Gossip Girl

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Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite.

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G GRINNING TODAY, A GONER TOMORROW?

Normally when summer turns to fall most of you Upper East Siders jet out of the City at every opportunity, but not G, in fact flushed with the triumph of her most recent crushing victory over S and B, she's been bold enough to break her exile once again, but we'd advise caution G. Confidence is a credit, but we suggest you watch your back G, you never know who's gaining on you, B might be in Monaco but that doesn't mean she's neglecting New York, and we know that this bitch bites hard,

Xoxo Gossip Girl

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"Look is there anything that you can think off that Georgina might know about-"

"-Serena you don't really think she'd send Eric to prison do you?" Lily enquired, receiving a look that she took to be Serena's expression of the fact that if she couldn't even believe Lily had actually asked the question.

"Georgina is…a sociopath, a psychopath…she's been completely hell bent on ruining my life, our lives," she corrected, looking Nate in the eyes who had for most of the little meeting been transfixed by the skyline, allowing his thoughts to drift like clouds in the sky, in and out of the conversation, "and clearly Eric is her knew target so yes Mom, I think she would send Eric to prison, and I think she wants to send Chuck there too…we just have to figure out what it is she knows so we can prepare," Serena paused and looked to Eric in her most encouraging, inviting sisterly face, "Eric come-on, there has to be something?"

She had never seen her brother quite as scared as he looked now, it wasn't outright cowardice at going to prison – he could acknowledge he had done something wrong, it was a kind of primal fear, of being thrown into the jungle, as though he – the gazelle – was being thrown to the lions, wondering whether he would be mauled to death or kept alive for abuse as amusement for them. She could emphasize but she couldn't allow it to get in the way of giving him the best possible preparation for the Court Case – maybe they could get him out on House Arrest or something if they could get the charges scaled down.

"I mean there's always…Damien."

Serena raised an eyebrow, she hadn't even considered Damien Dalgaard – mainly because she hadn't seen him in more than a year and she hadn't made the connection – Eric having a friendship with a Drug Dealer, acting as a Drug Mule…she never had quite understood their relationship but she could understand implicitly how that might call into question Eric's integrity, if they were pleading he had been manipulated by Chuck into doing it (at least that was what she understood Chuck's claim of responsibility for the blackmail to be) then the Damien aspect would negate that claim, Eric had willingly participated in work with a Drug Dealer. Perfect.

"Did he coerce you into helping him Eric?" Serena prodded, kneeling beside her seated brother, touching at his hand affectionately, supportively.

Eric paused for a moment, considering his memories of his type with Damien.

"I willingly helped him sometimes," Eric admitted and Lily let out an anguished sigh, "he was there for me when no-one else was…the only time he forced me was the Tulips."

"Just go and meet Jenny," Lily said distractedly and Eric stood uncertainly, and then left when it became clear Serena and Nate would wait to speak with his mother, they watched him go and then Lily turned to the two of them, "is there anyway that we can paint this in the light of Damien being the instigator and manipulating him every time?"

"Wait lying, under oath?" Nate probed, confusion showing in his puzzled expression. "Lily he's already in enough trouble, I don't think we wanna make things worse do we?"

"That entirely depends," Lily murmured, "if the lying will help him get out." She said bitterly.

"Mom he's trying to help." Serena said softly.

"Well no-one can help Serena," Lily said and Serena saw the cracks in her composure showing in the strained, angry tone to her voice, "Eric committed blackmail with Charles and whether we like it or not is going to end up in prison for it, and Georgina is just going to make things a hell of a lot worse."

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Georgina sparks lowered her sunglasses as she ordered herself an exquisite glass of champagne and swung round on the chair to scan the bar – surveying her kingdom, not all of it of course, but one of the parts of it that she was sure she would see a lot of. Kingdom-to-be, she reminded herself. She was a few battles short of winning the war, but she was already confident enough to come out in public without fear of reprisal from any of Blair's agents left in the City or from Serena – she was in fact personally seeing to it that Serena had too many family issues to launch a counter-strike against her – and she was also successfully cementing her influence with the right people in the right places, the peoples whose trust she had once held and who she would soon have once more under her seductive spell.

A girl sat next to her and Georgina regarded her – auburn haired, dressed in a minidress tamed with a navy jacket with rolled up stripped sleeves and a pair of simple heels, she placed her handbag – Hermes she noted approvingly – on the bar and promptly plucked her Blackberry, sending what Georgina suspected was an email although she couldn't be sure. The pearls she was wearing – antiques – simply complemented the entire ensemble. It was a shame that this girl was in business – Georgina reflected, why else would she be wearing a jacket at the tail-end of summer – they might have been great friends.

The girl ordered a cocktail – a Martini – and swung around on her stool to look out at the neighbouring skyscrapers and toward the Hudson in the distance, she took her drink and sipped at it carefully before turning around to face Georgina, smiling at her as though they were old friends, Georgina smiled back uncertainly, she had the unnerving feeling she should know a girl like this, beautiful, clearly intelligent and possessed of a fashion style that was indicative of a well bred Upper East Sider: the trouble was she didn't recognize her, nor could she determine if they'd ever met before.

"I love the City at this time of year, don't you?" the girl enquired and Georgina paused a moment, scanning the bar before realizing that she was talking to her.

"It's very…refreshing," Georgina concurred mildly, "are you visiting or-"

"-actually I'm just back from spending a semester studying abroad in Europe, my Cousin has a place in the City so I'm staying there till I have somewhere else to call home more permanently," she sipped at her drink again, "I'm a student at Colombia – where do you go?"

"I don't," Georgina replied, clearly the outfit had been to distract her from something, though she couldn't define exactly what, "I went to NYU but College…isn't for me, so I left – I left pretty permanently actually, but I'm back now, and for good."

"Oh right," the girl said, as though realisation had finally dawned on you, "I saw that Gossip Girl blast – you're that Georgina girl aren't you? How come you went to see Chuck Bass – just between strangers." The girl smiled at her sweetly.

Georgina couldn't decide how she felt. She was annoyed about the fact that the girl didn't know she was Georgina Sparks instinctively, especially if she was an Upper East Sider although that now seemed dubious in light of the fact that her cousin was giving her his Apartment to use. However she at least understood Gossip Girl, although she found it hard to believe that it would have taken the girl so long to figure out that Georgina was the girl in the blast, after all although Georgina wasn't a regular appearance in the posts, whenever she was, it was always big news – unless the girl wasn't a prolific reader of Gossip Girl. In truth she was confused, helplessly confused by it all.

"I had things to discuss," she replied diplomatically, "if you really want to know it was just a show of force, you know since Blair left?"

"Oh yeah," the girl replied and Georgina caught her that time, there was a flicker of recognition in those eyes beyond the usual having seen a person in passing on a post on a blog, the girl clearly registered and understood implicitly what had passed between them, "well do you know what happens when people make a show of force, like Napoleon's invasion of Russia, or the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbour or, or you visiting Chuck?" Georgina paused for a moment – she didn't appreciate being given a history lecture, the girl smiled at her, "The aggressor got crushed Georgina," the girl said with recognition as though she knew a lot more about Georgina than she'd let on at first, "you know last year while you were…well actually I don't care where you were, I was here destroying Serena. I'm a bitch that bites, and Blair asked me to keep her seat warm while she's gone. You might have something that you want to dish or try to use to your advantage but be aware two can play that game – takes a bitch to know one, and you might think you know devious, but you haven't met me." The girl smiled at her and Georgina felt a wave of nervousness ripple through her at the gesture, "I'm Juliet Sharp."

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Europe's buzzing about a certain Queen Bee-to-be, or rather how she stole the show at a sombre ceremony for the late Prince of Monaco, in shades, sunhat and shockingly short minidress. Sounds as if B has Europe on the run, but we'd keep our sting on standby if we were you B, you never know when you're going to be crossed.

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The drawing room was not the largest in the Palace, nor was it necessarily the nicest but its relaxed interior, with cosy armchairs, vast, marble fireplace for the winter and well-stocked liquor cabinet, was suitably understated enough that it wouldn't infringe on the sadness of the occasion. Not that B was particularly sad, of course she was showing the world a face to match the tragedy of the Prince's passing – it would be distasteful after all to show her jubilation at her triumph at the funeral. Her outfit had been outrageous, considering it was a funeral, but her tears had allowed her to pull it of as a formidable show of fashion – her Manolo Kittens had not failed her, nor had the gorgeous Versace dress that she had purchased at great expense from St Tropez (not in person obviously, that might have tipped the media off as to what she was planning, she had wisely sent Dorota) or the enormous sunhat or indulgent shades.

She sipped at her Water – though she would have much preferred a Martini or even just a glass of White Wine to toast her victory she had the baby to think off - as she hovered close to Louis who was himself drinking a Scotch – as were most of the gentlemen. Although she didn't recognize all of them Blair had been studying those attending the Funeral enough to understand that in the room they were entertaining four Dukes, six Counts, one Archduke, five Princes and two Kings (although she couldn't actually remember the African countries they were there representing) – not to mention their various consorts who were littered around the room in clumps. The only notable absence was Princess Sophie – the Dowager Princess Blair corrected herself – but Blair presumed she had simply retired to her bedroom.

"You were marvellous today Blair," Louis said to her quietly, smiling as the Archduke – enormous and Blair had deciphered from his accent and ridiculously large moustache German, swept past them carrying for himself a fresh Cognac, "and not just publicly, I was so glad to have you there to support me today, in front of everyone," he paused a moment and then grinned as he leaned close to her ear, "you also looked amazing."

"Merci," she greeted in her fine-tuned French accent, she had also set her mind to learning Italian so she could converse more freely with some of the other Courtiers and was also entertaining the idea of studying German and Spanish, if only to allow her to converse more effectively overseas, "I think although I didn't know him very well that your Father would have been proud of you, the way you handled yourself in front of all those people." She squeezed at his hand and he smiled back at her.

She surveyed the crowd and then spotted a girl, possibly her age perhaps even a little younger moved towards them through the crowd, she had a pale complexion with hazel-coloured hair, although that was underscored by natural red-streaks running through the hair, all highlighted by her icy-blue eyes, though the comforting, warm smile on her face calmed what would otherwise have been quiet a severe expression. She had opted for a jet-black jumpsuit for the wedding, underscored by a single pearl-necklace, pearl earrings and a single sapphire bracelet on her right hand which was also clasping a clutch tightly.

"My condolences Louis, your father was always very good to me," the girl greeted in German-accented English, "and Blair you looked…delightful," she said in a way that if you were innocent you might presume had been a simple hesitation to find the adjective in English though Blair identified it as a slight against her – she didn't rise to the bait though, "and I wanted to tell you both that since the Funeral is now over I will be ready to join the Court as soon as you see prudent."

"Ah of course," Louis said as though realisation had only dawned on him who the mystery girl was, "Blair this is Duchess Marie-Charlotte of Lannu-Waldung, before his death my Father was good friends with her father, Marie will serve as head of your Ladies-in-Waiting."

Blair nodded politely although she didn't understand why she should have to accept the girl who she was suddenly begin to find fault with and view rather less endearingly as she had a few moments before, wasn't she supposed to choose her own Ladies anyway? She didn't even know where Lannu-Waldung was…she was sure she wasn't aware of the Duchy – if it even existed anymore, she had had to navigate the minefield of Monarchies-in-exile, Monarchies that no longer existed and Monarchies that weren't Monarchies at all but virtual dictatorships over the entire two days of Funeral and day of the arrivals of Royals from across the globe. That wasn't even mentioning the world leaders, she had gotten the leaders of the Baltic States all confused and ended up insulting them all by talking in what little Russian she understood.

"It will be a delight to serve you, m'lady." Marie curtsied and Blair nearly spat out her water in what would have been the epitome of indignity – she doubted there was any sincerity in the Duchess's statement.

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"She knows about Eric and Damien," Serena said into the phone, careful to avoid saying anything incriminating on the phone, "about everything they did."

Chuck processed the information she'd imparted, "You're sure?"

"You were the one that said she had some big secret – besides targeting you would be too easy for her, she's already done it," Serena shrugged, "I guess she's going after Eric now…too cement her rule."

Chuck nodded, it made sense: Georgina had to prove she was back and that she still had balls, if taking down Eric was what it took she would do it in a heartbeat. He regretted involving Eric in his scheme and for even considering it, but, it should have been a simple matter had Georgina not connected the dots so easily between Eric, Chuck, the blackmail and the Wessex Hotels. Carlton Wessex wouldn't be made to drop the charges, he had nothing else to lose – the trial was going to happen whether they liked it or not, the only thing they could change was what charges Eric was actually facing. Chuck had taken most of the fall because he had known that it would be an easier thing to do, and it also helped that Bass Industries had always had a few Judges in their pocket for decades. Even if they didn't get a favourable judge that judge would be friends with judges who liked the fees that went into their accounts every week.

"What did Blair say?"

Serena eyed Chuck warily; she couldn't tell whether he was actually interested whether Blair had said anything on the subject or merely seeing whether or not Serena had passed along his messages to her on the subject. She had incidentally but she had ignored them, focusing upon Eric and Georgina more specifically, although with issues surrounding her and Louis and the Funeral she had been distracted on the subject.

"She said we should work on finding something on Georgina, to get her to back down – but that was always Blair's forte you know?" Serena sighed exasperatedly, "And besides I never wanted to raise things too much with Nate…I think trials and prison everything is still a sore topic with his Dad and everything."

"Who did Blair get to watch Georgina in the end? You never did say?"

"Juliet," Serena replied simply and Chuck whistled, clearly impressed, "I know, I didn't believe it either but Blair's confident so…I'll leave it up to her…I'll come by tomorrow okay?"

"See you then sis."

Serena reluctantly put the phone back on its holder and walked out of the prison, she had at times in her life felt so very estranged from Chuck that she never knew whether they would ever be close…she wouldn't have predicted even two years ago that they would be this close…but now they were like real siblings, watching out for one another. And attuned to one another – truth be told she was so very scared for Chuck, even with his confidence she couldn't be…she was frightened and scared off the future, and what it might hold.

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The lord works in mysterious ways, although we'd never have foreseen this. No matter how hard you bury a secret, eventually everything comes to the surface, and looks as if Juliet is digging around in G's past – at the born-again Christian Camp. Enjoy it while it lasts G, because we have a feeling that you reign of terror is about to be torn up,

Xoxo Gossip Girl

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Hope you liked Chapter 5,

Reviews and responses welcome as always,

Acrobat

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