Author's notes: This is my attempt at trying to formulate something salvageable from the finale. I have a pretty clear direction for this story, and plan on there being three chapters. I still can't believe how badly this show messed DB up. This story is helping me work through some of the anger, just like Dan.

If someone would have told her two years ago that waiting to see Dan Humphrey would be one of the most nerve-racking moments of her life, she would have scoffed at the mere idea that Humphrey could make her anxious. Yet here she was, standing at the baggage claim at La Guardia, both desperately wanting to talk to Dan yet being terrified about his reaction. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, so here she was. She hoped Dan would at least stick around long enough to pick up his bags, which would allow her time to say what she needed to say.

She spotted him first. He was dressed casually in jeans and a cotton t-shirt, a staple of his summer wardrobe. She absently wondered if the gray t-shirt he was wearing was the same one she had snuggled her heard into as he told her that if she lost everything, she'd still have him. She couldn't believe that had happened only a year ago, as so many things had changed since then, not the least of which was the nature of her relationship with Dan. His hair was shorter than it had been when she had last seen him, similar to how he had been wearing it a year ago. There was a loose curl bouncing around his forehead, and she wanted to approach him and affectionately push it back into place. However, she knew that such a gesture would not be welcome anymore. It was also not part of her mission.

She could tell the moment he saw her. His face had been almost a blank before, searching for the right carousel. She saw his face contort in surprise, then watched his eyes go cold and his whole body grow stiff as though he was steeling himself for a confrontation. She wasn't sure she had ever seen him look so cold before. He approached the carousel, purposely making her have to come to him. He wasn't going to make this easy for her.

"Flying into La Guardia? I heard our ban from JFK has been lifted," she said in as close to a normal tone as she could muster.

"It's closer to my home," he said curtly. "The tickets were always for La Guardia."

Blair just stared at him, a flood of memories overwhelming her. She remembered his earnest face as he asked her to come with him to Rome, and their all too brief time when they were both on the same page, excited about their summer together. She also remembered how the Rome trip was the beginning of the end for them. Blair tried not to think about the irony of how the Rome trip turned out to be a moot point anyhow, as Blair would have spent the summer planning for the Waldorf Designs succession regardless.

"What are you doing here, Blair?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts. "If you wanted to break up with me in person, there's no need. I got the message two months ago."

"That's not why I'm here," she said thickly, not sure why she suddenly was so tongue tied. Even when they used to hate each other, she never had trouble talking to Dan. Of course, it's a lot harder when the hate is one-sided.

"My bag just hit the carousel. You have until I pick it up and get in a taxi to tell me whatever it is you came to tell me."

He reached forward and picked up his bag, then extended the handle so he could roll it and started to walk towards the ground transportation signs.

"Wait!" she said quickly. "I'll give you a ride in my towncar."

"A taxi is fine," he said over his shoulder, not pausing. She scrambled to catch up with him, and moved to stand in front of him.

"Just wait," she pleaded, looking him in the eyes.

"Blair," he sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat, "please just tell me whatever it is so I can get home and sleep. It's been an exhausting summer and a long flight."

"It's Serena," she blurted out finally. "She's in trouble."

She expected him to soften, but instead she saw him tense up even more.

"I'm out of the white knight business."

He didn't make a move to leave, but instead stood there and looked Blair straight in the eyes. Blair met his gaze, searching for some sign of the boy who had become her best friend. His earnestness seemed to have been replaced with bitterness and anger.

"I know Serena uploaded those diary pages and sent Penelope to delay me from the divorce party, and I was mad at her too. But I know you'd never forgive yourself if something happened to her and you didn't do everything you could to stop it," Blair told him breathlessly, unthinkingly reaching out to grab his hand. He snatched his hand back as though it burned.

"I guess it doesn't really matter now what Serena did. There was no relationship for her to try and destroy anyhow," he said coldly.

"Dan..." Blair tried to protest.

"Don't," Dan ordered, holding his hand up to stop her from saying more. "Spare me the patronizing speech about how much I meant to you."

"I wouldn't dream of it," she snapped, her own patience wearing thin. "Do you really not care if Serena dies in a ditch somewhere? Is this really who you've become?"

"Stop being so fucking dramatic," Dan snapped back. "I'm sure she just fell off the grid in Ibiza or something."

"No one has heard from her for a month," Blair said, managing to regroup. "Not even Eric."

"When's the last time you spoke to her?" Dan asked, his eyebrows giving away his growing concern.

Blair looked down, embarrassed. "Since the day of the divorce party when I kicked her out of the penthouse. You?"

"About a week after that," Dan admitted. "Our last conversation didn't go much better."

"What happened?" Blair asked uncertainly, not sure she wanted to know.

"Serena helped set up the perfect scenario where I would cheat on you, and she caught it on camera," Dan said bluntly. "Needless to say, I wasn't pleased. I saw her texts to Penelope to try and stall you, and for a moment I thought I'd ruined everything by giving up on us too soon. But, then I saw the Gossip Girl blast that said you went to the Empire without bothering to talk to me first, and I took a lot of that anger out on Serena both then and a week later. I told her I never wanted to see her again."

Blair felt her eyes well up in tears, as Dan's words shocked her to her core. "You cheated on me with Serena?"

"I would ask you precisely what you were doing with Chuck at that moment, but frankly I don't care anymore. I know now that I'm just a pawn to you and Serena, so you can go ahead and spare me your moment of righteous indignation masquerading as hurt," he spit out, now beginning to stalk towards the exit. She picked up her pace, staying with him stride for stride.

"You know that's not true," Blair protested, feeling a stabbing sensation in her chest. She of course had known she had hurt him deeply, but she didn't expect him to dismiss their entire relationship like this. She also didn't expect him to deal his own blow. "If you really feel that way about both me and Serena, why aren't you in a cab to Brooklyn?"

Dan stopped then, just short of the door, his face unreadable. "I guess for the same reasons I couldn't let Chuck slowly kill himself last year when no one else seemed to give a fuck," he said, looking almost embarrassed by the admittance. "I can't just stand by and not help someone, even if it's someone I don't particularly like in that moment."

"So you're in?" Blair asked hopefully, not realizing until now just how badly she wanted him to say yes.

"Yeah, I'm in. Can we at least go to the loft first so I can take a shower and change?"

"I'm sure you still have some things at my place," Blair said without thinking.

"I'd rather go to the loft, if that's okay. I can take a cab and meet you somewhere if you don't want to go to Brooklyn," he said briskly.

"No, of course we can go to the loft," she said, trying to hide her own reticence at going to the loft.

"Actually, I need to make a few calls. I'll meet you at your place," Dan said.

"Really, it's fine."

"It's really not a good idea for us to go to the loft right now. My dad's there," he reminded her.

"Oh," Blair said, knowing that she was just about the last person Rufus Humphrey would want to see.

"Chuck's not..." Dan started, unable to finish the sentence.

"No, he's off somewhere with Jack," Blair said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Of course he is," Dan scoffed. "And to think he and Serena are the ones who are siblings now, and Chuck is the one you're in love with, yet here we are."

Blair decided to let that one go, mainly because she was unable to come up with a good response. If she were being completely honest with him, it hadn't even occurred to her to try and bring Chuck into this. Saving Serena was something she did with Dan, and this time it was because they helped break her in the first place.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few hours," Blair said.

"Hopefully I'll have a few ideas for you," Dan said in a neutral tone before the set of his jaw changed, showing that his anger remained. "And just to make something clear: I'm just doing this to make sure Serena is okay. You and I are no longer friends. We're no longer anything after this is over."

"Okay," Blair said, knowing there was no point in protesting. But for now, we're still a team, she thought to herself sadly as she watched him get into a cab.