A/N: Long overdue but here it is. Hope it's okay.
The coppery smell of blood fills the car as Spencer rushes to the hospital, the vehicle swerving violently on the road. Emily's tears stain Hanna's shirt as she holds her, the image of Paige collapsing to the ground replaying over and over in her head. She can hear Hanna talking but her words don't make sense. All Emily can hear is Paige's scream when A grabbed her.
"We need to go back...we need to go back for her." She mutters brokenly against Hanna's chest.
Hanna squeezes her shoulders gently and glances down at her, "We will. We'll get help and we'll go back for Paige."
Emily nods and stares out the window. She doesn't know how but she can feel that Paige is alive. She has to be alive. She won't be able to handle losing someone she loves again.
She sits up suddenly, startling Hanna. Anger suddenly consumes her and she slams her fist against the seat in front of her. Alison turns to look at her in alarm, Spencer glancing at her through the rearview mirror. She ignores their concerned looks and stares straight ahead.
She's done. She's tired of being afraid and scared all the time, of fearing for her loved ones. Her mom, her dad, her friends, and Paige. She won't lose anyone anymore. She'll fight back with everything she has left to get Paige back to her safe.
She's jerked from her thoughts as the car skids to a stop.
They're at the emergency entrance of the hospital. The doors are pulled open as nurses pull a gurney along the SUV. Alison hastily steps out of the vehicle and stands aside, shielding her face from view. The nurses struggle to pull Ezra out, but eventually they strap him onto the gurney and rush him into the hospital. Aria jogs alongside him, trying to keep hold of his hand but getting pushed aside by a nurse.
"Hanna, stay with her." Emily realizes she's speaking, the words tumbling from her mouth without her consent. "Alison, you can stay here with them or come with Spencer and me." She meets Alison's eyes and waits impatiently as she mulls her options over. Alison opens her mouth to speak but is interrupted by a male voice behind her.
"I don't think you're going anywhere girls. I have a lot of questions to ask you."
They all turn and stare at Detective Holbrook; his gaze is locked on Alison, his eyes narrowed. Emily watches as Alison fidgets under the stare. She meets Hanna's eyes and subtly nods her head in Holbrook's direction.
Hanna steps toward him and places her hand on his arm, "Gabriel, you need to let them go." He opens his mouth to protest but Hanna rushes forward. "Look, our friend Paige is in serious danger right now. This is a life and death situation. Just let them go and when they get back we'll tell you everything." Her eyes look pleadingly into his, begging him to let them go.
He stares at her, his eyes shifting to look at the other girls. His gaze lingers on Alison again and he sighs loudly, "Alright. But I'm coming with you, and so is Alison." He jerks his head to the side, "Well take the police cruiser."
He steps aside as he extends his arm, signaling for them to go first. Emily glances back at Hanna as they walk hurriedly to the vehicle. Hanna gives her a small supportive smile, silently telling her everything will be alright.
She looks away as Hanna turns and makes her way into the hospital to look for Aria. Emily climbs into the backseat with Spencer and Alison, the cramped space making her anxious. Spencer gives Holbrook's the directions hurriedly, describing with perfect detail where they last encountered A. She meets Spencer's eyes as the warmth of her hand rests on her knee. Spencer squeezes it gently and Emily thankful for the supportive touch.
They stare out the windows as Detective Holbrook turns the key and the cruiser roars to life, the sirens going off immediately as he makes his way into the streets, the arrow on the speedometer rapidly climbing as he takes off.
The drive seems endless as Emily hugs herself, her thoughts swirling as her mind tortures her with countless outcomes that she could be facing any minute. Dread fills her as she tightens her arms around her. She can feel Alison staring at her but she ignores her, her mind focusing on Paige.
Her stomach lurches as the vehicle comes to a stop, the headlights illuminating the building they had left what felt like hours ago. The full moon that had brightened the night earlier was now hidden behind dark clouds and Detective Holbrook pulls out his flashlight as they all climb out.
"There." Spencer points to a dark area off to their left. Emily holds her breath as Holbrook walks forward and flashes his light in the direction, the same thoughts that had filled her mind in the car suddenly flash through her mind.
Paige's lifeless body on the ground. Paige not there at all.
She doesn't know which one's worse.
Her breath escapes her as the light illuminates nothing but the dirty ground. She clutches Spencer's arm as her knees get weak.
Paige isn't there.
That means…
She closes her eyes. That means A must have taken her. There was no other explanation. If someone else had found her then surely they would have called the cops.
She sinks to the ground, her heart aching as she stares at nothing. Anger slowly starts to fill her again and she slams her fist into the ground. She clenches her jaw as jarring pain shoots up her arm, but she doesn't care, she knows what A's going to do. He'll use Paige. He'll use her to control her, to manipulate her.
She pulls her arm back to slam her fist into the ground again but is stopped by a warm hand on her arm.
"Emily, don't." Alison's voice is close to her. She looks up and meets her gaze. "Hurting yourself isn't going to help."
Alison jerks back as she pulls her arm roughly from her grasp.
She glares at Alison, her voice cold. "You wouldn't know anything about that though, would you?"
Alison gapes at her, confused.
Does she not know what she did to Paige?
Emily shakes her head as she stands up, an impassive look on her face. She turns as Holbrook makes his way towards them, a grim expression on his face as he talks into the phone in his hand.
"This is Holbrook's. We have a crime scene at my current location. The victim's nowhere to be found but blood has been found at the scene. Send in back up." His grave expression meets each of theirs. "I'm bringing in the witnesses for interrogation. Emily Fields, Spencer Hasting and Alison DiLarentis. Send someone to pick up Hanna Marin and Aria Montgomery at the hospital in New York. I'll send you the address right away." His jaw clenches, "Yes, I did say Alison DiLarentis." He guides them toward the police cruiser. "Yes, they have a lot of explaining to do."
"Ugh I feel like my head is fried," Hanna grumbles as she rubs her temples. The cool night air ruffles their hair as they step out of the police station.
Spencer glances at her and pinches the bridge of her nose, stressed out like the rest of them. "I think you mean brain."
"What?" Hanna looks at her in annoyance.
"You feel like your brain is fried. It wouldn't make sense for your head to-" Spencer's interrupted by Hanna's frustrated voice.
"I can't deal with your smartass right now Spencer. Please just shut up."
Emily ignores they make their way down to the parking lots.
They had spent the previous night and all day today at the station. Spencer's mom had attempted and failed to get the cops to let them leave the night before. No matter how many threats she had thrown their way they hadn't budge. As they had waited in the lobby at the police station, Paige's dad had come crashing through the doors, demanding to be told were her daughter was. He had rushed towards Emily, yelling that it was her fault but before he could reach her two cops had taken him into Holbrook's office. When he finally came out he had glared at her and she could do nothing but avoid his accusing gaze. The guilt she felt made her stomach churn as she had stared at her bruised knuckles. The raw and torn skin was covered in dried blood.
The girls had been interrogated separately in dark cold rooms that they had gotten use to being in. Emily wasn't sure what the girls had told Detective Holbrook, but she had told them everything. She needed to finally get everything off her chest. 24 hrs later and they were finally free. Well, they were. Alison was being kept under watch incase A tried to get to her and Aria had left to the hospital to be with Ezra.
Emily's brow furrows as she reaches her car. She still has no idea where Paige is, or what happened to her after they had taken off and left her with A. Her stomach twists as she thinks about that. They had left her and now A had her. It didn't even matter that Paige had told them to go, they shouldn't have left.
She digs her nails into her palms painfully, the torn skin around her knuckles stretching painfully. Her eyes squeeze shut as she tries to control the anger that's threatening to consume her.
Her eyes snap open as her phone rings in her pocket. She meets Hanna and Spencer's eyes briefly as she reaches into her pocket to retrieve her phone. She takes a deep breath as she looks at the screen. It's the text she had been waiting for. She knew sooner or later A would contact her. What she's not ready for is what the text contains. Her heart beats faster as she reads the words on her phone.
"I hear swimmers can hold their breath longer than most people. How long can your girlfriend hold hers? -A"
Under the txt is a picture, and when Emily taps her phone to zoom in, a gasp escapes her lips.
It's a picture of the school's pool. The bright lights reflect off the water and illuminate the figure hanging above it. Paige's limp body hangs above the pool, her arms are stretched out above her, her wrists tied to an end of a rope. Metal chains are tied to her ankles, the ends wrapped around heavy looking weights. Paige's head is slumped sideways, her hair covering her face.
Emily's hand shakes as she stares at the image. Her phone's pulled from her hand and she looks up to see Spencer holding it close to her face. She doesn't wait for whatever Spencer's going to say. She quickly unlocks her door and climbs into her car. Her fingers fumble as she tries to insert the key into the ignition. She slams her hand against the steering wheel angrily and gives an exasperated breath when it finally slides in. She turns the key just as Hanna and Spencer climb into the car, her foot pressing hard on the pedal before they close their doors.
Out of the corner of her eye she sees Spencer show Hanna the image. She ignores Hanna's mortified slack-jawed expression as she rushes through the dark and empty streets to Rosewood High.
"A's definitely not playing games anymore." Hanna's voice is hoarse, her expression grim.
Emily's fists tighten around the steering wheel, blood dripping down her hand, "A was never playing games."
The school suddenly comes into view and she slams down on the breaks as her headlights illuminate the side doors of the pool.
She scrambles out of her car and runs towards the doors, her body slamming into the as she pushes them open. Her footsteps echo as she rushes towards the pool. She skids to a stop as she spots Paige's body. She's swaying slowly side to side, the weights at her ankles pull her down and when Emily looks closer she sees blood dripping down her wrists were the rope cuts into her skin. Fear grips her heart as she stares dejectedly at the girl she loves. Spencer's gasp brings her back to reality and she shakes the fear away, scolding herself. She said she wouldn't let A control her anymore.
Her eyes roam over her girlfriend's body. Her eyes travel along the rope, one of the ends is tied to Paige's wrists. It's slung over the metal bars that hold the lights on the roof, the other end tied to the main doors. Her brain shifts into overdrive as she thinks pf ways to get Paige down from there. If she can untie the end of the rope tied to the door and slowly lower Paige's body down, Spencer could untie the weights around her ankles.
She explains her plan to Spencer and she starts to make her way towards the doors. Suddenly a shadow darts from the darkness and A stands next to the door, his hand on the rope. Emily stops and stares at A, her jaw clenching. If she takes a step forward she knows he'll let go and Paige will fall into the water.
Hanna suddenly runs towards A.
"Hanna no!" She yells at Hanna to stop but it's too late. A's hand lets go of the rope and runs out the doors as Paige drops into the pool.
Emily reacts immediately, her heart racing as she dives into the pool, her legs kicking out behind her as she swims towards Paige. Her knuckles sting from the chlorine water but she ignores it. She reaches Paige and her brown eyes meet hers; the shock of the cold water must have woken her from unconsciousness. Her hair is floats around her, her eyes looking wildly around the pool. Emily looks closer at Paige and she notices a raw jagged line covered in dried blood that runs from her left temple to her cheek. Fear and anger fill her as she thinks of all the things A could have done to Paige.
She meets Paige's eyes once more and pushes her fear down as she sees how scared Paige is.
A sudden movement catches her eyes and she looks down.
Spencer is at the bottom of the pool, her legs kicking out behind her as she swims down to Paige's ankles and pulls on the chain; it zigzags in and out of the weights, a metal lock securing it in place. Her hands hold on to the weights as she tries to pull them towards the shallow end. She tugs at the chain with no luck, the weights dragging on the pools floor.
Emily glances up at Paige and notices her eyes are starting to become unfocused. She curses inwardly as she swims behind her and wraps her arm around Paige's waist. She kicks her legs as she pulls Paige towards the shallow end, Spencer dragging the weights on the ground. Her lungs burn as they scream for oxygen, but she refuses to resurface for air.
They move slowly through the water, Spencer having to swim up for air before she can continue since she's not used to holding her breath so long. After what feels like hours Emily's toes touch the rough floor of the pool and her head breaks through the waters surface. She takes deep desperate breaths as she pulls Paige's face above the water.
Emily sighs in relief as Paige sucks in a deep breath, her heart racing as she wraps her arms tighter around her waist.
Tears sting her eyes. She almost lost her. She almost lost the girl she loves.
Paige's shoulders shake as a coughing fit takes over her, Emily reluctantly lets go of her and pats her back gently.
She rubs her back as her eyes wander around the pool, looking for Spencer. She's at the edge of the pool, her arms holding her up as she gasps for air. The words ambulance and Rosewood high catch her attention and she looks towards the front entrance where Hanna stand, her phone next to her ear.
Emily walks around Paige and stands in front of her. She grabs her wet cheeks gently, pulling her hands back when Paige winces. She stares at the wound on Paige's face. It's not long, probably about the length of her index finger, and misses her eye by an inch. She slowly rubs her thumb over it, and this time Paige doesn't wince. She meets her eyes and leans forward to kiss her, her lips gently gracing against Paige's.
She pulls back as loud sirens echo from outside. Paige's eyes meet hers and she gives her a small smile.
"Thank god Coach made us practice holding our breaths so much." Paige's voice is hoarse, barely audible over the wailing sirens. Emily searches her face, her lips curling into a small smile as she reassures herself that Paige is alright and not about to have a breakdown.
A thousand emotions fill her as she stares at Paige. Her heart skips a beat as she realizes the strongest one is love. She can't believe she almost let Paige go. What she feels for her is incomparable.
She leans forward to kiss Paige once more, holding her tightly as tears run down her cheeks.