Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue.

A/N: I have not watch any of the episodes from Season 6; I only managed to force myself to watch 5x24 the other day in order to help me write this. What I know about Season 6 comes from fanvideos, gifts, episode synopses, reviews and comments on the web (and nothing of which I've seen or read has made me want to watch it). Everything from 5x24 stands except for Lily and Rufus breaking up. There will be mentions of Blair/Chuck, Dan/Serena and Dan/OCs in this story. This is also unbetaed so all mistakes are my own, but if there is anyone out there who would like to be my beta, then I would love to hear from you.

So enough of that and on with the story - I hope you enjoy!

xxx

Without warning or explanation, Blair left him.

Even now Dan's still finding this fact difficult to process. She did try to explain herself through emails and voice messages after she went back to Chuck, but as far as he's concerned that's just too little too late. He deletes them all straight away – it's really not worth his time. Nothing she can say or do can make this better.

She chose Chuck; after denying that she still had strong feelings for her ex, after agreeing to spend the summer with Dan, after swearing that she wanted to be with him. After not bothering to be courteous enough to break up with him, her foolish boyfriend, first.

He calls Georgina when he's at his lowest, feeling completely abandoned, angry and betrayed. All he wants now is revenge. All he wants now is to make everyone who's wronged him to feel as small and pathetic as he does. The only weapon he's ever had against the Upper East Side is words. He knows their true power. So he decides to write an exposé that would make The Insider look like an act of mercy.

Although by the time he and Georgina reach the airport, the doubts start to worm their way in. Those niggling little thoughts, which remind him that this is not who he is. That he's better than this. After he settles into his seat on the plane, which he's made sure is far away from Georgina in order to escape her inane babbling, they just continue to grow.

All the way to Rome.

xxx

He lies on his bed and stares at the ceiling fan as it whirls round and round. Just like the thoughts in his head. He knows well enough that he's not going to get any sleep. There's really no use in pretending otherwise. With a sigh he accepts defeat, retrieves his shirt and jeans, and heads down to the hotel lobby.

The bar downstairs is a decorated in an agelessly elegant style – he expects nothing less for a five star hotel in the heart of Rome. He walks straight up to the bar and orders a whiskey. As he settles onto one of the bar stools, he suddenly becomes aware that someone is watching him from the other end of the bar. He causally sips his drink, whilst using the mirror behind the shelves of bottles to observe the other person.

She's older than him, late twenties/early thirties, and has that self-assured air about her that some women develop with age. He decides that this only adds to her attractiveness. Her blue-grey eyes lock with his in the mirror and she offers him a flirtatious smile, before he looks down at his drink in embarrassment at being caught. He hears a soft laugh coming from her direction.

"Daniel Humphrey, right?"

He turns his head to find her looking directly at him, that same smile still playing on her lips. He notices a gentle Irish accent when she spoke. She chuckles again at the look of confusion on his face.

"Your picture is on The Insider's dust jacket. Right above those few disappointingly vague lines 'about the author'." She takes a sip of her drink, as he continues to stare at her blankly, not knowing whether he should be flattered or a little concerned. She gives him a nonchalant shrug as she adds, "I've look up books of everyone who are listed as part of our merry group."

His eyes widen slightly as he realises what she's talking about. "You're here for the writer's retreat!"

She laughs again, and he concludes that it's still a pleasant sound even if it's clearly at his expense. "I am indeed. I knew the second I laid eyes on your picture that you were a smart one."

She winks playfully at him and he doesn't know how to respond, as he desperately tries to recall the other names on the list and fails miserably.

"I'm Siobhan O'Donovan, by the way."

"Author of The Feral Garden and Our Discontent, right?" She grins at him and nods. "Wow, those are brilliant. Dark and melancholy, and... brilliant." He cringes at his own ineptitude. "Sorry, I'm usually a bit more eloquent then this. It's been a long day."

"Well how about another drink then?" She offers kindly, and then orders two more whiskeys when he nods. She tells the bartender to bring the drinks over to a smalls table to the left of the bar and beckons Dan to follow her to it.

They just sit there, talking and laughing, as the alcohol keeps coming and the night starts to edge closer to the next day. Dan feels more relaxed than he has in days. His feels this comforting warmth in his chest, and he's unsure if it's purely down to the alcohol or the fact that his and Siobhan's legs keep accidently touching one another under the table.

"You're not what I expected," He confesses, as their laughter fades away.

"What? Too happy for some who writes such dark and melancholy and brilliant stuff?" Her eyes twinkle as she mocks him with his own words.

He chuckles. "Something like that, perhaps. You're very attractive as well."

Siobhan's eyebrow quirks, as she sits back in her chair as if to get a better perspective on him. "Aren't you down on the list as Daniel Humphrey plus one? A plus one that was no doubt carefully vetted?"

"It's just me now," He replies, wishing that he was able hid the bitterness in his tone.

She starts to respond, when the bartender appears at the table to inform them that the bar is closing. Dan looks at his watch and see's that it's almost two in the morning. Leaning forward, Siobhan eyes him carefully, with her clasped hands resting on the table.

"Do you want to continue this in my room? I have a fully stocked mini bar and this retreat is all expenses paid, thank god."

"Ok."

"And it might not just be conversing and drinking this time. There could be sex too. I haven't quite decided yet."

He almost chokes on the last swig of whiskey in his glass. "You're very direct, you know that?"

She shrugs slightly and smiles at him as she gets to her feet. "I don't see the point of not being. Beating around the bush just leads to missed opportunities most of the time. Anyway, we're writers. Experiences feed our creative souls."

Dan smiles right back at her, as he stands up and offers her his arm. She links her arm through his and leads the way back down to the elevator.

xxx

He slowly wakes to the feeling of heat radiating off the naked body next to him. For a moment his treacherous mind convinces him that he will see rich brown hair when his eyes open. His heart feels the sharp stab of disappointment at the jet-black hair fanned across the pillow next to him. But Dan doesn't regret anything which happened. Expect maybe the amount of alcohol they consumed, as he's now got a dull pain in his head which is threatening to grow.

He downs the glass of water which is sitting on the bedside table, before grabbing his clothes off the floor. Once he's full dressed, he wakes Siobhan with a gentle kiss to her head and tells her that he needs a quick shower and he'll see her at breakfast with the others. She slowly stretches as she yawns, giving him a perfect view of the curves he foggily remembers from the night before. She grins when she spots him staring and tells him to clear off before he ends up late for breakfast. He happily strolls back to his room, a slight bounce in his step as he welcome a new day for once. New day, new begin - that's how it's supposed to go.

Dan's good mood dies when he opens his door to find Georgina sitting on his bed. "How did you get in here?"

"Please, what's important is why you weren't in here," She scoffs. "Where were you?"

He tells her that it's none of her business and, seeing as he's decided that he no longer wants to write the exposé, she can go. Georgina tries to protest that he can't change his mind now, reminding him of what's been done to him in an attempt to get thoughts of revenge to cloud his judgement once more.

"Look Georgina, someone helped me realise something really important last night. About how a true fictional writer's job is to create a world for the reading, which is made by drawing on their experience, but doesn't perfectly replicate it. All I've ever wanted is to be a great writer and I don't want to tarnish my work in order to score some petty points against people whose opinions I shouldn't care about."

"This isn't about some petty points; this is about the take down of the century. It's about taking back what's yours."

Dan just slowly shakes his head, as he holds the door open for her. "That's not who I am, Georgina and you know it. And it's not someone who I ever want to be. So this is goodbye."

He has to gently lead her out the door as she continues in vain to talk him round. Surrounded by blissful quite against, he quickly swallows a couple of painkillers and steps into a steaming shower. By the time he makes it down to the dining room for breakfast, he's running late. But Siobhan has helpfully saved him a seat next to her at the table.

xxx

After a couple of days, Dan knows that staying at the retreat without Georgina is one of the best decisions he's ever made. His still sleeping with Siobhan; she made it clear that all she's after is some fun during their stay in Rome and he's more than happy to go along with this plan. On the first day some of the other writers and plus ones inquired where his girlfriend was, but they quickly dropped the subject when he stated that they'd broken up. The others are aware of what's going on between him and Siobhan, but they couldn't care less so long as it doesn't affect the group's dynamic. It's common knowledge within certain circles that Siobhan frequently has flings.

"If you can't be good, be careful," She once quipped at him, as she shoved him back onto the bed with a salacious smirk lighting up her face.

She told him early on that what she loves more than anything else in the world are people. They fascinate her; their lives, their stories. It's why her novels always have character driven plots, which explore the flaws of being human and the relationship that are formed with others of our kind. She just loves to be surrounded by them. Sometimes someone comes along that intrigues her so much, that she wants to get to know them intimately. And, more often than not, without any clothes on. Dan asks her about whether she'd had any long term relationships before. She laughs darkly and tells him that she's dabbled with commitment, but it's always ended up being a catastrophic failure.

"I'm a nightmare to live with," She states bluntly, like it's a universally accepted fact. "I should only be exposed to other people in short bursts. Prolonged exposure is just bad for the health."

He thinks for a second that he's the opposite; he's bad when it comes to having flings and he's much more successful as a monogamist. Although, when he recalls all of his past long term relationships, he wonders if he had ignored all the obvious issues at the start and that's why he's always been blindsided when everything eventually falls apart. When he tries to explain this to Siobhan, she seems to carefully mull it over as she delicate takes a long sip of red wine.

"I think you need to be sure about who you are as a person - you as an individual - before you can know what you want from your relationships with other people. How you and them as individuals fit together and will work as a pair." She looks him up and down, before slyly smiling at him. "I can imagine that you make a pretty good boyfriend. I think you just need to find a woman who appreciates that and wants a relationship with Dan Humphrey, not just a 'prefect man'. Until then, find people who want to have fun when you want to have fun and enjoy yourself!"

"Like you?"

"Like me."

Siobhan is a lot of fun; she drinks too much and laughs constantly, but she can also be serious when the situation calls for it. They find that they have the perfect partnership when it comes to bouncing ideas off one another and critiquing each other's work. After promptly rolling her eyes and removing the carefully placed bookmarks from his travel guide, she gets him to randomly choose one attraction each day to do during their free time. Sometimes she comes along with him, their arms link together, whilst he recalls the small snippets of information he remembers from the guidebook. ("See," She teased him on their first excursion, "You didn't need the bookmarks or to bring the damn thing along with you; you've already memorised all the best bits!"). Other times, she gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and leaves him to wander around Rome by himself. Most of the time, he enjoys these moments of solitude as much as having Siobhan there, but there's a high risk that he will begin to dwell on things when he's by himself.

One afternoon, when Dan is taking his time to admire the Martyrdom of Matthew, he catches the glimpse of chocolate curls amongst the crowd of tourist in the church. He turns quickly to see the familiar brunette, dressed in an expensive floral sundress, leaving the building. Without a second thought, he rushes through the doors. As he desperately looks down the bustling street outside, trying to spot her once more in the mass of bodies, his head and heart pound in time with thoughts about why Blair is here.

Had she travel half way across the world to apologise? Because he'd been ignoring her calls and emails? To yell at him for sleeping with Serena? Was she here to tell him that she was wrong about Chuck and what would he do if this is the case? Any thoughts of her were always accompanied by a kaleidoscope of emotion; hurt, betrayal, fondness, anger, caring, rejection and, despite himself, love.

Suddenly, he sees her again and he runs to catch up with her. His breath is short, his ears are ringing and he starts to feel sick, but he needs to know why she's here. What did she come all the way to Rome for? She's only a few centimetres away now; if he stretches out his arm, he might be able to touch her elbow with his fingertips.

Then the girl turns her head slightly and the illusion is shattered. Dan stops dead, feeling stupid and dejected, as the stranger just carries on walking away, oblivious that he was ever chasing after her. Just chasing after a ghost from his past.

'Of course,' He mentally scolds himself, 'Of course she wouldn't come here. Not for you. Following someone halfway across the world is something only you are dumb enough to do. She doesn't care about you. She's made that perfectly clear, so get over it. Move on. It's done.'

And if on cue, his phone starts to vibrate in his pocket. He pulls it out, to see her name flashing on the screen as if to add insult to injuring. For a moment, he wants nothing more than to break the fucking thing in two. Instead, he switches it off, shoves it back into his shorts and storms back toward the hotel.

Once he's safely inside his room, he throws his phone onto the bed and starts to pace back and forth. He's angry that his thoughts are still consumed by Blair. Angry at the pitiful longing that he feels in his heart. He spies his laptop sitting open on the desk, inviting him to turn it on and check his account for her new emails. And whilst he's doing that, he might as well check Gossip Girl for updates on her life without him. He shudders at the thought of sinking that low; he hasn't been near the site since he'd arrived and he'd be damn if he caves in to that self-flagellating, stalker like impulse now.

Instead, he grabs his moleskin and adds to the list which has nothing to do with his next novel.

They're lying side by side in his bed that night, sipping on whiskey for the mini bar, when he tells Siobhan about Blair. The whole story about Blair; from the first time they met at the brunch to the abrupt ending of their relationship. She listens closely as he explains everything about Blair, Serena, Nate, Chuck and his whole messed up life on the Upper East Side. He doesn't leave out a single detail. His exposé is brought into existence for an audience of one. An audience that he hardly knows, but trusts none-the-less.

When he finishes, he can feel the silent tears on his face, the choking in the back of his throat and the reassuring squeeze of her hand around his.

He knows in that moment that, if he wants it to, everything can change for the better.

xxx

The group is in a bar when Blair tries to call him yet again. Everyone is looking at each other with expressions of exasperation. Dan's phone has a reputation for constantly going off and, even though he keeps it on silent, the vibrations still prove to be a distraction. He glares at his phone and then promptly dumps it into his glass of beer, murmuring something about persistent telephone sales reps. Siobhan leads the group in a round of applause and he grins back at them as he orders a fresh drink.

When he gets back to the hotel, he sets up a new email account. He goes into his old account and forwards any emails he wants to keep before promptly closing it. He doesn't even need to delete the five new emails from Blair this time.

He calls Alessandra first to let her know that, for now, he can only be reached by the phone at the hotel or by his new email address. She doesn't ask why he suddenly switched account and ditched his phone. She only makes him promise that she will be contacted the second he has a new cell phone number. He then phones his sister, mum and then dad; he gives them the new email address and informs them of the sudden accidental demise of his phone. He makes them swear that they won't give out the new address without checking with him first. When he hangs up, Dan feels in control again; like he's only agent determining his life.

Then he calls Siobhan to find out if she feels like celebrating with him

xxx

It almost the end of his time in Rome when Dan realises that he's never seen Siobhan nervous or unsure of herself. She knows that she can never been super skinny and doesn't care. She knows she can be blunt and crass, but tries to dial it back depending upon the situation. She always wears dresses, because according to her, she's lazy and they're easy to wear. She knows what she wants in the bedroom and is very happy to give instructions to ensure that she gets it.

But right now she appears hesitant as she sits on the chair in front of him and hands him the first few chapters of her next novel. He reads them attentively as they sit in the room in silence. Even with the background, class and location differences, he still recognises the dysfunctional relationship written on the pages. The one he told her about. For the first time in months, he feels a swell of pity for Blair. That she doesn't see the relationship for what it truly is. That she accepts it whole heartedly by believing that it's inevitable and no one else can love her with the intensity that he does. He feels nothing but sorrow at the thought of the strongly independent women that he loved with his whole heart, could be reduced to such a weak unsure girl.

"Is it ok if I use it?" Siobhan ask softly, a wisp of caution mingled with her Irish tones.

He nods, as he hands the pages back over to her. "Yes. I think it could be your best work yet. Can I read it once it's done?"

"Of course."

"What are you planning to call it?"

"I was thinking Poor Little Lambs, but I'm not really sure. Not yet." She runs a hand through her long tresses and laughs nervously at herself.

"I think the title suits it."

She smiles fondly at him, before shuffling slightly in her seat. "Can I ask you a favour?"

"Anything."

"Can I see that list you've been working on? The one in your moleskin?"

There's a pause, before Dan gives a nod of consent. He walks over to recover the book from his bedside table and then flicks through until he finds the right page. Dan holds it open as he passes to her so that she can read it. The list which holds all the steps that he's planning to take in order to create the future that he wants.

Instead of spending his summer in Rome writing his revenge, Dan ends up planning his escape from the Upper East Side.