I know this took forever and I'm not going to waste your time with excuses as to why. Here's the new chapter. One more to go.

Gendry blinked like an owl, stumbling backwards at the roaring sound, momentarily blinded. But then, through the shining headlights, he could make out the outline of a motorcycle. A motorcycle with a bull's head. And he knew exactly what was going to happen, and what was in store for them.

Arya whipped around and pointed her gun, ready to shoot.

"Put that away, girl," a familiar voice growled. "You might hurt yourself."

Arya's mouth dropped in shock.

"Come on you sorry sons of whores!" Yoren roared, any question about his identity wiped away with that familiar phrase. "We've got company."

So they did. Shouts were coming from the front of the casino, and Gendry knew the police had arrived. They were all in Cersei's pocket, and everyone was terrified of her dying. Cersei was only the second most feared person in Westeros. Tywin Lannister came first. Company wouldn't begin to describe what they were in for.

"Get on!" Yoren shouted.

Arya hesitated, her eyes flicking to a screaming Cersei who was still writhing on the ground.

"HEY!"

"GET ON!" Yoren bellowed, and Gendry didn't need to be told twice. The cops were racing at them full speed, and he bolted to the bike, broken wrist and all, and threw himself on.

"We aren't finished yet!" Arya roared at Cersei, and then she took off after them as Yoren spun the bike around and zoomed down the alley.

"I want them dead!" Cersei was screaming behind them. "I WANT THEM DEAD!"

"Get on!" Gendry shouted at Arya as she ran behind them, the alley too small for her to run alongside.

"I can't!" She shouted back. "There's no room!"

There was a bang, and then something whizzed by Gendry's ear. They were shooting at them.

Arya's eyes were wide with fear for the first time.

They broke from the alley and into the street. Yoren revved the motorcycle and they jumped forward, swelling in speed until Arya couldn't keep up with them, and as Gendry watched, the police were closing in behind her...

"TURN AROUND!" He screamed at Yoren. "Turn fucking around!"

A policeman was about to shoot-

Out of nowhere there was a roar of an engine, and then the muffled sound of a gunshot and the policeman fell backwards, blood spurting from his chest and a black motorcycle shot out from the alley across the way, skirted around and grabbed Arya's arm. As quick as a shot she jumped on the back of the bike and they sped towards Gendry and Yoren. Under the biker's helmet, Gendry saw a tuft of red hair.

"About bloody time!" He shouted at Anguy.

"Sorry!" The hit man yelled as they came in alongside the bull motorcycle. "I didn't know we were having a party!"

"Is that Anguy?" Arya sputtered in disbelief, her arm around his neck as she reloaded her gun.

"How's milady doing?" Anguy shouted back at her. Arya glared burning hell at Gendry and said nothing. Yoren and Anguy both laughed.

There was the sound of a police car, and Gendry whipped around to see that they were being pursued.

"Yoren," he called, "we've got company."

"Of course we've got company," Yoren snapped. "It's not a bloody car chase without cars."

"Hang tight," Anguy told Arya. "It's going to be bumpy."

Arya snorted.

"You hang tight," she snapped.

They banked a hard left, running a red light. Cars screamed around them as they jerked and jolted, weaving frantically to avoid collision. Horns blared and wheels screeched, but they barely managed to evade the cops who swerved around the mess Yoren and Anguy had created, still in hot pursuit. Arya cocked her gun and threw a look over her shoulder, tense and waiting as they sped through thicker and thicker traffic, racing.

Yoren jerked the gear shift back and they leapt forward, pushing hard in speed, but it wasn't fast enough. The cops were closing in fast, and Gendry saw one of them roll down a window... There was a gun...

Arya was quicker. With one single jerk she had focused, aimed and shot the cop straight in the hand. He fell back inside the car with screaming curses. She didn't stop there. With precise machinery, she started laying bullets into the windshield of the nearest cop car. It went swerving, hit the side of the road and then spun out of control, slamming around into one of the other cars that were pursuing them.

"Tunnel!" Yoren shouted, and they dipped down towards darkness.

Three cop cars were still in hot pursuit.

Gendry was beginning to get worried. There was a small amount of cars, and that meant that there was back up coming. Most likely at the end of the tunnel. What would happen if they were met with a barricade? Arya was still firing away, but even she didn't have enough ammunition to hold them off forever. He hoped Yoren and Anguy had a pretty damn good plan because at the moment, things were looking pretty slim.

The tunnel curved, and Gendry gripped Yoren's jacket. He had been right. At the entrance of the tunnel cop cars were screeching to a halt.

"You know what to do!" Yoren shouted at Anguy and he nodded.

They tensed, and then sped towards the barricade. Arya successfully shot holes in the tires of two of the cars pursuing them. She grinned at Gendry, then spotted the barricade and went sheet white. This could be it, Gendry thought, gritting his teeth. This could be fucking it.

They were racing towards the barricade and not stopping. They were going to CRASH-

Gendry was nearly thrown off the bike as Yoren, at the very last second, made a sharp turn to the right, such a sharp turn that they almost slid flat, and zoomed down the small pedestrian walkway. Gendry's elbows scraped as they shot through the cramped tunnel and then bounced down a set of stairs, nearly toppling over again, and then leapt over to a narrow side walk. Anguy and Arya followed them as Yoren whizzed and wound down the side walk, then took a sharp left down another flight of stairs before cutting to another walkway that sloped downwards towards the docks where the ferries were. Not so far away, Gendry could see a boat pulling in... They looked like they were preparing for people to board, but there was no one there...

Yoren revved the engine again and they jolted forward, racing down towards the little boat that Gendry thought must be meant for them. He had always known they'd prepared for this, just in case it ever were to occur... The idea of Arya coming back had always been a stupid fantasy... He just never knew how much everyone else had prepared, and how little he knew about it. Yeah but I was the guy on the inside, he reminded himself. The less I knew, the better.

The fact that Yoren and Anguy had been there was no accident. As sure as word of Arya's return had gotten to Cersei, it must have gotten to the Starks as well. Jon was on the police force after all. under a false name of course. The last good cop left, some joked. And Littlefinger... Well he always knew everything. He probably knew Arya was in Westeros before she did. Gendry had never met him, he had never met Jon or Sansa either (it was too dangerous), but from what Anguy said, no one liked him. Or trusted him.

Like shadows they swept down to the docks in the darkness, and then rode straight towards the boat, the bridge down, men waiting for them, silent and unmoving. They rode right onto the boat, bouncing over the bridge, and then came to a screeching halt. Gendry barely had time to leap off the bike before it was crashing to the ground with the loss of Yoren.

"Hey!" Gendry yelled. "Do you know how much time and effort went into that bike-"

"Shut up!" Yoren whispered, slamming his hand into Gendry's face. "Shut your goddamn mouth and get inside! Or do you want to signal every cop in town exactly where we are?"

Gendry knew he looked sheepish. Yoren rolled his eyes, grabbed Gendry by the arm and marched him inside and down the steps into the seating area of the ferry. Arya and Anguy hurried after them and there was a growling and belching sound as the engine started and the ferry began to move, pulling away from the docks and going god-knows-where. Gendry's mind was exploding with questions, but he knew he couldn't voice them. Not yet.

The boat was virtually empty. There were rows and rows of seats, but no people to fill them. All except one. A beautiful woman with long brown hair. She stood when they came in, and Yoren paused. She looked oddly familiar... But she wasn't looking at Gendry, or Yoren. Her eyes were swimming with tears, and she was looking right at Arya.

"Sansa?" Arya asked in bewilderment.

The woman didn't answer, but she ran to them and threw her arms around Arya, bursting into tears. Arya went stiff, and her arms jerked, as if she wanted to wrap them around her sister, but there was some sort of opposing force that would not let her. For a split second, an overwhelming vulnerability was everywhere around Arya, but then it disappeared and she was all coldness. Sansa, as if burned by frost, retracted her hold.

"Arya."

A man stepped forward, not someone Gendry knew. He had dark hair and looked a good deal like Arya. He must have been her half brother, Jon. And as he came towards her, arms outstretched, Gendry knew he was. But... Unlike Sansa he was not so easily swayed by his emotions to realize that this was not the sister he had last seen four years ago. So he stopped, arms sweeping closed, and clapped a heavy hand on her shoulder. Even that was almost too much for Arya. Gendry could see her struggle not to pull away.

Though Jon did not cry, or hug her, there was no mistaking the deep regret and hurt that shined glossy in his Northern eyes.

"It's been a long time," Jon said softly.

Arya looked at him with round eyes but she didn't say anything. There was almost something... She almost seemed like a caged animal. Wild, reckless and unable to connect. Frightened. He had never seen her so frightened. Frightened of her own family. Three years ago, she would have run into their arms. She would have cried and wept with happiness and joy. Now she was totally and utterly destroyed.

"Yoren told me about you."

It took Gendry a few moments to realize that Sansa was talking to him. He was too dazed and exhausted to pick up on things quickly. His skin was jittery, his blood quivering. Every nerve on edge.

"You looked after Arya after our father died. You protected her."

Gendry wanted to cry, or laugh hysterically, he didn't know which. He couldn't even bring himself to look at Arya. He didn't want to see what was on her face. Hot shame raced throughout his entire body.

It was Arya who broke the awkward tension.

"Where are we going?" She asked curtly. No hint of emotion in her voice. Guarded and cold.

"To Dragonstone."

Gendry and Arya both jumped. Neither of them had seen Stannis Baratheon come in. He stood there, a severe, commanding presence. Where Gendry's father had once been jovial (or so he had been told), Stannis had no mirth behind his hard steely eyes. He looked straight through Gendry, right to Arya. Does he even see me? Gendry wondered. Did he know that Gendry was his nephew? If he did, he did not show it.

"Stannis Baratheon?" Arya seemed surprised, the first real emotion she had shown since stepping on that ferry.

"Don't worry, he's not staying long," a sneering voice came from within the shadows. A man Gendry did not know slinked forward like a snake. He sported a small goatee and an offsetting, unsettling manner that sent Gendry's skin crawling.

Rage, blind, hot rage coiled into Arya's eyes.

"You," she snarled, her breath coming out in hot spurts.

"Now calm yourself, Arya," the man said oily. "I mean you no harm."

Gendry, as an automatic reflex, moved in front of her, arms stretched out vaguely as if to protect her. The man chuckled rudely.

"So gallant," he said. "I didn't know you had a knight in shining armor. But then again, Baratheons always did have a slobbering thing for Starks."

Before Gendry could even think, Arya had her gun out, and was pointing it straight at the man's head. Sansa screamed.

"Arya!" She cried. "Stop it!"

"I want him off this boat," Arya snarled, her voice a deadly tremor. "I want him off this boat now."

"That's a bit unfortunate," the man sighed, "seeing as this boat is mine."

"Arya, Littlefinger's been helping us-"

"Like hell he's been helping us," Arya snapped, pushing Gendry away from her so she could have a clear shot at the bearded man.

"Arya, he saved me. He saved me from the Lannisters-"

"You sick pervert," Arya growled in a low voice, her gun trained straight between Littlefinger's eyes. "Saved her did you? Just like you saved my father."

"What happened to Ned Stark was unfortunate-"

"Don't you dare say his name!" Arya screamed. "Say it again and I will pull this trigger!"

"Arya..." Jon looked horrified. Winded. Utterly lost.

"Oh I doubt that very much," Littlefinger said drily. "Seeing as you had the chance to shoot Cersei Lannister only a few minutes ago, and didn't take it, forgive me if I don't see that threat as... Well, threatening."

Arya shook from head to toe with rage, but most of all, shame and disappointment flowered in her eyes in the form of empty, angry tears. It was all Gendry could do to save her. He came forward and forced the gun from her hands, but she barely gave it up without a fight.

"I want him out," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I want him out of my sight."

"More than happy to oblige," Yoren said gruffly, and he went forward and grabbed Littlefinger by the arm.

"Steady man," Littlefinger snarled, trying to throw him off. "Let me remind you that this is my boat."

"And these are my men," Stannis said coming forward. "Now get out."

Defeated, Littlefinger let Yoren force him out of the room, but he didn't look too happy. He seemed a dangerous ally, and it was clear that no one wanted him there. Arya was the only one to voice her feelings.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Stark," Stannis Baratheon said formally. Arya nodded jerkily, still visibly shaken. "I trust you are all right?"

"Yes fine," Arya said, gathering herself. "So you're on our side now?"

"I was always on your side," Stannis said coldly.

"Then where were you when my father died?" Arya demanded angrily. "Where were you when Tywin Lannister kidnapped me, and Cersei held Sansa captive?"

"Same as you," Stannis said, not daunted in the least. "I was fighting a war."

Something flashed across Arya's face. Not good enough, Gendry thought. Not good enough.

"Stannis has agreed to help us," Sansa cut in shakily. "If we work together, we can easily take down Cersei. Once the Red Keep falls, we'll be free to go home."

"And I suppose the Red Keep will go to you then? When we're finished with Cersei?" Arya leered cooly. Stannis didn't even bat an eyelash.

"Unless you would prefer to have it?" He asked. Arya was caught there, so she merely scowled. It was so endearingly like the old Arya that it sent a jabbing pain through Gendry's chest.

"We can go home Arya," Sansa said tentatively. Arya seemed to hear her, but from someplace far away. Revenge was too hot in her blood to hear of any salvation.

"How long will we be in Dragonstone?" Arya demanded.

"Not long," Stannis replied. "The longer we stay, the more of a disadvantage we're at. The sooner we act, the better."

Arya seemed to like that.

"Captain says we'll arrive in fifteen minutes," Yoren informed them, coming back into the room. Stannis nodded stoically and Sansa gave a sigh of relief. She looked quite pale and shaken. Jon did as well.

"You may tell Davos that I am grateful for his services," Stannis said. "And that we will be returning to Kings Landing tomorrow evening."

Yoren looked displeased at being the messenger boy but did as he was told. Gendry could only blink in surprise. Stannis wasn't kidding when he said they would return to King's Landing as soon as possible. Would a day really be enough time for them to all rally together? He looked out of the windows at the pale, bleak lightening sky. Morning was on it's way, but it never felt so much like night.

"So what's the plan?" Arya wanted to know.

Stannis, Jon and Sansa shifted uncomfortably.

"This is not the place to discuss such matters of an extremely confidential nature," Stannis said firmly, leaving no room for argument. "We'll talk when we get to Dragonstone."

"What's Dragonstone?"

Gendry thought he hadn't even spoken at all, his voice was so hoarse from shock and lack of use, but everyone jumped at his words. As if seeing him for the first time, Stannis turned and faced him. His gaze was so icy, so cold, that Gendry shivered, feeling as though he had done something wrong when he clearly hadn't.

"Dragonstone is my home," Stannis answered. "It is located on an island which very few people know about. We will not be bothered there."

There was a swelling silence in the ferry, one Gendry knew he had caused. His face heated up with a blush and for the first time in his life he felt incredibly small. He does know who I am, he thought, not daring to look at his uncle. He just doesn't care. There was a throbbing pain in his chest and broken wrist, and he wished to be anywhere but on that boat.

"Time to go," Yoren said, saving Gendry like an angel. An ugly angel, that was. With a huge sigh of relief, Gendry quickly followed him up the stairs and to the deck of the boat.

Dragonstone loomed up in front of them like a great shadow. It was the stuff of spy books, Gendry thought. Shows he used to watch as a kid. A great, big hulk of a black mansion on a rock surrounded by cliffs, hidden away. And though it was a safe place, it didn't look it. It looked like the last place to go if you were in a tight spot.

The boat puttered to a stop just next to a dock where a woman stood with strange red hair, holding a lantern and a flash light. She tied the boat to the dock without a sound and waited as Yoren and a man Gendry didn't know rolled out the walkway. Arya was the first off the ferry, and Gendry followed suit. Littlefinger was nowhere to be seen.

They followed the strange woman up a set of very rigorous stairs and then through a door. Dragonstone might have seemed creepy from the outside, but it was also spooky on the inside as well. There were lots of red and black, deep dark wood and walls painted the color of pomegranates, with flickering candles to guide their way.

"Does this place get electricity?" Arya asked, and Gendry tried not to laugh.

"We don't like to use light at night," the woman said in an accent Gendry couldn't place. "Otherwise it makes it easy for people to see where we are."

They sure were overly cautious too. Thick, heavy drapes covered huge windows. This place could have been a beautiful gateway, with the water and the cliffs, but it felt more like a medieval prison. Gendry wondered what it was like during the day time. Maybe it was nicer then. He wouldn't be staying long enough to know. He doubted, as they were such high profile, wanted people, that Stannis would let him open all the curtains to see if that would brighten up the room.

She led them up a huge set of stairs to a narrow hallway. Their rooms, she told them. Everyone had their own. Sansa, Jon and Arya all got first pick, then came Yoren. Lastly, Gendry got the small room down the hall and up another thin flight of stairs. It had a door leading out to a tiny stone patio, but that was about it. It was small, damp dark and cramped. He didn't say anything.

The red haired woman watched him with strange eyes as he went inside. He thought she might be waiting for him to say something, but when he opened his mouth, she closed the door and left.

He was completely alone. Stannis had wanted them to rest, but Gendry couldn't sleep. He was too wired, to hyped up. His eyes were red and dry and itchy, aching for a few hours closed, but he couldn't. He tried to make a sling for his wrist, but that hurt so goddamn much he nearly passed out. There was a small little fireplace in the corner of his room, so he lit it and watched the flames for a while. The heat was little comfort to his numb body.

There was a sound outside his door, the one that lead to the patio, and Gendry leaped up, ready to defend himself, but finding nothing with which to grab a hold of. He was utterly powerless.

"Open up!" A voice hissed outside. "It's me."

Only Arya, Gendry thought, but his heart still hammered hard in his chest. He could scarcely breathe as he fumbled with the door and let her in. Suddenly the room was all warmth, no chill as she stood there, hugging her arms around herself and then letting them go. He closed the door. They stood several feet apart. She made no move to change it.

"I couldn't sleep," she finally said.

"Me neither," Gendry's voice was croaking. She looked different in the soft light. Less severe. Less broken. More human.

"What's that on your wrist?" She asked, frowning.

"Oh," Gendry said stupidly. "I found a bit of a handkerchief in my bedside drawer, I thought it might help to bind it..."

"Let me," Arya demanded. "I know about these things."

She should know, he thought to himself, she broke it. But he let her sit him down on the bed without a sound and watched her quietly as she went to work. He tried not to wince... It was useless. His wrist was broken. Pain was inevitable.

He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help looking at her, really looking at her. The light was thin, and it seemed to dull out everything that he wanted to hide in her. She was just Arya now, the Arya he had known so long ago. Not a day had passed between them. She was older, yes, but she was still... Well her. Reality was easy to evade in the early morning.

"What," she said sharply, and he blinked.

"Nothing," Gendry sputtered quickly. "It's just... It's just I thought I would never see you again."

Unexpected pain, internal pain, ripped through his skin. Suddenly, he thought of Edric and Beric and Tom and Lem and all the others that had died. For years he had been able to bury the pain with the thirst for and bitter promise of revenge, but now that Arya was here, sitting in front of him, it was all so real. They had been her friends too. Now that she was here, he felt as though he could grieve.

There were tears in his eyes, he knew, and it was great strength to let them fall, and to let himself feel. He looked at their hands, blurring from the salty water in his eyes, and then suddenly he wasn't looking at them anymore. He wasn't looking at anything.

Arya was kissing him, suddenly and desperately. He could not think of why, but he could not think at all. The physical feel of her was so overwhelming he suddenly felt suffocated and starved at the same time. Everything went numb and he could only respond, and grab her and cling to her and never let her go. Because once she touched him, he lost everything. He lost everything real in his head, and there was only her skin and her mouth and her hair. All he wanted was her in that moment.

Perhaps if he hadn't been so lost he would be wise and stop her. He wouldn't let her pull him down on the bed like a drowning anchor and hold him there, making love to him until neither of them could breathe and then doing it again and again to stop the silence that would fall between. Maybe if he had thought for a moment he would have realized that she was afraid. She was afraid of what the silence between them held.

OooooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo

Bang! Bang! Bang!

For a wild second Arya awoke alarmed, drenched in sweat and horrified that it was somehow all happening all over again. All of it, Everyone. They were dead! They'd been shot!

But of course, when she came to her full senses, she knew at once that it was not gunfire, but a dream, and rippling thunder across the sea. She blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of it all. It had been a long time since Arya had slept so soundly and her mind was fogged and confused.

The room she was in... It wasn't right. Her glazed-over eyes quickly scanned the dresser, the pale walls and the thick black curtains that hung over what looked like a door to the outside. There was clothing piled on the floor and spilling off the bed. Her first thought was that this was a bleak sort of place. For a moment she lay there with the sound of rain tapping in softly. The light shown in from a window over her head.

It was then that Arya realized Gendry was next to her.

Her heart sank faster than it ever had before as it all suddenly became clear. It was as if she had still been asleep and now she was suddenly jolted awake. All numbness returned, and as Gendry sighed in his sleep and rolled across the bed away from her, the loss of him made reality come crashing in like ice.

Oh my god, what have I done?

Arya lay back against the pillows, her head throbbing wildly and tears threatening to squeeze from her eyes. How could she have let this happen? She had known, of course she had known, his longing for them to be together. How could she not have? She had seen his face the second he saw her again. Arya could see it now, as he slept soundly, cradling his wrist, his face smooth and undisturbed.

And now she would break his heart again.

Arya felt suddenly ill, as though she would be sick upon the floor, but she did not. She closed her eyes for a moment, sinking.

She had to leave. It seemed that this was such a cowardly act, but that did not flit through Arya's hurried mind as she swept up her clothes. Her pants were yanked up each leg. Her t-shirt wrestled on. But it wasn't fast enough.

"What are you doing?"

Gendry had awoken, realization dawning on his face.

"Gendry," she looked up, her lip trembling for a split second, and then it stilled itself into icy cold indifference. "Gendry, I'm so sorry."

"You're leaving?" His voice was in the state of a strangled question, but his eyes were not. Arya bent her head, and then lifted it, meeting his gaze. She felt emotion sapping at every crack in her body, but everything, every instinct, told her to ignore it. She could not afford to feel, not when it had destroyed everything she had.

"I can't... I'm sorry," Arya said hastily as she fled, brushing past him. He didn't move, too astounded to stop her. She walked swiftly, buttoning up her coat as she went. Arya's hand found the door and she violently pushed it open. A rush of cool air followed. The rain was falling hard and it gusted at her, cold and biting.

"Arya. ARYA!" She heard Gendry roar, and then he thundered after her. She kept walking. She couldn't think of what else to do.

"Why are you doing this?" he grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him. Through the rain Arya could see the anguish on his face. His fingers shook as he tried to tie his robe closed with one good hand.

"You can't just leave like that," he said, looking scared. "Come back inside."

"I can't... We can't," Arya tried to explain through a spurting mouth. "Cersei..."

"Cersei!" He snapped angrily. "It is always Cersei!"

"She murdered my family!" Arya shouted back. "It isn't right, you and me! Not right now! I can't handle an affair-"

"An affair," Gendry scoffed, horrible rage trembling on his lips. "AN AFFAIR? Is that all this is to you? Some sort of cheap lovers' rendezvous?"

"That's not fair!" Arya cried. "That's not what I meant!"

"Not fair? I'm not being fair?" Gendry roared in indignation. "HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST I'M THE ONE THAT'S NOT BEING FAIR? I have helped you, I have stopped my work, my life, and everything else to aid you! You! WHO LEFT ME!"

"I am sorry I left but I was a child Gendry! My father was murdered! My mother, my brother...What was I supposed to have done?" She could feel her hands shaking and she could not stop them. She ripped tears away from her eyes with her sleeve.

"Don't you DARE try to make me the monster here!" Gendry shouted. "You spat in my face after I'd given you my whole heart and you dare to accuse me?"

"Three years have passed between this time and that! Things have changed!" Arya shouted back.

"You haven't!" He accused. "You're still running away, without a care in the world for what pain it's causing!"

"Running away is stopping the pain!" Arya cried. "Gendry, I have lost everything! I've got nothing left!"

"You have me," Gendry said feebly.

"It's not enough!" Arya said. "We're all so broken, Jon, Sansa, you, me. We aren't a family anymore, we aren't anything anymore, and she did this! She ruined everything I ever loved!"

"And what about me then? What about how I feel?" Gendry demanded. "I'm not enough?

"You are an adult Gendry," Arya said sharply, collecting herself, "and you're acting like a child. What of the past? What I did happened three years ago, why should it matter now?"

"It does matter now!" Gendry shouted, looking suddenly as though his every nerve was on fire. Wild outrage scorched in his eyes.

"Why?" Arya yelled back. "Tell me! Tell me why we keep going back again and again and again to the same thing? WHY?"

"BECAUSE I'M STILL IN FUCKING LOVE WITH YOU!" Gendry shouted so madly Arya took several steps backwards.

"I'm still in love with you."

The impact of his words nearly caused her to fall backwards, her hands clutching for something, anything to hold onto. After regaining her footing Arya stood there, staring at him, water sliding down her face, her breath coming out in rapid spurts, mind racing. Arya gave a shuttering breath, and she found that her eyes were pricking from something that had nothing to do with the rain.

"Gendry- Gendry, I'm so sorry."

He gave a dark laugh, shaking his head as though he didn't quite believe it.

"I-I can't. You know I can't. Cersei-"

He looked up, the fury in his gaze sucking the words from her mouth. Arya found her tongue folding back against itself as her lip trembled. She could not move. She could not speak.

"Go on then," he said darkly. "Run."

"Gendry it's not the same, you know it's not the same," Arya said, reaching out, stumbling forward.

He pulled back, as though disgusted.

"Then why does it hurt as much?" He asked, his question raw and his eyes black. Arya could not answer him.

"You know what?" He said with a bitter laugh. "I take it back. I take it all back. I don't love you, I hate you. I hate you with every single bit of my soul. And once this is over, I never want to see you again."

Arya gasped. He was no longer laughing.

And this time, it was Gendry that turned away. He did not want to be in her presence any longer. With a fierce finality, he turned coldly and began to walk back towards the house as though Arya was nothing. As though they had never had such an intense exchange. And in that moment, Arya never loathed herself more.

"Gendry!"

Arya could not control herself. She knew, some part of her knew, that this is what she had wanted. Wasn't it true? Hadn't Arya said that they couldn't go on? Had she not stood there, in all her vindictive glory, and told him they were to part? And yet... This could not be what Arya wanted. Not at all.

Because hadn't she been the one who pulled him towards her the night before? Wasn't she the one that had crashed her hungry lips against his? Pulled him down with her into a sinking body that was drowning? She was so selfish. Arya thought she knew all about the evil of human nature. She thought she had understood it when she saw blood and gore splattered across so many surfaces, but she knew now that there was a deeper hurt than the act of violence. One that Arya had grown accustomed to performing. Perhaps she had deserved all the heartache she had been dealt.

Rain curled into her hair and slid down her cheeks. The wretched green monster within her head sneered that she deserved this, and she did. Arya had asked to be alone, she had had several opportunities where she could be in the warmth of the people that cared for her and she had pushed it away. For what? The numbness of solitude?

No it was fear. Fear cuts deeper than swords.

And it was all she could do to not fall apart at the melting of her icy heart.

"We'll take the Red Keep from the alleys," Stannis said as they all sat around his dining room table, "while my men storm through the main entrance. Night is our friend. The more people there, the more hostages, and then they'll have to surrender. Too many people of importance are there for Tywin to shut us down. Once we have a panic, we have them."

"Good thing Arya's here," Yoren said with a bark of laughter. "She's good at causing a panic."

Arya could only half-smile dully. Her knuckles were white as they gripped the seat of her chair. She was so close. She was so close to tasting their blood in her mouth, to tasting revenge... Her bones were rigid, and she reached for Needle, imagining the blade cutting into Cersei's throat... Then Tywin's...

They boarded the ferry as the sun burned low. The rain had stopped, and now there was just an eerie silence that had settled over everything. The ride to King's Landing was quiet and tense. Gendry sat outside, not looking at her or acknowledging her, and Arya wasn't sure she wanted to speak to him either. Their lives together were over now. They had nothing left to say to each other, and she was tired of messy ends.

When they docked in King's Landing, Jon took off in the squad car, and Sansa, Arya, Gendry, Stannis and Yoren boarded an innocent looking ice cream van. The rest of Stannis's men dispersed into cars, and as Yoren revved the van into action, Stannis opened one of many boxes, and started handing them weapons, namely very big guns. Gendry took them, but Sansa wouldn't. She had a small handgun, but she looked very pale and nervous. Arya wondered if she had ever hurt anyone in her life, but she had insisted on coming.

As they pulled to a stop, Arya felt a hum of adrenaline shoot through her. Every muscle was ready and waiting. Blood coursed through her mouth and her heart beat wildly in her chest. Everything was coming together. Everything was about to end.

They got out of the van as quietly as possible. Arya led the way down the alley. It was dusk out. Everything was swelling. It was like being underwater. It was so calm... So serene...

She knew it was a trap before she even rounded the corner, but it was a second too late. Everything was still, and then it was exploding. They had known they would be coming. They were ready.

Gunfire exploded across the street, and Arya would have been blown to bits if it weren't for Gendry, who grabbed the back of her jacket and yanked her back behind the corner. She did not spare him thanks. Instead, she loaded her gun, whipped around the corner and fired, killing the first line of men with one swift sweep of her gun.

She whipped back around before they could fire at her, and she saw Stannis pull the trigger out of a smoke grenade, and then he threw it around the corner. It exploded, and then, without a second's hesitation, they all charged into the mayhem, weapons ready and shooting at anyone and anything.

The smoke was thick, and Arya used it to her advantage. Like a shadow she dashed around, shouldered her bigger weapon in favor of her handgun, making clean kill shots of the Lannister men that were getting to their feet, coughing and sputtering from the smoke. She shot a man through the head-

"Arya look out!"

She dodged a bullet just in time and spun back around to see Gendry looking relieved, his body sighing...

There was a beat, and then suddenly, it was as if everything stopped. Time began to ooze. Arya turned, as if in slow motion, though in reality she was spinning, screaming. No sound came out. Only silence and the beating of her heart.

It was as if she never even heard the shot.

There might not have been a shot at all. Gendry's face was perfectly normal. He was looking straight into her eyes... Everything was fine...

But then something changed in his expression. There was a jerk, a confusion, a flash of pain and horror, and then he was falling... Falling... Falling...

There was so much blood.

Gendry.

"NOOOO!" She screamed. "NOOO!"

She was running at him, screaming for him, panic tearing wildly at her heart, tears exploding from her eyes as she gave ragged, terrified gasps of breath, every intake as sharp as knives. Every step towards him seemed to be backwards.

"GENDRY!"

His hands were clamped to his stomach, blood leaking through them in droves, sticking to his shirt as he gasped for breath, his face screwed up in shocked pain as he made choking noises, shaking. He coughed and there was blood there too.

Arya nearly crashed into him. She grabbed at him desperately, as if shaking him would make things better. She always shook him when he was being stupid, and it usually stopped. Why wasn't it working? Her mind was so scattered and nothing was making sense aside from the fact that there was blood, blood everywhere.

"It's going to be all right," she heard herself say in her mechanical voice, so cold, so unfeeling. "Just don't panic."

"Arya..." He rasped.

"Don't talk," she snapped. "I'll call an ambulance. Now apply pressure-"

"Stop," he whispered.

"Lay back-"

"Stop."

She looked over at him, and suddenly there was a coldness, a different coldness than the one she had felt before. Before it was a coping device. A coldness in order to save him, but... This was the deadest of cold because she knew, in that instant, that it was over. He knew it too, because his fingers closed over hers.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head furiously at him, her stupid bull boy. He only shook his head at her, his lips growing wet with blood... "No! No, NO, NO!"

She was screaming now, she knew. Screaming against the reality that was crashing in around her. But she just couldn't... Not him... Not Gendry. She couldn't lose him. Not him. Please not him.

"Gendry!" she cried, tears running down her face and clogging at her throat. "Someone help him! Do something! Call a fucking ambulance! No... No..."

She cradled his body, rocking back and forth and sobbing. Gendry began to make gasping noises, and she felt him reach a trembling hand to her face.

"I've... I..." he was trying to say something, but she couldn't let him.

"Don't. Don't talk. Don't do anything," she said curtly, shaking her head. "Save your strength. You're going to be fine."

Gendry shook his head.

"No, I won't be..." He said, his hand trembling against her face.

"Yes, you are! You have to be! You can't... I won't let you... You can't die!" Arya cried at him angrily, rocking back and forth. "You stupid bull boy, you-You CAN'T!"

Gendry's eyes began to flutter close and gently, ever so gently, she felt his thumb move against her face and wipe a tear away. Arya looked into his fading eyes, and felt her breath catch in her throat, sticking.

"I love you," he sighed softly, "but you already know that."

His eyes slid closed and he fell into unconsciousness. Unmoving.

"No..."

"The ambulance is coming, Arya!" Sansa was there, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter because his eyes weren't open. They were supposed to be open.

"No..."

"Oh, Arya," Sansa's voice caught in her throat, and Arya shook her away. She didn't want Sansa to cry for her. She didn't want...

"Gendry!" She shouted at him cradling him to her. "Gendry! Answer me! Answer me you stupid... GENDRY!"

"Arya..."

"He can't die!" Arya sobbed. "This can't happen! Gendry!"

She shook him wildly, but then Sansa was pulling her off him, and she was fighting and screaming, but there were other people there too. They were just blurs though, blurs against the tears that were pouring out of her eyes as the sounds of the ambulance drew nearer and nearer, and then it was there, and there were people... People everywhere...

Stannis and his men had disappeared long ago and it was only Sansa. Sansa holding her as she cried numbly. Sansa who lead her into the ambulance with Gendry, and then who shut the door, her lips moving with words of instruction and comfort, but there were none. As the door slammed shut, Arya felt as though it was shutting out everything. Sound, reason, feeling... Life. She sat, utterly still, barely able to breathe, staring at him.

It seemed like it took whole years to get to the hospital, and when they did, Arya felt choked. She practically ripped herself from the ambulance, staggering and gasping for breath, her head swimming, her eyes clogged. Everything was spinning and her heart was beating too fast and...

They wheeled him inside and she found herself racing after them, a certain insanity taking over as she stumbled behind the team of medics, all saying things that didn't make sense. Then they were pushing past swinging doors, and she was reaching for his hand...

"Sorry miss," the man in the white coat said, "you can't go into the operating room."

"No!" Arya said, struggling as Gendry was wheeled farther and farther away. "No, please! Please just let me-"

"Miss," the man said, pushing against her, "calm down! Visitors aren't allowed-"

"I'm not a visiter! Y-You don't understand!" She sobbed. "I have to... I have to tell him... He-He doesn't know!"

"You'll tell him after-"

"HE'S GOING TO DIE!" She screamed. "I CAN'T TELL HIM AFTER BECAUSE IT'LL BE TOO LATE AND HE WON'T KNOW!"

"I'm going to call security," the man warned.

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LISTEN?" Arya shrieked at him, shaking him. "DO SOMETHING ONCE IN YOUR FUCKING LIFE AND JUST LISTIN TO ME! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

"ARYA!"

Sansa rushed up and tried to pull Arya away, but she struggled violently.

"Do you know her?"

"Yes," Sansa said, grabbing Arya's arms and pinning them down as she sobbed. "She's my sister."

"If you don't get her to calm down, she'll have to be removed from the premises," the man in the lab coat said firmly.

"You'll do no such thing."

Jon was there. Jon was finally there, grabbing a hold of her alongside Sansa, his grip strong, like an anchor.

"I'm a police officer," he said forcefully. "And if you so much as lay a finger on her-"

"It's all right, Jon," Sansa was saying, but Arya could barely listen to them. She was twisting Jon's shirt and twisting it...

"Please!" Arya shouted, her hair falling in her face and sticking to the wet tear tracks. "PLEASE!"

"Arya, I'm sorry," Sansa said soothingly. "We have to go now. They'll let you see him soon."

"No!" Arya cried, pushing against her. "They won't! It'll be too late! Please just let me... Please..."

But Sansa's arms were surprisingly strong, and, coupled with Jon's gentle hands on her shoulders, Arya felt herself being drawn away from the doors, watching them slide away from her like glass, and she thought to herself numbly that this was like running in a dream and not really going anywhere. So this must have been a dream. It must have been...

She found herself sitting in a chair, and then on the floor, her hands coated with blood and cracked and numb, clasped together as her arms hung around her knees. Her eyes were fuzzy and blank, and everything sounded like she was underwater. Far away and distant Sansa came to kneel next to her and washed her hands with a sterile wipe and said things, and Jon sat next to her, rubbing life into her dead limbs, but Arya was despondent. She just couldn't seem to think or feel anything but pain, as though the bullet had gone through her. She wished the bullet had gone through her.

Hours passed, and Sansa left her a cup of coffee, but it was never drunk. By the time morning came around, it was cold as ice and Arya hadn't even looked at it. She didn't think she could fall asleep if she wanted to. Sleep was a stranger.

She did not know how much time had passed, or what time it was when a nurse finally came to say that she could go see him. She barely heard the words that were being said to her. Things like 'coma' and 'stable' were drifting around in her head, but also phrases like 'his condition is uncertain' were clashing into her ears as well.

"We don't know if he's going to pull through," the nurse's voice echoed from some far off place. "He's lost a lot of blood, but he's a fighter..."

They stopped outside a door, and the nurse opened it.

"Five minutes," she said with a sad smile.

Arya felt herself walking into the room, but not sure how she really managed it. Sansa and Jon tried to come with her, but she shook her head and the door shut behind her, and she was in darkness.

He was lying on the bed, all sorts of tubes and wires connected to him, a heart monitor at his side, beeping quietly. His face was pale and drained of blood and unshaven, and there were dark hollows under his eyes. When she reached out a shaking hand to slid her fingers against his, they were cold and unmoving. She took a shuddering breath and sat on the bed, slowly shifting her weight onto the mattress as if it were made of spiders webs. There was a long moment of silence as she struggled, her voice cracked.

"Gendry Waters... You told me yesterday that you loved me, but I guess you already know that," she said, staring at her shoes, still splattered with blood. He did not respond. The monitor beeped on and on, and there was only silence as she watched him, tears slowly leaking out of her eyes. She brushed then away with a shaking hand.

"You couldn't have done it properly, could you?" She said with a shaky laugh. "You know, most boys take a girl out, go to the cinema, buy her dinner, and then-then they tell her they love her. But even then, it's probably just to get into her pants."

Gendry didn't move a muscle. His face was as smooth as glass. His stupid face.

"All right," Arya relented, "I know, that wasn't funny. I'm sort of out of jokes at the moment. I think, given the circumstances, you might understand."

She let out a sigh, her lips trembling, snot and tears mixing on her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the tears still came, and she knew she would never be able to stop them. All those years of wearing a mask and closing herself away and she couldn't do it now. All that practice, gone to shit.

"You know, you accused me of knowing all along, that you loved me..." Arya started out, her hands quivering. She took a great, shaky breath. "And you were right," she said, starting to cry in earnest, "I did know. I was everything you accused me of being. I was selfish, I was a bitch to you and I am sorry. I just thought... I thought it would screw everything up. But... But I was wrong. And I don't deserve you, not really. Even after all that shitty stuff you did. It was all because of me anyway. And I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

She started to sob, and put her hands over her face, covering it and crying into her palms, ugly sobs gasping at her throat.

"You can't die on me, Gendry Waters," she choked out. "You can't. I won't let you. And you know why?"

She took Gendry's hand and pressed it against her damp cheek, leaning towards his face, his glorious, stupid face, the beeping of the monitor sounding in the background.

"Because I love you."

Taking a deep breath, she leaned in and kissed him. There was nothing there. Just unmoving lips. Wake up damn you, she thought, tears running down her face. Just please wake up and kiss me back.

But that was when the monitor stopped, and then suddenly started begin screaming, and everyone was flooding into the room, and they were pulling her off him, and he disappeared from sight.

remember what I said about the thing with the happy endings and yeah *hides*