A/N: Hello all. I got this story in my head and couldn't get it out. Good news, I've got about 90% of the first draft written. Bad news is the first draft sucks. I'm also not promising a timeline for updates. I'm aiming to get a new chapter posted every 1-2 days but my workload is due to explode in January so no guarantees.

Also thanks to The Velvet Dusk for giving me some advice on this. Check out her stories. They're great.

Disclaimer: Clearly if I had any control or ownership of the show I would be writing on the show.

Spencer glanced up from her laptop and eyed her buzzing phone. The now-constant debate waging in her mind as it had been for weeks. Answer or ignore.

The noise was going to drive her insane. With a scowl she reached out and grabbed it. Toby. Spencer jabbed her thumb down on the ignore button before she could change her mind. She couldn't talk to him. Not now. Not like this.

Her phone chimed with a text a few minutes later. Despite all her attempts to cut ties to him he proved to be the one person to rival the Hastings' level of persistence. At least when it came to her. And while Spencer refused to let herself talk to him or see him she did permit herself his texts.

Nobody else has given up on you. Don't give up on yourself. I love you –T

Tears blurred her vision. God that beautiful idiot. She had broken-up with him for a reason after all. And ok maybe it wasn't a break-up so much as them getting into another fight and Spencer yelling that she was through ruining his life and slamming the door shut in his face when he came to talk. And ceasing all further interaction with him. But that was sort of how all their break-ups went so why not this one.

The point was she did it to protect him and these kind of messages were trampling all over that. It was enough to almost make her track him down and yell some more. Lecture him on why he couldn't keep sending her supportive texts that he loved her. Or leave her endearing and soul-strengthening voicemails that she played on repeat for hours on end. Argue about why he couldn't stop by and try to coerce her parents into letting him see her. Tell him to stop trying to communicate through her friends – whom she only talked with marginally more than she did him. She'd willingly throw something, like his phone, at his head to reinforce the idea if needs be.

Except she's fairly certain she wouldn't get even halfway before she'd break-down, plead forgiveness for all of her sins and beg him to hold her and never let go.

And she can't do that. It wasn't fair to him. She was already the reason he missed his own graduation and ended up with a broken leg. Now he was just starting his career as a cop. One that she knew he was taking seriously. He wanted to actually do some good. To get answers about his mom, about A, everything. He wanted to help people despite having every reason to leave them in hell. He wanted to make a difference.

And he couldn't do any of that with a girlfriend facing a murder rap and was a regular subject of police interest. Or who had a habit of engaging in borderline illegal activity attempting to clear her name. Or a stalker who knew exactly where to strike. So she did what was best for him, even though it killed her.

With her rigid Hastings self-discipline she forced her attention back to her laptop. She needed to figure this out if she had any hope of saving herself from jail.

In the six weeks since her arrest, Mona's murder and their reconnaissance at Radley, Spencer had been pouring through everything she could get her hands on in an attempt to make the pieces fit. Mona had been certain that Alison was A. That she had orchestrated Bethany Young's death. That the blonde was responsible for just about every trauma Rosewood had suffered in the last few years.

But how could they prove it?

The letter Hanna had found hadn't been enough to get her off the murder charge. Instead it had done the opposite and brought more heat down on them. Probably due to Ali's potential relationship with Holbrook and Rosewood's usual incompetence. And now they were worse off than before.

There was no love lost between Spencer and Mona. The conniving brunette had spent the better part of the last few years blackmailing, threatening and torturing Spencer and everyone she cared about. She'd blown their lives apart on more than one occasion. She had run over Hanna, their best friend, with a car. She had trapped Emily in a gas filled barn and pushed Aria's family to its limits so many times. She'd been responsible for the majority of the worst moments in Spencer's life and had forced her to breaking point. Literally.

But despite all that Spencer hadn't wished her dead. And especially not in the brutal way she had been. Mona might have been a monster, but she was one Alison, Spencer and the others had created. And even monsters hadn't deserved that.

Now Mona was just another part of the Rosewood conspiracy. Her murder was a macabre piece of this gruesome puzzle. But solving Mona's mystery might just solve her own.

Alison's the prime suspect. The most likely culprit. But they have no proof and while Spencer believes her former friend is a likely candidate for both A and the numerous unsolved murders in this town there's something not sitting right about it.

Alison is perfectly capable of getting her hands dirty. Spencer knows that first-hand but she's also been brilliant at manipulating others to do what she wants. Their current theory makes perfect sense, it fits everything. And maybe that's the problem. It's too neat. It makes too much sense. As much as Spencer wants to, the cynic and sceptic in her can't believe it.

So she's going through everything she has. Every clue, every theory and shred of evidence she knows trying to figure it out. Spencer was recalling everything she could from Mona's lairs and their stint at Radley. Caleb had kept the access to Mona's computer set-up. Part of it anyway. But it's heavily encrypted and finding anything they can use has been slow progress. Hanna convinced Mrs Vanderwaal to let her into Mona's room and had snuck out everything she thought might help. Aria was sending her everything Ezra gave her. And Emily was passing along anything she knew from her mother's police contacts.

But they were no closer than they were a month and a half ago.

Spencer let out a huff of frustration and opened up the latest email Caleb had sent her. Information on Radley in general but nothing on Bethany Young. Spencer glanced at the information not sure if it would yield anything. A lot of what they had come across so far had only been vaguely informative but not particularly helpful. This seemed to be the case too.

Spencer straightened up in alert as something caught her eye. That couldn't be right. She tore through the paper sheets around her trying to tie the links together. When she had what she was looking for her colour drained from her face in horror.

No.

Hours later her mother gets home and Spencer doesn't hesitate to confront her. Veronica's barely gotten in the kitchen door before her younger daughter slams the sheaf of papers, evidence of her discovery, on the island table.

"Seven years ago a man named Walter Kim killed himself in Radley," is Spencer's clipped greeting. "A case was taken against Radley for criminal negligence and gross misconduct including its Board of Directors. Radley won."

Veronica frowned at the sheets of white paper before facing her youngest child. She knew where this was going and she was not in the mood to dredge up the past. "Hello to you too. Why are we discussing something that happened over half a decade ago?"

"Because you were the one who defended them," Spencer accused. "And Dad was the one who handled the litigation side. Made sure Radley covered its bases and the family signed a confidentiality clause."

"Leave it alone Spencer," Veronica ordered. Of all the things Spencer needed to stop pulling at this was top of the list. "It's in the past."

"It is still relevant," Spencer was not letting this go. Not when it could explain so much. "Jessica DiLaurentis was on the Board back then too. She was the one who talked Dad into it wasn't she. And he convinced you."

"None of this will do any of us any good now." Veronica turned towards the stairs but Spencer wouldn't be deterred. "Mrs. DiLaurentis was having an affair with Bethany Young's father! Bethany knew how Toby's mom really died and she's the reason Dad talked him into that settlement."

"Spencer leave it alone." Veronica warned. Her natural ice-cold combative tendencies kicking in now.

"The Kim case is tied to Bethany Young, to all of this too. When you told me you were leaving Dad you said that it wasn't because of the lies. You had an agreement not to get Melissa and I involved. Well we are involved Mom. Look around. Dad blackmailed Mrs DiLaurentis and she was buried in our backyard. I'm facing prison because someone's setting me up. And this could explain why, this could –"

"-We're involved because you got hooked on those damn pills and got so high that none of us know what happened and gave that family ammunition against us." If Veronica had slapped Spencer it wouldn't have hurt as hard. Or shocked either of them as much.

Spencer blinked back the tears. She'd known what her parents had thought. They'd always made their disappointment crystal clear. But actually hearing the words… Even though her mother obviously regretted saying it out loud it was clear that she at least partly thought it true.

And that cut more than anything.

Spencer drew herself up to her full height and met her mother's eyes.

"I'm sorry about the Adderall. I really am but I didn't hurt that girl despite what everyone in this family thinks. And you can divorce Dad and change your name but it won't change your past or solve your problems and it definitely won't get you out of this family's fucked-up issues. Believe me Mom I've been looking for an escape for a really long time. But I'll do you favour and remove myself from your life so you don't have to be involved." And with that Spencer stormed out the door.

She ignored her mother's calls to come back, that it would greatly diminish her legal standing. She didn't care. She couldn't stay in that house one more minute. Not while her mother was there. Not when Spencer was about to break down any second.

She made it to the far end of the yard.

She saw a shadow in the corner of her eye but before she could do anything else a paralysing pain shot through every nerve of her body. Spencer involuntarily collapsed on the ground in agony. Her vision blurred and she couldn't make a sound beyond an incomprehensible groan. The last thing she saw before blacking out was a dark hooded figure leaning over her.

Merry Christmas.

Please let me know what you think.