For the first time in years he vetoed the scotch, choosing instead to have a continuous stream of steaming pots of black coffee delivered one after another to his suite. No cream, no sugar not even his usual drop of Irish whiskey to make it palatable. He was done chasing the ignorant bliss found only while in the grip of drugs and alcohol. Painfully sober, he tried not to contemplate the years lost and his own culpability. He had so wholly given himself to Blair and their future that he forgot who he was, what made him a Bass. He had been so blinded by his love for her that he neglected the warning signs and ignored the rising undercurrents. He had become weak, allowing himself to be played, and because of this Blair became the sacrificial lamb to Jack's obsession with power and control.
Chuck knew he was on the mission of his life; his only hope of happiness, redemption and ultimately revenge hinged on his wits. Those instinctual skills of deceit, manipulation, and cruelty allowed to lapse in Blair's arms and almost forgotten with her supposed death were reborn. Cold and calculated he refused to consider or even think about what she suffered, what horrors had been done to her. That path would only lead to insanity, thereby granting Jack his wish.
It was with grave trepidation and distress that two figures entered the suite of Chuck Bass. Serena having ditched her party dress rubbed her hands anxiously against the faux worn denim jeans hugging her thighs. Her eyes, beautifully bruised and smudged from crying, blearily took in the sight before her. Gone was the hedonist pleasure den of exotic furniture, dim light and smoky air. For the first time since Chuck had moved into the suite the mirrored bar was bare of alcohol. Harsh light flooded the room; every surface littered with photos, papers and overstuffed files. Furniture had been pulled to the sides of the room, the focus now a large conference table.
In confusion, Nate stood at the threshold, gaping like a fish pulled from water. It took the pain of Serena's nails embedding in his hand to break the spell and return his jaw to its rightful position.
Chuck even with no sleep and his world torn asunder couldn't stop the small twitch of amusement that played in the corner of his mouth. If this had been any other situation the picture of Nate and Serena staring in wonderment like early Victorians observing the marvels of a flushing toilet would have left him chortling with humor. Instead he was irritated by the time that was going to be lost in explanations, questions and arguments.
Serena cleared her throat anxiously. "Chuck, I know you don't want help, but you have a problem. Nate and I care about you and we're not going to sit back and play into your delusions that Blair is alive. We've talked about it and decided we're not leaving here tonight until you agree to get professional help."
He rose from his makeshift desk impatiently. "Look I know you think I'm a lunatic, but Blair is alive and I can prove it."
Nate looked at Serena, his shocked expression mirroring hers. He couldn't believe how causally Chuck affirmed what Serena had hysterically told him earlier. He took a step forward cautiously as if approaching a wild animal and gingerly reached out and grasped Chuck's shoulder.
"I think you've had enough to drink tonight, Chuck." Catching Serena's eye he silently communicated his wish for her to follow his lead. "It's late. Why don't you let us help you get to bed? We'll stay the night and we can talk about this in the morning when our heads are a bit clearer."
Serena lifted a hand to her lips, faking a yawn. "Nate's right. It's been a long night. You should get some sleep." She gave Chuck an exaggerated clownish wink. "I'll even tuck you in."
Chuck roughly shook off Nate's arm, looking at the two of them in disbelief. "No wonder Blair was forced to do all your plotting and scheming for you. What is this, the Serena and Nate intervention comedy hour?"
He turned around abruptly, rummaging through a pile of documents. Finding the file he sought he slid a sheet out, running the pad of his thumb reverently over the glossy image. In a quick motion he cleared some space on the table, carefully arranging the sheet. Turning around he stepped aside gesturing in triumph at the grainy photograph.
"Just a small sample of the proof I've gathered."
Hesitating, Nate and Serena looked at each other. Reaching a mutual agreement, they stepped forward and huddled over the table. Dreading the worst Serena braced herself, praying that Chuck's wasn't using pornographic material as evidence to for his delusions. Peering down her eyes centered immediately on the elegant brunette dressed in Valentino, sipping champagne.
"B," she choked, her cry strangled in her throat.
Nate looked up at Chuck in amazement. "The time-stamp on this is from tonight," he said, picking up the image to study it closer.
Chuck picked up another pile of photographs fanning them out on the table. "These are all stills from the surveillance video recordings from the Bass Benefit tonight. "
Nate shook his head confused. "This can't be right. Someone is playing a cruel trick on you."
Serena held her breath afraid of waking from the dream she found herself in. Her vision blurred, she lingered over each photograph, delicately fingering every one. Chuck watched her in silence as tears slid down her cheeks and dripped one by one onto each image leaving a permanent stain. Midway through the sequence she paused and slid one of the pictures out. Turning she looked at Chuck in awe, radiating hope.
"You spoke to her?" Brushing away the tears on her cheeks she gave Chuck a smile of pure sunshine.
Nate looked at them in worry. They were arrested in time, caught in a world of blurry photographs.
"It was her, Serena. I wouldn't lie to you, not about this." Chuck said fiercely.
"Why hasn't she called, come to see us?" Nate asked, becoming for once the voice of reason.
Doubt crept into Serena's face as she looked to Chuck for answers. Like a pilgrim before a holy shrine, his eyes shone with fervor. "She didn't know me, but it was her. She accused me of stalking her. She even threatened to attack me with her stilettos. Only our girl would do that," he chuckled.
Serena nodded, unable to speak. It had to be Blair. There could be no other explanation after seeing the photos yet she knew this wasn't her Blair. Something horrible must have happened to her, but she was afraid if she questioned the gift they'd been given it would be taken away.
Nate sighed, "That doesn't prove anything."
Serena returned to the girl in the photographs, searching for the traits and mannerisms she remembered in her friend.
Chuck clenched his fists in anger. "I don't need to prove anything. He all but admitted it to me. I just don't know how he did it or how to undo it."
"Who did what?" Nate asked softly, patiently.
Serena's eagle eye immediately picked up on the one person she never expected to have his arm around Blair. With her fingertip she slid the photograph out for them all to see.
"Jack," she breathed, looking to Chuck for confirmation.
His face twisted into a dark caricature, evil and terrifying. "He's had her this whole time. She never got on that plane. "
"Jack Bass? Your Uncle Jack?" Nate asked with astonishment.
"The one and only," he answered grimly.
"Is she okay?" Serena asked pleadingly, praying that what she already knew in her heart was wrong.
"Of course she's not okay. She doesn't know who the hell she is," Chuck said condescendingly.
"There wasn't a plane crash?" Nate asked, looking lost.
"Pay attention Archibald." Agitated Chuck ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm still trying to figure out how he did it, but since I collected the insurance there definitely was a plane crash. She just wasn't on the plane. I don't know what he did to make her forget; brainwashing or hypnosis…"
It was all starting to make sense to Serena. Excited she waved one of the photographs of Blair and Chuck in front of Chuck. "Who exactly does Blair think she is?"
"Audrey, Audrey Hawthorne," he said with bitter humor.
"Audrey. Of course it would be Audrey." She smiled, remembering the countless hours spent trapped in front of the television watching Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday and Charade. "It's the name Blair would have chosen for herself if she was to start a new life," Serena reckoned, glancing at Nate. She handed him a stack of photographs, forcing him to accept the impossible. "Why Hawthorne?"
"I can only assume the reference is Nathaniel Hawthorne," Chuck said dryly, looking at Nate. "Either it's my Uncle's attempt at a joke or the names were chosen purely because they would be easy for Blair to connect with, remember."
"How is it possible? How can you be sure it's her," Nate asked, staring fixedly at the blurry image of a lovely young woman with Blair's face, her figure, even her sparkling eyes talking to Jack Bass.
"Trust me, it was Blair. The way she spoke, the way she moved, her personality. It was all Blair. She introduced herself as Audrey Hawthorne, but before I could talk to her more Jacked showed up announcing himself as her fiancé."
"What?" Serena's head snapped up in astonishment.
Nate looked at Chuck in befuddlement, Serena's shriek, thrusting him out of the spell cast by the vision in the photographs. "Why?" He desperately wanted more than anything for this to be Blair, but he couldn't understand how or why anyone would be so cruel.
Chuck's expression hardened into one of pure hatred. "When my father died he was devastated he didn't get a piece of the company. After he failed to sabotage my early attempts at running the company and Lily outsmarted him by adopting me I think he became obsessed, desperate. He bided his time waiting to strike at the perfect time. Once the news of my engagement broke he knew he had found the perfect way to punish me. He made me believe that the one person I cared about more than anything in the world was dead. He had every reason to believe after what happened when I lost my dad that I wouldn't survive. I would drink myself into an early grave or jump off a roof. As the last surviving Bass he would inherit everything."
"Why didn't he just kill her?" Nate asked brokenly, finally accepting the unbelievable. Blair was alive. For the first time he realized that true evil existed not only in far away war torn countries, but here within the sheltered vacuum of the Upper East Side.
"She was the ultimate weapon of revenge if I didn't self destruct according to plan. She is the one thing guaranteed to make me suffer, bring me to my knees. He is playing with me like a cat toys with a mouse. His greatest miscalculation was not realizing that none of this was necessary. I would have given everything, even Bass Industries, to ensure Blair's safety. Now the game has changed and I want more. He stole years from Blair's life, broke her, and for that he needs to pay. I will destroy him; make him understand what real suffering is," Chuck swore.
Serena inhaled sharply. She could almost feel the floor under her feet crack, the air blacken and thicken as Chuck sold his soul to the devil. For the first time her natural instinct to advocate for forgiveness and mercy was thwarted by a blood thirsty need for vengeance. She finally understood the biblical cry for reciprocal justice, 'an eye for an eye'. "What are you going to do?"
He avoided the question. "Right now my priority is Blair. I've got a whole staff of investigators combing through Jack's financial records, searching for clues as to where she might have spent the last two years. There's an entire task force of medical doctors searching for possible psychological and neurological causes for her amnesia, her acceptance of a new identity. There is nothing that's been done that can't be undone."
Serena looked at her phone incredulously, checking the time. "You did all that in the last four hours?"
"You'd be surprised at what I can accomplish if properly motivated," Chuck smirked.
"You don't know it can be undone, " Nate objected, seeing the danger in Chuck's reasoning that Chuck refused to see. "Meddling further you could risk breaking her completely. There is only so much the mind can handle before it breaks down completely. After living a double life for years my dad was on the verge of a nervous breakdown before he was caught. He's never been the same since," Nate objected.
"You can't possibly compare what's been done to Blair to the Captain's bad choices and reckless behavior," Chuck retorted. "Blair would prefer death over being stripped of her identity and forced like a puppet to dance to the strings of Jack Bass. If she were here she would be furious, demanding we do something, anything which would release her from the prison she's in. Damn the consequences."
"I know you want to rush in and save her, I do too but we have to very careful. We don't want to risk doing more damage. If Audrey is anything like Blair she's not going to be receptive to strangers barging into her life telling her she's not who she thinks she is. If anything she will go out of her way to prove we're wrong regardless of the evidence," Serena cautioned.
"I don't know Serena. I think we should just go see her right now and tell her that her whole life is a lie. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to find she's a dead ringer for my deceased fiancé. Chuck said sarcastically, looking at her in disbelief, all but rolling his eyes. "How stupid do you think I am?"
"Chuck−"Nate interjected warningly.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything that will push her even further into Jack's arms. He doesn't need any more ammunition to convince her that I'm a dangerous lunatic to be avoided at all costs. I have to be much more subtle than that. We need to treat them with kid gloves, not only to protect Blair, but to lull Jack into thinking he's winning. That's why I need both of you. I need people I can trust." Chuck took the opportunity to look pointedly at Nate before continuing. "This is a very dangerous game I'm about to play and it has to be executed flawlessly. Blair's life is at stake."
"He won't try and kill her?" Serena asked worriedly.
Chuck shrugged, his eyes cold. "It's too late now. If that was his intention he would have already done it. He knows having her alive and dependent on him is the most effective form of torture he could ever exact on me. Besides he always liked her, she could see though his bullshit, and he enjoyed that about her. The whole situation is probably the equivalent of a sublime blow job to his perverted mind.
"Chuck, I'm really sorry about what happened with Blair before…" Nate looked at Chuck, his face flushing in shame. "Anything you need, anything you want… I'm here for you and Blair. I need to make things right."
"Trust me you will," Chuck replied grimly.
"I guess from the looks of things," Serena paused, glancing around the room. "We're leaving the plotting and planning to you. What can I do to help?"
"Be her friend."
"What?" Serena asked, looking at him quizzically.
"She needs a friend right now. All she has is Jack, she doesn't know anyone here. Introduce yourself, work your BFF magic on her," he said as fond memories of Serena and Blair giggling, getting drunk for the first time, dancing together at their first formal poked at his consciousness.
"How can I do that? She doesn't know me from the sales girl at Bendel's"
"That's the thing." Chuck offered a sudden with a sudden, arresting smile. His harsh features softened, his eyes glowing with a warmth Nate and Serena hadn't witnessed since Blair supposedly got on that plane a little over two years ago. "When I talked to her tonight, even though she didn't know me, she recognized me. I could see it in her eyes; her mind was at war with her heart. She sensed something there between us, something Jack couldn't completely erase. She may go by the name 'Audrey', but Blair is in there. Her memories and experiences are all there percolating under the artificial persona that was created. With time they will slowly trickle out, with each push and prod of the familiar, until all that remains is Blair."
"How will I get to her? Won't Jack be guarding her? Do I pretend I don't know she's Blair?"
He shook his head and reached for his neglected coffee cup. "Jack won't have her locked up. There's no reason to keep her hidden. He already used her to make his point with me. I'm having her followed; you just need to be on call, ready to leave at a moment's notice so you can accidentally run into her."
Nate and Serena watched in surprise as he took a sip of coffee, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "I wouldn't mention to her that you think her fiancé faked her death and then set her up with a new identity. You should probably mention her resemblance to your good friend Blair Waldorf. If you don't someone else will and then she will think you lied to her and your burgeoning friendship will be over before it starts." He poured fresh steaming coffee from the pot into his mug. "Use your instincts, your Blairdar if you will. You managed to earn her friendship once I'm sure you can do it again. She's new to the city; use this to show her around, jog her memory a bit."
"My Blairdar?" Serena questioned, arching one slim eyebrow.
"That special intuitive ability to read Blair's moods that you've developed from years of friendship," he said with a dismissive gesture."
"Oh, that," she laughed, studying the coffee cup in his hand. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him drinking anything other than scotch. For the first time in years her heart felt light. She could almost glimpse the happiness waiting for them around the bend.
"What about Jack? Won't he try and stop Serena from spending time with Blair? Maybe even hurt her for getting involved?" Nate questioned.
"As long as she doesn't cause Blair distress or threaten him directly it should be fine. Subtlety is the key here. If she accepts Blair as Audrey there will be no need for him to get involved."
"What I don't understand is how he thinks he can pull off introducing her into society as Audrey Hawthorne, his fiancée, with no one ever challenging him on it," Nate puzzled. He couldn't even begin to comprehend the imagining of such a scheme let alone the mechanics to carry it off. Even Blair at her worst never delved this far with her plotting and machinations. Knowing Chuck, this ability, this destructive creativity, must somehow be a Bass genetic defect.
"That's the thing Nate, haven't you ever noticed how oblivious society is? Blair Waldorf has been dead for several years so why should anyone assume that Jack Bass's fiancée, Audrey Hawthorne, is anything other than who he says she is. They might comment cattily on her looking very similar to his nephew's deceased fiancé, hinting that the resemblance must be some sordid sexual perversion of Jack's but no one is going to publicly call him out on it, deviate from their lemming like behavior. If I know him at all he's eagerly anticipating me making a disgustingly public scene and then when Audrey convincingly denies that she's Blair Waldorf he will have proved my mental instability once and for all. By the way, I don't think I ever thanked you properly for playing right into his hands with that attempted intervention a few months ago," he said sarcastically, shooting them a sour look. "I'm sure he had a field day with that. Sorrowfully discussing what should be done about the Bass heir to all the board members. "
Nate rushed to their defense. "Everything we did was out of friendship for you. I thought you were hallucinating, killing yourself. We had no idea−"
Chuck abruptly interrupted him. He didn't have time for, and strangely he no longer cared about apologies and retribution. "Forget it. I'm going to. "
Nate knew this was his chance to make amends, rid himself of his guilt. "What do you want me to do? Where do I fit into your plans?"
Chuck rubbed at his eyes, tiredly. "Help and support Serena. Keep up with the gossip; make sure that Audrey's introduction to society goes smoothly and maybe drop a few hints that you're a bit concerned about my behavior lately. Jack needs to feel confident, triumphant that he is winning. You move close enough in his circles that you can observe them, let me know about any shifts in their relationship."
Serena watched them, a slow smile spreading across her face. She would never have believed that it would be Blair that would bring Nate and Chuck back to a place of friendship once more. "Now that you've given Nate and I our assignments what exactly are your plans?"
""I think it's better you don't know," he said cryptically. He didn't mind gambling with his own life, but if anything happened to him Blair was going to need them. They needed to be kept safe, separate from any possible fallout. Besides God only knew the two of them, with their helpfulness, would end up being more of a liability than a help.
"Chuck, we're in this together. You can't just shut us out," Serena pleaded.
"I can and I will. Focus your energy on Blair. She's going to need you."
A wave of apprehension swept through Nate. "You're not going to kill him are you? Don't Chuck. You don't want to do that."
"Don't worry murder is too easy, not nearly fulfilling enough. I deserve my pound of flesh before the devil gets him for eternity. Let's just say when I'm through with him, he will long for perdition." He politely began ushering them to the door. "Now go. I've got doctors I need to consult with and investigators I need to talk too. I'll keep you informed."
Serena stopped in front of the door, refusing to be so easily dismissed. "That's not good enough. We need to set up a conference time."
"Conference?" Chuck asked, raising one eyebrow mockingly.
"You know, a meeting that includes an exchange of ideas," Serena said innocently, deliberately misunderstanding him. She wasn't about to let Chuck relegate her to the sidelines. She knew that the breakfast club, even minus one member, was their best weapon.
"I really don't think that's necessary," he argued, dismissing the idea outright.
"Well Blair's well being is. We need to make sure she's handling her return to New York okay. You mentioned her memories could be close to the surface. She might need us and we need to be prepared to help her. We know her better than any doctor ever could and our input along with theirs is the best strategy for helping her." Serena looked at Chuck pointedly, knowing that she'd already won. He would never refuse anything that might help Blair.
"Fine," Chuck grumbled, practically pushing Nate and Serena out the door of his suite.
"Great! I'm thinking every other evening around five. Early enough that it won't interfere with the evening's social events. Of course, we can easily change it if I have plans with B," Serena chirped cheerily, pausing in the doorway to give him a quick excited sisterly hug.
Nate followed Serena's lead and let himself be almost rudely escorted from Chuck's suite. It was a small price to pay for what he and Serena had gained this night. "Works for me, I'll be there," Nate said brightly, grateful for Serena's quick thinking. This kept them firmly in the loop and kept Chuck from dealing with this on his own. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. This time he was going to force himself into Chuck's life whether he liked it or not. He frowned as he realized what was missing from their discussion. While Chuck clearly already had a particularly unpleasant future planned for Jack he had made no mention of his plans in regards to Blair. Just before the door closed behind him he turned.
"What are you planning to do about Blair once Jack is taken care off?"
"What I always intended, make her mine," Chuck vowed ruthlessly, closing the door.
a/n: Please let me know what you like or dislike or just comment to let me know that you are still reading. It helps so much to have reader feedback.
Thanks and gratitude to all my wonderful reviewers. Without you I never would have continued this story. Love goes too SilkenBone922, cityhorizon, nostalgiakills, Melena Gold, odyjha, mary1415, Badly-Drawn-Boy, LieselBass, dianecp, flipped, JD, SnowedUnderNJ, hiddenletter, Syriaonara, IngridMarie, akimat, Lee Rion, :D, Crystal and GossipGirlFanForever.
I apologize for the lack of C/B in this chapter, but I needed to set the scene for the seduction and revenge that is to come. As for the flames I received in regards to the last chapter I'm sorry that you find the story offensive. I can't please everyone. There are so many other C/B stories here that I'm sure you will find something else more to your taste.
Last and most important I owe a debt to my beta, the magnificent Felicia (puresimplicity-xo), that I'm not sure how I will ever repay. :D