I don't own anything associated with Pretty Little Liars.

Chapter 7

The TV blares. Although Hanna sits in front of it, staring at the picture as if her life depends on it, she's not really sure what she's watching. Her mind is elsewhere, on A related things. They're close, so very, very close to solving the mystery. They have the culprit, and she, Spencer and Emily are all on the same page. They just need proof.

Because without proof, there's no bringing Aria into their fold. Without proof, they're a three-woman team, not four.

She hears the front door open, and immediately shuts off the TV. Common sense would say that it isn't A, that A wouldn't be so obvious, but ever since the three of them really started dogging Ezra's trail, he's gotten a lot more aggressive.

However, it's not any of A's minions, but Mona who sashays in. She's sporting a new pair of sunglasses, and carrying some bags that state she's just gotten back from a shopping trip.

"Hey, Hanna!"

"What are you doing here?" Hanna asks, not entirely hostile, not entirely friendly. She hadn't invited Mona over.

"I thought that we could have a movie night, since you're not busy or anything," Mona says with a bright smile.

Hanna almost asks how Mona is so sure about that, but then she remembers. Mona may not be A anymore, but that doesn't mean she's stopped snooping completely.

The first thing Mona does is turn the TV's volume way up. To the point where Hanna claps her hands over her ears. Right when she's about to ask Mona to turn it the hell down, Mona turns and stares at her. She puts her finger to her lips, an action with clear meaning behind it. Very deliberately, she takes her cellphone out and puts it down on an end table by the couch. Her subsequent gestures make it clear she wants Hanna to do the same.

Hanna tries to speak again, and again, Mona shushes her. When Hanna still fails to do as she wants, Mona marches over and plucks Hanna's phone out of her pocket.

"Hey-!"

Mona slaps her hand over Hanna's mouth. She gives her a look, her 'I'm disappointed in you' look, and again, raises her finger to her lips.

Seeing that Mona won't budge, she lets Mona lay her phone on the table, then lets her pull her out of the room.

She thinks they're going up to her room, but Mona stops in the hall. Hanna blinks with confusion, and asks, "Mona, what are we doing?"

"Making sure he can't hear," Mona says.

"Who?"

Mona rolls her eyes. "A, obviously."

"He . . . can hear us?" she says uncertainly. Because if Mona's right, if A can hear her in her own home, then that must mean he's bugged it.

Mona confirms her fears. "Your phone is bugged. All of them are. I can't believe none of you ever figured that out. Anyways," she flicks her wrist in the direction of the TV, "he should think that we're just watching a movie."

"My phone is bugged!" she nearly shouts.

"Shh!" Mona slaps her hand over Hanna's mouth, again. "Do you want him to hear us? No wonder you girls never get anywhere."

"I figured out who A was," Hanna snaps back.

"And lost the diary," Mona says smugly. "Apparently, you four have never heard of a backup."

With that, Mona pulls her laptop out of one of the shopping bags. She opens it, lets the screen warm up, and then Hanna's mouth fell open.

"You have scans of the diary," she whispers. "When did you do this?"

Mona smirks. "A long time ago. Are you really that surprised?"

No. Not really. Hanna crowds at Mona's shoulder, peering over it at the screen.

"I've looked at the times these diaries were written, compared them with Aria's journal, and surprise, they match up. Our little A never writes anything while Ezra's off playing with Aria, or while he's teaching classes."

She nods, not questioning how Mona knew all this. All of the diary's records have been timed and dated by their author, for as they already knew, A liked documenting things. Aria, likewise, being the romantic she was, methodically dated and gave a vague time of all her outings with Ezra. And thanks to Aria, they all knew exactly where Ezra would (should) be during any minute of the school day.

"That's suspicious," Hanna remarks.

Mona smiles. "It gets better."

She pull Aria's journal out of the bag, and somehow, while balancing the laptop on her arm, she flips to a bookmarked page. Then she brings up a scan of one of the diary's pages with a highlighted line.

Hanna reads it: it's an innocent-looking line about how A only has a couple of hours to set up another one of his tricks. Still, a shiver goes down her spine. Mona wouldn't bring this up unless it was very, very important.

"Busy at eight, huh?" Mona says with a smirk. "Let's see what Aria was doing at that time . . ."

Hanna knows what it will be before she reads: a date with Ezra.

"Are they all like that?" Hanna asks.

Mona repeats, "All the times match up."

The words strike her like a punch in the gut. She isn't sure whether to feel relieved or horrified, so she settles on jittery instead. Without a chair to settle into, she leans against the wall instead for support.

"There's more," Mona says.

In a flash, Hanna is up off the wall. Her heart pounds with anticipation.

For the first time, Mona looks a little nervous. "There's a reason I thought A was Aria," she admits. "This is it."

Out of her pocket, she takes out a small slip of paper. Carefully, like she was handling a glass figurine, she offers it to Hanna.

"I got this shortly after I started working for A," Mona says, with the barest traces of guilt in her voice.

Hanna unfolds the slip. It's a simple note, stating:

Leave Aria out of this. I will deal with her.

~ A

She knows exactly what she's looking at, and it shocks her. It isn't just a note. It's proof. It's undeniable proof that A has some special interest in Aria.

It's almost certain proof that A is someone close to her.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Aria asks as she hangs her coat up.

They are all at Spencer's house, with Aria coming in the doorway, and the other three seated, waiting for her. The house is quiet, the mood sombre, and Aria quickly picks up on it.

"Guys?" she asks, looking between them all uncertainly.

"Sit down," Spencer commands. She sounds harsh, but Hanna knows it's because she's worried and doesn't know how to deal with this.

Aria does, choosing to sit next to Spencer. She's noticeably jumpy now; her hands bounce on her lap.

"What's going on?" she repeats.

Hanna, Emily and Spencer all look at each other.

Then, the dam breaks.

She feels sorry for poor Aria, who's being bombarded with damning accusation after accusation. They had kept most of their evidence against Ezra a secret from her for her own safety, so this is the first time she's heard any of this. Aria . . . she's just listening. Every shred of evidence they fling at her earns another wave of tears. Bit by bit, she's breaking right in front of them.

Finally, it ends. Breathing heavily, probably still riding the high from her I Know Who A Is outburst, Spencer puts her hand on Aria's shoulder. "Aria, I know it hurts, but you have to listen to us. Ezra is A!"

Aria murmurs something. Hanna can't hear what, but Spencer's face becomes one of pure shock.

"Wh-what?" she stammers.

Aria sobs. "I know he's A. I know."

She buries her face into Spencer's shoulder and continues to cry, saying those two words over and over again.

Review Response:

Guest: Thank you! I intend for the next chapter to be the last, so you should know how it ends before the holidays are up! :)