A/N: So, I've had a couple of reviewers say they wish Marlene King would read this, and honestly, I'd die if she did (or if Sara Shepard did). Cuz Pretty Little Liars hooked me like nothing else. Also, I've got a background in writing and production and am trying to get back into it, so if someone has the hook up, hit me up.

Heads up, if you're squeamish about violence and death, be prepared. This one is intense. And long. Longest chapter yet. I'm sorry in advance. I will be offering free hugs, because I'm sure they will be needed.

Chapter 35:

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

"Ali is…de…sh…" The voice came through broken and garbled at first, her words cutting out.

"What?" Hanna glanced down at her phone, a look of bewilderment on her face. "Hold on. I can't hear you."

She walked out of Ali's room, Aria trailing her. Spencer was right behind them. They were getting ready to leave Ali's house. They'd searched and hadn't found a trace of her.

"Say that again, Mona?" Hanna asked.

"I said Ali is in some deep sh…" The phone cut out again, but after a few seconds the reception cleared and Hanna could hear her perfectly. "…but whatever she's doing she's in some serious trouble."

"What do you mean she's in trouble?" Hanna put the phone on speaker so Aria and Spencer could hear.

"After you told me she went AWOL I hacked in to her phone to see if I could find her. The last location shown is at the hospital…"

"So? Why does that mean she's in trouble?" Aria questioned.

"Oh, man, did she hit someone?" Hanna questioned. "Is she being arrested?"

"No, I was able to extract the last couple of texts from before she went dark." Mona paused, a crackle in the line giving way to a sigh, "A was taunting her about Emily's death, sending her pictures and telling her things that made it seem like they have Emily's…" Mona cringed, feeling bile in her mouth just thinking about mentioning it, "…body." She was pissed that Emily hadn't made it. Emily had convinced her that everything was okay. Emily had her believing that everything would be fine. She'd even quipped about letting Mona be the first to know if she died again. "The last message was an address. It's way out in the country, about 45 minutes or so. If she went there after Emily she very well may have just walked into a trap."

"Okay, well, Ali's not an idiot. She's not going to walk into an obvious A trap." Hanna frowned.

"She has before," Mona replied, "And she's grieving…" She quickly changed the subject so as not to remind them that she'd set her fair share of traps for their friend in the past.

"Yeah, but grieving or not, she wouldn't be dumb enough to completely abandon her senses," Hanna argued.

"We're talking about Ali here." Spencer reminded Hanna. "She would do anything for Emily." She knew Mona was right.

There was a beat of silence.

"Crap. She's in trouble." The realization hit Hanna. She felt like retching. She couldn't lose two friends today. She just couldn't. "Text me the address."

"Why? So you can walk into the trap, too?" Mona's tone was soft and worried.

"We can't just stand by and let what happened to Emily happen to her, too." Hanna swallowed a knot in her throat.

"Mona's right." It was almost painful for Spencer to say aloud. She could practically hear the satisfied grin radiating from Mona's end of the phone. It irritated her. "This is way over our heads."

"So, what do we do?" Aria questioned.

"Mona, did you break any other laws besides hacking her phone to get this information?" Spencer asked.

"Why?"

"Because I need you to go to the police with what you've got." She hated to even consider it, but at this point they needed Tanner.

The line was quiet. All three of them expected her to laugh in their faces and tell them they'd lost their minds. Mona had always been all about self-preservation. To their surprise, she agreed.

"Okay." Mona stated.

The girls looked at one another, stunned. Though, her willingness to put herself out there for them shouldn't have come as a shock, as she'd basically been sticking her neck out for them for years.

"With one condition," Mona added. "None of you says a word about James if you're questioned. The last thing I need is for them to find out that he is the one who drove Charlotte to the church that night."

"Done." Spencer agreed. "You're going to need a lawyer."

"I have one on speed dial." Mona quipped. "Besides, I know my way around the law. It's not like I haven't done this before."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Hanna frowned.

"Hey, Mona, are you sure you're okay with this? I know you and Ali don't have the best relationship…"

Spencer hit Hanna's arm and shook her head while mouthing 'what are you doing?' This was their one shot at getting A caught and saving Ali, if A hadn't already killed her.

"I'm not doing it for Ali," Mona said, pausing thoughtfully. "I'm doing it for Emily." Another moment of silence. "She was my friend, too." In a weird 'frenemies bantering over how screwed up they were' kind of way. "And none of you deserves this. I know what it's like to feel like a victim. I never want to feel like that again, and I don't want any of you to feel like that either."

Hanna felt tears of gratitude stinging her eyes. She felt guilty for not telling Mona more often just how much she treasured their friendship.

"Mona…" Her voice quivered.

"I know." Mona interrupted her. "I love you, too, Han."

"Thank you for this," Spencer said. It wasn't lost on her that Mona was jeopardizing not only her life, but her career.

"You can thank me by making sure I come out the other end of this with my job and my political career still intact," Mona stated.

"Consider it done." Spencer nodded.

She quickly coached Mona on what to say and do when she went to the police with the information she had. She got about halfway through her speech before Mona cut her off and told her she could handle it.

"Just don't get cocky." Spencer warned her. "It's Tanner we're talking about here."

"I can handle Tanner." Mona scoffed.

"Yeah, I thought the same thing…" Spencer drifted off in thought. She glanced at a picture of Ali and Elliott. Something felt off about it, but she couldn't tell what. She picked the photo up and stared at it for a few seconds. "Hey, Mona, before you go, I've got a quick question."

"Shoot."

"In all the time you were watching Sara, did you ever see her meet up with anyone besides Charlotte?"

"She kept a fairly low profile. She didn't have a lot of friends in Rosewood," Mona answered. "Charlotte was pretty much her only friend."

Spencer furrowed her brow in thought, staring at the picture. Maybe it was just because Ali had flown off the handle about Elliott, but for some reason…looking at the two of them in this photo, something didn't seem right. She had never trusted the man. Part of that was because anyone who could justify Charlotte's behavior couldn't be of sane mind and body. But there was something else, too.

"What are you thinking, Spence?" Aria asked, sensing that she was playing 'connect the dots' in her head.

"What if Charlotte wasn't the only person Sara was visiting at Welby?" Spencer looked up at her friends. "Mona, did you ever look in to Elliott Rollins?"

"I did a search on him as soon as I realized he was Charlotte's doctor. Graduated from The University of Pittsburgh. The guy is legit on paper."

"The University of Pittsburgh?" Spencer repeated. So then why was Elliott wearing a Penn State sweatshirt in the picture she was holding? "What about Alexander Drake? After we told you about him, did you find anything on him?"

"Aside from the marriage certificate and his death certificate there wasn't much. Either Charlotte taught him to lay low or he was good at not leaving a paper trail. Besides, a lot of his records were sealed." They could hear Mona typing something into her computer. "It's possible that he died under unusual circumstances and that the case is still open."

"Is there any way to see if he's in a college database?"

"Sure. Just give me a second," Mona said. There was more silence, more typing on the keyboard. "Oh, wow."

"What?" Hanna asked eagerly.

"That's interesting. I wonder why that didn't come up earlier…"

"Mona!" Hanna snapped. "You're going to have to talk to us. We can't see what you're seeing."

"Sorry." Mona replied. "It looks like Alexander did more than just torture us. He somehow found time to get a Doctorate in Biology on the side."

"From where?" Spencer's heart sped up in her chest.

"Penn State."

Spencer dropped the picture on to the floor. It hit at an angle, the glass shattering.

"We've got to go." Spencer's eyes looked like they were about to bug out of her head.

"Spence, what's…"

"Now!" Spencer interrupted Aria. "Mona, text us the address and then call the police." Spencer ordered as she made a beeline towards the front door.

"What's going on?" Hanna quickly followed her.

"Elliott is Alexander. Ali is with Emily's killer. She's with A."

They rushed to Spencer's car, Hanna telling Mona goodbye as they climbed in. After she got in the car she glanced down at her phone apprehensively.

"She'll be fine." Aria assured her. "She's Mona."

"Yeah, plus this is the solid lead the cops need. When they get Alexander…Elliott, whoever the hell he is…I'm sure they'll just give Mona a little slap on the wrist. They may even give her a reward."

"Does anyone else see the cruel irony in the fact that both my fiancé and my best friend from high school are constantly on the wrong side of the law?" Hanna asked.

"We all are," Aria said with a shrug.

"That's a good point." Hanna couldn't argue.

Spencer grabbed her phone, dialing Toby's number, who, at that very moment was trying not to panic about the fact that he'd just heard gunshots. He was still trying to get the grate off of the wall. He'd kicked it until it was dented and he had bloodied his fingers trying to free the bolts holding it in place. He was making some headway, but after hearing the shots fired he was afraid it was too late.

Down several dark and twisted hallways Emily was staring at the blood covering her girlfriend, trying to register exactly what had just happened. The shot had been fatal. Emily felt frozen for what felt like an eternity, but it had only been a few seconds. Then she felt something rushing through her veins. Her adrenaline was pumping through her body. She sucked in a delayed gasp.

"Ali!" Emily yelled, reaching for her, her heart thumping in her chest. Over her shoulder she saw Elliott taking aim again. She pushed herself up on her elbows until her upper body was off of the gurney. "Get down!"

Ali was frozen in place, staring at Sara's body at her feet. After the bullet had struck Sara she had toppled towards them, her blood splattering all over Ali. On her clothes. On her face. In her hair. It was everywhere. Sara had fallen to the ground with an audible clunk that echoed throughout the hallway, blood gushing out of a hole on her forehead. It was nothing like you saw in the movies. There was no clean little hole oozing blood between her eyes. There was a chunk of her head missing, leaving a huge bloody mess.

Ali hadn't heard Emily's warning about getting out of the way. She was still in a daze. The bullet had been so close to her. Sara's dead body was right next to her. Emily shoved Ali towards the foot of the gurney to get her out of the line of fire. Ali stumbled towards the body after Emily pushed her, nearly tripping over Sara, whose head was at a precarious angle, her eyes frozen in fear staring up at her. She lost her balance and fell forward on to her hands and knees before the third shot went off. The crack of the gunshot echoed off of the walls as the bullet whizzed by Emily's head.

Emily flashed back to all of her dad's gun safety lectures. She tried to stay calm, but for some reason all she could think about was Nate firing the gun in the lighthouse, nearly killing Caleb. It was a strange place for her mind to go, especially given that it had happened over six years ago and she herself had been to the firing range many times since then. Nevertheless, she felt like she was right back in the lighthouse. She saw flashes of Caleb clutching his stomach and falling to the floor covered in blood. Suddenly everything her dad had taught her was a garbled mess. Her mind was a blank.

Ali's mind wasn't functioning much better. She'd seen her fair share of bodies, but she had never seen anyone killed so violently at close range before. It was so messy. So personal. And even though she hated Sara and wanted to kill her, seeing her face basically explode into a fractured mess was not something she wanted to see. She saw the blood splatter on her hands and started to hyperventilate. She sat up and frantically tried to wipe her hands clean on her shirt. She touched her face with her fingers and whimpered as she tried to wipe her skin clean. She felt like she'd never be clean again.

Elliott turned the gun on Emily just as Ali was scrambling to her feet at the foot of the gurney. She saw Elliott taking aim at her girlfriend. Her shock dissipated. She saw red. She rushed around the gurney. Emily tried to grab her to stop her from doing something idiotically heroic, but Ali flew past her and charged Elliott. He quickly jerked the barrel of the gun towards her. He pulled the trigger just as she reached him and grabbed his wrist, the bullet flying towards the ceiling, chunks of it raining down on top of them. She tried to pull the gun away from him, but he clocked her in the side of the head with it, sending a shooting pain through her temple and down her neck.

"Ali!" Emily yelled. She pushed herself to sit up, her incision aching as she tried to gear herself up to swing her legs over the side of the gurney.

Ali staggered backwards, feeling a lump forming on the side of her head. But she didn't stop in her attack. She tried to rush him again, but he threw his shoulder forward into her chest. She grabbed him by the back of the head and starting ripping his hair out. They twirled around. Elliott managed to pry himself out of her grasp and shoved her so forcefully that she went flying backwards into the wall behind them, the back of her head slamming against the structure. She slid down to the floor, her back pressed against the wall. She started to black out.

He fell backwards, towards where Emily was trying to get her bearings on the gurney. His butt hit the side of the gurney. His gaze was still fixed on Ali, who was stunned and dazed on the floor. He aimed at her, but before he had a chance to get a shot off, Emily sat up on her knees and wrapped one of the wires that had been attached to her chest around his neck. The motion caused a tight tension on her chest, but she fought through the discomfort. She pulled him back, tightening the wire, trying to get him to drop the gun…or choke him until he was unconscious, whichever happened first.

He retaliated by throwing his elbow back into her stomach, sending a wave of severe pain through her body that took her breath away. It was so extreme that she thought she might lose consciousness. But she still held the wire firmly against Elliott's neck.

"Emily!" Ali shrieked from down the hall. She tried to get to her feet, but faltered.

Elliott threw himself backwards in to Emily and his weight slammed against the gurney. It went toppling over, sending both Emily and Elliott crashing to the ground. Emily landed on her side, her elbow taking the brunt of the fall. A bolt of pain shot through her ribs and into her chest. She cried out. She felt the full force of the fall in every cell in her body. Her incision was throbbing and her chest felt like it was on fire. She rolled on to her back and tried to catch her breath. Her side was aching. She was certain she'd cracked a rib hitting the railing on the way down. She could taste blood in her mouth and it took her a minute to feel the stinging sensation where she'd nearly bitten through her tongue.

Elliott climbed on top of her, slamming his knees close to her sides and pinning her arms to the ground with his legs so she couldn't fight back. She felt the crushing weight of his body smashing her fingers. He straddled her waist, keeping his full weight against her so she couldn't move.

"Get off of her!" Ali used the wall to help herself get to her feet, but the room felt like it was spinning around her. She fell back against the wall, trying not to faint from her dizziness, her legs collapsing beneath her. It pissed her off. She needed her body to cooperate. She needed to kill Elliott. She needed to save Emily.

"You are tough to kill." Elliott shook his head with a sadistic laugh. "I mean, cardiac arrest, a head on collision, heart surgery, and my cocktail to euthanize you…" Which Sara clearly hadn't given her, "Guess I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Go to hell." Emily spit back. She couldn't move, but she had the drive to survive.

She bent her knees and tried to throw him off of her, but his pelvis just pressed harder against her midsection. He looked incredibly annoyed.

"Stop. Fighting." He snarled, pushing his hand against her face until her head was twisted to the side and she was face to face with Sara's bloody corpse.

"Never." She growled through her teeth, fighting against his grip. She pulled her knees up again, this time throwing him semi off-balance. He pulled his hand away from her face and slapped it against the ground to steady himself.

She tried to jerk her arms free, but the motion sent an agonizing stabbing sensation into her shoulders and down into her chest. He saw the pain register on her face and smiled. Emily saw a darkness in his eyes that made her nauseous. She could see what he was getting ready to do. She wiggled underneath him to try and get away.

He smirked as he raked the fingers of his free hand across her chest, dragging his nails right over her incision. It was worse than when Sara had done it. In fact, Sara's torture was downright tender compared to what Elliott was doing. She'd just toyed with Emily. Elliott was attacking her with conviction. Emily was sure he'd ripped some of her sutures. She sucked in a pained gasp, tears springing to her eyes. She opened her mouth to scream, but the only sound that came out was a stifled whimper. The pain was so intense that she started to pass out. Her vision flashed white for a brief moment, but then she felt the cool muzzle of the gun against her temple and her adrenaline kicked in.

"No!" Ali staggered to her feet again, this time managing to tumble forward. Elliott heard her rustling around, trying to scramble over the fallen gurney to get to where they were.

"Back off!" Elliott whipped his head around, aiming the gun at Ali.

Ali threw her hands up, her eyes trained carefully on Elliott. He still had one hand pressed firmly against Emily's chest, rendering her in such agony that she couldn't move. Blood was soaking through her hospital gown from her incision. Emily's jaw was clamped shut and she was breathing rapidly through her teeth, each breath hurting worse than the last. Her neck was craned back as she tried not to scream. Tears were trickling back towards her ears. Seeing Emily crying brought tears to Ali's eyes.

"Please stop." Ali cried, back to begging for Emily's life again. She moved forward.

"I SAID BACK OFF!" Elliott waved the gun around, finger still on the trigger.

"Ali," Emily squeaked out through her anguish. She moaned out a cry that felt like a dagger to Ali's heart. "Do what he says…"

"Smart girl." Elliott grinned. "That's why you were always so much fun to play with." He glanced at Emily.

"You're…" She gasped for air. "You're…as crazy as she was."

Elliott's face turned red in anger. He brought the butt of the gun down on her collarbone and she cried out.

"Stop it!" Ali screamed.

"How does it feel, huh, Ali?" He asked, pressing harder against her chest, eliciting a strangled cry from Emily. "Knowing you're never going to see her again?" He curled his fingers and dug his nails into the tender flesh around Emily's incision. Clutching. Twisting. Gripping it hard. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

Emily couldn't help herself as she screamed out in agony. His grip on her incision made her feel like her chest was being ripped in half. It was intense enough that she was silently wishing for death just so the pain would stop.

"Oh, God," she choked out, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, her sight blurry from her tears.

She was certain that at any moment her incision was going to split wide open and give him full access to literally rip her heart out of her body.

"Elliott, I swear if you don't get the hell away from her…" Ali snarled.

"Don't test me, Ali." Elliott aimed the gun at Emily's chest. "Make a move and you'll have her blood all over you." He glanced over at Sara. "On top of this bitch's." He sneered at the dead girl next to them.

He turned his attention back to Ali, his eyes glued to hers, daring her to make a move. Ali stood perfectly still, her eyes staring at the gun against Emily's chest. Emily looked at her and saw the distress on her face. Then she looked at Elliott. She could see the muscles in the side of his neck bulging. He was so set. So determined. He truly thrived on their pain. He thrived on Ali's pain. And that just pissed Emily off. A heated fury slowly overtook her suffering.

Emily summoned all of her strength. She threw her knees up once again. The motion pushed the muzzle of the gun harder into her chest, but she refused to let her pain stop her. With his balance uneasy again, she yanked her arms out from underneath the weight of his legs and locked her fingers together to make a powerful fist. He whipped his head around to face her, but he wasn't fast enough. She raised her arms and then brought her fist down on his crotch. Hard. His face contorted in pain and he rolled off of her, gun still in his hand. He groaned and made a half-assed attempt to grab Emily again, but she was already hustling to get away from him. She used her legs to shove herself backwards. She crawled up on her elbows and found the wall behind her head. She pushed up against it for support. She took several heaving breaths, her body aching with each inspiration.

Ali scrambled over the fallen gurney, her eyes darting from Elliott to Emily. Elliott was climbing to his feet, still clearly trying to recover from Emily's hit. He saw Ali coming and quickly raised the gun, surprisingly pointing it at Emily instead of Ali. He knew that Emily couldn't do much to defend herself. She'd be an easier target to hit.

"One more step and I pull the trigger." He threatened.

Ali looked at the distance between them, trying to calculate if she could make it over to him in time to knock the gun away from him. Elliott saw the wheels turning in her head.

"Go ahead and try. I dare you," he said. "Think you can get to me before I get this shot off, then by all means…let's see what happens."

Ali stopped in her tracks. She was so close. It was killing her. She glanced at Emily, her eyes abound with worry when she saw the blood on her hospital gown.

"He's going to kill me no matter what." Emily's hand automatically went to her chest, hovering over her incision. She was breathing hard. "Just take his ass out."

"Shut up!" Elliott yelled, his hands shaking in rage, his finger pressed against the trigger.

"Elliott…Elliott, stop." Ali's voice came out much calmer than she felt inside. "Just listen to me." She held her hands up where he could see them. The cut on the side of her palm from the scalpel was bright red and oozing a clear fluid over the forming scab. "You wanted to avenge Charlotte's death. You've done that." She pointed to Sara. "Sara is the one who killed her. She confessed to us."

"The girl was a sniveling little whiner. She was always the weakest link." Elliott scoffed. "You really expect me to believe that she killed her mentor?"

"It's true," Emily huffed out, swallowing a grunt of discomfort. Ali hadn't missed it. She looked at Emily in concern. "She called Charlotte from The Radley. They were together that night. They got into a fight and Sara accidentally killed her."

"She was in love with Charlotte. She wanted to run away with her." Ali added, her eyes still on Emily. "She covered up the truth by working with you. She came to you to help with your revenge plot, right? You didn't seek her out? Why do you think that is? She wanted to be on the inside to make sure you didn't find her out."

Elliott's eyes darted over to Sara and then back to them. He had a blank look on his face as he considered what they were telling him. He didn't seem to care.

"Doesn't matter anymore." Elliott shrugged. "This was never just about her death. This was about the pain she had when she was alive." He glared at Ali, laying all the blame on her once again. "Besides, you really think I'm just going to let you walk?" He got a wicked smile on his face. "You bitches are going to wish that I put bullets in your heads when you're choking on smoke and your flesh is burning." He took a step backwards, over Sara's body and backed through the doorway.

The instant she saw him disappear, Ali raced after him, but the door slammed in her face. She heard something click behind it. She tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Damn it!" Ali slapped her palm against the wall.

She heard Emily shuffling and when she turned around she saw that she was clumsily trying to get to her feet, but her legs were so shaky she could barely support herself.

"Wait. Emily, don't." Ali gasped.

Emily groaned and then slid back to the ground. Ali rushed to her side. She bent down and pushed the hair out of Emily's face. There was blood all over Emily's hospital gown, but it wasn't just from one set injury. In addition to the large red stain on her chest from where Elliott had grabbed her incision there were also several spots of fresh blood sprinkled all over her gown, as well as crimson droplets scattered on the floor around her.

"Em," Ali said, out of breath. "Oh, God."

"It – it's okay," Emily said through broken breaths, grimacing in pain. "I'm okay." But she didn't feel okay. She didn't feel okay at all. "Are you okay?" Emily scanned her body, looking at Ali's bumps and bruises.

"Don't worry about me." Ali gently ran her hands over Emily's body, trying to find the source of the blood, terrified she'd taken a bullet during the scuffle. Ali's hands trembled as she reached out to unbutton Emily's gown. "Just stay still, okay?"

Emily nodded weakly. After Ali had the top portion undone she parted the gown so they could see how badly her incision had been damaged. It looked bad, but not as bad as Ali had expected. Several sutures had been ripped, opening up the incision slightly. Ali could see exposed tissue and muscle, but the second layer of sutures underneath her skin seemed to be holding. The incision was oozing blood, but it was nowhere near enough blood to explain all the stains on Emily's gown. For a spit second Ali thought it might be Sara's blood, though she had actually bore the brunt of that nasty bodily fluid exchange when Sara had practically fallen into her arms. Plus, that didn't explain the blood on the ground next to Emily.

Ali looked up at Emily and she could see something strange in her eyes. Something wasn't right with her, which wasn't surprising considering Elliott had used Emily's chest as a scratching post. The light in her eyes was dwindling. Emily looked down at her injuries and then back up at Ali.

"Ali, you have to run." Her eyes flickered as she looked down the hallway.

"Not a chance in hell." Ali glared at her for even suggesting it.

"If you don't he'll kill us both. Go. Find Toby. Get out of here."

"I am not leaving you." Ali's tone was a mixture of fear and frustration. "No fucking way."

"As soon as he's clear of this building he's going to blow it up." Emily squeezed her eyes shut as the full extent of her injuries started to hit her.

"And I'm not letting you go up in flames with it." Ali glanced at the gurney. Two of the wheels had broken off when it hit the ground and the frame was bent. She knew that Emily couldn't walk. She licked her lips nervously, trying to come up with a plan.

"Ali…" Emily said softly.

But Ali wasn't listening. Her mind was racing.

"We'll just…" Ali trailed off. They'd what? What was Ali supposed to do? Throw Emily over her shoulder and run out of the building before it imploded? She could barely support her own weight at this point, much less Emily's.

"Alison…"

"I'm going to get you out of here." Ali looked around frantically.

"Hey, listen to me." Emily reached up and put her fingers against Ali's cheek, forcing her to turn her head and look at her. Ali blinked back tears when she looked into Emily's eyes. "I love you." She smiled. "I love you so very much." She took a breath. "But you're not going to die for me."

"I'm not going to live without you." Ali argued.

"We don't have time to fight about this. You have to go. Now."

"I already told you, no," she said gruffly, though there were tears in her eyes. "I will not just leave you here to die, Emily. Not after everything we've gone through."

"You have got your whole life ahead of you…"

"So do you!" Ali exclaimed, part heartbreak, part anger. "This isn't over, Em." She reached down, her fingers delicately buttoning Emily's gown back up to keep her incision from being too exposed. She cleared her throat. "I am going to find Elliott before he detonates that bomb. And I'm going to kill him," she said with confidence and certainty. "Then we're going to get Toby and we'll get out of here and get you back to the hospital…"

"Alison," Emily's hand slid down Ali's cheek and against her neck. Emily curled her fingers and rubbed her thumb against Ali's jaw, "for once in your life, please be rational."

"Emily, I've never been thinking more clearly in my life." She swept her fingers across Emily's cheek. "I'm going to get you home, okay?"

Emily appreciated Ali's determination. She sighed and ran her fingers through Ali's hair, which was coated with Sara's blood.

"We're going to get out of this." Ali waited for Emily to agree with her. When Emily didn't say anything right away, Ali frowned. "I need you to believe me…" Ali begged, her voice slightly breaking.

Emily nodded.

"I do, Ali," she said. "Always."

Ali put her hand on top of Emily's and forced a weak smile on to her face. As she was preparing to force herself to pull away from Emily to go after Elliott there was a crash from somewhere close, making both of them jump. The noise had come from behind the door that Elliott had disappeared through. Seconds later, the lights went out. Ali's hand automatically tightened around Emily's. Her breathing sped up, thinking that this was it, this was Elliott sending them one last taunt before he set the explosives off. And just when they thought they were getting ready to take their last breaths, the lights flickered and came back on. Ali's eyes were fixed on the closed door. She turned around to check on Emily, who was also staring at the door.

"What the hell was that?" Ali's voice came out a lot quieter than she'd intended.

Emily saw a shadow move behind Ali. Her eyes darted over to what was casting the shadow. Elliott had appeared out of nowhere, having used the cover of the darkness to slip into the hall with them again.

"Look out!" Emily tried to warn her.

But it was in vain. Elliott grabbed Ali by her hair and yanked her to her feet, ripping a few strands out by the roots. She let out a pained squeal.

"No!" Emily exclaimed, trying fruitlessly to kick at Elliott's feet.

Elliott spun Ali around to face him.

"You didn't really think I was going to make it that easy on you, did you?" Elliott questioned, gun still in hand. "You really thought I would be stupid enough to leave you with a way out?" He ran the muzzle of the gun across Ali's jaw. "Let's see how fast you can run with a bullet in your knee."

Ali threw her arms up without warning, hitting Elliott's hand with surprising strength. She grabbed his wrist, twisting it, forcing him to release the weapon. The gun slipped from his grip and fell to the ground. It landed on the floor a few feet shy of Emily. She reached for it, but Elliott spun around and stomped on her fingers. Emily heard a sickening snap as two of her fingers cracked underneath his blow. She pulled her hand back with a loud yelp. He kicked the gun out of her reach, sending it skidding across the floor somewhere. Emily looked around, trying to see where it had ended up, but she didn't see it anywhere.

She swallowed her pain and tried to get to her feet. She pushed her palms against the floor, feeling the bones of her injured fingers grinding together. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. She braced her back against the wall and pushed up with her knees. When she got to her feet she felt a stabbing pain in her side. It was blinding. She pushed her uninjured hand against the wall to keep from falling over. She felt her knees giving out, and seconds later she was on the floor again.

Elliott whipped Ali around, slamming her against one wall, then another. She dug her fingernails into his arms, his face, anywhere she could get a grip on him, drawing blood in several spots. His adrenaline kept him from feeling a thing. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her into the doorframe. She threw her elbow back, catching him hard in the ribs. He sucked in a breath, loosening his grip on her. She took the opportunity to throw a punch, hitting him square in the jaw. She regretted it almost immediately. Hitting his strong bone structure felt like hitting a brick wall. It wasn't soft like Sara's pudgy face.

"That all you got, Alison?" He taunted her.

He rubbed his jaw and looked up just in time to see her knuckles flying towards his throat. He caught her wrist and jerked her body to the side, kicking the backs of her knees and sending her stumbling to the ground. She grabbed a broken wheel from the gurney just as he pulled her off of the floor. When he spun her around, she slammed the wheel into his face, the metal from it slicing into his cheek. He let out a half grunt, half growl as his hand shot to the gash on his cheek. He looked at the blood covering his hands. It seemed to fuel his rage.

He grabbed her arms, shoving her backwards as hard as he could, her back slamming against the solid structure behind her, his body weight firmly against hers holding her in place. She bent her knee and pushed her foot up against the wall and used it as a springboard, shoving forward with the momentum she created.

He shoved her back again, one hand wrapping firmly around her arm and the other closing around her windpipe. He threw her around like a ragdoll. She pulled free of his grasp, nearly tripping over Sara's body on the ground. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, lifting her off of the ground. She threw her feet against the wall in front of her and sent them toppling backwards, both of them smacking against the ground, Elliott taking the full brunt of the fall.

They scrambled to their feet. The next several seconds were a dance for control. Both of them got in several hits as they twirled around, slamming against walls and leaving destruction in their wake. Elliott gained the upper hand again. He shoved his knee into her stomach, making her double over in pain. He grabbed her forcefully by the back of her head and forced her to stand back up.

"Ali!" Emily exclaimed, trying to get to her feet again. She felt helpless.

Elliott slammed Ali's head against the wall, nearly causing her to black out. He pinned her to the wall, both of his hands closing around her neck. He lifted her off of the ground by her throat and shoved his hands against her trachea. Ali let out a gurgled scream. She tried to kick him, but he danced around her feet.

Watching him choke the life out of Ali opened up every protective instinct Emily had. She saw Ali's eyes slowly rolling back into her head, horrible strangled moans coming out of her mouth. Emily felt a surge of energy coursing through her. The need to protect Ali was all she could focus on. She felt herself rallying. The pain in her chest was killing her, her side was aching, and her mangled fingers were turning purple, but she found a surprising amount of fight deep inside of herself. She grabbed a broken bed railing and pulled herself up off of the floor. Before she knew it, she was standing behind Elliott. She raised the bed rail and swung.

"Get the hell away from her!" Emily brought the metal railing down on Elliott's head.

He released his hold on Ali and turned towards Emily, blood rushing down his cheek from a gash on the side of his skull. Ali crumpled to the floor, coughing and wheezing, trying to catch her breath. She stumbled backwards on one hand while clawing at her neck trying to massage her airway with the other.

Elliott shoved Emily backwards, and despite the fact that it felt like something inside of her had just been torn wide open, she somehow managed to stay upright. She wasn't going to let him walk away from this. She wasn't going to let him get away. Not again. She didn't care if it killed her. If she was going out, her last act was going to be to protecting Alison.

She came back at him full force. She drew back and hit him again, this time in the temple. Metal crashed against bone. He stumbled back and she pulled back and slammed the rail against his temple again. His eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground, unconscious, blood rushing all over his face.

Emily stood over him for a few seconds, tightly gripping her makeshift weapon, waiting for him to open his eyes and come back at her. When he didn't, she took a few steps back. She felt her adrenaline wearing off. She suddenly felt cold. She dropped the railing and it clanked against the floor. She swallowed hard and fell back against the wall, panting. She slid down to the floor, her eyes fluttering shut.

"Emily…" Ali's voice was strained, and terrified.

Her voice quickly brought Emily back from the brink of passing out. Ali crawled over to her, still rubbing her neck and coughing. There were red spots that were sure to welt and bruise from where his fingers had been wrapped around her throat. Her body was sore. Bruises were already forming on her arms. She had a gash on her forehead and a cut on her lip. Ali looked at Emily and saw that her index and middle finger were bloody and swollen. Both of them were shaking.

"Ali," Emily reached her uninjured hand towards Alison's face, her voice faint and distant, "you're bleeding." She lightly traced her fingers over the cut on her forehead.

"Don't – don't move," Ali's breathing hitched in her throat as she gently touched Emily's chest. There was blood on her hands, and she wasn't sure if it was hers or Emily's. There was more blood on Emily's gown than she'd seen previously. Ali still couldn't tell where it was coming from. She popped the buttons of her gown open to look at Emily's incision again, thinking that maybe she had missed where the blood was coming from the last time she checked. Several more of her skin sutures had popped, but the incision wasn't completely open. It was bleeding, but it wasn't the source of the blood that was all over her gown.

Emily's body tensed up when Ali ran her fingers over her skin.

"God, where is that blood coming from?" Ali's voice caught in her throat. "Where are you hurt?" She ran her hand up the side of Emily's neck, trying to maintain eye contact with her.

The list of where Emily wasn't hurt was shorter.

Ali's knee accidentally grazed Emily's injured fingers and Emily hissed in pain. Ali looked down and saw that Emily's hands were covered in blood, too. She delicately lifted Emily's palm to get a closer look at her injuries. She curled her fingers up underneath Emily's hand, letting the tips of Emily's fingers rest against her palm. Ali's thumb lightly ghosted over Emily's knuckles. There was a cut on her index finger between the second and third joint oozing blood. Her finger was so swollen that her skin was taut, pulling the gash apart.

"I think they're broken," Emily huffed as Ali gently observed them. "I heard…" She took a pained breath, "…something crack…" She shut her eyes, not even trying to put on a brave front for her girlfriend.

Ali had never seen Emily in such agony before. Her pain enraged Ali.

"He's a dead man. When I find that gun I'm going to blow his head off for doing this to you." Ali growled angrily. If he wasn't already dead from Emily's hits.

Her eyes flickered back towards the bastard. There was a pool of blood around his head. But that wasn't enough for Ali. She wanted to rip Elliott apart. She wanted to kick him in the face and stomp on his genitals. She heard Emily utter out something between a groan and a gasp and Ali jerked back to look at her. Her lips were pale. Her hands were shaking. Her skin was wet with sweat, but she was cold to the touch. Ali's hand immediately went to the side of Emily's neck, feeling a very fast, very weak pulse. Emily blinked slowly, her eyelids sagging. Ali had seen that weird distant look more than once. It was the same look she'd seen on Emily's face when she'd collapsed outside the loft. It was the same look she'd had before her surgery. She was fading from reality. It scared the hell out of Ali. Because this time the two of them were completely alone. And Ali had no idea what to do.

"Em, hey…stay awake," Ali put her hands on Emily's face. Emily's eyes fluttered again. "Emily, look at me. Stay with me, sweetheart."

"You're calling me sweetheart now?" A weak smile washed across her face. "You sap." Her breathing was hard and ragged, and Ali couldn't tell if it was from the pain or if she was crashing. "You gonna ask me to dinner and a movie next?"

Ali laughed through her tears.

"Screw dinner and a movie." Ali rubbed her eyes with her fingers. "We're going to skip straight to dessert and a nightcap."

Emily's eyes twinkled with delight. How old-fashioned of Ali to go for the "nightcap" euphemism instead of the "Netflix and chill" route. Her girl was just full of surprises. Emily smiled, which in turn made Ali smile.

"How about dessert with the nightcap?" Emily suggested.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." It had always been a dream of Ali's to feed Emily chocolate covered strawberries while licking whipped cream off of her perfectly toned body.

For a split second Emily forgot where she was. Her mind was on how good Ali's touch felt. She always felt so steady with Ali around. So warm. A jolt in her chest suddenly brought her back to reality. Her neck started to feel heavy. Her head slowly started to sink down. Her eyelids flickered shut.

"No, no, no. Don't you dare close your eyes." Ali tightened her grip on Emily's face. "Come on." Her hands jerked, involuntarily shaking Emily's face.

Emily could feel the tips of Ali's fingers pressing against her cheeks. She could feel Ali's soft touch, and so much more. Her senses felt heightened. Emily felt everything. The swirls of Ali's fingerprints, the creases of her joints, every line on her palm. She could feel what Ali was feeling. Determined. Passionate. Afraid.

With her eyes still shut, Emily lifted her right hand up to where Ali's hand was resting on her cheek. She lightly put her hand on top of Ali's, her thumb brushing up against the side of Ali's palm. She could feel everything. She could feel Ali. And all at once she heard,

"I'm here. I'm right here with you."

"Come back to me."

"Look at me. Focus on me."

"Breathe, baby."

"Listen to me. Concentrate on me."

"I'm with you. You're safe."

"I'm here, Em. I've got you."

"Open your eyes, baby. Just open your eyes and look at me."

"Emily, please…" Ali choked out.

"I'm here, Ali," her voice was quiet, but she was still conscious. "I just…I need…" she felt woozy, but she fought it, "…to catch my breath."

It hurt to breathe. Her stomach was rising and falling as she took short inspirations.

They heard movement from behind them and Emily's eyes flickered open, sensing a clear danger, like an animal conditioned to survive a predator in the wild. She looked over Ali's shoulder and saw Elliott stirring. He shot up out of his unconsciousness, rage in his eyes. He reached down towards his ankle, pulling a gun from a hidden holster there. Emily sucked in a breath to warn Ali, but before she could, Ali whipped her head around and saw him getting to his feet.

"You think you can just come at me like that, Emily?" Elliott cocked the gun. He flipped the safety and aimed at them.

"Elliott, don't." Ali shifted her position so she was completely shielding Emily.

"Move, Ali." Elliott waved the gun back and forth.

"No." She stood in front of Emily with a defiant look on her face.

Emily wanted to move, but her body was just done. The most she could manage was an angry glare in Elliott's direction.

"MOVE!" Elliott looked crazed, the blood on his face only adding to his maniacal expression. The gun was shaking in his hand.

Ali stood her ground, daring Elliott to challenge her. If he even so much as made a move towards Emily she was going to go for his jugular. She would rip his throat open with her teeth if it came to that.

"Fine, I'll just shoot you both." He shrugged.

He squeezed the trigger just as something came sailing towards him and hit him in the back. The bullet ricocheted, hitting the gurney. It narrowly missed Alison's left shoulder and Emily's right thigh. They looked towards the direction where the object had come from. Ali felt a wave of relief when she saw Toby rushing towards them. Somehow he'd managed to escape. Emily and Ali weren't alone anymore.

Toby barreled towards Elliott, leaping over the fallen gurney and tackling him to the ground. They rolled around. Toby tried to get the gun out of his hands, but Elliott had a death grip on the handle. Elliott managed to get to his feet again and aim at the girls, but Toby popped up beside him and body-checked him. They wrestled over control of the weapon. Seconds later, the gun went off. Elliott shoved Toby backwards. Toby uttered out a grunt and then stumbled backwards down the hallway before falling to the floor clutching his chest.

"Toby!" Emily screamed, her body burning in pain as she yelled for him.

He blinked in surprise when he heard her voice. He'd been so focused on Elliott that he hadn't seen her behind Ali.

Elliott spun around, a crazed look in his eyes. He aimed the gun at the girls again. Ali slid to the floor, keeping her body in front of Emily's, knowing that Emily wouldn't survive being shot on top of her other injuries. Emily saw Elliott aiming at them. Without even thinking, she instinctively threw her arms around Ali. She summoned all the strength she had and pulled Ali to the side, throwing herself over her, curling her body over Ali's. She pulled Ali into her aching chest and fell on to the ground on top of her. Her words to Ali from just minutes ago echoed in her head,

"You're not going to die for me."

They heard a gunshot. Emily squeezed her eyes shut. The room was deathly quiet. For a few brief seconds Emily thought she was dead. Her ears were ringing and she felt like she was completely frozen. It's like she'd been ejected from her body and she was watching everything unfold, like it wasn't happening to her…but to someone else. But then her senses came back to her. She opened her eyes and looked over at Elliott, quickly realizing that the shot hadn't hit her or Ali. Elliott was looking down in shock. A bullet had clipped him in the side. Emily and Ali sat up. Had the bullet ricocheted? Knowing that they had no time to question what had just happened, Ali shoved herself off of the ground and sped towards him.

At that moment she didn't care that he had a gun. She didn't care that it was aimed at her. She grabbed the metal railing Emily had attacked him with earlier. She curled her fingers around it and she channeled every ounce of rage she had. She glowered at him, her eyes shooting more than just daggers. Her gaze was full of giant flaming samurai blades. She was ready to torch the hell out of him.

She let out a scream as she lunged for him. He pulled the trigger on the gun, but it jammed. She slammed the railing into his hand, knocking the gun across the hall. She drew back and went to hit him in the neck, but he got his arm up to block her hit in time. She heard something crack and he huffed out a pained grunt. She hit him across the face and then made a beeline for the gun. He ran after her, tackling her to the ground. She didn't stop moving forward. She felt him grab her leg and she reared back and kicked him in the face as hard as she could.

She reached for the gun, but Elliott grabbed her ankle and yanked her backwards. He crawled over her trying to get to the weapon first. She sank her teeth into his leg and they rolled a few feet away from the gun. Elliott ended up on top of her, but she quickly retaliated, shoving her fingers into the hole in his side and twisting roughly. He yelled out, his screams satisfying Ali. He deserved so much worse. She reached up and shoved his head against the wall, silently asking herself how many times she needed to bash his skull in before he was unconscious again.

Elliott managed to get to his feet. He kicked Ali in the ribs. She rolled over and tried to catch her breath. By the time she got to her feet it was too late. Elliott had his hands on the gun and he was aiming at her. He smiled, a menacing grin that said "I win" and put his finger against the trigger.

"Ali, get down!" she heard Toby yell.

She didn't question it. She hit the floor and heard a shot go off. She looked up and saw that Elliott was staring straight ahead with a fixed gaze. He dropped the gun and looked down in shock. Blood was pouring out of a wound in his sternum. He fell to his knees, blood pooling in the corner of his lip. He gurgled out a distressed agonal breath and then collapsed into a heap on the ground. Red liquid spilled from his mouth as he tried to take a breath. Ali could hear the wet smacking sounds of him choking on his own blood. His body jerked, and then he was still. Ali looked behind her and saw Toby, still lying on the ground. He had the gun Elliott had kicked away from Emily earlier. He'd found it underneath some debris after he fell.

"Oh my God, Toby, are you okay?" Ali asked.

"Kevlar…" He uttered, tapping the vest underneath his clothes. The bullet from Elliott's gun had merely knocked the wind out of him. "Never leave home without it." He pushed himself off of the ground with a grunt. "Still hurts like hell though." He made his way over to Ali. "Are you hit anywhere?" Toby leaned down, offering her his hand to help her stand up.

"No."

He sidled over to Elliott, leaning down to check his pulse.

"Is he…" Ali asked.

"Extremely." Toby nodded.

"Good." Ali snarled through her teeth. Her only regret was that he hadn't suffered enough.

She crawled over to Emily's side again.

Toby took in their appearance for the first time since he'd burst in on the scene. Ali looked rough, and Emily looked like hell, though he was more than relieved to see that she was alive. He looked around the hallway. He had no idea what had happened before he'd gotten free, but it looked like there had been a chaotic struggle. There was blood everywhere, and he couldn't tell whose was whose.

"Are you two okay?" Toby asked.

Ali looked at Emily, who had a vacant expression in her eyes. She turned back to Toby and shook her head.

"Help me," Ali begged.

"Hey, Em." Toby leaned down, swallowing when he saw the blood all over her. "Still alive, I see." Toby ribbed her.

"You, too." Emily's voice barely sounded like her.

"I can't…I can't get the bleeding to stop." Ali whimpered. "I don't know where it's coming from." She ran her fingers across Emily's hip, which had a trail of fresh blood running down it.

Emily finally got enough strength to move her arm. She reached up towards Ali.

"I figured it out." She motioned towards a bloodied piece of medical tape on the back of her uninjured hand. "My IV line was a casualty." They hadn't seen it before because she had patches of blood all over her.

Ali took her hand, looking closely at a bump underneath the tape and gauze, and she realized that blood was dripping out from underneath the tape where her catheter was. The IV line had disconnected when she'd tumbled to the floor in the fall off of the gurney. With no pressure from the fluid bag pushing things forward, blood had started oozing out of the fractured piece of plastic.

"We might want to cap it off so the rest of my blood stays inside my body." Emily suggested.

"Actually, it needs to come out." Toby took Emily's hand from Ali. "That catheter has direct access to your vein and with it being exposed you're at risk for an infection."

Emily stared at Toby for a minute, wondering why he hadn't become a doctor instead of a police officer.

"Well, then get it out. After all this if I die from an infection I'm going to be really pissed." Emily nodded towards her hand.

He gently pulled the tape away and pulled the clear plastic lining away from her skin. He removed the catheter and put gentle pressure on the hole left from the catheter. He ripped a small piece of clean gauze away from the bloodied bandage that had been on her hand and then taped it down in place with another piece of tape from her arm.

"We have to get her out of here." Ali looked at Toby. "I'll see if I can find something we can use as a stretcher."

She stood up. Seconds after she was upright she realized she'd moved too fast. The dizziness was overwhelming. She faltered, but Toby grabbed her before she could fall.

"Hey, slow down." Toby gently pulled her back to the ground. "You're both in shock."

"Oh, good, is that all it is?" Emily forced out a weak laugh. It turned into a pained cough. She held her hand up over her mouth, specks of blood painting her palm red as she hacked. She closed her eyes and groaned.

Ali saw something register on Toby's face. It was a look she didn't like.

"What?" Ali uttered.

Toby brushed her off, concentrating on Emily. He pushed his thumb up underneath Emily's right eye and gently tugged the skin down, retracting the lower lid. He did the same thing to her left eye. Her coloring was pale.

"Em, can you follow my finger?" Toby held his index finger up and slowly passed it in front of her face, waiting for her eyes to follow.

Emily stared at him like he was crazy, but did what she was told.

"Can you breathe okay?" Toby asked.

"Hurts a little bit." Emily admitted. "I think I cracked a rib. That might be what the problem is."

"What about your chest? How does it feel?"

"It's…" Emily's face scrunched up in discomfort, "…it feels…" She was having a hard time trying to describe how she felt, "it feels…full."

Just the mention of the pain seemed to make it worse. She slammed her eyes shut. Ali put her palm on Emily's face, hating to see her in such agony. It wasn't fair.

"My incision is opening up. Some of my sutures are ripped." She opened her eyes again and shuffled around to try and get more comfortable.

"The sutures on the outside aren't what I'm worried about." Toby put his hand firmly on Emily's shoulder to keep her from moving. "You need to stay still, Em. You could have internal bleeding."

Ali's eyes widened. She looked at Toby in fear. She should have expected it, especially given everything Emily had just gone through, but it still blindsided her to hear it.

"Nonsense, it was just a friendly little post heart-surgery boxing match." Emily grunted. She started to move her arm, but Ali stopped her.

"Emily, do what he says." Ali warned, her voice dripping with worry. "If you don't I will lie down on top of you and keep you still myself."

"I kinda like that idea." Emily smiled wryly, trying to hide her pain. Both Ali and Toby could see the grimace hidden behind her smile.

Toby glanced back at Elliott, an idea springing to mind. He walked over to his body and started digging around in his pockets.

"If you're looking to rip his dick off, it's a moot point now. We should have done that to him when he was still alive so he could feel it." Ali looked at Toby in confusion.

"That's not what I'm doing. I'm trying to find his phone so we can call for help."

Unfortunately, Elliott's pockets were completely empty. No phone. No car keys. Not even any loose change. He checked Sara's pockets next.

"Any luck?" Ali asked hopefully.

"No." Toby shook his head.

"One of them has to have a phone. Sara was texting me while I was at the hospital with Elliott."

"Did you have your phone on you when you came here?" Toby questioned.

"I left it back at the hospital. The battery was dead." Ali shook her head. "What about yours?"

"She took it off of me after she knocked me out." Toby motioned towards Sara. "Something tells me that trying to find a phone in this place would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Finding the way out might be easier…"

He glanced down the hall, another idea forming in his mind. An idea he liked considerably less, because it meant leaving the girls by themselves. But they didn't have much of a choice at this point. They didn't have the means to safely transport Emily, and she needed help. Toby pressed his lips together and pinched his brow in thought. His head was pounding. He got so lost in thought he hadn't realized that Ali had walked over next to him.

"Toby, what are we going to do?" Ali squeaked out.

He'd never heard such pure terror in her voice. Toby looked down the hallway again and sighed.

"Keep her talking," Toby looked at Emily and then back at Ali. "Keep her conscious."

"Wha – wait, where are you going?" Ali whined, her eyes pleading with him not to leave.

"I'm going to find help," Toby said.

"But we're in the middle of nowhere."

"Yeah, I kind of figured." Toby nodded. "But there has to be something out this way. A gas station or a diner. Maybe even a farm. Somewhere that has access to a phone."

"What if we took Elliott's car? I could hot-wire it," Ali suggested.

It didn't surprise Toby in the least that Ali knew how to hot-wire a car. He'd learned to do it himself when he was younger. But that wasn't really an option.

"We shouldn't move her." He sucked on his lip. He could taste blood in his mouth. "We could make it worse, and if something happens to her we don't have the right equipment to help her."

"Don't leave." Ali begged. "I don't…I don't know what to do."

"Alison, she might be bleeding out. We have to get her back to the hospital. If we don't…" He didn't need to finish his statement for Ali to realize where he was going with it.

She pushed down the lump that was forming in her throat and nodded. They walked back over to Emily. Toby leaned down in front of her.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"Fantastic. I feel like a million bucks," Emily said sarcastically. "I mean, a million bucks that the IRS gutted and tore in half. But still..."

"You keep that humor going. I want you to have written a comedy show by the time I get back here with help." He gently rubbed her arm.

"I'll do my best." Emily nodded.

"Hang tight." He stood up.

Emily reached out suddenly and grabbed his hand.

"What we talked about in the hospital…"

"You're going to be fine." He cut her off. He couldn't do this again. He couldn't say goodbye to her again.

"Toby, please…"

"I have to know someone is looking out for her."

He looked into her eyes, and suddenly he was looking into every moment he'd ever had with her. He could see the film that was her life playing in his mind. He saw the enthusiastic four-year-old giggling as she played tag with her dad in their front yard. He saw the sweet six-year-old offering him a cupcake at a neighborhood block party. He saw the cautious ten-year-old dipping her toes into the lake before diving in. He saw the reserved twelve-year-old sneaking away from her own birthday party and hiding out in her backyard, waving to him politely from the bench near her mother's garden. He saw the shy fourteen-year-old knocking on his door at Thanksgiving because her mother had run out of baking soda and was having a holiday meltdown about it. He saw the withdrawn sixteen-year-old struggling with her identity, her sexuality. He saw the caring eighteen-year-old who showed up at his door with his favorite movies and take-out when he was going through a rough patch with Spencer. He saw the thoughtful twenty-year-old who called him from California because she found a new band she thought he might like. He looked into her eyes and he saw his friendship with her shining back at him.

"The promise still stands, Em," he sighed, his voice riddled with emotion.

"And will you make sure someone calls my mom? She…I need…" She swallowed hard. "I want my mom."

"Of course," he said. He pulled Ali aside. "Do not let her fall asleep."

"Toby, please hurry." Ali glanced at him, her fear palpable.

Toby nodded. He ran off to try and find help. Ali sat down next to Emily, folding her legs up underneath her. She carefully pulled Emily as close to her body as she could get without moving her too much. Emily immediately leaned in to her, tilting her head up and looking at Ali out of the corner of her eye.

"We did it." Emily smiled weakly, her cheek resting against Ali's shoulder.

"Did what?" Ali asked, nervously tracing her fingers across Emily's face.

"We survived," Emily said. "It's over. It's finally over." She looked at the bodies of the two halves that made up A. "You were pretty badass going after him like you did."

"Me?" Ali laughed. "What about you? You could put pro ballplayers to shame with that swing you've got, DiMaggio. I thought you were going to take his head clean off. It was really hot." Ali was smiling, but her tone was melancholy.

"I don't feel so hot right now." Emily admitted, looking down.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Ali pushed Emily's chin up, trying to keep her from breaking eye contact. "We'll get you patched up and we'll be going on jet-setting adventures in no time."

"Yeah," Emily said, but for some reason Ali didn't think Emily believed it. There was a beat of silence that made Ali uncomfortable, but before she could say anything Emily spoke again, "Do you remember the first time you told me you loved me?"

Ali opened her mouth to respond, but then paused to consider the question. She'd had feelings for Emily for a long time, before she'd even realized what those feelings had meant. But as far as saying those three little words, she had taken way too long to say them. She hadn't even been able to form those words the first time they'd had sex. Emily had told Ali she loved her that night, but Ali had just smiled and kissed her instead of saying it back. It was strange to think about, because now those three little words came out as easily as breathing.

Emily could tell that her question had thrown Ali. She slid her right hand on top of Ali's, careful to mind her injured knuckles.

"It was in the library," Emily said as she snaked her fingers in between Ali's. "When you were reading Great Expectations."

The memory came flooding back to Ali.

"That's why I love you. You're big on happy endings," Ali had said to her.

Looking back, Ali realized just how much she'd meant the words at the time. She didn't understand why or how much, but she knew she loved her. She had seen Emily's kind eyes and she felt Emily's bright light enveloping her soul.

"You looked at me without any pretenses. I was me and you were you. And you said that, and I knew in that moment that we were going to end up together. I knew you were my girl. I didn't care what we had to go through to get there." Emily took a quiet breath. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world. It's always been you, Alison."

It took a moment for the words to register for Ali. Not because she didn't already know that, but because she realized what Emily was doing.

"Don't." Ali bit her lip, her eyes overflowing with tears. "Don't you dare say goodbye to me, Emily. We are not going through this again. I am not losing you again. We didn't go through all of this not to get our happily ever after. You don't get to die. Not here. Not today."

Emily smiled at Ali's determination.

"I don't know why I ever thought I needed to protect you." Emily ran her hand over Ali's wrist. "You're basically the strongest woman I know."

"You've always protected me, Em." Ali brushed her fingers through Emily's hair. "Ever since I met you I knew I could count on you. I…I need you."

Emily reached up, her fingers grazing Ali's cheek.

"We've had a hell of a run, haven't we?"

"We've still got a bunch of laps to go before we reach the finish line." Ali fought back her emotions. "You're going to make it. Do you hear me?"

Emily didn't respond at first, and Ali felt her heart lurch in her chest.

"Emily, do you hear me?" She asked, a firmer tone this time.

"I always hear you, Ali," Emily muttered.

Ali saw Emily's eyes slowly closing and she tried not to panic. She pushed her hand against Emily's cheek.

"Hey, come back to me, honey."

"I always do." Emily's eyes fluttered open for a brief second, then they closed again.

"Talk to me, Em." Ali slid her hand against Emily's neck, lifting her head, trying to keep her awake. "Tell me…tell me your favorite memory."

"My dad…" Emily's mouth moved slowly, her words starting to slur. "He…I'm…I think…"

Ali's body tensed up. She felt a range of emotions and she didn't know how to deal with any of them. She groaned in frustration.

"Emily Fields, you obstinate pain in my ass, you fight," she said gruffly. "You've fought everything in your life. Everything." She'd once seen her have an argument with a potted plant, pissed off at it for not thriving enough. "Don't you dare give up now. You are too stubborn to die, do you hear me?" Ali pressed her hand firmly against Emily's cheek again. "Come on. Focus. I didn't come this far just to lose you now." She begged for Emily to open her eyes. "Emily, come on. You can't do this to me…" She was afraid she was losing her, so she blurted out the only thing she could think of to get Emily's attention. "Marry me."

"What?" Emily's eyes jerked open. She felt those words in the depths of her soul.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Ali gently pulled away and crawled in front of her, trying to keep her focused. "Marry me."

There was a beat of silence.

"Are you just asking me because you think I'm going to die?" Emily asked.

"No, I'm asking you because I know you're going to live." Ali cradled Emily's cheeks, holding her gaze.

"Ali…" Her tone wavered in uncertainty.

"I'm serious, Em. I'm dead serious. I knew I wanted to ask you the minute you came back to Rosewood. I was planning on asking your mom for permission, and I was going to pick out the perfect ring." She sniffled. "I wanted to create this whole scavenger hunt, because you've always found me." Her voice broke. "No matter how lost I got, you found me." Her hands were warm on Emily's face. "I was going to pick out all of our special places and fill them with everything you love with notes written on postcards of all the places I want to go with you. It was going to lead to the kissing rock, where next to our initials I was going write 'will you marry me?' and I was going to smile at the bashful look on your face and kiss you while you stuttered over your words like you always do when you're stunned."

Emily was surprised at how much thought Ali had put into this. She'd clearly been thinking about it a lot longer than Emily could have imagined.

"I don't want to waste any more time. I want to be with you for the rest of my life." Tears trickled down Ali's cheeks.

Emily reached up with her uninjured hand and brushed away her tears. Ali put her hand on top of Emily's hand to keep her from pulling away and let out a soft cry.

Their relationship had been anything but traditional. It actually made sense to Emily that Ali would propose to her right after they'd both nearly been killed.

"What do you say?" Ali rambled nervously, trying desperately to maintain eye contact with Emily, terrified she was going to slip away. "We can let your mom plan the wedding."

"She'd like that." Emily nodded.

"And we can…" Ali tried to stop herself from sobbing, "…we can go to the beach," she said. "You can teach me to surf. We can spend a summer in Hawaii and we can swim with dolphins, and learn to hula." She forced out a smile. "God, you'd look so hot in a grass skirt and coconut bra."

Emily managed a weak chuckle.

"We can go to Vienna for the holidays and see the Christmas lights," Ali had always loved seeing the way Emily's face lit up at Christmas, "and you can laugh and make fun of the way I pronounce all the crazy city names. And – and we can go to Paris. We can go to the Eiffel Tower and watch the sunset. I want it with you. I want it all." She rubbed Emily's neck with her fingers. "It's you and me, Em. How about forever?"

Emily slowly lifted her head, her eyes fixed on Ali's. She blinked and then swallowed hard.

"Ask me again after we get out of this."

"I will ask you again every day for the rest of our lives." Ali leaned forward and her lips gently swept against Emily's lips. The cut on her lip stung as she moved her mouth against Emily's, but she didn't care.

Emily pushed back, her lips moving in sync with Ali's motions. When Ali kissed her she felt so alive. She could feel every cell in her body ignite. She let that passion consume her, the rest of the world falling away. But then she felt a strange tug on her heart. She pulled back and took a shaky breath. Her eyes widened and she started to slide down, Ali quickly catching her in her arms. Ali wrapped her arm around Emily's shoulders and pulled her in to her body, Emily's cheek resting against her chest. Emily took in another shaky breath, her eyes still frozen in alarm, searching for comfort in Ali's gaze.

"Hey, you're alright. I've got you." She put her palm on Emily's face, brushing her hair behind her ear.

Emily looked up at her, fighting against the urge to close her eyes. The tightness in her chest was getting worse. Her body felt like it was shutting down.

"I'm so tired, Ali," Emily mumbled, shivering.

"Just hold on a little bit longer." Toby had to be on his way with help by now. "I need you to hold on for me."

Every time Emily's eyes would start to flutter shut, Ali would bring her back with the sound of her voice and the touch of her hands. Ali tried to keep it together. She could see Emily fading. She could see her slipping away. At one point Emily noticed that Ali had gotten quiet, and when she opened her eyes and looked up she saw that Ali had tears running down her cheeks. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead. She only snapped out of it when Emily stirred in her embrace. Emily pushed herself to sit up.

"Honey, don't…" Ali tried to stop her from moving, but Emily was already sitting up, leaning towards her, her uninjured hand shaking against Ali's face.

"Hey…" Emily wanted to tell Ali not to cry, that everything was going to be okay. But the words got caught in her throat.

Her thumb traced a line underneath Ali's left eye. Ali peered at her, her eyes glistening with tears. Emily stared at her irises. They were so impossibly blue. Had they always sparkled like that? She felt lost in the ocean that was Ali's gaze.

"Yes," Emily said, barely a whisper.

"What?" Ali blinked in confusion.

"Yes, I'll marry you."

Emily's hand slid down until her palm was over Ali's heart and she leaned forward until their lips were touching. A warm sensation washed over her, and for a brief moment she felt no pain. She slowed her movements and closed her eyes. She pulled back, her lips parted.

"I love you, Alison," she pressed her cheek against Ali's face and whispered against her ear.

She relaxed into Ali's shoulder, Ali's hair feeling soft against her face. Ali felt Emily's hand slip away from her chest. She pulled back, finding Emily's eyes closed. She put her palms against Emily's neck, her thumbs hooking underneath her jaw, her fingertips flat against the side of Emily's neck trying to get her to open her eyes.

"Emily?" She moved her fingers up against Emily's cheek. Emily didn't respond. "Emily!" Her hand flattened out and her fingers tightened against her face. "Em?" Her head was heavy in Ali's hands. "No. You don't die here." Ali ran her fingers through Emily's hair. "Emily, wake up." She felt her heart drop in to her stomach when Emily didn't respond to her voice. "No, no. No. Come on, don't…please don't. Don't do this to me. Don't leave me alone." A sob tore from her throat. "Oh, God. Breathe, sweetie. Please…" She pushed her forehead against Emily's and choked on her cries.

She looked up, not sure who she was talking to…or if anyone was even listening. Did God answer prayers from sinners like her? Her eyes shot to the ceiling, the dark and dank ceiling that was quickly becoming blurry because of her tears.

"Please don't take her from me." She let out a distressed squeak and looked down at Emily. "Not now. Not after all this. She believes in happily ever after. She made me believe, too. We deserve it." She felt her face flushing in anger. "We deserve it goddamnit!"

She pulled Emily closer, letting her face brush up against Emily's cheek, her lips just centimeters from Emily's ear.

"Please don't leave me. This…this isn't how it's supposed to end."

Ali laid her chin over the top of Emily's head and wrapped her arm around her upper back. She unconsciously started rocking her as she cried. Her tears dripped down her face and into Emily's hair. She held her tight, bawling her eyes out.

"Baby, please wake up."

Just one more miracle. Please. I'll never ask for anything ever again. Please just let her live.

She begged and she pleaded. She screamed and cried and yelled at God. And she held on to Emily for dear life. And when she felt like there was nothing left to say or do she heaved out a sob and gently put her hand on Emily's chest.

"I love you, too, Emily." She kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too."