Hey guys. I am so sorry for the insanely slow update. I hope some of you are still with me. Here's the next chapter; I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to review.

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After leaving Toby's apartment, Spencer found herself wandering aimlessly. She was full of nervous energy and now thanks to the conversation with Toby, she was also full of thoughts and questions and opposing courses of action. Part of her wanted to talk to Hanna about what had happened with Toby's mom in Radley, ask her what exactly she could have said or done to have caused Mrs Cavanaugh to take such desperate measures – if it was even true that Hanna had been there, or that Toby's mom had killed herself. There were too many variables, too many questions, and Spencer didn't know how where to start.

This was a new feeling for her. In the past she hadn't always been right, but she had always had an idea how to start. The problem was usually that she had too many ideas, or she had one strong idea that would end up pulling her even deeper into some big mess, but now she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She couldn't talk to her friends without revealing that she was part of the A-Team; she couldn't talk to Toby without revealing that she still wanted to help her friends.

She couldn't even talk to herself, because she kept cutting off her own thoughts, too scared – and she hated to admit it, but god she was scared – to let herself really consider everything. Because if she considered it, she would feel it, and she was certain that the weight of everything she'd done would be enough to crush her. She hadn't said anything to Toby, but that conversation with Emily had unsettled her more than she'd like to admit. This had gone way beyond abstract now, and she was having to deal with the consequences of her actions. She was watching her friends crumble around her, and they kept turning to her for help because she didn't even have the guts to tell them that she was the reason for all it.

The idea of coming clean to them had definitely presented itself to her, front and center in her mind a couple of times, at other times simply lurking in the back. But there were obvious flaws in this plan, and the most obvious was a girl who was five feet of insidious snark with a side ponytail, and who was probably watching her right now.

Almost as soon as she thought it, her phone went off. "Not now," she said aloud to no one in particular, although she was half-convinced that some member of the A-Team was watching – they always were. She withdrew to the shadows and sat down on a bench to read the message.

She had thought it was bad enough getting missions from Mona, but somehow it was even worse getting them from an unknown, seemingly omniscient Advisor.

Target: Hanna.

Objective: Scare, don't hurt.

Time limit: One hour.

For a second she was impressed by the format, pleased by how orderly and organized it was, and then she realized what it meant. She had one hour to perform this mission, and the fact that they didn't even feel the need to add in a threat was somehow more terrifying than it would have been had they finished it with a specific consequence. She didn't want to know what they would do to her – or Toby, or her friends – if she failed, so the only option was to go through with the plan.

As she made her way back to the car she realized that someone must have been watching, or at least listening, when she was in the apartment with Toby. It was too much of a coincidence that they would choose Hanna as a target so soon after Toby had revealed the secret about her, and Spencer found herself wondering why she was being sent on this particular mission. Was it simply a way for the Advisor to let her know that they knew? Or was it to subtly back up Toby's claim, like the Advisor thought that Spencer might think Hanna was guilty of something that required punishment?

A plan was forming in Spencer's mind, and she let it blossom while she searched in her bag for her keys. That was when she remembered that she now had an A-Team outfit – a real, official, no-excuses no-prisoners outfit – and she should probably wear it on missions. Unfortunately, it was at home; she had taken to carrying around the burner phone, but she didn't want to have the uniform on her unless she absolutely had to.

By the time she pulled up outside her house she had just about finalized her plan, and as she was heading back out to her car she had just about talked herself into it. But there was one small problem: Hanna would recognize her car. This turned out to be easy to fix, because Melissa had taken the train to Philly a couple of nights ago to stay with friends, and had left her brand-new car behind. She had also left the keys.

Spencer pushed away any guilt as she shoved the keys into the ignition, knowing it was too late to turn back now. She pulled over just up the road from Hanna's house, checking that the other girl was home.

Then she sent her a message, straight and to the point, realizing that this was the first time she'd sent an A message and trying to work out why she felt the tiniest flicker of pride at that. Come down to the Grille or I take your boyfriend down. – A

She was worried it wasn't enough, or that it was too much, or that Mona would laugh at her if she knew that was the message, but it did the trick. In under a minute Hanna's light flicked off. Wasting no time, Spencer pulled away from the curb and drove to the Grille. She parked across the street and up a little bit, and she waited.

Two minutes later Hanna showed up, and, like Spencer had known she would, she parked on the other side of the street, almost exactly opposite the Grille. It was a matter of habit rather than convenience, since it meant she had to cross the road. Spencer had been counting on that.

She watched in silence as Hanna stepped from the car, checking up and down the street before walking onto the road. This was Spencer's cue; this was her chance. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, half-convinced she was going to talk herself out of it. But then she thought of Toby and of the black hoodie she was wearing and of the burner phone that actually felt like it was burning a hole through her pocket, and she realized she had to do this.

She inched the car forward, and then she floored it.

Hanna spun around, staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights. She was in the middle of the road, caught in the bright lights of the car, squinting as she tried to make out the driver. Spencer kept her head low and kept driving. Don't move, she thought desperately, please don't move.

To Spencer's relief, Hanna was too shocked to move. She did let out a shriek, one that echoed in Spencer's ears and would do for days, and then at the last minute Spencer swerved the car, missing Hanna by a couple of inches. She sped past her and didn't look back.

It wasn't until she was about ten blocks away that she finally allowed herself to slow down, and eventually pulled over to the side of the road. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she held a hand to it, trying to force it to be still. But it persisted, recalcitrant.

Mission complete, she sent to the Advisor.

Then she pulled her hoodie off and bunched it up, burying her face into it and letting out a strangled scream. She kept screaming, the hoodie muffling her cries, until her heart finally slowed to a steady beat and the blood stopped rushing to her head and coherent thoughts edged their way into her mind. And one single thought stood out in front of them all.

She couldn't keep going like this.

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Change of heart for our favorite Hastings, perhaps? What do you guys think is going to happen next?