A/N: Okay so I just watched the latest episode AND the promo for next week and MY GOD. HALEB IS BAAACK! I think this might be done next week! You guys wanted this done until they where back together and it looks like that's next week! I saw Tyler's snapchat from the other week so I'm really not worried about that little bit at the end of the promo!
I need to discuss that episode with some of you though! Like...I can't believe we're doing this with another child, and my money would be on Spencer because she looks freakily like Mary and that scene in the barn totally wasn't a dream, I bet. BUT then they seem to be riding the Noel train...but then...would they really make it so obvious not even half way through the season, and in promos and everything? I don't think so? And if memory serves, wasn't he helping Ali? But he totally wrote the same thing on Ezra's car!? I'M SO TORN. IS IT NOEL OR IS IT SPENCER OOOORRR IS IT ARIA BECAUSE OF THE DAMN FILE!? I JUST CAN'T DECIDE.
Also I love how Caleb STILL hasn't realised the extent of what Hanna went through and I'm seriously beginning to doubt he will. Like by the look of the promo. *sigh* TV Caleb has been slightly ruined for me so far.
Hanna had cried for well over an hour, Caleb just holding her the entire time, murmuring to her and trying to comfort her. He'd managed to get her over to the couch not long after Spencer had left. She'd eventually run out of tears, or was just too exhausted to carry on. Or maybe both. She sat, staring at nothing, tear tracks glistening on her cheeks. She didn't say a word. Mona and Caleb exchanged glances and Caleb then picked her up carefully and carried her to bed, tucking her in carefully. He sat next to her on the bed, carefully wiping her face with a damp flannel to clean the tear marks, then stroking her hair until she fell asleep. He heard her breathing even out, but he stayed still for a few minutes to make sure she was definitely asleep. Once he was sure he slowly got up and quietly made his way back to the main room where Mona was waiting for him. When he walked in, Mona was on the phone, finishing up a call to Spencer by the sound of it. He waited patiently for Mona to end the call, and within a few minutes, Mona had said her goodbyes and hung up.
"That was Spencer"
"I figured" he replied.
"Alison's okay. She was attacked, he was wearing a cop uniform and a mask. The police scared him off before he could kill her. If that's what he was trying to do." Mona said. Caleb nodded.
"I'll tell Hanna when she wakes up, she needs to just...sleep" Mona nodded in agreement.
"If it's Rollins…if he's back…." Mona started.
"I'm going to kill him again" Caleb finished. The two shared a grim look. "What are the chances?" Caleb asked.
"I'm not sure. It sounded like him but the voice was…..off. I'm trying to work it out now but I'm not getting very far. I would have thought it was impossible but…." Mona trailed off.
"But?"
"This is Rosewood" she said simply. Caleb inclined his head, conceding her point. "It's either Rollins himself, or it's someone pretending to be him, but the voice...the attack on Alison. I'm beginning to think he's harder to kill than he looks." Caleb turned to stare around the living space, eyes lingering on the used tissues littering the couch and the floor. He was silent for a few moments. Thinking. The only sound in the room was his and Mona's breathing. Finally he came to a decision and turned to Mona, breaking the silence.
"Get your coat. Now" he said quietly.
"Where are going?" Mona asked but she was already moving. Reaching for her jacket and pulling it on.
"To dig up a body" Caleb said in an emotionless voice, pulling on his own jacket. Mona didn't react. She just adjusted her jacket, then went to the kitchen and rooted around for a minute or two. Caleb ignored her and fiddled with his own jacket. He didn't want to leave Hanna alone, if she woke up and he was gone she'd freak out and he didn't want to put her through that again. But he needed to do this. For her. So she could know. He pulled out his phone as Mona emerged from the kitchen with two flashlights.
"We're going to need these" she held them up and Caleb nodded. "You're lucky I keep emergency shovels in my trunk, so we don't have to make a suspicious purchase at the Hardware store" Caleb looked at her, raising his brows.
"Why do-" he cut himself off. "You know what. I don't want to know. Plausible deniability" Mona smiled innocently at him. Caleb looked down at this phone, thumb hovering over Toby's number. Surely Hanna would feel safe with Toby there, he was a cop, and Caleb would tell him not to hesitate to shoot anyone trying to get in.
"I'm coming too" a voice sounded from behind him. Caleb and Mona whipped around to see Hanna standing in the bedroom doorway, hair rumpled and wearing the clothes he'd put her to bed in. She'd definitely been asleep.
"I thought you where asleep?" Caleb asked.
"I woke up because you weren't there" she said simply. Mona pulled an overly sarcastic "Aw" face at him and he shot her a look.
"I'm sorry, I was going to call Toby and..." Caleb trailed off and sighed. "You can't come Han, you need to stay here"
"No…I need to…..I need to see….I…I just need to see. Need to see if he's….if he's there and if he isn't…." Caleb and Mona exchanged a glance. If they argued this they'd lose valuable darkness. There was no way they could do this when it started to get light. Caleb got where Hanna was coming from, she needed the visual confirmation and just this once his word wasn't going to be good enough...but digging up his body? That was going to mess with her. Badly. Mona looked to be leaving the decision up to him. He debated a few more minutes then finally turned back to Hanna.
"You hold the flashlights" he said. Hanna looked surprised.
"No…..no arguing or…or…making me agree to wait in the car?"
"No. If you say you need to do this….I don't like it but…I get it." Caleb shrugged. Hanna threw her arms around him and whispered in to his ear.
"Thank you Caleb" he grimaced.
"Please don't thank me for…..this" he shuddered. This wasn't going to be pleasant. It was like his own personal horror movie. He looked to Mona.
"Let's go" was her only comment.
Mona drove. They rode in tense silence. Whatever they found….it wasn't good either way, although in Hanna's case one scenario might ease her mind and allow her to heal more. Although Caleb figured digging up the dead body of the guy she killed might set her back a bit. But then she wouldn't be doing any of the actual digging. He had contemplated asking Hanna to stay in the car but he knew she needed to see it herself, with her own eyes in order to believe it. For her mind to be at rest. Besides….Hanna was still Hanna. It wasn't like she'd do as he said. If he wasn't there...then Hanna might lose it. Or she might feel better knowing that he was out there. Definitely out there. Either way it wasn't going to be the best outcome and he would need to be there for Hanna. They'd have to call Spencer and work out what to do. You'd better be in the damn ground you asshole. Mona pulled up, hiding her car in the trees as best she could.
"It's just through here" she said. They piled out of the car. Caleb saw Hanna shivering slightly. She'd opted to quickly change in to leggings and a black sweater. He'd told her it wouldn't keep her warm enough but with true Hanna Marin logic, she'd retorted that she needed to "look the part", needed to be "stealthy and blend in like a ninja". Caleb had chuckled and let it go. Whatever would make her feel better about doing this. Whatever made her happy. Caleb removed his jacket and rolled his eyes as Hanna took it from him sheepishly.
"Don't worry, you'll still make a cute ninja, you'll just be a lot warmer. Can't be stealthy with your teeth chattering" he smirked, then helped her to put it on before stepping back. He watched as she pulled it around herself tightly and he smiled. Mona, who'd been rummaging in her trunk, slammed the lid shut and came back around the front of the car. She handed Caleb a shovel and Hanna the two flashlights.
"Let's go" they wordlessly followed her as she sped through the undergrowth, Caleb keeping Hanna within easy reach for the entire short walk.
"This is it. This is the spot" Mona said quietly, bringing them to a halt. Caleb glanced around. The moon shone down clearly through the trees, illuminating the area. There was a clear patch of ground, surrounded by trees, covered in fallen leaves.
"I…..I….I remember, it's like it was a dream or something." Hanna said quietly, staring fixedly at the ground. "It looks like it did….before" Caleb nodded, noticing the entire ground area looked untouched.
"That doesn't mean anything. He could have covered the hole back up." Mona reasoned and Caleb shot her a grateful look for not giving Hanna time to feel stupid. "I would have" Mona finished. Caleb's grateful look vanished and he rolled his eyes upwards.
"Of course you would. Let's get this over with" Caleb turned to Hanna and gestured at the flashlights in her hand. "Hold both and point them down at the ground so we can see where we're digging"
"As if you need the light" Hanna muttered. Caleb gently clasped her cheek in one hand.
"Hey. You've already been through enough without having to do…this. So please just stand there and hold the flashlights that we don't need okay?" Hanna nodded, giving him a very faint smile.
"Actually, the extra light will help us exam-" Caleb whirled to Mona and made a slashing motion with his hand. Mona winced, then wisely didn't finish her sentence. She handed Caleb a shovel and led him over to the spot she thought was where she'd seen them digging. They dug their shovels in to the ground viciously and with more force than was really necessary. He figured he'd take out some of his anger on the poor, innocent ground and Mona clearly felt the same.
Caleb didn't know how long they'd been digging but he felt like he'd done a full body workout. It was a cold night but he was sweating buckets and he lamented the fact they hadn't thought to bring water. Digging up dead psychopaths was thirsty work, it turns out. They'd been digging in silence to the soundtrack of the nocturnal wildlife in the area going about their business, and the sound of dirt shifting.
"I don't remember digging this much" Hanna said quietly, breaking the silence.
"You didn't. You where in shock. The girls dug this…you filled it in" Mona replied. Caleb tightened his hold on the shovel, driving it back in to the ground with all of his anger behind it. He was still pissed they hadn't stopped her. That they'd let her touch his body. Let her...let her bury the bastard. Caleb stood back and surveyed their work. They'd dug quite a way down, and quite away across, the rough measurements Mona recalled seeing. They'd found nothing. They couldn't have dug much deeper than this, could they?
"He…he isn't here. Is he?" Hanna said hesitantly from her spot nearby. To her credit, she managed to keep calm, there was no hint of hysteria in her voice. Caleb figured watching them dig had offered her time to prepare herself for either eventuality. If he wasn't there, things where going to be harder for Hanna, but right now she was coping well and he was proud of her.
Caleb opened his mouth to reply when his spade hit something with a dull thud. His eyes shot up to meet Mona's.
"Hanna stay back. I mean it…just stay back" He said as he and Mona tossed the shovels to the side, got down on hands and knees and started to haul the dirt out of the way with their bare hands. Caleb tried not to show how creeped out he was, he really didn't want to be touching a dead body. They both recoiled once they'd uncovered what Caleb had hit. It wasn't a pleasant sight. Rollins was definitely dead…maggoty and dead. Caleb wrinkled his nose in disgust as a smell started to permeate the air.
"He's dead Han." Caleb called to her. "Really, really dead...please don't ask me to check for a mask or a pulse" Caleb mumbled. He would do it but...he shuddered. When he got no response from Hanna, he turned to see Hanna right behind him, staring down at Rollins dead face. Caleb swore and Mona started to quickly shove dirt over him, to block Hanna's view.
"Dammit Hanna I told you not to look" he said with concern.
"I had to…..I had to see….to know….to make sure he's…..he's dead. That he can't….can't hurt me…can't….he can't…..I had to see."
"He'll never lay a hand on you again Hanna. Okay. He's dead. The calls…they aren't him."
"They must be his partner" Mona said grimly, shovelling dirt. Caleb grabbed his shovel and started to help. Hanna stared down at the grave. Not moving. Not speaking. She just stared at his slowly disappearing head. Caleb couldn't do anything, he needed to get it covered up as fast as possible so she couldn't keep looking at it.
"Question is…..who is it? Why are they helping us cover up Rollins death? Why go through all the trouble of making Hanna think he was still alive? Just to mess with her? To...punish her?" Caleb pondered out loud. They shovelled in silence, Hanna standing to the side quietly. Despite his attempts to stop her, she probably had that image burned in to her brain. The grave was nearly filled in when Mona's head shot up.
"What? What is it?" Caleb asked. "Did you hear something?" Mona glanced at Hanna, who hadn't moved, and then whispered to Caleb.
"What if this was the reason? Whoever it is…makes Hanna think Rollins is still alive…knows what it'll do to her after everything she's been through, the barn, actually killing him...and knows we'll come here eventually. To check. To put her mind at ease." Caleb followed her thought process.
"You think we're on camera right now? Real Grave Diggers of Rosewood? Or should that be Body Exhumers?" Mona shrugged.
"It's a possibility…..a good one. Maybe they know it was us or suspected...but they didn't have any proof. Not until now."
"Not until we gave it to them. Great…." Caleb looked at Hanna again.
"Don't say anything. Not yet" Mona urged. Caleb nodded in agreement and the pair finished filling in the grave, covering it as best they could to hide the disturbed ground. Once they where done, Caleb slowly approached Hanna, who hadn't moved. He wasn't even sure she'd blinked. This was a terrible idea. But now...now she knows.
"Han?" he said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"He's gone….he's really gone…he can't….he can't hurt me….he's gone. I've been so scared….so scared he was back and…and that I..that he'd…." Hanna swallowed. "But he's dead. I really did….I killed him and….and…" Caleb hugged Hanna fiercely.
"It was an accident. Okay? An accident. Besides, he got what he deserved. He will never hurt you again. No-one will. I'll make sure of it" Caleb promised. Hanna nodded in to his chest, holding on to him tightly. When he found out who'd decided to mess with Hanna like this….they'd be joining Rollins in the ground. No-one was going to hurt Hanna again. Not with him around and he'd always be around.
