From Russia with Love Ch 1

A Season 3 off-shoot/rewrite that centers on a Jenny Humphrey and an Author created character. The major themes of the episodes will not change until the season finale, but my additions/changes will be made clear. The story picks up during Season 3, Episode 16, The Empire Strikes Jack.

The waitress delivered an ice chilled vodka quickly to the table in a back corner of the New York club and deposited it unceremoniously in front of a single young man who looked barely old enough to drink alcohol. He had a single ear bud in his left ear and had a wistful look to him. From his eyes she could tell his mind was anywhere but in the club that night. But, the man paid for the already over priced drink with a twenty, ensuring that he would be well taken care of the rest of the night.

Gabriel tuned out the sounds of the club and the boisterous bachelor party going on in the VIP room behind him. He listened to the recording his man had made earlier that evening of an exchange between mother and son. This information would certainly change the pieces on the board to be sure.

The whole thing had started off as a simple background check. His contact at an insurance company wanted a reappraisal of the associated risk with the new leaders of Bass Industries following the death of Bart Bass. Investors were freaking out and the company was floundering to stay aloft, as it prepared for what some feared was the inevitable death spiral. While he was working up the backgrounds quietly without the knowledge of the parties he was checking on, he had stumbled across a few odd pieces of information that he chose to keep for himself and not pass on in his final report to the company. By the time of the submittal, Lily Bass had been made the new head of Bass Industries and all good things seemed to be on the horizon.

Most investigators would have moved right past the information but he had noticed the irregularity in Bart Bass's personal accounts and tracked them down to Elizabeth Fisher, Chuck Bass's mother. After a flight to Switzerland and a break in at Chuck Bass's newly opened hotel to steal some basic DNA samples from both parties he had solid proof of the parentage. It had take some time to find out how best to use the information but he was now seeing the fallout from it all as Jack Bass toyed with Elizabeth's heart and pulled at Chuck's strings.

Sipping his vodka, a thought crossed his mind for an even greater plan, one that would net him enough to retire in the true lap of luxury for the rest of his days. He could become wealthy enough to cut all his current underworld contacts and go completely legit. But he would have to play his cards carefully and with perfect timing. He listened to the recording of Chuck and his mother as she laid out the full extent of her betrayl. He was close but not quite ready for the terms Gabriel wished to offer him.

Gabriel had been working several other jobs while keeping an eye on the Bass family, which by this time had now become one with the Van der Woodsens and the Humphreys. The world of social twists and turns they lived in left him staggering and sadly far behind where he would like to have been. Having been out of the country for a few weeks he had missed the opportunity to pass to Chuck Bass information regarding the true nature of his mother's return, the law suit that Jack had staged, or the fat bribe he had given to Chuck's family lawyer. But missed opportunities were simply that, missed; and his line of work one could only learn and adapt to the changing landscape. If you didn't then you wouldn't live for very long. He had spent the night trailing Jack Bass and watching Serena Van der Woodsen and Nate Archibald fumble around at Eleanor Waldorf's fashion show trying to trip Jack up and catch him in a compromising position with a pair of prostitutes. They were trying to play outside of their league and it wasn't going to work. Jack was a consummate villain and patient as well. That made him a very dangerous party to contend with. He had patience, malice, and enough power and money to make all his darkest desires come true. And yet he continued to waste his talents playing these mind games with children. 'What a waste,' thought Gabriel.

Well, he could change all that. Gabriel smiled as he leaned back in his chair and sipped at his recently freshened drink. The plan was forming in his mind, the scattered pieces that had once been chaos were looking like they would only need a few small moves and he would reap his biggest payoff yet. Satisfied with the plan and relaxed from the vodka coursing through his system he began to take in the world around him. The curtain parted to the VIP room and he saw something that made him sit up and take full notice of all his current surroundings. He senses were on full alert looking for signs of surveillance, an opposing force, anything that might show sign of a threat. The head of bleach blonde hair and skinny frame was difficult to mistake. He had just seen the young step-daughter of Lily Bass half passed out on a couch in the bachelor party.

"What the hell is going on?" Gabriel said under his breath as left his seat and slipped past the curtain into the room unnoticed by the other patrons to better gauge this new situation before him.

Nate dialed Jenny's number for the 10th time in last half hour and finally got Jenny to pick up. He had seen her get into a cab with a few of the other girls from the fashion show and she had not looked well.

"Eehh, H-hello?" Jenny Humphrey's distant, sleepy voice wafted through the telephone

"Hey where are you, I've been calling you for-" Nate pestered her before she cut him off as he wandered the streets outside of Eleanor's fashion show.

"Nate… ugh, I don't know where I am. I feel sick"

"Ok, Jenny, hold on one second." Nate worked the mapping app on his Droid phone to locate Jenny. Within a few seconds his phone had found her location. "Listen just stay put. Alright, I'm coming to get you."

"Hurry Nate" Jenny said as she strained to retain her consciousness.

Nate hung up the call and tried to flag a cab to race of to club where Jenny was at, but fate had some different ideas. A limo ferrying attendees from the fashion show had broken down in the middle of the street and all the traffic either way was blocked now. He was a New Yorker though and started to jog over a few blocks to catch a cab that would be able to escape the traffic snarl. It would only take a few minutes, but tonight those minutes would mean everything.

Gabriel had been observing things for a few minutes now and had seen all he needed to see. He hadn't been discovered and there was no counter surveillance that he could detect. By a strange coincidence Jenny Humphrey had left the fashion show around the time that he was observing Jack Bass and elsewhere one of his men was recording the tearful discussion between Chuck and his mother with a directional microphone from across the street. She was barely conscious on the couch in the VIP room of the club and had been clearly drugged. Though he hadn't been paying the strictest attention to his surroundings while he'd been enjoying his drinks, he was certain she had to of arrived before him. There was no way his senses had been that dull, he thought to himself. From his position he blended in like any other wallflower from the bachelor party. The partiers were wrapping up the night though and doing a final round.

Gabriel was a predator of sorts, he tracked people all over the world and when the job required it, he did more than that. He had good instincts for it along with years of experience and training despite his youth. Right now it was his instincts that recognized another predator in the room, but of a far lower breed.

The drunk bastard had been eyeing her since Gabriel had set foot in the room. None of the other men in the group had acted on the semi-conscious girl but he clearly wanted to. The only thing holding him back was the pressure of his peers, but with the party winding down and the others leaving, that wouldn't last for long. He saw his chance to get laid that night and was going to take it as soon as he and his friends finished this last round of shots.

Gabriel on the other hand was torn. Operationally he was clean, and he should keep it that way by leaving right now, with no one the wiser. But a rare part of him was rearing it's head and giving voice for the first time in a long time, his conscience. He had always hated women beaters and rapists. He never felt much emotion at all to most things in this world, and he counted that as one of his greatest strengths. Acting calmly and rationally had kept him alive and helped him to make the right decisions and prosper where others had failed. If he were to intercede now, he could blow everything. The fire was burning inside him now though, a small flame of rage not content to be contained. He could see what was coming, and was left with two simple choices, act or leave.

The drunk was over at the couch now rubbing his hands up and down Jenny's leg as he leaned over her and said "Hey, wanna get out of here? I live real close, come on"

The flame grew to a raging fire as Gabriel watched the drunk paw and grope at her. A growl began to well up in his throat. 'Act or Leave?' his mind echoed.

"Where's Nate?" Jenny responded groggily as she looked up.

"Oh, is Nate your boyfriend? Well, he really shouldn't have left you." he grunted has he picked up her limp form

"No, I don't… Uhhh…" Jenny struggled weakly as he picked her up.

(Author's Note: Right about now is when Nate stormed in during the actual episode)

The drunk groped her breast and said "Come on, you came to party didn't you? You want it, you girls always want it."

The fire of anger within him burst into a raging blaze, reason was going to lose this one tonight.

'ACT.' That was the only thought in his brain as he stormed across the room and punched the drunk in the stomach before anyone else in bar could notice he had moved or even really been there. The man doubled over as Gabriel grabbed the back of his head and brought it smashing into his knee breaking the man's nose. Deftly, he snatched Jenny's phone from the drunk's hands and had his arm around Jenny supporting and guiding her for the rear exit from the club before the first startled cries came from across the bar. He heard a few men's voices cry out "Hey!" as he stepped out into the alley and the door closed behind him. A line of taxis to ferry home drunk patrons was awaiting him around the next street and he and Jenny were already speeding away in one before the first pursuers were even at the end of the alley.

Nate tore the curtains away from the VIP room, it was the last place in the club that he hadn't looked. Inside was not what he expected. There was some guy unconscious on the ground bleeding all over himself. Several people had phones out and were dialing and talking, he was sure the police were on their way. A bartender walked over with some ice for the guy on the floor and Nate reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Hey did you see a young girl with bleach blonde hair around here at all? She's about this tall, wearing some black tights," holding up his hand.

"Yeah," responded the bartender as he handed the ice off to someone helping the busted up guy on the floor. "she was completely plastered and passed out on the couch. She was about to go home with this guy when out of nowhere some douche bag comes across the room, kicks the shit outta him," gesturing to the man on the ground with the blood and vomit down his front. "And then goes trucking out the back door with her in tow. Dude just came out of nowhere. I think that's her purse over there actually." The bartender said as he returned to his duties and waited for the police to arrive.

He went over to the handbag lying next to the couch and recognized it as Jenny's. A brief look inside confirmed it, but he found no phone inside. Nate was scared now, he dialed Jenny's phone and waited through the rings, praying she would pick up and he could track her location again.

As the cab drove through the city, Gabriel looked down at his new charge. He quickly measured her pulse and lifted her chin up to look at her face. He knew the girl was certainly cute from the photos he had seen of her with Lilly Bass but seeing her up close now he was taken aback by how just out right beautiful she was.

"Mnnn… Nate?" She moaned.

"Yeah, it's Nate. I'm taking you home. Just rest ok, we'll be there in a minute."

Her blue eyes swayed as he looked at her face.

The cabbie looked back in the rearview mirror. "HEY HEY, NO PUKE IN CAB!" he said in heavily accented English.

"She'll be fine, she's just sleepy."

Letting go of her face, she laid her head down in his lap and he stroked her arm trying to relax her as she fought the drugs in her system.

"HEY, NO SEXY SEX EITHER!" shouted the cabbie.

"Just keep your eyes on the goddamned road!" Gabriel retorted.

The cab driver grumbled some obscenities in Indian as he cut in front of some other traffic.

"Of all the dumb things I have ever done, tonight is easily going to have a top ten spot pretty well sewn up," Gabriel muttered to himself. He watched at the cab pulled up in front of the Jenny's building. As if riding around in a cab with a semi-conscious 17-year-old girl wasn't enough of a problem he had to sneak her past the door man of her building and then up her room. He hadn't really studied their building or its layout. There may have been a service elevator but he had no idea where it would be, and there simply wasn't time. He would just have to leave her with the doorman and get out of there fast.

He looked down at the girl and brushed the locks of hair from her face. She really was quite a beauty.

'This is STUPID! This is STUPID! This is STUPID!' the rational part of his brain chanted at him.

Jenny's phone began to ring again as they exited the cab. Gabriel was holding her up as the wary cab driver eyed them. The whole situation was a complete mess. He was attracting all kinds of undue attention right now. This, for someone that preferred to go through life unnoticed was not good, not good at all. As he paid the cabbie Jenny drunkenly answered her phone but all she could manage was a moan into it.

"Crap," Gabriel muttered. As he moved her toward the front door of the building and reached over to end the phone call but paused as he looked into the face of the building's doorman. One of the last people in the world he would have expected to see that night.

Vanya Ivanovich, the doorman to Jenny's building and father to Dorota's unborn child, had instantly recognized the stumbling Jenny Humphrey as she exited the cab and stepped out to see what was wrong and help her upstairs. He froze in place though as he saw the face of the man holding her upright. Shock and terror made all his features go rigid as he stared into the face of what had once been his certain death.

Gabriel straightened up as he pressed the end call button to Jenny's phone following his initial hesitation.

"Private Ivanovich, it truly is a small world indeed. Get the door will you? She's a bit of a handful," Gabriel said in Russian.

Nate raced out of the club and jumped in front of another group, stealing their cab. Above their protests he threw a $50 bill at the cabbie and yelled out the intersection he had just pinged from Jenny's brief phone call. The cab sped away from the drunken patrons and Nate tried to figure out what was going on and how she had gotten to her home? He had heard Jenny's voice but couldn't understand her. He had also heard another man's voice in the background briefly as the call had been ended. She had at least made it home but who was she with?

To say the ride up the elevator to the Humphrey home was awkward would have been a severe understatement. Finally, Vanya broke the silence first, speaking in his native tongue

"I thought I would never see you again. Y-You said before that if I ever saw you again, you would…ehhh…" Vanya stuttered out finally as the floors ticked by

"Yes that was the original plan, but fate seems to be conspiring against me on all fronts tonight. Fear not though Private, I'm not here for you." Gabriel said, saving him from saying aloud what was so clearly troubling him.

Wiping away the sweat from his brow he smiled weakly "That is good, but, uh, may I ask what happened to Miss Jenny?"

"Jenny? Is that her name? She was drugged, I found her at a club and she said she lived here," he lied. No need for Vanya to know why he would know who she was and where she lived. This was taking forever, couldn't this elevator move any faster?

Finally the door opened and they carried Jenny from the elevator, Vanya leading the way to her room. Once inside, Gabriel spoke in a hushed whisper.

"No one must know that I was here, now let's slip out quietly before her parents notices us"

"Will she be alright?" Vanya queried warily.

Gabriel felt her forehead with the back his hand and checked her pulse again. He frowned. "Go to the bathroom and pour her a glass of water. Quickly!" He hissed. Whatever she had been slipped was pretty potent. She was fighting it, but he was fairly certain she wouldn't remember much. Holding her head up he helped her drink the water. When the glass was empty he let her lay back down on the bed.

"It is so good to see you Vasily. I never got to thank you properly for all you did for me back then. I-" he sputtered on as Gabriel cut him off.

"We need to be going now" Gabriel said tersely. In his thoughts, his mind wandered back to recall the details of the Vasily identity that he had used so many years ago when Vanya and he had first crossed paths.

"Y-yes, yes, of course."

Then to his complete surprise, Jenny started to rouse herself. "Nate? Mnnnnn…"

Gabriel grabbed Vanya's arm and sped from the room moving with all possible haste and praying that her parents wouldn't hear them. Gabriel did not release his vice-like grip on Vanya until the elevator doors closed. The doors closed and Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief as they began to descend back to the lobby.

Nate leapt from his cab at the base of the Jenny's building. He didn't see anyone around initially and as he stepped into the lobby, Jenny's purse in hand, he was surprised not to see the Vanya, the faithful doorman. The place was completely empty as he began to move to the elevators.

Vanya was struggling to keep from asking questions, it was written all over his face. Gabriel decided to ease the situation by speaking.

"I'm doing business in New York these days, I'll contact you at the front desk in the next couple of days and we can update our current 'arrangements' at a future time. Until then, you never saw me. It was Nate Archibald that dropped the Humphrey girl, understood?"

"Yes, sir" snapped Vanya, his heels actually snapping together as he popped to the position of attention.

"Please don't do that, those days are over." Gabriel muttered. Despite it all he had saved the damsel in distress and none of the people he was supposed to be surveilling were aware he even existed, with the exclusion of Jack Bass, who had no idea what he looked like. He reveled in how good it had felt to punch that drunken low-life. His feeling of satisfaction was short lived however as the door opened to reveal the Upper East Side's very own White Knight, Nathaniel Archibald, standing in front of him holding a purse.

'Shit' Gabriel thought.

*** End Chapter 1***