A/N: Apologies for the wait – but here it is! Please don't forget to leave a review/an idea/a thought, as each one is just a little more added motivation to write this story up! Each one makes me happy and each are so greatly appreciated! I hope you guys love this chapter as much as I loved writing it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the basic plot of this story, the characters and much of the words written belong to Pretty Little Liars and their amazing script writers.

"Like a small boat on the ocean, sending big waves into motion. Like how a single word can make a heart open... I might only have one match, but I can make an explosion. This is my fight song, take back my life song, prove I'm alright song. My powers turned up, starting right now I'll be strong.. I'll play my fight song and I don't really care if nobody else believes 'cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me." - Rachel Platten

After everything that had happened, standing in front of Ella was a welcome break. Despite everything she had been through and everything she had subsequently denied herself, fashion was still a passion she held back because she wasn't ready to put herself out there just yet. Sometimes, she managed to convince herself that she much preferred writing about fashion as opposed to designing. When Aria's mother had approached her the day before, Hanna had been hesitant, informing the woman that she didn't really do stuff like that anymore but somehow, she was convinced just to do this as a one off. Ella needed help choosing the perfect dress and Hanna was happy for something else to focus on.

She managed to call in a few favours, and that was how she found herself holding up a gorgeous black and silver, elegant dress that would be perfect for the woman's second wedding. "It's gorgeous," The brunette said, as she observed the designer dress that Hanna had chosen for her.

Hanna felt a sore of pride as she smiled, turning quickly to gesture towards a box she had brought with her, "And I got a simple veil to go with it. Nothing too insane but it's something to add mystery..." Her words were rushed, half filled with excitement but also nerves. It had been so long since she had done any sort of choosing an outfit for anyone other than her so, she didn't want to let the older woman down, not when it was such an important day. "The mystery is how I'm going to walk in it... I may need to borrow Emily's legs."

Hanna looked at the dress and bit down on her lip, immediately feeling a sense of failure before she cleared her throat and tried to think of a solution, "Well, I can hem it... it'll look amazing, I promise... please just try it on?" Ella seemed to sense the young blonde's worry and took the dress from her with a smile, "Oh, what about the veil?" Hanna turned to grab the box but Ella just shook her head and let out a small laugh,

"Oh no, I don't want anything to detract from the dress. You did good. Your work here is done."

The sadness that rushed over her was what caused her to step forward, almost fearful that she would have to go back to being consumed by nothing other than the terror that ran through her every single day. "What about the tables? You want them to compliment the dress, right? Can I please do the tables?" She bit down on her lip, looking up in hope as Aria's mother nodded her head and smiled kindly; she was friends with Ashley, she had been prompted by the older Marin to enlist Hanna in the hopes it would allow them all a glimpse into the fashion addict she had once been. "Of course," Was all she said before she took one last look at the blonde before she walked towards the bathroom to see if the dress would look as beautiful on her as it did on the hanger.

For a moment, Hanna focused on fussing around, clearing up the mess they had left behind before the door opened and she was met with her best friend, "Hey," Aria grinned when she saw the other woman, laughing when Hanna told her to leave before the bride came back, "I'm not the groom, Hanna, I'm the Minister or the Officiator... whatever."

"Well, I'm styling it so I guess we'll both be working the party." Aria didn't say anything, glad to see the light of passion in Hanna's eyes as she spoke, going through everything she would need to sort out for the wedding that would be happening in such a short period of time. She just let her best friend talk because finally, after two years, she was talking about a subject she had once never stopped talking about.

Just an hour later, Hanna shot Emily a grin as she walked into the apartment, "Hey, how did it go?" She asked, not able to stop her own smile when Hanna nodded her head, "Excellent, I'm now gainfully employed. Well, at least until tomorrow night." The blonde moved towards her son who had been happily playing on the floor, his arms lifting up the moment he laid his ocean blue eyes on his mother who was happy to lift him and press a bunch of kisses to his face.

"I'm starved, do you want to order in?" She asked Emily, gently stroking Henry's hair as he placed his tiny hands on her cheek and stared at her in the same adoring way he always did. It made her heart flutter every single time, to know that there was one person in the world who loved her more than anything. Men could come and go, so could best friends but Henry would always be her son and if she protected him in the way she longed to, then he would always look at her in the way that almost brought tears to her eyes every time.

"I'm actually going to a lecture with a guy from my Psych class... trying to earn brownie points with the new professor."

"Wow, congratulations, at least one of us will have a degree that matters." Her tone was only slightly bitter as she walked towards the kitchen; she knew it wasn't true – her degree did matter, at least it had done but she didn't really do anything with it. But that was out of choice, she supposed; her choice had been to live in isolation in a city that terrified her.

"I enrolled, Hanna, it's not like it was four years ago when the only thing I had to worry about in Freshman year was catching something from the communal shower curtain." Hanna scrunched up her nose in disgust, luckily she had never experienced the communal showering part of college as her and Caleb had gotten a tiny studio apartment together close enough to college for her not to worry about the same things her friends had to. "Emily, you're not going to have-"

"Yes I am, Hanna, how am I meant to take notes when the voice in my head is telling me that Sara Harvey is torturing you for something Melissa may have done?" Her nose scrunched up in confusion, not sure where Melissa's name had come into anything, because it had never even been mentioned, at least not to her.

"Wait, Melissa Hastings?" She frowned as Emily explained to her that Melissa may have actually been in Rosewood the night Charlotte was murdered and not London as Hanna had thought she would be. Before she could over-think it too much, she stared down at Emily's ringing phone, "Um, who's Damian?" It wasn't a name she heard her best friend mention before, and it was a welcome distraction from the memory that came to mind the moment she heard Spencer's sisters name.

Emily quickly explained to her before Hanna remembered something, "Oh, you got a parcel from them, by the way." She gestured towards the table where she had left it earlier that day, surprised her friend hadn't noticed it when she first walked into the apartment. Henry could be a handful sometimes, she reasoned with herself as she followed Emily towards the parcel, raising her eyebrow at the clear panic and confusion on her face. "What to name your baby?" She repeated the title of the book Emily had silently handed her, "What class is that?"

Emily only shook her head and held up the note that came with it, you need to start talking before our baby does.

Emily was shaken, but determined to get her fresh start that she so obviously craved, so Hanna walked her out of the apartment, on a mission of her own. It was starting to get worse; and she had no idea how they were ever going to get the new A off their backs if they didn't have the information he or she wanted. Her grip tightened on Henry's push chair, our baby was what the note had said which meant it could only be a man if she was reading between the lines. Perhaps she was just letting her imagination run wild, she had a tendency to do that since the first text message they had gotten when they were fifteen years old. With a sigh, she glanced down at her phone, annoyed when she couldn't see that Spencer had read her multiple messages to her which meant she had to find her. She had to explain everything to her, because they may have a new murder suspect and if that's what the new A wanted, then at least they had the information to hand.

Although she knew nothing was going on with her best friend and her ex-boyfriend, there was still a surge of pain when she saw them together because she knew that there could have been something there. If she had just let Spencer make her move and kept her mouth shut, she would be staring at a full blown couple. Instead, she was looking over at two people who seemed to be intently watching something on Spencer's laptop, their shoulders brushed together, their eyes focused completely on the screen. They hadn't even seen Hanna coming, pushing Henry towards the two the moment she had gotten into the coffee shop she had suspected Spencer would be. "Hey, uh... did you get my messages?"

"No, I'm so sorry, I just turned my phone off so I could watch. Are you okay?" Spencer stared at the blonde, searching for any signs of initial distress as Hanna moved to sit down, lifting Henry up to sit on her lap as he happily gurgled to himself, blissfully unaware of everything that surrounded him. "I think Melissa could have done it." Her voice was rushed, as though she was scared to say those words out loud in case Spencer hated her for them, "I saw her years ago in London..." At their silence, she knew she had to go on, biting down on her lip before she explained everything to them, hoping they would see where she was coming from as she spoke.

"Okay, where are you? You will never guess who just talked to me... okay, so I was in line at the bar and some stranger compliments my shoes and I turn around and it's Claudia freaking Greco, Caleb and don't pretend like you don't know who she is." Hanna spoke in a rushed, excited tone down her phone, setting her bag in front of her on the sink as she looked at her reflection, "I gotta go." She mumbled when she saw a familiar face walking behind her, quickly hanging up the phone on her boyfriend before she turned around.

"Melissa?"

"Hello, Hanna." She looked awful, if the blonde was honest with herself – she thought the older Hastings sister was exceptionally beautiful but right then, she was drunk and mascara ran down her face as though she had been crying for hours. "What are you doing here?" She asked, confused, although she had known Melissa had been in London, she had just assumed the city was a big enough place they wouldn't run into each other.

"I live here. Well, not in this bathroom but nearby."

"No, I mean this event. Fashion Week. Did you change careers?"

"I came with a friend who ditched me because I've spent the night sobbing into my phone." She looked down at an almost empty glass on the sink, the same one she had just placed down, "Is this drink yours or mine?" Hanna almost rolled her eyes as she told the woman it was hers, before she bit down on her lip, "How's Wren?"

"He's gone. He left me. That scheming nut job who made your life a living hell has now moved on to mess with mine." Hanna froze, trying not to let it show that she was clearly affected at just the thought of the DiLaurentis who had tortured her for so long. "Charlotte?" She whispered her name, as though somehow saying it would make her appear.

"Who the hell gave that twisted sister phone privileges? I mean how does someone with her resume get put under penthouse arrest?" Melissa ignored her question but it was obvious who she was talking about, and Hanna just shrugged her shoulders, "I try not to think about her. You know, forgive and forget." That was a lie but she was pulling it off well, or at least she thought she was. When Melissa spoke again, Hanna just shook it off, "Wait, did she call you?"

"No, she called Wren and clearly she shared information with him because he's been looking at me for the past week like I should be the one locked up." Hanna's face paled and her eyes widened – Charlotte had phone privileges and she was sharing information that had otherwise been kept secret. What was she planning for them next? Or was it just Melissa on her hit list this time? What the hell else could she put them through in a hospital? "... aren't you curious what she plans to use against you? Here..." She grabbed Hanna's phone with a smirk, drunkenly stumbling as she typed a number in, "Why don't we call her and find out?"

"Melissa, stop!" But there was no stopping the woman on the mission, Hanna was best friends with a Hastings and she knew there was no way she was going to get the phone from Melissa if that was what she was truly determined to do. "Melissa, give me my phone."

The woman just shook her head, before she spoke into the phone, "Hi, this is Alison DiLaurentis, can I speak to my sister, Charlotte?"

"Give me the phone!" Hanna was starting to get desperate, she was starting to panic, her palms were sweaty and her body shook. It was true fear when she thought about Charlotte – everything that had happened had barely been two years ago. She was meant to be enjoying a college trip, she was meant to be happily moved on but instead, she was faced with her past all over again and she hated every second of it. "Well, wake her up! She has her whole life to nap. Tell her Hanna wants to say hello."

Hanna reached out her hand, the tears threatening to fall, "Stop..." She managed to get out, but was once again ignored, "No, I don't want to speak to her doctor. I want to speak to my bloody sister, put Charlotte on." The fear became too much and Hanna felt victory when she grabbed the phone from the woman, throwing it against the nearest mirror in a sudden, blind moment of panic, "I don't want to hear her voice!"

Melissa only smirked, as she walked back to the sink, "Well, you have a funny way of forgiving, Hanna."

When the story was over, Hanna looked at Caleb who just raised his brow, "Why didn't you tell me about this when you came home from that trip?" She couldn't answer, instead, her eyes looked down and she held onto her son a little tighter, pressing her lips to his forehead. Luckily, Spencer spoke for her, because she understood more than anyone else, "She didn't want another person telling her she wasn't over it."

"Well, neither was your sister so can you at least find out if Melissa called that night from the diner? Thanks..." She was in a rush to get back up, although Caleb clearly had so much more to say that he was managing to hold back because of the tiny boy she held in her arms as she stood up and placed him back in his push chair. "Oh, um, what was the name of that sneaky blogger dude from Hollis? The one that freaked out you and Melissa?"

When Spencer said his name, her suspicions were confirmed and she just gave her a tight smile before she bid goodbye to the two of them and pulled out her phone the moment she was out of The Brew, warning Emily about the person she was currently spending time with.

She was glad for the break the next day, on her knees as she worked on Ella's dress who stood there patiently waiting for the blonde to be done. The wedding was only small but Hanna was determined that the details were going to be perfect, and that started with the wedding dress. "Have you eaten today?" She finally asked, smiling as Ella just laughed, "I can't even remember what day it is."

"It's your wedding day... you can't be nervous, you've married Byron before."

"True, it makes no logical sense but when he walked into the room it's like I'm nineteen again." Hanna smiled a little, her own thoughts focused on Caleb and how she longed to be standing in a wedding dress, about to walk down the aisle towards him. That was nineteen year old her though, and twenty-three year old Hanna knew that life was too complicated and too painful for that to ever happen. "Well, I think it's fate... people who are meant to be together take a break and then find their way back to their first love." At least, she hoped – she had no idea how much longer their break would be or even if they would ever get back together but if it was meant to happen, then it would. She'd get the family she always wanted with the only person she had loved. She just smiled as Ella told her story of her true first love, her heart hurting when Ella told her what had happened to him, "... we graduated and we grew up." Maybe that was all it was, she and Caleb had grown up and grown apart and she would never find her way back to her first love.

It was late at night when Hanna felt her stress levels rising once again, the wedding was over and Henry had looked so handsome in his tiny suit. He had not long passed out since they had gotten home and she was mulling around, busying herself as she tried to find something to do that would occupy her mind as she waited for Emily.

She didn't have to wait long, as the woman she had been waiting for quickly walked into the apartment, not hesitating as she shut the door behind her and moved over to the couch with a panicked expression on her face. She threw something down on the table and Hanna crinkled her nose in confusion as she walked over to her, "What happened? Was it that?"

"What's left of my phone." Emily was shaking as Hanna sat next to her, and her concern rose, "Emily, where did you go? Did you go back to the tunnel? Did your car break down?" Those were the two best options she could think of right then as a million worst case scenarios ran through her head on everything her best friend could have been through. There was a shake of her head and Hanna felt her heart drop, "I could barely make it to my car and when I did, I was shaking so bad I could barely drive."

"W-were you attacked? Did Sara Harvey come after you?"

"I was but it wasn't her." That confused her more, Emily had been one hundred percent certain that it was the suspicious blonde and nobody else but now she seemed to think there was someone else. "Then who?" She managed to get out, not sure if she wanted to know the answer as her hand gripped onto Emily's and she waited.

"I don't know. Sara Harvey wants this murder solved... whoever this was, they wanna cover it up." Hanna gulped, the murderer had finally come to light and they would do anything to cover up their crime. Could it be Melissa Hastings? "How do you know that?" Emily explained her reasoning and Hanna knew she was right in her thinking, no one else would have been invested in that weapon other than the person who had used it.

"So what are you saying? There's now more than one person after us?" She could feel the fear already – she had so many demons already, she wasn't sure if she was able to cope with another two. She had Charlotte constantly haunting her, along with the unknown man who had ruined what happiness she had left and now two people who were determined to solve the crime that the other wanted to keep hidden. And both of them were after them, the very four people who knew nothing.

"Oh, there's definitely two."

Somehow, as though things couldn't get any worse, the next day, they did. Spencer held up the photograph of Alison in a hospital bed on her phone and Hanna gulped as she just stared at the other blonde on the screen. They were dropping like flies it seemed, and she had no idea if this time, it was done on purpose or if it had truly been an accident. Maybe after everything that had happened, the four of them truly didn't believe in accidents. "Well, the odds aren't going to get any better the closer we get to election night." A had given them three days to work out who the murderer was but it seemed as though he or she, or it (or bitch, she supposed) was determined to make them drop before that.

Henry was spending the day with his grandmother, so Hanna was confident in the knowledge that he would be safe. Really, the further away from her he was, the safer she knew he would be because she was the one with the target on her back. "Ali's hospital is an hour away, I think I'm going to go check up on her." She informed the others; she wasn't going to settle the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach until she laid eyes on Alison herself. She needed to see she was okay in order to believe it and a photograph or a text wasn't going to settle that fear right then. Two people were after them and she was in just as much danger as they were because this time, neither of the stalkers were her sister.

"She said she'll be back tomorrow." Aria spoke, unsure why Hanna would drive all that way just to check on someone they would be able to see the next day. Spencer agreed with her though, but Hanna knew she wouldn't be able to convince Alison of anything if she was determined to come back to Rosewood – there was no way she would be able to subtly tell her to stay as far away from the town as she could until they found her sisters murderer. She was already in hospital because of this person, or at least, that was what Hanna suspected and the knowledge of this person wasn't going to make the newly married woman feel any better.

When Mona was brought up, she rolled her eyes, her fingers running through her hair as she felt those stress levels rising once again. Her and Mona were not as close as they used to be but she could still remember the pure devastation she had felt when she thought the girl was dead. She had been through the torture with them, and had even gone through worse because she had been on her own in there for so much longer than any of them could imagine. They may not have been as close as she would have liked but she still had good memories, "You guys, Mona did not kill Charlotte. She couldn't."

Spencer's attitude towards their first A didn't help matters, "Mona's changed so many times I doubt she even knows herself when she looks in the mirror." Hanna almost laughed out loud at that one, grabbing her pack as she raised a brow at the three women across from her, "Okay, who around here hasn't tried to reinvent themselves a couple of times?" Her glare settled on them as she stood up, "I'll call you after I see Ali." She muttered, not bothering to look at any of them again as she walked off – how could they accuse the very same person who had been through what they had? Mona was practically one of them if they let her into the little group they seemed to have going. She knew the girl, and she knew that no matter what, Mona was not capable of murdering Charlotte, not after what she had said in the court room.

Seeing Alison had only given her one good thing – and that was the knowledge that she truly was okay. She was going to be let out of the hospital the next day and she would be safe back in her own house. However, seeing her had drawn up more complications, one of which included the card she handed to Caleb the moment he had walked into her apartment after she text him telling him she needed to tell him something. "Tell me I'm wrong about that."

The look on her face served only to tell her just how right she was, the crossed out faces of three people, leaving just hers and Spencer's faces on the page. They were going to be next in whatever the hell this new person had planned and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out. "Did Alison or Elliott see this?" He asked, relieved when Hanna shook her head, "I'm pretty sure they didn't. Look, whoever this was isn't going to wait until election night. They're going to keep chipping away at us until there's nothing left."

"What did you tell the others about Ali's accident?"

"Nothing yet, I wanted to talk to you first." His confusion was obvious, but so was his happiness that despite everything, she had come to him before anyone else, "Why me?" He still asked, as though he needed to hear her say it.

Hanna took a deep breath and stepped forward, "Because you're the only one who can help me with this." His brow raised and he put the card down, staring at the woman in front of him, waiting for her to continue, "Look, I thought about this a lot on the drive home and the only way to prevent any more accidents is to call this creeps bluff. We have to tell them that we're ready to give them what they want."

"Hanna, what they want is Charlotte's killer." Hanna shrugged and looked him in the eyes, "You're looking at her." She whispered, her heart thumping against her chest as he stared at her, not able to say anything as he took in the words she had uttered.

Just a few hours passed and Hanna knew the plan was truly starting to form; she was willingly going to put herself the sort of danger she had always avoided, because she needed this to be over soon. The longer it went on, the more Henry was being put in danger and she wasn't going to let anything happen to him. They had taken their little 'meeting' to the barn, waiting for Spencer to come home so they could tell her everything, and thus, start the plan that would end this for good. The new A would be exposed and that was all the power they needed to end it – knowledge was power.

Spencer stared at the two in confusion, quickly hanging up her phone after making an excuse, "Hey, uh, I was going to call you... did you see Ali? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's okay, it wasn't an accident." Spencer nodded her head, processing the information she had already suspected, "Sara's back at the Radley... she checked in under a fake name and she's still looking for something. These are plans for the Radley, the same one Sara got from the record office." It was Hanna's turn to nod her head; Spencer had been playing detective all day and Hanna was about to tell her the plan that would mean she could go back to the life she had before she arrived in Rosewood. Her eyes looked down, and Caleb stared at her before he placed a hand on her lower back, "Spencer, you need to listen to Hanna."

She seemed to sense the seriousness of the situation and stopped rambling as Hanna took a deep breath and stepped forward, tears forming in her eyes before she could even get the words out, "That night at the hotel when you were asleep, I did leave the room. I followed Aria and Ezra and I saw them in the square and then I saw Charlotte go into the church." She gulped, "I went in after her. She was sitting there. Alone. Praying. And all I could think about was how much she ruined everything and she got to sit there like nothing had happened. I could see how different my life was meant to be and the things I was meant to have, how maybe if I hadn't already been traumatised, I could have fought him off instead of freezing like I did. Maybe if it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have been so absorbed in my work, trying to prove something to everyone and then I wouldn't have..." She couldn't say those words, someone admitting to a murder was easier than actually talking about how she was raped.

The tears fell down her own face, and Caleb looked away to wipe the tears of his own, "I picked up a candlestick and I stabbed her in the back of the neck with the end of it. And then I took her to the bell tower, and I threw her off in the hopes it would make it look like a suicide. She was crazy, right? I just thought that no one would care enough in the Rosewood Police Department to see it any other way. Then I went back to the hotel and pretended like I was only gone for a minute to get ice." And then the kicker, "Stealing that security drive wasn't because Aria was on it. It's because I'm on it. I murdered Charlotte."

Spencer's eyes were wide, tears began to fall and Hanna knew she had soaked in the information and believed her. Just as Caleb had – someone as traumatised as Hanna was capable of many things, why wouldn't murder be one of them? After a moment, she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, "See? She believed it too and if she believed it, even for a minute-"

"What the hell just happened?!" Spencer looked betrayed but Hanna knew she had to fool her, just for a moment, just so she could see if the story was able to convince the most logical one in the group. Caleb hated every second of it, but Hanna had begged him, she had told him that this was the only way he could prove that he wanted to protect her and Henry, that she was going to be okay if he was on side. That she would do it without his help if she had to and there was no way in hell he could protect her if he wasn't right there by her side to do so. "Hanna knows how we can end this."

Spencer had text both Emily and Aria, but Emily was the first to turn up, her eyes wide as she paced in front of where the other three sat. "The whole thing sounds crazy."

Hanna just shook her head; "It's not crazy, we're building a rat trap."

"And you're the cheese!" Emily exclaimed, throwing her hands up and looking at Spencer and then at Caleb to see if either of them were going to say anything about the plan. Caleb was the first to speak, "We gotta do something unexpected to knock them off balance." He reasoned, although his eyes told another story – one of pure regret about the fact he had ever agreed to letting Hanna put herself in such danger in the first place. He would do everything he could to protect her but he was terrified that, once again, he would fail. "Okay, so what if she confessed to killing Charlotte and A orders her to march into the police station and tell Tanner?"

"You think this person went to all that trouble to hand her over to the cops? This is about revenge, not justice." Caleb was right, they all knew that, and that thirst for revenge would put A right where they wanted them. "It still sounds-"

Hanna cut her off with a roll of her eyes, "Crazy, yes, we've established that but Caleb and I have it all figured out." Emily turned her attention to Spencer who had remained quiet in the corner of the room with a glass of wine, "What do you think of all this?"

"I'm just happy someone else came up with a plan 'cause I'm all tapped out." She shrugged at Emily's next question, "Yeah, it can work. Meanwhile, I'll work things from the Sara angle and if we're lucky we'll catch A."

"If we're lucky?"

"Look, Hanna has a plan and Caleb has the know-how, if we don't back them up, they're just going to do it by themselves." Emily looked over at the two on the couch, sitting close to each other, Hanna's hand moving into Caleb's before she answered, "Yeah," Caleb looked down at their hands, a smile on his face before his attention turned to Spencer as he squeezed the blonde's hand, "Most of what I need I can take off the shelf but for the other stuff it would really be helpful if I could talk to Toby?"

Spencer stood up to grab the bottle of wine, hating how much danger they were about to put their seriously traumatised friend in. She knew her bitterness showed, but she couldn't express it because Hanna was a grown woman who was determined to do this. Her reasons were clear but Spencer had fought her on it – Hanna was a mother, Hanna had been raped two years ago, Hanna couldn't put herself in the line of fire like this. But Hanna had pointed out that those were the two reasons she wanted to do it; she was a mother and she had someone else to protect, she had been a victim and she was determined more than any of the other three not to be a victim again. Caleb was going to protect her and sure, one of the other women could easily take her place and do it but none of them were truly willing to commit to the plan as Hanna was. She had something to prove, and Spencer could see that in her eyes, Hanna wanted to prove to herself that she was capable of facing one of the demons in her life and Spencer couldn't fight her on the terrifying plan any longer. "Yeah, he needs to know what you're planning and I need to talk to him anyway."

Emily quickly moved to walk over to Spencer, her voice a low whisper, "Do you think Hanna is aware of the risk she's taking?"

Spencer's eyes moved over to where the blonde sat, handing Caleb a piece of paper, "Yeah, Em, she knows."

"And you're just gonna let the two of them run this?" Spencer gave a shrug of her shoulders, her eyes focused on Hanna, knowing she would have to do everything in her power to make sure nothing else happened to her best friend. "It's a plan and it's the only plan we have, Emily. Nothing is going to happen to her, we all love her... she's right. We just need one photograph of this person, we need to find out who the hell they are and then it's over. People like A or whatever this person wants to call themselves, thrive on remaining hidden and if we expose that? It's over."

Caleb walked Hanna back to her apartment later that night, instructing her not to do anything until he gave her the go-ahead. She promised him, and he trusted her but she insisted that Henry would be staying with Ashley until the entire thing was over – she had spoken to Ashley earlier that day, explaining that everything was getting on top of her with Charlotte's murder and she just needed to catch up on some work, would she be able to take a few days off to spend time with Henry? Of course, the elder Marin agreed without hesitation, promising Hanna that she would take good care of the little boy and Hanna knew she would. If anything happened to her, there was no better mother in the world. Caleb broke her from her thoughts as he unlocked the door for her and followed her inside, "I'll be back as fast as I can but the more I get done tonight, the less I have to worry about."

Hanna was about to respond when the sound of the fire starting ran through the apartment and she jumped, her eyes wide as she looked around, relief crossing her features when she saw Lucas. "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that worked from anywhere in the apartment." He called out, before he walked down the steps, "Hey, Caleb, it's good to see you."

"Good to see you, too. I'd ask how you're doing but i'm a stockholder so I already know." Hanna smiled as she heard the two old friends talk, it was a little awkward because of how much time had passed and how much of a rush Caleb was in to get everything they needed together to end this nightmare once and for all. Once the door was closed, she turned her attention onto the person who had been kind enough to let her stay in his apartment during her stay in the town she longed to get out of. "What is this?" She asked as she walked to the table, picking up one of the pictures that laid there.

"It's the empty factory I'm buying near the lake, and this..." He grabbed another picture and handed it to her, "... is what it's going to look like when it's finished." Hanna stared at the large drawing and bit down on her lip, "What are you gonna do with it?"

Lucas was rich enough to buy these places without much thought, so she wasn't surprised when he just shrugged his shoulders, "Anything I want to. What would you do with it?" She laughed nervously and

put the picture down on the table, "Um, indoor miniature golf?" She joked, but Lucas was being completely serious as he looked at her.

"No, seriously, what would you do if someone said you could try anything? You know, start your own business? What would you do?"

"Don't kid like that Lucas." Hanna mumbled, her fingers running over the picture of the factory as she absent-mindedly thought of all the plans she had once had. "Who's kidding?" He replied, and she looked up at him with a curious look in her eyes, not entirely certain where this conversation was going to end up.

"Well, I would set myself up with some new designers, start my own brand. You know, get out of the city away from all the distractions." Away from the terrifying hold New York seemed to have on her, although she wasn't certain living in or near Rosewood would be any better for her sanity.

"Deal." Hanna frowned, "Research and Development. It can mean whatever we say it means. Look, this will be a good way for you to keep one foot in Rosewood... figure out what you left behind." Hanna wasn't sure if she had left anything behind other than her mom, and all of the pain she had once been put through but somehow, they still ended up back there and there had to be a reason for that.

"Lucas... I-I can't take you up on that offer. I... barely have any business experience, I worked for a large company once but other than that, I work from home for a magazine. I don't know about this stuff anymore..."

Lucas seemed to be having none of it as he smiled, "Is someone else you went to high school with going to offer you a million dollar line of credit? Come on, Hanna... look, I finally figured out a way to give you something that nobody else can offer you." Hanna didn't answer, instead, she just stood there awkwardly as she thought about how much she would have loved to have done something like that but putting herself out there like that didn't seem to be an option anymore. So, Lucas continued to talk, "Look, the offer still stands. We can talk about it tomorrow or whenever you want." Hanna nodded her head, "Yeah, tomorrow."

When he was gone, Hanna wasn't left alone with her thoughts for much longer as Aria and Ezra were finally filled in on the plan. Her best friends sat on the couch as she and Caleb stood in front of them, both of them determined to make them see that this was the only option. Caleb needed them to see that there was no way he was ever going to let anything happen to Hanna, some of them in the room had no idea what had happened to her, only Spencer could understand the true meaning behind the fierce protection he felt right then but he just hoped the others would have enough faith in him to know that this plan simply couldn't fail.

"And you can get all of that ready in time?"

"I've already started, I can have it when we need it." Caleb responded quickly, more than ready to answer any questions or concerns their friends had. Aria turned her attention to Hanna though, nothing but concern in her eyes, "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

"I wouldn't have thought of it if I wasn't ready to do this." Hanna's voice didn't waiver, and she stood strong, ready to put their plan into action and end the hell that had been their lives since Charlotte was thrown from the bell tower. Caleb stepped in front of her slightly, "Look guys, this isn't a democracy, okay? We aren't taking votes. This is something Hanna and I decided to do. The only thing you need to decide is whether you're going to help us or not."

Spencer looked at the others, before she spoke, "Nobody here is going to let you go through this on your own." Her words were directed at Hanna, and they held a much deeper meaning than anyone else could truly understand. Hanna took a deep breath, glad that they were going to let this happen; she had something to prove and this was the way she was choosing to do it – she wasn't weak. Not as weak as she had been made to feel for so long.

She turned her back to everyone else in her room and got the previous messages up before she spoke into her phone, "Leave my friends alone. I killed Charlotte." And with that, it was too late to take back the words as she watched the message being sent to the unknown person who would soon put the power back in their hands if everything went according to plan.