To answer anyone's questions, yes, Charles is in this, as well as Courtney. This is a very different Charles than the one that was in the TV show. I assure you. He's not quite the control freak he was in the show.
And I certainly disagree with the way they made Charles in the 6x10. Yeah, let us never speak of that again. Ever. Marlene opens her deceitful mouth. I said let's never speak of it again! It was disrespectful to us as viewers AND to the LGBT community! Good day! Storms off.
Chapter 25: What would you do for our sister?
Alison groaned, trying to fight what felt like one thousand watts of electricity shooting through her mind. It was like someone was invading her skull. The growling girl's voice kept repeating. "Kill him. Kill him. Why deny it? We both want to kill him for touching Spencer. Spencer is ours. Why are you struggling? You want to kill him as much as I do. Just one cut across his throat and it's over."
Alison hissed, standing up fully. She didn't know if she could fend Courtney off, but she had to try. She mentally hissed back at the other girl, "Spencer isn't ours. She's not yours and she's not mine. She belongs to no one but herself. I'll get Wren. But it won't be by murder. Remember that document I found in Radley on Wren? I can use that. Stop for a few minutes and let me get rid of him through blackmail. I don't want to kill him, yet. Think about Spencer. Please, sis."
Alison knew it was a slim shot, but if it really was Courtney in her head, which she was more than sure it was, and the younger girl really was acting like she cared about Spencer, then this might be the only way to calm her twin down. Alison waited for what felt like thirty tense minutes, when the jolting intensity that had invaded her body and mind, began to ebb away.
Alison managed to get a good balance on her feet as she started walking weakly out of the alley, noticing where Spencer and Wren were now walking, trailing them slowly. She had to keep a watch on them. She shivered at what had just happened. She had just had an incredible close encounter of the mental kind with Courtney. And the girl that had entered her mind apparently listened to reason. Yeah. That was weird.
Alison looked over her shoulder at the backpack strapped to her back. It was still there. She could still feel the shape of the document that was on a young Spencer strapped to her back. She breathed out in relief. Thank goodness. Spencer's Radley file hadn't fallen off.
Alison thought about what Courtney had said. Something else that disturbed her. Courtney had said that Spencer was theirs? Oh boy, Alison was really hoping that didn't mean Courtney saw Spencer the way she thought Courtney saw the brainiac. Alison kept thinking about the document she had found on Wren at Radley, hoping that using it at some point would keep her psychotic twin at bay.
Spencer turned to Wren and gave him a sweet smile, making bile rise up in Alison's throat. At Wren smiling back, Alison felt her fingers clench into her gloved palms. Wren was a monster. He was too dangerous for anyone, let alone Spencer. Never mind Courtney. Maybe the Radley file on Wren was the only thing keeping herself from charging at the doctor and ripping his throat out.
When she watched them say their goodnights, Wren thankfully finally leaving Spencer and turning away, walking off, Alison felt a huge relieved grin on her face that she almost didn't have time to process that Spencer was turning in her direction till she felt the brunette's eyes on her.
Alison's heart sped up when Spencer was now looking at her, stunned. Alison froze, turning quickly around and walking around the staircases. Shit. She had to move now, unless she wanted Spencer to see her.
Well, the brunette had already seen her. And Alison was stalking the other girl. So yes, maybe she was guilty of whatever Spencer might accuse her of. Except being –A. That was really the only thing that she'd never admit to. She hid behind some of the staircases, seeing Spencer walk up to the sidewalk and look down the street, not seeing the redcoat covered, masked figure. Spencer let out a disbelieving sigh and turned away, walking off.
Alison let loose another relieved smile. A strained smile, though. She had to start explaining what was going on to Spencer. She had to. If anyone deserved answers, it was her. But where did she start?
(Page break)
Well, this kind of was unexpected. Cece wasn't sure how to formulate words right now. There was someone, more than likely from the A-Team in front of her, who had just taken off their mask and hood and revealed themselves. And he called himself Charles DiLaurentis. How exactly was she supposed to make sense of this?
"I…how?" She mumbled, "How do I know you're not lying?" The handsome devil with the face of an angel leaned back against a tree that was directly behind him. "Well, lying would be the normal thing for someone like me, wouldn't it?" The man asked, "It's quite normal for my family. But let's not worry about my lies, shall we? Right now, we need to cover up Mrs. Marin's sins." He nodded to the prone man behind Cece and in front of Wilden's car. Cece kept her eyes on "Charles." What the hell did she do? Who knew how deeply involved this guy was. She couldn't turn her back on him for even a second. But if Ashley Marin's crime here was discovered, Hanna could lose her mother to jail forever.
And Cece certainly wasn't going to judge anyone when it came to killing a cop. After all, hadn't she, only a month ago, been responsible for Garret Reynolds's death? But they had to keep Hanna and her mother safe. She hesitated. "You're going to help me hide what Mrs. Marin did?" Cece asked carefully, not sure she believed what she was asking.
Charles shrugged. "Absolutely. Why would I lie about that? What does revealing that Mrs. Marin ran Wilden over benefit me? It might benefit the rest of the team I work in, but it won't benefit me." Cece blinked, stunned. "I thought you worked with the A-Team." Was all she could say right now. Charles nodded. "Work with. Not for."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Cece asked, carefully, not once taking her eyes off this man. Charles shrugged. "You don't. But I promise you, I'll be of great help to you. I know the A-Team. I can give you names that you didn't know previously." A sly smile made its way onto Charles's face that sent an unsettled chill through Cece at how much it made him look like Ali.
"And besides," The amused man continued, "I can give you more than that. Remember the NAT videos? There are more that you don't know about. I found a bunch of them that Melissa, Mona and Wren don't even know about. Ones that the other NAT members made while Jason was busy taking his…..ahem, drunk naps."
Cece cautiously looked at the man. "We already have copies of those videos." She said.
Charles shook his head. "Not these ones. Yes, there are videos of Jason and his friends taking advantage of young women, but how have they been protected for so long? Do you really think it was just because their parents covered for them all that time? That's because Cece, their little rapist club wasn't the first. There was a generation of NAT members before Jason, Ian, Garret and the others." Cece lowered her knife, the words like a lightning strike against her skull. What?
Charles sighed. "Look, can we just get to putting Wilden somewhere where he won't seem like he's in danger? And we need to get rid of that video in the car, unless we want Hanna's mom to go to the slammer for the rest of her life."
Cece turned against her will to the fallen man in front of the car. Crap. Wilden. She had forgotten about him. She swung back to Charles, keeping her knife out in front of her.
"You'll help me hide what Mrs. Marin did?" Cece asked cautiously, still not believing this turn of events. Who could?
Charles nodded, giving a simple smile. "Yep. Promise. And I do want to point out, you have a pretty scary knife there. If you really don't trust me, you could always just…take necessary precautions with me." Cece was taken aback again. Here was this weirdo who was offering to let her stab him if necessary. Taking one more glance at the car, Cece made her decision, knowing that she'd probably regret it soon.
They had to get rid of the evidence of what Hanna's mom had done. If anything happened to Hanna, it would kill Ali.
"Alright." Cece said at last, not quite sure what possessed her to agree to this, "You help me get rid of that video in the car. But if Wilden's still alive, you listen to what I say, got it?"
Charles nearly did a little bow. It was only then Cece noticed Charles had a small, compact backpack strapped to him. "Understood. I will do as you say, your highness." Cece pushed aside the warm feeling that crept into her chest and stomach at his voice. Right, now was so not the time to be attracted to someone. She had no idea who this guy was. He could be dangerous for all she knew. She mentally kicked herself. Keep yourself under control, Cece, keep yourself under control. This lunatic may very well have hit Alison in the head with a rock, or was responsible for everything that had happened.
Charles's smile widened. "Shall we go then? I'll get Wilden, you get the footage in the car." He nodded towards the car and walked past the stiff, cautious Cece towards Wilden. Cece watched with a lowered mouth as Charles scooped Wilden up and carried him over to the front of the car, looking in.
Charles turned to Cece, nodding to the screen lodged in the front seat. "Come on!" Wilden keeps the keys to the footage on this thing on him. We need to get rid of it."
Cece didn't respond, just gulped behind her mask. What exactly had she just gotten herself into? Well, at least now she could go get that tracking device from Wilden's car.
(Page break)
Noel watched Eddie carefully, hearing what the man just said. "How?" The younger man asked, "How was the patient the devil?"
Noel really wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Eddie looked around, as if making sure that no one was listening in on them. Noel had to keep a laugh out of his mouth. The guy wasn't even part of their group and he had the basics down already. Obviously something was going on here. Eddie looked back at Noel. "The patient that was in that room?" The man said, "The girl that used to live there?" Eddie hesitated, "I never saw her face. Never. But I've heard rumors. I've heard that she looks like the girl that disappeared. You know, Alison DiLaurentis?" Noel almost shivered. That was a good sign. He had a lead here, there was no way around it now.
"Okay." Noel said, hoping he didn't sound too excited. "Continue." Eddie looked uncertain, like he was afraid of what would come out of his mouth next. "What I did see was Jessica DiLaurentis. She visited that cell a lot. I was never up there, but I heard the staff say things." Noel watched, fascinated. "Things? What things?" Eddie shrugged, looking kind of creeped out. "People heard stuff. Like Jessica singing to who was in that cell. And they heard crying from inside. It sounded like a girl crying. And at other times they'd hear growling and screaming. And at other times? The creepiest laughter." Eddie took a breath, looking like he'd rather not say the next words, "I also know that a man tended to visit the cell. A man that the staff said looked a lot like Mrs. DiLaurentis, with blonde hair. Apparently he would even stick his hand into the food slot. And when he pulled his hand out, he'd have no scratches or anything." Eddie shuddered, "I guess he loved his family member, however he was tied to her. So much that he'd risk his life."
Noel narrowed his eyes. A man? That looked like Jessica DiLaurentis? That must have been Jason. Noel felt growing anger. So Jason had known about Courtney and he had never told Ali? That fucker. Eddie continued, now looking pale, "And then one of the staff got curious and snuck inside the cell. That did not end well for him, I have to say."
Noel felt his blood start to chill. Who knew what "not end well" meant? It could have meant a number of things.
"What do you mean by that?" Noel asked, looking uneasy. Eddie snorted. "What do you think? You saw the state of that room. That was the damage of someone that was just itching to hurt another person. I don't know how long the staff member was in there. I heard he was in there for only about twenty minutes before the guards came running up to rescue him. When they pulled him out, he had scratches all over his face, his arms, his legs. And part of his ear had been bitten off."
Noel's mouth dropped open. Holy crap. Alison's twin had gone all Mike Tyson on a guard? Shit.
"What….." Noel hesitated, "What about Wren? Do you know anything about him? I noticed that you didn't really like him at all." Eddie smirked, glaring at the door of the restaurant. "That's putting it lightly. I guess it's not really anything I can prove. Or even anything I've seen or heard. It's just a feeling and weird circumstances."
"Weird circumstances?" Noel asked, knowing there was more that he needed on Wren. There was a load of suspicious stuff, he just had to find the right thing for that suspicious stuff to come pouring out.
"Well," Eddie shrugged, "Aside from the fact that he applied as a doctor at a weird time. Right after Mona Vanderwaal was first brought into Radley." Noel felt his heart leap at that. That was pretty weird. "Since Vanderwaal was admitted." Noel repeated, licking his lower lip. "Was there any word about the time that the patient in cell 317 left? Are you sure that the patient was released?" Eddie seemed to shuffle his feet a bit. He obviously didn't like any of this at all. "Kahn," The man said, "I'm not sure of anything when it comes to that patient. But I can safely tell you, the last time I heard the staff talking about that patient, and when the patient disappeared, there was no evidence of that patient getting better. I don't think she recovered. I think she escaped. And I think she had help."
Noel almost grinned. That second to last part he had been sure of. And hearing it admitted felt almost cathartic. But the last part? That Courtney, if the patient had indeed been her, she had had help getting out? "She had help?" He repeated again, "Are you sure?" Eddie snorted this time, "Did you see the handle of the cell door? It was demolished. I wasn't there that night. But I heard there was some kind of explosion in that area of Radley. Someone had attached a small bomb to the door and let the patient in that cell out. They hadn't bothered with keys. They just blew the handle up. And when I got there the next morning, I heard that two patients went missing from the institute."
"Two patients?" Noel said, wondering if he was starting to resemble a parrot, "You mean someone escaped besides the patient in cell 317? Who?" Eddie hesitated, "A girl on one of the lower floors. She was harmless really. Her name was Bethany Young. She disappeared too. Supposedly Bethany Young and the patient in cell 317 were close friends. At least, that's what I heard." Noel nodded, thinking about this. How was Bethany involved then?
"When was the night that the patient in cell 317 and Bethany disappeared?" Noel asked, already suspecting the answer. Eddie edged his feet back a bit, and Noel could tell that the man didn't want to stay here any more. "The night of Alison DiLaurentis's disappearance." Noel's eyes widened. There it was. There was a huge connection. The person in cell 317 supposedly looked like Alison, Jessica DiLaurentis visited the girl many times, and both the patient in that room and another patient disappeared the same night Alison did. Noel could almost see it work out in his mind. Courtney and that other patient disappeared, and Courtney made it to the DiLaurentis house and hit Alison in the back of the head with that rock. It worked out perfectly.
"Wren," Noel began again, cautiously, "Has he ever shown any interest in the patient that escaped that night?"
Eddie looked uncertain this time. "I…not really. In fact, he didn't seem to want to pay any attention to the story about that patient. Whenever a staff member would bring it up, he'd tell them to quiet it down. It's like he doesn't want people to talk about it or know about it." Noel nodded, feeling like he was onto something big. He needed to find access to proof now. "Is there any way to actually prove what you're telling me?" Noel asked, not wanting so much hope to leak into his voice, but knew it was there.
Eddie shook his head. "Not possible. All records on the patient in cell 317, and on Bethany Young have disappeared. There's no physical or digital proof that they were ever at Radley in the first place. Bethany Young's mother committed suicide soon after Bethany was admitted. And no one's seen the father since Bethany Young disappeared from the institute. No one is even sure who he was. And Jessica doesn't talk at all about coming to the institute. She paid the people there to shut them up."
Noel hesitated, but added, "There's no record of Jessica DiLaurentis visiting the institute? Or paying for their silence?" "Not that I know of." Eddie admitted. Noel nodded. "And what about that staff member who was attacked by the patient? The one that got his ear bitten? Is there a way to contact him?"
Eddie sighed, "You don't want to do that. He's so traumatized by what happened that he's cut himself off from people completely." Eddie shook his head. He then checked his watch and looked unsettled. "Listen, I need to get out of here now. People back at the institute are going to be suspicious if I don't show up soon. I already took a huge risk by coming here."
Noel groaned. He needed more information, but what he needed more was proof. And this guy didn't seem to have it. Noel then remembered the two names of the doctors that Wren had mentioned. "Wait," Noel said quickly, "One more thing. What do you know about Val Oliver and David Grant?"
Eddie almost stumbled over his own feet when he heard that question. He stared at the younger. "How did you hear about those names?" He asked, shocked. Noel shrugged. "Wren mentioned them to me when I was asking about cell 317."
Eddie looked afraid, to be frank. Like Noel was about to stumble onto something he really should stay away from.
"Just tell me," Noel urged, "Who are they?" Eddie looked around and almost whispered to the jock, "Those are aliases. They're not real names. They're fake names for people that live here and have been doing what they want for years, but no one has figured it out." Eddie's face got pale. "I don't know who they really are. I don't know they're real names. But they're dangerous. The less you know about them the better. Just pretend you never heard about them. I need to go!" Eddie turned and started moving fast down the path he came. "Hey, wait!" Noel called, almost tempted to go after the man, but stopped himself. Unless he wanted to draw more attention to himself, he had to remain where he was.
Well, at least he learned a few things. Grant and Oliver were aliases, Jessica DiLaurentis definitely had contact with Alison's twin, Wren was even more suspicious than before, and another patient had escaped from Radley besides Courtney, and Jason had known about and visited Courtney. "Welp," Noel said, backing up and looking around, keeping a hand close to the firearm that Alison gave him, "That's a lot to report."
(Page break)
Alison sighed. That was it. She didn't care if Spencer never wanted to see her again or hated her guts, she had to make sure that Spencer was alright, if only for tonight. She had checked on the others after leaving the sidewalk and making sure Spencer hadn't seen her. Emily was with Paige. Hanna was up in her room doing homework. And Aria was off with Ezra. At least, that was what it looked like. With one last check to her backpack that Spencer's Radley file was safely there on her back, Alison bolted through the forest, planning to go to the Hastings house. She didn't give a damn if Melissa was there. Or if Toby was creeping around the house. Especially not if Wren was there. She had to see Spencer and make sure the other girl was at least for the moment, safe.
She swung around the forest of the house, seeing that there were no cars parked in the parking lot. Looked like Peter and Veronica or Melissa were out. Good. Spencer might be too, Alison rationalized, but she just had to make sure. She slipped out of the brush and peered through the window. Upon closer inspection, her eyes narrowed when she realized that the window was open. Had it always been open? It didn't feel hot enough for it to be. She neared the window, hearing nothing except a faint pounding, and Spencer's muffled cries. "Help!" Spencer was yelling, "Someone help me!"
Alison's eyes went huge, alarm surging in her chest. She didn't care that she was dressed in Redcoat getup right now. She didn't care that Spencer would see her in a redcoat and a mask and would think that it was -A. Spencer was in trouble right now. Spencer needed help, and that blocked out any worry or need to stay hidden. Practically leaping headfirst through the window, Alison rolled on her side and jumped up onto her feet, bolting through the living room, zeroing in on where she heard the noise. It sounded like it was coming from upstairs. She ran up the stairs, and got to the bathroom.
The bathroom door was ajar, and there was steam nearly fogging up the glass cubicle of the shower. There Spencer was, crouching down, a towel around her sweaty body, brown hair in a ponytail, hands desperately pressed to the end of the door as her head was lowered. The horror that expanded in Alison, seeing this, felt like a blade to the chest. She hissed looking at the door. There was a plunger there, jammed into the door's handles. The white stick was slipped between the handle and the metal bar used to grab onto in case someone slipped. Not even needing to look twice, Alison moved to the door, grabbed the plunger and pulled it out of the two bars, dropping it to the floor and swinging the shower door open, letting the exhausted, overheated Spencer fall out.
Alison could barely contain her anger and panic at the sight. Spencer, nearly naked, save for the towel, vulnerable, tortured, terrified. Alison's teeth clenched and didn't even curse –A as she went quickly to the sink, grabbed the glass there and filled it with water from the faucet. Spencer needed to be hydrated, now. She kneeled down, holding the glass full of water in front of the brunette for the brilliant girl to take.
The brunette likely didn't even process, or maybe didn't even care in the state she was in, that she was being given a glass full of water by a black gloved hand with a red sleeve, as she snatched the glass and didn't hesitated to bring in to her lips, gulping the water down with a shaky hand. Alison cupped the glass from behind, making it steady as Spencer drank.
When all of the glass's content was gone, Alison carefully took the glass from Spencer and stood up to go to the sink for more water, but Spencer reached a sweat soaked hand up and grabbed at Alison's arm, pulling the masked blonde back down to her. Wild, frightened, angry brown eyes stared at her in accusation, making Alison's heart skip a beat. As much as she could easily stare into those beautiful brown pools forever in just about any other situation, Spencer was seriously dehydrated. They couldn't waste time on suspicion. Not caring that there might be a camera stationed somewhere in the bathroom, she reached up and snatched the mask off her face, pushing the red hood back and revealing her face and hair to the brunette.
She watched as Spencer's eyes went wide. Alison felt a wet, weak smile spread on her face, lacking all of her usual bravado and strength. It was all in the air what would happen now. "Hi, Spencer," She managed out, voice sounding shockingly small, "Did you miss me?"
The shock surrounded Spencer's face and as much as Alison wanted to comfort the other girl, she knew what she had to do. She lifted herself again and went for the sink, this time getting to the basin only thanks to Spencer's complete befuddlement. She filled the glass with water again and crouched down next to Spencer, putting her mask down on the fuzzy white bathroom mat as she did, handing the glass to the brunette. Spencer took the glass, looking at Alison as if she expected horns to grow out of the blonde's head. Alison tried to keep her face calm, not wanting the sting of Spencer's stare to show that it affected her.
Spencer looked suspiciously at the glass before downing the water, brown eyes still open and never leaving Alison. Alison pushed back the apprehension that sparked at Spencer's suspicious glare. All that she could feel at the moment was stupendous relief that Spencer was safe now and that she was getting liquids into her system. When Spencer drained her second glass, ripping it from her lips and panting, putting the glass down, she still stared at Alison.
"Alison," The brunette husked out, shoulders shaking, "What's going on?! Did you-?" Spencer looked down at where the plunger lay on the floor and glared back at Alison. Alison felt like she had been slapped again. She knew what Spencer was asking. Somehow her voice didn't come out shaky, "Did I pull the plunger out from the door? Yes, I did. Did I put it there in the first place? No. Someone else did. I came in when I heard you banging on the door. I just came to…" The words died in Alison's throat. What was she going to say? That she just came by to check on Spencer? While true, that wouldn't quite explain the likely million questions Spencer would soon throw at her.
Spencer stared incredulously at the blonde, making the hooded girl wince when she saw the small tears starting to form in Spencer's eyes. "You just what, Alison?" Spencer demanded, pushing her still shaking hands against the floor to balance herself, hand pulling away from the towel and allowing the garment to fall away from the brainiac's body, revealing Spencer's waist, stomach and a portion of Spencer's left breast.
Alison sucked in a breath and looked away. Now was so not the time for that. Spencer had just experienced an incredibly disturbing incident, was drained, tired, shaken up and dehydrated; now was definitely not the time for Alison's mind to be wandering into the sewer. Spencer needed help right now. Alison turned back to the brunette, sitting on her knees before the other girl and looked at Spencer right in the eye, avoiding looking anywhere below. "What do you want me to tell you, Spencer?"
Spencer's lost, pained brown eyes hardened. "The truth." She said angrily, "Just tell me the truth. What's going on? We all thought you were dead!"
Alison nodded, tensing at the pain those hurt words brought. "I know. I know. I'll explain everything. But please, let me help you lie down and get you some more water." Alison reached for Spencer's arm to help the brunette up, but Spencer scowled, pulling away from the blonde. "Don't! Don't try to distract me. You tell me what's going on, Alison?! Or I swear-" "You swear what, Spence?" Alison said coolly, knuckling down her anger, knowing that she couldn't waste time right now, "Spencer, look at you. You're exhausted. You could have died. And you're dehydrated still. Just let me help you, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
Spencer kept her eyes locked with Alison's and one could practically see the fire passing between their gazes. Before Spencer could respond, her eyes flickered and her body sagged, showing her weakness. "Whoa," Alison exclaimed, throwing her previous minding of Spencer's nakedness to the wind in favor of making sure the other didn't collapse, "Easy, easy." The blonde put gloved hands on Spencer's bare shoulders, steadying the brunette.
Alison used steel and iron will, which was the only thing that kept her need to wrap her arms around the nearly naked girl and hold her close, burying her face in Spencer's throat and settled, with that same iron-wrought will to only hold Spencer by her shoulders. "Spencer, easy," Alison repeated, voice hoarse, "We need to get you to your bedroom. You need rest."
Spencer shook her head, defiant glint sparking in her eye, despite her depleted state. "I don't need to rest. What I need are answers." Alison sighed, a sad smile crossing her face. "Spencer, haven't we established this? How are you going to listen to my answers if you pass out? Just let me get you to your room and get you some water and I'll talk." She deliberately softened her gaze, looking at Spencer imploringly, smile almost widening at the shocked look she received as a result of her pleading look. Hoping that Spencer would for once comply, at least about this, she pulled her left hand from Spencer's shoulder and turned it, palm up for Spencer to take so that Alison could lead the other girl to her room. Spencer stared at the hand for a good minute before slowly taking it, earning a big smile as Alison helped Spencer up off the floor, hands more caring and gentle than they'd ever been, and the blonde fought her need to pull the brunette closer. Alison instead, slowly led Spencer backwards, to the brunette's bedroom.
Alison checked behind her, relieved that she saw no dark hooded figure in the hallway or near Spencer's room's doorway. Okay, so there was no one in the immediate area. At least not around the upstairs part. Alison led Spencer through the door to Spencer's bedroom, pulling the brunette who was staring at her incredulously towards the bed. She maneuvered the weak, sweat and water entrenched Spencer down onto her side, feeling the brunette squirm in resistance for a moment, before her already now drained body gave up and she allowed herself to be laid down onto the bed. Alison pulled the covers over Spencer's body, finally releasing the brunette's shoulders, she pulled off the glove on her right hand and her hand traveled up to Spencer's forehead, feeling how hot the other girl's forehead was.
Spencer's eyes went wider if possible at the gentle action, those brown orbs following Alison's every move.
Alison smiled gently, letting out soothing words, her voice as soft as if she were speaking to a child, "It's okay. It's okay, Spencer. I'm not leaving. I'm not gonna hurt you. No one will." Alison tried not to flinch at the last words that came out of her mouth. She meant those words, but she didn't know how well she could follow up on that promise. Not that that was a lie. That certainly was true. Just that whoever intended to hurt Spencer, would have to get through Alison first.
But Spencer didn't need to know that little detail just yet. Alison kept her smile up as she started backing away from the bed, putting her glove back on, intending to go get the glass in the bathroom and fill it up with water again. However…
"Where are you going?!" Spencer demanded in a ragged voice, lifting herself up off the mattress shakily, barely able to keep herself up on the palms of her hands on the bed. Alison winced and sighed. Yes, there was that problem. "Spencer," She said in a reasonable tone, "I have to get you some more water. The glass is still in the bathroom. I'm going back to get it. I won't disappear. I promise." She met Spencer's eyes imploringly, "Please, just let me get you water." Those distrusting brown eyes made Alison feel like a dozen knives were stabbing into her. She knew that she perhaps didn't have the best track record with the girls, but knowing that Spencer didn't trust her at all still stung worse than any physical injury she had ever endured.
She added gently, "Spencer, please, you're very tired right now. I promise I'll be back in three minutes tops." She knew that her many lies likely left a lingering distrust but she watched Spencer hopefully. Spencer finally shook her head, eyes still fixated on the blonde. "Two minutes." She warned and her wet eyes jumped to the alarm clock by her bed, "I'm going to time you." Alison couldn't stop the huge giggle that left her throat, making Spencer look at her, startled. "You would, wouldn't you, Spence?" Alison said, smiling and quickly turned, dashing to the bathroom, grabbing the glass and filling it up with the sink's water again.
She brought the nearly full glass back to Spencer's room, only slowing down as she didn't want to spill any of the water, and reached the room, just as the brunette was starting to step out of her bed. "Whoa, whoa, hey, Spencer," Alison said, intending to speak firmly, but her voice came out harsher and more strained than she had hoped, "You didn't even give me two minutes!" She wanted it to sound funny, but she was sure it instead sounded astounded. She went to Spencer's table, next to the brunette's bed and put the glass down, moving quickly to Spencer and laying her hands carefully on Spencer's bare, sweaty shoulders.
Despite the sweat touching Alison's palms, even with the leather gloves on, the heat from Spencer's body made the blonde shiver, but she ignored it and helped Spencer back down to the mattress, nudging the glass of water closer to the brunette once the other girl was lying down.
Alison smiled at Spencer. "There, was that so hard to do? I haven't gone anywhere yet. And I'm back." Alison started looking around the room for a chair to sit on. She didn't find any, including that nice wooden rocking chair that Spencer had. Alison narrowed her eyes and turned to Spencer. "Are there any chairs I can sit down on, Spence? I don't see that rocking chair anywhere." When Spencer's face drew back in anger, Alison regretted asking her question. "Wouldn't you know?" Spencer snapped coldly, "Toby made me that chair. I couldn't stomach it after I found the keycard." Alison winced at Spencer's words. The brunette was in clear pain and was so utterly tired. So tired. Alison sighed, turning slightly and sitting on the edge of the side of the bed, looking down at Spencer and watching as the brainiac stared up weakly at the blonde.
"I do know, Spencer," Alison said sadly. "And I'm sorry. You didn't deserve any of this. None of you girls deserve this. I'm so sorry." "That's really nice of you," Spencer grumbled, voice sarcastic, "Now can you just tell me what's going on here?!" Alison sighed, nodding, sympathy and sadness over Spencer's state making her concerned. "Where do you want me to start? There's so much to tell you." Spencer's irritation came out again as she grumbled, "Why don't you start from the beginning?" Alison sighed. She supposed that was easy for Spencer to assume. It was more complicated than that. She certainly couldn't tell Spencer about the others. About Noel, Cece, Shana, Duncan, Patrick, Kira, Sam and everyone else. She wasn't going to risk being heard by anyone listening in or any bugging device that might be in Spencer's room hearing them. She wouldn't put all of them on –A's radar.
If they could manage to put radars on people, the A-Team certainly could too.
She would have to give Spencer a very abridged version of what was happening, at least until she knew that they wouldn't be listened in on.
Alison shook her head. "I don't know. Whatever you think I know, I don't know as much as that. I didn't even know about someone being dead, till they found the body. I had no idea that there was someone who died that night instead of me. I don't know who she is. But there's no way that the mistake that that body was mine was an accident. Someone wants people to think that I'm actually dead. I don't know why." Spencer shifted after a few moments, so that she was sitting up but leaning back against the headboard. "That's not hard to believe." Spencer whispered hollowly, "Maybe they wanted people to feel safe." The comment was like a slap to Alison's face. She stiffened. She met Spencer's accusatory gaze anew. "Yes," Alison said, trying to keep the frost out of her voice, "They wanted to make people feel so safe, that they eventually turned to blackmailing, stalking and terrorizing people in this town. Please tell me how safe you feel now after that shower, Spencer. Tell me how safe Hanna was when Mona hit her with that car. Tell me how safe Emily was when –A…." Alison's voice trailed off. She wasn't sure if she could finish that sentence.
Finding out about Hanna, Mona and the car would have been easy. Anyone could have heard about that or made the assumption about Mona, even if it wasn't announced. And she had just seen Spencer in that shower. But Spencer was going to ask how Alison knew that Emily had been attacked in the greenhouse, had Alison finished her sentence. And the problem with that? Alison wasn't sure she could answer the question. Her sister Courtney may very well have been the one in that greenhouse, but that would just bring more suspicion to her, wouldn't it?
Still, Spencer's eyes narrowed. "When –A did what to Emily?" She asked, clearly not satisfied by the silence. Alison schooled her features into a façade of more or less calm, and let out the first lie since she had seen Spencer the other night, when the brainiac had pulled off Alison's mask and first realized that Alison was alive, "I mean when Emily was put in hospital for that cream and the growth hormones were hurting her." She saw that Spencer was skeptical about that answer, but the brunette seemed to accept it. "Well, I guess that's still one redeeming quality about you," Spencer said, voice sounding wounded, "I guess you really do care about Emily." Alison almost let out another laugh. That was who Spencer thought was her weakness? Emily? True, she cared about Emily and it would kill her if anything happened to the swimmer. There was no doubt about that. There was just one problem. Emily wasn't Spencer.
Still, Alison slipped out, "Yeah. That. The point is, none of you are safe. That isn't why someone wants people to think I'm dead. Nice try, Spence, but come up with something else." She added a playful smirk, hoping to get the dark-haired girl's spirit up.
"I don't know why someone wants people to think I'm dead." Alison continued, keeping her voice calm, "But what I do know, Spencer, is that I had nothing to do with –A torturing you other than a psycho that decided it was fun to fuck with you." She could tell that Spencer was stunned by this proclamation and added carefully, "I know that messing with you four used to be my favorite hobby, but I'm not the person that you knew, I swear." She stared hard at the brunette, hoping that her point was getting across to the other, and she saw those dark eyes widen even more if possible.
Alison almost smiled, hope gripping at her. Maybe, just maybe Spencer was starting to believe her. Spencer's eyes lowered and she asked carefully, "Where were you all this time?" Alison tightened her lips. That was yet another question that would be hard to answer. She couldn't risk the others being found by –A. Alison shook her head and said finally, knowing that all she could do was give Spencer the truth as to why she couldn't really release that kind of information, "I can't tell you, Spence. Not that I don't want to, but because I can't. Your room is likely bugged, Spencer. If I mention where I've been, it won't be safe for me anymore." That was partially true, but of course, she had said it to protect the others too. She couldn't endanger them.
Besides, from the look on Spencer's face right now, the brainiac clearly deserved to know that her room had a good chance of being bugged. "Bugged?!" Spencer exclaimed, shocked, "My room's bugged?" Alison sighed, "Do you have another explanation for how –A is always one step ahead of all of you? All the time? I can't be sure of course, but that's my theory."
Seeing the paranoia morph its way onto Spencer's face, Alison felt a freezing chill in her blood, bile rising in her throat. Their privacy, their safe spaces had been violated. All of theirs had been. "What…where-" Spencer started rising out of her bed, eyes wildly flying around the room, as if trying to summon forth where this possible recording or spying device that might be hidden in her room, just by panicking. "Spencer, wait, whoa, easy." Alison hurried out, hands reaching out and grasping the brunette's shoulders before she could think of anything else to do as the other girl started struggling.
The heated electricity past through her fingertips again, even with her gloves on and Alison suppressed a shiver. Being this close to Spencer, to her beautiful, brilliant, strong, protective Spencer, Alison lost herself for a moment; sliding her hands along a still warm, smooth back, cupping the brunette's shoulder blades, making Spencer jump as she turned and looked at Alison with startled eyes.
Alison stiffened, swallowing, realizing what she had just done. She was frozen, hoodie covered chest up against Spencer's almost naked one, the blonde's arms clasped under the other girl's arms, holding the brunette. Alison's heart pounded and she felt her throat go dry, locking eyes with Spencer's stunned brown ones. Alison's breath was caught in her throat. The heat spilling off the other girl made tremors lance through her body. She was flush against Spencer, lips only inches from the brainiac's soft ones.
She slowly released the brunette, giving an apologetic smile to the other girl. "I'm sorry." She amended. "I shouldn't have done that. I'll search your room, okay? If there's a bug that's been planted here, I'll try to find it. And if I can't find it, I'll write the information I need to tell you down." She quickly got up without another word and started checking around the room, feeling Spencer's hot gaze burn into her back.
Occasionally looking back at the recovering girl, Alison felt that same presence she had felt on the street when seeing Wren and Spencer together, blast her hard, like a storm of electricity, determined to be heard. She winced and nearly crashed down to the carpeted floor, grabbing at her head. "Ali?!" She heard Spencer yell, shocked.
The voice that sounded almost exactly like her own, purred in Alison's brain, louder than if the voice had been shouted in Alison's ear, "Are you even looking at her right now, sister? How are you not tempted? She's helpless, wet and hot right now. What is wrong with you? Have you lost all your need and desire? Has your time trying to be a better person completely neutered you of your desires? Because let me tell you, if I was there right now, I wouldn't be wasting my time playing the stupid, fucking sleuth. I'd be busy fucking her."
As Alison's knees collided with the floor, the file on Spencer feeling more like a hot brand against her back than ever, and Spencer scrambled over to her, towel barely tucked in properly, holding it up in its physical state around her body. Spencer leaned close, hands going to Alison's shoulders. "Ali?" Spencer whispered, "Ali, what's wrong?!"
(Page break)
Dumping the groaning and still unconscious Wilden onto his bed at the detective's house, Charles backed away from the house, closing the front door with a gloved hand. "Okay," He said, smirking as he turned to the stunned Cece, who was holding the recording box, containing the footage of Hanna's mother running Wilden down with her car, "We should get going. I know the group's schedule, so I know when they'll be checking in on Wilden. We should leave soon." Cece nodded, holding both the recording box and her hunting knife close. She had never once taken off her mask, but somehow Charles knew exactly who she was.
Cece, against her better judgment, followed Charles through the pathway, just glad that she had both the recording box with the footage from Wilden's car and the tracking device she had put in the vehicle on her now. Charles decided to be talkative, as he put on his mask and put up his hood again, "I'm Alison and Courtney's cousin, by the way."
Cece almost fell right over hearing that. The hell? No secrecy or diversions? This guy had just told her about Courtney and didn't try to imply anything else. "Are you surprised I told you that?" Charles asked, chuckling, "I told you when we brought Wilden to the house. I won't hide anything from you. Yes, I'm their cousin. The son of Jessica DiLaurentis's twin sister, Mary. Also their half brother because Kenneth had sex with Mary."
This time Cece stumbled. Okay, that was worse than any rumor even she could spread around! She turned back to the other masked figure, not caring that the man couldn't see the disbelief all over her face because of her mask. "You're Alison and Courtney's half brother? Kenneth and Jessica's sister…okay, now you're making stuff up." Charles shook his masked head. "I am not. Jason isn't the only half sibling Ali and Cour have. Let me guess, when you, Ali and Shana checked the birth certificates, you didn't find anything on me, right?"
Cece stared, hand tightening around the handle of her knife. Charles knew about their journey to the main Hall? At her hesitance, Charles sighed, "Yes I did follow you, Ali and Shana to the Main Hall. Don't worry, none of the others know. Courtney doesn't even know. I haven't told her. I followed you. And I know you found a certificate on Alison and Courtney. But there was no record of a Charles DiLaurentis, was there? That's because Mary moved away a long time ago. Kenneth doesn't know about me being his kid. He thinks I'm the son of one of Mary's boyfriends."
Cece blanched under her mask. It was like someone had just flipped a carpet out from under her. "I…I don't believe any of this." Cece stuttered, shocked at her own tone of voice.
Charles shrugged again, moving along, Cece keeping up with his stride. "Believe me or don't." The man said, "I genuinely don't care." He reached behind him into his backpack, pulling out a package. Cece tensed up, keeping her blade in front of her. Charles chuckled. "Easy already. If this is a weapon, it's the most delicious smelling weapon ever." He waved it, letting Cece smell the pleasant scent coming off it. Charles turned and walked deeper into the woods. "This really isn't anything important. I just haven't had dinner yet. I was too busy following you."
Cece felt like she was going to kick this guy. They had just dumped Wilden off at his house and he was having dinner? "Wait," She hissed, catching up with the A-Team member that was taking off his mask again. "What about the other NAT videos?" "Oh, those?" Charles shrugged a third freaking time, taking his first bite of what he unwrapped, a sandwich and mumbled out as he chewed, "I have them. Here." As he kept eating, Charles reached into another compartment of his backpack, unzipped it and pulled out three USB drives, holding them out with an open hand for Cece to take.
Cece stared at the USB drives, now incredibly suspicious. "How do I know there's anything on those at all?" Charles shrugged a fourth time, making Cece almost growl, "You don't. But I swear, there are people you know in this town, people now in their thirties, forties and fifties preying on young girls when they were in their teenage years and twenties. That's how the current NAT club got away with so much and were hidden." Cece slowly, never taking her eyes off Charles, and keeping her knife up, she snatched the USB drives from the man's hand, slipping them into her pocket. She held the recording box from Wilden's car close.
"Well, you've got the USB drives." Charles smiled happily, swallowing the piece of sandwich he had been chewing on. "And you have the evidence of what Ashley Marin did. You can destroy it now. What you and Ali do with the USB drives are completely up to you." Cece backed away a little, not quite believing this was happening. "Why did you give the USB drives to me?" She asked cautiously. Charles smiled, cocking his head. "Because we're alike."
Cece blinked, staring at the man. To answer her unspoken questions, Charles lifted his head and his blue eyes that were so much like Alison's, locked with Cece. "What would you do for Alison? For your little sister?" Charles said it in such a serious, convicted voice that Cece found the only real answer she had come out. "Anything." "That's right." Charles smiled, "You would do anything for Alison, correct? Well, so would I. I'd do anything to protect her, and Cour." Cece shivered at that declaration. That was a big thing to claim. She then thought about what Charles had just called Courtney. "Cour?" She repeated, cocking an eyebrow. "Yep." Charles said, "Cour is my nickname for her. Just like you guys call Alison "Ali." Alison used to call Courtney that a lot when they were little."
Cece shifted uncomfortably on her feet. If this man was indeed who he said he was and knew as much as he said he did, he'd know a lot. A lot about Alison and her twin when they were little. And about why Courtney had to be locked up. "What am I supposed to do now?" Cece asked carefully. Charles stopped his biting of the sandwich and looked back at Cece. "Whatever you want. I can provide you information on the A-Team. In return, keep out of my way so I can do my job."
"Your job?" Cece asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah." Charles said, grinning, "Getting rid of the other A-Team members so my sisters and cousins will be safe. Remember the fire in the Cavanaugh house that almost killed Jenna? Remember Jenna ended up in the water that one time? That was me. At Courtney's behest, you understand. Also, I ordered Toby to mow Lucas down with his truck. Too bad Toby stinks at being an assassin. Lucas got away on his skateboard."
Cece tried not to feel chilled. This man just admitted to three counts of attempted murder, with a grin on his face. Not that Cece hadn't killed anyone, and it wasn't like she didn't know plenty of people that had plenty of blood on their hands, Alison included, but to admit it without so much as blinking…
And he had just confessed to almost killing Noel's girlfriend, twice!
"Don't try that again." Cece said, voice almost like ice, making Charles look at her curiously. "I don't care if you kill the other A-Team members. But don't hurt Jenna. She's my brother's girlfriend." It seemed to take Charles a moment to think about what Cece meant before he nodded. "You mean Noel Kahn? That guy that smiles a lot with black hair?" "Yes." Cece said angrily, "He's not just my brother. He's Ali's. You claim you'd do anything for Alison, but you weren't there for her. We were." Charles absorbed all this and nodded. "I understand. I won't go after Jenna again. But that means that you had better keep a close eye on her. And let me get rid of the rest of the team."
"Why should I trust this?" Cece said, "You could have hit Alison in the head with that rock years ago!"
Charles stiffened and turned to Cece, looking almost offended. "That wasn't me! And it wasn't Cour either. I didn't touch Alison that night. Courtney and I were trying to retrieve Alison from this town that night, four years ago. But someone almost killed her first." Charles's angry voice, which surprised Cece softened, and his shoulders lowered. "I'm not going to ask you to trust me. Just let me eliminate the threat, okay? Alison's your sister, I get it. But I'm her brother too. If you won't let me near her, at least let me protect her."
Cece's face softened. Strangely, she almost identified with this man. But she knew not to let her guard down. He claimed that he hadn't hit Ali in the back of her head with that rock, but who else would Jessica DiLaurentis willingly burry her child alive in order to protect? That left two people as options. Courtney, Jessica's other daughter, or Jessica's nephew, this man. Then again, it could have been Jessica's husband, Kenneth. Or Jessica's son, Jason. And since Alison had had access to the NAT videos, Jason had a motive to do it. Cece clenched her teeth. She didn't have time to see if she could deduce if this man was lying or not. She just didn't have time for that. She had to rush and get to the others and tell them. And she had to get rid of this thing." She looked down at the recorder device. This thing had footage of Ashley Marin running Wilden over. She had to destroy it unless she wanted Mrs. Marin in jail. She tried one last time, cautiously, "What should I tell Ali and the others when I see them?" Cece said, "I assume you don't want me telling them about you."
Charles shook his head. "I really don't care. Tell them. Or don't. But don't mention that I'm killing off the A-Team members. I don't want them interfering."
"Now if you'll excuse me," Charles said, looking down at his sandwich hungrily, "I have a chicken and avocado sandwich to eat. I'll see you around. I'll find you before you'll find me." Hearing her heartbeat like a thousand thunder roars, Cece turned on her heel, bolting through the forest, occasionally looking back to see if Charles was following her, hand traveling to her pocket and feeling the USB drives inside, the other hand, clenching her knife and the thick steel of the recorder device from Wilden's car that had the damnable evidence of Mrs. Marin's crime inside.
Okay, what had just happened? Seriously, what had just happened?
Yeah, you see, I never took the whole "Charles" storyline seriously. I always thought it was a copout. This is kind of the best payback I can think of, making him comical and helpful at the same time. Charles isn't a danger at all. Well, at least to the Redcoat team. The A-Team on the other hand…He's the most open and honest guy you'll meet. How does he play into the whole Alison and Courtney thing? It's exactly as he says. He's just trying to keep them both safe, nothing else. Really. He's a simple guy. He's actually going to be a good source of information. That's what he is. He's the magnificent information provider, nothing else. Nothing intimidating about him unless you're part of the A-Team. Now please leave him to his chicken sandwich.
And yes, there was a previous generation of NAT club members. Jason, Ian, Garret and the others are just the next generation of perverts and stalkers. Like Charles said, how do you think half the people in Rosewood get away with so much? It always grated on my nerves that the NAT videos were just "poof," forgotten about in the fourth and fifth season. And let us never speak of the sixth and seventh seasons again, shall we?