The lies always come together

When Spencer Hastings reports that Ian Thomas tried to kill her, the police call the Lightman Group to help them find out who's lying and who isn't. Who killed Alison DiLaurentis and is 'A' a friend of a foe?

It was a slow day at the Lightman Group. For once they had nothing to do and Eli Loker was trying to solve a crossword having no luck. On the other side of his desk Ria Torres was catching up on her study of old articles written by her boss. Cal Lightman and his partner Gillian Foster were in his office bored out of their minds with the occasional kiss passing between them. Everyone shared the same thought when the phone rang.

'Please let it be a case'

It was the Philadelphia police department. They needed help to find who the killer of a fifteen year old that disappeared last year was. Cal rolled his eyes not at all excited about having to work with a bunch of teenage girls but it beat sitting in an empty office bored out of his mind. Seeing his expression Gillian laughed and went out to inform the team they had 30 minutes to be at the the parking lot after making sure there were no signs their recent make out session.

Four hours later and getting lost twice two cars were parked at the parking lot of the police station in a suburb of Philadelphia called Rosewood. They were presented the case of Alison Di'Laurentis who had gone missing almost a year and a half ago and her body had been found at her house about six months ago. They had a suspect but were forced to let him go and their second suspect was accusing her brother in law for trying to kill her so she killed him herself but there was no body to back up the story. All in all, the deceased girl was Rosewood's golden girl and the town needed to move on.

The always observant Ria Torres noticed a young cop in a uniform stood really near the door obviously listening in. She nudged Loker with her leg and pointed to the cop with her eyes and he nodded. They were each given a folder with all the information about the case. The four specialists divided the people for questioning between themselves and decided to reconvene and check notes by dinnertime.

Eli Loker got one of Allison's friends and the initial suspect, Gillian Foster took one more friend and Allison's parents and Ria Torres the last two best friends. Cal Lightman would go over the documents.

Aria Montgomery

Loker was sitting in one of the Rosewood police station questioning rooms. The young girl sitting right in front of him played a good front but his years of experience saw directly her mannerisms. She was nervous and afraid. He started asking her a few questions to determine her friendship with the deceased girl. He was surprised to find out that the dead girl still held some sort of hold on her.

She was honest about the events of the night Alison disappeared but edited the before and after. A little probing and she told him she somehow felt sleepy soon after consuming the vast amount of alcohol Alison had brought to the party and woke up dazed and slightly hangover in the early hours of the next day along with two other girls. She also had concealed how instead of searching for their missing friend she and the rest of the girls cleaned up and threw the remaining alcohol away and they covered for Alison until that evening that Alison's parents finally worried and called them. When he asked her about Alison's character her body language showed him a slight disgust and regret. The only answer Aria gave him though was that Alison was the leader and they had no option but to follow. When asked about Spencer Hanstings accusation that she was attacked by her brother in law told him the same things the folder said, down to the last detail. She and two more girls were driving to meet Spencer at the church where they saw the fallen - dead - body of Ian Thomas and Spencer told them how he tried to kill her but a hooded figure saved her. When the police arrived though there was no body and no hooded figure.

Emily Fields

The young swimmer was calmer than the other girls. She was clear about the events of the disappearance, specially when Torres announced they knew about the alcohol. She, like Aria, felt sleepy and slept like a log through the night only to be woken up by Spencer. She was open to the fact that she and Alison held a closer friendship than the rest of the girls. Emily was a lesbian and she a crush on Alison. Even though Alison openly said she wasn't interested she gave her a few bones to keep her around. Also like Aria, Emily felt guilty and regretted something that had happened before Alison's death and was hiding something that happened after the death. When asked about the rumored attempted murder against Spencer Hastings she told the same story as Aria, down to the commas.

Hanna Marin

Unlike Emily, Hanna gained from the death. Vowing to get rid of the chubby girl she used to be she followed Alison's instructions and bordered with bulimia until she reached her goal and was now the Alison in the shoes of Alison in popularity. Her story on both the night of the disappearance and the attempted murder were the same.

Spencer Hastings

Gillian Foster looked at the girl sitting in front of her. Spencer Hastings was the only one of the girls coming with her parents or a lawyer. In this case, both.

When asked about the disappearance, she was the only one to show relief. Her story was that she woke up to Alison's scream and went outside only to find her gone.

When she returned Aria, Hanna and Emily were woken up. They packed and returned home thinking Alison was back too only to be called that evening by Alison's parents that declared her missing. Unlike the other girls Spencer didn't not feel sleepy after the beers.

She said that Alison held the secrets of them all but they didn't know hers. With barely covered hate and disgust she relegated the events of two nights ago. She picked up her sister from the church, on the way her sister realized she forgot her phone and as they wee about to make a u turn they crushed. Melissa Hastings was in the ICU and she returned to the church to look for her phone.

Ian pounced on her and after a short fight she fled to the upper floor of the church with the bells. Ian was about to throw her off but a hooded figure appeared, pushed him instead and was gone. She called her friends who in turn called the police. She also accused of Alison's murder Ian Thomas quite emphatically even though she had no solid proof. Her mother was quick to admonish her and Foster made a quick note to check those accusations. She allowed her to leave then. Spencer met with her friends at Hanna's house. They were all shaken up.

"What did you tell them?"

Spencer demanded

"Nothing"

Hanna was quick to appease her

"Only what we decided on"

Emily agreed while Aria was silent staring at her phone. They decided to all stay together and watch a movie but her mind was in whirlwind.

At the same time at the inn the four deception experts compared notes. It was more than obvious to all of them that there was more going on with the girls than met the eye. They were saying the same stuff down to an imaginary script and they all showed the same guilt and regret with the exception of Spencer who showed relief.

The next day Dr. Lightman was about to go meet the first suspect Toby Cavanaugh when a young girl met up with him. She had long wavy black hair and big black, almost like a manga, eyes.

"Dr. Lightman?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Aria Montgomery, Alison's friend"

"Oh yes, miss Montgomery. Here to admit you killed your friend?"

"No"

She replied disgusted

"I need to talk to you"

"I have a few minutes"

She gave him an envelope

"Someone has been stalking and terrorizing us. We think it's Alison's Killer"

Then she ran off before he could follow her. Frowning Cal opened the envelope to find a memory stick, a bunch of papers and a notebook or rather a diary. Being a complete novice to computers Lightman gave the envelope to the reception desk to be forwarded to Loker. He was a computer wiz.

Toby Cavanaugh

The teenage boy sat at the table looking more than a little uncomfortable. He grumbled a little about his criminal past, he was responsible for his step sister losing her sight. A lie.

"You didn't do it, did you?"

"Do what?"

"Blinding your sister"

The teen looked flustered and hastened to admit to it. Cal kept probing until the teen shouted he did it. Lightman knew better but decided against further questions deciding to ask about the night of the disappearance. Toby admitted he got a call from Alison to meet her at the woods, she was cold and he gave her his jacket. Then he saw her leave with an older boy. Also a lie. However Toby wouldn't budge so Lightman let him go in order to talk to his sister. Toby was lying but Cal Lightman didn't believe he killed Alison.

Jenna Marshall

Jenna Marshall sat with her signature smirk in place and the folded cane was at the table in front of her. The big black sunglasses hid not only her eyes but half of her face. She agreed that Toby was the culprit for her blindness. Lightman suddenly said he'd clean his sunglasses because they were spotty and asked the product she used. Jenna made an expression and said in her usual smirky tone that she had no idea. However Cal Lightman was an expert at what he'd do for a reason and soon made a move to grab her sunglasses. Surprised Jenna jerked her head back.

"How long have you been pretending to be blind Miss Marshall?"

Jenna was at a loss as to what to say. She lost her smug smile and her manipulating moves of touching her rings stopped. Her posture changed and resigning she said she was never blind. She knew her parents would never let her near Toby again and vice versa unless she had some disability. When she mentioned Alison her contempt was barely hidden.

Melissa Hastings - Thomas

Melissa was still groggy from the medication and unable to think of lies. She tried to keep up with the story she had told the police but her fear about the disappearance of her husband and her worry over her baby combined with being interrogated without a lawyer and the guilt she felt made her an easy target. She gave up the truth easily. She had followed Ian last year when he snuck out of her house in the early morning to find him in a heated conversation with Alison DiLaurentis in the woods. What shocked her wasn't the argument, it was that the argument ended in a passionate round of lovemaking. She admitted to grabbing a log from the ground and hitting Alison as she rode her boyfriend. When Alison fell down bleeding she heard a gasp and saw her sister Spencer who rushed to them. Alison moaned and made a move. Spencer hit her with the same log and Ian grabbed Melissa to leave. That's the last time she saw Alison.

Leaving the hospital Cal got a call from Loker who saw some videos that were in the flash drive and spent the morning interviewing the people in them. The two men met at a local bar and viewed the videos in question. Loker told him that Foster had read the diary as well and was now on route to Alison's parents while Torres was at a meeting with the local police wanting some answers about the body. Cal agreed on their course of action and made a call to his next and last interview of the day.

Spencer Hastings

When confronted with someone that knows the truth Spencer agreed with her sister's words. She admitted she was awake when Alison left the barn and followed her to the kissing rock. She saw her with Ian, her sister's boyfriend. The same boyfriend only hours before Alison had caught her kissing and threatened to tell. She admitted she saw Melissa hitting Alison and that she hit her as well. She said she was scared and followed Ian's instructions to leave with Aria, Emily and Hanna and let him deal with Alison.

The next day found the four deception experts sitting around a table studying and comparing their notes. It was more than obvious what had happened. To them at least. Interviewing the residents of Rosewood had taken a lot of time but the results were amazing. It was time to allow the masks to fall.

Eli Loker had fetched the four little liars in the gym of their school. Gillian Foster had called Alison DiLaurentis' parents and brother and Ria Torres had invited the police. Including the first cop to work the DiLaurentis case. Cal Lightman had brought 'A'.

Always loving a flamboyant scene Cal Lightman stood on the stage. He walked the guests through Alison's life. He told them about the secretive nature of the girl, her way of learning the secrets of others and using them against them. He walked everyone through Alison's last day in Rosewood.

"And like this Melissa & Spencer Hastings took their different paths to return to Rosewood. We have found out what really happened to Alison. She woke up at a later time and decided to flee Rosewood asking her brother for help. They left town together then. Earlier this year a body was recovered at the DiLaurentis' house. That body was thought to be Alison simply because of a bracelet worn. A bracelet that belonged to Alison, even though the body was of an older girl"

A series of gasps were heard among the attendants. Mrs. Foster ended the ceremony by revealing the mysterious 'A' as none other but Alison DiLaurentis herself. She had been hiding with her family apparently after spending a lot of time in the hospital recovering from her injuries caused by the Hastings sisters. She had recruited a series of old friends/victims, pick the word of your choosing, to create a circle she could use to communicate with her old friends. However when Alison found out she had been forgotten by the four little liars she decided to destroy them creating 'A'.

Alison herself sat at a table with her family keeping her mouth shut for once.

This time she lost but as the saying goes you need to hit rock bottom before you rise again bitches.

-A-