Author's Note: Have fun, remember, I do this for free. Things will be explored the further we go along. Please be nice to each other and the world around you.

It was…a hard thing to accept, sometimes.

She'd never intended to find herself back in Rosewood, Pennsylvania. Especially not after the disastrous high-school years, and everything that had followed it. There was a lot of pain here. A lot of history she'd never wanted to address or confront. It was easier to move on, slip away during the night, and run.

Alison DiLaurentis was so goddamn good at running. If it was an Olympic sport, she'd have won the gold medal twenty times over by now. She was the queen at ignoring things until they blew up in her face, and even then, it was likely she'd ignore it then too with her head held high, chin pointed upwards. Defiantly, almost pompously.

Yet here she was. Living in Rosewood, her childhood home her father had pawned off on her, no-less, working as a teacher at the very high school that she'd sworn she'd leave behind the moment she graduated college.

That was the thing–at twenty-one, in college, life had changed her so drastically in the span of a week, she'd been forced to find stability in the only place she'd refused to come back to. A reckless deal she'd made with her father–at least she didn't have to worry about money if she was ever fired. She had her trust to fall back on and her father who didn't give a shit anymore.

Alison bit the inside of her cheek as she turned the stove off, heaving out a tired sigh, and looked towards the counter where the tablet was set up on its stand, waiting for her. She let out a soft hum and moved the pan from the stove before stepping towards the tablet. She flickered through the screens, home security cameras, set up in most rooms of the house.

She continued softly humming a tune to herself as she scrolled through the screens, her hands pausing as she found the scene in front of her. Her lips tugged upwards, and she felt a happy bubble worm its way inside her chest. The sight reminded her so much of her childhood, with Jason, before things had soured thanks to their parents.

There was a teenager, fourteen, curled up on her bed. Messy long brunette hair, blue eyes she knew were closed, olive skin, in an old hollywood undead t-shirt, and bright pink shorts. Curled against her side, was the teenager's four-year-old sister. The little girl was pale-skinned, with bright blonde hair, the same blue eyes, but still in her Stitch onesie. Her hands fisted in her sister's shirt. One of the teenager's hands were wrapped around her sister.

How did I get so lucky? Alison thought to herself as she admired the sight of her daughters.

That was still something she was so amazed by. Daughters. She had daughters. It was still so terrifying sometimes too.

She was afraid, even now, after five years of being with them–and three of being their mother–that she was going to screw up. That she was doing such a piss poor job, she was going to repeat her parent's mistakes. It was a fear she couldn't control but was trying to work through in therapy.

Alison was certain if you'd ask anyone she went to high school with, or that knew her, they'd laugh in your face. If you told them, "Alison DiLaurentis fostered and adopted two kids, she is now a single parent" they'd probably ask where the cameras were. Alison felt she would have deserved it too. She hadn't been a good person then, and she likely wasn't one now.

But she was trying, so hard, to be a good mother.

She hadn't even meant to be a mother in the first place. She hadn't meant to find the girls, to feel something for them the reason she'd met them at all was entirely selfish. She didn't know they existed until that night, and like a sudden ache, nothing mattered but keeping them safe.

Once her arms were around a sobbing young girl, who held onto her, with her baby sister in her arms, Alison refused to let go. Even now, it was sometimes hard to let go of them when they were curled into her arms.

She knew how cruel the world was, and how little she could protect them from that. She could prepare them. That was a mother's job. Still, the knowing fact did little to assuage the need to try and protect them from something, anything.

The sound of an alarm, from up the stairs, drew Alison's attention. She blinked, looking up the stairs before her eyes darted back to the screen. She laughed as she watched her oldest bring a palm to her eyes, huffing, and trying to ignore the sound. After a moment, she decided it would not shut up, and tried to move out of her sister's reach to shut it off.

Her sister clung to her harder, and she gave up, groaning as she scooped her sister into her arms, who blinked tiredly awake, and pushed herself out of her bed to walk around and shut the alarm off. Knowing it was fruitless because Alison would have come to wake her up soon anyway, she shuffled out of her room, adjusting her sister so she sat comfortably against her hip.

Alison set the tablet down, pressed her palms to the countertop, and smiled as she watched her daughters descend the stairs.

"Good Morning, girls," she greeted.

Elaine, the oldest, grunted in greeting.

Olivia, however, waved at her mother, "Morning mommy!" She sang gleefully.

Elaine grunted again, moving to the kitchen island. Definitely, not a morning person, and Alison could relate to that. Elaine sat at one of the stools across the island and sat her sister on another one. Alison smiled as Elaine turned to make sure her sister was sufficiently and safely situated.

"Breakfast?" Elaine all-but demanded, tiredly.

Alison simply raised an eyebrow, waiting patiently as Elaine's brain caught up with her.

Elaine blinked, her eyes going wide, "Sorry, mom." Alison smiled. "What's for breakfast?"

Alison hummed as she turned to pick up two stacked plates, and moved them in front of her daughters.

"Eggs, biscuits, sausage. I thought a simple breakfast would be great for a Monday," she teased. Elaine nodded and smiled up at Alison before picking up her fork to eat. Olivia blinked and tried to copy her sister.

Alison smiled but turned to grab a glass and Sippy cup.

She turned back to her girls, "What do you two want to drink?"

"Juice please!" Olivia hollered, and Alison smiled, nodding, as she opened the fridge to pull out the orange juice.

Elaine swallowed a mouthful of food, ungracefully, in a way that reminded her so much of Emily–her heart squeezed at the name, and asked, "Coffee, please?"

Alison set the glass on the counter beside her and picked up her coffee cup and Olivia's orange juice. She slipped the sippy cup in front of her youngest and took a drink of her coffee before passing it to Elaine.

Elaine frowned, "This is yours, though."

"I've already had three cups," Alison admitted, "and I won't be able to finish that." Elaine nodded and sipped. "Are you excited about today, Siren? You're getting a new coach."

Elaine's face twisted in thought. Not particularly, at the nickname–Alison had called her that for years before it had stuck with the swim team–but at the idea of a new coach. There was something seriously wrong with Ben Coogan, and they both thought whoever the new coach was, couldn't be as bad, but they knew better than to jinx it.

They both knew how awful the world around them could be. How unforgiving.

So instead, Elaine shrugged, "I guess," she let out a breath, "I just...hope this week is better than last week."

Alison's heart broke for her daughter. There was nothing she could do, even as a teacher at the same high school, unless it was caught or reported. Elaine had refused to report anything to the police before it was inevitable. She was so terrified of being called a liar because of her past, and Alison felt the absolute want to rip Ben apart.

"It will be, baby girl," Alison forced a smile, leaning forward to press a kiss to the teenager's forehead. Elaine beamed.

Alison forced herself to turn around and wash the pans, both as a reprieve from forcing her smile, and so there wouldn't be any need for it later.

The girls usually got home first, either by Alison dropping them off, or even Aria, to meet their-or rather Olivia's-sitter until she was able to leave for the day. She didn't particularly like to bring grading papers home at all. She was trying not to bring the stress of work home to such a degree it affected the happiness she'd worked so hard to build for the girls.

She took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly. She hated being this good at hiding things. She didn't want to hide things from her daughters, but she knew Olivia wouldn't understand. Elaine would pick up on it right away if she lingered long enough near her.

She turned back around, setting dishes aside to air dry, and found Elaine frowning softly at her. Her eyes darted away.

"Elaine?" She received a soft hum, "Make sure your sister finishes. I'm going to get ready, I'll get her ready after. Don't worry about the dishes, okay?"

Elaine smiled around a mouthful of food and nodded. Alison laughed lightly and kissed her forehead again, causing Elaine to shove her away with an 'ew mom.' And she found herself laughing all the way upstairs.

Alison let out a sigh, parking the car in the school's lot. Elaine watched the world come to a standstill, as she held her bag to her stomach. It was a sign, to Alison, she was anxious. Nervous. She felt horrible for her daughter.

Elaine wasn't Ben's first victim, but at least back then, she and others could be on his ass twenty-four-seven, and they were all teenagers. He hadn't tried to prey on young girls then, but it didn't surprise her that he was doing so now, her heart broke for all of them in understanding. She was grateful, infinitely grateful, Elaine had opened up enough to the principal to start an investigation leading to his firing. It still hurt, however, to know he had tried with her daughter.

"El?" Elaine turned towards her, humming in acknowledgment, "You don't have to go back this week if you don't want to."

Elaine frowned, thinking about it. It reminded her of Emily. She, at least, pondered her options, before letting out a slow breath and deflating. She shook her head, muttering, "no. I want to. I don't want to let Hadley down."

Her heart swelled for Elaine and found herself smiling softly before leaning across the car to press a kiss to her forehead. Elaine beamed up at her, accepting the comfort.

"I'm so proud of you," Alison whispered, cupping her cheek. Elaine grabbed her hand, pulled it into her lap, and smiled, toothily. "Have a good day, okay?"

Elaine nodded, letting go of her hand and turning in her seat, reaching for the handle.

"Oh-" Elaine paused, "-don't forget swim practice okay? You don't have to go if you don't want to, but I promised you I'd stay after school with your sister until practice is over. I'll be there, okay?"

Elaine gave her a curt nod, though still smiling, and pushed herself out of the car. Gently shutting the door behind her. Alison couldn't help but chew the inside of her mouth, slumping against her seat as she watched Elaine walk almost timidly towards the school.

A familiar head of brown hair, brown eyes, dark skin, spotted her and lit up almost instantly. Alison couldn't help the way she chuckled. It reminded her a lot of the way Emily would light up around her. Hadley held her hand out with a grin and waited patiently on the sidewalk as Elaine rushed to grab her hand, and lean into her side to whisper.

Hadley had only been here for a few months, but Alison knew she recognized the sparks in their eyes. It was...nice to see Elaine being pulled further out of her shell, especially her angry shell, by the other girl.

Alison had worked so hard with Elaine, to better themselves. Equally. They shared a unique pain, and Alison understood all too well how easy it was to slip into that pain and let it change you. Let it consume you and twist you into something you never wished you could become.

Elaine, since the firing of Ben, had slipped a little back into her shell. Alison was thankful that Hadley had come over as often as she had to check on her. As much as Alison wished she, as a mother, could take that pain away…she knew friends, true loving friends, could do a lot. Sometimes friends like Hadley were so important, it felt like they saved you from yourself.

Alison could remember Hadley's first day, almost six months ago.

Hadley had stumbled her way through the first-period bell, confused until she'd been found by her homeroom teacher. The teacher, a crabby man, he hadn't lasted long after that anyway, had chewed her out.

Alison had walked around the corner, with a student that needed to see the nurse, to watch as Elaine had snapped at him. Alison probably shouldn't have been proud, but she was. Elaine stood in front of the new girl, who was bewildered and laid into him, about how he couldn't expect a new student to magically know where anything had been.

Mr. Thomas, snatched her arm, holding it too tightly. Alison had seen the panic appear in an instant, and Alison saw red. She was about to call out until Hadley St. Germain shoved him back and got into his face on behalf of Elaine.

He snarled and took a step forward. Grabbing her arms. Alison couldn't stop herself.

She quickened her pace and called out, "Hey!" The man turned his head, and let go of Hadley, stumbling back, as Hadley protectively wrapped an arm carefully around Elaine who whimpered, "What the hell do you think you're doing? They're students!"

"I- they're both being disrespectful!"

Alison had taken Hadley in, looking her up and down once. Hadley stiffened, ready to defend herself, but was surprised when Alison set her hands on her hips and glared so hard at the man he cowered.

"No, they weren't." The man blinked, confused, "I was down the hall. I saw, heard it all happen. You weren't quiet."

It was a lie, but he didn't need to know. Not even as Luke stumbled to her side, glaring at him too. He was a loyal kid.

Hadley stared at her in bewilderment.

"I- No-"

"What gives you the right to touch students?" She hissed, stepping into his space, "especially my daughter?"

It had stunned everyone, but Hadley had backed up her lie to the principal and decided that day, Ms. DiLaurentis, was her favorite teacher. It was also the day Alison watched Elaine cling to another person, aside from herself, until she calmed down. Hadley had taken it in stride and sat with the both of them.

They had been friends since, and Hadley was welcome over at the house any time. Something, she'd started taking seriously. Entering, without knocking, in an abrupt way that reminded her a little of Hanna. Uncaring. So very her.

A sharp knock at her window brought her out of her thoughts, causing her to jump as she found Aria staring at her amused. Alison rolled her eyes and rolled down the window, letting Aria lean in a little with a small laugh.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," There was a glint in her eyes, that told Alison she wasn't sorry at all, "I just saw you pull in."

Alison let out a huff. Part of her wanted to complain, but she couldn't. She'd made it a habit to do the same to Aria when they'd started on their path to becoming friends again.

"I don't want you to treat me any differently than you would a friend–-a real friend, this time, Ali." So she hadn't.

Alison still felt regret and guilt over the person she'd been in High School, but she knew–and Aria had firmly reminded her–she couldn't change the past. She only had the present and future she could influence. It had been tentative, but steady so far.

Alison had tried avoiding Aria, from the glares the shorter woman had given her, until Hadley's second day. Hadley had come to Alison asking if she could trade homerooms, so hers was Alison's–but Alison hadn't been able to squeeze it. Instead, she'd woman'd up and asked Aria, or rather begged her to take Hadley because she was a good kid.

She'd had to admit to a lot of things she didn't want to, but she'd done it. Aria had seen how genuine she was, and how much she loved Elaine.

"Alright I deserve that," she conceded.

"Damn right you do." Aria teased.

Alison smiled, rolling her eyes as she gathered her things.

"Wait-" Aria said, as Alison moved to get out of her car. Aria sounded suddenly nervous and that made her nervous. "-I need to tell you something, and you can't…be mad at Paige. She's your friend-"

That was still weird to Alison. To be friends with someone you hated and who hated you, enough, your children liked her. You called her for lunch sometimes to genuinely talk.

"Aria." Alison huffed.

Aria swallowed thickly before deciding to blurt it out, "Emily works here now." Alison froze, staring in shock. "Emily is the new swim coach. I only just found out this morning. She wanted to hang out during lunch."

Alison opened her mouth, and then snapped it shut.

Emily was…here? Working here?

Oh god. Every little thing Alison had ever done came rushing back to her, and she felt herself stiffen. Her jaw clenched.

Fuck. Hanna and Emily both hated her the most before they'd all split. It still hurt to think about the venom in Emily's voice, as she swore Alison out, warning her to stay away. That she was unkind- and it broke Alison's heart because she hadn't gotten the courage to tell Emily what she wanted to.

I love you, and I'm sorry. The words wouldn't come out, and if Emily had ever read any of her texts, she had probably deleted them.

Their last phone call before Alison had almost done the unthinkable-

And. God. Her daughter was going to be on her swim team. She inhaled sharply. She knew Emily wasn't unkind enough to treat Elaine differently, Emily treated you according to how you treated her, though she was forgiving, but- this was going to get so messy.

It was going to get so messy because Alison's heart still thumped loudly at the thought of Emily. Her palms still got heavy. Paige, told her often, to reach out now-

Fuck.

"Alison…are you okay?" Aria frowned.

Alison forced a smile and nodded, Aria didn't believe her, especially not as she let out a strained, "I'm fine."

She promised herself to resolve this as fast as possible. So, if anything, Emily could tell her to fuck off forever, and Elaine wasn't accidentally shoved in the middle. She refused to put her daughter in the middle.

She was going to protect her daughter better than her mother had ever protected her.

Paige winced, during lunch, when Alison came up to her. She knew the Alison now, and they were surprisingly good friends–but, she still expected the same old Alison to rip through the friend she had now, and tear her down.

Their friendship was actually…odd.

Alison had been back in town for a little while, with the girls–the girls that genuinely liked Paige, and Paige had been relentless in her judging of Alison. At least, until Alison had surprised her.

"No–I'm tired of this, go out with me," Alison had glared as she said it.

Paige had laughed until she realized Alison was serious.

"What?"

Alison had rolled her eyes, "Easy, there, I'm not asking you on a date, or to like…get to you, I meant like a-" Alison had sighed, "-like a friend hang out, or whatever."

"You're serious? You want me to…hang out with one of my fucking tormenters-"

Alison had frowned, but knew she deserved it, "I know what I did, but…I promise if you say yes, I'll answer any question you have, honestly."

"How can I fucking trust you, Alison?" Paige had asked harshly, stepping closer. Her hands were shaking.

The entire thing had felt bizarre, but there was this look in Alison's eyes, so exhausted–and truly open, that she was surprised when Alison had spoken,

"You don't. I'm just hoping, because I do want to apologize to you, Paige. I won't do it until you want to hear it, because I won't force you to listen. That wouldn't be fair to you."

Paige had reluctantly agreed. By the end of it, Paige still didn't entirely like her, but some part of Paige understood her. She understood Alison had respected her, especially after Alison had recounted her tale of how the girls had come into her life. Their friendship had developed from there, and half the time they couldn't stand each other, but they were both so stubborn.

Sometimes they were reluctant to call each other a friend, because of how often they grated on each other's nerves. But Paige had come a long way to admit, if Alison cared about you–she was loyal as shit. Even if the way she showed her loyalty wasn't the most appropriate.

"Paige," Alison spoke carefully, but with a tense smile.

Paige understood instantly, "Alison, look-"

Alison rose a hand, interrupting her, and sighed, "I'm not mad."

Paige blinked, "What?"

"I'm not mad," Alison smiled again, tentatively, "you also don't have a…legal obligation to tell me, though if you did, I probably would be pissed."

Again, "What?"

Alison tilted her head, smiling hesitantly though more real this time, and joked, "Someday you're going to have to stop being surprised when I don't lose my shit."

Paige let out a breath, "You're so good at losing your shit though."

"Therapy helps with that, you know," Alison joked.

Paige let out a small chuckle and smiled back, "That's…a good point. I would have told you but…I didn't know if she wanted you to know, but I also didn't tell her about you-"

"Like I said," Alison's smile turned sad, and Paige frowned at the sight of it, "I get it."

And she did.

–

"Have you seen her, at all?" Hanna asked.

Emily paused, frowning.

It was…weird because she had. She'd seen Alison DiLaurentis, during the school day, but she'd done such a good job at avoiding her–it had only been a total of three times she'd seen the familiar blonde.

One of those times–was at lunch. Alison had been…willingly talking to her ex, Paige McCullers for a brief moment, offering a smile Paige returned before she moved to sit with a couple of girls. One of which had been Hadley, Maya's niece. Hadley seemed to enjoy her company too, and Emily was worried about it.

She knew Alison. It had been years but–

"Yes," Emily sighed into her phone, turning with her arms crossed, "I just haven't…talked to her."

"Good," Hanna told her bluntly, "then she can't manipulate you like a game of Tetris."

Emily frowned, opening her mouth to reply–when the gym doors opened, and the current swim team members filtered in. Hadley had her arm looped with the arm of the girl she'd been sitting with for lunch. The girl seemed to be nervous, but her head was dipped, smiling, and blushing.

She smiled softly as Hadley grinned at her, and guided her towards the bleachers. Hadley was the only girl not in a uniform. It reminded her a lot of Maya, and Emily missed her.

"Han, the girls are here, I have to let you go."

Hanna said her goodbyes and hung up.

Emily watched as Hadley pulled the girl down to sit with her. The girl, olive skin, had shorts and a swim team shirt on–jacket draped over one of her arms as they sat. Hadley chuckled at something the girl said, and the girl grinned back, finally relaxing.

There was a spark in both of their eyes–Emily knew. She understood, as Hadley pressed her lips together and leaned forward to run one of her hands through the girl's hair.

Emily shook her head and approached them slowly. As she did, both girls looked up at her.

Hadley grinned at her, and pulled her hand away but dropped it to the small of the girls back, "Hi, Em!" She greeted.

Emily smiled back, "Hi Hadley," she turned to the girl, before looking down at the clipboard with names on the paper and frowned at the girl, "Sorry…I hate to ask, but–your last coach only wrote down nicknames. So…"

It still bothered her. She knew the last swim coach had been fired due to inappropriate advances towards students. She knew who it was too–and understood why he likely only used nicknames. Probably as a way to get the students to ease up around him, so they were easier to prey on.

She refused to do that.

"Oh that's easy," Hadley smirked mischievously, wrapping her hand further around the girl, "this would be, Siren. Her mom started that, she's a teacher."

Emily rose an eyebrow amused, "Siren?" she looked back down at the paper. There was Siren, crossed out with a simple E written beside it, that was concerning.

"Cause she can sing," Hadley told her as if it was a fact.

Siren finally spoke up, clearing her throat, and looked up at her. She had bright blue eyes but nodded to the paper.

"Siren is crossed out isn't it?" Emily nodded, "It's because I told mom it made me uncomfortable when he said it, and she threatened him…so E. My name is Elaine if that's what you wanted."

Emily nodded, and wrote Elaine, next to her name.

"Your mother sounds like a fun time," she tried to joke, "she also sounds like she cares about you."

Hadley laughed, "She's awesome. She got a teacher fired my first day here because he was being a jackass to me-"

"Hadley," Elaine turned, glaring softly.

Hadley rolled her eyes, "total jerk."

"Thank you," Elaine muttered, smiling before she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Emily grinned knowingly at Hadley who blushed and looked away.

"Are you always here?" Emily asked Hadley, trying to tease, "for any specific reason?"

Hadley sputtered, unable to answer. Elaine chuckled as she blushed further.

"She's here for Elaine," another student called as she approached, "she always shows up for Elaine. Every practice."

"Ava," Hadley hissed, "shut up."

"Hey," Elaine scowled, "be nice. She's your friend, it's not her fault, she's right."

Hadley stared at her, blinking in surprise. Her mouth hung open. Emily couldn't help but laugh in amusement as Elaine shrugged innocently and leaned into Hadley's side before she could pull away.

That was something that reminded her a little of Alison.

"I'm going to like you," Emily pointed at Elaine and smiled, "but…I am going to have to steal you from your Hadley-"

"I'm not-"

"Because, it's time for me to do my job," Emily interrupted, sending Hadley a look.

Hadley frowned, crossing her arms as she sulked. Emily couldn't help but shake her head as Elaine rolled her eyes and stood up, pressing another kiss to Hadley's temple and joined Emily as she gathered the team.

Practice, itself, was hardly practice. She spent the time pulling out a fresh piece of paper to take down everyone's first names, though she did find the majority of the team referred to a few members as their nicknames. Elaine was almost always Siren. Ava was, funnily enough, Avenue. Addison, a girl that reminded her too much of Alison, was Jelly half of the time.

The rest of the time was her getting to know everyone, and acquainting herself with the team. Hadley seemed to be an honorary member. They included her, bantered with her, or asked her to do simple things. She also watched as they fooled around, challenging each other to races. Hadley often timed their races.

They seemed like a close group, and though Addison was…difficult, she seemed to care for her team.

Fifteen minutes into practice, there was a solid knock at the pool doors–and Emily found it odd it was locked, but turned to go answer. When she did, Elaine stood up from the pool, her feet dipped in its edge, extracting herself from the middle of a conversation Hadley seemed to be in with Ava and Addison about strokes and smiled at Emily.

"I'll get it, coach."

"You sure?" Emily asked and Elaine nodded as she moved towards the doors.

Emily watched as Elaine opened the door before freezing.

Emily knew something was wrong when the girl froze.

"El?" Hadley called.

They both watched as a hand reached in, grabbing Elaine by the wrist, and yanked her out of the room. Hadley was on her feet as Emily sprinted towards the door. Fear coursed through her veins.

She'd only just met these girls, but they were her girls–she was responsible for them.

She knew Hadley was behind her, and likely the rest of the team as she shoved one of the doors open and there she stood in shock for a second. She hadn't prepared herself to see him again.

His hair was messy, as was his beard, and he had a clean plain black shirt, jeans, but she knew him. He had Elaine pressed against the wall, his arm pressing against her throat as he pressed his body against hers and snarled into her face. Elaine was crying, apologizing for something, and god–Emily felt the rage in an instant.

"Ben," Emily growled, and Ben turned to her, blinking in shock at the sight of her, "Let her go. Now."

"Em?" He whispered, easing up slightly until Elaine tried to pull out of her hold.

Ben blinked and scowled, rushing forward to grab Elaine and pull her back against him.

"You're not getting out of this you little-"

Emily couldn't take it anymore. There was no resolving this peacefully. She shot forward, faster than he could process.

She was determined to save Elaine from him.