Bolton Rising Part 60 - The Bastard Boys & Arya/Jeyne

"I'm so damn bored in this shit hole. Let's go out," Luton bitched as Skinner flipped through the tv channels, going from one bad reception filled screen to the next, before giving up and tossing the remote aside.

"Aye. There won't be anything to watch till we get a cable guy out here." Skinner tapped a cigarette out from the pack and lit up. "You'll need to convince Damon though. He still wants us all on lockdown and then there's the girl. We can't leave Arya here alone."

"Whatever. Just bring the wench with us. We can protect her." Luton gave a sly grin as he thought of something to get them all out of the Winterfell safe house for a few hours. "Yo, Damon!" he hollered, rising up from the sofa and heading into the makeshift surveillance room where the head Bastard Boy was keeping track of any reports concerning their lost leader, Ramsay Bolton.

"What is it?" Damon yanked a pair of headsets off and rubbed his weary eyes before taking a swig of hard liquor straight from the bottle.

"Anything yet?" Luton questioned, as Skinner walked in behind him to join the conversation.

"Not since I lost Gregor's signal 48 hours ago. I don't know how much longer we should wait before taking action ourselves," Damon sighed, finishing off his drink and setting the empty glass bottle back down with a clink.

"Have some faith in the Mountain. He'll get the Boss out." Skinner puffed out a plume of smoke, hiding his own growing concern as time ticked by without a word from either Gregor or Ramsay.

"Listen... Why don't we all go out to the Dreadfort Club?" Luton asked nervously as Damon gave him a hard glare. "We can collect on the profits and use the money to start fixing up this place," he added in hastily, hoping Damon didn't punch him in the face.

"It would do us a bit of good to get some fresh air," Skinner smirked, helping his failing brother out. "Yeah... What he said." Luton took a step back as Damon rose from his chair, still not looking pleased with the idea.

"We'll have to watch our backs out there, but the Boss won't be pleased if the club falls to ruin while he's away. It's up to us now to keep Ramsay's interests going and the money flowing to rebuild again." Damon slipped his leather jacket on then checked his loaded gun, giving in to the suggestion. "Go bring the car around, Luton, and you fetch the girl, Skinner. She doesn't leave our sight for a second once we're outside these walls. Got it?" He gave both Bastard Boys a serious look.

"No worries. The little lass is glued to me," Skinner chuckled, snuffing out his spent cigarette. "It's you two brutes always scaring her." Damon clenched his jaw in annoyance while Luton replied with a middle finger before letting out a relieved laugh. "Sweet! T&A brothers! T&A!" Luton chanted as he headed out to the underground vaulted garage, jingling the car keys loudly.

Arya could hear them talking from the kitchen where she was sitting in the window seat, drinking tea and looking out over the grounds. She'd been reading, but her mind kept wandering, the words on the page fading as her thoughts returned to Ramsay again and again.

The leaves had begun to fall from some of the trees and the view was bleak, but beautiful. She'd wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, as the clothes Luton had brought back for her were far from practical for the northern climate. Her short black skirt and sheer pink top covered lacy black lingerie, trimmed with pink. She'd gotten Luton to promise to buy her sweaters and jeans when he made his next supply run, and he'd agreed, unenthusiastically. Ramsay had always engaged personal shoppers to outfit her for all manner of occasions. Her lingerie collection had been extensive, some pieces had even been custom made to Ramsay's specifications. Thinking back to her extensive wardrobe, all of which had been destroyed, she felt a pang of longing.

"Come on then, lass," Skinner called as he entered the kitchen. "We're going out on the town." He smiled and held out a big hand to her as she climbed down from the window seat.

"You're sure it's safe?" Arya worried. "I'm not sure I'm dressed properly..." She stepped into black stiletto heels and followed Skinner through the house, picking up a fitted black leather jacket that she'd never yet worn. "I've never been out without Ramsay..." she trailed off, remembering the last time she’d been out of the house alone.

“Safe? No.” Skinner smirked as he guided Ramsay’s beloved pet down the stairs, hearing Luton revving up the car’s engine while Damon yelled for him to knock it off. “Our lives are never truly without danger, girl, but have no fear with us around… And of course, the Boss would never let anything happen to you either unless he did it himself,” the Bastard Boy replied, holding the door open for Arya and then climbing in after she was seated.

“All right, boys, let’s roll!” Luton exclaimed, smashing down on the gas pedal and launching the car out the open garage door and tearing down the road. “You better not get the fucking cops on us,” Damon growled. “We already got enough shit to deal with.”

“Relax, man. If we do, I will just lose them. Just like my last run to the mall for the girl’s clothes,” Luton laughed, grinning into the dash mirror back at Arya and Skinner, who raised a brow, not really surprised. “No wonder you took so long to get back. I thought it was just your panty fetish keeping you at those fancy boutiques.

“I figured he had passed out in the dressing room, peeping and jacking off,” Damon added, chuckling while Luton frowned and glared at being ribbed for his tastes and past transgressions. “Fuck you both,” he spat, before turning his eyes back on the road as his brothers continued to laugh.

Arya smiled as Ramsay's boys teased Luton. He was a good sport, she knew, and he'd forget all about their japes once they'd reached their destination. She knew where they were going and the thought distracted her from the good humor of her companions. The Dreadfort Club had frightened her when she'd gone there with Ramsay, but to think of going there without him was terrifying.

She shivered a little. "Cold, lass?" Skinner asked, looking over at her with concern. Arya nodded and Skinner put his arm around her shoulders. Sliding closer to him on the seat, she leaned into the big man's warmth. I won't let them know that I'm frightened. Ramsay would want her to be brave, and so she would not let on. They'll tell him how brave I've been... when he comes home... Arya blinked back tears, staring out the window into the darkness, as the car sped toward the Dreadfort Club.

She might have drifted off. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but all at once the car was coming to a stop at a guard station. Two rough looking men approached the car, one on either side of the vehicle. Arya could see that both men were clad in black and heavily armed, handguns drawn and ready, some kind of larger automatic weapons slung across their backs. Three additional armed men ran out of the guard house, rifles trained on the vehicle, ready to defend the club, should they be needed.

Luton lowered a tinted window and the man at the driver's side of the car visibly relaxed. "It's you, Bastards? Why didn't you let us know you were coming?"

"To make sure that you were doing your job to the fullest extent, you stupid fuck," Damon snapped, not in the mood for questions. "Clegane is off the map and I'm in charge until we hear from him. I wanted to see how you'd react to a strange car. He looked into the back seat at Skinner, who nodded. Damon gave a stiff nod in return then continued, "Everything looks to be in order here. Stay on full alert. We don't know where they might try to hit us next."He looked into the back seat at Skinner, who nodded. Damon gave a stiff nod in return, then continued. "Everything looks to be in order here. Stay on full alert, we don't know where they might try to hit us next."

"Right. No one's getting in here. We've got this place on lockdown." Turning, he unlocked a small box beside the guard house and pressed his forefinger to a biometric scanner. The huge iron gates slid open silently, allowing the car to pass through, then closed quickly behind them as they proceeded up the pitch black drive, like the mouth of a huge, terrifying beast swallowing them up into a dark abyss.