Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Sorry for the extremely late up but I had a rough last couple of weeks with some personal issues. To make up for it, this is a lengthier chapter that the usual ones; hope you enjoy
The three of them sat in the booth of the restaurant.
While Mona sat back with her arms crossed, Mike was too nervous to say anything while Spencer wasn't sure whether to be paranoid or curious.
When the three first encountered each other on the street, there had been a moment of silence as they had just stared one another. It wasn't until Spencer had overreacted that things nearly got out of control. After drawing her weapon and yelling for Mona to get her hands on her head, the smaller woman had pulled her own weapon to do the same. It nearly turned into a shootout and Spencer was cursing herself for her immaturity since it was something a rookie would have done without thinking. It was disturbing that despite all of her experience and years in the FBI, she still had the bad habit of leaping before she thought.
It was Toby that suggested that they go somewhere to talk; in an effort to make sure that violence didn't open up on the street. He had been equally surprised to see Mona but was able to keep a level head about it since he never really had an issue with the shorter woman; though he had once been angry with her with what had happened with Spencer back in high school. Once they had entered the restaurant, he had called Mike to let him know what was going on; which had prompted his partner to rush over in no time. Toby at least hoped that the young man had locked up the evidence like he was supposed to.
While Mike was too busy being nervous around Mona, she had handed him her badge which he went to go check if it was real.
While waiting for Toby to return after checking up on Mona's claim, she occasionally glanced at the woman and realized that she did not seem all that different after all of these years; just older like Spencer was. One of the differences was that Mona had cut her hair and wore it short like Aria did now; though it was the same color. She had her face neutral but the young woman radiated an intense anger and all of their weapons were sitting on top of the table; which had caused alarm to the patrons around them until Toby flashed his badge and said it was okay. It benefited all of them that he was keeping a level head.
"So how have you been?" Mike suddenly asked, speaking up for the first time and trying to keep his voice level. He was a little disappointed when Mona just ignored him and kept her stern gaze upon Spencer.
The FBI Agent was glad that they had the booth in the farthest most location from the nearest patron. They had chosen the booth for its isolation and that had worked out well given that the group needed the privacy. The place was more like a diner that resembled those seen in the 1950s; which the owner was probably going for in order to attract customers. The black and white checkered floor was shiny as well as walls with their murals; the booths were leather and plastic with a red as well as white color to them. There was a counter in the front where one could sit that overlooked the back kitchen.
"Mike asked you a question; I think you should answer him," Spencer told the young woman, a little more firmly than she wanted.
The relationship between Mona and Spencer had always been complicated; born on mutual dislike more than anything else. Even before Mona had been revealed as A, the young woman never really liked her and considered her too stuck up; of course she later realized how hypocritical she had been given that Alison was even more of a stuck up bitch and Mona had learned it from her. When she had still been A, Mona had done horrible things to Spencer that could never be forgiven for; no matter how much bad things Spencer had done with Alison. Even now, Mona was a sense the cause of conflict within the core group and the FBI Agent hated that.
"Still calling the shots I see; must be the norm with Alison out of the country," Mona stated with a smirk, her tone arrogant and dipping with venom.
"How did you know Alison was out of the country?" Spencer asked, already cursing herself given what she now possibly knew about the young woman if Toby's call was confirmed.
"I am in a position to know everything now Spencer; just like before," answered the short-haired woman with a mocking tone; causing Spencer to narrow her eyes at her.
"What are you up to? Are you responsible for what happened to Alice?" the FBI Agent demanded to know with an accusatory tone to her voice which caused Mike to become angry and bristle at her; which she just ignored.
"No; I am in the dark just as you on what happened to her," Mona admitted, her smugness disappearing. Mona was a good liar however and one could never be too sure with her which Spencer knew full well.
"But you do know something," Spencer said, more as a statement than a fact. From past experience, Mona always knew more than she let on and it definitely wasn't a coincidence that she was in the area.
"And if I did? What are you going to do to make me talk?" Mona asked, both in a sweet as well as threatening tone. The FBI Agent was so tempted to slam the cuffs on her and haul her into headquarters but kept her cool since it was obvious that Mona was baiting her.
"Knock it off Mona," Toby said sternly as he walked up and tossed her badge onto the table, nodding his head that she could take back her stuff. While she shouldn't have been surprised by it, Spencer was still shocked that they both worked for the Federal Government.
"You're with the National Security Agency?" Mike asked, both astounded and in awe of his ex-girlfriend. She continued to ignore him and Mike struggled to make sense of that; though he did understand it of sorts.
"Why were you there?" inquired the senior State Police officer and Spencer let him take the lead since he might get more out of her than she did. Toby and Mona always had an interesting dynamic that just plain confused Spencer since it was never hostile in nature. Maybe it was the fact that they had worked together in the past on the A Team and their mutual hatred of Alison that they were civil to one another.
"That's none of your business," Mona simply answered as she stood up after grabbing her stuff; giving Spencer a glare before attempting to leave but Toby grabbed her arm stopping her.
"Let go of my arm or there will be consequences," threatened the NSA Agent as she just glared at Toby. Their stare at one another silenced Mike and sent chills throughout Spencer's body at the sight of their intensity.
He finally did after a minute and she just stormed off; not giving them a second glance as she left the building. Toby watched go and sighed after minute before taking a seat next to Spencer while Mike didn't know what to say. He was ashamed that after all of this time of finally being able to see her, she just ignored him. He suddenly became angry and stormed off, telling the other two that he needed to use the bathroom. While Spencer didn't think much of it, Toby was glad that he left since there was a chance that Mike might have said something offensive to her; blaming the FBI Agent for the bad encounter.
"Well that went well," Spencer said sarcastically to her boyfriend as she rubbed her eyebrows and cracked a fake smile. Toby just sighed again checked his phone for messages; not looking forward to telling Tanner about this.
"I'm sorry; I should have handled her better," Toby said regretfully to her as he was tempted to get something to eat since he was feeling hungry. While it wasn't the best time for lunch, he felt a meal was needed to calm everyone down.
"I think I should have said that," stated the FBI Agent with equal regret. She had been caught off guard by the encounter and would have been more mentally prepared if she had some foresight in advance.
"Well she obviously knew something or Mona wouldn't have been at that Travel Agency; we need to go there in the morning to get whatever information might be there," stated the young man and Spencer nodded.
"I can't believe she has been at the NSA all of this time; probably how she was able to hide from everyone for so long," said the woman as she shook her head in disbelief. It did kind of make sense since the agency was right up Mona's alley.
"It's more than that; Mona is stationed here in the city and works at the local NSA Branch not too far from where you work," informed Toby and Spencer did a double take at that given the close proximity of the woman.
"That is unbelievable; she has been right here in town all this time? I thought she would be in a different country," stated Spencer, believing that Mona had fled as far away as possible after leaving Rosewood.
"I know; the Agency has her working there though and I got the impression that Mona is pretty important given the rather panicked response I got when I called," Toby stated as a waitress handed him a root beer that he asked for.
"Well the way she was dressed, it almost seemed like she was working some dead-end job," Spencer said as she ordered a coffee; desiring the caffeine to settle her nerves. Mona had been wearing a hoodie and black sweatpants when they had encountered her; definitely not something worn at the office unless their dress code was radically different from her agency.
"Something is up and I think I will try to go through channels to try to get in contact with her," Toby informed his girlfriend as they just sat there. Trying to do that was going to take a lot of work though and who knows what kind of problems it would cause.
"Why don't you let me worry about that; I might be able to pull something off at the agency," stated the young woman with an idea coming to mind. It was a crazy idea but it might just work; or get her into a ton of trouble.
"Are you sure? I don't want you hurt," said her boyfriend with a concerned tone in his voice. She smiled affectionately and appreciated his worry but felt that this was something she had to do.
Spencer was about to say something when Toby's phone buzzed and he pulled it out to see the text. His face went to a frown and she was curious until he showed her what the text said. They both stood up immediately and after Toby dropped some money onto the table, they met Mike at the entrance whom looked equally grim. The three quickly hurried out of the restaurant and to the car where they took off for their destination. No one spoke as Toby drove; out of apprehension of what they were about to find.
After twenty minutes of driving, the three arrived downtown to where the Federal Offices were located. There were various police cruisers, both local and State, parked on the farthest most building and Toby parked near where they were. They then got out of the vehicle and headed to the yellow tape blocking the entrance to the structure; which looked like it housed the IRS for the State. There were crowds of onlookers behind the yellow tape and looked to be various officials from the offices in the area. The three had to push their way through the crowd to get to the perimeter; trying to be polite on the way since the majority of the people were probably IRS employees and one did not want to risk offending The area where they were at was more like a plaza that housed all the Federal Facilities in the city; though it was rumored that the more covert agencies had various other secret buildings in random locations. The buildings were stacked next to one another and almost in a rectangle with a large water fountain in the center. The FBI Building was located not too far away from where they were at and Spencer knew that her boss was going to want to know what was going on as soon as possible. Of course, there was a chance that he already knew since the possibility of terrorism was always high.
The two policemen waived the group through once they had walked up and the three then headed inside. They followed the path of people, whom were giving statements to various officers, until they got to the elevators. Outside one of them were the crime scene technicians with more yellow tape blocking off the small area. Going over the tape, they saw that the medical examiner was already inside one of the elevators that held a body. Toby and Spencer's worst fear had come true since it was obvious that the body was another representation of one of their friends; this time a blonde.
"What do you think; Hanna or Alison?" Toby asked as he studied the body in the elevator that was propped up in an office chair. Mike had gone to speak with the first responders to find out what was known so far.
"Hanna; I recognize the hairstyle and Alison never wore skirts like that ever from what I remember," answered the young woman as she also looked upon the corpse.
The person in the elevator was a lot younger than Spencer; maybe around eighteen. She had blonde hair which was down to her shoulders with blue eyes as well as red lipstick. Dressed in a light purple formal skirt, she also had a white blouse on with the top button off; showing a tiny bit of cleavage. Her right arm was holding an expensive purse that was pure red and her left arm was holding a cell phone; which looked real enough from where Spencer was at though it was definitely an older model. The way that the corpse's mouth was open, it seemed that the killer propped it somehow in order to make that the victim was talking on the cell phone.
"Even if this is a copycat; how is it that this A is mimicking you guys so well?" Toby asked his girlfriend. Spencer just shook her head since she didn't know; Ezra's book had just dealt with the case at hand and not a detailed summary of the girls themselves.
"I don't know; there has to be more to this somehow. I wonder if Charles had any pen pals while he was incarcerated," the FBI Agent said out loud and planned to check on her brother's visitors while he still had been alive. From her studies at the Academy, copycats liked to interact with their idol so there was a chance that he was in the system somewhere.
The two watched the coroner handle the body and waited for her report. When she was done, she stepped back from the body and over to the couple.
"It looks like she was strangled but I won't know for sure until she is back at the lab. The body has also been washed thoroughly and I can smell cleaner on her which seems to be bleach; which tells me that there is doubt we will find anything useful," informed the female CSI. She was wrapped in while garb in order not to contaminate the crime scene.
"Do we know who she is yet?" Spencer asked, hoping that they had an early identification on the corpse to get an early start.
"No; her fingerprints are not in the system and she didn't have any ID on her. We'll have to hope that once we get her cleaned up that there is either her DNA is in the system or her face is," answered the woman. After Toby nodded, he and Spencer were then left alone while the rest of the CSI's prepared to move the body.
"You want to visit the hospital tonight? We might be able to get the records without a warrant given my family connection," Spencer stated, not looking forward to the visit. She wasn't fond of being reminded about her psychopathic brother given what he did to her and her friends.
"We should do that tomorrow; I am going to have to report to Tanner about what we have discovered and I am sure your Director will also want an update as well," Toby stated and Spencer wasn't looking forward to that at all.
"Do you think that we might get removed from the case given our connection?" inquired Spencer, the thought coming to her mind. Even with the lack of manpower, the three of them were technically too close to the case rules wise.
"Maybe but I doubt it; Tanner will have our back and she could talk to your Director if it comes up on your side," answered her boyfriend as Mike approached after talking to one of the officers to get up to date.
"So the victim was found over an hour ago by one of the officials here after ringing for the elevator. Her screams is what brought the security guards running whom then sealed off the scene," informed the young man to the other two as he glanced over at the body; also recognizing the imitation right away.
"The body was found in the middle of the day?" Spencer asked, astounded since it had been apparent that whoever had displayed the corpse had done so at great risk.
"Yes; the police checked and found that the elevator had been at the bottom floor for a while so they checked; only to find that someone had placed the body from the basement after gaining entrance somehow. There were no traces of how though since nothing came up in their system," stated Mike with a frown.
"Which means that it was probably hacked somehow; go check with the main security office and see if our hacker from before was involved," ordered Toby and his partner complied and headed away to carry it out.
"This A is getting bold by doing this in the middle of the day and with a large crowd. We have to do something soon before the representations of me and Emily show up," stated the young woman with a grim expression and Toby nodded; matching her present feelings.
"I'm going to go and give Tanner a call to apprise her of the situation; did you need a ride back to your office?" asked the young man.
"No; it isn't a far walk so I will talk to you later," stated Spencer and they said their goodbyes with her heading out. As she walked out of the building, she looked around at all of the other Federal Agency Buildings and took a big sigh after spotting the one where she needed to go.
Spencer had a great many sins as well as ghosts in her past and after seeing the largest one from her past today, she knew she had to make it right. Truth be told, they were still in the dark about what was going on and they needed help; preferably from someone who knew what was at stake. If this was a new A, then it was time to bring in the big guns and that involved making their trio a quartet; though she had to swallow her pride and hoped that the person agreed to help them. Spencer knew that it was going to take a lot of groveling to make it happen though and was dreading it every step of the way.
It was time to have a one on one with Mona Vanderwaal.
When it was first mentioned that the NSA had placed a field office in Philadelphia, there were whispers about the office on what the reason was. They had taken over the old Homeland Security Building and supposedly converted it secretly for their purposes; at least that was what the rumors said. Since her field work never crossed paths with the other agency, Spencer never bothered finding about the FBI's neighbors given that they were only a few buildings away. Her parents had paid attention to the various scandals with the Agency and talked about them around the dinner table but she usually tuned them out. It was kind of fitting that Mona would end up with them since it was right up her alley.
As she approached the building, there were butterflies in her stomach given that she was about to have a face to face meeting with Mona. Since Toby had been by her side as well as being armed, she hadn't been afraid of the young woman on the street. Now, there was no one at her side when facing one of the biggest mistakes of her life. While she had always put on a front when the subject of Mona had come up, truthfully she was afraid of her; especially given what had happened back then. It was her blind anger that had stuck Mona in jail and she had known in the back of her mind that the teen was innocent of Alison's accusations; but she went ahead with the blonde's plan anyways.
There was always that secret fear that Mona might go after her out of revenge; each of the girl's had shared that same fear as well. During the first year of being on her own at the academy, Spencer had avoided going out by herself thinking that Mona might have a go at her with a car.
Toby had tried to convince her that she was just overreacting, but Spencer always was paranoid about the subject. Hanna faced the issue head on while Emily ran for California just in case. Aria had Ezra to protect her and did her best with the book to paint Mona as a victim; omitting several details that Mona had done to them. Alison was so afraid of Mona's vengeance that she hired a bodyguard that had been in the French Foreign Legion to escort her from the highly secured house she had in Paris.
When five years had gone by with no incident, their guards had been relaxed somewhat; though that paranoia had always remained.
The NSA building had all of its windows tinted to prevent anyone from seeing in it; which was supposedly illegal in the city. Every Federal Building had normal windows and it was a little strange that this particular agency would be the exception. As Spencer walked up to the building, it almost seemed like it was casting an odd shadow over the place and she could swear that the various suited people were avoiding getting too close. This was understandable given the agency's reputation as well as the fear it portrayed to the masses. It was any wonder that they were excluded from certain rules the rest of them had to follow.
Spencer opened the door and walked it, trying to look like she was here for an official visit and keeping the nervousness off of her face. Unlike the FBI Building where she worked, the lobby was completely barren of activity though it looked similar to her workplace. In fact, the lobby was almost empty of anything except for a single receptionist desk in the back that was covered with glass; probably bulletproof. A woman about her age was seated on the other side of the glass and looked up from her computer as Spencer approached; a curious look displayed on her face. At each end of the lobby were two armed guards; men in suits with what looked like sub-machine guns strapped to their shoulders. On the ceiling in various places were security cameras trained on different spots in the lobby.
"May I help you?" asked the woman behind the glass once Spencer had walked up; in a polite but slightly stern tone.
"I am here to see Mona Vanderwaal," Spencer said to the woman with a slight smile while keeping her tone pleasant but official as well. The reaction she got was surprising since the receptionist's eyes widened completely and every camera refocused on her. Even the security guards gave the FBI Agent their full attention.
"And you are?" inquired the woman as she quickly typed something into her computer which Spencer couldn't see. While the woman's tone was still polite, there was a firmness to it that caused alarms to go off in the Agent's head.
"My name is Spencer Hastings and I am with the FBI; we are old associates," answered the young woman while taking out her badge from her pocket and showing the receptionist. Spencer held it close enough so that the woman could confirm her identity. She was going to say that she was an old friend of Mona's but that was too much of a lie to say straight.
The receptionist continued to type and Spencer was about to ask again when one of the side doors opened. The FBI Agent turned to see about five men in the same style of suit they all wore approach her with their side arms clearly visible. Spencer became alarmed and was contemplating whether to make a run for it when one of the guards moved to block her escape. Making sure that she still had her badge in her hand and her other arm dropping to the side where her own gun was, the young woman did her best to keep her cool. She was mentally kicking herself for not telling Toby where had gone in case something happened.
"Ms. Hastings; I need you to come with me," stated one of the men as they almost surrounded her. His face had a hard look to it and she noticed how his right arm was close to drawing his sidearm if he needed.
"Listen, I am with the FBI and I just wanted to talk to my old friend," Spencer stated, deciding that maybe the lie of Mona being an old friend would placate them.
"This way please," the man insisted as he motioned for her to head the door that the group had just come from. Sighing, Spencer nervously nodded and followed the man while his comrades walked behind her.
Once they were through the door, Spencer found herself in a really narrow hallway that had various doors at its sides. The walls and floor were all a really dark wood with the lighting coming from the ceiling; with more cameras as well. The vents at the top near the ceiling were blowing cool air into the hallway which was nice given the lack of a single window that spencer could see. It was a little too constricted for Spencer's case and she was doing her best to keep herself from panicking; tight spaces being a problem with her as one of the many consequences of the Dollhouse all those years ago. She was about to complain when the man in front of her stopped suddenly and opened one of the doors; motioning for her to enter.
Once she was inside, Spencer found herself in what was definitely an interrogation room. There was a single table in the center with two chairs; one of them occupied by a large dark-skinned man with a stern look on his face. The light in the ceiling was quite bright and there was a large glass window behind the man which faced the empty chair. Like the rest of the building, everything was made up of hard brown wood. At the corners near the ceiling were more cameras; all trained on her once she had sat down. Spencer was cursing herself for even coming here and putting herself in this situation.
"Listen; all I wanted to do is speak to Mona. If that isn't okay, I can just leave," Spencer said to the man as he just stared at her. His suit was a lighter colored grey with a red tie that was an odd combination. He was clean shaven with brown eyes and was clearly a few years older than she was. His bald head seemed to add to the stern look he was giving her.
"Why are you interesting in seeing Mona Vanderwaal?" asked the man, though it seemed more as a demand in her opinion.
"We're old friends; I just wanted to say hi," lied the young woman. It wouldn't help her if she got Mona into trouble if she told him the truth.
"From what I understand, Assistant Director Vanderwaal doesn't have any old friends," stated the NSA Agent and Spencer did a double take at what he had just said.
"Assistant Director? Mona is my age; how can she be that high up?" Spencer demanded to know, staring at the man in mixed wonderment and disbelief. There was no way that Mona could have risen that much in the ranks when it had taken Spencer years to get where she was at.
"That is classified; why are you here to see her?" the man asked again, this time a little more forcibly. Spencer just shook her head and became angry at being interrogated for simply wanting to talk to her former classmate.
"I am an FBI Agent; you have no right to treat me this way," Spencer said angrily, refusing to answer his question. She refused to be pushed around like this and wanted out of here.
"The FBI has no power here; answer the question," the NSA Agent ordered and Spencer suddenly stood up, catching him off guard. She then walked over to the glass window, ignoring the angry man behind her.
"You're right there, aren't you? Listen I just need to talk to you on what you know. Another body showed up today and this time it was the representation of Hanna. I want to stop this from happening again," Spencer said to the glass window, hoping that Mona was indeed on the other side and watching her.
"Sit down or I will make you," threatened the man as he stood up and was directly behind her, ready to use physical force on her. Spencer ignored him and kept looking into the glass window with her eyes narrowed.
"I get it; you are angry with me. I understand and trust me that I do really regret what happened all of those years ago. The others and I nearly ruined your life and should have believed you when you said you were innocent. We also should have never listened to Alison when she accused you of helping Charles. But that was ten years ago and it's time to move on; there is a new A and we need help stopping him or her so please Mona, just talk to me," pleaded the young woman with every ounce of feeling she had; truthful in her words in every way. There was minute of silence and the only sound that could be heard was her breathing.
Then there was the sound of a phone buzzing.
Please Read and Review; also a shout out to my friend Paraddicted for the pre-read and you should check out her stories!