A/N:

This is much shorter, but also sort of a game changer. So the nervousness is back.

Thanks to all my lovely readers and special thanks to the reviewers since my last post:

rikka21 (I am actually a little bit ahead of my posts and let me say the baratheon dynamic is an...interesting one), Allimba (why thank you!), MutiaRAWR (I'm so happy you understood that! Oh, Cersei. And Jaime doesn't seem quite like the quitting type, does he? :D), FollowtheSun22 (It won't follow the show exactly. And I'm keeping my lips sealed about the Red Wedding...), Guest (Glad you commented on the warg scene! And Cass is so lost. Incredibly. But I think this chapter might clear some things up...or confuse everything. And I'm so happy to hear she's well developed!), Shelley42 (It will be revealed shortly! and thanks :D), Like-a-Slasher-Film (Yes, yes they will be. As much as she tries to simplify it. And yay! Oh triangles. I like them too much), BlueRose22 (Thanks so much! Here's more! And that would be so much easier for Cass. Poor girl.), Guest (Thanks! And I hear your Team Jaime. Robb's had enough time in the spotlight for now), and Honor is a Horse (I'm really happy you noticed the difference in her interactions. Super happy. And I'm assuming your Team Robb, right? just kidding. love your penname btw).

Before you all read, I just want everyone to remember the title of this fic. Phew, now I feel less nervous. Sort of.

Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones or A Song of Ice and Fire. Cass is mine. I guess. I don't know how this works.

They were four hours or so away from Riverrun when the night became too dark and dangerous for some of the horses and weaker men. If Cass had thought traveling with her brother's caravan was long, traveling in an army seemed unfathomably time-consuming. There were too many logistics, too many people and tents and camps. She almost thought it wasn't worth stopping now for it would take several hours for them just to get moving again come sunlight.

Cass felt terrible about what she had done and said to Jaime. She didn't like that he was questioning her actions, but what else was he supposed to do? Say congratulations? Somehow that sort of reaction would have made her feel even worse. Catelyn hadn't come to talk to her at night like she usually did, and Cass was somewhat grateful for that. She'd be going with her to Renly after marrying her son. Cass didn't know if Catelyn liked that idea or not. She didn't know if because Robb was a king and young, if Catelyn thought that Cass had more productive things she should have been doing.

She also was hesitant about seeing Renly. They had not parted on best of terms, and to be honest, she hopped Stannis would not see it as her supporting Renly's claim to the Iron Throne. It was not his, not by any right besides right of the sword.

She had a dream that night. Cass was in a forest, dark and snowy. A stag was there on the ground, blood seeping out of the fleshy cavern in its chest, gooey and bright red in the frost covered ground. She was running to it, the life of the stag still there despite the wound. And for some reason she was screaming. She was screaming Robert's name and then Renly's, but the stag didn't respond. She repeated the name over and over until the dryness of smoke made her cough salty blood. Her voice was hollow and broken in the dark. His eyes were fading, and her heart flinched as the tears started to fall. Her brothers had died at her feet.

It was then she heard the footsteps and the howls deeper in the woods. They were running towards her, sprinting, and Cass fell down against the stag's corpse, covering her arms and face in wet blood. Wolves ran past her, a large pack. They stopped and stared at her for an instant until a fire rushed through the trees, destroying everything—the flame and shadow consuming the trees and flesh except her and the stag's body.

The heat of the flames still burned her. She could feel her skin scabbing, feel the sweltering heat beat into her pours until they felt like bursting under the flame. Cass turned onto her back, body aching. The blood from the stag was pouring underneath her, and another shadow was coming. But this one was not dark. It was white and so cold…

She woke from the dream with sweat layering her face. It was too early. No one else was awake and Robb's camp was in a rare state of quiet. Cass turned on her side, attempting to sleep. You're too stressed. And…guilty. She inhaled. Too many things. Too much death. She could feel the stag's blood in her mouth, the copper, bitter taste staining her tongue.

Her hands fumbled for the fur robe, reached desperately for leather boots she had brought all the way from King's Landing and a lantern in her small tent. She didn't want to be alone, not here, not after seeing that, but her mind didn't understand why her body was leading her back to Jaime.

Maybe it was the guilt. Or maybe it was the fact that out of anyone here, she knew Jaime the longest. There was only one guard stationed this late at night, and he was a young man, sleeping against the wooden cart. Jaime was sleeping too, but she wanted to talk to him. She…she wanted the old Jaime again, the one who would tell her jokes late at night, who would walk her down to banquets when she was 12 and tease her about some stupid suitor when she was 15. The keys were on the sleeping guard's belt. She then saw the multiple bottles next to him and realized his nap was more of an alcohol induced coma. It would be too easy.

But the memories of what he had said to her only a few hours ago made her want to turn back and find Robb. You should not wake him. He has enough on his mind without your burdens. And Jaime needed more of it. Jaime needed to know exactly what was going on for he did not seem to comprehend it before. And as she watched him sleeping, he did not appear to be the Kingslayer that everyone claimed him to be.

She took the keys from the man's belt. They felt heavy in her hands, but she put the key in the lock before she could change her mind. They would reach Riverrun tomorrow and Jaime would be placed in a cell. She would not be allowed to see him again. She would be a Stark.

"Ser Jaime Lannister."

His reflexes had him wake immediately at his name, and his right hand reached towards his left side, ready to draw a sword that wasn't there. "…What?"

"I'm sorry." Cass stayed far away on the long wooden bench. She closed the metal door behind her but did not move to lock it.

Jaime edged closer to her, chains clinking. "You should not apologize."

That took her aback. "No, I mean, I shouldn't even…"

"Cassana." He reached and touched the curly hair falling out of her braids. "You're so much different than her."

She froze, but her mouth wouldn't open. Jaime was acting too strangely.

"And it seems appropriate that you'd only apologize and come here in a drea…"

"You aren't." Cass coughed, edging back. "You aren't dreaming, Jaime."

His body became rigid, and the confusion spread over his face "You can't be here."

"It seems that I am."

"Cass…" He shook his head, voice sounding somber. "You don't understand what you just did."

"I do." Though she felt she didn't. If anyone found out about this she would be marked a traitor…again. Staring at him, it didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as it should have. "I wanted to see you before we came to Riverrun."

"I heard you outside with your king." Jaime slouched. "You seemed to think the exact opposite before."

Cass didn't deny it. "I know what I said."

"Then what changed your mind?"
The dream hit her again. The blood, the dying stag and the names she kept shouting in the smoking mist. But she didn't know how to explain it to Jaime without him mocking her. And then the deeper root of why she was here suddenly formed in her head. The stag bleeding, her brother's blood on her hands. Cass remembered Robert on his death bed. Cersei was looking over him, watching him, and Cass just had to know. She looked him dead in the eye, his green hue fading in the shadow of his cell, and swallowed. "Did you kill my brother?"

"This most certainly isn't a dream." Jaime's eyes fell. "Why do you ask me this?"

"To protect your children, Jaime. Robert would have killed them if he knew."

"And?" He seemed unaffected by that thought.

"Did you kill him?" Cass breathed. "I…I need to know. Honestly. Did you help kill Robert?"

Jaime did not seem eager to talk, but he straightened his body on the bench and said, "Honestly? I did not, Cass, but for a while I wanted to."

She wanted to retch at the admission, at the thought of anyone wanting her family dead. "Why? Because he was married to Cersei?"

"Because he did not respect Cersei, Cass. He was stuck on Lyanna Stark, loved Lyanna, and not my sister. She did not deserve that."

"I'm sure you comforted her." Cass rubbed her own shoulders, feeling cold again. "You would have been a good knight, Jaime, if you loved a better person."

He flinched at her remark but made no move to defend his sister. "Why did you not go to Storm's End?"
Because there is nothing for me there. "Because I am a wolf."

His green eyes were suddenly on her again, too striking in the dark. "You did not come here to taunt me, Cass."

No, that wasn't her intention at all, and she felt bad for doing it. "I just wanted to talk to you." I just wanted to remember the old days back in the Red Keep-when you were just Jaime and not a prisoner. When I could look at you and not see her. But she still saw Jaime in the dark. Under the dirty beard and clothes and weird chain on his neck, she saw him clearly.

"Unspecific."

"And apologize. Jaime…" She exhaled. "I…I can't agree with what you've done, but there is something that drove you to it, just like with Aerys." She met his eyes. The sudden brightness worried her. "You love her. Gods know why, but you do."

"I'm a monster, Cass. What don't you understand? I killed Aerys, fucked my sister, and wanted to rip out your brother's heart." He sniffed. "Why are you still here?"

"Because we're all monsters on the inside. Some of us are just better at hiding it." The words were hard to say when she knew people like Ned Stark. But she knew her brothers too; she knew the people of King's Landing, and herself. She did not see a monster when she looked at Jaime. She only saw a man. "You were my friend, Jaime."

"Were?"

"Are." She immediately corrected herself. "I can tell Robb to pardon you."

"Pardon me? Do you know how many of his captains' sons I have cut down? Do not do that, Cassana."

"He'll listen to me."

"He'll accuse you of treason, wonder what threat I have over you after your scene earlier."

Cass bit her lip. She remembered her old thought of Jaime never appearing weak, but she saw it now. His shoulders and face were gaunt, and his clothes were starting to hang on him, looking like dirty rags. They were dirty rags, and it was completely different than how he normally was—dressed in reds and golds and more often white. "Will your sister make a trade for you?"

His eyebrow lifted. "For what?"

"For Sansa Stark."

"A knight for a girl?"

"It seems that King's Landing is at the advantage with this offer."

Jaime sniffed again. "Why are you bothering, Cassana? Why are you doing this?"

"I don't want war, Jaime," She said evenly, diplomatically.

The old smirk on his face was back. "Already a queen, aren't you? I bet you'd give Cersei a fight."

The comment made her smile as well. "I intend to."

"Cass, just one question before you get sick of sitting in this smelly piece of shit." He edged closer to her, but Cass didn't back away. "Have you heard of Daenerys Targaryen?"

The name threw her. She had, though barely. She was not mentioned nearly as much as Aerys or Rhaegar or Viserys. "She is the Targaryen girl." Robert wished to have her killed.

"Is, yes, she is the Targaryen girl. The last one."

Cass huffed. "I suppose no one is the proper king besides her then. Is that what you are saying?"
"I am saying that your brothers are fighting each other and then my family intends on defeating the victor. Forget Robb Stark and his pups. Forget your thought of being Queen in the North, Cass." Jaime was completely serious, worry staining his voice. "If your brothers die, which is becoming more and more plausible by the second mind you, that leaves you next in line."

The Iron Throne. Queen of…of… "I don't want it." His words were a blow. She shook her head furiously at the thought. "I don't want it at all."

"And you think your people will let that slip by? You think the Baratheon bannermen and lords will want to support Joffrey when you still draw breath?"

"They will have to, Jaime." Her own screams ran through her. The dying stag…

"You think Cersei will stand by and let you live?"

She didn't, and neither did he from the pale look he was now giving her. "The Starks will protect me."

"The Starks are the first on the chopping block, Cass. I can't let you stay."

She blinked, "What?"

Jaime repeated himself, equally as serious. "I can't let you stay here. Not with my father out for blood. I told you that you didn't know what you just did when you opened my cage, and you still don't. Give me the keys."

Is he mad? "No."

He sighed. "Now, don't make me force you. We all know how that will turn out."

Cass thought a bit differently than him. "You're handcuffed."

"For now."

"Jaime, you're acting ridic…"

He was already on top of her, one hand covering her mouth so that she wouldn't scream, while the other tried to reach through the handcuffs towards the keys she just dropped. Cass wrenched her head away on the cart's dirt floor and curved her body, attempting to push herself out from under Jaime's weight. But even though he was weakened with days in the cell, Jaime's muscles held her down, the tightness and firmness of his legs gripping her sides so that she couldn't move. "Jaime!" She yelled, but the Kingslayer ignored her and kept reaching for the key over her body. Cass yelled again, "Jaime, stop!"
"You stop, Cass. Do you want the northern men to find you here? Under me? They'll kill you." The black keys were already in his hand, and he fumbled with which key would unlock him. "Fuck." He cursed but soon found the right one, and the metal chains fell to the ground. Jaime flexed his hands and turned around so that he was mounting her face to face. He placed his right hand over her mouth again. "Let me explain what is going to happen."

She shook her head and tried to bridge him, tried to buck him off her, but he was too heavy. Her mind went back to her training, and Cass attempted to grab his arm that was so exposed and bend it back.

Jaime was too quick. He let go of her mouth and grabbed both her arms, holding them by the biceps above her head so that she couldn't move. He looked like a true lion, mane wild, claws in her skin. "I'm taking you away from here."

"Don't, Jaime."

"You're not really in a position to argue, Cass."

"Do not do this. Do not kidnap me."

He shook his head, suddenly looking hurt. "Is that what you think I'm doing?" He loosened his grip on her waist and let go of his hold on her arms. "I'm a knight, Cass. I'm rescu…"

"Let her go!"

They both turned at the slurred, new voice that had swung open the metal door and saw the drunken guard outside. He was stumbling even as he stood, and it only took a step forward from the Kingslayer to cause the man to shrink back and nearly drop his sword. Jaime took immediate advantage of this and punched the guard in the face, causing him to completely drop his sword in the cart. The disappeared strength came back in an instant as Jaime's right hand grabbed the sword. To Cass, he seemed whole again, and she was too stunned by what was happening, too confused and frozen and paralyzed to understand what Jaime Lannister was doing next.

"We're going to answer a question that has been bothering me, and I'm sure you, for awhile." He tugged at the northern man's collar, dragging him up and in front of him as he held the long sword against the guard's throat. "Cass, which brother do you want to follow? Both have their merits…I suppose. Stannis is the true heir and all, but Renly does have those bothersome Tyrells with him."

Her stomach twisted. Her eyes went to Jaime and then to the guard with a grey direwolf on his chest. "Don't kill him, Jaime." She got up from her knees. "Don't be the monster you say you are."

"Just answer the question, Cass."

"I can't."

Stannis or Renly.

"Three seconds and he dies." The sword was already cutting into his throat. The drunken soldier made a cry, but Jaime crossed his arm over his mouth, muffling the sound. "Three."

Stannis or Renly.

"Stop it!" She needed him to stop. She didn't want to see him hurt anybody.

Jaime didn't flinch. "It's simple, Cass. Two."

I was screaming for Robert…screaming for Renly too, and Robert died. Robert is dead.

"Stop." Her voice held firm at the word, and Cass tugged at his arm holding the sword. "I'll pick."

"Good." He let the sword move away from the soldier's neck, but he still held him in place. Jaime waited, "Well?"

Her mind ached. Her eyes were swelling. "Stannis." Cass' voice faltered even as she said it. "I…I pick Stannis. Are you happy now, Jaime?"

"No, but, see? That was simple."

She disagreed. Cass felt sick, could only picture Renly smiling at her, trying to help her escape the Red Keep. But the dead stag was there too and so were her screams. Stannis is the true heir, Cass. He is. "Let him go, Jaime. Do not kill him."

"I won't." He opened his fist over the man's mouth. "Though this could be pretty sloppy." And dragged out the soldier's tongue before grabbing a dagger from the man's belt and slicing the appendage off. The soldier's mouth filled with blood, and the northman fell to his knees, his hands pushing back the outpour of crimson.

Cass held back a gag, the taste in her mouth bitter, putrid. "…You…"

"We're going now." Jaime's voice revealed nothing, but Cass dared to look at him and saw the hollow look in his eyes, the sad drop in his cheeks. "I'm not kidnapping you, Cassana. Don't say that again."

He locked the tongue-less man in his own cell and took the keys with him. The guard had fainted from the pain, and Cass could not look at him any longer. She knew why Jaime did it though. The odds of that man knowing how to read and write were small, miniscule. Neither of them knew his name, and the emblem on his chest was that of a wolf-but he was not a close relative of the Starks. He spared him. It was a twisted way to think of it, but Cass knew it to be true. Jaime could have easily killed the man, but he didn't. But he needed to cover his tracks.

Cass gave Jaime her fur cloak to cover the bare rags. "I can scream right now." She wasn't screaming though. Her voice was a soft whisper. "I can scream and they will come and kill you."

"They will." Jaime did not deny it. "And then my father and sister will come and tear this camp to shreds, but do it, Cass. What's stopping you?"

"A lion still has claws."

The thought of the northern men dying was- that and the seriousness in Jaime's eyes. Jaime intended on taking her from the Starks, from the prospect of Riverrrun and any chance of her being the Queen in the North. But if I don't go there will be no Riverrun. She remembered Lord Tywin. He was all the worst parts of his children. There will be no King in the North either. "You're not taking me to King's Landing?"

Jaime sneered at her. "I can't have you and Cersei together."

Good, they felt the same about that, but still she said, "I do not wish to leave." Robb had beaten Jaime Lannister. It seemed surreal to Cass, but perhaps the Young Wolf could defeat Lord Tywin too. And who was she to abandon him after that? Who was she to promise herself to a man only to leave with another? But if I go this could end. If I go with Jaime, Tywin will have nothing to fight for besides pushing the North back. Jaime could talk to him though…convince his sister to give the North to them and Sansa, and all of this will end.

This war would end anyway. The fight for the Iron Throne would wager on, but maybe going to Stannis could stop that. Maybe she could talk to him too. "You have to convince your lord father and sister to stop this fight with the Starks. You have to tell them to give Robb the North."

Jamie stared at her, incredulous. "You're being serious?"

"Yes, Jaime." Her dark eyes never faltered from his face. "Promise me you will do everything you can to make them stop. Tell your father you will revoke your vows and take back Casterly Rock. Tell your sister that you'll stop fucking her. I don't care. Whatever it takes. I will let you leave here, but you have to promise me you'll do everything in your power to stop this war."

"And mine are long and sharp, my lord, as long and sharp as yours."

He hesitated, scowling to himself. "I will." And grabbed Cass' hand. "You'll come with me?" It was phrased as a question, and maybe he really meant it as one.

Cass didn't know what to say. "…I…" Could she really leave Robb for Stannis? Catelyn is going to Renly, but after we're married…after I'm a Stark. How would her brother look at her then?

"Never mind. Answer me this instead." Jaime smiled. "What are your words?"

There was no hesitation at all. "Ours is the fury."

A/N:

Bit of a game changer? I think so. The best decision? Maybe or maybe not. Guess we'll see.

Sorry it's short, but let me know what you all think!