night flashed through Gendry's mind, but he shook it off, in no mood to return to that scene when he still wasn't sure he could properly remember half of it. Instead, nodding his appreciation to Lannister for the comment, he cleared his throat and tried not fidget in his chair as he said, "Thanks for that, and for the congratulations, too. It's not quite what I expected." He surveyed the man for a moment, and then decided to be blunt. "In fact, you're one of the last people I would have thought would want to talk to me right now. What's this about?"

"What this is about, Gendry," Lannister said with a shrug, "is me offering you twenty five million dollars over the next five years if you sign a contract with King's Landing. Guaranteed money, and possibly a handsome signing bonus to go along with it."

Gendry blinked, hoping his alarm wasn't showing so vividly on his face. "Come again?"

Lannister was nodding. "Twenty five million over five years. I understand your contract with the Direwolves is expired, and that we have to wait a few weeks before we can tie down knots and so forth, per the rules of the league, but the team and I wouldn't mind setting our relationship in stone as soon as legally possible. What do you say?"

Gendry blinked again, the words still trying very hard to pound their way past the thick cloud surrounding his mind. Tyrion Lannister was sitting in a chair across from him in a hospital waiting room, offering him more money than he had ever dreamed of making in his life, while he himself slumped in another chair with a broken leg and a bum elbow. The little man's face was perfectly sincere, no hint of the offer being some sort of bad joke or trap, the words sounding as genuine as was his expression. Gendry found himself staring at the floor, dollar signs and stadium lights flashing before his eyes, dreams he'd never fathomed before.

It took drawing his eyes off of the cold hospital tiles to forcibly glance back over to Arya to ground himself, at least so much as to gulp and orient his thoughts. The offer of twenty five million dollars, seated in a chair across from him, tempted him in an invincible pull from the throes of a penniless child... the potential promise of never having to worry about money ever again... But after a few seconds of mental screaming at himself to think big picture instead of dollar signs, he reminded himself that there was a lot more to his life now than money and purpose. Now there was Arya, and a future, and dreams beyond himself. He already had tentative places in mind, tentative plans, tentative courses that he wanted his life to take. Not to mention the surgery his elbow desperately required.

On that subject, a pang of honesty made him clear his throat as he glanced back at Lannister. "Um... before you offer that, you should know... I have a ligament tear that requires Tommy John to repair-"

"We know about your injury," Lannister interrupted, punctuated with a careless flip of the hand. "It's irrelevant."

What? "How?"

Lannister smirked. "Believe me, Gendry, the things that the Monarchs don't know... well, they are not that many." Carefully, he tipped Gendry's direction with a thoughtful finger. "How you slipped through the grasps of our intelligence, we still don't know, but now that we do know the Monarchs want you. And we're willing to pay for your surgery, your rehabilitation, whatever is required. Consider it the first year of your contract. You would come back late in the season or the following season in the bullpen, prepared and ready to go, and the guaranteed check will be yours all the same."

Before he could help himself, his unrelenting confusion and stunned state made him blurt, "Why?"

Lannister's smirk adopted a slightly uncertain tilt, as though he himself didn't understand the question. "Why not?"

Gendry widened his eyes, thinking, not quite sure where to begin, himself. "I just beat you in the World Series. I have a tear in my elbow that leaves my future in question. You're offering me a check that could buy me an island, and if I go bad after the surgery I might never throw another pitch in my lfie." Why he was talking, he couldn't be quite sure, but he didn't try to hold himself back from his boundless honesty.

With a finger tapping against his lips, Lannister narrowed his eyes and seemed to consider Gendry's words for several moments. Finally, with a large shrug of his stopped shoulders, the small man proclaimed, "Well, as to the World Series... oh, well. It happened. There's nothing we can change about it now. My father is in a rage, of course. He's sure to bring up all sorts of complaints about your muse's unconventional trip to the mound in the ninth last night. Although..." He paused and leaned closer, with a crooked smile. "Between you and me, I admire that spunk. In any case, the Series is over, and the Monarchs do what they have always aimed to do. Seek perfection. You in our ranks will bring us closer to that mark, I'm sure, and perhaps even right back to the World Series in the future. If your surgery should go bad... well, quite honestly, Gendry, we have money to spare. If you fizz out and we get nothing out of the deal, then it's still probably not the worst investment we've ever made, you're still sitting pretty with twenty five million dollars, and we can both go our separate ways with the knowledge that you'll never harm us in the World Series again. On those grounds, it is in both of our best interests, from where I'm sitting, for you to accept a Monarchs' jersey and achieve fame in King's Landing, the place of your birth. Was that not meant to be?"

The tone in which it was spoken suggested that the answer to that question was obvious, but as the words rebounded around inside Gendry's head, he wasn't quite sure. The logic of the argument was startlingly sound: the deal offered him security, a security he had never had before; even if he couldn't recover properly from the surgery, he would still have a financial future for himself. For his family, a family that was to be, a family that he could now hope to have where there had been no hope before.

A warm surge of pride and elatedness made him look up at Arya as the thoughts crossed his mind, and he found her watching him from across the room. Her eyes were merely curious as opposed to obtrusive, but once again a sheer glance in her direction completely sidetracked and straightened his thoughts. His plans, his dreams, his determinations for what was to come next returned to him while he sat in the hospital waiting room chair and shared her eye contact, and, nodding in a way that made her smile across the room even though the action was more for his own benefit, Gendry breathed deeply and turned back to Lannister.

"I'm very thankful for the offer, but Mr. Stark has already generously volunteered to pay for my elbow treatment and I think that I owe it to him to let him do so, if that makes any sense. Besides, I couldn't sign a deal like that in good conscience, knowing that I might just be stealing millions of dollars for nothing if I can't end of throwing for you."

"I don't think it would stealing," Lannister argued lightly, his brow creasing critically. "I would view it as exploiting an avenue I am opening wide for you, in a world where your prospects might not be great, otherwise. I can't promise it will still be there post-surgery... I caution you to think very carefully about this before you turn it down."

"I have," Gendry answered just as lightly. "And right now... I'm not quite sure, but it doesn't feel quite right. Honestly, I'm not convinced King's Landing is any kind of right for me. I've lived my whole life there up to this year, but I don't think I ever really liked it. It might be time for a change. Now, if my surgery turns out fine and I'm able to come back and throw just as well, then I'll be perfectly willing to entertain an offer then, if you're still willing to give it, but right now... I think what I need is simply a new start, somewhere new, where I can my life a new opportunity to succeed afresh that I've never had before."

A moment of silence stretched over them, Lannister watching him closely with his creased brow and unreadable expression. Gendry wished he knew what the little man was thinking of, wished that he could be sure he hadn't just made a grave enemy in the Monarchs-even more than was already so-but he was still content with the decision that he'd made. It felt right, doing what he thought was best for him and for Arya and for his future, even if it meant that he had to turn down a lifetime of earnings to do so.

It was a long time before Lannister reacted, but when he finally did he surprised Gendry by nodding after a short sigh. "Well, I can't say I'm not sorry to hear that, Gendry, but it's not something that surprises me too much. You're nothing if unpredictable, as the Monarchs and I have had the pleasure of experiencing in agony." He grimaced funnily, and then pushed himself off of the chair to straighten his jacket on his own two feet, glancing up at Gendry as the larger man rose, as well. "If I may, out of pure curiosity, did you have a certain place in mind?"

"Actually," Gendry said, giving a very small nod, "I was thinking Storm's End."

The flicker of a smile was there, darting across Lannister's features knowingly and then going before it had a chance to settle. The little man cleared his throat, as if to hide further amusement, nodding solemnly instead. "Ah. Any particular reason for that choice?"

Gendry shrugged innocently, quite aware of the man's restrained reaction. "I think you know one of them." He glanced away, over at Arya and then merely up into the air, pondering. "I don't know if I've found my complete peace with him and all he did to me, but if everyone tells me that I truly am his son, I feel as though I should try to get to him a little better. Maybe just to know him better. To understand why he did what he did. To finally forgive him. If I go to the place he called his home... maybe I'll finally be able to do all that." Gendry shrugged again, cutting off the emotion rising in his throat before it could appear on his face. "Besides, it's a good place as any. Bigger than Winterfell, smaller than King's Landing. Maybe I'll get the best of both worlds."

Lannister nodded slowly, watching him the whole time with eyes that seemed to be peering into the past. Eventually, both men cleared their throats and the moment of decision and compassion ended. "Well, I'm sorry you will not accept the offer, but I'm pleased to find that your reasons for doing so almost make me glad you didn't." Lannister reached up, high over his head, to shake Gendry's hand, eyeing him appraisingly as he did so. "I have no doubts that we'll meet again, Gendry, perhaps sooner rather than later. Until then, the best of luck to you."

Leaving Gendry and his crutches, the man stalked back over to the large group, muttering a few words to Jon Snow and Robb and bowing slightly to the women. Clegane received only a glare and something Gendry thought was a subtly phrased insult from the contortion of the bruised man's face, and from where he stood across the room he couldn't help but grin as Lannister made his final exit. Feeling the weight of the decision he had just made leave with the man, and confidence that he had made the correct choice replace it in his heart, he hoisted himself up with a smile and made his way back over to where Arya was waiting expectantly.

As he sidled up alongside her, she glanced expectantly up at Jon, who stood beside her, and the dark-haired man glanced at the floor before clearing his throat and staring Gendry determinedly in the eye, even though it looked as though it were costing him a substantial effort. "Gendry, I'd like to apologize to you. I've already apologized to Arya in every way I know how, and it's still probably not enough, I know. But I realize that I hurt the both of you with telling our father about the two of you, and I really regret that. I want you to know that I hope that the two of you are very happy, and that I have nothing against you whatsoever. I hope you can forgive me."

Gendry wasn't so sure about the last bit, but he took Jon's proffered hand with a grateful smile and relief nonetheless. "I really appreciate that. The matter's behind us, now. All that matters is what's yet to come."

Jon nodded sincerely, the corners of his mouth twisting upwards into a friendly grin. "I'm very glad." He and Gendry both glanced at Arya, who was beaming at them with enough feeling to indicate that they were both and all forgiven, and Jon roped her into a familiar, loving embrace while he returned his eyes to Gendry. "You should know, if you don't already, that this family is tight-knit. Usually that comes with threats, but in this case..." He shrugged. "If you're ever on the Wall, for whatever reason, and you need something, you come to me. Anything, okay? Starks look after their own, and so do Snows. All right?"

Gendry wasn't sure who smiled wider, who felt all the more better for the statement. As if it were the final initiation, first through Robb and then Ned and now Jon, it was almost as if he had just been inaugurated as one of them. As a family. As a member of the most beautiful thing he had ever had, the most beautiful thing he had never had before. It was almost enough to make him tear up, to profess his profound gratitude to them all as Arya slipped her hand back into his, but Sansa came to his rescue, clapping her hands together loudly.

"Well, I'm hungry!" she announced, glancing around at them sparklingly. "Everyone back to the Manor for eggs and bacon!"

Clegane opened his mouth, most likely on the verge of releasing several swear words, but before he could get even one of them out Sansa seized him by the wrist and began dragging him towards the waiting room door, entering an immediate chat with Jeyne while Robb followed laughing a few steps behind. Arya glanced up questioningly, as if offering him an avenue of escape. For a moment, he was almost tempted to take it: he was exhausted, truly, had gone through more since he had woken up the previous morning than perhaps he'd gone through in the entirety of their separation; his leg hurt, his elbow hurt, a lot of his body could use a fair bit of ice, and the looming pressure of meeting her mother and younger brothers did nothing to ease any of those one bit.

Seeing Jon's arm around Arya's shoulders, however, and Robb's adoration as he watched Jeyne, and Sansa's amiability with a relative stranger as she dragged her lover in her wake whether he wanted to go or not... he wanted to, to go have breakfast with his family. He wanted it so bad that he almost forgot he was on crutches and made to seize Arya and sprint out after them.

Instead, he managed a calm smile and a confident nod, which earned returns of both gestures from Arya as she released his hand and let him gain hold of his crutches. The three of them, Jon and Arya engaging in some random conversation while Gendry followed contentedly through the door they held open for him, made their way after their siblings and followed down the hospital hallway, pausing only to don coats and jackets as they pressed together, four professional baseball players and their chosen companions, out into the Winterfell morning as a whole.

The air was thin, the wind biting, the sun barely peaking out over the buildings across the street in the frigid daybreak, but it felt perfect to Gendry. Everything felt perfect. As a group, they filed out, moving down the sidewalk at a slow enough pace to allow for Gendry to keep up until they reached the parking lot where the vehicles awaited them. A shape resting on the ground beneath the end of one of the vehicles moved as they approached, a head detaching itself from a body as ears quirked, and then a bark came forth, and then the shape was on all fours and bounding forward as Arya dropped to her knees in delight.

"Nymeria!" she exclaimed happily as her dog leaped happily into her embrace, licking at every inch of face that was exposed. Arya only laughed and hugged her closer.

"Yeah, she wanted to get out of the Manor," Jon told her, eyeing Gendry with a smirk as the two commiserated. "So I figured I'd bring her down here to see you and all. Looks like you were just what she needed."

Arya laughed again, before her eyes suddenly became alight and she pulled Nymeria's head back to stare her in the eyes. "Hey, girl, there's someone I need you to meet!"

Gendry had just enough time to realize what she meant and feel a dropping in his heart before the large dog was turned in his direction. He made eye contact with the thing, and then suddenly his crutches were flying out of his grasp and he was on his back on the cold ground, Arya exclaiming in surprise and alarm. A sharp bark pierced the thin air twice in close proximity to his ears, and then suddenly his face was being engulfed in the slobbery affection of the dog.

"Gah!" he replied, wrapping his arms around Nymeria in order to try and hold her back; he only succeeded in holding her in place, which seemed to indicate to her, at least, that he enjoyed the licking, which only resulted in another pair of loud barks before she went intently back to her task. "Bah! I don't think she likes me."

Appearing in the back of his vision, from what he could see over the desperate licking, Arya's face gave off the rest of its alarm and returned back to laughing. "No, I think she likes you too much. Nymeria, you shouldn't knock Gendry down, he has a bad leg. You can kiss him just fine when he's standing up, too."

"She seems to be doing a bloody fine job of it like this," he growled, finally surrendering and scratching at the beast's head, finding himself cracking a grin when the dog finally sat back on his chest and panted with a wagging tail, glancing down at him happily. "Well, at least she didn't bite my head off. I've known worse dogs, girl. You're not bad."

Arya grinned wider and they both scratched at Nymeria's head with an amused Jon watching, before Sansa's voice pierced the air anew. "Well, are you going to lie there all day or are we going to eat? Come on! Get Nymeria up, she can still lick you in the car!"

Following the sound of her voice, Nymeria bounded up and off of Gendry and to Sansa, who pointed the dog back to Arya as Jon helped Gendry off of the ground and returned his crutches. With the dog happily circling around them, they all made the rest of their way to the two available cars. Jon unlocked his side and Arya led Nymeria and Gendry to the backseat of it while Robb and Jeyne went to theirs. Clegane looked increasingly uncomfortable with the arrangement as he eyed the small backseat of Robb's car, but his stare quickly became frantic as Sansa hopped to the passenger seat of Jon's car, smiling sweetly and innocently.

"Why don't you ride with Robb and Jeyne, Sandor?" she proposed. While Clegane's face turned pale, she and Jeyne shared a smile behind his back. "It'll give you a chance to get to know Robb off of the field. And I want to talk to Arya on the way."

"Uh... I don't..."

"Oh, come on, Sandor," Robb said, ducking into the driver's side and sending a grudging smile Clegane couldn't see towards Gendry. "Get in. It's not that long of a ride. We can talk about how much you hate Sansa."

Clegane did not look convinced-not in the slightest-but his opportunities for protest were demolished by Sansa blowing a kiss in his direction and ducking into Jon's car before another word could be had. Arya grinned at Gendry and hustled him and his crutches inside before climbing in, herself, and hoisting Nymeria in after her. Jon, apparently on-board with whatever subtle plan was in the works, quickly turned the car on and pulled out of the space, swinging by where Clegane still stood grumpily pondering the endeavor of fitting himself in to Robb's car. In a moment, they were out of the parking lot, Nymeria riding happily on Arya's lap as they all turned down the road towards the Manor.

"Good," Sansa announced, satisfied, glancing once more back at the parking lot before pulling her seatbelt secured and settling herself. "Serves him right for being grumpy all the time." She smiled at Arya, her eyes wistful. "I can't thank you enough, though, Arya, for making me go find him. I can't imagine what I would feel like now if I didn't have him back."

"A fair bit safer, I would imagine," Jon supplied pointedly, glancing at her in disgruntlement.

"Oh, shut up," Sansa replied, batting Jon's arm with a backhand. "He loves me and I love him and we don't even compare to the last man I was with in how much danger I was in or how happy I am, so don't worry about it. Everything's worked out for the best. " She glanced in the rearview mirror, catching Gendry's eye, and beamed. "For all of us."

Arya took Gendry's hand in hers, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand as they shared a smile. The familiarity that seemed to pass between them, as Sansa talked about Clegane and the four of them drove down the road, was something Gendry wasn't sure anyone except for him realized. It was perfect, surreal. He reached out and scratched Nymeria's head as Arya said, "What did actually happen that brought you two from being angry and upset with each other to being all perfect in only a few days?"

"Oh, it was almost funny," Sansa muttered backhandedly, waving it off goofily. "He basically shoved aside his pride, something I never thought he could do, and came to me and fell onto his knees and begged me to take him back. It was like some sappy movie scene, and you know what? I kind of hated it. I wanted him to be big and strong, not down and sappy." She shrugged, while Arya gawked. "So I got upset and then he got angry and then... well, we were near a bed, so..."

Arya's gawk turned into a scoff and Sansa turned a slight shade of crimson as Jon scoffed loudly and objectively in the driver's seat. "That," he announced, "was a little more than I ever wanted to hear happen to my sister... ever... it's almost as bad as walking in on her leaving some guy's room..."

"Well, you know, so there it is," Sansa replied, grinning back at Gendry and Arya, who were both glaring pointedly at Jon as the man actually had the audacity to chuckle at himself. "But it happened, and then we kind of just talked it out, in an angry sort of way, and I sort of bullied him into shaping up. For the life of me, I don't know why he lets me boss him around, but that's the way we have it. So we're good, and now you two are good." Her smile widened into a full beam in the mirror, and she actually clapped her hands together. "And Robb's getting married, and Mom's all happy with you, Jon, and baseball again, and Bran's going to go off to college and there's so much happiness I can hardly believe it! Where did all of this come from? I'm so happy!"

Arya placed a hand over her mouth, most likely to hide the unbound smile developing there, and threaded her fingers in her dog's fur before turning to Gendry, only to smile wider as she tried to match the massive beam awaiting her on his features. A beam he was making no similar effort to hide. Cocking her head against the back of the headrest, against his shoulder, she poked, "What?"

In way of answer, Gendry reached over and scooped Nymeria into his own lap, laughing as she lapped up his happy expression eagerly. "Nothing. Nothing at all."