Work Text:
Start At The Break
Sirens blared all around them. The siren from the bank, the police cars, the warnings that she had tuned out for so long. The noise was so loud she was surprised she could hear anything beyond it. But she did. She heard about his crimes, his deceit. The criminal she had been hunting for four years and her boyfriend of two and half were the same man. And she felt like she was the biggest fool in the world for not knowing who the man was that slept beside her every night.
The young Agent, she thought his name was Podrick Payne, took her cuffs and clicked them around his wrists. She heard the rights being read to the criminal but couldn’t comprehend them. Her heart clenched so hard she thought she might be having a heart attack. For a second she looked at him. His face was caught between the red and blue spinning lights of the cars. Each color caressed a different plane of it’s perfect, beautiful structure.
Jaime Lannister, the only man she had ever let into her life, the only man she let her guard down with, opened his mouth to speak and she quickly walked away. Nothing he could tell her would make this better, would make her feel less like an idiot. Her breathing was getting heavier and she was close to breaking down. She walked into the bank to look at the crime scene. Everything fit the Golden Lion’s modus operandi. There was a precision to his crimes. Barely anything was disturbed. He had skills. He knew what he wanted and he went after it.
And what he wanted was the Dornish Red Ruby… which wasn’t at this bank location. The bureau had put word out on the streets that the ruby- worth ten million gold dragons- was to be housed at this bank until it was auctioned the following week. The set up had been Brienne’s idea. It had come from an off handed comment Jaime had said while they sat snuggled up on the couch. The plan had worked and they had caught him. She swallowed and walked back out front. The forensics team was working on gathering evidence and she would only get in the way with how out of sorts she was feeling. Every move she made was one to avoid getting close to him . She let her partner, Jon Stark take the lead. She let him take the statements from Jaime, because she couldn’t.
Special Agent Brienne Tarth felt his eyes on her. Emerald orbs that she loved so much locked on her face while she kept her gaze on the pillar behind him as she struggled to listen to another agent talk. Her stomach was tied so tightly she felt like she was going to throw up at any moment. How many times during their relationship had she thought it was too good to be true? How many nights did she look at him and think, no, this gorgeous man couldn’t possibly love her? How many times did he hold her while she blurted out her fears and insecurities? Did he have a great laugh at her expense? Did he have to think of someone else to kiss her? If so, what did he have to think about when made love to her? Was everything they shared fake?
The whispers, she tried to block out, from all those people that said he was using her were true. She had been the perfect mark for a skilled con man like the Golden Lion. Brienne was just a stupid, ugly girl that had been flattered by a handsome man taking an interest in her. She had let herself fall hard for him and, in the end, she had been shattered when she finally hit the ground.
“Brie,” Jon said softly. She pulled herself from the spiral and looked at him, trying her best to be professional when all she wanted to do was curl into a bowl of double chocolate chunk ice cream and cry. “He won’t talk.”
“Okay, wha-”
“To me,” he interrupted. His soft gray eyes were pained for her. He had been there from the beginning of Jaime’s courtship of her. He had watched it all. “He wants to talk to you.”
“No,” she snapped, the hurt was making her tone harsh.
“Brie,” Jon sighed.
Her entire body went into a panic. Her eyes involuntarily found Jaime’s. What she had to do was clear, and she hated it! She said nothing more. Her partner wouldn’t push, but he wouldn’t back down either. It didn’t matter though, she knew she had to face this. He wouldn’t push her, however, she had to push herself. With as much dignity as she could muster, while feeling like the biggest joke in all of King’s Landing, she walked over to where Jaime was leaning on the black sedan cop car… her black sedan. Brienne forced her emotions back, slipping into the role of kingdom agent, and stopped in front of him.
“Mr. Lannister,” she said in the most authoritative tone she could produce. “Agent Stark said you wished to speak with me.”
“Blue,” Jaime said in that soft way he would talk to her when they were alone.
“It’s Agent Tarth,” Brienne replied quickly. Her insides were quaking though. She longed to cry and beg him to tell her this was all a mistake, that he wasn’t the Golden Lion, that he hadn’t used her. She wanted to curl her fists up and punch his fucking perfect face. She wanted… a lot of things. “What did you want to tell me that you couldn’t tell Agent Stark?”
He looked around them before starting to lean in close. “I just wanted to tell you,” he sighed. “You weren’t a fool, Blue.” She swallowed, her breath catching in her throat. “Everything I said to you while holding you in my arms was true. My feelings-”
“Are you the Golden Lion, Mr Lannister?” She had to interrupt. She couldn’t take his words anymore or how they twisted her up. Jaime looked at her with a haunted expression. His guilt was clear on his face. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She took a step back. “Are you ready to confess?” She pulled out her notebook and a pen, trying not to notice how much her hand was shaking. “Where do you want to start?”
Jaime stared at her, then he reached out to touch her hand. She flinched and backed away again. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I never planned to fall-”
“The case, Mr. Lannister,” she clicked her pen. “Our personal relationship is not of importance.”
“It is to me.”
Brienne scoffed, finally letting a small break in her armor be seen. “I find that hard to believe knowing what I know.” She held his gaze a little while longer before her heart couldn’t take it anymore, then she slid the notebook and pen into her pocket. “We’re done here.”
“Blue…”
“We’re done ,” she emphasised the word to get him to understand. She wasn’t just talking about this conversation, she meant completely. This was the end for her, for them. As far as Agent Brienne Tarth was concerned, Jaime Lannister was just another criminal apprehended. At least that’s what he would be to her once her heart would stop breaking and her soul didn’t feel like it had been ripped out of her. “I never want to see or hear from you again. You understand that. Never. Again .” Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. She was losing her composure quickly. “Good bye, Jaime.”
She turned and walked away. This was the end for her….
It wasn’t the end for Jaime. He watched her walk away from him, taking his heart with her. She couldn’t see it now, and he couldn’t blame her, but they weren’t done yet. Brienne Tarth was the only woman he had ever known that made him want to be better than he was. He couldn’t lose her. He knew he would be put away, he would have to serve his time, but he would get her back. Somehow, some way, he would be by her side again. That was a promise and one he intended to keep. Brienne Tarth would be his again.
For him, this wasn’t the end- it was the beginning. Their journey together wasn’t done.