Chapter 12 of The Butterfly Effect

Author: Isabelle

Rating: PG-13

Summary: AU. At age 36, Chuck Bass dies. His daughter, unable to stand the pain and her mother's tears, hires a mad scientist to send her back in time to prevent her father's death. She arrives at present day, Chuck/Blair's senior year, and attempts to get her parents together before the disaster can occur in the future. Has nothing to do with the film, other than sharing a title.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl, Back to the Future, The Butterfly Effect, the Time Machine or anything else you can relate to this. The only character that is mine is Kitty, CB's daughter.

Special thanks to my Beta, Tati!!

--

"Who loves believes the impossible."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

By the time Serena made it back to the Waldorf home, it was well past 12 AM and she was sure she was ready to pass out. She knew Blair's phone was off, so she had to physically walk her ass over there to set things right before Blair did something as dramatically drastic as she was prone to do.

"Blair!" She cried the moment she entered the house. Dorota quickly came, her face pale.

"Miss. Blair sleeping," she informed Serena.

"I need to speak to her." Serena marched right up the stairs.

"Miss. Serena," Dorota said after her. "Mr. Chuck keep calling all night!"

Serena stopped and chewed on her bottom lip, remembering the screams her step bother left behind as he was dragged away. She closed her eyes and sighed. What a mess.

"Next time he calls, let me know," she finally said. "I'll talk to him."

The maid quickly nodded and left.

Serena found Blair in her bed, yes, but completely awake, staring off into the window.

"Blair?" Serena said and her friend turned slightly. "We need to talk."

--

Blair sat motionless as Serena told her the entire story, her heart feeling less and less heavy by the time her best friend finished.

"But it still doesn't explain the necklace," Blair told her quietly, clutching the covers.

"I don't know, B. Maybe she found it, and in her warped mind pretended he gave it to her. Maybe she bought it – I don't know." Serena shook her head, and Blair looked down at her hands.

"Does he know?" Blair asked quietly.

"He wasn't there. Bart's been trying to find him and he's been unable to," Serena told her.

Her heart clenched as the horrible memory of him being physically dragged out flooded her. She buried her face in her hands, sucking in a breath.

"Call him, B. Let him explain," Serena urged her.

Blair's shoulders sagged; she was so very emotionally exhausted. To have to deal with Chuck now would be hell, but to leave it for later would be even worse.

"I…"

On cue, Dorota knocked.

"Miss. Serena."

Serena jumped up. "It's him – I'm telling him to come over."

Blair panicked, sliding off the bed. "I'm not ready."

"B!" Serena sighed.

"I – I need to think about this." Blair looked at her wide-eyed.

"Can you imagine what he's feeling?" Serena cried, throwing her hands in the air.

Blair bit her lip and finally nodded.

--

He didn't know what the hell he was doing here. He just… he wanted to scream. This was just crazy. The entire night had felt like someone had shaken it out of a horror sci-fi film.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He waited and knocked louder.

"I thought you had a key," the male voice said the moment the door was opened. Before him stood this gorgeous guy, half naked, with a pair of sweat pants hanging low on his hips, his eyes closed and his hair tousled.

Eric gulped.

The guy opened his eyes and raised a brow.

"You're missing a pair of breasts," he stated, amused, leaning back on the door and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I…" Eric stuttered.

"How's it going, Eric?" The guy smirked at him, and it made Eric's blood run cold.

"How do you know my name?" Eric stated.

The guy chuckled, studying his feet and rubbing them against the carpet. "She told you, eh?"

He glanced at Eric's bewildered face and nodded.

"Yeah… that was my face too, when she first told me her plan," the guy continued. "I thought she had gone half crazy with her father dying and all… but…" The guy smiled fondly. "If there was one person who could do it, it's Katerina."

Eric swallowed. "A-are you also…"

"From the future?" He smirked. "Yes, indeed."

"I… I think I need a drink." Eric said faintly.

"You've come to the right place, man. I'm Ian, by the way. Ian Winters." Ian let him in.

Eric entered Ian's room and took a seat on the bar; gratefully throwing back a shot of Bourbon the moment Ian placed it before him.

"This is impossible," Eric whispered after a coughing fit.

Ian nodded, taking a shot himself. Ian walked to the bed and threw a worn in white t-shirt over his head, ruffling his hair even more.

"I mean… I thought she was really crazy," Eric whispered, still turning the situation over and over in his head.

"Oh, you knew it was true. The moment you looked into those eyes of hers…" Ian smirked, serving Eric another shot. "… She's a Bass through and through. That man couldn't deny her even if he wanted to."

"So, Chuck and Blair…"

"Get knocked up?" Ian offered then broke out into a grin. "Sure."

Eric nodded, taking another drink.

"And he…"

"Dies. 18 years down the line," Ian finished.

Another drink.

"And Blair and him… they're still together?" Eric asked doubtfully. It's not that he doubted his stepbrother's love for Blair, but the way those two fought he was surprised they lasted at all.

"Oh yeah." Ian smiled. "He treated that woman like his queen. I mean, they fought – sure, but it was always her."

Eric nodded. "Yeah… once in love, always in love. That's Chuck."

"And Katerina can't handle it," Ian continued, his eyes turning a dark pensive color.

Eric's head snapped up, he had completely forgotten Kitty. "Kitty!"

Ian's brow rose. "Yes. Katerina."

"No, you don't know – my mom…. They've placed her in the Ostroff center because they think she's crazy!"

Ian's hand stopped halfway to his mouth, and his gaze turned cold.

"What?" His voice was low.

Eric gulped.

"She… she was making no sense-"

"What the fuck is the Ostroff center?" Ian was walking closer to him, and Eric's stomach churned.

"It-it's a place for-"

"For crazy people?" Ian demanded, his voice dropping to an even lower tone.

"I… yes," Eric stuttered.

"When?" he demanded.

Eric gulped.

"When, god dammit!" Ian yelled, and Eric fumbled out of his seat.

"They-they took her a few hours ago," Eric stated, backing up against the wall, his vision blurry. He really shouldn't have drank.

Ian's nostrils flared and he threw his glass against the wall, shattering it into a million pieces. He turned and walked to his bedroom, and Eric could dimly see him dressing.

Eric's heart was beating wildly. He had seen more than he had wanted of how dangerous this man could really get. He could get downright violent. It reminded him of… Chuck.

Ian emerged a few seconds later in jeans and a sweater and threw Eric a dark look.

"C'mon," he said, slipping his wallet to his back pocket.

"Where are we going?" Eric asked doubtfully.

"To see the Wizard," Ian deadpanned. "Where the fuck do you think?"

Eric nodded and followed him out the door.

--

"Chuck?"

He sighed because he so didn't want to talk to Serena.

"I need to talk to Blair," he informed her, his eyes narrowed as he sat in his limo.

"Chuck, listen to me-"

"I'm not talking to you. As far as I'm concerned helping you ever has been the biggest mistake of my life." He pondered this. "Except that one time in Cancun with the Mexican twins and the weird tasting tequila."

He heard Serena sigh. "Chuck!"

He was quiet.

"Listen, I got home and mom and Bart had taken Lizzy in – she was in the guest bedroom."

"What?" He burst out, closing his eyes against all the complications his life had been through in the past few hours.

"And… Chuck. She thinks she's your daughter. Yours and Blairs."

He was quiet because he wasn't sure what exactly to reply to that particular statement.

"So mom and Bart took her to the Ostroff center," she finished.

He sat still, looking at the passing lights of the city.

"Wait. Stop. She thinks what?" He demanded, still confused.

"She's sick, Chuck," Serena said quietly. "She thinks… she called Blair 'mom'."

Her stomach felt slightly empty. "A-are you sure?"

Her silence told him everything.

"Come to Blair's – she wants to see you," she said softly.

He closed his eyes. "When did they take Lizzy?" He asked.

Serena hesitated.

"When?" He demanded.

"A couple of hours ago," Serena told him.

His jaw clenched and he rested his head against the headrest of the limo. "Tell Blair I'll be there when I'll be there."

"Chuck-"

"Tell her."

And he hung up. He massaged his temples and took a deep breath, easing the tie from his neck because he felt that he was choking.

"65th and Broadway," he told his driver.

--

Kitty closed her eyes, but sleep still evaded her. She had been in this horrible room for almost five hours, and she couldn't stop crying. She wasn't even sobbing anymore, the tears just kept dribbling from her open eyes.

She wanted to go home. End of story. She wanted her bed, she wanted her mother, and she was willing to lose her father to get that. Because she was tired and she was scared and she was alone.

The digital clock next to her bed read 4:45 AM. She blinked.

Her purse was at the Bass home, her transporter was there – she was stuck here until they let her go.

Two psychiatrists had come to see her, asking her over and over who she was. She held firm to the Elizabeth Waldorf identity and persisted that she was having this horrible dream were she was someone else… Someone all too much like her.

Eleanor had finally been contacted and agreed she stay there until her mother could be contacted. Of course, the moment they realized she was not who she claimed to be, she would be in more trouble than she was in right now.

She closed her eyes and more tears came out.

That's when she felt her door opened. She sat up and blinked in the darkness.

"Who is it?" She whispered, her heart beating.

"Are you crying, Bass?"

Relief flooded her heart when Ian's face appeared before her. She let out a breath and smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as he held her against him.

"Ian," she whimpered, hoping the tears would stop on their own.

She felt him pat her hair, holding her close to him. "It's ok," he whispered.

"Why are you here?" She asked, pulling back and looking at him.

"I'm rescuing you," he smiled, proud of himself.

She rolled her eyes. "Where's your cape?"

"Your dad stole it," she let out a laugh.

She jumped when a second person popped their head. "C'mon!"

"Uncle Eric!" She stated, elated. He had believed her!

Eric blanched. "Please don't call me that – it's … weird."

She laughed and slid on her shoes as Ian grabbed her hand.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Well, I would suggest going home, but I have a feeling you were going to give me that look, so plan B is to lay low," He joked.

"C'mon!" Eric hissed.

Kitty quickly followed as Eric led them down the corridors as they dodged past the graveyard shift nurses and janitors.

"This way," Eric told them.

They finally made it out of the building and attempted to hide in the shadows.

"Where exactly are we going to lay low?" Kitty demanded once they were out in the streets.

"Excellent question," they all jumped and gaped as none other than Chuck Bass stood behind them.

"Chuck!" Eric cried, and Chuck spared him a glance with a slightly impressed eyebrow thrown his way.

Kitty's stomach lurched because she knew that look. That look meant 'you're in deep shit, young lady'.

"Chuck," she said quietly, holding onto Ian's arm. Ian stood taller, almost a whole head taller than Chuck.

Chuck's eyes zoomed in on her.

"Escaping Ostroff… Not bad. Been done before." Chuck gave a half smirk. "However, when they find you've escaped, it'll get a bit complicated. My father is already investigating as we speak, and Eleanor will naturally insist on it. And I have a feeling you're not Elizabeth Waldorf."

She stood still, her fingers digging into Ian.

"Are you?" He came closer, hands in his pockets.

"I'm not," she confessed.

He nodded.

"Blair's not going to let it go. She'll find out you were lying," He said, still studying her.

Kitty gulped.

"So." Chuck said carefully. "I'll hide you, but I can only do it for a couple of weeks."

Kitty blinked. "Why are you helping me?"

Chuck was silent as he took her in. "I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe it's the fact… maybe it's many facts."

Eric was looking wide-eyed between the two.

"Maybe it's that fact that makes me help you," he said softly. "Either way… Car's this way."

He gestured to the other side of the street.

--

When she blinked, she realized she had overslept. Then she relaxed back in her pillows when she realized it was Sunday.

She felt comfortable, warm and… loved.

Loved.

She opened her eyes and looked ahead. Chuck was next to her. She had waited for him for over two hours after Serena had left, and he never came. She didn't cry, she just lay there, looking out the window. When he didn't show, she decided to finally close her eyes.

And now here he was, fully dressed with his arm draped over her waist and his face buried in her pillow. She sighed.

"Chuck," she said, shaking him.

He didn't bulge.

"Chuck!" She shoved him hard, and he rolled over, groaning.

"For fuck's sake, Waldorf!" He growled. "I'm tired!"

She kicked him, and he hissed, finally opening his eyes. "Get up!"

"What is your problem?" He demanded.

She gaped at him. "My problem?"

"Yes, the problem is obviously yours not mine, I'm trying to sleep," he closed his eyes once more, snuggling into her covers.

She yanked at his covers, making him glare at her.

"Jesus, Blair!" He yelled, pulling the covers back as they struggled back and forth.

"Get out!" She demanded, rolling off bed and adjusting her breast in her gown. He watched her movement with dark eyes.

"Erase the visual!" She demanded, knowing what he was thinking and imagining.

"Too late. It's alive and well," he smirked, and she rolled her eyes.

"Why are you here?" She demanded, grabbing her robe and wrapping it around herself.

He sat up, rubbing his neck. "Can I please go back to sleep? I'm running on…" he looked at her clock. "Three hours of sleep."

"Not my problem," she quipped, walking around her room and picking up his clothes.

"How long are you going to stay mad?" He demanded.

She shoved his jacked into his arms and bent to pick up his shoes. "Forever!" She hit him in the head with shoe.

He yelped, grabbing her other hand before the other shoe left him half-blind.

"Stop it, you mad woman!" He cried.

Her face contorted in fury, she straddled him and yanked him by his hair.

"I hate you!" She spat as she attempted to choke him with her small hands.

"Stop it!" He rolled them until he was on top of her, prying her tiny hands off him but hissing as her nails left little pink track marks on his pale skin.

He pinned her hands between them as she glared angrily up at him.

They both stared at each other, breathing harshly.

"Get off me," she demanded.

"No," he said easily. "Kiss me."

"No!" She yelled, outraged.

"Kiss me!" His eyes narrowed.

"You smell."

"So do you," he deadpanned. She gasped, outraged once more.

"I do not-"

But that was enough for him to kiss her, his tongue plunging into hers as he slowly let go of her hands and buried his own into her silky locks.

"Hummm…" she moaned into his mouth and bit his lip.

He cried out, pulling back.

She used this to her advantage, pushing him off her and rolling off him.

He glared at her, eyebrows narrowed.

"What is your problem?" He spat, touching his lip gingerly.

"I hate you, I told you this – this is old news." She walked to her bathroom, head held high. "I'm taking a shower, and when I come out, you better be gone."

When she exited the bathroom, he was lounging on her bed, munching happily on breakfast and flipping channels on her new plasma TV.

"You're still here," she remarked, taking the towel off her head. He didn't look her way as he bit into his croissant.

"I'm tired, I told you this – this is old news," he quipped back, grabbing the mimosa.

"This is my breakfast." She grabbed his croissant and began eating it. He stared at her, not happy.

"It's not like you ever eat it," he said smoothly and she growled at him and smacked his head.

"Why are you being such a bitch?" He asked.

"Why are you being such an asshole?" She cried.

He slurped his mimosa as he stared at her.

"So this is it, we're going to ignore what happened yesterday?" She asked finally.

He looked away, staying quiet.

"Fine!" She snapped. "Out."

"No." he replied.

She sighed and sat on the bed, exhausted. "I'm tired, Chuck."

He sat up and pulled on her arm so she would lay on top of him, she resisted at first but gave in, laying her head on his chest as he rubbed her back.

"It was a misunderstanding. That's all," he said, and she nodded into his chest.

--

As she got ready for the Bass Sunday night dinner, she opted this time for something a self-respecting girlfriend would wear. A Waldorf original with ankle boots and gloves. It was her fourth Sunday dinner at the Basses and she planned to make a good impression; Bart was really taking a liking to her, and she expected to keep it that way.

Chuck had sent a car for her, and she slid out as it stopped at the Palace.

"Blair!" Lily was the one to greet her. "You look lovely, as always."

"Lily," Blair smiled, making small talk with her as she spotted Chuck out of the corner of her eye.

As they sat for dinner, the topic came fast than either would like.

"It's unbelievable," Lily stated, and that was when Blair snapped out the reverie that was Chuck's hand on her lower back.

"What is?" Blair asked, smiling.

Lily blinked.

"Nothing," Chuck answered, and that's when Blair knew he had been distracting her. She stiffened, and he instantly removed the hand that she had, for a moment, thought had been placed there out of love.

Serena blinked and cleared her throat. "That girl, Blair – the one that claimed she was your cousin… She's disappeared."

Blair blinked and gasped.

They had established a few hours ago that she was no Elizabeth Waldorf; Bart had found out soon enough, and Eleanor was in hysterics.

"What do you mean?" She asked, and noticed that Eric looked pale enough.

Chuck on his end was quiet and attempting to act indifferent. That's when she knew. She just knew it – like she knew him. Chuck Bass only got away with keeping things from her when she was distracted. The moment she would zoom in on him, she knew he had a plan the size of Texas under his sleeve.

She remembered when he tried to take her down a few months ago because he was so upset at her – she had been so preoccupied with Marcus and his slut of a step mother that she hadn't seen it coming.

But now she saw it. She dimly heard Bart explaining, but she needed to get out. She needed air. She excused herself from the table and walked away, hastily because her hands were shaking so badly she thought she would faint.

"Blair!" She heard him coming after, just like she knew he would because he knew that she knew.

She turned her heel and faced him.

"Where is she?" she demanded.

His jaw twitched. "She's missing."

"Don't lie to me." She said, low and dangerous.

He didn't respond.

"Are you hiding her?" She asked, letting out a sad laugh. "Of course you are."

"Blair, it's not like that." He attempted to grab her but she pulled back.

"Don't touch me." She hissed, and he let out a sigh.

"Are we back to that?" He demanded, now angry.

"Are you hiding her?" She asked more forcefully. "Are you?"

His jaw twitched, and she had her answer.

"You said you loved me," she began. "You said it because you thought you were losing me. And Chuck Bass hates to lose."

He opened his mouth to speak, his eyes denying it.

"Practice it now…" She whispered coldly. "Practice it… because you just lost me."

"No, Blair." He grabbed her once more, pulling her to him.

She pushed against his chest, but he held on tight. "It's not like that – she's not well. I don't know why she did it, but she's not well."

"Then why won't you tell me? Why wont you let me in?" She asked so softly that he hardly heard her.

"I… I made a promise," he said.

Tears were threatening to spill, but she held them in stubbornly and surely. He was searching her face now, searching for what?

"Do you love me?" He demanded, and her eyes went wide, blinking at him.

She was silent.

She would've told him. She should've told him. But she was… She was afraid. He could break her. He could destroy her until there was nothing left because she had never loved like this before, and most surely never would again.

"You see," he whispered against her lips, until she felt something had dropped under her. Perhaps her feet. "You won't hear it from me again until I hear it from you."

He dropped his arms and walked away, leaving her shaking, trembling and cold.

--

To be continued

I haven't had a chance to reply to everyone's reviews but I will; I had a long day today and I know you guys are waiting for the chapter :)