A/N: Greetings. This is late once again, for this chapter was extremely difficult and I was struggling to get it done. But here we are. Welcome. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 40: The Unloaded Gun

The two nameless girls stood opposite each other, the Stark family plot between them. The Waif had lost her name long ago and buried it somewhere across the Narrow Sea. Arya's name was meant to be buried here, just beyond the gate, beside her father.

And yet they both knew it wasn't.

"I knew the stupid girl couldn't do it," the Waif said. "Surrender her name. She has been Arya Stark from the moment she set foot back in the west. She has been wearing a costume. But not well." She tilted her head to the side. "Because others know, don't they? They know who a girl is under that terrible mask."

"No one knows," Arya said.

"A poor lie from a poor liar," the Waif said. "Lannisters know. Starks know. The number grows day by day. You think I didn't hear the name Arya Stark at the wedding? Again and again from so many mouths."

Arya lifted her chin, clenching her jaw. "You're the one who killed Stannis. Aren't you?"

"Poison killed him," the Waif said. "His death was bought and paid for."

"By who?"

"That is not for a girl to know," the Waif said. "What matters is that he is dead."

"And Joffrey was blamed for it."

"He was a convenient scape goat yes."

"And you killed him too."

"He hung himself," the Waif said simply. "Arya Stark should be happy. She has her justice now. Her father's killer is dead. She can rest in peace, can she not?"

"No," Arya said. "She can't. Joffrey wasn't the mastermind. We both know that."

"A girl did not ask for the mastermind. She asked for the killer."

"And a girl will not give you her name until she has the one behind that killer," Arya said fiercely.

The Waif smiled. A cold, horrible smile that moved like ice through Arya's veins. "She always tries to bargain. She knocks on the doors of the House of Black and White and demands answers. She does not even do her job correctly and she think she deserves more." She clicked her tongue. "No. Arya Stark is done bargaining. It's time for her to do something for us."

Arya shivered, but she held the Waif's gaze. "As Beth?"

"No," the Waif said. "No. A girl is lucky. For this…she needs to be Arya Stark."

This pulled Arya up short. Ever since she joined the House of Black and White, Jaqen and the others had stressed the importance of leaving behind her name. Of shedding it like a skin and slipping into new names. New faces. She was meant to leave Arya Stark behind.

So why…why would they need her to reclaim her name?

"The Lannisters and the Starks are working together," said the Waif. "It is best if they do not anymore."

"According to who," Arya asked flatly.

"The one who pays," the Waif said. "The Lannisters and Starks have never gotten on well. Not until now. Now there is trust between them. Trust that Arya Stark helped build."

Yes. Arya had helped to build that trust. She hadn't meant to, but the moment that Tywin Lannister discovered her secret, it had begun. First Tywin, then her mother, her siblings, Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Myrcella… they all found out her secret. They all agreed to keep it so that they could find out the truth. For the first time in history, perhaps, the Starks and Lannisters were aligned. She hadn't really thought of how unprecedented it was until that moment.

But it was tentative. Weak. Based only on their mutual goal. Arya knew that. And so did the Waif.

"Do you understand?" the Waif asked.

"No," Arya lied.

"Then let me put it plainly," the Waif said. "Arya Stark built this bridge between the Starks and Lannisters. And now…she is going to shatter it."

When not dealing with work and the press, Tywin had spent every waking moment of the past few days turning over the deaths of Stannis and Joffrey in his mind. Trying to muddle through how they got to this point—and who had the most to gain from their deaths.

The obvious answer was Renly Baratheon. Both of his rivals were suddenly out of the picture and the Baratheon business would fall to him. He had everything to gain from Stannis' death in particular, and Joffrey had made a perfect scape goat.

And yet it was too obvious. Too simple. Not to mention, Renly had no real reason to go after Ned Stark, a Baratheon family ally. Nor did he have a reason to go after Jon Arryn. And while it was possible that different people had been responsible for their deaths…it all seemed connected.

So if Renly was too obvious…who came next?

The Tyrells came to mind. Olenna Tyrell specifically. Tywin had known her a long time and she was a conniving figure if he ever saw one. She had no qualms with breaking rules and businesses to get what she wanted. But murder…that did seem like a stretch even for her. She could have resorted to murder a long time ago to get what she wanted. Hell, she probably would have started with Tywin.

He had talked to her shortly after the wedding. A phone call, just to see what was happening on her end. She had been calm and above it all as usual, even when Tywin suggested that she now had a very strong tie with the Baratheon corporation.

"I suppose I do," she said. "I hadn't thought about it…considering the horrific deaths and all."

"I don't believe that," Tywin replied.

"Are you suggesting that I was hoping for a grizzly murder on my granddaughter's wedding?" Olenna asked. "Hardly. Wine and poison don't go well together. Neither do weddings and funerals."

"That doesn't mean you didn't immediately see the advantage of it," Tywin said.

"Perhaps," Olenna said. "I'm sure you saw the same advantage when Ned Stark died a few years ago. Horrible accident but you immediately started thinking of all of the ways you could take advantage of the Stark Industries while the family was grieving, didn't you?"

"We're not talking about Ned Stark, are we?"

"No. We're talking about business," Olenna said. "Because that's what it all is for us at the end of the day. We don't need to play pretend here. Not when its just the two of us talking." She sighed. "Come now, Tywin. Loss of human life has always been part of the business world. We've even profited from war. I recall us both investing quite a bit of money overseas during the second Essosi war, don't you? But you haven't lost sleep over that. The defeat of Volantis, the Braavosi civil war and crash of the Iron bank…all of that was tragic for them, but it did nothing but help our interests."

She was right. Tywin hadn't lost much sleep over the Essosi wars at all. He'd done what was necessary to ensure the strength of the Lannister business. So had Olenna Tyrell and many other CEOs in Westeros. The Iron bank and Volantis businessmen would have done the same if given the chance.

"My point is, whatever my family gains from this tragedy…its nothing that you wouldn't try to gain from a similar tragedy," Olenna said. "Simple as that. The only time we really grieve is when those tragedies hit close to home."

"Like on a wedding," Tywin said.

"Yes, exactly," Olenna said. "Who's to say. Maybe this is all karma for the things we've done. The chaos of the wedding. The mess with Joffrey."

"I know you don't believe in that sort of thing," Tywin said.

"No," Olenna said absently. "I suppose I don't."

Tywin turned over her words a long time afterward. He had used plenty of tragedies to his advantage in his life. It was how he outlasted the Targaryens. The Martells. And his first thoughts after Ned Stark's death had concerned how he might use the accident to get the upper hand on the Starks. He was not interested in pretending otherwise. The only tragedy he hadn't used…

Well, he supposed that was Arya Stark's disappearance.

If anything that could have been the nail in the coffin for the Starks if he made the right moves. He hadn't. Maybe because he had felt responsible for letting the girl go that day without telling a soul. It had been almost a relief when he found out the truth. He no longer had her disappearance on his conscience.

Mostly anyway. Arya Stark was still a mystery he had not fully unraveled. He found out she had been kept against her will. That she had been in Braavos. That somewhere along the line she had learned to kill without blinking. That she wanted justice for her father. But there was a missing piece. A missing piece that he could no longer ignore. Not with things getting this serious.

He needed answers from her. All of them, whether she wanted to give them or not.

He was just turning over that thought when a knock came at his office door.

"Come in," he said.

The door creaked open, and Arya Stark slipped through. It was almost as if she had heard his thoughts.

"I'm glad you're here," Tywin said. "We need to talk."

"Yes, we do," Arya said quietly. There was something strange about her voice. About all of her. She wasn't Beth in that moment, but nor was she Arya. She was a shadow with haunted grey eyes. The shadow he met that day in the rain at the graveside.

"Has something happened?" he asked.

"Everything has happened lately," Arya murmured, approaching the desk. "You'll have to be more specific."

"Something beyond Joffrey's death I mean," Tywin said.

"Yes." Her voice was flat. "Something has."

Tywin raised an eyebrow in question. But she did not answer that question. Her eyes drifted to the bookshelf.

"Tell me something else about the war," she said. "About why my father hated you."

Tywin exhaled, looking down at his desk again, stacking a few papers together. "Do you plan to tell me more about your time in Braavos?"

"Yes. I do."

He saw her shift. And when he looked up—he found her pointing a gun at him.

If Tywin did not have experience in war, he may have panicked. Instead, he went perfectly still, and began to think. He had a gun close at hand, just under the desk, though he knew he could not draw it before Arya fired. The real miracle right now was that she hadn't already shot him. She was hesitating. Because she did not want to do this. He could see it in her shimmering grey eyes.

"Arya," he said, keeping his voice calm and steady. "Put the gun down."

"I can't," she mumbled. "I don't have a choice." He stood and she flinched, stepping back. "Don't...don't come any closer."

He stilled, knowing better than to startle her. "All right. I won't. Tell me why you don't have a choice."

"Because," she said. "If I don't...if I don't then they'll go after my family. So I have to do this."

"Who will go after your family," Tywin said. "Tell me who. No point in lying now if you're about to kill me."

She swallowed hard. "The Faceless men."

Tywin cursed inwardly. Just those three words and so many things fell into place. Many thought the Faceless Men were just a rumor. But they had been operating actively since the wars. They rarely got involved in Westeros affairs of course and Tywin knew very little about them. But what he did know…it explained everything about Arya. Her ability to disguise herself and become a different person, her skill in combat. The many scars on her body. The way she sometimes went complete blank. Like she was no one at all.

It had been the Faceless men keeping her all along. They had placed her here from the beginning. With what purpose? To kill him? She could have done that a long time ago. And anyway, why send her in the first place when she was a recognizable face? They could have picked some Braavosi girl and he never would have suspected. There was a method to this madness and Tywin could not begin to decipher it now.

Right now, he had to focus on getting the gun out of Arya's hand.

"What threat did they make against your family?" he asked.

Arya swallowed hard. "They said...they said that there must be a death. If I didn't kill you...then someone else would have to die."

"I see," he said. "That seems a bit out of character for them."

Arya's brow furrowed in confusion. "What...what do you mean?"

"Using you. A recognizable face. Anyone else could have done it by any other method," Tywin said.

"That's true," she said, but did not lower the gun. "I think this may just be a test. To see if I still care enough to defend my family. To see if I'm truly no one. And I'm going to fail it." Her voice cracked. "I'm not a very good faceless man. I never have been. Every time I tried to wipe away my name...it's still Arya. Arya Stark. I couldn't forget my family. Couldn't stop caring about them. Why did you make me go back?"

The room was dimly lit, but he could see the tears gathering in her eyes as he took another slow step forward around the desk.

"Why haven't you shot me yet?" Tywin asked. "I know you could. I've seen you shoot men before. And its your family on the line. So why?"

She swallowed hard. "You haven't shot me either. Don't you have a gun on you?"

Tywin stopped moving forward, studying her carefully. "Arya...what did they tell you to do exactly?"

She did not reply, and her silence spoke volumes.

"You weren't given a kill order," he said. "If you were, poison would be the better way to go. The Faceless men kill with accidents. With seemingly natural causes. And you've had so many opportunities for that. This is far too obvious."

"Yes," she agreed softly. "It is."

"Because they want it to be," Tywin said. "A Stark killing the head of the Lannister corporation. That would bring your family under a great deal of fire. It would certainly collapse Stark Industries and I doubt my company would recover. Only you wouldn't want to put your family in the crossfire like that, would you? They would be ruined and you don't want that."

She didn't reply and that was as good as a 'yes' to him.

"Better to make me the villain, isn't it?" he asked. "That's why you asked me if I have my gun."

"Like I said," Arya whispered. "Someone has to die."

Tywin considered this for a moment before reaching under his desk and drawing out the gun. She flinched but did not shoot. He realized she did not even have the safety clicked back. All of this had been to provoke him into killing her in self-defense. Because she thought it was the only way to save her family.

And maybe she was right. The Faceless Men were a powerful shadow organization and they had been on the rise ever since the end of the War in the Free Cities. They didn't just let their targets slip away. They reintroduced Arya to Westeros knowing that her identity would be compromised. Knowing she wasn't ready for such a task. And they hoped to use her second death to throw Westeros economy into chaos.

But the Faceless men weren't acting alone. Someone was paying them for this. Tywin had to figure out whom. And to do that, he could not play their game.

He held out his hand. "Give me the gun."

She looked up at him, a mix of fear and determination in her eyes. She thought she was doing this to protect her family, but still she was afraid. Of course she was. Everyone was afraid to die. "I'm not going to shoot. You don't need my gun."

"None the less. Give it to me," he said calmly.

Slowly she closed the space between them, one step at a time. Her grip was so tight around the gun that it shook a bit as she held it out to him. He had to set his own pistol aside to unwind her fingers from around the piece. He checked the chamber and found that it wasn't even loaded. It annoyed him...how readily the girl had walked into her own death.

He looked back down at her and found her looking up at him. Waiting. Wondering what he would do. He reached out for his gun again and she closed her eyes.

"Just...make it quick," she said in a barely audible voice.

"You really think I'm going to kill you?" Tywin asked, unloading the bullets from his gun as well and slipping them into his pocket. "Don't insult me."

Her eyes snapped open and this time the fear mixed with anger. What a strange reaction that was. Was she angry at him for not shooting her? "You have to. Someone is going to die no matter what."

"And it won't be you," he said. "It won't be your family either. I'll take care of it. But you are going to sit down and stay still and if you even think of grabbing any weapons, I'm tying you to a chair."

She swallowed hard, and he could see her trying to spin an argument. In the end, she didn't seem to have anything to say, so instead she took a seat, folding her hands in her lap.

"Good," he said. "Stay exactly there."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and called Catelyn Stark. She answered on the second ring and he did not wait for a greeting. "Mrs. Stark, I need you to come to the manor as soon as possible. In fact, I need your entire family to come here."

"Why?" she asked. "What's going on?"

"I can't explain over the phone. There's no time for that," Tywin said. "Don't panic. You should act normally as if you're just going about your day. And do not all come at once." He glanced at where Arya sat in the chair, making sure her hands were still folded in her lap. "Don't take your usual car either. Just in case."

"Just in case?" Catelyn asked. "Are we in danger?"

"I'm afraid so. Get in touch with your children. Come within an hour. I'll explain when you arrive. Understand?"

"Yes," she said firmly. She seemed to register the severity of his voice and swallowed any further questions she might have. "I understand."

"Good," he said. "Be careful."

He hung up before she could respond, slipping the phone back in his pocket. Then he looked back to Arya who was nervously wringing her hands together.

"This isn't going to work," she whispered. "They'll break in. They'll find a way."

"Maybe," Tywin said. "But if they do, killing a Stark or Lannister won't serve their purpose. I intended for everyone in our families to understand what is happening. So if someone dies, the Faceless men are blamed and their client's goal is not met. And you will live another day."

Arya swallowed hard. "I might...but they won't let me go. That wasn't the deal we made."

"The deal you made." Tywin sat down at his desk. "I think now is a great time for you tell me about that. In fact, I would like you to tell me everything about the past three years, Miss Stark. Starting from when you left my office that day."

Arya let out a shaky breath and looked up at him. And already Tywin could tell this was going to be a long story.

A/N: And yes, next chapter, Arya's finally gonna come clean. And there will be much more fallout to come of course. Because that's how it goes with the Faceless men! Hope you enjoyed. Review, subscribe and I'll see you next time!