Disclaimer: This story is told from the perspectives of Jaime Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen. No infringement is intended; all rights belong to the brilliant George R.R. Martin. However, please note that there will be certain scenes taken from episodes of the series and rewritten to accommodate my storyline as needed. Additionally, all photos used of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Emilia Clarke belong to those parties and those parties alone.

Circumstances

"Well this certainly is a mess you've gotten yourself into, dear brother. Tell me, was it not so recently that our roles were reversed?" Tyrion Lannister raised a stubby finger, gesturing towards himself as he took a step closer to the outside of his older brother's cell. "Of course I'd been in your place; rotting in the Black Cells at our sweet sister's command . . . whereas now you're here; wasting away in the Mad King's daughter's dungeons. Funny, how circumstances can change so quickly."

Looking up from his place strewn about the filthy dungeon floor, Jaime Lannister grinned at his younger brother's arrival. Tyrion had always known how to make an entrance. In point of fact, all of the Lannisters excelled at making entrances. Jaime, however, could not entirely boast of his latest upon entering the city of Meereen. After Daenerys Targaryen's Unsullied had discovered him lurking near the Great Pyramid he'd been beaten, captured and taken straight to the dungeons where he'd spent the past several days awaiting whatever punishment the Mother of Dragons decided to bestow upon him next. He couldn't be more down on his luck; spending every moment awaiting his impending death, and yet even now; after all he'd been through, his little brother still possessed the gift of rousing a smile out of him.

Jaime had left King's Landing behind months ago in his attempt to find Tyrion. Of late, Cersei had become bitter, cold and distant. Day in and day out; enduring rejection after constant rejection, Jaime had finally made the decision that if he couldn't have the love of the sibling he desired, he would do everything in his power to be with the sibling he knew truly loved him. Varys' little birds had passed messages to Jaime along the way to help aid him during his passage, and after a great many weeks of seemingly endless travel he had arrived in the city of Meereen where it was rumored that the youngest Lannister had sought out Daenerys Targaryen to support her claim to the Iron Throne.

"Yes, and quite an exit you made, little brother." Jaime began slowly, his voice hoarse from not having spoken a word in several days. "Truthfully, I believe I too should have received some credit for our father's death. After all, was I not the one who taught you how to locate the heart during all those trainings in the tiltyard when we were children?"

"Indeed," Tyrion agreed, raising his small, childlike hands. "A bit rusty, I'm afraid. It took me two shots to get the job done. Nevertheless, the end result took full effect all the same."

The brothers shared a brief, sad smile before lowering their gazes to the ground. Tyrion had not spoken to anyone of the night he'd murdered their father, not even to Varys during their long travels throughout the slave cities. The eunuch had already known of course, but still he hadn't pried. Now that Tyrion had spoken of it to Jaime however, he had breathed life into it. It was real. Tyrion had murdered their father.

Tywin Lannister had been a ruthless man and even more so, a ruthless father. Unlike Cersei, Jaime had not shed a single tear for their father's untimely death. Tywin was a great leader, not even his children could deny him that, but a horrible parent. His death would be a harsh blow to Tommen's reign over the Seven Kingdoms. Jaime knew better than anyone that his son was not the rightful heir, no matter his surname, and he'd grown tired of supporting kings who held no claim to the Iron Throne. The boy was kind, yes, and much less of a threat to the realm than Joffrey had been, but kindness didn't win wars. Now that Tywin was gone, Tommen wouldn't stand a chance. Not against Stannis Baratheon, nor the Greyjoys — not even against this Dragon Queen half a world over.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Our father was shot in his privy exactly ten minutes after I released you from your cell. I may not be quite as brilliant as you are, Tyrion, but it wasn't difficult to figure out."

"And you're not angry with me?" Tyrion asked, narrowing his eyes as he stared at his older brother in disbelief.

For a long moment, Jaime said nothing. He'd seen how the death of their father had destroyed Cersei and yet here he was, unaffected.

"I would've done the same thing, had he condemned me to such a fate."

"Ah, but he would never have done such a thing! You're the golden child, remember?"

A bitter smile quirked the edge of Jaime's mouth, yet he said nothing in return.

From the beginning Tyrion had known that his father had every intention of sentencing him to death. Tywin had known that Tyrion was innocent, and yet that didn't matter. Why should the truth ruin the perfect opportunity to finally rid himself of his last born? Jaime had fought against this notion through the beginning of Tyrion's trial, but reluctantly came to realize that their father had every intention of allowing his brother to be executed near the end. That was where the deal came in; the deal where Jaime had promised to leave the Kingsguard, marry a suitable woman and finally give Tywin the legacy he so greatly desired. If, and only if, he spared Tyrion.

Jaime had never told Tyrion of his sacrifice. There had been no reason to after the youngest Lannister opened his mouth and selfishly fucked over the entire deal by demanding a trial by combat instead. In the end, Jaime's acceptance over the fact that Tywin had truly wanted Tyrion dead was likely what had made him numb to the news that Tyrion had murdered their father.

"Why are you here, Jaime? It can't be the million golden dragons Cersei is no doubt offering for my capture."

"Three million."

"Pardon me?"

"Our sister has tripled the price for your head since you added our father to your body count, as well as offered a lordship to whomever captures you — highborn or low."

"Have you become so desperate to rid yourself of your position of Captain of the Kingsguard that you would go to such lengths?"

Tyrion eyed his older brother closely. There was something broken in Jaime, no matter how hard he tried to hide it behind his clever quips. Tyrion could smell it on his brother just as distinctly as he could smell the blood, dirt and sweat that he'd been stewing in for the past several days while he'd been Daenerys' prisoner.

"Gods, what has Cersei done to you now?"

A loaded question, Jaime thought with a wry chuckle. What hadn't their sister done to him in all their years together? While Tyrion had without a doubt received the worst treatment from Cersei all their lives, she had never been kind to either brother.

"As of late, she taunted me over my choice to join the Kingsguard, made her comments on how father never wanted that for me; how in doing so I'd shamed him as well as the Lannister name. She had the bloody nerve to do so, even when she knew . . . "

"Knew what?"

"That I had done it all for her! To be with her!" Pulling himself into a sitting position, Jaime cursed, his anger rising to the surface with each word. "I tried to convince her not to let the people of King's Landing pull us apart, but she kept insisting that it was you who had done the damage."

Of course Tyrion knew of Jaime and Cersei's incestuous affair that had begun when they were children. Unlike their father, he couldn't turn a blind eye to such antics. But Jaime had never confessed the truth to him in all these years, not once.

"Did I ever tell you how Cersei used to torment you, long before you were even old enough to realize it?" Capturing a handful of hay between his fingers, Jaime continued. "She treated you like a bloody circus act; inviting the neighborhood children into your nursery to see you — 'The Demon Child who killed our dear, sweet mother.'"

Feeling a muscle in his jaw twitch, Tyrion looked away. He'd heard this tale from Oberyn Martell when the Red Viper had come to visit him in the Black Cells after his arrest for Joffrey's assassination. "I've already heard this story."

"But what you may not have heard is that I let her. Even then, I was terrified of our sister's wrath . . . and even more, of her rejection." Tossing the hay aside, Jaime swallowed down the lump that had been forming in his throat. Even now, thinking of the way he'd allowed Cersei to treat their baby brother had a way of reducing him to tears. "So day in and day out, I accompanied Cersei as she escorted more children into the nursery to poke fun at you, and each night I cried myself to sleep for what I had done."

Staring at Jaime in awe, Tyrion found himself completely at a loss for words; a very rare trait for the dwarf. But if anything could silence him, it was the sight of his older brother in his current state.

"Why are you here, Jaime?" Tyrion asked desperately, his fear betraying him in the sudden hitch of his voice. "You're a fool to have come, no matter the reason. Daenerys is not known for showing mercy to her enemies."

"I've always enjoyed a violent woman."

Tyrion frowned at his brother's gross attempt at wit. The Lannister brothers were known for their sharp tongues, and Tyrion had often enjoyed partaking in various scraps with his older brother, but this was not one of those times.

"Finally seeking forgiveness for your crimes?"

Chuckling, Jaime shook his head. "I think we both know that my crimes are past forgiveness."

"What then?!" Tyrion exclaimed, quickly growing impatient of this game.

For so long Tyrion had cherished his time spent with Jaime; the only member of the entire Lannister clan who treated him like a person rather than the monster that had ripped itself out of their mother and taken her life with him. Despite now supporting Daenerys Targaryen's claim to the Iron Throne, Tyrion could not bare the thought of the Dragon Queen's first act of revenge being the execution of his older brother.

"I missed you," Jaime admitted, a desperate ache sounding at the back of his throat.

In all the years Tyrion had known Jaime, he had never seen his brother like this. Never in his life would he have expected Jaime to leave Cersei, even more he'd never expected the idea to frighten him as much as it did. Surely removing Cersei from his life was a good thing; much like extracting a festering cancer that was sure to kill him. It had to be . . . and yet Jaime's actions were terrifying to behold once they'd finally been put into motion.

"Jaime, you must get control over yourself. Your chances of surviving this are already dire, but perhaps if you plead for mercy — perhaps Daenerys will let you live out the rest of your days at the Wall."

"I have no desire to return to the North and spend the rest of my years freezing my arse off, surrounded by Jon Snow and a bloody cock fest."

"Do you think so little of your life now?"

"I've never been afraid to die."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Glancing down at the stump where his sword hand had once been, Jaime ran his fingers over it. One of the first things that Daenerys' men had done upon capturing him had been to take the golden hand that Cersei had Qyburn make for him. Truthfully, Jaime almost preferred being without it. It felt like a lie and after living a life full of them he was growing tired of the deception.

"What did you think, Jaime? Did you think that you could charm Daenerys into forgetting that you murdered her father?"

"I wanted to be with my brother. I had hoped that the rumor that you were supporting Daenerys was just that; a rumor."

"Well it isn't. I do support her, as should you. Don't you finally want to be remembered for something good? To be on the right side of history?"

"Dear brother, do you forget who you're talking to?" Jaime scoffed. "When have I ever cared what others think of me?"

"Do it for me then!" Tyrion yelled impatiently.

From the moment Jaime had sliced the Mad King's throat open he knew this would become his fate. Of course he'd imagined to be at the mercy of Viserys rather than his younger sister, but truly it made no difference. One way or another the gods had seen fit to make him pay for his crimes. Years had passed in between the sentence whilst Daenerys grew into the woman that she was today and learned of the man who had killed her father. Soon she would finally receive the justice she had no doubt craved all of these years. Jaime couldn't blame her for this desire, but he had to wonder if his execution would be the catalyst to starting her on her way down the same doomed path as her father.

"Why did you decide to follow her, Tyrion? What makes you think that this Targaryen will be any better than the last?"

"Because she has to be." Tyrion responded simply. "Daenerys is the start of a new world, Jaime — a better world — and I want you to be part of that world with me."

"And what do you think your Dragon Queen will have to say about that?"

Tyrion swallowed. While he had spent the past several weeks getting to know Daenerys, he could hardly anticipate what her reaction would be when finally coming face-to-face with her father's killer. Truthfully, Tyrion hadn't a clue what to expect — not from Daenerys, nor from Jaime, but he would be damned if he didn't do everything within his power to try to save his brother from the foolish situation he'd brought upon himself.

"Listen to me carefully, you fucking idiot. You may not give a damn about your life but I do, and this is what you're going to have to say to Daenerys in order to keep it."

A/N: Some of you may be confused as to why I've decided to repost this story from the beginning. Basically, I felt that before I could move forward, I had to go back and rewrite some scenes. This was the main scene that I wanted to rewrite. I wanted to make it abundantly clear that Jaime is very much broken at this point in his life. He hasn't gone to Meereen with the intention to serve Dany, but to be with his brother. His love and devotion to Daenerys will come, but it's going to take time and she will have to earn his trust just as much as he will have to earn hers.