Saw Cinderella in a party dress, she was looking for a nightgown

I saw the devil wrapping up his hands, he's getting ready for the showdown

I saw the minute that I turned away, I got my money on a pawn tonight

The dustland fairytale beginning.

-The Killers

Blair looked down at her hand. She saw the sharp, red markings along her knuckles. She had never punched anyone before. Slapped, yes. But punch, no. It had felt so utterly paralyzing, but in the best way. She had seen the way Dan's hand touched his face and how he had looked at her in utter shock, mingled with contemplation. She had smiled, a twisted, undermined smile and felt the feeling of power surge through her. It felt so electrifying. It was the best kind of fire.

Chuck looked over at Blair and felt utter shock mingled with a surge of affection for her. She had punched Dan. For him. The world could have fallen apart and he wouldn't have even noticed. Right now all he could see was her. And she was a vision.

Dan looked at Blair and anger became his only vice. He knew how a regal Upper East Sider would handle this. Quickly, swiftly, and hopefully without any public attention. He also knew how he should handle this. Promptly, regally, and with plastered, fake apologies to Chuck that would make society blind from the truth. This was the safe way, the easy way. The way that would keep his spotless reputation intact, but he was done with being the boy from Brooklyn that would never fit in. Dan knew one thing that would give him ultimate Upper East Side status, something that was a key fire way to start a story that would make the tabloids blood thirsty and hungry for more. Scandal and lots of it.

A sort of calm had taken hold of the room. It was strong yet weak. Deadly yet fiercely underrated. It was the tranquility before the storm. They were at a crossroads holding within them a fierce sense of entitlement and righteousness on both sides. Who was right and who was wrong was void. The silence was deafening. The battle lines were being drawn and it was unclear who stood where. Blair and Dan just glared at each other. Chuck and Blair stood next to each other. Chuck had lifted his hand and placed it at the small of Blair's back. Dan stood across from them, his hands were held limply to his sides like a rag dolls, but his eyes held a sense of purpose that had not been there before.

Dan had always been a man of few words; he had always preferred the creative aspect of writing in comparison to actual confrontation. It was just his way. But some say there are a few moments in each person's life where suddenly everything suddenly comes into focus and one is left seeing what wasn't there before. This was so to say Dan's moment.

A plan started to formulate in his mind. It encompassed his senses and drew him in. He could feel his vengeance in his veins and in his heart. It made lies become reality and truth become buried under broken roots. The plan would be simple really. He knew that it would be natural instinct for Blair and Chuck as Upper East Siders to run and use their money and power to bury a story that had potential to make or break them. But Dan knew a way to make this an impossibility for them. If he acted quickly he could paint a twisted tale black. He could make faded lies into a reality. He could for once hold the right cards to play the game. But the question was for how long?

Hundreds held their breath as a voice broke through the silence. It whipped across the room like a bullet. It echoed along the turrets of the room and created a false sense of purpose. It caused them to draw up walls that weren't there. In the distance a dance beat could be heard playing along to the tempo.

Dan spoke with connotations that weren't there as he looked directly at Blair and said, "I always knew you would end up being damned."

Blair narrowed her eyes and could not help herself as she retorted back, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Chuck's eyes flashed and he glared at Dan and opened his mouth as if to say something, but Dan spoke first.

"Well your back with Chuck Bass, after you told me I had your heart. Not to mention the fact that you told me all about Chuck Bass's secrets in the process."

The bystanders and photographers all held their breath.

The music sped up, but yet the silence was ever the more crippling.

Chuck's expression turned to stone. He kept telling himself she wouldn't, not to him. He was long past playing games that continued to burst at the seam, he was long past keeping stake in a game of deception and hurt ache. It hurt to love such a broken girl.

Blair eyes turned to ice, portraying lies and truths that made perception become reality as she bite back, "I never told you anything like that."

"A certain night at the Hampton's would say otherwise."

Her eyes widened and reality faded to black as she remembered a drunken night in the Hamptons that she had never cared enough to try and remember.

It had been a dark night, filled with lustful, unscripted promises, drunken, sloppy kisses, and half filled glasses of vodka that had made the fire come alive once more.

They had gone to a bar by the water as to Blair's reluctance, and Dan's insistence. It was high scale in its own way with pristine glasses, faded limelight, and a dance floor filled with high society patrons looking for an escape with no destination. But when Blair sat down at the bar the background ceased to exist and the drinks became her only vice. Three shots in and Blair had become all smiles, and false promises as she talked to Dan with more fire in her eyes than ever before.

Her eyes had danced in the light of the gleaming table as she looked at the dancers in the distance and said to him, "You know I have always wanted to be a dancer?"

He laughed a little and said, "Have you?"

She crossed her arms and glared at him, "Yes, I know it will never happen, but I still like to think about it sometimes."

He gave her a contemplative look and slowly said, "What is the point of that, I mean you said it yourself it will never happen so why even bother thinking about it?"

She sighed and knew that Dan would never understand, not like Chuck at least. She knew it would never happen, but the idea that someday in the infinite future, it could made her feel just a little more alive. But she told him none of that and instead she grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor.

Three hours later they stumbled inside the house and Blair was laughing about nothing and holding on to Dan's arm and kissing the back of his neck.

After a little while Dan looked at her and said, "Why are you kissing the back of my neck? It's weird."

She had laughed and dug her nails into his back and retorted, "Come on Bass, you and I both know the nape of the neck is your kryptonite."

Dan had pushed her off and looked at her with pain mixed with sheer anger in his eyes as he said, "You think I am Chuck?"

She had started hysterically laughing and said, "What are you talking about you know I love you."

Dan looked shocked and for a second the thought of Chuck Bass was pushed out of his mind as his voice had turned soft and he had said, "You love me?"

She had looked in his eyes and touched his hand and said, "Of course I love you Chuck."

She had watched the light leave Dan's eyes and then she had passed out on the couch until three A.M. when she had woken up to the sound of her own sobs.

She remembered feeling Dan shake her and he had said, "It was only a dream, you're okay, you're okay."

She had wiped the tears and in a emotional and sleep deprived state said, "My baby, my baby, Chuck...I can't."

Dan had given her a look of utter perplexion and she had turned to him and said, "Chuck I know you think you killed your mother and your father hate you for it, but you didn't, but I killed my baby, my baby is dead because of me."

She opened her eyes in horror as she realized that was the last thing she remembered and god only knows what else she had said or done.

She straightened her expression and looked at Dan with anger in her eyes, but the damage was done. Dan knew she had remembered to an extent what had unfolded that night. He knew he had the upper hand. He looked at the crowd. He looked at Blair. He looked at Chuck. The room held its breath waiting for a move to be made. And in a haste he simply began to walk away. For a second it seemed as if this battle was left unfinished, but then over a hundred phones went off and over a hundred eyes looked down at the latest Gossip Girl Blast.

Blair read it to herself in a rush and as she took in each word she felt a sense of anger pulse through her body offset by the feeling of panic and guilt.

Hey Upper East Siders! Now don't I have the scoop for you. It seems as though C thought his father hated him because he believed that C himself killed the late Mrs. Bass. Drowning your sorrow comes with a price. No wonder C has always had a taste for scotch and easy woman. Poor C, always in the wrong place at the wrong time, especially when it comes to B. But as it turns out B herself was the source of this particular secret. They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But where does your on and off ex-girlfriend fall? Time will tell. You know you love me xoxo Gossip Girl.

When she was done she looked up and expected to see Chuck standing next to her or at least in the room. It was a vain attempt. She was alone with only the hot flash of the cameras beckoning her forward. She moved out of the spotlight and tried to avoid the cameras and the questions as she left the party and felt the chill of the wind hit her head on. She hailed a cab and tried not to scrunch her nose at the indecency of her situation. Desperate times call for desperate measures she supposed.

She took out her phone and with shaking fingers texted Serena.

S, I need you.

Within thirty seconds she got a response.

The Palace, rm 380

She didn't bother going home to change, she didn't hesitate when she told the cab driver where to go, she didn't care that she had hastily thrown $200 at the driver for barely a ten minute drive, or that her dress had gotten ripped because she had shut the door on it, or that her curls were tangled and that her mask and shoes laid forgotten at the party. She was no longer Cinderella.

People looked at her with bemused expressions as she ran through the lobby, into the elevator and through the hallway until she had reached the door of rm 380. She hastily knocked and waited.

Serena opened the door slowly so as Blair could not see inside the room and quickly shut the door behind her.

Blair looked at Serena and suddenly it dawned on her, Chuck was in there.

Serena looked at Blair and her anger softened when she saw Blair's state of distress and she said, "Is it true?"

Blair closed her eyes for a second and let herself feel the shift of focus from light to dark before slowly saying, "Its...it's true, but I was so drunk when I told him. It was an accident. I would never intentionally do that."

Serena breathed out slowly and nodded before saying, "Did you tell him anything else?"

"I might of, I don't remember much of it, I didn't even remember that until tonight."

"I understand B, but Chuck...let's just Nate and I basically had to lock him in that room so he wouldn't drink himself into a coma."

Blair felt her heart break a little more. It hurt to love such a lost boy. She gave Serena a pleading look and said, "S, I need to talk to him."

Serena nodded and said, "I know B that's why I brought you here. I know you love him, but you guys need to talk it out. You need to have that big fight; you need to fight for him."

Blair nodded and said, "I know S, I know."

Serena gave Blair a small smile and squeezed her hand and said, "You can do it B. No one is meant for each other more than the two of you."

Blair pulled Serena into her arms and whispered, "I love you so much S."

"I know me too B, me too. But now it's time for you and Chuck to get your fairytale."

Blair rolled her eyes and said, "S, Chuck and I are a classic we could never be something so cliché as a fairytale."

Serena laughed and squeezed Blair's arm, "There's the Blair I know and love, now go!"

Blair smiled and pulled her hands through her hair, and walked inside.

Serena rolled her eyes as she saw a fleeting glance of Blair's curls and thought to herself how Chuck and Blair had been so unexpected, but yet so irrevocably perfect. They may never be golden, but they would always be fire.

Outside the Party, 12:02 P.M

Dan fumbled in his pocket looking for a half forgotten number. The card was frayed slightly and held a certain sense of foreboding, but he disregarded the notion and typed the number into his phone.

He picked up after two rings and in a slightly mocking tone said, "It only took you two hours, Humphrey, I should have known."

Dan rolled his eyes and said, "Carter, I am going to write that expose after all and I could use your help."

Carter laughed and retorted, "Humphrey, you have come to the right place, taking down Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf has been an aspiration of mine for some time now."

"Well good to know we share something in common."

Carter gave a bitter laugh and said with a smug edge, "Welcome to the Upper East Side. Meet me at the Plaza Bar tomorrow at noon."

And with that the line went dead, leaving behind nothing more than one man wondering about a broken girl. Revenge was a bittersweet concept, forgotten by many, coveted by none. On the other side of the river a lost boy and a broken girl played along to a forgotten melody. A dustland fairytale faded into oblivion.

A/N

Hey guys! This chapter had a lot going on and a lot of revelations occurred...what do you think about Carter? What do you want to happen with Blair and Chuck? What does Dan know about Chuck?

Please review! Reviews make me update faster and give me inspiration to keep writing! Also, I really want to know what you guys want to happen!

**Disregard that Chuck told Dan that about his mother in the show, in this story that never happened

**I know some people are concerned about Blair's lack of power and I get that, and that will come, but Blair needs to rebuild. She was so weak in the show and all of a sudden she was the Blair from season 1. That is not how life works and in my story Blair started off as extremely weak so her development will be evident as the story continues. So please do not stop reading due to that...it will happen.