Title: A Terrible Glory
Summary: A is finally taken down, but not without dire consequences. Caleb comes back to Rosewood to try and help Paige deal with the aftermath of A's last stand.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars, or anything related to the show.
Rating/Warnings: T / Character Death.
"Caleb! Thank god!" Paige feels a flood of relief as she spots her friend walking up Emily's drive. She doesn't stop to question what he's doing here. He and Hanna broke up weeks ago, but Paige is so relieved to see him there that she doesn't stop to think about his reasons. "You've got help me! Emily's ignoring me! We must have gotten in a to fight or something, I don't really remember...but she's upstairs crying her eyes out and she won't talk to me! None of them will! Hanna, Spence, Emily's mom, they're all ignoring me! You've got to help me find out what I did wrong!" Desperation laces Paige's voice as Caleb approaches her. It's cold out and there's a breeze that blows Caleb's hair in to his eyes, but Paige doesn't feel it. She doesn't feel much of anything right now.
Caleb wears an uneasy expression as he looks around to see if anyone can overhear them. His eyes are soft and filled with understanding. He's the first person to even look at Paige in what feels like forever. There's a pressure at the back of her head, like an oncoming migraine and she can't quite remember how she got to Emily's house, or why her girlfriend is so upset with her; but none of that matters. She has to fix whatever she's done to upset Emily so much. She knows they've had their problems lately, but they can work through them. School, swimming, the Allison thing, they can find a way to make it all work; she knows they can!
"You didn't do anything wrong Paige." Caleb's voice comes out choked and Paige finally notices the tears welling up in his eyes. He's wearing a suit and tie but he looks a mess, like he hasn't slept all night to get here.
"Caleb?" She feels a lump forming in her throat as she watches her friend uneasily. Some thing is wrong. Paige can feel it in her gut, but she just can't put her finger on what it is. "Has something happened?" He looks like he's dressed for a funeral; which is definitely not normal Caleb attire. Paige tries to search through her hazy memories for some answers, but she comes up blank. She knows something bad has happened, something really bad, but every time she tries to focus on it the pain in her head intensifies and she feels like she's going to black out.
Caleb steps forward, reaching out a hand to steady her, but he falls short of actually touching her and tucks his hands back in to his trouser pockets. He looks up to the sky, as if searching it for answers of his own. When he finally looks back down at Paige his tears have started to fall and the lump in her throat grows even bigger. She's never seen her friend cry before. "You were really brave...you saved them."
"What are you-" Paige starts to ask, but she falls silent as flashes of memory violently assault her consciousness. Paige sees a knife, hears Emily and the others screaming, feels her legs moving of their own accord as she puts herself between Emily and the blade. She remembers the unbearable pain of the knife sinking in to her. It had hurt so bad and there had been so much blood...
Emily tried to stem the bleeding, her hands quickly becoming stained red, but it had been no good. The damage had been done. There had been more shouting and a struggle as Spencer had kicked in to action. She'd taken the knife from Paige's attacker...had it been A? Paige can't remember rightly. She thinks she remembers a man, maybe even someone familiar, but she just can't shift through the fragments of her memories.
Emily is all she can think about; the other girl's hands pressing desperately down on her stomach as she whispers how much she loves Paige, how much she will always love her. It starts becoming harder to listen to her as the pain grows and the darkness starts to creep over her...
Paige looks down, expecting to still see the knife in her abdomen, but there's nothing there. There's no blood and no pain. Paige doesn't feeling anything, not anymore. "A's gone, Paige. They're safe. Thanks to you. You can move on..."
"How?" Paige croaks out, unable to contemplate the thought of leaving Emily. She still can't fully process what Caleb is telling her. She knows. Deep down she knows, but she can't quite let herself piece everything together yet. Maybe that's why she forgot about the knife and the blood and everything else. Maybe she just needed to fool herself for a little while longer. "I can't leave her Caleb...I can't! Not when I only just got her back...help me! Please!"
Things weren't supposed to happen this way. She and Emily were supposed to leave this godforsaken town behind them after graduation. They were supposed to make it... It wasn't fair! None of it was!
"I can't." Caleb apologises quietly as he wipes at his eyes. Paige isn't the first friend he's let down lately, but there's nothing more he can offer her than a few kind words and a promise that Emily will be taken care of. The other girls will see to that.
"I won't leave her!" Paige digs her heels in and stands her ground like a four year old throwing a strop in the middle of the supermarket. "I won't leave her and you can't make me!"
"She can't see you." Caleb carries on patiently, needing Paige to truly understand what is going on.
"You can!" She argues back, that McCullers grit and determination of hers refusing to let her just back down. "Maybe Emily will too-"
"And then what?" Caleb challenges. There's a haunted look in his eyes, like he knows exactly what the consequences will be if Emily sees Paige for what she is now; and spends the rest of her days clinging to her memory.
"There's a better place for you." His voice softens as Paige looks up at Emily's windows, her shoulders dropping in defeat as she gives up the fight. She can't put Emily through that and they both know it. She can't hang around here and haunt her every waking moment. She loves her too much for that; and sometimes loving someone means letting them go, no matter how much it hurts. Paige was prepared to do it once before, she'll just have to find the strength to do it again.
"Where would I go?" Paige isn't a pessimist, but she can't imagine she'll be standing in front of any pearly gates any time soon. She wraps her arms around herself to fight off the cold chill that isn't something physical. She's scared and confused and completely alone; something she hasn't felt since before Emily turned up at her house that night and begged her not to look away.
"With me." Caleb answers confidently. He's too late to save Paige, but he can offer her a fresh start, and some companionship. "Come back with me to Ravenswood. You won't be alone there."
"Emily..." Paige feels the other girl's presence close by, like they're attached by an invisible cord. Right now it's just about the only thing she can feel.
"It's over, Paige." Caleb soothes. He steps as close as he can, bringing his hand up to caress the air beside Paige's cheek. He can't force her to leave Rosewood, but he knows he can offer her something resembling a life back in Ravenswood. Neither of them can have the ones they love back, but that doesn't mean they need to go it alone; misery loves company after all. He'll take her back to Ravenswood and introduce her to Miranda and the others. He know it'll take some time, but she'd find her place there. "Emily's safe now. Thanks to you, they all are. There's nothing more you can do here."
Paige nods. She knows he's right. A is gone and the terror that Emily and her friends have been facing all of these years is finally over. Emily can start living her life; albeit without Paige in it. "Okay. I'll come with you... Can you do something for me first? Can you...can you tell Em that I love her? Please Caleb, I just need her to know-"
"She knows, Paige. She knows."
A/N: So, I've just finally gotten around to watching Ravenswood and this little ficlet popped in to my head. I'm thinking about doing a full length crossover at some point and expanding on what I've started once I've finished a few other projects off – for now it's just a very sad one-shot.