Truth That Sets Us Free (Chapter 5 of 'The Once & Future Bass')
"When you know that language, it's easy to believe that someone in the world awaits you, whether it's in the middle of the desert or in some great city… without such love, one's dreams would have no meaning." – The Alchemist
Author: Isabelle
Rating: PG-13 (language, adult situations, violence)
Spoilers: All of Season 1 & some Season 2 promos
Summary: In Season 2 Blair & Chuck finally re-unite after their break-up and that same night Chuck witnesses something that pulls him away from Blair. Years later he's back to save her and those he left behind.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with Gossip Girl; CW owns them along with their creators.
--
"...intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it's all written there," – The Alchemist
"Checkmate," he said into the phone. "Don't do it."
The line was silent on the other end.
"Don't you think your time for making demands is over? Wasn't that your first lesson?"
"Don't do it," he said quietly. "And I'll come back. Just don't do it."
"Do you really think that we will let her go after all she knows?" The voice was amused on the other end. "You know the rules, no recruits after 21."
He closed his eyes and shut down the world around him.
"Give her the serum," he finally whispered.
There was a chuckle on the other line.
"How very noble of you."
"Give her the fucking serum and take her home."
And he hung up. He looked at the wall in front of him and violently punched it. It left a hole in the plaster, but that was nothing compared to the hole in his soul.
--
Blair was sitting in a corner, her knees tucked under her chin as silent tears dribbled down her face.
They hadn't fed her, and she was dying to use the restroom. She refused to urinate with God-knows-who looking. So she sat and waited. Because surely Chuck would come for her. That was, of course, her biggest worry. If he came for her… they would kill him. She couldn't survive mourning him again. Not when she had just found him. Not now, when she realized their love was much more than a high school dream. This was the man she was going to love for the rest of her life, and she couldn't handle losing him. Losing him would mean losing herself.
She jumped when a door opened in what she previously thought was a wall. She backed up further into her corner as a regal woman entered. She wore a tight-fitting gray suit with five-inch heels and square black-framed glasses. Her hair was cropped short and perfectly styled. It was blonde, and Blair was sure she had the coldest green eyes she had ever seen.
A large man came in after her with a folded chair in one hand and a small white box in another. He handed the woman the box and opened the chair for her. He then went to stand by the entrance, looking blankly at Blair.
The woman elegantly took a seat, crossed her legs, placed the box on her lap and stared openly at Blair, taking in her near-nudity.
Blair flushed. She was in her underwear and she felt vulnerable and lost.
"My parents named me Paula, but you will call me 27. I am the voice you heard. I'm always the voice."
Blair pulled her legs closer to her.
"Your rogue lover has placed you in this predicament, you know. You should be upset at him. All he had to do was leave you alone, pretend you were dead… yet he couldn't. When his training mentor died, he became… melancholic. Yes, melancholy is what I like to think happened to him. You attracted him in a way that he couldn't control."
27 patted the box with fondness.
"So you can understand how I blame you entirely for his fall from grace," 27 smiled at Blair. "I blame you for making us lose one of our best agents."
"You kidnapped him," Blair said in a low voice. She hated this woman. She didn't know this woman, but she her.
"I do hate reliving the past." She took a breath and opened her box. "I just had a call from dear Charles."
27 let the implications of her words sink into Blair, and this made Blair stand up.
"If you hurt him-"
27 laughed a strange icy laugh.
"Really… if I was a romantic, I would be touched."
Blair shut up and stared at her.
"But the fact is that I'm not a romantic." She said the words slowly and pulled out from the box a needle.
Blair gulped and backed away once more.
"So, like I was saying, dear Charles called." 27 looked at the needle, lovingly. "He demanded that I give the serum. Serum 34, as we like to call it. You see, last year, our brave hero intercepted a shipment of Serum 34 en route from Hong Kong to Moscow. This serum has the ability to make you forget. A type of imposed amnesia."
Blair looked at the needle in horror.
"Because, you see, if you don't forget… you have two choices. We either kill you… or you join us. The second option is only given to those we find to have potential. To be honest with you… you have no potential. We don't take recruits older than 21. You're past your expiration date, and he knows it. He knows that this will be the only way to save you."
27 pulled out a vial from the box and gingerly inserted the needle into it.
"No," Blair begged. Blair Waldorf had never begged for anything in her life, but she was ready to beg until she lost her voice. If she thought it would help.
"I do apologize, darling. But you have no choice in the matter. Besides, it seems that young Bass has already made that choice for you. He rather live the rest of his life watching you from shadows than know that you died because he just couldn't stay away."
Tears began to fall from Blair's cheeks.
"I don't want to forget, please. I can't," she pleaded.
27 ignored her pleas and tossed the vial in the box once the syringe was filled. She stood and the man standing by the door took that as his cue, walking towards Blair.
Blair shouted and attempted to get away from the large man, but he swiftly grabbed her. She struggled against him, punching him with her small fists and scratching when she could. This didn't deter him as he turned her around, pressed her against the wall.
"It's rather fitting, really." She heard 27 say behind her as her own tears dribbled down her face, her breath coming in short gasps. "The same serum he found in order to save people from going through what he had to endure… is now being used on you. The woman he claims he loves."
Blair let out a cry of indignation as she felt 27 lower her panties, but the struggling didn't stop this nightmare from occurring.
"Like I said… If I was a romantic, I would be touched," 27 murmured.
Blair's mind raced. She had to think; she had to be quick. She had mere seconds.
She felt the needle sink into her and she cringed.
"Wait!" She said with renewed determination. "You want to play. I can play."
She felt 27 pause and listen to her. She could almost see her raising a finely arched brow.
"You're just doing what he wants." Blair's mind raced. "You're being his bitch."
Blair hissed when 27 dug the needle deeper into her hip.
"Inject me and he will get what he wants. You will be out of cards. How will you blackmail him? He found me once, he will find me again." Blair closed her eyes. "Pretend you injected me and hide me. Make him think that I went back to my normal life. Make him think that I forgot. Make him think I am living my life."
She could feel 27 touching her bare hip and pelvis, almost caressing and she pushed back the shudder.
"And then… use me. Use me against him." Blair held back her tears at what she was saying. She had to be strong; she needed to buy them time; she needed to formulate a plan. "When he least expects it. Use me against him."
She felt 27 chuckle softly.
Blair attempted to dislodge the needle that 27 apparently enjoyed twisting inside of her skin.
"Shhh…" 27 murmured against her ear, running her other hand over her hair. Blair bit her lip and hoped that all her years of scheming might now save that which she loved most. Fitting, really. "Get out."
Blair felt the man that was holding her against the wall release her and walk out of the room. Blair stood frozen, 27's hand still caressing her pelvis while holding her hostage with the needle.
"I want you to listen to me very carefully," 27 whispered against her ear. "The control you think you have is nothing."
Blair jerked when 27 licked her ear.
"Next time, there will be no needle. No mere seconds of pleading. You mess this up and I will personally slit his throat. I will slit it as you watch. Then I will place his body in your arms so he can twitch in them. Trust me. That type of blood never. Leaves. Your. Hands," she emphasized.
Blair cried out when 27 roughly pulled out the needle out and flipped her over so she could look at her.
Her eyes were as cold as if her soul had been sucked out. 27's fingers gently touched Blair's lips, studying her face.
"You think you know what evil is? You think you know what scheming is?" 27 said quietly and Blair could almost detect a hiss to her voice. "No one will save you then-"
"Paula."
Blair froze when she heard the voice and apparently 27 did also. Blair saw her visibly swallow and then pushed herself off Blair to turn to look at the new speaker.
Blair felt the blood drain from her face. She didn't think she could take more surprises.
"Are you done playing with your food?" The new woman asked.
27 calmly walked to her chair and threw the needle in the box and huffed out of the room.
The woman turned to look at Blair once 27 had walked out.
Blair pulled her panties up and still looked at the woman wide-eyed.
The woman walked to her and calmly handed her a long leather coat.
"Put this on."
Blair's trembling hand reached out, and she quickly covered herself with the coat. The woman then gave her a tissue and Blair shakily wiped her tears while trying to avoid those eyes. But they were so intense that she couldn't look away.
"I'm afraid I will not be able to undo what you've volunteered yourself to do."
The woman reached out the touch Blair's shoulder, but Blair flinched. "No one will hurt you… for now."
The woman turned and walked out, and Blair followed her out of the room as a horrible sinking feeling settled in her stomach.
--
When Serena walked downstairs to the living room of the Waldorf house, she was not surprised to see her stepfather in the lobby. For some years now, Bart Bass had a soft spot for the Waldorf family and especially for Blair. Serena could tell, though he never let on.
"How is she doing?" Bart asked, referring to Eleanor. His face never gave anything away, but Serena knew by now that he wouldn't be here unless he was concerned.
"I few valiums make anyone ok," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Bart stuck his hands in her pockets and stood in his stance, which reminded Serena a lot of how Chuck used to stand.
"I have all my people working on it," he explained, avoided her gaze. "I'll see if there's anything I can do."
"Harold is also working on it, Bart. I'm sure she'll be thankful, but it's not necessary." Serena took a seat and sighed.
"It's the least I can do," he said tersely. "I know, after all, what it feels like to lose a child."
Serena looked up at him. After almost six years of being her stepfather, they hadn't had a conversation this long, and she wasn't sure were to go with this.
"Of course," Serena said quietly. But Blair couldn't be gone. Not gone like Chuck. She just couldn't.
"Perhaps Daniel and yourself would like to join Lily and I for dinner tonight? Since Eric moved out, Lily has been missing both of you terribly," he explained after a moment's hesitation.
Serena slowly nodded. "Sure."
"If my son was still around, I would've liked him to come over with his wife," Bart said in a voice that Serena didn't recognize, and she didn't know whether to say sorry or lock herself in the bathroom.
Bart simply nodded and walked to the elevator. Just when you thought Bart Bass was a robot, you realized he was human.
Serena noticed the large bouquet of flowers left on the table and knew distinctly that they hadn't been there before. What was it about Bass men and flowers?
--
Blair took a seat on the couch in the woman's quarters and stared at her as she moved around the small kitchenette area and prepared a hot cup of tea for Blair. Blair noticed there were flowers. Flowers everywhere.
"I need to use the restroom," Blair said quietly.
The woman nodded without turning to look at her and pointed to the bathroom. When she exited, she found the woman sitting on a small table with a cup in front of her and one waiting for Blair.
Blair tentatively took a seat and studied the woman before her.
Blair remembered when she and Serena were not even seven years old. Bart Bass had moved his family to New York, and the stunning Mrs. Bass was the talk of the town. A former Miss Connecticut, Misty Bass was of Japanese and Irish ancestry. She had long, wavy brown hair and exotic brown eyes. Her skin was pale, and her body was small and dainty. She carried herself with a regal air—she was, after all, the wife of one of the richest men in New York. She also came from old money: the key to Bart Bass getting into the UES.
Blair remembered the first time they were invited to the Bass home. Back then Bart had a large portrait of Misty painted hanging on the foyer. She had her Miss Connecticut crown on and the girls thought she was a princess.
In those days, no one saw much of little Charles Bass. He was a bit sick and couldn't really come out to play, unlike Nate who chased both girls. He was homeschooled by private tutors, and he never really had any friends. When Nate became friends with Charles, the girls saw the small boy more often as he was invited to the park with them. Charles always looked like his mother, but acted like his father. He was quiet, calculating, and arrogant.
Blair remembered one day Charles got pneumonia after staying out with them too long in the park. Misty wouldn't let him out for a while, and when they finally saw Charles he was paler and smaller than usual. Charles was with Misty the night of the accident—the accident that killed her. They were only nine years old, no more than ten, and the next time Blair saw Charles, it was after Misty's funeral.
Nate was standing with him, and she naturally went looking for him. Charles looked her over, studying her, and then proceeded to roll his eyes, which took Blair by surprise. Yes, Charles was arrogant, but he had never been mean to her.
"I'm sorry about your mother, Charles," she had said, half-hiding behind Nate.
Charles had taken a gulp from his soda and cleared his throat.
"It's Chuck now." And he had said it so forcefully that Blair decided even if she felt bad for him, she didn't like this new Chuck person. Of course, years changed things, but Blair always knew that Chuck felt somehow responsible for his mother's death. He had been the one who was sick, so very sick that she made the driver go faster than usual.
Chuck Bass never got sick again. He did stay relatively pale and was never as tall as Nate, but Chuck never let on about his looks. Yet now as Blair sat across from his mother, she realized that they shared the same eyes. The same cool demeanor slightly slanted and the same perfect lips and chiseled jaw.
Misty Bass was completely alive and now sitting across from her. Misty Bass had saved her from 27.
"I imagine you're surprised to see me," Misty said and took a sip from her tea, nodding at Blair for her to do the same.
"Chuck thinks you're dead. Bart thinks you're dead," Blair said, unable to touch her tea.
Misty didn't react, but simply took another sip.
"Some people become monsters by choice, others… by extraneous circumstances."
"Which one are you?" Blair snapped, glaring at Misty.
"You must love my son quite a bit, Ms. Waldorf." Misty let her see a small satisfied smile. "And to think that the last time I saw you two together, you told him he was horribly pale."
"We were nine." Blair reminded her, ignoring the blush of embarrassment.
Misty chuckled and set down her tea. "When he first saw you, you wore a green dress with matching headband, and you carried a white flower in your hand. A white flower for Nathaniel Archibald. He was just six or seven then, but he turned to me and said 'Doesn't she look like a princess, mother? I want to marry that girl, so she can be mine forever.' And I'm sure he's loved you since regardless of who was the recipient of your kisses."
Blair's eyes were wide as she listened to Misty's voice.
"So you understand that when I do what I do, it's not for you. I don't give a shit about you. I do it for my son, so that maybe, perhaps he can get his happy ending."
Blair noticed how Misty's hand almost trembled as she picked up her tea once more.
"I love my son, Ms. Waldorf." She paused. "Once you leave here, I'm going to ask you one thing, just one." Misty's voice was so quiet that Blair had to hold her breath to hear it. "I want you to forget you ever saw me. Never tell him. Ever. And I want you to take care of my son because once you've gained Charles' love… you will have it forever."
Blair finally understood at the moment when someone said they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. Because hers literally sagged.
"What happens now?" Blair asked, finally taking a sip from her tea and enjoying the way it coated her empty stomach.
"He will come back and be informed that you've yet to receive the serum. He will be made to watch as they inject you with it. It's 27's favorite game."
Blair blanched.
"However, they will inject you instead with K-85; which will enable them to pass you off as dead. He will watch you die. All of us had it done, you will wake twelve hours later in the morgue, and we will bring you back to the facility without him knowing. You will be kept in Level 4, the restricted area of Sector and you will stay there until they begin to use you."
Blair took a deep breath.
"My family will think I'm dead?" She asked.
Misty nodded. Eyes boring into her.
Blair buried her face in her hands.
"How will they use me?" she whispered.
Misty took a breath and leaned back in her chair. "He won't handle your death too well, naturally. My guess is that from there they will either attempt to make him lose his mind, or he will ask for a cleansing."
"A cleansing?" Blair felt her heart drop.
"A cleansing of all emotional ties." Misty shrugged. "It makes the best agents."
"If he tries something drastic? Like suicide?" Blair demanded.
Misty chuckled. "My son is dramatic, but he's also five parts selfish. He'll want to take his anger out on as many motherfuckers as he can."
"How exactly do we get away?" Blair finally asked, tightening the coat around her as she shivered.
"During the cleansing. I will make it happen, you just be ready."
"Are you sure he will go for the cleansing?"
"A mother always knows her son, Miss Waldorf."
--
He stared at the building before him. It was a building he both loved and hated. He hated that it had taken everything from him, and he loved that it sheltered him and it made him a stronger Chuck Bass than he ever thought he could be.
Physically, that is. Because emotionally, be was a wreck.
Once he entered those doors the little hope of even staring at Blair again would be gone forever. He would have to pretend she was dead, but at least she would be safe. She would be safe; she would eventually find happiness even if it was as far from his arms as possible.
He steeled himself, walked in, and was immediately pinned down to the floor. He didn't struggle, letting them cuff him and hit him a few times, then take him to 27.
He was planted on his knees, his head looped to the side as 27 walked in. Dressed in red. Of course, what else would the devil wear? Prada?
"Bass, how nice of you to join us," she said calmly. "Impeccable timing."
Chuck an eyebrow, questioningly.
--
"It's time," the man who opened the door to her room informed her. Two days. It had taken Chuck two days to make it to Sector.
She took a deep breath and nodded. She stripped off her clothes and followed the man out of the room.
She could do this. She was Blair fucking Waldorf, for Christ sakes.
--
"You haven't done it yet?" He repeated.
"I must've slipped my mind," she said, coolly.
Chuck's nostrils flared. "It's been 2 days."
"She's been fed," 27 assured him.
"You fucking bitch," Chuck spit out and the rifle-butt of agent #14 connected with his mouth.
"Bring him in." 27 walked away and the two agents dragged him down the hall to a room with which he was all too familiar.
They forced him into the mirror room, were he could see the inside of the holding tank but the holding tank couldn't see them. This was usually 27's room were she gave all the recruits her little speech.
"Sit," she commanded and they roughly dropped him on a chair, facing the holding tank.
"Lights," she said calmly.
Chuck growled when the lights went on and an almost naked Blair scramble. She looked like she'd been sitting in the dark for days – which she probably had. She looked extremely thin and was clearly bruised.
"Blair."
"MissWaldorf," 27 spoke into the transmitter. "Thank you kindly for your cooperation."
"What do you want from me?" Blair cried out, standing up, slowly.
Chuck's jaw clenched when he saw a corner of the room yellowish stains with drops of something brown. He closed his eyes and cursed. They hadn't even let her go to the bathroom.
"Per the request of your estranged lover, you will be given serum 34," 27 explained but never taking her eyes off Chuck who only had eyes for the pale Blair.
"Serum what?" Blair asked, confused.
"This will enable you to return to your normal life, continue on and the only memory you will have is of being kidnapped by a random robber."
"What?" Blair walked to the mirror, studying it.
She was so close to him that the agents next to him had to physically hold him down.
"Where's Chuck?" she demanded.
Chuck gulped.
"Chuck's dead." 27 stated. "Just like you always thought."
"No," Blair shook her head. "No! He's not dead, he's alive, you sick bitch! I will ruin you!"
"It was a pleasure, Miss Waldorf. I assure you."
"No!" Blair cried and began banging on the glass. The door behind her opened and in walked two agents with a lab-coat behind them.
Blair faced them, eyes wide.
"No!" she cried. "Please, no!"
Chuck was pushed down to the seat. "You constipated bitch, you waited for me."
27 took a calm seat next to him. She was enjoying the scene before her; the only thing missing was popcorn.
"Let me see him!" Blair cried as the first man grabbed her. "Please, please let me see him."
27 smiled.
"Let me see him one last time." Blair was sobbing now.
Chuck's jaw was clenched so hard that he was sure he would be missing a molar by the end of this.
"Please, let me see him one last time, please!"
27 looked at Chuck and nodded.
The mirror was brought down between rooms and Blair gasped when she saw Chuck being held down to the chair.
Chuck's mind raced, this was not how he had planned it. Blair was looking at him with wide, frightened eyes – expecting him to save her.
"Blair," he tried.
"Chuc-"
A needle was inserted into her arm and she cried out.
"No!"
"No!" Chuck struggled but the agents hit him twice and kept him down.
Blair hung limp on one of the agent's arm and looked up at him, tears running down her face.
"In the face of true love, you don't just give up…" she whispered but he heard every word. "I want to remember. I want…" She took him in one last time, a ghost of a smile on her lips and then her head slumped forward.
"No!" he cried and this time it was 27 who hit him hard across his jaw. Years ago this would've knocked him out. Now it made him glare at her with all the hatred he could muster. She pulled him against her, grabbing his face and touching his bruised lip.
"The next time you attempt to hold all the cards in your hands remember that I'm soulless and you're not." She hissed, kissed him and pulled back when he tried to bite her. She chuckled, enjoying it.
"27!" the lab coat cried from next to Blair who was now laid out on the floor.
Chuck looked at Blair's body and his blood ran cold when he saw her twitching involuntarily.
"What's happening?" 27 demanded, turning her full attention to Blair.
"She's having an adverse reaction to the serum." He replied, checking her pulse.
"Get her to fucking medical." 27 snapped.
"Blair!" Chuck cried, the veins in his neck swelled as the agents tried to hold him down.
"No time, she's going into fucking cardiac arrest!" the lab coat yelled into his transponder and called for the medical staff.
"Do something!" Chuck cried to 27. She ignored him and walked to Blair's body.
She pressed her fingers against her neck and looked up at Chuck. His mind literally paused when he saw something in her eyes that he had never seen.
Concern.
"You're killing her!" Chuck shouted, he was able to pull away from one of the agents and that gave him enough leverage to punch the other out and knock the other unconscious.
"Stop him!" 27 snapped to the guards that had previous held Blair down but Chuck was faster and knocked them down easily.
"You'll kill her!" 27 told him as he strode to Blair. "Let the medical staff through."
Chuck looked at the twitching Blair and stood back as two other lab coats that were afraid to enter because of the rogue agent walked in.
The two men started injected Blair with all types of things, hooking up portable cables to her as Chuck stood by and began pacing.
"We're loosing her," one of them hissed.
Chuck knelt down by them and pressed his hand to his mouth, eyes wide.
The Blair stopped twitching.
"Fuck, she's not breathing," the coat cried.
Chuck pushed him to the side and lifted Blair's chin. He pressed his mouth to hers and blew air into her mouth. He blew again. She was turning seriously pale, his hands were shaking but he tried to remember his training.
Chuck stopped and looked down at her.
"Blair," he begged.
He pressed his mouth to hers once more.
"We've got no pulse," the medic pushed Chuck back and took out his AED kit. Chuck ran his hands through his hair as the medic placed one pad over her heart the other right under her breast.
"Clear," he heard them say and Blair's body lifted from the floor.
He heard someone sob and it was a second later when he realized it was him.
They placed an air pump over her mouth.
"Nothing," one of them said.
"Do it again," Chuck demanded.
The medic looked him over and nodded.
"Clear."
"Nothing."
"Fuck," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Blair, please, please don't do this. Please."
"Again," this time it was 27.
The medics looked at her, fearfully.
"That's a direct order," she commended and they finally nodded.
"Clear!"
Nothing.
They all sat staring at Blair's pale body. Chuck was entranced by the way her lashes fell over her cheeks.
"Time of death 5:27." The words filtered into his mind.
"No!" he cried and pushed them back away from her body. He began pumping her right under her rib cage.
"1, 2, 3," he murmured under his breath and then lifted her chin once more and pumped air into it.
"1, 2, 3," he repeated.
He continued the same pattern until finally, after twenty minutes the rational side of his brain took control and he closed his eyes.
"Bass," he heard 27's voice next to him.
"Don't speak," his voice was cold and raw.
She was silent.
He gently picked up Blair's body and stood up, holding her against him. He walked to a side of a room and sunk down, holding her body to him and began rocking her.
27 watched him.
He saw people come in and out of the room; none of them came near him as he rocked Blair back and forth. She began to feel cold in his arms and he was no longer willing nor able to stop the tears.
Finally the head doctor came in and began whispering to 27.
"She must have had a heart condition," he murmured.
"None in her medical records," 27 hissed back, obviously upset.
"I don't know, maybe she was bulimic!" the man said exasperated.
This made Chuck look at him. 27 noticed and she walked closer.
"Was she bulimic?" 27 asked.
Chuck swallowed because he was sure he was going to throw up.
"Yes. At one point. For some years," he said slowly.
Behind 27 the doctor nodded and gave 27 a knowing look.
Chuck let out a growl and banged the back of his head against the wall he had been leaning on.
"Chuck," 27 spoke his name for the first time. "Let her go. We need to return her to her family."
Chuck held on tighter to Blair's body.
"Let her go, Bass," 27 used her cold voice he glared up at her.
He didn't bulge.
"You killed her, the least you can do is let her go," 27 finally said.
Her words cut into him and his arms felt like Jell-O. He had killed Blair. He knew she had been bulimic. He knew the serum; he himself had to do extensive research before acquiring it. He had demanded they give Blair the serum. His desperate need to save her had inadvertently killed her.
He had killed the love of his life.
He had killed Blair Waldorf.
--
To be continued