Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
"Chuck, it's nearly midnight," Blair stumbled into his office. "Come to bed."
"I can't," Chuck shook his head. "Something's bugging me."
"I'm pretty confident that I can distract you from whatever is bugging you," she tempted him as she stepped in behind him and began biting at his earlobe.
"I think someone was helping Dan," Chuck leaned back in his chair.
"I'm trying to seduce you, and you're thinking about Humphrey," Blair looked at him. "Something is wrong with that statement."
"I'm sorry," he was quick to put her at ease as he caressed her shoulder through the silk of her robe, "It has nothing to do with your seduction capabilities."
"I'm not so sure of that," she replied as she pulled his chair away from his desk so she could sit in his lap, "I repeat, you're thinking about Dan Humphrey when I'm trying to get you to bed so I can have my way with you."
"Technically, I'm thinking about Gossip Girl and who might have been helping her," Chuck corrected as he put his arms around her.
"Technicality," she waved him off, "Gossip Girl is Dan Humphrey. We've shut him down. Now we get to put him out of our minds permanently."
"There's a story in Dan's files that never got published. I can't get a handle on where it came from," Chuck shook his head. "It's bugging me."
"Fine," she gave in, "What's the story?"
"Right there," Chuck pointed.
Blair leaned forward and read the screen, "Oh my God. Is this true?"
"Did you know about this?" he asked.
"I didn't have a clue," Blair shook her head, "S never said anything about being pregnant in school."
"We were only fifteen at the time," Chuck pointed out.
"It was at the height of S's wild child days," Blair bit her lip. "You didn't know?"
"I'm as surprised as you are."
"Wow," Blair exclaimed, "Poor, S."
"Dan never posted the story," Chuck pointed out. "Not even at graduation when he released everyone's dirtiest secrets."
"That's a pretty big secret, even for Gossip Girl," Blair stated, "Considering he was supposedly in love with Serena back then, he wouldn't have done it."
"But there's no name as to where this came from," Chuck stated, "It's just a post that was never sent."
"Maybe someone at the hospital recognized her," Blair mused out loud and then quickly dismissed the idea, "No, they would've gone to a tabloid and tried to make some money."
"Who was leaching off Serena back then?" Chuck theorized.
"Well there was-" Blair's eyes went wide. "Oh, that bitch!"
"Georgina," Chuck concluded.
"What if there was more than one secret that Serena was keeping from us before she left for boarding school, the one that she still couldn't tell us when she came back," Blair stated
"Which is why she never took part in any of our takedowns with Georgina," Chuck nodded. "She knew that Georgina had something on her that could blow her life apart."
"I should introduce Georgina to Marcus. She'd fit right in with that family," Blair thought for a moment, "Chuck, do you think Georgina was helping Dan all this time?"
"Doubtful," Chuck shook his head, "But perhaps some of the time. Remember when she came back from rehab and befriended Dan as 'Sarah' just to get under Serena's skin?"
"They've been sleeping together," Blair shook her head. "She had to know something was up."
"And he had to have help," Chuck added, "Maybe Little J wasn't his accomplice."
"No, I heard the tone in Jenny and Vanessa's voices that night. No way either of them had any clue that Dan was the one pulling the strings of Gossip Girl."
"This type of scheming is right up Georgina's alley," Chuck stated, "We should confirm with Serena first, but if this is true I'm done tolerating Georgina's crap. It may be time to use my leverage."
"You're sexy when you talk revenge, Mister Bass," Blair smiled.
"Am I really, Mrs. Bass?"
"So handsome and sexy," she whispered in his ear, "I think we should go upstairs, so I can show you how handsome and sexy I find you, unless of course you want to think about Dan Humphrey some more."
"Dan who?" Chuck smiled as he followed his wife upstairs.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," she replied as she raced him up the stairs.
"Hey, S," Blair entered her best friend's apartment with pastries and hot beverages, "I figured you'd need a break from planning your elopement."
"Honestly, there isn't all that much to plan," Serena replied, "I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to invite my father, but the rest of the guest list is done. Chuck said that Yvechelle can handle all the food preparation including the cake. Nate is taking care of the rings. Mom is handling the flowers. All we really need to do now is shop for our dresses."
"You know my mom would be insulted if you got married in something other than one of her dresses," Blair pointed out.
"I know, but it would be a little weird to ask her to design my dress when I'm not inviting her to the wedding," Serena bit her lip nervously, "Especially since I am inviting her housekeeper."
"Honestly, I think my mother is too busy right now to even consider a few days away," Blair admitted, "With trying to get everything ready for her next show and bringing the company back from France, she's a little stressed out."
"So you're saying if I invited her she probably wouldn't come," Serena concluded.
"But she'd probably get you a pretty nice wedding gift," Blair laughed.
"B, you're a genius. Who else can I invite that won't show up?" Serena chuckled along.
"You'd better decide about your dad," Blair replied, "We leave in less than a week for the island. If he's coming, he'll probably need time to prepare like the rest of us."
"I don't know, B," Serena sighed in frustration, "He was absent from my life for so long."
"But he did come back," Blair reminded her.
"Maybe I'll ask him," Serena nodded, "But I don't know if I'll have him walk me down the aisle."
"Whatever works for you," Blair handed her a pastry, "And Luca gave me something to give to you."
"What's this?" Serena asked as Blair took out a folded up piece of paper.
"It's a picture of him and Nate and you," Blair stated, having gotten the story behind the picture from her son before leaving that morning.
"What's this gigantic red box?" Serena asked as she pointed to one side of the picture.
"That's a fire truck," Blair sighed, "That sweet boy is fixated on fire fighting. If he doesn't grow out of that, I'm going to have to lock him up in his room. My son is not going to be a fireman."
"Come on, B," Serena replied, "He could do worse things with his life."
"It's a noble profession," Blair conceded, "But I'd never sleep a wink during his shifts."
"Did you come over here to give me just the picture and the pastries?" Serena asked.
"No," Blair replied, "Is Nate at the office?"
"Yeah," Serena confirmed, "He needed a few days to wrap some things up before we leave for the wedding. Thankfully he has someone that can handle the editorial work while we're gone. Why do you ask?"
"Chuck was doing a little snooping," Blair began tentatively, "Before Nate's tech guys remotely deleted Dan's hard drive, Chuck had a copy made."
"Oh, God, he didn't really find that sex tape this time, did he?" Serena groaned, "I swear I thought Dan erased that thing, and I was a little tipsy the night we made that."
"Hey, whatever you do in your own bedroom, of your own free will, is your business," Blair assured her, "Making a tape isn't really my style, but I do understand the temptation."
"So if it's not about the tape, what is it?" Serena frowned in confusion as she took a bite of her pastry.
"There really is no way to do this delicately, so I guess I'll just ask," Blair took a deep breath, "Did Georgina have anything else on you from your party days that forced you into boarding school?"
"What?" Serena exclaimed, "Why would you ask? Did she say something?"
"Like I said, Chuck was doing some snooping in Dan's files. He found an unsent blast, one that was a several years old. He hasn't been able to find any corresponding tips to substantiate the claim..." Blair began to ramble before catching herself, "Chuck is convinced that Dan couldn't have done what he did all by himself. There were just too many times that he was with people when blasts were sent out."
"Where are you going with this, B?" Serena's confusion grew.
"The unsent blast was about you," Blair stated, "I don't even know if it's true, but because it was never sent, I think it might have been."
"What did it say?" Serena asked.
"The general gist of the blast was that you ran off to boarding school after...God, I can't even say this," Blair fumbled, "S, did you get pregnant during your partying days when you were hanging out with Georgina?"
"What!" Serena's eyes went wide in horror.
"The blast said that you were pregnant and then you weren't and then you left. S, did you have an..."
"No," Serena shook her head vigorously as tears welled in her eyes, "No, I didn't have an abortion." She trailed off for a few moments to gather her thoughts. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. "I miscarried."
"Oh, S," Blair reached out to grab her hand.
"I was so messed up back then," Serena began to narrate a story that had been in her heart for so many years but had been too ashamed to admit to, "I didn't even know I was pregnant until I was miscarrying in some hospital outside Manhattan. Honestly, I wouldn't even have known who the father was or what I would have done had I known. For a little while after it happened, I just pretended it didn't. I really dove into the partying, which was when that thing at the hotel happened where I thought I killed someone. You'd think the miscarriage would have been the wakeup call, but it wasn't. Sleeping with my best friend's boyfriend and then ending up in a hotel with some dead guy was. I just had to go away."
"Why did you never tell me?" Blair brushed her own tears off her cheek.
"I was so ashamed," Serena choked out, "It's been easier pretending that it never happened. I've never talked about it with anyone."
"Nate doesn't know?" Blair asked.
"No one," Serena shook her head, "Except..."
"Georgina," Blair filled in the blank, "That's why you never got involved in any of our takedown attempts."
"She's always been a loose cannon," Serena nodded in agreement, "I always figured she had the text to Gossip Girl drafted, ready to press send."
"I think it's more complicated than that," Blair replied.
"Complicated how?" Serena pushed aside the tears.
"Remember when Georgina was cozying up to Dan as Sarah?" Blair inquired.
"Oh wow, I'd forgotten about that, but yeah," Serena nodded.
"We think that's how it started," Blair stated.
"How what started?" Serena asked, "B, what aren't you telling me?"
"We think Georgina was Dan's Gossip Girl buddy," Blair explained, "And that unsent tip is something that she wrote up but never sent."
"That's insane," Serena scoffed.
"No, it makes complete sense," Blair shook off her friend's comments, "How many times were you sitting next to Dan when a blast was sent? It only makes sense for him to have had help, and with the way that Jenny and Vanessa so convincingly denied involvement it had to be someone else. Unless you think Rufus had a hand in this, Georgina is the only other person that makes sense."
"And how do we prove it?" Serena challenged her, "I'm not going to go under cover again."
"I don't think you have to," Blair stated, "You might be able to ask Dan point blank."
"He's not going to tell me anything?"
"He will if you claim he invaded your privacy by snooping through your medical records to find out about the miscarriage," Blair replied, "He'll be so desperate to clear his name that his secret will come oozing out."
"Why do I have to do the dirty work again?" Serena challenged her.
"I'm sorry, S, I know this is hard, but you're the one that stands to loss the most from this," Blair stated, "And honestly, I think you're the one that Dan cares the most about. He carried a torch for you for years."
"But he's currently still carrying a torch for you," Serena shook her head.
"I'm unattainable," Blair replied, "I'm happily married with two children."
"Lucky me," Serena grumbled.
"Are you going to tell Nate about the miscarriage?" Blair asked softly.
"Eventually," Serena nodded, "Maybe after popping out a few kids first."
"Is everything okay in that regard?" Blair asked hesitantly.
"I was checked out. They told me that I was okay," Serena replied.
"Good," Blair gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze, "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here."
"Thanks, B," Serena wiped at a stray tear that fell, "Hopefully we'll be able to be pregnant together. Just think of all the ways we'll be able to torment the guys if there is twice the hormones coursing through us."
"Did you want to borrow my whistle?" Blair inquired, "I didn't use it last time because Luca didn't like it, and I have a feeling it will cause all sorts of havoc with Monkey."
"I'll think about it," Serena chuckled slightly, "Have you and Chuck talked anymore about when you're going to try for a third?"
"We'd talked about waiting until after Evie turns one," Blair bit her lip, "But you never know. I thought I was pregnant over a month ago, and Bass babies have a way of sneaking up on us."
"You think you're pregnant again, don't you?" Serena concluded.
"Maybe," Blair gave a tentative nod.
"Oh, good grief," Serena rolled her eyes dramatically, "Malfunctioning condom?"
"Maybe," Blair gave another tentative nod, "I don't know. I need to find time to take the test, but I've been feeling a little off."
"Off how?" Serena inquired, "I mean, if I'm going to get Nate to knock me up, I'm going to need to recognize the signs."
"Queasy, tired, sensitive body parts," Blair replied, "Insatiable appetite for my husband."
"Well, that last thing is nothing new," Serena rolled her eyes again.
"It's different when I'm pregnant," Blair admitted, "I don't know. It's probably nothing."
"Do you want to get a test to take now?" Serena asked, "We could get the pharmacy to deliver one."
"I have plenty at the manor," Blair replied, "I think Chuck bought out the store's supply last month."
"Sounds like Chuck," Serena giggled, "When it comes to you, he spares no expense. Your wedding present to me and Nate can be a positive pregnancy test."
"You want me to give you a used pee stick," Blair giggled, "You're much easier to please than I was."
"Do you think Chuck knows?" Serena asked.
"I don't even know for sure," Blair reminded her.
"I demand that you go home, take a test, and let me know," Serena stated, "It's going to bug me all day not knowing."
"I'll go home and pee on a stick for you," Blair laughed as she gathered her handbag and cup of tea after texting Arthur to bring the car around, "Let us know what you find out with Dan. Chuck has a plan for handling Georgina, but he won't do anything unless he knows for sure that she was Dan's cohort."
"I will," Serena nodded as she hugged her best friend.
TBC…
