Disclaimer: I do not own the show or the characters. Takes place after Gossip Girl episode 2.03, "The Dark Night," but after that point events in the story differ from the show.


"CHUCK?!" Nate could do nothing but stare in disbelief as his friend made his way into the room.

Chuck took in the scene before him. Directly in front of him was Nate. He'd seen his friend thousands of times, but he'd never seen him looking quite like this. He was wearing only a pair of swim trunks, his hair was disheveled, and he had the strangest look on his face. It appeared as if he'd been very worked up about something -- eyes wild, face red -- but hadn't allowed his anger to reach a full culmination. Chuck suspected his sudden knock at the door may have had something to do with that.

Then there was Catherine, standing on the other side of the room wearing only a skimpy pair of bikini bottoms. It would have been magnificently distracting if only the situation wasn't so serious, Chuck thought with a twinge of regret. Her face was something else entirely, though -- barely concealed rage was radiating back at Chuck.

"I'm calling security," Catherine hissed. "How dare you enter this room?"

"Funny," Chuck commented with a smirk. "From what I understand, you didn't always dislike having three people in a room."

Doubt clouded Catherine's features, but she continued. "Shut your mouth. How could you have possibly found us..." She looked at Nate. "Oh. I see." She got up from the bed and approached Nate. "You sneaky little bastard of a child. You couldn't keep your stupid, stupid mouth shut, could you?"

"Don't talk to him like that," Chuck said, his voice low.

Catherine never took her eyes off Nate. "Even now, you're not man enough to deal with this yourself, are you?"

Nate stared her down. "I had no idea he was coming. I didn't tell him anything." He turned to Chuck. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Chuck cleared his throat. "We can talk about that later. In the meantime, Catherine, maybe you should cover up." He threw a nearby robe at her, which she caught and tied angrily around her waist. "That's better..." Chuck leered as he looked her up and down, "in some ways. Nathaniel's telling the truth, you know -- he didn't tell me a thing about this sordid, illegal little arrangement you have going on here."

Embarrassed, Nate interrupted him. "You were never supposed to find out about this... no one was."

Chuck gave Nate a hard look. "We are going to talk later. But right now, the Duchess and I have some business to discuss. Alone."

"I'm not going anywhere, Chuck!" Nate could feel his anger rising again. He was so shocked and grateful to see Chuck, but he'd been pushed to his absolute limit and was sick of being treated like a nonentity. "I am staying right here, and you are going to say whatever it is you came here to say."

"That's the most backbone I've ever seen your friend show, you know," Catherine told Chuck. "Keep it up, Nate -- you just might turn me on." She turned her attention to Chuck again. "You have no idea how fun he's been to play with. At my complete, utter disposal. That's not something I'm about to give up."

Chuck had to force himself to take a deep breath just to avoid clocking the woman. "Sit down."

"Excuse me?" Catherine's tone belied her outrage.

"I said sit down." There was something dangerous in Chuck's voice, and even Catherine could sense it. "We're going to watch a little movie. I think you'll recognize someone."

Nate was still reeling as he watched Chuck pull out a DVD and insert it into his laptop. From where he was standing, he couldn't see what was on the screen so he watched Catherine's reactions closely. Over the course of ten seconds, Catherine's wariness changed to pure shock.

"Where the fuck did you get this?" Catherine demanded. Chuck's lips curled into a smile, but he said nothing. Catherine slammed the laptop shut. "We're done here."

"Now, now, that's not the reaction I was expecting." said Chuck, "It's just getting good. I particularly like when your friend comes in. I mean, you seem really happy to see her..." He looked at the fuming Catherine. "I was wondering how the Duke would like it." Chuck drew close to Catherine. "I'm thinking you'd rather part ways with my friend than risk having your husband watch you get screwed by..." Chuck's voice trailed off. Catherine was laughing. "What the hell is so funny?"

"That's your big plan? Find my sex tape and threaten to tell my husband?" she sneered. "Please. He already knows."

Nate was incredulous. "What? You told your husband about some porno you made?"

Catherine sat back down on the bed. "There are a lot of things you don't know about life, Nathaniel."

Chuck thought quickly. "Even if your husband knows, Page 6 doesn't. Neither do my contacts at the London Daily Mail."

Catherine cocked her head to the side. "You're bluffing."

"I really doubt it," Nate said.

"I'd listen to Nathaniel," Chuck commented. "There's really no way you can spin something like this to your advantage. The original tape isn't exactly "artsy," and neither are the DVD copies I had made. Not to mention those pesky statutory rape charges."

Catherine's eyes narrowed. "Don't you think the Archibald name has been dragged through the tabloids enough? You wouldn't risk associating your friend's name with all of this smut."

Chuck stroked his chin. "Ah, but young Nathaniel is a juvenile. Legally, his name will be kept out of the papers."

Catherine smirked. "I think we both know that legality is not an obstacle here. If I wanted to make the public aware of Nate's identity, his picture would be in every tabloid from here to Britain."

"So what?" Chuck and Catherine turned to look at Nate. "So fucking what, Catherine? Yeah, I'm embarrassed that I ever agreed to this shitty deal with you, and if no one ever found out about it, all the better. But if you think you're going to blackmail me into keeping this up out of fear of upholding my reputation, forget it." Empowered, Nate continued. "My whole life, that's all my parents worried about. Look where it got them. If my name gets printed in some tabloid, it will be worth it if I never have to see you again."

The room was silent. After a moment, Catherine spoke. "Nate… do you really hate me that much?" Nate didn't respond. "I did care for you, you know."

"No you didn't! You were blackmailing me!" Nate was still angry but was thrown a bit by Catherine's contrite demeanor.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Nate." Catherine said with a sigh. "That tape is one of those things. I don't think a man can ever realize what it's like to be a young, naive woman desperate to escape her life. Obviously, I made some terrible choices along the way. The Duke literally rescued me and accepted me despite my past. You have no idea what it's like to live a life where sex is your only commodity. With the Duke, it was so refreshing to be appreciated for other things. It was a relief not to be pressured or coerced into having sex… at first. After ten years, though…" She looked out the window. "Let's just say that when you came along, you gave me something that I hadn't had in years. I couldn't give that up."

Nate sat down next to her on the bed. "I feel bad that men treated you like crap, Catherine, but why would you turn around and do the exact same thing to me? I mean, you know how awful it feels to just be used for one thing." He shook his head. "You made me feel so cheap – I can't believe you would do that to me, especially after everything that's happened to you."

"I'm not sure what to tell you, Nate, I -"

Catherine was interrupted by the clicking of computer keys. Chuck looked up from his laptop. "Oh, don't let me interrupt this tender moment. I was making sure that the photo I just e-mailed to myself came out alright." He grinned. "It did." He had silently snapped a camera photo of Nate and Catherine next to each other on the bed, and was pleased at the results.

"Was that really necessary?" Catherine asked.

"I needed insurance that you would leave Nate alone," Chuck replied. "And that you would keep your mouth shut about a certain Archibald's whereabouts." Catherine gaped at him. "Yes, I knew about that blackmail scheme, too." Chuck looked at Catherine. She seemed different – resigned, even. "I think we can all agree that we're done here." Nate nodded and got up from the bed while Catherine remained sitting. Chuck reached into the interior pocket of his blazer and produced an envelope, which he handed to Catherine. "Open it. Inside you'll find a first-class ticket to London. I'm sure the Duke will be thrilled to have you join him in England."

Catherine glared at him. "You can't be serious."

Chuck smiled. "If your people are half as good as my people, you'll have everything you need shipped to London before you even get there." His smile disappeared. "I never want to see you or hear from you again."

Catherine faced Nate. "And tell me, do you feel the same?"

Nate nodded. "I do. This needs to be the end, Catherine."

When they would talk about this moment later, both Chuck and Nate would agree that, for a few long, awkward minutes, it appeared as if Catherine was going to say something. She would walk toward the window, then turn around to face them, open her mouth, but then close it. Finally, she simply stood in the middle of the room and shook her head. Slowly, she went up to Nate and gave him a long kiss. "Goodbye, Nathaniel," she whispered. She picked up the envelope with the tickets. "I think you two need to leave now. I'll be on the plane."

Chuck glared at her. "I'll be making sure of that."

Nate quickly gathered his few belongings and left Catherine's cabana with Chuck, never even looking back. Dazed, he followed Chuck's lead down the beach, until finally they had reached a small, almost empty oceanfront bar. As Nate slumped into a chair, Chuck ordered two beers from the bar, then sat down next to his friend.

"I can't believe it's over," Nate said. He leaned toward Chuck. "How did you find out about all of this?"

Chuck was quiet. "I have my ways."

"Not good enough, Chuck. I want to know exactly how you knew."

Chuck sighed and rolled his eyes. "It was Vanessa, okay?"

Nate was surprised. "Vanessa? Really?"

"Yeah." Chuck sipped his beer. "She called me up, really upset. Said she'd tried helping but it didn't work. So she called me."

"Well, I'm actually glad she did." Nate nodded toward Chuck. "Thank you. I owe you, big time."

Chuck cocked an eyebrow. "Let's keep the payback strictly monetary, shall we?"

Nate shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "Damn Chuck, it's a little soon for jokes, okay?"

"Sorry." Chuck had finished his beer, and was peeling off the label. "So how did you get mixed up with Catherine in the first place?"

Nate groaned. "It's a long story. Can we save it for the plane?" He paused. "You did take the plane here, right?"

Chuck smiled. "Of course. Air Bass leaves at 7pm tonight, so we better make the most of our last few hours." He rose to get more beer.

"Hey Chuck, before you get up, do you have your phone on you? Mine doesn't work here." Chuck reached in his pocket and tossed his cell phone to Nate before heading to the bar. Nate nervously dialed a number, and was almost relieved when it went straight to voicemail. He didn't say much, but it was enough.

"Hi Vanessa? It's Nate. It's done… everything's done. Thank you. I'll be seeing you soon."


THE END

Thank you for reading the story! I hope you enjoyed it! -- AE