Runawaybaby555 - interesting theory. It's possible someone will have a change of heart, but who? And how? Those are the questions. ;) Hanna is definitely feeling left out; I think at this point she feels like the others are almost pitying her, and, being Hanna, she's not just going to let that slide. There's certainly tension this chapter, and it's leading up to something that will happen next chapter. Stay tuned. :p
Forever Courage - I'll give you a little teaser. Soon Spencer finds out that Toby's been lying to her - how's she going to react? And Spencer's definitely feeling some softer emotions, but will they be enough to get her to do the right thing? Read on to find out. ;)
SwanQueen4055 - thanks!
Sgdp1261 - well, it IS sort of their job. :p Good theory, but I won't tell you if you're right yet - but, you will find out next chapter. Keep reading (not that you'd randomly stop reading, but, y'know).

We're past the halfway point, and let me tell you, things are about to get intense. Next chapter marks the start of a spiral of events that lead to a dramatic finale, so I hope you all stick with me. And don't forget to review, I love hearing from you all. :)

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

"You're –A." Spencer turned away from the bag of cashmere sweaters and saw Mona standing in the doorway, already dressed in her signature black hoodie. Mona grinned, and Spencer couldn't help laughing in response. "God, imagine how scary it would be if you actually were in charge of the A-Team, and I'd just figured it out."

"I'd probably have to knock you out to get you in the car," Mona said, giggling. "Then I'd threaten you until you agreed to join the team."

"Wow," Spencer said, leaning against the desk and giving Mona an appreciative look. "You don't do things by half, that's for sure."

"You wouldn't have asked me to join the team if you thought I'd slack off," Mona pointed out. "And I wouldn't be willing to go through with this plan if I didn't think it was worth it."

Although they'd devised this plan together, with Toby's help, Spencer had still been a little worried that Mona wasn't going to go through with it. This required a huge sacrifice on her part, and she knew she wouldn't be able to pay her back. But if it helped their plan, then they both knew that she had to do it.

"Are you ready?" Spencer asked, taking one last look around the room. They'd been slowly accumulating photos of the girls, along with evidence and other significant objects (the doll replicas of the girls were a particular favorite; they were such fun), and combined they made the room look bright. It was on the verge of being cluttered, but Spencer wouldn't let it get past this stage. She may be plotting the downfall of her friends, but that didn't mean she didn't have time to keep things neat.

"Ready, captain," Mona said, giving her a mock salute.

Spencer followed her out to the car, running through the plan again in her head. They were silent for the first ten minutes of the drive, but then Spencer looked at her phone and realized that it was about time to get started.

"Slow down, Mona," she said, as Mona took a hairpin corner going almost twice the speed limit.

She rolled her eyes, but complied. The road was dark and slick with rain, and the last thing Spencer wanted was to crash before they could finish the plan.

"So if you were going to threaten me into joining the team," Spencer said, "how would you do it?"

"Hmm." Mona tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "I'd probably say something like 'You can join the A-Team, or you can disappear'. Then I'd glance down at the gun, all casual, and wait for your answer."

Spencer looked over at her, impressed. "You know, that would almost have been enough to make me consider the offer," she said. "If we ever need to convince anyone else to join the team, I'm putting you in charge of that."

"Bring it on," Mona said with a smile. She navigated a particularly nasty stretch of winding road, then asked, "So how are we going to play this? Should you call one of them, or -"

Spencer's phone started beeping. "Showtime."

She answered the video call from Aria, angling the phone so that the girls would be able to see Mona.

"Y-you almost killed Hanna," Spencer stuttered, putting just enough fear into her voice to make the girls believe she was in danger. "She's my friend, I thought she was your friend too."

"It's easier to forgive an enemy than it is to forgive a friend," Mona said cryptically, and Spencer cocked her eyebrow. They hadn't rehearsed this, but Mona was playing the part beautifully.

They kept going, playing their parts to make the girls believe Mona was the enemy and Spencer was in trouble. As they reached the sign for Look Out Point Mona accelerated, and for a split second Spencer was actually scared.

"We are never going to make it to Look Out Point if you don't slow down," Spencer said, only half-pretending. It was important to keep up appearances, but they didn't need to actually put their lives in danger in order to do it.

Aria hung up at that point, and Spencer put her phone back in her purse.

"You think they got the message?" Mona asked.

Spencer smiled. "They're walking right into it."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

On Wednesday morning Aria, yet again, had to be up early. She got dressed quickly and quietly, then made her way downstairs and made some breakfast. As she was waiting for the toast to cook she set the rest of the food on the table, then went back upstairs. She knocked cautiously on Mike's room, not wanting to wake their father up. A tired mumble came from within the room, which she took as an invitation to come in.

She nudged the door open. Mike was curled up under the covers, the sheets drawn all the way up over his head. He stirred slightly as she came into the room, but he didn't show any other signs of consciousness.

"Hey Mike," Aria said softly. "I made some breakfast. Want to come down and eat with me?"

He muttered something unintelligible, but the last word seemed to be 'pancakes'.

"Yes, I made pancakes," she said with a smile. "Now come on, or it's going to get cold."

She left, closing the door behind her, and finished getting the food ready. In the Montgomery house, breakfast was a very optional activity, one which they most often decided to skip. None of the household were morning people, and they had a habit of rubbing each other the wrong way in the mornings. It was best just to give each other space; but today was a special occasion.

Just as Aria was placing the last of the pancakes on a plate and setting up an array of sauces and toppings, Mike trudged down the stairs, bleary-eyed and stretching. His eyes lit up at the sight of the food, but as he took his place at the table the light faded into a sort of cautious suspicion.

"What's all this for?" he asked, hesitating before pulling the plate of toast towards him.

"No reason," Aria said cheerfully, drizzling maple syrup on her plate of pancakes. "I just felt like cooking."

He leaned back, took a bite of toast, and said, "Bullcrap. You never just feel like cooking."

"Mike," she chided. "Language. And don't talk with your mouth full."

He rolled his eyes, but swallowed before he spoke again. "Sorry, Mom," he teased. "But seriously. What's with all this?"

Aria rested her knife and fork on the table, surveying her brother. They hadn't always had the best relationship, but she did love him. And she was grateful for what he'd done to protect her. "I know what you and Hanna did," she admitted quietly.

He froze, a piece of toast halfway to his mouth. He narrowed his eyes a little, trying to gauge her expression, and she did her best to make it clear that she wasn't mad. He shrugged. "I figured she'd tell you about that," he said. "Are you going to -"

"Tell you why she needed to do that?" Aria supplied. "No. It's safer if you don't know. But what you did… it helped."

"Well, hey, if you need me to make out with any of your other friends -" he said, eyes twinkling.

"Don't push it," Aria replied, pointing her fork at him warningly.

He grinned. "Glad I could help."

"You do know it was just a one-time thing though, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I know," he said, looking a little disappointed. "But you know you can, you know, talk to me and stuff, right? If there's someone or something bothering you -"

"I know, Mikey," she said, squeezing his hand in gratitude. "But I can handle this. I just… wanted to say thank you."

"Well, it was my pleasure," he said, "and I'd do it again if -"

"Don't even think about it," she said firmly, but she couldn't stop the smile that crept across her face. She'd missed this; the light-hearted teasing, the insincere insults. As they finished their breakfast, talking about lighter things like basketball games and what color their dad wanted to paint the study, she made a note to spend more time with her brother.

She drove him to school, and they said their goodbyes at the gate. She got there late so she didn't get a chance to talk to her friends until lunch. She slid into her usual seat beside Hanna, who was picking at her salad, and they waited for Emily. She turned up ten minutes later than usual, but didn't offer any excuse or explanation. Aria felt uneasy, but she wasn't sure why.

"Did anyone else get a message from –A yesterday?" she asked suddenly, surprising herself.

The other two glanced up at her. Hanna shot a nervous look around the cafeteria and then nodded. Emily frowned.

"Well, you would know, wouldn't you?" Emily said.

Aria blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Emily dropped her gaze and started pushing some pieces of pasta around her plate.

Hanna gave her a strange look, but didn't push it. "What did your message say?" she asked Aria.

"Don't trust anyone, maybe your friends are out to get you – the usual. What about yours?"

Hanna ducked her head, suddenly reluctant. But the way she was staring at her food gave Aria some clues about the nature of the message.

"Han, you should eat something," she said gently.

Her friend didn't acknowledge this. Instead she turned to Emily and said, "What about yours? What did –A say to you?"

"It wasn't what –A had to say," Emily said pointedly. Her cell went off and all three girls stiffened, but she relaxed when she read the message. "Paige wants to meet me. Unless you guys have a problem with that?"

Aria shared a startled glance with Hanna, thrown off by her hostility. "N-no," she said, "we don't have a problem with that."

"Good." Emily stood up and left without giving them a chance to reply.

Aria stared after her, trying to figure out what had just happened. Then she turned her attention back to Hanna, who still hadn't eaten anything. "Hanna, you should eat. If it was something –A said -"

"It's not always about –A," Hanna interrupted.

"But you've been acting weird ever since the messages started up again," Aria pointed out.

"So I wasn't acting weird when we found out one of our best friends had been trying to kill us?"

Aria slumped back in her chair, not sure what to say. She wanted to help Hanna, but she didn't know how. She wanted to fix things with Emily, but she didn't even know what was wrong. She wanted to stop Spencer and the A-Team, but more than that she wanted her friend back. She wanted to be a normal teenage girl, hanging out with her four closest friends, enjoying what would probably be the best years of their lives. And most of all, she didn't want to live in constant fear and paranoia.

Hanna had been watching her, and now she relented. She scooped up a forkful of salad and raised it to her mouth, but at that moment her cell went off. With a groan she put the fork down and read the message. Her face paled, and without waiting for an explanation Aria reached over and took her phone.

And here I thought you had some self-control. Oh well. Maybe Caleb likes chubby girls. -A

She felt anger bubble up instead her. For some reason it was these kinds of messages that got to her most. She could deal with physical attacks and nonspecific taunts, but when they used their weaknesses against them, these most intimate fears and insecurities, it made it more personal and somehow more painful.

"That is it," Aria muttered furiously, shoving Hanna's phone back at her and pulling her own out.

"Aria, what are you doing?"

She didn't answer. She quickly scanned the cafeteria, but there was no sign of the person she was looking for. That wasn't surprising. With only the briefest hesitation she composed her message.

Back off, Spencer. I mean it.

"Hey."

The voice made her jerk her head up. Lucas was standing at the head of their table, his lunch tray in one hand and a paperback copy of To Kill A Mockingbird in the other. And he was looking not at Hanna but at Aria.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"Um." She looked at Hanna, confused. "Now's not really a great time, Lucas."

Her phone buzzed, letting her know she had a message. She needed to go and read it – and deal with whatever it said – but she couldn't do that with Lucas hovering over her.

"It's really important," he pressed.

"Yeah," she said absently, itching to read the message. "I can't right now though. Maybe later?"

She stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Aria -" he called after her, but she was already walking away.

She wasn't sure what kind of response she was hoping for, but her heart stopped when she read the message.

I need to talk to you. Let's meet.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Wednesday at lunch, Spencer took up her customary seat in the corner of the cafeteria. She sat with a few other people, none of whom she'd spoken with; this was the table where people sat to get away from people, or to make it look like they had friends. Some sat there because they didn't fit in and didn't want to stand out, others because they wanted to make a statement. Spencer sat there because it was convenient.

From her vantage point she could see the girls. Hanna was there first, and for a while she just stared morosely at her plate. She'd started tentatively picking at her salad when Aria turned up, looking flustered, and a while later Emily showed up. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but she'd become practiced in reading body language and facial expressions. As soon as Emily sat down the girls started talking, and for a second she was startled. There was still an empty chair, someone they should be waiting for. But they weren't waiting anymore, and she had to stop a faint sting of loss as they jumped into the conversation, three musketeers no longer looking for their fourth.

They were talking about her, she could tell that much. The way they kept darting looks around the cafeteria, trying to hide their apprehension, was something she was very familiar with. She'd had to fake that same expression countless times before so as not to draw suspicion on herself. Now she was on the other side of it, and that was better, right?

That meant they were probably talking about the messages they'd all gotten last night. She knew what each of them had been, and now she got to see how they reacted to them. The girls all seemed tense, which was understandable, and it looked like they were taking out their frustrations on each other. Even as she thought that, Emily stood up and all but stormed off, leaving a puzzled Hanna and Aria in her wake.

Spencer hesitated, torn, and then quickly slipped out of the cafeteria. She needed to find out where Emily was going; since she was the only A-Team member who was at school, it was her job to keep an eye on all the girls. Aria and Hanna didn't look like they were going anywhere, but who knew what Emily was up to?

She couldn't see her former friend, so she decided to start her search at the lockers. She'd only made it a few steps when her phone went off. She came to a complete stop, thrown off by the noise. It wasn't her A-phone, it was her personal one. The only people who messaged her on that one were her family, who rarely ever texted her, and… her friends.

She couldn't stop the small gasp that escaped her lips, but she did catch herself in time to stop the name from slipping through as she saw who the text was from.

Back off, Spencer. I mean it.

This was the first time any of the girls had contacted her in weeks, and she was so taken aback that she didn't know what to do. Her first thought was that she should report this to Mona, who would probably come up with a way to use this against the girls. Then she realized that not so long ago, she would have come up with a plan herself. What was stopping her now?

Without giving herself time to consider it, she hit the Reply button.

I need to talk to you. Let's meet.

Aria replied quickly: Where?

She thought, tapping her finger against the back of her phone. She needed somewhere in the open so Aria would feel safe, but also somewhere that her team members could hide. Although she was trying to convince Aria that this wasn't a setup, she had a feeling the other girl knew it was. She'd have to approach this carefully if she was going to make the plan work.

The back of the Brew. 6pm. Come alone.

She sent the message, and then sent another one for authenticity. Don't tell anyone. If Mona finds out I'm meeting you…

The reply was almost instant. She won't. See you there.

Spencer leaned against the wall, running a hand through her hair. She needed to tell Mona about the plan so they could work out logistics. But something was holding her back. For less than a heartbeat she considered not telling Mona, just going to the Brew to talk to Aria. But that was ridiculous.

Still, she didn't have to tell Mona right away. She put her phone back in her bag and headed for her next class, but stopped at the door to the cafeteria. Aria was nowhere to be seen, but Hanna was still sitting at the table. And beside her was Lucas, who was leaning towards her and speaking quietly. Spencer quickly ducked back behind the door, breathing hard. Lucas? Why was he talking to Hanna? With the things he knew…

The bell rang, interrupting her thoughts, and she stayed pressed against the wall as the students slowly filed out of the cafeteria. Lucas was one of the last ones out, and luckily he was alone. He caught sight of Spencer and balked.

"Hey Lucas," she said, a warning tone in her voice. "Good chat?"

"It was fine," he said stiffly. "And don't worry. I didn't tell her about your plan."

"No," Spencer said mildly, "I don't suppose you did. You know what would happen if they found out, of course."

He glared at her, but the effect was ruined by the way his hands were shaking. He tucked them into his pockets and said, "Right. Is there anything you needed, Spencer? Or am I free to go?"

She held her arms wide, indicating that he could do as he liked. "I'll be in touch, Lucas."

"I look forward to it," he muttered darkly, and strode off down the hall.

For the rest of the day Spencer found herself reluctantly involved in an internal argument. She knew she should tell Mona about her meeting with Aria, and about Lucas talking to Hanna. She knew that, and yet she didn't tell her. She kept to herself all day, avoiding eye contact as usual, and shot out of her last class so quickly that the teacher stared after her in shock. She needed to call Mona, but all she wanted to do was ditch her damn black hoodie for the day and just talk to her former friend.

She met up with Toby at his place and then they drove together to the lair. She was silent the whole way there, but he could sense that pushing wouldn't do any good. He even took the lead with Mona, fielding her questions about their plans and their progress, while Spencer sat down on the couch and examined her hands. She'd done so many things with them, from caressing Toby to almost killing Aria; she'd hurt and healed, held and loved and pushed away. And now she had to make one of the biggest choices of her life.

Six o'clock was approaching too quickly. She needed more time to plan and think and sort everything out – just the thought of having to 'wing it' made her hands clammy – but she knew she didn't have time. At five forty five she slid her boots back on, finished her cup of coffee, and headed for the door. She wasn't wearing her black hoodie, but it didn't stop her from feeling… sneaky. Mona and Toby looked up as she reached the door.

"Where you going, Spence?" Toby asked curiously.

She turned back to them, her heart catching in her throat. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, about to jump – but she didn't know whether she was going to fly or fall. She looked from Toby to Mona and back again, and then instead of jumping she took a step back. To safety, or to cowardice; she wasn't sure which. "I'm going to meet Aria," she admitted. "I think it's time for the next phase of our plan."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Hmm, what's up with Lucas? What does he know? And what do you think the next phase of the plan is?

Something very big happens next chapter. It involves a Sparia scene, the big bang, and someone ending up in hospital. It's one of my favorite chapters, so please leave lots of reviews for this one - I want to know people are interested before I post the next one. Things are going to happen very quickly after this, and I really hope you like it. See you next chapter!