I'm seriously overwhelmed about the reviews this story has received. This will be the quickest I have ever hit 100 it's quite incredible so a huge thank you to everyone. This chapter is very much character building so I'm sorry if you think it's boring but it has to be done otherwise yeah haha. Anyway enjoy and please follow/fave and review! It's nice to be nice.
On what Emily thinks is the third day, Jessica drops the pills in her mouth and she swallows them without fighting it. There's no point. Jessica's said nothing to her today. Emily waits for the pills to kick in, every fiber in her body alert to the change. It starts in her throat, the tingling sensation before it spreads. She doesn't know what the pills are but she suspects a painkiller and some sort of hallucinogen.
Her mind starts to go and she thinks she sees a dark haired man in the basement with them but he's just a shadow. He stands behind Jessica and then he's gone. But it could just all be a hallucination. Nothing is real to her anymore. She imagines the crime scene.
Toby and Spencer would have traced her to the big house that Jessica had leased. Forensics, media, evidence markers and crime tape. She moves through the crime scene, directing the task force as if it was just another victim. "It's been too long already," she tells Spencer. "I'm dead."
They are all so desperate, grimly looking between each other. "Lighten up! It's all good. At least we know who the hell she is now. Right?" They stare at her blankly. Spencer cries. Hanna shoves against the technician at the door trying to get through. "You have to see this is connected to the case," Emily tells them, her voice full of anxiety. "It's not a coincidence."
"Emily, look at me."
Jessica. She's back in the basement again. Reality folds and Emily doesn't want to give in to her but she doesn't really have a choice so she turns her head and gives Jessica the attention. There's nothing in her face. No anger, no pleasure, no nothing.
"Are you scared?" Jessica asks.
Emily thinks she sees a flash of emotion in her eyes. She's pretty sure that it's sympathy but then it's gone. "Whatever you think this is going to be like Emily," she whispers, "it's probably going to be worse."
Day three. No clues, nothing to go on and Emily awoke from an unsatisfying sleep to find Spencer standing over her. The office light was on and Emily was resting back in her office chair.
"You spent the night," Spencer said simply. Emily blinked the sleep from her eyes before looking around her office.
"It's just after seven." Spencer stated before she placed a paper cup of coffee on the desk just in front of Emily. Emily's head throbbed, her teeth hurt and she rolled her neck to one side as it popped. Spencer was dressed smartly as always. She smelled of perfume. The smell filled the air, it made Emily think of summer time.
Emily picked up the coffee and took a small sip. It was strong just the way she liked it but she winced as it went down anyway. "You're here early," Emily said as she looked up at her best friend.
"We found a connection to the women, all of them went to Rosewood High School, not as teachers but as student's." Emily quirked an eyebrow as she rubbed the grit out of her eyes, everything becoming much clearer after she did. "So Toby wants to go back."
It made sense so Emily nodded in Spencer's direction as she took another drink of the coffee. The caffeine spread a welcoming warmth through her body. There was nothing quite like the first coffee of the day.
"So what are we still doing here?" Emily stated as she stood, her body groaned in protest, she'd been asleep in the same position for too long. She watched Spencer smile at her gently.
"Hanna is bringing you a change of clothes over, she will be here just shortly. I called her before she went to work."
- x -
"Why did they call you?" Emily asked as Hanna stood in front of her, buttoning up her shirt slowly, she was one of the few people Emily let touch her anymore. It just felt wrong but she could handle it with Hanna for some reason.
"Because I know exactly what you like to dress in at work duh."
Emily slipped a Vicodin into her mouth. She didn't generally like to take them on an empty stomach but she couldn't see a decent breakfast in her immediate future.
"How many of them are you taking?" Hanna asked, concern lacing her voice as she watched Emily slip the pillbox back into her pocket out of view. Emily tilted her head in Hanna's direction, pondering the question. "Not as many as I'd like to at times."
Hanna buttoned the last button before she looked Emily straight in the eye, Emily could see her jaw working, teeth grinding. Her clear blue eyes were hard. "Em, don't assume because you are my best friend that I will let this continue. I will tell your superior if I have to and then you will be back on medical leave, and I don't think you want that." Tough love, sometimes, it had to be done.
Emily nodded at her best friend. "I know," she agreed and Hanna raised her eyebrows.
"This thing with Jessica that you have," Hanna said through gritted teeth. "These weekly meetings, it's fucked up. I don't give a crap how many more victims she gives you. At some point," she looked Emily right in the eye. "You have to let it go. Focus on something else."
Emily's mind went to Alison. She told herself off.
"I need more time," she said carefully, gauging Hanna's reaction. "I've got it under control Han." Hanna handed her a clean jacket and watched as Emily pulled it over her shoulders. She sighed and shook her head gently before she leaned up to kiss Emily's cheek.
"You better fucking well have."
- x -
Alison sat on her couch near the window, watching the pedestrian lunch time traffic go in and out of her street. She'd called Paige McCullers earlier in the morning and had been told to call back, the woman didn't seem very thrilled about talking to her at all. Alison wasn't surprised by that, she'd expected it even, but she'd been persistent enough and managed to get her to agree to a call back. It was better than nothing.
"I still can't believe you're working with Emily Fields, what is she like?"
Aria Montgomery's voice broke Alison from her thoughts. She thought about what Emily had been like with her the past three days and could think of only good things to say.
"Truthfully? She's been amazing. I expected a lot of hostility given the nature of the profile but she's been great with me," Alison admitted with a warm smile. "A willing participant."
"Then what's the problem?" Aria asked, she could read Alison too well, she'd known the blonde too long and she knew something was nagging her best friend.
"I don't want her to get hurt and I have a feeling this profile is going to uncover a lot of things that could and probably will hurt her, so I don't know why she agreed to it in the first place."
"Maybe she needs to get everything out in the open, off her chest?" Aria offered as an explanation before she stood and grabbed down for her purse. "I need to go but call me later, we need a drink or something."
Alison nodded in agreement. "Can you post this for me?" she leaned over and handed Aria the letter, watching as the petite brunette's eyes widened at the address.
"You've written a letter to Jessica Jackson? Does Emily know?"
She'd spent thirty minutes on the letter, writing a draft then rewriting it, it still didn't sound great but it was the best she could come up with and she knew she had to post it before she lost her nerve.
"No, she said she would find out but I hope she was just calling my bluff." She stood and hugged Aria before she walked the brunette to the door.
She turned on the midday news and Emily Fields' face filled the screen, there was an announcement at the bottom that this was breaking news. Emily looked weary like she hadn't slept last night. But she'd sorted her hair and her faced held a certain authority. She watched Emily grimly confirm the death of Wendy Somers and admit that they were still searching for clues. Then the TV switched back to two local news anchors who spoke in great detail about the monster at large.
She pulled the newspaper that Aria had brought out the plastic bag. She always felt butterflies when she looked at a story she had written. It was a mix of anticipation and fear, embarrassment and pride. Sometimes she didn't even like to read what she had written when it was in print. The task force story was the first she had ever had on the front page.
She sat back on the couch and with a nervous, heavy breath she unfolded the Herald. There it was on the first page. An aerial photograph of the crime scene was above her article. With a startled laugh she recognised herself, a small figure in the photo, luckily she wasn't throwing up at that point. Standing next to her amongst the chaos was Emily Fields.
She was delighted. She found herself wishing she could tell her parents about her journalistic triumph but they had left for their vacation and wouldn't be back for another two weeks. She didn't want to bother them, she would let them know when they got back or if they called later in the day.
Alison traced the newspaper image of Emily with her fingers and found herself wondering if the detective had seen it yet. The thought made her feel self-conscious but she shook it loose. This was her thing, just as much as being a detective was Emily's thing. She picked up the phone and dialed Parker's number, she had remembered something Donna had told her the other day.
"I'm just about to go into a meeting. What is it?" he answered curtly.
"How do I get a nine – one – one recording?" Alison asked.
"Which one?"
"Jessica Jackson's," she replied. "Have you heard it?"
"They didn't release it, we ran a transcript."
"Well I want the actual recording, so can you get it?"
Parker made a sighing noise. "Let me try. I have to go." He hung up without a goodbye.
Alison couldn't resist, she dialed Emily's number on her phone and was thrilled when the brunette answered on the third ring.
"Hello Alison, I didn't forget about our interview later don't worry." Alison didn't think Emily sounded as tired as she looked.
"No it's not that, I just wondered if you had read my article on the Wendy Somers crime scene?"
"I liked it very much, but I do have to go right now. Kind of have a psycho to catch, I will see you later." Emily hung up and Alison squirmed with pleasure on the couch. Emily had liked her story.
She was on a roll. She called Paige back on the land line, Emily had said that Paige worked from home on a Friday so she could call back there, sure enough, Paige picked up.
"Hi," Alison said. "It's Alison DiLaurentis again. You said to call back earlier in the morning."
"Oh, hi again," Paige answered.
"Is this a better time? I'd really love to talk to you."
There was a brief silence on the line. Then Paige sighed. "Can you come over just now?"
Alison beamed. "That sounds great. Where do you live?"
She got directions, pulled on her skinny jeans, a red and white striped t-shirt and red ankle boots, grabbed her black pea coat and headed out the front door.
- x -
Paige McCullers opened the door and extended her hand in greeting, Alison took it. In her late twenties she had dark hair and an athletic body. She was wearing black leggings, a sports t-shirt and sneakers. She wasn't what Alison had been expecting. She followed Paige into the house before they walked to the kitchen. Paige had already made coffee and had sugar and cream out, she pulled a stool out of the kitchen island and motioned for Alison to sit.
"What do you want to know?" she asked.
Alison pulled her phone out from her purse and set it on top of the kitchen island. "Do you mind if I record this? It's easier than writing everything down." Paige nodded before she took a sip of her coffee.
"So," Alison said. Dive right in. Full speed ahead. "It must have been hard."
Paige stood up before she walked over towards the coffee pot. "When Emily was missing? Yes. She called me you know, right before she went to see Jessica. We'd separated a month before, it was all mutual but she still lived here, we were trying to find her an apartment. Then she didn't come home and I could feel something was wrong."
This was news to Alison, as far as she'd been concerned they'd been together until after it all happened. Paige looked at Alison with a forced smile. "Then I finally called Toby and they found Emily's car outside her house but the house was empty and that's when it all started to fall apart."
"A week is a long time," Alison offered.
Paige sat back down beside her, a new cup of coffee in her hand. "They all thought she was gone." She said matter - of – factly. "People started laying bouquets in our garden, sad notes, ribbons. All that kind of thing."
"Why did Jessica do it, in your opinion?"
Paige sat perfectly still for a minute before she ran her hand through her hair. "I have no idea, but whatever Jessica was trying to do, she succeed at it. She wouldn't have ended it until she had. She's not that type of person. When Emily got home she didn't want to leave the house, she didn't even want to see Spencer, Hanna or even Toby. She had panic attacks, couldn't ever sleep, she was a mess."
Alison's stomach clenched and she was ashamed that it wasn't for Paige. It was for Emily. The thought of what the brunette must have gone through twisted something inside her, something that she hadn't ever felt in her life before. She wanted to wrap Emily in a hug and never let her go.
"Three months after she was released from hospital, Toby came over to see us," Paige continued, there was glassy tears in her eyes. "He told Em that Jessica had agreed to give up more victims, people who were still missing as part of a plea bargain. But she would only give the locations to Emily. She's a control freak, I think she likes the thought of having control over Emily even from jail. Emily didn't have to do it though but she was determined. So Emily goes to see her every Sunday as part of the deal."
Alison's mouth hung open slightly. Emily still went to see Jessica Jackson and that's why she'd wanted Sunday's off. It wasn't for a day of privacy like she had told Alison it was to allow her to go to the prison to see Jessica. Alison wasn't really sure what to make of it. It was all kinds of fucked up and yet in a way she understood why Emily did it.
"Do you still talk to Emily?" Alison asked.
"Every other day over the phone."
Alison took a long breath, she had to ask because Paige had been brutally honest with her. "Why are you telling me all this, Paige?"
She frowned in Alison's direction like she was thinking something over. "Because Emily told me to."
- x -
Alison had changed her outfit four times before heading to Emily's apartment. Now she stood face to face with her wishing she'd gone for something a little less dressy. But Emily had seen her, and now it was too late to head back towards her car.
"Hi," Alison stated. "Thanks for letting me come over."
It was just after eight at night and Emily was wearing what Alison imagined was her house clothes. Sweatpants and a simple white t-shirt that hung loose over her frame. She still pulled it off.
Alison glanced down at her own outfit, black skinny jeans, heels and a top with her denim jacket pulled over her shoulders. A thick necklace hung around her neck. She should have gone for something simpler, she actually thought on some subconscious level she was trying to impress Emily. Emily opened the door fully and stepped aside so Alison could enter her apartment.
She tried not to let her face fall when she saw the half empty apartment that Emily lived in. There were no books or old magazines waiting to be thrown out. There was a black leather couch that looked new and across from it sat a matching black leather chair. There wasn't much personality to the place. The only thing that Alison noticed was a picture of Emily with two other women. The brunette she recognised from the task force office the other day, the blonde she didn't know.
"Have a seat. Are you allowed to drink during interviews?" Emily asked.
"Oh, we can drink a little," she assured Emily with a smile.
The coffee table was covered with police files, all gathered up and stacked into two neat piles. She wondered if Emily was naturally neat or whether it was for her benefit. She sat on the leather couch and dug out the book that had been written about Emily's ordeal with Jessica. Jessica Jackson was on the front. If beauty sold books, then a beautiful female killer made a best seller.
Emily returned with a bottle of wine and a glass that she sat on the edge of the coffee table next to the book, Alison had no idea how Emily knew she liked wine. The brunette herself had a beer in her hand and she sat down on the chair across from Alison. Alison pulled her phone from her purse.
"Can I record this?" Emily nodded before she brought the bottle of beer to her lips.
Alison waited for her to say something about the book. Emily waited for her to ask her a question about the book. Jessica looked perilously from under it's title. Alison pressed record and opened her notebook. She'd hoped that the book would provoke some kind of response from Emily. It didn't. She just took another drink of her beer as she gazed at Alison.
"I talked to Paige today. Did she tell you about our interview?" She took a sip of the white wine as Emily sat her bottle onto the coffee table.
"She did."
"What did she say?"
"She said she was worried that she had been too honest about me and my," she searched for the right words, "my relationship with Jessica."
Alison nodded. "Relationship," she repeated slowly. "It's a strange word that."
Emily shook her head. "Not really if you think about it. Cops and criminals, cops and journalists." Her mouth curved into a small smile. "I don't mean to suggest that we are dating by the way."
Emily was sitting back in the chair, legs crossed, her right one was on the floor and she had her arms on each arm of the chair. While she might have been trying to look relaxed, Alison could tell that she was definitely not relaxed. She tried to observe Emily without staring. The fit of Emily's t-shirt, her dark hair that curled around both shoulders, she had blue Superman socks on. Alison had to hold in her giggle.
The truth was that Emily Fields knocked her off her game. It was something Alison wasn't used to. Usually in interviews the power was all hers, but more and more when she spent time with Emily, she found herself off kilter. There was something about the brunette that Alison was completely attracted to. It's because you haven't been with anyone in a while that's all it is.
Emily was looking at her. That was the thing with interviews, everyone was always waiting for someone to say something. It was like a long, uncomfortable first date. "Why did Jessica take you Emily?"
"She's a psychopath and she wanted to kill me," Emily's voice was calm and collected. They could have been talking about the weather.
"But she didn't," Alison argued, and sitting across from the brunette she was glad Jessica hadn't. Emily shrugged. "She changed her mind for some reason. Why?"
Emily smiled softly. "It's our female prerogative isn't it?"
"I'm serious."
Her expression returned to normal and she leaned back down for the beer bottle on the coffee table. "I don't have the answer to that question."
"All those Sunday's and you have never asked her?" Alison pushed and she watched as the brunette's eyes lifted to meet hers.
"That's not what we talk about and you're asking the wrong questions."
"Okay," Alison said slowly, "what made you different? Why keep you alive? You were different to her from the beginning. Why?"
"I was the lead detective on the task force that was hunting her. The others were all random people, but we knew each other. We had a relationship." Emily emphasised the word relationship as if to reaffirm her earlier point.
Emily lifted her hands off the arms of the chair and then folded and unfolded her hands on her lap. She was looking at the copy of the book that Alison had set out on the table. Alison looked at Emily to the book and then back to Emily again. It was like once the brunette had looked at it she couldn't look away.
"She risked a lot," Alison spoke softly. "To get to you, I mean. And then she let you go."
Emily was still looking at the book. Part of Alison wanted to tear it up and burn it so Emily would never have to look at it again. Alison could nearly feel the pain radiating from the detective.
"Excuse me," Emily said.
She stood up quickly and went into the kitchen. Alison turned on the couch so she could watch her. She couldn't see Emily's face, the brunette stood with her back to her, and then she had her hands on her hips. And then she sighed and said, "Will you put the book away please?"
The book. Was it the photograph of Jessica looking like a super model on the front that bothered her? Or was it what was inside the book that bothered her?
"I'm sorry," Alison called as she shoved the book back into her purse, she shook her head feeling like an idiot. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Emily.
Emily walked back into the living room before placing her beer carefully onto the coffee table in front of them. She did everything carefully, like someone who expected to break things that she took care of. She folded her hands in her lap again before she looked back at Alison.
"Jessica ended up in jail because it was part of her career – exit strategy plan, everyone has one. Trust me, she wasn't feeling charitable when she saved me. The first few months of my recovery, I felt like it was the cruelest thing she could have done to me. I didn't want to be here." The pain in Emily's eyes made Alison want to reach over and take Emily's hand in her own.
"But she could have got the death penalty?" Alison said.
Emily shook her head in the blonde's direction. "She had too many bargaining deals for us."
"Why do you think she only agreed to talk to you?"
"Because she knew I would do it for the families." Emily took a sip of beer before she continued, "I owed the families that. I'm tired, can we stop this now?"
Alison dropped her head in her hands in frustration. "We'll get to the whole story, you have my word," Emily promised.
She shut off the recorder and allowed the silence to settle around them. She didn't want to go home, an empty home at that, she wanted company. She wanted Emily's company. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?"
Emily nodded. "It's down the hall."
Alison stood and brushed down her jeans before heading off down the hall towards the bathroom. It was as plain as the rest of the apartment. A bath and shower combo with a sliding door. A plain white sink, and two towels that hung over the bath. The bathroom was clean at least. Spotless actually, Alison decided then that Emily was a naturally neat person.
She stared at the mirror above the sink. Fuck, fuck and fuck. She was so close to the biggest story of her career, the story that would launch her career and yet she didn't feel happy about it. She combed her hair with her fingers, the light overhead made her skin look pale. She applied lip gloss to give her face some life. She wondered if Emily looked at herself in the mirror everyday like this.
She flushed the toilet and used it to cover the noise of her opening the medicine cabinet. Toothpaste and a toothbrush. Razors. Deodorant. Moisturiser. And a shelf of amber plastic pill bottles, she spun them around to read the information. Vicodin. Ambien. Xanax.
She noticed that the Vicodin was the only bottle that had been opened, the rest hadn't been touched at all. The safety seals still attached. In reality there was enough pills on the shelf to medicate a horse. She closed the cabinet door before she turned and headed back towards the living room.
Emily didn't even look up at her, she was peeling the label of her beer bottle away from the glass. "If I'd wanted you not to see the pills I would have hidden them somewhere else."
Alison searched for what to say. What are you talking about? What pills? But she didn't feel like lying to Emily, Emily didn't deserve it. She nodded before she sat across from the brunette, Emily's eyebrows raised in surprise like she wasn't expecting it.
"I know this sounds stupid but my parents are on vacation and with everything going on I don't want to go home just yet."
Emily smiled, her dimples showing. "That's okay, the TV remote is here," she threw it feebly over at Alison. "I need to call my Mom, if I don't she will call the FBI for a search party, I guess it's understandable," she continued with a small laugh. She headed towards her bedroom, smiling when she glanced back to see Alison removing her heels.
Emily returned thirty minutes later to find Alison asleep on her couch. The blonde's head was facing the back of the leather, her right arm curled into her body. Emily watched her chest rise and fall with every breath. Alison looked younger when she was asleep, all her journalistic attitude was gone from her face. She had three freckles on the base of her neck, they were in the shape of a small triangle.
Emily didn't think she'd ever noticed them until now. She prided herself on noticing details, it came with the job but when it came to Alison, for some reason, she missed things. There was something about Alison that distracted a part of Emily's brain. She wanted to lean down and press her lips against the blonde's forehead but she didn't, because if she did she'd want more and that couldn't happen.
- x -
Alison blinked her eyes open to be met with black leather, she rolled over and nearly fell of the couch that she was lying on, a bed throw was wrapped around her. The smell of coffee lingered in the air and it took her a moment to adjust to her surroundings. She heard a noise behind her and she sat up to be met with Emily glancing over her shoulder at her.
"You fell asleep and I didn't have the heart to wake you." She smiled at Alison as she poured coffee into two mugs before she headed over in Alison's direction.
"One second," Emily said as she placed the blonde's coffee on the coffee table before she turned and walked back towards the kitchen. The morning light bathed the room in a yellow glow. "Here you go." She sat two sachets of sugar down next to Alison's mug.
"How did you know I take sugar?"
"I noticed when you didn't touch the coffee I gave you the other day."
Alison looked away, she thought she'd gotten away it. "Thanks," she mumbled as she ran her hand through her hair before opening the two sachets. She looked over at Emily who was still wearing the same clothes she had been last night.
"Have you been to sleep?" Alison asked as she brought the coffee to her lips, she actually didn't care what she looked like in front of Emily. Emily had that non judgmental quality about her. She hoped anyway, she imagined she didn't look particularly attractive.
"I have," Emily admitted. She'd slept on the chair across from Alison, she'd woken a few times but it was the best she had slept in months. "I slept pretty well actually," she added with a dimpled smile.
It was progress.