"Arya."

He couldn't move, and for a second he thought that everything was falling, and that surely he was in a dream. But it was her. It was her. After all this time, after everything she was here. She was here and she was trying to kill him. The irony was so piercing that he wanted to laugh, but he couldn't laugh. He couldn't even think because Arya was staring at him in the face and he couldn't believe it.

The look on her face, for a moment, flashed into humanity. Her eyes widened, and there was a twist of her lips, a flicker of something he had only ever seen rarely and almost tenderness... And then it crumpled into total and utter betrayal and her shock allowing for a moment of weakness... But Gendry saw it. He saw the utter devastation there.

"You," the devastation was gone so quickly it left him breathless, and suddenly there was no humanity in her face, only rage. Before Gendry could even move she was digging her fingers into his broken wrist, intentionally or not, her expression twisted and her eyes blazing. Either way it was excruciatingly painful.

"Arya..."

There was a bang of a door opening, and Gendry jumped. It would be the guy that replaced him for the next shift.

"You shouldn't be here," Gendry said quickly, pushing her back into the shadows. "If they see you here-"

"Good," Arya snarled. "Let them see me-"

"Is there someone there?" Knox, his fellow door bouncer asked, a cigarette between his lips. "I see a little minx in the shadows. Didn't think you were the type."

Gendry swallowed. Hard.

"Don't tell the boss," he said, his hand gripping into Arya's arm. Knox laughed.

"We all gotta live," he chuckled with a shrug. "Just make sure no one slips past you."

"Oh I've got my eyes peeled," Gendry said, but his voice shook slightly, and he could feel Arya's arm tense in his grip. All he could hear was his heart screaming in his ears as Knox advanced closer. He pushed Arya deeper into the shadows, trying to look as cool as glass, but his forehead was beading with sweat. If he sees her...

"Come on love, let's have a look," Knox said, and Gendry jumped backwards. "I've never seen a shy whore before."

"Knox leave off," Gendry said, gripping Arya's arm tight. "I paid for her, not you."

"You're acting awful jumpy," Knox said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "You hiding something Gendry? Not been talking to that homeless drug addict again, have you? Because if you have... Well I'll have to tell her."

Gendry swallowed. Hard.

"Just piss off," he said, turning to get Arya out of there. Now.

"Wait a second... Is that-"

Without even thinking, without even considering how bad this would be, Gendry whipped around, grabbed his gun and shot Knox straight through the head. He fell with a crash, his blood leaking into the street...

"Holy shit!" Arya cried in spite of herself.

"Shut up!" Gendry hissed frantically, whipping around. "We've got to go, NOW! We've got to get you out of here... Somewhere safe..."

Shoving his gun in his pants, Gendry yanked Arya forward, rushing across the alley and then weaving through the shadows, his mind whirling in a frantic frenzy, his heart pounding so hard it might explode-

"Have you gone insane?" Arya's voice cracked as they raced alongside of the casino, and there were shouts coming from the main door...

Gendry didn't respond, but instead grabbed the door of the Pit and thrust it open, dragging her down with him into total and utter darkness. He couldn't even think about it. He had shared cigarettes with Knox between shifts, they had been pleasant to each other... But none of that mattered now, because pleasant or not, the instant Knox would have seen Arya... Gendry felt himself involuntarily squeeze her wrist.

"Let go!" She shrieked, trying to wrench away from him

"Arya listen," he gasped, whipping her around. "Listen to me please! If they find you here... They can't find you here..."

"I'm not afraid!" Arya shouted at him, but he clamped his hand over her mouth. He suddenly felt close to tears. He couldn't lose her. Not again. Not again... Not when she had been the only thing that he had ever cared about.

"Arya please."

Her eyes widened in shock, and again he saw the flash of humanity skirt across her face... And then she let go and stopped struggling, and it was all he could do not to fall down in relief.

"Put your hood on," he commanded and she did as she was told. "Stay close to me."

"You're holding my wrist, I can't do anything but stay close to you."

"Shut up."

They ascended the Pit with a panicked haste, and Gendry opened the door, peering outside to see if there was a commotion going. Just enough distraction to slip her past... Maybe no one would notice...

Sliding his hand from her wrist down to her skin, he linked his fingers with hers thoughtlessly and pulled her forward, his head bent down, his heart racing in his chest. He tried to detach himself from all thought as he wove in and out of the throngs of people like a flash, Arya ever present like a shadow.

He dared not look back at her, he didn't even dare look forward, he just stared at people's feet, rushing past them as they laughed and cheered, enjoying their night. They wove upstairs, blending with the crowd, taking the stairs two at a time, and then Gendry wound around to another hidden stair case, to the floor where he slept. No one was on that stair case and there were no cameras here. Everything that was once a blur of noise and sound began to muffle out. Hands shaking, Gendry grabbed the handle of his door and shoved it open, taking Arya's hand again and yanking her inside.

"They'll be here any second," he said urgently, locking the door. "We don't have much time."

Arya didn't say anything.

"Look," Gendry said, "my wrist... I'll need you to get on the bed. Push the roof, up, there's a panel..."

Wordlessly Arya did as she was told. Hands pushed against the ceiling, she lifted up the panel and pushed it aside. Above her there was a gaping black hole. She looked back at him and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"It's an attic," Gendry said urgently. "Get up there now before they get here to question me. Don't move until I get back."

There was a moment where he thought she might argue with him, but she didn't. Instead, she held out her hand.

"Give me your gun," she said.

"Wha-"

"Now!"

His thoughts whirling into a muddle, Gendry did as he was told. She snatched it from him, grabbed some ammunition from nowhere and reloaded it. Every move was mechanical. Well practiced precision. Gendry realized with horror that she had done this many, many times before. He wondered where she had gone and who she had been when she left him, because she wasn't like the Arya Stark he had known. Nothing like her. Emotionlessly, she handed it back to him.

"There," she said firmly. "Now you never shot anyone."

There was the sound of many footsteps on the stairs. Gendry could feel himself breaking into a sweat and his entire mouth was made of cotton. His hand was still shaking, his other hand limp and useless with his broken wrist.

"Get up there!" He hissed. "Now!"

Arya looked up, and then with a slight bounce on the bed, leapt up, grabbed the sides of the hole and then pulled herself up with fluid ease. She disappeared for a moment in the blackness, and then her face appeared, hanging out of the ceiling.

"What's going to happen to you?" She asked, and for the first time she looked worried.

Gendry swallowed, but his throat was dry and it only hurt.

"I don't know," he said hoarsely.

Then she was gone.

"Open up Waters! We know you're in there!"

Gendry took a deep breath. Ridding his face of all emotion, he reached out a hand that had finally gone steady and opened the door.

"What seems to be the trouble?" He asked with a fake yawn. "I was just about to take off my jacket and have a lie in."

"Knox has just been shot," said Rothe, who had a chunk of his nose missing and could break Gendry's nose like a twig. "Janos Slynt was murdered on a train three hours ago on his way here."

"And what's that got to do with me?" Gendry asked evenly. The muscle in Rothe's jaw jumped.

"You're coming with us," he said in a low voice. "Now."

"All right," Gendry said with a shrug, and he followed them out of his room and down the hall. Cersei knew, of course. She wasn't stupid. But Janos Slynt... Knox, Gendry had killed, but not Janos. And with Arya's sudden arrival, and her attack... She would have killed him too, if he wasn't a ghost from her past... The two events were too close together to be a coincidence. Arya wasn't back just for some girlish attack. She was back to kill.

They went down the hall to a set of thick golden doors. Rothe knocked, and Gendry wasn't surprised when it took only a few moments for the door to open, and they entered. The moment he stepped into the room, he could sense Cersei's edge.

"Well?" She asked her back to them, a glass of scotch in her hand. There was a slight tremor in the way she held the glass... She was terrified, Gendry realized. But how could she be? She had no idea Arya was even in King's Landing, or alive for that matter.

"His room's being searched right now," Rothe said with a grunt.

"Good," Cersei said, taking a sip from her glass. She still did not turn around.

"Why's my room being searched?" Gendry asked in a steady voice. Cersei turned around, her eyes sharp with loathing.

"Knox has just been shot," she said. "Clean execution, bullet straight through the head."

"I know," Gendry said. "I heard. I had nothing to do with it. My shift was over twenty minutes ago."

Cersei's lips pressed together in a thin, leering line. She did not believe him.

"No remorse?" She sighed. "He was your coworker, after all."

"You think I have remorse for any of you?" Gendry spat. Cersei seemed to take a step back as she eyed him coolly, calculating. He held his breath. Now was not the time for his anger. The ice under his feet had already cracked, and all he should be doing now was struggle to stay afloat, not dive into freezing water. Cersei held his gaze.

"Janos Slynt was murdered three hours ago," she said, changing the subject. "By a girl on a train. Another clean shot to the head. She took his ID badge."

Gendry swallowed hard. Arya.

"Does this not seem strange to you?"

"I dunno," Gendry said darkly, with a shrug, unable to stop himself. His rage was beginning to pulse under his skin. "People die every day. Edric Dayne, Beric, Lem, Tom. All on the same day. It wasn't strange then."

Cersei glared.

"Here's the footage from the train," she snarled, throwing a series of photos at Gendry's feet. He bent down and picked them up, trying to hide his broken wrist from Cersei's flashing eyes.

"I don't know this girl," he said, frowning and sighing with relief at the same time. It hadn't been Arya.

"Neither do I," Cersei said softly. "No one does. She doesn't exist."

His eyes snapped up. Cersei was trembling slightly.

"Where is Arya Stark?"

The question hit straight into his chest like a knuckled fist.

"She's gone," Gendry said with what he hoped was a convincing sputter. "She's been gone for three years. No one knows-"

"Show him the footage," Cersei snapped across his fumbling lies. The TV to her right was turned on, and Gendry had nothing to do but watch. At first the picture was blurry... But then his throat went dry. He saw, clear as day, Arya emerging from the tunnel by the train, not even pulling her hood over her head. What was she doing? Didn't she know they'd kill her as soon as they saw her? But then he remembered her words. Good. I want them to find me. And just like that, he understood everything. She wanted them to find her. To bring her to Cersei, because it all was coming together. She was going to kill Cersei.

"You're surprised," Cersei sounded gravely disappointed. "Useless, even when I thought you would be most useful."

Gendry blinked, unable to speak. Cersei threw the remote across the room and it collided with the wall, breaking.

"I want him locked in his room," she snarled at the guards. "There's the off chance that she might go looking for him, and I wanted him watched. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Rothe grunted. Cersei's lips were in the thin line.

"Someone killed Knox," she said in a low voice, her glare sharp and fierce, directed straight at Gendry. "I'm sure once we've combed through all the security footage, we'll find just who it was."

Gendry's heart, for a moment, ceased to beat. It jumped in his chest and then beat so fast, throbbing and pounding in his ears like a great jolt, his veins filling and coursing with blood so fast and thick he could almost taste it in his mouth. It took everything not to spontaneously combust. He swallowed an empty throat.

"Escort him back to his room," Cersei ordered, tapping her fingers against the glass. Rothe nodded, and grabbed Gendry's arm. The one with the broken wrist. Gendry automatically winced, and then cursed himself, squeezing his eyes shut. There was no sound.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Cersei asked coldly.

Gendry's mind spun and his mouth was squeezing dry.

"You," he said hoarsely. "Last night... You broke it."

"Did I?" Cersei asked. Gendry didn't dare to move. He prayed. She had been so drunk the night before; he was hoping she didn't remember anything. It wouldn't have been the first time that she had caused him injury. She narrowed her eyes. Then she smiled, laughing. "Dear me. How very careless I am at times."

Gendry didn't say anything, or meet her gaze.

"You may go," she said sharply, and relief like an ocean expanded in his chest in delicious waves.

He turned with Rothe.

"That little girl is going to regret coming back from the grave," Cersei said softly, and Gendry felt cold. Not for Arya... But for Cersei. She's not a little girl anymore, he thought, she's not anything anymore. She doesn't have a soul.

OoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo oooO

Arya sat in dark, waiting. She counted backwards from twenty in her head, and like clockwork, as though he could hear her when he couldn't, the panel shook, and then gently shifted, Gendry's head appearing over it. His broken wrist was wrapped in gauze, and without thinking, she helped him up to sit with her in the dark rafters of the attic. There was a moment's pause as he had to catch his breath, gasping huge gulps of air like a dying man. She sat back against her heels and watched him.

"Cersei knows I killed Knox," he choked out in a whisper. "She's combing through the video footage from the security cameras, and in less than an hour she'll see... She'll see it was me..."

Arya didn't respond, she just stared at him. His neck was bent, and the lion etched on it was the only clear thing in the dark.

"We need to get you out of here," he rasped. "You need to escape, your sister, Sansa, she's in hiding. I know where-"

"No," Arya said clearly.

"You brother, Jon," Gendry sputtered on, ignoring her. He knows, she thought at once. He knows what I mean to do. "He's an officer on the police force. It's mostly infected with Lannister pocket-men, but there's a few good cops out there left..."

"I'm not leaving," Arya said in a steely voice. "Not until I do what I came here to do."

"Arya please," he said to her, his voice cracking, "it's suicide."

He looked up at her like it was physically painful, and there were tears in the broken blue eyes. They were waiting to fall, but she would not be moved by them. She would not be moved by the sunken way his eyes looked, or the cracked blood on his split lip. His face was gaunt, with scars and bruises, but that did not stir her humanity either.

"You're one of them now," she said flatly. Gendry took a great, shuttering breath.

"You think I had a choice?" He asked brokenly.

"There's always a choice," she snapped, digging her fingers into her knees until it hurt. Rage was teasing at the edges of her soul.

"What?" He said with a bitter laugh. "You think I should have died along with the rest of them?"

"Yes," she said mercilessly. He flinched.

"I do too," he whispered quietly, and a single tear ran down his cheek. The ghosts that haunted him almost seemed to materialize as shadows on his shoulders, and Arya found herself shivering and pushing herself away. She did not want to pity him. She did not want to feel anything for him.

"We went looking for you."

Arya felt something prick at her skin, but nothing was there and she rubbed her arms, trying to block all of this out and focus... Focus...

"I," Gendry cracked, "I went looking for you. That's when-they… She got us."

Arya looked away from him, turning her back and trying not to think of what she had buried a long time ago. She had thought Gendry died along with the rest of the brotherhood. Before that she thought he'd found another pretty girl to loose himself in. To share her bed and have her children and live in some happy, stupid summer, with every smile forgetting who Arya Stark was. It was twisted that reality felt like a relief.

"What will she do when she finds out it was you?" Arya asked instead, avoiding the hole that was threatening to turn black inside her.

Gendry laughed and shook his head hopelessly.

"What's the point?" He sighed. "I'm already dead anyway."

Unwillingly, Arya's hand detached itself from her body and reached itself out to him. Gendry was looking down, so he didn't see. He didn't see her reach out, her fingers a breath away from his shoulder, and he didn't see it snap back to her side. She would be spared the hurt on his face at least. But she couldn't touch him. Touching him made him all too real.

"I've got to go back down," he said hoarsely. "They check on me every fifteen minutes."

He looked over at her.

"I'm not coming back," Gendry said softly.

Arya nodded.

"Please... Please go."

She didn't say anything, or have any reaction, just stared at him. That was her answer. Gendry sighed. Then he reached out his hand and placed it lightly over hers before she could stop him.

"I never forgot you," he said, not meeting her eyes, and then he pushed himself back down into his room, cradling his broken wrist. The panel slid shut, and she was alone again. Silence rang in the darkness.

He probably thought that was the last time they'd ever see each other. It could be too, she thought. It should be... But as much as she had been determined to ignore the scars on his face, or the bruises, she had seen them. And she knew... She knew he could never be one of them. He was too broken, too beaten. Already dead.

It should be the last time they saw each other. But she had already made up her mind. And though she liked to pretend it wasn't so, once she had made up her mind, Arya had made it up for good. There were some things that she would never be able to shake off, no matter how hard she tried.

So she sat.

And she waited. Her ear pressed against the wooden panel, finally they came for him.

Angry noises, cursing, she listened, heart beating wildly, as there was the sound of someone being hit, a yell, and then they moved him. She leapt to her feet, and followed the sound of their voices below her, careful to stay on the beams. The panels of wood that ran thick across the drafty attic were soft and creaky. It was likely that if anyone walked on them, they would break. Arya moved quickly, nimbly running along the thin wood, not making a sound, careful to stay right in stride with Gendry and the thugs below her, the muffled sound of their steps sounding through the wood.

There was a pause, and Arya knew why. They were at Cersei's room. The sound of a door banging open, and then Cersei's voice, shrill and enraged. Arya only had a few moments.

Straining her ears, and winding around the beams that outlined Cersei's room, Arya listened for exactly where Cersei's voice was coming from. The sound of her shouting, "There was someone with you! WHO WAS WITH YOU?" And Gendry's muffled replies. Arya pulled out her gun and crouched, her eyes fixed on the spot she needed to land...

"Shoot him!"

Arya jumped, gun in hand, and slammed her feet into the ceiling with as much force as she could muster. The wood shattered in splintered cracks and she broke through, plummeting through and into the room below her, landing hard on the ground.

Cersei screamed.

Arya whipped around and shot the man that was holding Gendry straight through the eye. His body fell with a crash, and the dust hadn't even cleared as Arya spun around and shot Cersei, straight in the side. As Cersei fell, screaming in pain, the man next to her made a jerking move, but Arya was too quick for him, blowing his brains out before he could even get a hold on his gun. She raced forward, grabbed Cersei in a chokehold, whipping her around, and pointed her gun to the screaming woman's head.

"Nobody move!" Arya shouted. "Nobody touch him!"

The thug who had his arm wrapped around Gendry's neck froze. Everyone was still.

"Let him go or I swear to god I'll put a bullet through her skull!" Arya screamed, digging the gun into Cersei's head.

"Do it!" Cersei screeched. "Do what she says you blithering idiots!"

The man released Gendry.

"Drop you weapons!" Arya ordered. They did as they were told. Without her asking, as if reading her mind, Gendry ran and picked them all up. One eye was swollen shut, and his lip was gushing with blood.

"Get on the ground!" Arya roared. "If any of you move, she dies!"

The remaining men scrambled to the ground, shaking.

"Come on," Arya said to Gendry, wrestling Cersei. "Let's go."

He nodded, and then they went out together, Arya pushing Cersei, grabbing her arms and forcing them behind her back as they marched out of the room, Gendry at her back, pointing his gun at the men in the room. Gendry locked the door shut behind them.

Cersei wrenched and roared in pain, swearing, but it was no good. Arya was strong, and Cersei, despite her struggle, was too drunk to be of any real force. As they got to the grand staircase, Gendry fired a few shots in the air. Screams erupted throughout the casino, and Arya pressed the gun to Cersei's head, shouting, "Any sudden moves and she dies!" Mayhem exploded as people, screaming, began to run for cover.

"If anyone tries to shoot us, kill them," Arya said to Gendry as she forced Cersei down the stairs. He nodded his jaw taunt and his gaze steel.

There was a bang, and in a flash, Gendry whipped around and shot the thug on the balcony that had tried to kill Arya. He fell like a doll, and as his body hit the ground, spraying blood, the screams were louder and renewed. The panic was a perfect cover, and Arya, following Gendry, almost melted with the crowd as they raced towards the back door.

Gendry threw it open, fired a few shots, and then nodded for the all clear. He waited for Arya and Cersei to pass him, holding his gun at the crowd, just in case anyone tried to harm Arya while she couldn't look. Then he slammed the door and barred it shut.

Arya threw Cersei from her and pulled out her gun.

"You stupid little bitch!" Cersei screamed. "Look at what you've done!"

"Anguy!" Gendry shouted. "Anguy!"

Arya kicked Cersei in her bullet wound and the older woman fell to the ground, wrenching in pain, blood coating her hands. Arya cocked her gun, and pointed it directly at Cersei's skull. The time had come. This was the final moment.

"Do it!" Cersei spat. "Kill me."

Arya felt her hand begin to shake. She saw Ned's face, the look there before he died, the pain. The pain was so tremendous it almost left her breathless.

"You can't," Cersei laughed, coughing up blood. "You're weak. Weak just like your father."

Arya felt her entire body contort with rage, shaking so violently she might explode, every joint rigid. Her finger was on the trigger... Her finger was on the trigger but why wasn't Cersei dead yet?

"Do it!" Cersei screamed. "Do it!"

But just as Arya was about to pull the trigger, there was the sound of a roaring engine, and the alleyway was flooded with light.

Sorry it took so long to update, and double sorry for the cliff hanger! If it makes you feel any better, the next chapter's a big hefty one. Music that inspired this chapter was: we must be killers/who are you really by mikky ekko and bones by mr ms. Only two more chapters left…. We're reaching the home stretch!