I've gotten over 50 reviews for this story. Woohoo. Thanks to everyone who helped make that happen.
We're heading into the final stretch of chapters now. Spencer's putting the pieces together and all will revealed over the next couple of chapters so enjoy.
Emily felt exhausted. It had hit her all at once she'd been tense and on edge after the events of the night. But it was only now that she could relax somewhat that the tiredness was felt. Looking around her friends were in the same boat. Hanna and Caleb appeared to be sleeping on each other. Aria was using Ezra's jacket as a pillow and Ali was curled up on a couple of seats. Spencer was still with Toby and none of them wanted to disturb the couple.
The waiting room was fairly empty and it was nearing sunrise at this point. She rested her coffee on the table beside her and let her eyes close.
"EMILY!" She jerked upright at the sound of her name. Only it wasn't just her name being called it was all of theirs. She saw her own mother and father along with the rest of the girls' parents as they hurried into the waiting room with Holbrook, Tanner and several other uniformed cops in tow.
She gratefully fell into her mom's hug and briefly saw Hanna do the same with Ms Marin who pulled Caleb in too, as Aria disappeared within the rest of the Montgomerys and Alison threw herself against her own father. They were used to horrible days, fears of losing someone and hospital waiting rooms but the toll of the last few days had still taken their toll and her mom's arms and her dad's voice were exactly what she needed right now.
It was when she caught sight of Mrs Hastings interrogating an orderly that she realized the Hastings still didn't know how their daughter was.
"Spencer's OK," she assured them as she extracted herself from her family. "She's with Toby. She was worried about him."
"Is he alright?" Mrs Hastings was concerned. After Spencer's parents had taken the time to actually get to know Toby, they understood they were wrong about him. Well they didn't admit being wrong since Spencer was the only Hastings that had actually ever admitted to be being wrong and only under extreme circumstances, but they'd dropped their disapproval.
"He got stabbed." Emily winced at Hanna's blunt delivery. Their parents' were already freaked. Announcing they were all facing death down regularly wouldn't calm them down. "He's going to be fine."
"How did he get stabbed though?" Mr Montgomery was shocked. "You kids just up and left the police station without anything more than a very vague note. Next thing we know you're at a hospital. Do you know how worried we were?"
"We didn't mean to worry you guys Dad, we were trying to help Spencer and-
"- Spencer's kidnappers attacked us! They're the ones that stabbed Toby. She got free and Toby and Caleb found her." Emily stared in shock as Alison recounted the story to the adults. "We met up at Emily's uncle's place. Mr Fitz gave me a lift to make sure we were alright. They must have followed us there. It was the same the person who kidnapped me! I think they were trying to take me."
Emily could barely keep her expression neutral and she subtlety elbowed Hanna when she openly rolled her eyes. They couldn't tell the truth about Ali's 'kidnapping' without landing themselves in trouble too.
Unfortunately Tanner didn't seem all that willing to believe Alison's story either. "How do you know it's the same person?"
"I just sensed it," Alison insisted. She seemed so sincere, so honest. If Emily didn't know for a fact that she was lying she'd have believed her. "It was the way he was looking at me. And it's so similar. Spencer and I are friends. We're the same age. It was her yard both times."
"But Cyrus Petrillo acted alone by all accounts and you've all stated that there were at least three people who attacked you tonight."
"It wasn't just one of us. He got help!"
"And the ransom for Spencer? No ransom was ever looked for when you disappeared."
"Spencer's family are loaded," Alison couldn't have been blunter about what she meant. "Everyone in Pennsylvania knows that."
"Alright you're done interrogating my daughter," Mr DiLaurentis cut in angrily. "She's a victim. Some maniac took her away from her family for two years. She escapes, comes home and tries to move on with her life and you act like she's the criminal. And when you finally catch the son of a bitch, you let him go."
"I believe what Mr DiLaurentis is saying is do your damn jobs and stop harassing our kids." Ms Marin looked out for blood.
"I want to see my daughter. Before anyone questions her." Emily blinked at Mrs Hastings voice. Both of Spencer's parents had been uncharacteristically silent and she'd almost forgotten they were there. Only they hadn't stayed quiet out of a lack of words Emily realised but out of strategy. They'd been listening to everything being said and figuring out how best to use it to their advantage. Mr Hastings expression made her nervous.
"You know what Spencer knows the most so I'll go find her. Let her know you're here." Aria had found an escape. Emily jumped at the opening to flee too. "I'll go too. Make sure Toby's OK."
"Me too" Hanna chimed in as they beat a hasty retreat.
"Now what do we do?" Aria hissed the moment they'd turned a corner out of earshot. "Ali just tied Spencer's kidnapping to hers."
"Yeah and Tanner definitely doesn't buy what Alison's selling." Hanna declared. "She thinks Spencer killed Bethany, we're helping cover it up, Ali's kidnapping was a lie and Spencer faked hers to get out of going to jail. She's not going to rest until we're all in the slammer!"
"Just for the record I call not being the person who tells Spencer that everything she's been through is now all about Alison. Also whoever tells her should probably make sure she's strapped down first."
Emily zoned out of Hanna and Aria's debate on whether letting Spencer actually attack Alison was a good idea or not. Toby was asleep and he looked to be ok. Emily didn't want to lose anyone else, especially someone who meant as much to her as Toby did.
Unfortunately while the window into the room proved Toby's well-being Spencer was noticeably missing from the picture. There was no way any of them were going back to that waiting room and informing both Hastings parents and several law enforcement members that Spencer was missing. Again.
She had to be in the bathroom or gone for coffee. Or A had come back to finish what they started.
"Does Toby wear midnight blue nail polish?"
She loved Hanna she really did. But that didn't stop the urge to want to strangle her sometimes when she was incapable of getting the anvil-sized hints about what was important.
"I'm pretty sure he doesn't wear nail polish at all Hanna."
"Oh then I found Spencer."
When they checked they did indeed find Spencer curled up on Toby's far side, hidden by the young man.
"He gets stabbed, she gets blood all over her and they're still freaking adorable."
"Right because you didn't jump Caleb so quickly after he got shot that a nurse walked in on you two in a medical supply closet."
"Hey it happens in Grey's Anatomy all the time. And seriously how did her manicure last. I'm so going there."
"They do look pretty cute. I'm taking a picture."
"MMmmm who's taking a what?" Spencer murmured, Hanna and Aria's antics waking her. Toby stirred as Spencer did.
"Spencer!" Mrs Hastings rushed into the room and pulled Spencer into a hug, pulling across Toby who had a steadying hold on her waist despite still being groggy. Mr Hastings stayed back slightly but did put his hand on her shoulder. "You gave us a bit of a scare there champ."
Emily exchanged smiles with the other two. Spencer was always so unshakable but she needed her family as much as they did.
"I take it now is a good time to ask questions?"
He felt like he was on a cloud. Which sort of made sense because he remembered something about angels and heaven and Spencer and the room was all white. But the only other thing he could remember about the white room was Spencer and their friends going for questioning and giving his own statement. And everything came back in one sobering moment.
"When are you going to realize it's not safe to be with her." Toby started as Jenna's voice echoed through the room. Sure enough the girl herself was seated beside the bed. "She's haunted and tainted and she'll bring everyone with her. You included."
This was the third time the dark secrets of Rosewood had put him in the hospital and all three times Jenna had visited with the sole reason of trying to scare him away from Spencer. Jenna was incapable of accepting Spencer in his life. Toby couldn't care less what she thought.
"You know most people usually ask how you are when they visit you in hospital, not try to push their own agenda."
Jenna ignored his caustic sarcasm. "I'm telling you what's best for you Toby. We're family and she brings nothing but trouble. All the Hastings do is use people for their own purposes. Her friends, her family, they'll bring you down. Look at all the pain they've caused, all the pain that's tied to them. There's nothing but tragedy and death in their wake. You can't ever trust a Hastings. You can't ever turn your back on one. Isn't that right Spencer?"
Toby looked up to see his girlfriend in the doorway looking as beautiful as always. She looked gorgeous in flip-flops and sweats. She even looked stunning despite obviously wishing she could shove his stepsister out the window. "Same could be said about you Jenna. Given how many people you've manipulated into doing your dirty work for you."
"I've never been responsible for putting someone in the hospital Spencer. Can you say the same?"
"No," Spencer gritted the admission out and Toby hated that she felt like the other girl had a point. "But I've also never deliberately manipulated circumstances for someone to fall on their sword for me either."
"You've never been willing to take a fall either. Are you really accusing me of ensuring protection when you deliberately claim someone else's?" Jenna smirked and Toby was more alert than he had been in hours. Not even painkillers could make him ignorant about the dangers of having Spencer and Jenna in the same room as each other.
"Did Noel tell you that?" Spencer shot back. The tension was so thick you didn't need a knife he could cut it with his own hand. "After all it was your insurance along with his right?"
"Poor Noel is as wide open as he can be. You painted a target on his back. All your intelligence, all that search for truth and you still can't see what's right in front of you. You're as foolish as ever. You think you have all the answers but you can't keep the common sense to use it right. Instead you just keeping draw attention to yourself, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Claiming to act in everyone's best interests but really only looking after your own. You're as bad as Alison."
"Jenna you need to leave. Right now," he ordered. He could see the slight fear in Spencer's eyes. His girlfriend put on a good front but Jenna's words hit a nerve.
"My biggest mistake might be befriending Alison in the first place, but you're the one who's her new BFF. But then they say sociopaths can relate to each other."
"Alison is capable of far worse than I am. I strike to survive, she opts for maximum destruction."
"And we've both made her hit list before," Spencer drawled.
"Guess we'll see who the greater threat is." Jenna remarked.
"I guess we will," Spencer commented before that deductive gleam he loved flitted across her face. "Or we can make this an enemy of my enemy"
"-is still my enemy," Jenna snapped. "You girls haven't been innocent bystanders in everything that's happened to me. Maybe I owe you my life but I also owe you my pain. What I know is my insurance. And I'm not giving it up to anyone. Especially a Hastings. You really think we can call a truce and be BFFs. What we'll braid each other's hair and share sleepovers and persevere over the blonde menace and live happily ever after. No thanks, after all that's what got Mona killed."
"Out! Now!" Toby yelled. There was no way he was letting Jenna hang around and say those things to Spencer. Especially when he knew she felt guilty for what happened to the girl.
Jenna stood cane appearing and made her way across the room.
"Who are you more afraid of Jenna? Alison, me or Melissa," Spencer asked out of the blue and the blind girl stopped short in the doorway. Spencer had rattled her. "Don't forget why you're here Spencer. We could easily be in a graveyard."
Spencer watched Jenna go, the gears in her brain working to piece it all together. "She's knows something. Shana and Noel both had Alison's trust. Shana would have given Jenna everything. She could have the key to all this."
"I can try her later. See if I can find out anything." He hated seeing her so worked up like this. The drain it had on her. Being stabbed was nothing in comparison.
Spencer smiled sadly, "We both know she'd never give you anything she thought I could use against her. And she wasn't wrong." They both knew she wasn't talking about Mona's murder or the need for insurance.
And no matter how many times he told her otherwise she'd still blame herself.
"C'mon Spence if you're so convinced that I got stabbed for you, you should at least thank me."
His ploy worked and she let out laugh in tangent with her signature eye roll. "At this point I'm beginning to think you got yourself stabbed on purpose just to get lucky."
"Not on purpose but I'm open to it being an unexpected and pleasant consequence."
Spencer shook her head in reprimand. She was so cute that she was trying to chastise him. It always made him want to rile her up.
"Just so we're clear Toby Cavanaugh, if you ever scare me like that again I'll…. I'll…." She can't finish her threat. Not because she can't think of a suitable punishment. (He's never been scared of Spencer, not the real Spencer, but he knows what she's capable of when she decides to be.) It's her own fear and despair that cut her off. She has yet to fully recover from that night, possibly never will. The faintest reminder throws her back, breaks her all over again. It's something that he'll never forgive himself for.
And it's a promise he can never make, not honestly. Because while he will never give up on Spencer Hastings he will give up everything in a heartbeat for her. And she knows that. She'd make the same decision.
Instead he reaches for her. Pulls her against him, hugging her. Spencer hasn't been held enough in her life he thinks.
"What did you mean? When you asked Jenna if she was afraid of Melissa?" He knows there is some connection between their siblings. Both of them have been vocal in their dislike of Alison. Both were sneaky, malicious and devious. And both have been willing to burn the girls.
"I think Melissa's been blackmailing her. Probably with the N.A.T. videos." He can hear the undercurrent of anger in her voice that's always present in relation to those home movies. They're a useful threat but she hates their very existence. People she should have been able to rely on took advantage of them for their own sick fun when they'd been too young and unaware, used them for their own purposes. She resents her ties to the creators. And he knows they pain her because while she and the girls were happily oblivious to the monsters around them, those videos depict just how aware of them he is.
"We know they've been working together. Emily saw them with Shana the day of the lodge fire. Melissa was the black swan. They both have ties to the Club and to Garret and Ian. They were both there the night Ali disappeared. The way Jenna kept talking, she has a problem with my family. Not just me. And the things they both hinted at? It just makes sense that they're plotting together. And if they're a part of whatever's going on or going up against Ali." He felt her shrug. "They'd want as much leverage as they can get. Especially given the secrets they have." The wistful, lost quiver in her voice is indication she still hasn't fully processed Melissa's full involvement in all this. The aloof older sister who barely acknowledged her took a life in an attempt to save her.
"How'd things go with your parents?" He's trying to distract and he's curious. Her family had been concerned about her, had actually shown it. Spencer needed to know that.
"OK. They seemed kinda worried. I'm not used to seeing them like that." He holds her closer as she buries her face in his neck for a moment, pulling herself together. "I told them the same thing I told the cops. They wore masks. Kept me tied up in a basement. I didn't know where. You and Caleb found me, we met up with the girls, and they found us. We ended up here."
It's more or less what he told the cops too. "That's it?"
Her hair dances across his torso as she nods. "Yeah. I left out the A stuff. And the likely cop stuff. We don't have enough evidence on Alison or anyone. If we start pointing fingers now it'll look like we're just making things up again.
"Oh and my dad wants to sue the entire Rosewood Police Department for negligence and incompetence because they were sitting outside our house and still didn't notice me getting kidnapped. And my mom insisted on having me admitted like the doctors requested."
She says the last part so fast and so quietly he barely catches it. But he does and his pulse immediately skyrockets according to the monitor. "You've been admitted?! Why? What's wrong? Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
"I'm fine Toby. Really. It's just a precaution because my breathing was slightly off and there's a minor risk of infection. As my lawyer of a mother put it, 'showing physical evidence of the assault and lasting injuries will help get a tougher sentence when this goes to court'. It's appearances."
He's been scrutinizing her carefully. She does seem OK and that certainly sounds like her parents having her admitted to improve the case outcome. "Are you sure you're OK?"
"Positive. And I have a room a couple of doors down but if you want me to stay here so you can monitor my condition that can be arranged. Although I will mention now that Hanna's already informed me that the gang will be here in about an hour with 'hospital survival packs'. Which knowing Hanna will probably be make-up, rom-coms and the latest Cosmo."
"I think you should have the nurses give me pain medication then."
Spencer grinned and he can see that gleam in her eye. One he knows and loves so well. Her voice drops lower and quieter. "They won't be here for an hour. We'll have amuse ourselves until then."
His pulse is spiking for a whole different reason now. "What did you have in mind?"
"I'm sure we can think of something."
"We're going in circles!" Spencer tossed the files in her hand to the bed in frustration. It had been over a day since Toby had been stabbed and they had gotten nowhere.
"We know the badge you saw belonged to Wilden," Aria reminded her sympathetically. Toby had used his police access to look up the badge number she had seen.
"Which just means CeCe took it off him when she killed him and gave it to Ali or A. So she was involved with A. That still doesn't connect her to anything past what we already know."
A hand lightly kneaded the tense muscles in her lower back and she immediately felt some tension leave. It never ceased to amaze her that no matter how dark things looked he always managed to make things seem just a little brighter.
"I think I found something!" Caleb straightened in his chair and shoved his laptop on the table so that they could see. "Look it's a police report from Wilden's caseload."
"What does it say?"
Spencer scanned the screen, her quick mind and legal background deciphering the report and theorizing its meaning. "It's a report from five years ago from Radley. The cops were called because of a disturbance. A teenage girl attacked a doctor. No charges were filed because the girl was a minor. And the staff and Board of Directors requested they deal with it internally. They never did a follow-up."
"All in the tradition of Rosewood police work."
"Could the girl be Bethany? Another hint to her past."
"And Mrs DiLaurentis covered it up. Like she has before."
Spencer rooted through the evidence in front of her until she pulled out the loose pages that she had found. She flipped through page after page until she found what she was looking for.
"Guys according to this the doctor was Dr Palmer," her eyes widened. It was more connected that they realised "and the girl's name was given as Courtney DiLaurentis!"
The room was silent for a moment as they took this new piece of information in. And then came the questions.
"Alison was seeing Dr Palmer?"
"Mrs D totally bribed Wilden about this right?"
"Do you know it was Alison? Has she got any relatives called Courtney?"
"If it is Alison and she used the name Courtney as an alias then why use her surname. It completely invalidates the point of an alias." Spencer was talking mostly to herself. She kept flipping through the pages. There was something here. It was right in front of her, the key to everything. If she could just make the pieces fit.
"Was this another Ali? You know like Vivian Darkbloom?"
There were two different types of handwriting here. They'd recognized one as Alison but the other was unknown. Spencer stared at the two pages. The writing changed almost mid-word
"Maybe there's another Ali?"
Two Alisons.
"Hanna we're focusing on real life not movie plots."
"It could be true. It's not like Ali would ever tell us she has an evil twin. Maybe she doesn't know herself."
Twins.
"We sure the twin is the evil one?"
"See Caleb thinks there could be two Ali's?"
D.I.D.
Click
"Hanna you're a genius!"
"She is!" Aria and Emily looked like she needed a CT. Hanna pumped her fist in the air. "I love it when you say that." The blonde's expression turned from joy to quizzical. "How am I a genius?"
Before Spencer could explain though how Courtney DiLaurentis fit into all this a nurse appeared at the door.
"You need to leave visiting hours are over" Spencer groaned as she recognized the woman. It was the same woman who kept ordering Spencer back to her room every time she caught her in Toby's. He was her boyfriend, she loved him and he'd been stabbed less than 48 hours ago. Of course she was going to stay in his room.
The nurse however had different plans and ushered Spencer out of the room with her friends insisting she and Toby get their own rest while the doctors did their rounds.
She squeezed Toby's hand as she left and caught Aria's eye. As soon as Nurse Ratchet was distracted, they'd meet back up.
It all made sense now.
Spencer went back over the note-book and the files. Instead of frustration and stupidity, everything made sense now and backed up her theory. This was it. The truth about A. Maybe not all of it, some pieces were missing. But the key, the Alisonness of it was all right here in her hands.
"Ah hello Spencer." She jumped, mentally berating herself for turning away from the door, and slipped the book and files behind the dresser. They were so close she couldn't let A destroy what would finally stop them.
"Wren what are you doing here?"
The Englishman gave her a familiar grin. "I heard that you and the Carpenter had been admitted and I wanted to see that you were alright."
"He's a cop now," Spencer corrected. If people were going to refer to Toby solely by his occupation they should be accurate. "And we're both fine thank you." She smiled brightly and hoped he'd take a hint. Wren was charming and fun to spend time with but she no longer trusted him. She hadn't since Radley and realized he was more tied to Rosewood's darkness than he let on.
Wren however felt like chatting. "You don't know who is responsible for such an atrocity do you."
"No clue. I never saw their faces. They were wearing masks. None of us know who they are," as she repeated her earlier statement to the police, something occurred to her. "I thought you were still in England?"
"Yes well, I needed to finish up some paperwork here, visit some old patients and that. Since I was in the neighborhood I thought I'd visit my favorite Hastings while she recuperates." She knew that look he was giving her. "I thought you were in England. Living with my sister."
Wren looked only slightly abashed at that reminder and Spencer felt slightly annoyed. She'd always liked the attention he'd paid her especially when it was over Melissa. But she knew now what her older sister had done to protect her, however horrible, and that odd, twisted loyalty their family had reared its head. He had destroyed her already-shaky relationship with her family. It had taken her months to earn their respect back and it had hurt Melissa something she did feel guilty for despite all the anger and resentment she had had back then.
More importantly the potential for anything real between them died the moment she fell for Toby. Wren knew all this and yet he still didn't seem to care.
"I realize that might have been something of a shock." Instead of leaving like she wanted he walked towards the bed. She didn't have time for this. She needed to tell the others what she'd found and bring it to the police. "Hearing that Melissa and I had rekindled our relationship. But I want you to know that despite the complicated history we all share I still care very much about you and you're very important to me."
"That's great, Wren." She was sharper than usual but she was willing to say anything to get him to leave. "You should probably tell my parents that. They're due to visit any minute now." Like there was any chance in hell Wren was sticking around to chat to her parents – her father in particular.
She wanted him gone. She wanted to end this nightmare. She wanted to be back with Toby. She wanted Wren to leave because his cologne was giving her a headache. Melissa had bought it for him, she recalled, and it had once given Spencer's rendezvous with him away. She wasn't surprised her sister had been able to figure it out. He wore too much of it.
Just like the A-Team member who had treated her injuries. The one she'd escaped from.
The one who had access to medical supplies.
And as an employee, access to any Radley file he wanted.
Wren was A!
Or at least working with A.
She tried to hide it but he was too close to her. He knew she knew.
Spencer ran for the door but she had barely got off the bed before Wren threw her back on it. She tried to scream but he slammed a hand over her mouth. She fought back but Wren had the advantage of not being on medication and full function of all limbs.
She felt something prick her and seconds later her body went slack of its own accord and her vision blurred and darkened.
"She knows," Wren was talking to someone. "C'mon we don't have much time."
She felt herself moving. Wren was pushing the bed. Someone was walking beside her. Long, blonde hair. Tall. Shiny badge. Police uniform. She got a glimpse of the face. It was one she knew but from where?
The darkness claimed her.
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