A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this has taken so long, I've been needing to edit it for ages and I owe you four chapters for the latest episode...eight from tomorrow when the next episode has aired! I promise I'll write them and you'll get them but it won't be on the same schedule as usual and may take a while. I've been getting really bad headaches/migraines that make it really hard to write because it's really hard to concentrate and it makes my head all fuggy, and I've been kind of struggling to write for this anyway, because I feel like I've kind of lost my motivation, but I promised I'd at least go to the summer finale so I will, just please be patient with me!

Once Hanna had finally stopped crying and calmed down, she and Caleb had emerged in to the main room to see Mona laying out snacks in little bowls all over the coffee table, a stack of DVD's perched next to the TV.

"What's all this?" Hanna asked. Mona turned to her and smiled.

"Well, I think it's time for a Girls Night In" Mona announced. "You can be a girl for the evening" Mona shot at Caleb, knowing she wouldn't be able to get rid of him. "Harder now, with your shorter hair, but I'm sure you'll manage" she said dismissively. Caleb glared at her but it lacked any real heat. Mona had seen how upset Hanna was that the others hadn't believed her, he'd heard her and Spencer going at it before the other girls had left, he wondered if Mona had heard what Hanna said, he shot an enquiring look at Mona and she must have expected the question because she just nodded without an explanation. So she had heard. She'd done all of this…to cheer Hanna up. Well at least Hanna has one good friend. Caleb thought to himself. He and Hanna settled down on the couch, Hanna wrapped in Caleb's arms and leaning against him, with Mona on Hanna's other side.

"But…what about the codes?" Hanna asked quietly. Mona shook her head.

"The programme will let me know if it finds anything, I need a break anyway" Mona responded, taking charge of the remote and starting up the first movie. Caleb eyed the DVD stack. Pink….they're all pink…or have pink on them somewhere….he sighed. Anything for Hanna. He thought as he resigned himself to an evening of chick flicks. Maybe he'd even manage to stay awake. They where on the second movie when there was a knock at the door. They all looked at each other, none of them expecting a visitor.

"I'll get it" Mona said, noting Hanna's position of comfort with Caleb. She came back a few minutes later with Aria in tow.

"Hey Han" Aria said with a little wave.

"What are you doing here? I thought you where with Spencer talking to some doctor?" Hanna asked curiously.

"Oh. Yeah. We found him…I'll let Spencer fill you in on that later" Aria shrugged. She gestured to Mona, "I heard there was a girls night…and…I could really use one right now" Aria said, eyes shining. Hanna patted the space next to her, on the other side of Caleb after Mona nodded at her to let her know she didn't mind having her seat stolen, she must have texted the girls with an invite...and only Aria had been available evidently. Or wanted to come.

Aria shucked her jacket and dumped it with her bag on a chair, before heading over to sit next to Hanna, putting her head on her shoulder, and linking her arm with Hanna's.

"Is it Ezra?" Hanna asked quietly. Aria nodded.

"I…Nicole might be alive and…and…I should have told him about the call but I didn't want to give him false hope and then…I didn't know how to make it up to him so I..I cashed in our tickets to Italy and….I bought one for Ezra so he could…so he could go" Aria got out, wiping her eyes. Hanna hugged her friend as best she could from her position.

"He'll come back Aria, he loves you, and if you love someone…they always come back." Hanna was acutely aware of Caleb's eyes on her as she spoke, he'd had to loosen his hold on her so she could comfort Aria but he tightened it as she spoke.

"I hope so" Aria said quietly. "Listen…Han….I'm sorry about earlier. Noel looks….really shady…I mean..there's so much that points to him but we don't have anything concrete and if we want to be taken seriously by the police, we need something concrete, so far it's all…circumstantial. It's not that I don't believe you Han, I just…I want to make sure he can't wriggle out of anything, Spencer and the others…" Aria winced as she remembered, "They just handled it wrong." Aria said quietly. Hanna nodded.

"It's my fault, I started babbling" Hanna sighed. "I know you need evidence..I just…Grunwald…when she was there and Noel was there…I kept seeing flashbacks and….what if Noel was the one who was in the Barn with me, not Rollins? If he…if he did that to me I-"

"If he did, then he's not going to get away with it" Aria said firmly. "And before you start to think it….Rollins…it was an accident. We all know it Hanna. You didn't mean to, you tried to stop but…it was too late. He ran out too late." Aria said rubbing Hanna's arm. Hanna nodded. Caleb had already been over this with her, but it meant a lot that her friend had said it too. "Also…we've been friends for how many years?! Everyone should be able to decode your babbles Hanna" Aria said with a light laugh and Hanna smiled.

"So….shall we get back to…uhh….uuh.." Caleb struggled to recall the name of the movie he hadn't been paying any attention too. Mona sighed and hit play.

"You could at least try to make it less obvious you've been napping" Mona snarked.

"Hey, I don't do chick flicks" he shot back.

"No-ones making you stay" Mona quipped.

Hanna and Aria laughed at Caleb and Mona's bickering, before the group settled down to watch the movie. The calm didn't last long, but then..it never did these days.

"Do you think Noel wrote it?" asked Emily, as she peered at the paper. Spencer, Emily and Alison had shown up an hour or two after Aria and interrupted their movie night with news. News that Hanna wasn't at all pleased to hear, Caleb, Mona and Aria where crowded around Hanna, peering at the paper.

Alison shrugged. "I don't know what to think anymore" she replied to the question.

"Well whoever AD is, they're still one step ahead of us" Spencer said. Hanna sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Whoever AD is….they still don't see that it's Noel. Aria squeezed Hanna's arm in support.

"Not necessarily, you got to the doctors first" Emily said to Spencer.

"Yeah, and I'll let you know how helpful that was after I look in to every county childcare employee of the 90's" Spencer replied, walking over to the couch.

"Well maybe it's time we go to the police and say it's Noel" Emily suggested, Aria agreeing with her. Hanna picked up the sheet of paper. "Toby hasn't left yet and that Detective Fury seems reasonable"

"What happens if we're wrong?" Spencer asked. Hanna could hear the conversation…the debate in the background like a TV turned down low. Still debating. Spencer was the problem. Aria, Mona and Caleb where fighting her corner. Fighting for her theory. In between movies, Hanna had talked everything over with Aria. Explaining her reasoning, explaining her dream, explaining what had happened with Grunwald. Aria had listened. She hadn't looked at her like she was crazy, she'd listened, asked questions…and then she'd agreed with Hanna, not that she hadn't before, apparently. She just knew Spencer was going to need evidence. Emily was even on side now, despite the fact that Alison wasn't. Spencer and Alison where out numbered, but it was still Spencer calling the shots.

"AD fries us..that's what happens" Alison said. She could hear Caleb and Mona joining Aria and Emily to argue the point.

Hanna stared down at the paper in her hands. The words glaring up at her.

I warned you bitches. Do you really want to end up dead?

It was obvious who it was from. Hanna was the only one who could see that..no. She wasn't the only one. Not anymore. Caleb and Mona had been on her side from the start, Aria too. Emily had even jumped ship to Hanna's 'side' if there where even sides. Spencer and Alison where the problem. Hanna got it. They needed solid evidence to make sure that Noel went down. To make sure he couldn't get out of it and come after them. She understood. But the others where investigating all over the place, they weren't trying to dig in to Noel at all. Hanna looked at the paper one more time.

Do you really want to end up dead?

She swallowed and looked away. The word 'dead' echoing through her head, bringing a memory with it.

Electricity powering up. Darkness all around her, not sure where the next attack was coming from. She gritted her teeth, but the memory wouldn't be ignored. Wouldn't be pushed to the side.

Water seeping across the floor, hitting her feet. A sudden jet of it hitting her, freezing cold and knocking the breath from her lungs. Not knowing what was going to happen next. Terror. Electricity humming through the air. Contact. Pain. "No no no, please stop…please stop! Stop…please" unending pain. Attack after attack, never knowing where the next was going to come from, unable to block…unable to protect herself. Pain lancing through her.

A darker memory started to shove it's way forward. Being pressed to the ground…held down…unable to get up. Hearing the hum of electricity coming closer…and closer….the prod being pressed to her skin..but instead of being pulled away again…it was held there. Held there, burning, excruciating pain. Screaming endlessly for it to stop.

Hanna could still hear herself screaming when she shook the memory off and returned back to the apartment. She turned and left the apartment. She didn't hesitate. Didn't balk at the thought of the darkness outside that door, she just walked. Her friends where worried about ending up dead. Ending up hurt because they'd wrongly accused Noel, or didn't have enough evidence to keep Noel from getting out of it, so he could come after them. It wasn't that they didn't believe her. It was that they where scared Noel would get off and he'd come for them. They where scared of being hurt. But Hanna….whether it was Noel or not…she'd been hurt. She'd been tortured. She'd actually wanted to die to make it all stop. She'd been through the worst pain she'd ever experienced and she was still standing. To protect Caleb…to protect her friends…she wasn't afraid of going through it again. They needed evidence? She'd get evidence. She'd get so much evidence they wouldn't know what to do with it.

As Hanna walked, she realised something. She wasn't afraid anymore. She wasn't afraid to die. She'd been to hell and back and sometimes…it felt like she'd never left. If they didn't find out who AD was…get rid of AD..then their lives would always be lived watching their backs, being scared of every single text alert. In Hanna's case, she might never be able to live a normal life. Sure she'd been doing better but she would never not be scared of the dark. Never not be scared to be out alone. It needed to stop. Hanna was going to take back control, she'd keep everyone safe, Caleb, Mona, Aria, Emily, Spencer, Alison. She'd keep them all safe. Grunwald had said Caleb was in danger, and it had to be Noel. Noel is going to hurt Caleb. Her dream showed her that. Grunwald had also said there was a darkness around Hanna. It was true. Old Hanna was shiny and colourful, new Hanna felt washed out. Felt like all the colour had been leached out of her. She felt dark. Because sometimes…what she didn't admit to anyone…was that she wished she'd died in that barn, because living with the consequences of it…it was really hard. Surviving was hard. Even with Caleb and Mona helping her. It was hard. Sometimes she just wanted it all to stop. She'd been coming to the realisation, that she wasn't afraid to die. Not after staring death in the face in that barn. Not after wanting to die, so, so badly. Wanting it more than she'd wanted anything. A part of her had already died in that barn.

She wasn't afraid. She'd already been through the worst torture…the worst pain, she wasn't afraid of it like the others where. Nothing else could hurt as much as that did. Except for Noel hurting Caleb…hurting her friends. That was the only thing he could do that scared her…that would destroy her. She wasn't afraid of death and pain like her friends where…she'd already been there. If she had to…she'd go there again. To protect them. She was broken. The barn had broken her and try as she might, she couldn't quite put herself back together. If she could help her friends…keep them and Caleb safe…then maybe this was what she was meant to do. Maybe this was the only way she could help…could contribute. She hadn't been able to do anything else but this…she could do this. Even if it meant more pain….even if it meant death. She'd do this. Because it was all she could do. It wasn't like she wouldn't know what to expect this time. Why break her friends when she was already broken, it wasn't like Noel could break her anymore.

The same time Hanna came to her realisations…she'd been formulating a plan. She was going to go full Mona. She was going to watch Noel, she was going to find out what he was up to, she was going to wait for him to slip up and she'd be there when he did. She'd get the evidence they needed. As she reached the doors to the street she pulled out her phone and dialled.

"The deals on" she said, when they answered. "I get you the money. You give me the keys."

"When do you want to do this?"

"Tomorrow. And then you forget you ever heard from me. My name. The location. This number. All of it. Do you understand?" she asked, trying to sound firm. Trying to sound….like Mona. Silence crackled down the line.

"Do you understand?" She channelled Mona as best she could.

"Yeah, I understand"

"Good. The less you know about this, the better" she said, before hanging up.

"Hanna, what are you doing out here?" Caleb called as he finally caught up to her, he'd left Mona and Aria holding down the fort, and he'd taken the stairs…not realising Hanna had braved the elevator to get outside as fast as she could before anyone caught up to her. She'd known Caleb at least would come after her. She turned to face him.

"Nothing..I…I just needed some air they-"

"I know. But we'll get whatever they need Hanna. Spencer's being stubborn but …we'll figure it out" Caleb said reassuringly and Hanna let him pull her in to a hug. She hugged him tightly. Tomorrow…tomorrow she would leave and put her plan in to action. She might not see Caleb ever again after tonight…but at least he'd be safe. This could be her last night with him…with Mona…

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking down at her.

"Fine…I…I just…" Caleb nodded understandingly.

"Let's go back inside" He said, tugging her gently towards the lights of the apartment building. When they got back upstairs, Aria and Mona where waiting for them. The others having left, Hanna and Caleb must have missed them, taking the stairs while the others took the elevator. Hanna had strode in to the elevator to go down without thinking about it, but she couldn't do it a second time. She knew she'd have to steel herself. Push her fears to the side, because tomorrow…she'd be going it alone. She couldn't be scared, couldn't be riddled with fear. She had to do this to protect her friends because she was the only one who could. The only one who'd been tortured and wasn't afraid of pain…wasn't afraid of anything Noel would throw at them. She'd be strong. She'd…she'd manage her fear. That's why I'm leaving in the morning instead of…well….now. I'll just have to manage as best as I can. Hanna settled on the couch in between Caleb and Mona, with Aria to the side, and tried to focus on the movie. But internally? She was planning everything. Psyching herself up. I can do this. For Caleb…for the others…I can do this. What am I so afraid of? I've already experienced pain. There's nothing left for me to fear.

Morning dawned bright and harsh for Hanna. She left Caleb sleeping and quietly got ready. She'd spent the night clutching Caleb like a human teddy bear, wanting to make the most of him being there, because she might never see him again. Once she was dressed, in an outfit that concealed her burns, while managing to be completely Hanna Marin. Stylish. Something she'd wear to New York. She quickly packed a bag and then tip toed out in to the main space. No sign of Aria and Mona, they must have gone out to grab breakfast because once again...Hanna had nothing in the apartment. She headed towards the door, hesitating with her hand on the door handle. It was a strange thing, to be afraid and yet…not afraid. She was afraid of the dark…afraid of being trapped….afraid of her torturer. Rollins was dead, but if it was Noel…she was the one setting the trap..not him. He'd be the one trapped. He'd be the one at a disadvantage. Not her. She would be fine. I can do this. For Caleb. To keep him safe. As she went to open the door a voice sounded from behind her.

"Going somewhere?" She jumped and spun to face Caleb, who was standing there looking sleep rumpled but…he was dressed. And he had a bag. She frowned in confusion.

"I'm going to New York. I have to do some leg work for the design business Lucas and I are building. I'm going to be..off the grid for a couple days" she stated the rehearsed line. Caleb raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You and I both know that while you're getting better at leaving the apartment, there's no way in hell you'd fly to New York by yourself. Want to try again?" he folded his arms.

"I uh….I'll be fine. I'm just…Lucas needs.."

"You'd sound more convincing without the stuttering" Caleb chuckled. "So…where are we going?"

"We're not going anywhere, I told you-"

"And I know when you're lying Han, which is probably why you decided to try to sneak out without saying goodbye"

"I…I…I….how did you….pack a bag that fast?" she asked.

"I always have a bag ready to go. Answer the question" Caleb said stubbornly.

"I'm…I'm going to get the evidence we need. On Noel." She finally said. "I….everyone's so afraid of AD coming for them but…after the barn…I realised…I'm, I'm scared of a lot of things, the dark, being trapped, even water a little bit, but…I'm not scared of pain or…or of dying. And besides…this is on my terms, Noel…Noel won't be trapping me, I'll be trapping him"

"Hanna….you're not risking yourself alone. You're too important to…to me. You might not be afraid of any of that, but I'm terrified I'll lose you….that you'll get hurt again because I wasn't there." Caleb said, reaching out to touch her face. "So we do this together."

"Caleb no, I'm….I want to protect you"

"I know, and I appreciate that Han but…I didn't protect you last time. I left you and look what happened. I'm not leaving you again. Where you go, I go. So…where are we going" he asked again. Hanna swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I have to…I have to pick up some keys"

"We have to, you mean. Let's go" Caleb said opening the door. "We'll call Mona once we're on the road, get her to cover for us with the others" He said, taking Hanna by the hand. She nodded.

"Let's go" she said, and the two of them walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind them. Hanna wanted to keep Caleb safe. Keep him as far away from this as possible but she should have known better…should have known he wouldn't let her go alone, wouldn't let her out of his sight. Much as she wanted to keep him safe…she couldn't deny that she felt comforted that he was going with her…that she wouldn't have to do this alone. That he would be there to help her…to keep her safe.