You guys are awesome! I'm loving your reviews - they actually inspired me to spend an entire half hour train ride today planning out the rest of the story (it is going to be SO much fun to write). So keep reading and reviewing and I'll update as often as I can. :)

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As they walk down the narrow hallway, Emily reminds herself over and over again why she's doing this. It's for Paige. It's all for Paige. And in her mind, that makes it worth it. But she can't help the little thrill of fear that shoots through her as she thinks about what she's going to find in the next room. The A-Team. The elusive, seemingly omniscient presence that has been haunting for her months. Not only is she about to finally discover who is part of it, she's going to become part of it herself. She's not sure which she's more anxious about.

Mona stops outside a plain brown door. Then she steps back, gesturing for Emily to go first. Emily tucks her hair behind her ear, squares her shoulders, and marches through the door, hoping that somehow if she acts brave she's going to start feeling it too.

The room is large – it looks like it was a kitchen in a past life, but now there's only one large table surrounded by wooden chairs, a severe metal armchair in one corner, and a counter running along the opposite wall with a few things like a coffee maker, toaster, and microwave. Toby is leaning against the counter, and as Emily steps into the room his eyes sweep over her as if he's assessing for damage. Seeing that she's unhurt, he offers her a tiny smile.

She returns it hesitantly – she's still not sure she can trust him, but he does seem like he genuinely cares about her – and then turns her attention to the table. There are two black-clad figures sitting there, one facing her and the other with their back to her. Both are wearing the A-Team black hoodie, so she can't see their faces. But as Mona enters the figure facing her looks up, and Emily feels her heart leap with recognition.

"Hey," Jason DiLaurentis says, closing a notebook he'd been looking at and addressing Mona. He doesn't even acknowledge Emily. "I got the video you wanted."

"Great." She walks past Emily, pointing to a chair on her way, and glides over to Jason.

While the two converse about this mysterious video, Emily sits down in the chair that had been apparently assigned for her. She's a couple of seats over from the figure she doesn't know, and she desperately wants to pull back their hood and reveal their face. But she knows that aside from calling the police and having them storm the place, this is about the stupidest thing she could do right now. She needs to earn their trust, and to do that she needs to act like she doesn't even care. She needs to pretend she belongs here.

Mona and Jason finish talking, and she sits down beside him. Toby takes the seat next to Emily, and their patchy circle is complete.

"Meeting in session," Mona says, and Emily is reminded of the time Spencer convinced her to turn up to a Model UN meeting; it had been so organised, and if anyone put one step out of line they were quickly put back in their place by a round of disapproving stares. But then she sees Jason smirking and realises Mona wasn't serious. "Now, you guys have probably noticed that we have a new member here tonight. I'd like you all to give a warm welcome to Emily, who's finally decided to join us."

"Welcome," Jason says, and she feels a chill run down her spine. She'd never really trusted him, but somehow it had still been a shock to find out he was on the team. Not to mention Jason is Aria's boyfriend. Was he going to hurt her? Was he planted in her life just so he could control her, manipulate her? The way he's looking at Emily now makes her feel naked, exposed, and unbelievably scared.

She looks away, her eyes roaming around the room to find something, anything else to look at. Out of the corner of her eye she notices something. Slowly, hardly daring to breathe, she turns her head slightly so that she can see the figure beside her, who has now pulled their hood down.

It seems to take a while for her to process the features. She sees the baby-blue eyes, the dark curly hair, the slightly boyish face, but she doesn't put them all together right away. It doesn't seem right. He can't be a part of this, can he?

"Hi Emily," Lucas says softly. "Glad you decided to join us."

She's at a loss for words, which Mona seems to find amusing.

"She'll be helping us out with the next mission," Mona says, smirking. Emily tears her attention away from Lucas, her head still reeling from this discovery, and forces herself to focus on Mona. "But first we have to finish this one. It'll only be a quick meeting, because I know you all have your jobs to do. I just thought it would be nice for us all to get together and discuss any ideas we have for the future, and give a quick report on how everything's going. Jason, do you want to start?"

He pauses, giving Emily a searching look.

"You can speak freely in front of her," Mona says. "She's not a threat."

Although Emily recognises that the words were chosen deliberately to shake her confidence, she can't stop them from doing so. She starts to wonder if she's in too deep, if she's going to get sucked into the team and end up doing something she can't come back from. Would she hurt one of her friends, if it meant saving Paige?

Jason nods, seeming to accept Mona's authority. Then he starts talking, although it makes no sense to Emily. Apparently they have codenames for everything and everyone, so Jason's report, and then Lucas' and Toby's, mean nothing to her. All she can gather is that all their missions seem to be going well, and some kind of conclusion will be reached within the next few days. Mona gives the final report, confirming Emily's theory that she's the one in charge; she says that all is going to plan, and they can start on their next target around the beginning of next week. This seems to be what the others are expecting, because they all nod and agree and Jason even says 'Finally.'

After that Mona calls the meeting to a close, and most of the members start to leave. Jason stays behind, flipping open his notebook and scribbling madly in one of the back pages, and Mona doesn't move from her spot beside him. But Lucas jumps up, grabs his backpack from under the table, and dashes through the door before Emily gets a chance to talk to him. Toby frowns after him, and then, making sure Mona can't see, mouths Follow me to Emily before he leaves too.

She's halfway to the door when Mona's sickly-sweet voice stops her.

"Oh, Emily. Just a minute please."

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How do you feel about who's on the team? The great thing with PLL is that everyone at some point is under suspicion, but it's still always a surprise when you find out a new A-Team member. You're kind of half-expecting it and then it still catches you off-guard.