a/n: As the plot thickens in the story, I need to give some details through another person's perspective. This part of the story is crucial in defining the DiLaurentis family history and it will be told partly from Mona's perspective, with a bit of Hannily mixed in there:)
The evening at Yale had rapidly turned from cool and crisp to downright cold. Hanna shivered as she stared into the flames of the bon fire, leaning back against her girlfriend's warm body, whose arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. She loved the feel of Emily's strong arms around her body and soft breath on the back of her neck, and it helped that Emily was always warm. Their first day of fall break had been odd to say the least. She could hardly believe it hadn't even been 12 hours since the near fight on the MegaBus with the clown squad; it seemed like so much longer. As Hanna stopped shivering from the cold, she felt her girlfriend's soft lips graze the back of her neck, sending a different sort of shiver down her spine. The crowd was sparse, and nobody seemed to be paying any attention to the couple, so Hanna responded in a quiet, full-body moan which Emily took as permission to go further. Emily ground her center gently into Hanna's perfect ass as she pulled her girlfriend in closer, pulled her hair back and began sucking gently on the skin just behind Hanna's left ear. Hanna's breath quickened in response as she turned around to replace her neck with her mouth and kissed her girlfriend hard on the lips. Gently running her tongue across Emily's bottom lip caused her girlfriend to allow Hana access to her mouth. The couple were making out for about 3 minutes solid before some frat guys came up to them and started cheering cat-calls.
"Whoo, sexy ladies! Looks like you forgot to invite the sausage to your party!" some bro in a straight-billed Yankees cap yelled at them.
"Go fuck yourselves," Hanna spoke evenly as the make-out session ended abruptly. Meanwhile, Emily gave them death stares.
Now that Hanna was warmed up and Emily was cooled down, after the obnoxious "cock-blocking" she'd received, they returned to the GZX group, stopping by the keg to fill up their cups; Hanna had switched to beer since they left the house since she didn't want to lug around a box of wine with her all evening.
Toby greeted them with a toothy grin, "welcome back, ladies." He had gotten much more relaxed by his 5th beer.
"Hey Toby, good to see you again," Emily replied, while rubbing Hanna's shoulder vigorously not just to keep Hanna warm, but to warm up her own hands. "Did we miss anything?"
"Nothing major, we were just talking about Ali," Jason said, seeing his sister's friends together brought up old memories. "She's been missing for so long and the police did essentially nothing to find her. Someone spun a story about how she left town to go live with family down in Georgia because she couldn't bear to stay in Rosewood after finding our father laying dead in a pool of his own blood and a handgun next to his outstretched hand."
The details of Kenneth's death were both gruesome and varied. The papers didn't go into much detail but somehow the rumor mill churned out a few various theories about what the scene looked like and what actually happened. One story claimed Kenneth was killed, another claimed it was suicide and still a third claimed he died of a heart attack.
"I feel awful that I had to leave right after the funeral, I know my mom needed support, but I got a threatening message from someone, with a picture of my father's death scene. I'm still not entirely sure whether the picture I got was legit or photoshopped. I tried asking the Rosewood PD, but they couldn't say. Then Ali went missing, no one really looked they just spun a story about Ali being so traumatized she had to go live with family outside of Atlanta. I tried to talk to my mom but she was inconsolable until she was admitted to Radley, and then she wasn't allowed phone calls or visitors for the first 36 hours, or ever, because she jumped off roof before the holding time was up." Jason appeared bitterly angry.
"Remember Spencer telling you about the DiLaurentis family in New York City? Well it turns out the guy behind the OMT alpha class is my cousin Salvatore, Sully, DiLaurentis-"
"But why didn't your uncle and cousin go to the funeral?" Hanna interjected.
"I was getting to that. My uncle Mickey, dad's older brother, wanted to attend the funeral but didn't think it was safe for his family. He forbade dad's younger sister Kristine Zangrilli, and her family from going to the funeral also. Uncle Mic didn't tell me why it wasn't safe, just told me to trust him," Jason replied before being interrupted by Emily this time.
"Isn't Mona's roommate Carmen a Zangrilli? Which would make Emma a Zangrilli also? Are Emma and Carmen your cousins too, Jason?" Emily's head hurt trying to piece the information together coherently through the fog of alcohol in her head.
Jason took a deep breath. "Yes. Emma and Carmen have DiLaurentis blood, but their father, Nico, is Greek Orthodox. Our grandfather Alfredo did not approve of Aunt Kristine marrying a non-Catholic, but Nico promised their kids would be raised Catholic, so Alfredo begrudgingly accepted him into the family business as a soldier, but that's a long story for another day."
"Soldier? What the hell is the family business? I thought it was real estate," Hanna was beginning to piece together a messy picture and suspect the "family business" was nothing more than a racket. "Was your grandfather in the mafia?"
Melissa jumped in before Jason could reply. "Jason is exaggerating. His uncle Nico was a loan officer. He helped people get money to buy property, and held the land as collateral. Completely legitimate."
Hanna just gave a look of understanding while nodding her head in disbelief. Sweet, innocent Spencer may have gotten herself in over her head with GZX.
As soon as her last class finished on the Wednesday before fall break, Mona picked up her travel bag from her dorm room and got into the car with her mother to drive back to Rosewood for the weekend. Mona was expecting her father to be in the car with her mother, but no such luck.
"Where's dad?" Mona asked casually as she slid into the passenger seat and kissed her mother on her cheek, trying to hide her disappointment.
"Oh, he had something come up at work. The department head called some sort of emergency staff meeting your father couldn't miss," Loretta Vanderwaal explained. "He's going to meet us at the Grille for dinner to celebrate your birthday." Mona's father, Neil, seemed to always have department meetings pop up at convenient times.
The three hour car ride went smoothly. Mona's mother stressed that she needed to have everything ready to go before she got out of class at 3:15 pm, as Lori did not want to get stuck in traffic, and thankfully Mona complied. Mona talked in great depth about her classes and considering changing her path to pursuit law rather than business management. "Managing businesses is just a superficial challenge, and doesn't require any real talent. I think my Intro to Business Ethics teacher is stoned most days when he teaches. Understanding and applying laws is more of a challenge." Mona spoke proudly, never one to turn away from a challenge.
Mona and her mother arrived at the Grille just on time for their 6:30 reservation and were barely sitting at their table for 2 minutes before Neil Vanderwaal walked into the restaurant wearing his favorite corduroy blazer – the one with the greenish elbow pads. Despite the plethora of suspiciously convenient short-notice meetings over the years, Mona's father had never missed a single one of Mona's birthdays; he loved his daughter dearly and was incredibly proud of her intelligence and accomplishments. Mona stood up excitedly to hug her father, whom she hadn't seen or spoken to since she left for school. Neil had an odd superstition that prevented him from speaking on the phone, he was afraid of being recorded, which apparently was a concern his former boss held. Mona wasn't exactly sure what her father used to do, before he was a mathematics professor at Hollis, but it was some kind of research. Her father was from The Netherlands and her mother from Peekskill, NY and they met when Neil accepted a research position at Yale, where her mother was an undergraduate. After they married they moved to Rosewood where her father took a position at Hollis.
Their meal went well. Despite living in NYC, no one, not even in Little Italy, could hold a candle to the linguini with clam sauce at the Rosewood Grille. "You just don't know where to look yet, princess," Neil suggested with a wink.
After dinner they went home and Neil poured himself a scotch before offering the bottle to Mona. Mona poured herself a short drink and followed Neil into his study. "So tell me all about college," he said. Mona got the feeling that deep down her parents wanted her to go to Yale, but she preferred NYU and they decided to let her make her own mistakes.
"Well, the city is huge and my semester is crazy. It's an eye-opening transition to college life from high school for sure, especially moving from a small town to a big city," she began. "Thankfully I have Caleb nearby and we can hang out on the weekends." Then after a short pause, "I'm really happy to be back home now though, I've missed it here, especially you." Mona smiled as she observed the high school graduation picture of her with her father that was displayed proudly on his desk. She was a daddy's girl, through and through.
"I've missed you too honey. It seems like just yesterday you were in here crawling around, distracting me from my work. Things are a bit too quiet in this house these days," Neil smiled at his daughter. "How's your roommate? I remember roommates always presenting some sort of problems, no matter how much you like each other. Hell, your mother and I have been roommates for 20 years and we still get on each other's nerves," Neil said, chuckling with amusement. Now it was Lori walking into his study to distract him whenever she got lonely.
"Oh, uhm, my roommate is okay. She's actually from NYC, and so quite standoffish. She did something to piss off the female RA within the first week of classes so we're always on her radar and getting reprimanded for dumb stuff like having music too loud, when the girls across the hall are causing the building to shake from how heavy their bass is," Mona said with annoyance as the scotch warmed her lips and throat.
"Do these girls have names," her father asked, his scotchy sarcasm beginning to blossom.
"Oh, uhm, yeah. My roommate is Carmen Zangrilli and the bitchy RA is Kelly something, O'Tool, O'Rourke, some Irish chick," Mona spoke off-handedly through a hoarse throat was growing numb from the alcohol of the scotch. She was staring into the fireplace and missed the incredulous look on her father's face at the mention of those names.
"Well honey, I wouldn't get too caught up in the petty rivals of your roommate and RA. There're too many other important things to focus on right now," Neil said. They sat in silence for a moment then began reminiscing on Mona's childhood, her boundless energy and questions, constantly peeking in to Neil's study after she was supposed to be in bed. As the night wore on and the bottle of scotch slowly disappeared, Neil became more candid about his past than ever.
Neil grew up in the Netherlands and after obtaining a bachelor's degree in mathematics he pursued his doctorate at the University of Moscow. With the political tensions as they were, his parents were not happy about his decision to pursue his PhD in the heart of the USSR, but the package deal – unbelievable stipend, gorgeous housing and the brightest mathematicians ever – was too much to turn down. After 6 years of study, upon completion of his degree, Neil had a chance meeting with a high-profile researcher at Yale, Alfredo DiLaurentis. Fredo offered Neil a position at Yale, 25% teaching, 75% research, and a quarter of a million dollars a year. Again, Neil walked into a deal he could not turn down despite the potential conflict of interest with his work in Moscow. Alfredo ensured Neil protection for his loyalty, and even introduced him to his future wife a bright student of his, Loretta. Neil remained in contact with his PI from Moscow, as Alfredo encouraged, but only superficially so as to have an ear to the opposition. It was a dangerous position, but Neil whole-heartedly put his trust in his Sicilian mentor at Yale.
Their research was conducted at a special facility in Duchess County, NY, not too far from New Haven, very under the radar. The research proposals were written to indicate their work was for urban development, controlled demolitions with zero negative impact on the people, animals, or air quality of the surrounding area. Those close to the DiLaurentis patriarch understood that Alfredo's research project was ultimately in preparation for the potential escalation of the cold war to nuclear war, in addition to being an excellent approach to laundering money. Neil was a key figure in the project, with his mathematical genius and skillful modeling of explosion kinetics as well as an ear behind Soviet enemy lines.
The research went well, and Neil was taken in as a close family associate. He attended Sunday Dinners prepared by Alfredo's wife Cecelia and his daughter Kristine Zangrilli, and daughters-in-law, Kenneth's wife Jessica DiLaurentis and Michael's wife Silvia DiLaurentis. After a few months of dating Lori, Neil began to bring her along to Sunday dinners and the DiLaurentis family welcomed her with open arms. Life was good for Neil.
Then one day he arrived at the research facility a few minutes late to find one of the newest explosive devices detonated and Alfredo DiLaurentis suffering nearly-fatal chemical burns. Without thinking, Neil rushed to the laboratory storage area and retrieved a chemical-burn extinguisher – something like a low-flow fire extinguisher, but filled with saline and menthol to dilute the dangerous chemicals and soothe the skin rather than flame retardant. The bomb that exploded must've been the one filled with nitric acid. As soon as Neil doused the chemicals from Alfredo's skin, he cut of his mentor's clothing, covered him in a clean sheet and rushed to the nearby trauma center. On his way, Neil called Alfredo's son and number two man, Kenneth to fill him in on the situation.
"Shit, we were afraid something like this would happen. God damn Fitzgeralds are behind this, so you need to watch your back. I'll pick up Mike and we'll be there in about 20 minutes," Kenneth spoke softly and pleasantly in order to avoid alerting his wife of the problem.
When they arrived in the emergency area of the trauma center, Kenneth and Michael were waiting along side the ER doctor with a stretcher and oxygen mask. As he was transferred from the back of the car to the stretcher, Alfredo leaned in to Neil and spoke painfully. "It was Declan," he whispered softly, then "I need air," he addressed the ER doctor.
Alfredo was brought swiftly to the burn center, where his condition stabilized. Though no one would be able to get in to see him any time soon, Michael thought it best to stay in the waiting room watching his father's door to make sure whoever tried to expire him did not return to finish the job.
"I need to head back to the facility to save whatever data we have left. There's years of work stored in that facility," Neil said shaking his head. "If only I hadn't been late this morning, none of this would've happened."
"There's no way you're going back to that facility. The explosion was meant to knock you off as well," Kenneth shot back. "You need to lay low for a while. Go home, pack a bag, and tell Lori you have a conference to attend, then meet me at my father's house."
If Neil was scared seeing Alfredo burning, he was shitting his pants now. He was under the impression the work was top secret US government work, not top secret mob-war work. Neil was greeted by his wife at the door, who informed him he had company waiting. She said it was somebody from the college who wanted to talk about his research, and that she was preparing tea and sandwiches for them. Neil walked into his sitting room, and a tall figure with pale skin and reddish-brown hair stood up and offered his hand.
"Declan Fitzgerald," he said with a stern no-nonsense face. "Pleased to finally meet you, Neil. I've heard wonderful things about your work."
"It was Declan."
"Neil Vanderwaal," Neil said unnecessarily. "What can I do for you?" Neil knew he was dealing with a dangerous guy.
Just then Lori brought in the tea with petite sandwiches, and Neil noticed Declan's demeanor transform immediately to warm and thankful.
"Thank you so much, sweetheart," Declan said with a barely noticeable hint of arrogance. "Those look delicious."
Lori smiled meekly, "you're welcome. Enjoy," before glancing nervously towards Neil and exiting the room.
"I heard of the unfortunate explosion at your research facility, and offer my condolences on the misfortune of Alfredo. Once upon a time Alfredo and I were close," Declan said wistfully, shaking his head. "You better sit down for this. I have disturbing information that you are being framed for attempted murder. Someone in the DiLaurentis family has taken out a hit on you. "
Neil's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Th-that certainly is disturbing," Neil said slowly. He needed to get in contact with Kenneth immediately, but that was not an option at the current moment. "I can't imagine who in the Family would ever believe I would want to get rid of my m-mentor," Neil was growing exponentially more nervous.
"Neil, honey," his wife called from the kitchen. "I hate to interrupt your meeting but I have an investigator on the line that needs a word with you immediately."
"I sh-should p-probably take th-that," Neil stuttered.
"Of course," Declan said with a concerned look. "But don't say anything that could put you in danger. Avoid specifics, they'll try to use your words against you. In light of the information I learned of, I came to offer you Fitzgerald protection, and all I ask in return is for your loyalty. The DiLaurentises have undermined a wonderful man with unlimited potential, but I can assure you the Fitzgeralds will take care of you. Take however much time you need to decide, but the sooner the better."
"Th-thank you," Neil replied. "Let me talk to this investigator and I will get back to you."
"Of course," Declan said gently, attempting to put a very nervous Neil at ease.
Neil walked slowly out of the room and took the phone from his wife's hand. "Hello?"
"Neil, it's Kenneth. I've got a soldier across the street from your house who informed me Declan Fitzgerald is there. "
"Uhm, yeah, and he's told me someone in the DiLaurentis Family thinks I set up the explosion and that there's been a prize placed on my head," Neil whispered quickly. "He's offered me Fitzgerald protection in return for 'loyalty.' What do I do?" Neil trusted Kenneth with his life and knew no one in the DiLaurentis family would take out a hit on him.
"Ok, Neil," Kenneth began. "This happened a lot sooner than I anticipated, but I want you to take up Declan on his offer for protection. One of our soldiers, half mic, half guinea, is on the Fitzgerald payroll as well. We'll have to communicate through him. Declan will have your phones tapped and check you for wires before each meeting. We only need enough information to determine what their next move is, then you and your wife will be completely taken care of. You can move to a new location, assume new identities, and live your life without fear for your life or need for money. Do you think you can handle this?"
Neil exhaled slowly and sat in the chair his wife brought to him, just before his knees buckled underneath him. "Ok, I'll do it. Just tell me what to say to Declan – he's still in the living room."
"Great, here's how you'll handle the situation," Kenneth replied. "Go back and accept his offer. Tell him you just spoke to Investigator Griswold who laid out the 'facts' against you, and the situation is more dire than you could have imagined." Say "If you can protect me and my wife, I will give you my full loyalty. I've been completely undermined by the DiLaurentis Family, who made me believe I was working on top secret government projects, not weapons for mob activity," Kenneth advised. "I'll have our solider in the Fitzgerald mob get in touch with you, but for now, do not reach out to any DiLaurentis."
Neil took a deep breath. He had no idea what he was getting himself into when he accepted the research position with Alfredo those few years ago. Neil returned to the sitting room to find Declan texting furiously. Declan looked up at Neil and smiled. "How'd it go?"
"Not good," Neil began. "They have more made up facts about me than Dr. Seuss has made up words. I've seen how corrupt the police force is, most of them are on the DiLaurentis payroll and I can't risk my and my wife's lives over this. I will give you my full loyalty if you can promise to protect my wife and I." As an after thought, Neil feigned shock, "It's almost impossible to believe how the DiLaurentis family used me."
"Great," Declan said, standing up from the couch, and offering his hand to Neil once again. "I'll go back to my headquarters and bring my team up to speed on the situation. Meet us tomorrow morning at 6 am, at the bagel shop on 5th avenue."
Neil shook Declan's hand firmly, appreciatively. "Of course, and thank you."
"Holy shit, dad! Is that true?!" Mona exclaimed. The story was outrageous but it seemed to fill in the gaps of her family history. "What happened next? Does it have anything to do with why I was homeschooled and why I could not get involved with Alison? What about my roommate Carmen Zangrilli? Is she one of your mentor's granddaughters too?"
"Oh honey, it's late and we both need to get some sleep," Neil said. "But in short, my involvement with the DiLaurentis and Fitzgerald families is the main reason I advised you to keep your distance from the snot-nosed DiLaurentis girl, and you need to be careful with your roommate as well. Use discretion with whom you share the information I just revealed, I'd prefer you keep it a secret but it sounds like tensions are rising with DiLaurentis blood in the "Fitzgerald University," also known as NYU. I'll put you in touch with Fredo's son Michael tomorrow when we drive back into the city."
Neil retired to his bed and Mona just sat on the couch, reeling from the scotch as well as the information she just learned of. Immediately she began texting Caleb. You will not believe the story my dad just told me; we're driving me back into the city tomorrow, want to meet us there?
Caleb replied, Uhm, sure. My mom is not too keen on having me back home for any extended period of time. I was able to get our IDs printed out, so we can try them out tomorrow night.
On Saturday morning Mona woke, surprisingly without a hangover, to the smell of sausage, eggs, and coffee. She trotted down the stairs to find her father standing over the stove cooking omelets while her mother flipped through the newspaper.
"Your father tells me he planned a special Father-Daughter trip into the city this afternoon?" Lori asked passively, probably wondering why she hadn't heard anything about it in the weeks leading up to their daughter's visit home. She learned long ago not to question Neil's eccentricities.
"Yeah, he wants to introduce me to his old friends and show me where to get real Italian food," Mona replied. "I'm pretty excited about it," she said almost sarcastically. Mona was a real bear before coffee in the morning, and she was not looking forward to another 3-hour drive.
"It'll be a blast," Neil said behind a fake smile as he put a plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of Mona. "Happy Birthday breakfast!" Neil was thrilled to see his daughter after almost three months but now fearful of her safety considering the powder keg of a dorm she lived in – with the Irish Fitzgerald-descendent RA and the DiLaurentis-Zangrilli girl who was living in the same room as Mona. If Kelly and Carmen were already at odds, and it was only a matter of time before each figured out the other.
So this was an intense chapter, and hopefully not too hard to follow. In the next chapter we will return to NYC, and conclude the fall semester break. By the end, all the players should know something about the mafia ties between Rosewood and NYC as well as between NYU and Yale. We might even get a glimpse of Ms. Alison DiLaurentis herself. Please let me know what you think!