I promise I haven't forgotten about this story, this year's just been hellish thus far so I haven't had time to focus on fanfic. We're so close to the end now, and I hope you enjoy this penultimate chapter. Yes, there's only one more to go after this. Finally, right? Anyway. Enjoy!
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When Spencer first joined the A-Team, she had thought that somebody was going to get hurt. But even then she hadn't anticipated just how much damage it could do. How much damage she could do. Aria was staring at her with wide-eyed horror, disbelief fading to distrust as she processed Spencer's words.
"You're…" Aria started, then broke off. "Why?"
Spencer shot a glance at Mona, who shrugged, as if to indicate that she had no interest in any of this – probably because she was just going to kill them all anyway. But there was no way Spencer was going to go into this final fight – whether or not they'd even make it through – with Aria thinking she was the enemy.
"I had no choice," she said, turning to face her friend again. She heard Mona's dismissive snort, but all she could focus on was Aria's face. It was suddenly desperately important that Aria believed her. If her best friend didn't believe her, then how could Spencer trust herself? She could almost justify everything she'd done, could almost convince herself that she wasn't the person Mona was making her out to be. But if Aria thought she was the enemy, how could Spencer tell herself any different? "I was doing it to protect you."
Aria surveyed her carefully, silently, as if seeking the truth – or the lie – behind her words. "Have you been in on it from the start?"
"No," Spencer exclaimed, genuinely startled. "God, no. We haven't been on the team long."
The other girl's gaze flicked over to Toby. "You two joined together?"
"At the same time," Spencer clarified. "We joined separately, but…" Realizing that this wasn't making her friend feel any better, Spencer changed tactics. "Please, Aria. I promise I never meant to hurt you – any of you."
"But you did." Aria's voice was flat, emotionless. She was still processing. "You went after all of us. You literally turned against your friends, Spencer."
Although she didn't use the word betrayed, Spencer knew that's what she was thinking. And it was true. Good intentions aside, Spencer had betrayed her friends. She had always loved them, had always had their interests in mind, but somewhere along the way she'd lost sight of it. Although she knew she would never admit it, part of her had liked being on the A-Team. Not because she liked hurting her friends – she hated that, she always had – but because she had felt a rush of power. Sneaking around in the dark, planning plans and going on missions… it had been strangely alluring.
"I was only trying to protect you," Spencer said again, her voice pleading, begging her friend to understand, to give her a chance. "You have to believe me."
"What about you?" Aria asked, shifting her gaze toward Toby again. "Were you protecting us too?"
Spencer stiffened, her heart slamming to a stop. She didn't turn, couldn't stand to look at Toby's voice. There was a pause, and then he answered.
"No," he said, and Spencer could see Aria's face falling. But then Toby went on, "But I'm here to help now."
"As touching as this is," Mona said drily, "we do have a job to do here. One of you knows something, and Wren won't -"
"Wren's out of the picture," Spencer interrupted, feeling for the first time a burst of triumph as she saw Mona's eyes narrow.
"What?" Mona said, her grip around the gun tightening.
"I hit him," Toby said, with a shrug that said he didn't care whether she shot him for that or not. Spencer wondered how much loyalty Mona had to Wren, whether she would turn against him if she knew he'd lost.
"He's not dead," Spencer added. "But he'll be out for a while. We called the cops before we left, and even if they can't pin anything on him yet, they have enough to question him."
"Which gives us enough time to get the hell out of here," Toby finished.
"It's over, Mona," Spencer said. She stood up, slowly, well aware that Mona was still holding the gun and probably wouldn't hesitate before using it. Spencer moved so that she was standing next to Aria, mustering up every ounce of courage and defiance she had. "You're not going to win this time."
"But we can help," Toby said.
Spencer shot him a questioning look, and then caught on. "If you help us put Wren away, we won't press charges against you," Spencer said. She heard Aria exhale sharply, and then sigh, as if resigned to the fact that they were going to have to choose the lesser of two evils. Spencer didn't dare look at her friend, afraid of what she'd seen in her eyes – or what she wouldn't.
"It's your call, Mona," Aria said, and Spencer's heart fluttered as she realized that this meant that, for the moment at least, Aria was going to work with her. Spencer had betrayed her friends, but maybe they'd be able to forgive her in time; and for now they could work together to defeat a common enemy, and that still meant a lot.
Mona's gaze darted between the three of them, her brows furrowing and her grip loosening on the gun. Either she was lulling them into a false sense of security or she was genuinely considering their offer, and Spencer couldn't tell which. She looked down at Aria, who met her gaze for a second before looking away, her face unreadable. Spencer turned back to Mona, who was lowering her gun.
"It's the right choice," Spencer urged. She hated that they'd have to work with Mona, but if it meant putting Wren away it would be worth it. He was The Advisor, the mastermind behind the A-Team, and he was their top priority. And now they knew just how dark Mona was they'd be on their guard, and might be able to stop her if she ever went down this path again. All they had to do was hope that she would take their side now.
An uneasy silence fell across the room, and then Mona raised her gun, pointing it at Spencer. "Well, if I'm going down, I'm taking you all with me," she said, her voice unnervingly calm.
Spencer felt every muscle in her body tense, her heart constricting, her body preparing for fight or flight even as her mind quietly whispered that there was no way out of this. She closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.
And then a voice spoke from the doorway.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."
Spencer's eyes snapped open and she looked past Mona, her eyes locking on the group assembled by the door – Caleb, Emily, Hanna, and Noel. She was surprised to see all of them together – she had assumed that Noel at least would be resistant – but she had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.
"Give it up, Mona," Caleb said, the only one of the group of newcomers who had spoken yet. "You can't take all of us down. You're outnumbered and you're surrounded."
"You don't want to do this," Hanna added, crossing her arms and glaring at her former friend.
"Maybe I do." Mona's voice was stubborn but her eyes betrayed her uncertainty. She looked at each person in turn, weighing her odds, and finally zeroed in on Noel. "You really joined them?"
Noel shrugged, unapologetic. "It was fun at first, but it got too serious. No way am I going down for this."
"So that's it then," Mona said stonily. "We help you take down Wren and we stay out of jail."
"That's basically it, yes." Spencer tried to meet the eyes of her friends, but neither Hanna nor Emily would look at her. Caleb, however, met her eye and smiled reassuringly. She turned back to Mona, seeing a battle play out across her face. "You can still walk away from this."
A beat passed, and then Mona sighed, bent down, and placed the gun on the floor. She stood up, holding up her hands to show that she wasn't armed anymore. "Fine," she huffed. "You win."
But as Spencer looked around at the assembled group, as she thought about what had brought them all to this place at this exact moment, she realized that this didn't feel like a victory at all.
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The last chapter serves as an epilogue, and hopefully will be a satisfying conclusion to a story that ended up being far bigger than I originally intended. Sorry for the wait, guys, and thanks for sticking with me. See you next time...