Chapter 2

"Blair, wait up!" Serena called out, annoyed. She was taller than Blair, and, with that height advantage, had longer legs which could cover distance much faster than Blair could.

But Blair had the other undisputed advantages. She knew where she was walking and knew when to turn and what hallway to walk through. She was also shorter so she didn't have to duck as much as Serena had to. Blair was navigating her way through one of the kitchen areas of the hotel while Serena was following in her footsteps. Chefs, waiters, busboys, and food carts occasionally got in the way and Serena had to offer apologies for her and Blair's intrusion.

Blair turned one final time and smiled triumphantly when she saw the service elevator doors. She pressed the up button. "Lily looked impeccable, as always," she said as Serena approached her. "Rufus, well, at least he's trying."

"B," Serena said slowly, "Chuck didn't mean those things. You know that. He's just upset and hurt." Serena gently patted Blair's arm. "Are you alright?"

Blair sighed. "I'm fine," she promised. "I knew we would fight."

The elevator finally arrived, and, without another word, Blair stepped in. She pressed the button for the 49th floor. Serena followed in wordlessly.

"You and Chuck need to work out a peace treaty," Serena said softly. She smiled weakly at her friend. "The two of you have nuclear capabilities. Nate and I talked about it. If the two of you don't find a way around your problems, there's going to be nothing left but cockroaches."

Blair snickered. "S, I love you, and I know you love me and you're trying to look out for me, but, believe me, a peace treaty is the last thing Chuck and I want or need. We're exactly where we want to be."

"I don't even understand how things went bad so fast," Serena sighed. She leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"Um, sex video? Indecent pictures?" Blair reminded her best friend.

"But I've seen him abstain for months for you," Serena said, confused. "Blair, I still think that video was suspicious, and if Chuck said it wasn't him, then it wasn't him."

"Well, I'm one hundred percent sure it was him," Blair said knowingly. The elevator doors opened, and Blair quickly stepped out and walked down the left corridor.

"Blair, where are you headed?" Serena asked, her confusion deepening. "Why aren't we headed to the penthouse?" She had naturally assumed they would be headed to the penthouse and hadn't even bothered looking at the elevator keypad when she had entered the elevator.

"Because we're not going there," Blair answered blithely. She stopped at the door that said 4907. She smiled confidently at Serena and then knocked on the door a few times. It opened and a familiar head popped up.

"Nate?" Serena said loudly, surprised. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Chuck were on the 54th floor."

"I have no idea," Nate admitted. "And we are on the 54th floor. We're also here but don't ask me why."

"It's kind of rude not to invite us in, Archibald," Blair said as she pushed her way past Nate.

"Chuck's in here, Blair," Nate protested. "Can't we just call a truce and be friends again?" He hurried after her.

"It's in their nature," Serena sighed.

Chuck was standing at the entrance to one of the bathrooms. He had a new shirt on, and his hair and face had been washed free of the wine. His hands were on his tie, which was still undone.

"Bulimia, Chuck? Really? You had to go there?" Blair's hands were on her hips.

"Mommy and daddy issues?" Chuck countered.

"Comparing me to a prostitute?"

"Saying I have STDs?"

"Do you want to switch this time?" Serena asked Nate. "I'll hold Chuck back and you can carry Blair out. That'll probably work better."

"Saying I'm a social climber?"

"Saying no one could ever love me?"

Blair's face softened. "You know I had to say that, especially with Jack there." She bit her bottom lip softly. "Did I go too far?"

"You were amazing," Chuck grinned. "You couldn't see since he was behind you, but Jack bought it hook, line and sinker."

"We caught our Bass," Blair smiled triumphantly. She folded her arms around Chuck's neck, and kissed him tenderly. There was something about the way he said that word that brought shivers down her spine.

"So is this the real Chuck and Blair," Nate whispered to Serena, "and the others were the Pod Chuck and Pod Blair?"

"I think so," Serena said slowly, a mystified half smile on her face.

"I feel so dirty," Blair complained, "and not in a fun way. Did you see where his hand was?"

"The bathtub is right there," Chuck gestured. "You can wash up. I'll keep you company."

She smiled, and there was nothing more than she wanted than to spend some quality time with him. To just be with him, to talk with him and tell him how and what she was doing and to find out what was going on in his end. "I can't be here long. And you're expected back along with Serena and Nate. Is K.C. onboard?"

"Yes she is. Are you sure about it though? You know she'll be the second woman I've ever said it to."

"But you'll be pretending when you say it to her. And you mean it when you say it to me." Blair glanced wistfully at the bathtub beyond the door. It was almost too tempting, but they had a schedule to adhere to.

Two things had become blatantly clear to Nate within the last five minutes. First, Chuck and Blair had been deceiving everyone with their public breakup and fights. They were in the midst of a game that obviously involved manipulating Jack, but that was all that he could tell so far. Second, in watching and listening to them talk so softly and intimately to each other, with their bodies so close, he suddenly knew.

"Blair, drop your voice lower and say something in Thai," Nate said abruptly.

Blair turned around so that she was facing Nate and Serena, and Chuck's arms automatically protectively encircled around her waist. "Excuse me? Thai's not one of the languages I know."

"Just do it," Nate insisted, his eyes shining. "Low voice, not scary low but more like sultry low and something in Thai. I'm sure you know at least a few Thai phrases."

"I think he figured it out," Chuck whispered into her ear.

Blair tilted her head back slightly, and, in response, Chuck shrugged almost imperceptibly. It was entirely her decision on how much to confirm. "Give me something to work with," she murmured softly. "But nothing too distracting because I really should be going."

She kept her eyes in front, centered on Nate and Serena. It was impossibly hard to focus on them, though, for Chuck's light, teasing fingertips at her thigh and his warm breath at the back of her neck was begging, no, more like demanding, her to ignore Nate and Serena and to give in to him.

Serena shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

Blair could feel herself falling into temptation and losing total control. And, as appealing as that sounded to her, she simply was too self-conscious to do this with an audience. Well, with an audience that would know exactly who she was and could see everything. Soft moans of pleasure escaped from her lips, followed by phrases of a language that she had never bothered to learn. And, as Nate had requested, all in a lower voice than in her normal voice. And, because this was proving to be so pleasurable that it drove into the realm of torture, because she knew there was no time for this and it had to stop, Blair took hold of Chuck's hands and entwined her fingers in his.

"I knew it!" Nate declared. He turned to a perplexed Serena. "That sex video of Chuck and the Thai prostitute? That was of him and Blair."

"Excuse me, not a Thai prostitute," Blair corrected.

Serena's eyes widened as she finally understood what Nate had wanted confirmed. "Blair!"

"I told you it was him," Blair said defensively. "I just didn't mention it was me, too. And it's not like you could see anything, really. Except for Chuck's face a few times." But that had purposely been done so that the final straw would finally have broken them apart. It had taken them a week to perfect the video and to make sure nothing they didn't want seen to be visible. And it wasn't like either one of them minded spending a week filming it. One thing was for sure, though- immersion therapy didn't work with them.

"The sex video, pictures, all the public fights and arguments," Serena rapidly fired, "were all staged?"

"Everything," Blair nodded. "We're taking the Empire back and we're taking Jack down. He's not going to have anything or anybody after we're through with him."

In the Art of War, Sun Tzu said, "All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

And that was exactly what Chuck and Blair were doing.

Author's Note:

I do have a definitive plan with this story, finally. My imagination was running wild for a while and I had no idea how I would write it that way and where it would ever end but I've tamed it down to something more doable. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter- GG tv show spoilers don't look too promising for Chuck and Blair for a while. Sighs.