A/N: I'm back! Gotta pretty long chapter for you guys today dealing with the fallout of last chapter' reveal. Lots to process for everyone involved. Enjoy!

Chapter 31: The Awful Truth

Arya was circling the front hall when Jaime Lannister walked through the door. His face was pale and his eyes wide and exhausted. She would have known something had gone wrong even if the front of his shirt hadn't been splattered with blood.

"Seven hells." She leapt to her feet. "What happened to you?"

"It's not mine," Jaime said.

Ice filled Arya's veins. "Is it Jon's?"

"No. Officer Tarth's," Jaime said. "She's in surgery right now for a stomach wound. But she'll likely live. Your cousin is still with her."

Arya's shoulders relaxed, but only slightly. "What happened? Who was it? Did you see them?"

"I need to speak to my father," Jaime murmured, taking a few steps forward toward Tywin's office.

"You can speak to me now," Arya said, blocking his path.

Jaime blinked. He seemed dazed by whatever had happened. Not in shock but he certainly wasn't firing on all cylinders. "I didn't expect you to be awake."

"Did you think I was going to sleep? Not when you were out meeting with my father's killer," Arya said. "Tell me we know who did it."

Jaime hesitated and she held his gaze to watch for what he held back. He knew something. Something that he didn't want to tell her.

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm going to find out one way or another. You may as well say it."

Jaime exhaled. "If you want to know, you're welcome to follow me to my father's office. But I need to speak to him first."

Arya studied him for a long moment before she stepped aside and allowed him to pass. Then she followed close behind, feeling her nerves grow with every step they took closer to the office. Closer to the answer.

Despite the late hour, Tywin was awake. Like Arya, he hadn't wanted to sleep until the job was done. His gaze flicked up and down Jaime as he entered.

"Whose blood is that?"

"Tarth's," Jaime said. "She's in surgery. There's a good prognosis. But…we lost the culprit. Jon Stark tried to pursue and lost them."

"We've lost our best chance at knowing the killer then," Tywin said.

"No," Jaime said. "No, we know who it is. I heard his voice. I recognized it." He let out a heavy breath looking from his father, to Arya, back to his father.

Tywin seemed to read the question in his gaze. "Dismissing her will be pointless. She'll find out somehow. Especially if her cousin is already aware."

"Suit yourself," Jaime murmured. "It was Joffrey."

A deafening silence filled the office. Arya did not breathe. For a moment, she couldn't hear her own thoughts. Just that one name, burning through her whole being.

Joffrey.

"That's not possible," Tywin said.

"I didn't think so either," Jaime said. "But it was him. I heard his voice. He recognized me. And it falls in line for what Slynt told us when he gave us the number. That he sounded like some rich kid trying to cover up a mistake."

Arya's eyes narrowed. Yes. Joffrey was exactly the sort of rich kid who would throw money at such a problem. But he couldn't pay her to show him mercy.

She turned and started toward the door without even thinking about it.

"Miss Stark," Tywin said. "Stay where you are. Don't do anything foolish."

"We know who the killer is, don't we?" Arya asked. "I'm going to find him. I don't care if he's your grandson. I didn't care when I bloodied his nose back in grade school and I don't care now. If he killed my father—"

"How exactly do you plan to find him?" Tywin asked. "You think that after a confrontation like tonight he's gone somewhere you can hunt him down? He's in hiding. It won't do you any good to walk out into the night with nothing but your own determination." His chair creaked as he stood from the desk. "And we're not done. If anything, Joffrey's involvement here has only raised more questions."

Arya slowly turned back to face him. "What sorts of questions?"

"The question of why he killed your father," Tywin said. "There are only two real options. Either it was intentional, or it was an accident."

"It wasn't an accident," Arya said. "It happened at just the right place at just the right time shortly after the deaths of two other CEOs. There's no way it was an accident."

"Perhaps. But if it wasn't an accident…what reason would Joffrey have to go after your father? Truly. It's not as if the two of them ever interacted. Joffrey was only sixteen at the time and even less involved in the family business than he is now. There's no motivation there."

Arya fell silent. He was right. Joffrey had no reason to kill her father. But if it was an accident, it all felt too…convenient. "What are you saying?"

"That Joffrey isn't the mastermind behind your father's death," Tywin said. "Certainly, he's not responsible for the other deaths. Not to mention, he also asked Janos Slynt to remove your files after you went missing. That doesn't make any sense at all."

"It doesn't," Jaime agreed. "Joffrey isn't exactly a confident criminal. He's paranoid. Scared. If I had to guess, I think he was blackmailed."

"Okay," Arya said. "So, someone blackmailed him to kill my father. But why blackmail a sixteen-year-old? Why not an assassin with experience. Someone who wouldn't get caught."

Someone like the Faceless men, she thought. Did someone try to pay them? Maybe they turned down the hit because they couldn't pay enough. Is that how they knew?

"Maybe the mastermind wanted him to get caught," Jaime said. "Maybe they wanted the Lannister and Baratheon heir to go down for vehicular manslaughter. It certainly would increase tensions in the business world."

"Maybe," Arya said. "But we need to be sure he was really blackmailed."

"And how would we do that?" Jaime asked.

"We need to dig up his dark secrets," Arya said. "I have someone perfect for the job."

Arya sent the text to Bran at about 3:30 AM. Unsurprisingly, he was awake and responded within a minute of receiving her message. He promised that he would find her everything she needed and have their mother bring him to the Lannister estate in the morning.

Arya didn't tell him the reason for her request. She didn't want to spread the word of Joffrey being the culprit behind her father's death until they were sure of the reasons. And it felt like something she should tell Bran in person. After all, Joffrey was the reason he was currently in a wheelchair.

But if her mother brought Bran…that meant that she would have to tell her mother as well. Her mother had seen Joffrey's penchant for cruelty often enough in how he treated Sansa. But this was a whole different beast. As if the Lannisters and Starks needed more tensions between them.

In the sleepless hours Arya spent between sending the text and the sunrise, she spiraled through how she would tell the rest of her family. Robb would be furious, that was clear. And Sansa—God, Sansa had dated Joffrey at some point after their father had died. She knew by now that Joffrey was garbage, but the fact that he had strung her along all while knowing he had killed her father?

The very thought made Arya nauseous. And furious. So, so furious. Maybe Joffrey was blackmailed and someone else was holding his leash. But it didn't make her feel sorry for him at all. He had chosen to kill her father instead of face even one of his damn mistakes. He could go right to the seven hells for that and, if necessary, Arya would send him there.

Early that morning, Arya went back to the front hall of the manor and waited impatiently for her mother and Bran to arrive. She fidgeted with one of her knives, twirling it absently between her fingers. She watched the sunlight creep across the floor.

At some point, Tywin crossed through the threshold, stopping in front of her on the steps.

"Did you sleep at all?"

Arya studied her reflection in the knife. "No."

Tywin didn't reply. For once in his life, perhaps he didn't fully know what to say. Then: "I just got word from the front gate that your mother is here with your brother."

Arya flicked her knife closed, pocketing it, and rising to her feet. "Good. Then we can get started."

Catelyn was confused when she woke in the early morning and found a message on her phone from Bran. He needed a ride to the Lannister manor. Arya had requested his help there.

Catelyn had expected a call from Arya of course. She knew that Jon and one of his coworkers had attempted to meet with the culprit behind Ned's death, along with Jaime Lannister. She'd been up half the night waiting for news. She'd received only a few vague texts from Jon and Arya communicating roughly the same thing—that they had information, but it was better to tell in person.

Catelyn expected Arya might ask her to come to the manor. But what did she need Bran for? Perhaps she wanted him to hear the culprit behind his injury, but it seemed like more than that.

Catelyn dressed quickly and was ready to leave by 8:30. Bran had quite a large folder and a computer in his lap when she helped him the car. She asked what it was for and he shrugged mysteriously.

"Something Arya needed," he said. "You'll see."

Catelyn did not question him further. She had learned a long time ago that questions only brewed more questions with Bran. Her son, who was once so open to her, had become a mystery ever since his accident. He closed off from everyone, except perhaps Meera and Jojen. But if keeping a few secrets was his way of coping with the trauma he endured, she would not press him. At the very least, she trusted him to be smart and stay safe.

She drove Bran to the Lannister manor—a road she had taken often lately. More than she ever thought she would a few years ago. They were allowed through the front gates without much question. Catelyn helped Bran maneuver through the doors and into the front hallway. Arya was there, waiting to meet them and, shortly behind her, near the steps, stood Tywin.

"You brought everything?" Arya asked, eyeing the folder in his lap.

"I did." Bran tapped the computer. "There's a lot on this too."

"Go to my office. Keep this quiet," Tywin said. Catelyn studied him carefully. Did he know what this was about? More importantly, did he know what had happened last night?

Of course he does, Catelyn thought. Seems he's always the first to know everything about my family these days.

When Arya and Bran disappeared down the hall toward the office, Tywin's gaze turned to her. Past the usual stone of his exterior, his pale green eyes seemed—tired. "I need to speak to you about last night."

"I hoped someone would," Catelyn said. "Thus far Arya and Jon have given me non-answers."

"Presumably, they thought you should hear in person," Tywin said. "In the case of your daughter though…I don't think she wants to be the one to tell you."

Catelyn's jaw clenched. "Tell me what?"

Tywin gestured for her to follow him into the parlor. Catelyn steeled herself and took a step forward.

She had spent three years without answers. So long that at some point she convinced herself that she didn't need them. That they didn't matter because they couldn't bring her husband back. But she had never really stopped wanting to know.

Now she was going to find out.

Silence.

Silence was the only thing Catelyn could manage after Tywin gave her the name. Silence that was absolutely bursting with emotions. Confusion, disbelief, grief. And fury. Icy fury that seemed to consume everything inside her.

"How could you not know about this?" she asked at last. "How is that possible? He's your grandson. You keep tabs on all your family. How could you not realize?"

"I entrusted his mother to look out for him," Tywin said. "Your husband's death happened at a very busy time for me. Right on the heels of the deaths of two other CEOs. I was focused on damage control from those losses."

"You didn't notice he was acting strange?" Catelyn asked.

"I didn't see him," Tywin said. "Since his father's death, Joffrey was rarely around the main manor. It was typical for him to disappear for months at a time. I didn't even know he was in the city during the crash."

"And his disappearing for a while afterward didn't raise any flags?"

"Not particularly. It was a normal pattern of behavior for him. I assumed he was avoiding his studies and responsibilities as usual."

Catelyn grit her teeth together, glaring at the table. There was a decanter of whisky there. She wasn't sure if she wanted to drink the whole thing or shatter it against the wall.

"You always let him get away with too much," she said. "His mother, yes, but you as well. A wealthy heir to two fortunes with more money that he ever knew what to do with? There should have been more consequences for his actions. Any consequences at all. Now my husband is dead because none of you reigned him in."

"Partially, yes," Tywin said. "But I don't think that's the only reason your husband is dead, Mrs. Stark."

Catelyn turned her narrowed eyes on him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Joffrey did not act alone," Tywin said. "I'll grant you that he was always irresponsible. Cruel even. But not the sort who would run a man's car off the road. I've already discussed this matter with your daughter. We both believe that someone else put him up to it."

"Put him up to it," Catelyn repeated.

"Blackmailed him," Tywin said. "That's the reason Arya asked for your son to come with you this morning. Apparently, he has a way of acquiring sensitive information. She believed he might uncover the reason why Joffrey did this."

It took Catelyn a long moment to process this. If Joffrey had been blackmailed into killing her husband and making it look like an accident—that just raised more questions than ever. Who had put him up to it? How? Why?

"So, we still don't really know who really killed my husband then," Catelyn said.

"No," Tywin said. "But whoever is behind his death—I'm sure they had a hand in the deaths of the other CEOs as well. That's something Joffrey could not have engineered."

No. Joffrey was not clever enough for that. But it infuriated her that the boy had gone so far as to kill a man rather than face the consequences for his actions. Whatever blackmail this mysterious puppet master had on him, no doubt it was his own fault.

"What happens when we find Joffery?" Catelyn asked at last. "Will he face consequences then?"

"He will."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "It won't look very good for your family. And I know you put the Lannister name above all else."

"Whoever is controlling Joffrey is a threat to the Lannister name. As is Joffery's impulsiveness," Tywin said. "He will answer for that. And he will give us the information we need to find the real killer."

Catelyn wasn't sure she believed him, though his tone was cool and sure. But then, it wasn't as if Joffrey was his immediate heir. And he was a Baratheon in name. She imagined that Tywin could spin that for the press. Blame Joffrey's Baratheon side. But it didn't matter what he said to the press. Only that the boy sat in a cell for a long time. And that he gave them the name of the person truly responsible.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder if Tywin would have told her this truth under different circumstances. Jon had been present when Joffrey's guilt was revealed. Perhaps if he hadn't been…Tywin would have brushed it under the rug. He was only promising punishment for Joffrey because he knew the Starks would raise hell if he didn't.

He was an ally for now but not for always. Catelyn had to remind herself of that. When this was all over, the Lannisters and the Starks would be at odds again.

She stood from her seat, regaining her composure with a long breath. "Well then," she said. "Let's see what my son has uncovered."

Jaime hadn't put much stock in most of the Stark children until recently. He knew Robb was a force to be reckoned with in the business world, but most of the others were unknown to him. Not so anymore. Jon had proved himself strong and capable if a bit annoying. Arya's success at disguising herself as his niece's bodyguard as well as her skill in a fight continued to amaze him. And now there was Bran Stark.

The second Stark son had all but disappeared from the public eye after the accident confined him to a wheelchair. But while the public dismissed him, he kept working, gathering information on the wealthiest families in King's Landing. He called it a hobby, but it seemed much more than that given the volume of information he had on Joffrey alone.

He had tons of evidence that Joffrey was involved with drugs—some of them quite rare and illegal. There was evidence of other minor, petty crimes for which he simply paid a fine or a bribe to make sure they didn't end up on his record. None of that was the sort of thing that could be used as blackmail. Not for a rich boy like Joffrey anyway.

He had, on the other hand, solicited prostitutes. Several according to Bran's information. That was a more severe habit which perhaps could have been used as blackmail. But still…

"It doesn't seem enough to encourage Joffrey to commit murder," Jaime said. "Especially at his age. It's not as if he had a wife and children who would take poorly to the news. He could have brushed it off as being young."

"Yes, lots of men in King's Landing do this sort of thing and always manage to brush it under the rug," Bran said. "Usually, it's the prostitutes who suffer the consequences."

"Lots of them are trafficked," Arya muttered. "It's not as if they have a choice."

"They don't," Bran agreed. "It's worth noting a lot of them are used to gather blackmail. That's why so many of them end up dead. Rich people find out and they kill them."

Jaime's brow furrowed. "Bran…you don't happen to know which particular prostitutes Joffrey solicited, do you?"

"I don't have a complete list," Bran said, clicking through his computer. "But I have some."

He shuffled through a few windows until he came up with a list with names and pictures. Jaime recognized one of them. Ros. One of the prostitutes that was found dead. Jaime wouldn't be surprised if some of these others worked for the same place she did. Brienne would no better than him.

His chest clenched at the thought of the woman. He hoped she would pull through without any major scars. He would feel supremely guilty if she didn't.

"Lannister?"

He blinked and found Arya studying him closely.

"I recognize at least one of those names. Because she turned up dead not long ago. She's not the only prostitute who has." Jaime rubbed his chin. "I can't help but wonder if the two are connected."

"You think Joffrey killed one of them?" Arya asked.

"Not straight out. But perhaps one of them passed under suspicious circumstances. An overdose. If that happened…"

"Then Joffrey looks suspicious," Bran finished. "And their employer or someone connected to their employer threatens to blame him for their death…unless he kills someone else."

Arya's eyes narrowed. "Trying to cover a terrible mistake with another. That sounds like Joffrey."

"It does. We'll need to investigate more of these names to be sure," Jaime said. "May I have a copy of this information? I can bring it to Officer Tarth. She'd be able to help."

"Of course," Bran said. "You're welcome to any of this information. I have lots of copies."

What a frightening boy he is, Jaime thought. He couldn't help but wonder what he had on other members of his family. On Cersei. On Tyrion. On Jaime himself. How much potential blackmail material did he have stored on that computer and on other drives no doubt hidden throughout his house.

"Thank you, Bran," Arya murmured. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

"I knew having this information would come in handy someday," Bran said. "I wish it came in handy sooner."

The door of the office opened, and Jaime's father entered, followed closely by Catelyn Stark. "Have you found anything useful?" he asked.

"A lead," Jaime said. "Joffrey was soliciting prostitutes. One of them might have been used to blackmail him. I need to follow up with Officer Tarth on some of these names. She'll be able to help when she recovers."

Tywin nodded once and glanced at Bran. "And your information is trustworthy?"

"Very," Bran said, meeting his gaze calmly. "I've gotten good at telling the good information from the bad. Everything I keep now is legitimate."

Tywin studied him closely. Jaime could see in his expression he was trying to decide if that was a threat or not. With Bran's stony face, it was hard to tell.

"I had no idea you collected this much information on people," Catelyn said. "When did you even start with all of this?"

"Not long after the accident," Bran said, gathering up his paper documents and stacking them neatly in his lap. "I got good at it after Arya disappeared. Trying to find her."

Arya's eyes widened slightly, and she twisted her fingers together in front of her. Guilt flooded her grey eye and punctuated the ensuing silence.

Strange, Jaime thought. That he can find so much but his sister managed to elude him.

"I'm still surprised that Joffrey managed to get away with this for so long," Arya said at last. "He must have others covering for him."

"Slynt at the very least," Jaime said. "But there may have been others who knew about it. Friends of his."

"Maybe those friends could tell us where he's hiding out now," Arya said.

The door of the office opened again, and Jaime turned to see Cersei stepping into the room. She paused in the doorway to look them all over, a cross between surprise and annoyance on her face.

"It seems we are hosting an ever-growing number of Starks in this house these days."

Jaime didn't manage a reply. No one did. Because Jaime knew that all of them were suddenly faced with an awful question: how did they explain to Cersei that her eldest son had murdered Ned Stark?

"What?" Cersei asked, hearing the tension in the silence. She looked between everyone in the room. "What is it?"

Jaime looked to his father thinking he might be the one to deliver the news. He was the best at speaking terrible things without feeling. But even he seemed to hesitate to explain the situation to Cersei.

Where he hesitated, Arya Stark did not.

"We found out who killed my father," she said. "It was Joffrey. Someone blackmailed him. And he ran him off the road to cover his tracks."

Arya's tone was cold as ice and Jaime knew at once why she had delivered the information in such a blunt way. Not just to shock Cersei. To see if the information surprised her.

She was surprised. Her green eyes were wide and her face pale as she gripped onto the door frame. "You're sure…it wasn't just an accident?"

"Even if it was, that doesn't improve the situation much," Catelyn said. "It still means your son hit a car and kept driving. It means he let someone die and never came forward about it."

"But it wasn't an accident," Arya said. "It was intentional."

Cersei swallowed hard. "He said it was an accident."

The words went off like a shot in the room. Jaime saw Arya tensing out of the corner of his eye and he only barely managed to grab Arya before she could lunge at his sister. His father was not fast enough to grasp Catelyn Stark. She closed the gap between her and Cersei in a snap, grasping tight to the collar of her suit jacket.

"You knew," she hissed. "All this time, you knew."

"I didn't," Cersei said. "I knew he got into an accident. I didn't know it was your husband."

"A car accident on the same night?" Bran asked. "You'd think you would have made the connection."

"She did," Arya snapped, struggling in Jaime's arms. He was lucky she was so small, or he would have torn right out of his grip. "She knew. She just drowned the information in wine and pretended she didn't. She helped him cover it up and she knew."

"Enough."

Tywin's voice snapped through the room with enough force to still everyone. It was ice cracked with fury. The sort of tone that his children knew better than to argue with. Even Arya and Catelyn ceased their accusations though clearly with some reluctance.

"I need to speak with my daughter for a moment," Tywin said flatly. "Alone."

Catelyn looked from Tywin, back to Cersei before slowly uncurling her fingers from her collar. She took a step back, disgust in her eyes. "I don't care if someone else was the mastermind," she said flatly. "Or if it was an accident. You let your son get away with everything short of murder. And now you crossed even that boundary." Her lips curled into something like a snarl. "I won't forgive you or him for that."

Then, without another word, she left. Jaime let Arya pull from his grip as she went to Bran and helped him push his chair from the room. Jaime lingered for a moment longer, looking from his father to his sister. He could see the cold fury in his eyes. The disappointment. And she looked so completely defeated already.

He was tempted to stay but his father gave him a cold look. "Jaime. Go."

He nodded once and hurried from the office with one last look at Cersei. Then he left his father and sister alone.

A/N: Ah the tangled web we continued to weave. So many possible people involved, so many motivations, and so much left to figure out. And an author desperately trying to keep it from falling apart lol. Hope you guys enjoyed. Review, subscribe and I'll see you next time!