Brienne ran her horse ragged trying to catch up with Jaime before he made it to King's Landing, but somehow he eluded her. By the time she made it to King's Landing the battle had only just begun. She should join the rank, she should lead her men, she should save her Lady's people, but she couldn't. She drove through the lines with no regard for her safety.
She did what she could to help, but she knew she could have done more. She left men to fight for their lives while she ducked into the red keep. She knew exactly where she would be, she just hoped he would be with her, because if he wasn't he would likely already be dead.
Jaime knew the halls of the red keep better than most, he'd snuck around it more than he cared to admit. He lost Arya, and the Hound as soon as they made it past the walls, and headed straight for the Iron throne. She would sit in it until They came for her head, of that he had no doubt. Somehow he found her alone, perhaps he hadn't gotten there first, the mountain, and her maester must have been drawn away by something.
"Cersei." He whispered her name, unable to mister much more. I'm the deafening silence of the room though it was more than enough.
"Jaime! How dare you show your face here after what you did to me! You have some nerve. Did they send you to be for my surrender, or stab me in the back like you did the king?" She stood. tall, and looked down her nose at him.
"No one sent me here. I left to try and save you, and our son." He moved closer to her, but she steped away. Even as she says it he looks at the soft swell of her stomach, it seemed to him that she should be showing more if she had been pregnant as long as she had been.
"Our son, ha! I told you I was pregnant because I knew you were thinking of betraying me, and a child would bring you to heel. Had you stayed it might have even been true, but now, I wonder if my baby will have black hair like Euron." She said it to hurt him, it may even have been a lie, the venom in her voice clear, but honestly the idea that the child might not be his left him awash in relief. If it wasn't his son, he couldn't fail to save his last child.
"I didn't betray you! I upheld my oath, and fought off the dead. As soon as it ended I came back to you, because I love you. Cersei I love you, but you see enemies everywhere, and it's left you without allies in the greatest war in our lifetime. Let me help you, please! Come away with me." He tried again to close the distance between them, she allowed him to gain ground this time, but not quite reach her.
"Not quite as soon as it ended. You forget I have spies everywhere. How did that towering beast of a woman taste, was she as sweet as me beneath the sheets, or was it her innocence that stiffened you to her? You have never cheated on me before, so something about her must make up for that dogged face." She arched a brow, Jaime's muscles tensed, his fist white knuckled around his blade. Every instinct in him screamed to defend the woman he loved as he often had Cersei.
"Your right, I almost left you here alone to stay with her. She is everything that you have never been, but she is not you, and she is not the mother of my son. If you stay here you will die, and if you throw your life away you will be killing another one of our children. Even if it's not mine, it deserves to live, and you don't have to let your past and you. I've changed, and so can you. You can leave with me, and we can raise the child as a family somewhere no one knows us." He reached out for her, she scoffed, swatting his hand away.
"You want me to run off, and play house like a peasant? I am the queen! No Targarian brat is going to come in here, and take that from me! We are winning!" She wound up as she spoke, nearly telling at the end.
"You are losing. Our men are inside your gates, and I will not be the last to make it to the throne room." Brienne strode in, Oathkeeper at her side, dropping the blood of her men into the stones of the throne room.
"Brienne, what are you doing here?" He turned his back on Cersei to put himself between them, Brienne have him a bitter sweet smile, with such heavy sadness in her eyes.
"How could I not be?" She whispered, Cersei laughed, loudly, drawing their eyes.
"By the God's you two are sickening. Have you come to be the one to kill me and save my brother from himself?" She moved around him to meet her gaze. Brienne sighed, looking at Jaime. His expression held such conflict, and the pain she saw there broke her heart all over again.
"No, I only came to ensure Sir Jaime made it out of King's Landing alive. If you leave with him now I won't stop you." She let the top of her blade rest on the stones, blood pooling there. Cersei eyed her for a moment .
"I see what you like about her. Loyal, and loving, like a dog." She walked closer to Brienne, and Jaime moved between them, unsure who he meant to protect.
"Your Grace. The wildfire is in place." The Maester walked in with his hands clasped, and an easy smile on place.
"Good, burn them all!" The words hit him like a sword to the gut. Burn them all. " you two can witness my victory, before I make you watch me lol your dog. " Cersei turned back to him, but her maester lunged at her, drawing a blade from his sleeve. Cersei spun around in time to catch his wrist, shock clear in her eyes, and Jaime slid his blade through her spine, into her heart.
"No!" The outcry of pain didn't come from her. He fell to the ground clutching her to his chest, shaking in agony .
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! You can't, you can't, please! Please no!" He rocked back and forth, his golden hand going to her stomach as he wept. The maester reached up, and pulled off his face. Arya looked between them from where he had stood. Brienne didn't have it in her to question what she had seen, not after dragons, and red witch. She had more important things to do at the moment.
"Jaime." She put her hand on his shoulder, he looked up at her, absolutely shattered.
"I killed them." He collapsed into Cersei, his wails like nothing she had ever heard before from an unwounded man. She knelt down beside him, and pulled him away from her body, the blood oozing out around them like a grotesque halo, sticking to their clothes.
"I know, you had to." He wrapped himself around her, shaking like a child while he cried. She stroked his hair gently.
"I killed them!" The words tumbled out of his mouth over and over. She hushed him softly, just trying to be there for him. People came in around them, soldiers mostly. Arya explained what happened, but neither paid much mind. Eventually she got him to his feet. She made slow progress shifting him towards the exit in hopes that she could get him to a room before people began to celebrate.
"Sir Jaime, thank you. You..." Daenerys started to show her gratitude when she arrived. Jaime looked over at her, his face red, and splotchy from his relentless tears. He felt as if he had cried his weight in tears over the last fortnight.
"Stop! Your Grace, with all due respect, Sir Jaime needs to rest." Brienne cut her off, Daenerys did not appreciate being interrupted, but she dismissed them without further incident.
"Come on." She whispered, now that he had released his death grip on her leading him became simple. He moved like the whites had, his limbs still going while he was all but dead inside. She got him to a bed, and stripped him of his bloody clothes.
He stood naked before her without shame, or even she suspected awareness of what was happening. She poured water into a bowl, and dipped in a clean rag. She took his hands first, and scrubbed each one clean, the gold taking so much longer, and moved down to his knees, until no trace of her blood stained his skin. She found him new clothes, moving his limbs like a rag doll to dress him.
"You should rest." She whispered, sitting him on the bed. She stood to pull away, and his hand shot out, catching hers. She looked down at him for a moment, he couldn't look at her, but he couldn't be alone. She covered her hand briefly, and pulled away.
"I'm not leaving. I need to clean the armor, and myself before I can get into the bed." She tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. She stripped down too, he had certainly seen all of her before. He could hear her disrobe, but he couldn't being himself to look at her, and feel something other than the ache in his chest.
She slid into the bed beside him, and he let her hold him. His tears had stopped, but he had yet to speak. She didn't sleep, shaking him gently any time a nightmare began to take hold of him. Not enough to rouse him, just to bring him back to the edge of consciousness where his mind couldn't plague him. He stiffened when someone knocked at the door as the sun rose. She slid out of his arms to answer.
"I heard, how is he?" Tyrion had a trey of food with him, and a skin of wine. Brienne took them, looking over her shoulder.
"As well as can be expected. I want to take him away from King's Landing. Today if I can. People, they don't understand. The queen tried to thank him." She whispered, Tyrion nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"You're right. You could take him to Casterly Rock." Tyrion offered, she shook her head.
"No, they grew up there. He needs to go somewhere to heal, somewhere without memories. I thought Garth would be good for him, if he agrees." She said, Tyrion nodded. He was so grateful that Jaime had someone like her to care for him.
"I'll a range everything, and send someone to get you." He gave her arm a light squeeze , a silent gesture of gratitude, and left.
"Jaime, you need to try and eat." She set the food beside the bed, and held a hand out to help him sit up. He took it, but once he moved to the edge of the bed he only stared at the food. She sighed, and offered him the wine instead. He sipped at it while they say there, until Br's look of worry shifted to anger.
"Oh by the god's man you have to eat!" She shoved a piece of bread towards his face. He met here eyes for the first time since Cersei had died, and have a small nod. He ate the chunk of bread, and drank the wine, but nothing else.
"Sir, there is a ship waiting for you." A voice broke the sullen silence.
"Thank you." Brienne stood, and took his hand.
"I want to take you to Tarth. Will you come with me?" She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. He nodded, and stood up, his face only inches from hers. They stood frozen like that for a long moment before Jaime bowed his head to rest against her chest. She wrapped her arms around him, and stroked the name of his neck.
"Come on." She put her hand in his, and lead him out to the ship, many people approached them, but one look from Brienne made them think better of it.