Blair flipped on the lights as she stepped into the house. She was limping slightly as she pushed the door open wider. Dan came in, looking like hell, helping Serena through the door who was holding a sleeping Rhyan to her chest.
"There's a room on the left up there S, tuck the little girl in please," she said as she closed the door and locked it, peering out the window to make sure that they hadn't been followed before moving towards the sitting room.
"Dan, there's a first aid kit in the closet at the end of the hallway could you go get it, and a bowl of water maybe."
He nodded and headed off as Blair winced slightly as she sat down. The two of them wouldn't have survived that fall if the entrance tent wasn't still up. They had landed on that, and had rolled harshly off of it and onto the pavement. The penthouse had finally fallen to one of the many raids that occurred daily around them.
Most of their cuts had stopped bleeding on the way to the house, but Dan had lost part of his shirt so he could wrap up Blair's hand, the one that had been impaled. That injury was now accompanied by the cut on her cheek, and one now above her eye, there were several slices along her arms and stomach from the fall, not to mention there was an embedded piece of glass in her calf.
Dan came back in just as Blair yanked out the piece of glass with a sharp gasp. Blood began to flow freely from it and he hurried over to clean it for her before wrapping it in gauze. He attended the rest of her cuts and then her hand, and she in return attended to his. Serena came out just as they were finishing up.
"How is she," the brunette asked quickly.
"Sleeping; she'll probably be out for a while. What about you guys?"
"Alive," Blair said, and then smirked holding up her damaged hand, "but not completely whole."
The blonde laughed and then sighed and nodded back towards the bedroom, "I noticed the master bedroom…it can be yours B. …Dan and I can take the guest bedroom."
Blair nodded a bit sadly before stalking off to the room.
"It doesn't feel right," Serena whispered once her best friend had disappeared, "being here."
"I know," Dan murmured back, "but where else were we going to go?"
Chuck himself was wondering the very same thing as he stood outside the very same house an hour later. He had convinced those that came with him on the plane to let him head out on his own to find somewhere to stay. The first place he went to was The Palace, but he didn't even venture inside the courtyard as he saw all of the bums hanging around outside. He went to the Archibald place only to find ashes. Chuck even went past his former school, but that had the same problem as the hotel did. He even dared to look at Blair's old penthouse to find it completely ruined, glass from the floor she stayed on still littering the ground. That left the one place Chuck didn't want to go. But still, there he stood outside of that house that he had once shared with Blair a short time before he left. He really didn't want to go in; he would have to face the truth of what could have been. But he didn't have a choice.
So, cautiously, Chuck headed up the walk and jiggled the handle, surprised to find the door locked. He had to find the old hide-a-key hidden beneath the fourth brick on the right. Putting the key into the lock he twisted the door open and stepped inside the darkened foyer. But the moment he closed the door, he was cracked across the back with a baseball bat. In his shock, he fell to his knees and his assailant continued to hit him. Raising his hands half protecting himself, half surrendering, "stop! Stop! I'm not going to hurt you damn it!"
But he was barely heard as a slugger was taken to his cheek, and upon tasting blood in his moth he reached up and stopped the bat from hitting him again, and instead, pushed it roughly back, hitting his attacker with the back end in the stomach causing the man to grunt.
Suddenly, the room was flooded in light, "what the hell is going on Dan," asked a blonde standing in the entry way to the hallway.
The two men stopped, and Chuck spit out a mouthful of blood before standing and turning towards the woman.
"Oh my God," muttered the girl, and Chuck found her a blur as she rushed over grabbing him in a tight hug.
"What the-," he started, having the words muffled into her golden hair.
"We thought you were dead Chuck," she whispered.
That voice was so familiar, could it really be Serena? He pulled away and sure enough he was staring at his sister. Looking over he saw Dan standing there with a baseball bat, surprisingly silent. Slowly, Serena pulled away from Chuck and stared at him as if he were a ghost.
"Sorry for the welcoming party," Dan murmured, breaking the silence, chuckling softly at his own words.
Shaking his head, Chuck waved a hand, "don't worry about it. …Just don't hit me again."
Again there was a silence before, "so you two weren't on the flight?"
They shook their heads, "no, we were just going over there when it exploded. What about you? Where'd you go if you didn't get on the flight?"
"I got my own plane and went to that safe haven, which…isn't so safe anymore."
They were suddenly interrupted by a loud balling.
"That's Rhyan," Serena explained, "I'll go check on her. Dan could you go check on the other baby?"
"You guys have kids," Chuck asked.
"No, Rhyan's Georgina's, but Georgie died so we're looking after her, and the other one is just acting like a baby."
In truth, Serena was avoiding saying that it was Blair. If Chuck thought they had died and had left without Blair to that island, then he obviously believed she was dead too. Dan understood this. Hell he had been wondering what it would be for those two to see each other again, but he really didn't want to be around for the fireworks that would no doubt happen. The blonde stalked back down the hallway, leaving the two men in silence. The former writer set the wooden bat down, heading down towards the master bedroom. Chuck stayed in the front room going over to one of the plush chairs. He sank into it, closing his eyes, not knowing that Dan had scooped Blair into his arms and had laid her out on the couch. She was asleep, still in the clothes from earlier. Dan redressed her wounds looking over his shoulder at Chuck, whom had seemingly fallen asleep. He shook his head with a silent laugh before he turned off the light and went back to Serena.
Hours passed, and neither any signs of soon waking. They stirred, of course; Blair adjusted to keep her bandages from itching, and Chuck moved every now and then for comfort, but neither woke. That was until Blair rolled off the couch. She was startled awake, but Chuck only moved with a soft murmur.
The brunette had been rubbing her side when the noise drew her attention. Looking over, she had to squint her eyes, as they weren't quite used to the darkness just yet, to make out the form in the chair. All right, there was no possible way she was awake, even if she felt awake, because that was Chuck. Slowly righting herself, Blair made her way to his sleeping form. Her eyes stared at him, almost in wonder. He looked older, worse for the wear actually, but he was still put together despite the large bruise on his cheek bone. Watching his chest rise and fall with deep, slow breathes, Blair reached out, her fingertips brushing lightly against his jaw line. His skin was so warm it caused her eyes to flutter shut. Her fingers moved up a bit more to settle on his cheek as she slowly leaned in towards him. His scent was strong, the same as it had been the last time she had been this close to him; it sent a rush of joy through her.
"Serena, I'm really here, I'm really alive. You do not need to fondle me," he murmured, his eyes remaining shut.
The sudden break in silence startled Blair and she let out a small yelp, stumbling backwards and falling down against the couch. His words…alive? Really? She stared wide eyed at him, almost terrified at his sudden presence. Chuck himself had groaned. The yelp had completely woken him up, but he hadn't opened his eyes to look at her. Instead, he stretched and situated himself correctly in the seat. Slowly he blinked and looked over, a smirk beginning to form, thinking he was going to see a blonde, but his sight was greeted by a very much alive Blair. He realized it immediately because this was never the Blair he saw in his dreams. Her curls were flat against her head, angry cuts and bruises decorated the once flawless skin, there were bandages all over, and the outfit was as un-Blair-like as possible.
"What are you wearing," he asked at the same moment she said, "you're alive?"
Blair looked down at her clothes as Chuck nodded.
"I'm alive. I'm real Blair."
At the sound of her name, his voice saying her name, her head snapped up. Her eyes watched him as he got up and moved towards her; she was shaking slightly as. Chuck crouched down beside her and touched her hand lightly, masking the pain when she flinched. Two fingers rested beneath her chin and forced her to look at him, his brown eyes searching for something in her own. But all he could see was confusion and pain, and that gripped at his heart, knowing that he was source of both of those.
