Author's Note: For those of you still here, so sorry about the wait. Life happened. Enjoy the update!

"...she was fine until like 10 minutes ago…maybe 20…I don't know…"

"...half dead on the sidewalk…"

"...oh, fuck you!…"

"...Emily, c'mon…c'mon we need to go, now…"

Emily could barely make out the shouting behind her, fragments of an argument that she couldn't begin to focus on. Voices overlapped, car doors slammed and reopened, threats were starting to be thrown out. She couldn't focus on any of it. Everyone had poured outside after hearing a car, Hanna's car, hit the curb. That was when she saw her friends dragging Alison out of the backseat and onto the sidewalk.

"You're still…" Alison struggled to speak, "here."

"Yeah," Emily stared into unfocused blue eyes and tried to sound less frightened than she was. "Yeah everyone's still here," Emily's eyes roamed. Alison was pale, her skin tacky, and when she reached out to touch Emily's face, she caressed the air instead. Was she dizzy? Could she not see properly? "What happened?" Emily's hands hovered inches over Alison's body, afraid of touching something and worsening her condition. "Alison," Emily tried to regain her attention when the blonde didn't answer. "Alison?"

Alison's head lulled and her body went limp, her arm falling to her side. Emily's heart started to pound painfully in her chest. "Noel!" Emily yelled. "Noel!" She shrieked, the shrill of her voice cutting through the screaming match he was still embroiled in. He was at her side in seconds. "She closed her eyes…and…and she won't answer me…" Emily tripped over the words.

"She's fine," Noel insisted but it lacked any conviction.

Emily couldn't believe him, "She's going to die here if we don't do something."

"Fuck off," Noel shoved her aside, not in anger but in fear. A very deep seated fear that he was going to lose one of the only people that mattered to him. One of the only people he mattered to.

Before she even opened her eyes again, Alison shot her hand out. Her fingers wrapped about the sides of Noel's neck and squeezed. Startled, he froze and then struggled against her but she was using the last of her strength to remind him of his place.

"Holy fuck," Aria squeaked.

Noel was gasping now but Alison didn't release him, instead, she pulled him toward her until his ear met her lips. A few seconds later her grip slacked and Noel pulled away.

"What did she say?" Emily couldn't wait until he caught his breath. She asked what everyone wanted to know.

Noel hadn't looked at Emily with that much disdain since the day she'd held a gun on Alison in the kitchen. "She said you're in charge," He growled bitterly.

The weight of Alison's words slammed into Emily, and she couldn't breathe. Panic clawed its way up her throat. Sirens wailed faintly, a sound that she thought was in her head at first until she realized it was real. Of course someone had called the police. God, she hated the suburbs.

What would Alison do? Kill them.

Emily paced for a second, gathering herself. She stopped when she was facing Noel and Eric, "Take Alison inside and bring Toby out."

"That idiot can barely walk," Eric began to protest.

"I need him. just do it," Emily snapped in response.

Aria and Hanna stared in stunned silence. "Emily," Hanna finally managed, "You can't stay here,"

"I didn't ask you to rescue me," Emily interrupted harshly, immediately softening as she saw the hurt flicker across Hanna's face. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. If you want to leave, leave while you still can. Or you can stay, but you need to decide right now."

Emily couldn't ask them to stay. She couldn't drag them further into this mess, but she desperately hoped they would. She needed people she could trust.

Aria stepped forward first, "I'll stay."

Hanna sighed, a combination of irritation and resignation on her face, "Fine. We're staying."

"Good," Emily didn't have time to get caught up in thank you's. "Get your car in the garage-"

"There's a body in my trunk," Hanna scream whispered.

"I know, I know…we'll deal with it. One thing at a time. Get the car in the garage."

Noel and Eric reappeared a few steps away, holding a battered Toby between them. Most of his injuries were concealed and she used her sleeve to clean up any blood on his face. He had to get the cops to turn around and leave. She couldn't risk a gunfight in a cul de sac against the Sheriff's office. She wasn't Alison.

"Do you still have connections at the NYPD?" Emily asked urgently, stepping close so only Toby could hear her.

Toby nodded cautiously.

"I need you to make the sheriff's deputies go away when they get here. Say whatever you have to. If you can't do it, Alison's guys will slaughter the cops and take this whole neighborhood hostage. Then we'll really be fucked and none of us will be going anywhere but jail."

Toby eyed her curiously but didn't say a word.

"So?" Emily needed to hear him say it The cops would be there in seconds.

"I'll get rid of them," Toby said firmly, a renewed resolve in his eyes.

… …

Alison was getting worse.

What started as shallow breaths had turned into choking gasps. Blood filled her mouth, and then she was coughing it up. Emily's hands shook as she fumbled with Noel's phone, trying to follow Wren's instructions over Facetime. She followed his directions to the letter, ignoring his condescending tone and resisting the urge to chuck the phone someplace far. Alison needed him.

"She's bleeding internally," Wren said sharply, his voice clinical. "I'm on my way, but I don't know if I'll get there in time. She has an hour, maybe less. She needs a hospital."

"That's not an option," Emily spat, he already knew it wasn't an option. She looked around, Hanna, Aria, Noel, Eric, and the hired guns all hovered around with unease.

She looked back at Alison. The stillness was more terrifying than the coughing. Her skin was gray now. This time when Alison's hand lifted from the cushion to reach for Emily, it moved through the air like it didn't know where it was going. Her fingers skimmed Emily's shoulder, then dropped back down.

"No," Emily whispered, shaking her head. "No, you don't get to die. Not now."

"She needs blood," a voice called out.

Emily turned toward the voice. It was one of the hired men, he stood near the wall, nervous and hesitant, but brave enough to speak.

Noel turned to glare at the shorter man. The rules were clear. They weren't supposed to talk, and especially not to Emily. Stupid fucking rules. Rules that didn't matter anymore, she realized.

Emily stood up, the phone still in her hand, and marched across the room. She stopped in front of him and stared him down.

"What's your name?" she asked. "Don't look at him," Emily hissed, jerking her head toward Noel. "Look at me."

The man swallowed hard. "Perseus…P-Percy" He met her eyes, and Emily could see it, there was fear but also certainty. He knew what he was talking about.

"Can you help her?" Emily's voice cracked.

Percy nodded slowly. "Your doctor's not gonna make get here fast enough. If she keeps losing blood like this… she won't make it." He wrenched his hands, "In the field, we used to do emergency transfusions. Not pretty, not safe, and it doesn't always work."

"She needs a hospital!" Wren's voice cut through. "You stupid girl, she's going to die, and it will be your fault."

Emily didn't even look at the screen. She just hung up on him.

She turned back to Percy. "And you can do it?" Her voice was stronger now. Alison didn't need Wren, Alison needed her.

He nodded once. "I just need compatible blood."

"She's AB," Noel rasped from the other side of the room as if everyone should know what that meant. He looked like he'd aged ten years. "She can take from anyone," he explained.

Emily didn't think, "Take mine."

"No!" Noel barked, "She put you in charge. If something goes wrong, both of you can't be…" He let his sentence die there.

It was the most backward show of faith, but it made sense. It wouldn't make sense for her to be half conscious and dazed, not now. Besides, she hadn't been sober for even a full month, it might not have been safe for either of them.

"You," Emily said, turning to another man posted at the window with a buzzcut and a weird jaw. "Get over here."

He hesitated a beat too long.

Noel didn't wait. He strode across the room, grabbed the man by the collar, and practically threw him toward the center of the living room.

"Use him," Emily and Noel said in unison. It shocked them both being on the same page and they eyed each other with suspicion.

… …

No one stormed the house. No orders barked through megaphones, no boots crashing through the doors. Just heavy silence. Eventually, the front door clicked open and Toby stepped inside, his shoulders sagging. He didn't say anything. He just let himself collapse onto the floor beside the couch where Emily and Alison were.

Emily didn't even look up. Her eyes were glued to the makeshift IV line that stretched from Alison's arm to Jonah's. The sight of it still made her stomach turn. It was clear tubing hastily taped down at odd angles. She didn't know where Percy'd found it. The blood moved in slow pulses, flowing from Jonah to Alison.

Perry crouched nearby, scribbling notes on a piece of paper with a ballpoint pen he'd gotten from the kitchen drawer. He muttered to himself every so often, checking pulse points and temperatures like he was back in a warzone. Emily had learned Percy was a trained field medic, and it showed in the way he kept himself together.

"Is it working?" Emily asked again. It was the fifth time she'd asked.

Perry glanced up. "It's working," he said gently, like he knew any other answer would break her.

They'd had to cut open Alison's shirt to find the source of the internal bleeding. A nasty looking bruise spread across her ribs, black and purple and angry looking. The spot where Emily had elbowed her some time ago. Guilt tightened in Emily's chest. Percy explained that the injury must've started as a microfracture, repeated strain and blows turned the small fracture into a break, and then into something worse.

Emily looked down at Alison's pale skin. Her lips had turned a dull blue. The blood transfusion was keeping her alive, but it wouldn't fix her. It was just buying them time.

Emily turned to Toby, needing a distraction and needing answers. "What did you tell the deputies?"

"A little bit of the truth," Toby muttered. "Told them this was a safe house. That things got rough between the assets and I had it handled.

"They believed that?"

"Not at first. They called their base and asked to be directed to my old Chief. He covered for me but he'll have questions later."

Emily didn't know how Alison did this. She felt like she was one bad decision away from everything unraveling. Her gaze drifted to the living room window, the light outside had dimmed. There was something else nagging her.

"The cop in Hanna's trunk," she started carefully. "Wilden… should we..do something?"

The longer he stayed alive, the bigger the threat he posed.

Noel was leaned against the wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest. "You want to kill him?" Noel took out a knife from his jacket and held it out. His voice was hard, challenging. He was testing her.

Emily's head swam. Her mouth opened, then closed. She couldn't do this. She got up abruptly and bolted for the sliding glass door, needing air and space.

She barely made it two steps before Eric grabbed her arm and yanked her backwards.

He blinked, stunned at his action, "Sorry, reflex."

Emily shook him off and stepped outside, followed by Hanna and Aria. On the nearby table was a half empty pack of cigarettes. She lit one with shaking fingers, took a drag so deep her lungs screamed, and then exhaled. For about half a second, everything felt normal.

Then she broke.

Her legs buckled and she nearly hit the pavement. Hanna was there in an instant, catching her, holding her up as sobs racked through her. Ugly, gut wrenching sobs that came from somewhere deep, where all the fear and regret had been buried.

"Okay, okay, I've got you," Hanna murmured, pulling Emily close.

Aria joined in, wrapping her arms around both of them. "You've been with her this whole time, haven't you?"

Emily didn't know how to answer. She and Alison had been in the same house, sure, but together? She wasn't sure when that had started.

"What if she dies?" Emily choked, her face buried in Hanna's shoulder. "What if she dies before I can…"

"Tell her you love her?" Hanna finished softly, brushing back Emily's hair.

The words were out there now, and the world didn't stop. The ground didn't swallow her whole. The sky didn't fall. She nodded into Hanna's shoulder.

"I'm going to screw this up," Emily whispered. "I screw everything up."

"That's not true," Aria said, her voice sure.

They stayed like that for a long time, clinging to each other in the dark.

… …

Eric leaped to answer the door as soon as the bell rang. He let Wren step inside, the handsy doctor's eyes were sharp but he was sweaty. As if he ran from the city to the outskirts of New Jersey on foot, it was far from his usual smug look. He didn't ask permission, just jogged from the door to the living room. He took one look at Alison and shouted, "We need to open her up. Right now."

Emily sittfened, "What?"

"She's bleeding into her abdomen," Wren said."If we don't stop it, she'll die and all of this will be for nothing." he waved his hand dismissively at the IV line.

"Percy said she was stable," Noel pushed back before Emily could. Alison wouldn't have kept Wren around if he weren't a good doctor but Emily just couldn't trust him.

"Temporary," Wren scoffed. "Do you want her to live or look pretty while she dies slowly?"

Emily exchanged a glance with Percy and gave a tight nod.

"We can use the kitchen," Percy said. "We'll do it there."

Noel swept everything off the island without hesitation. Emily told Hanna and Aria to grab whatever Wren and Percy needed, clean towels, disinfectant, whatever they could find. This wasn't a hospital. It wasn't even sterile, but it was Alison's only chance.

Perry met Wren at the island. They shared no compliments, only experience, and they worked fast. Alison's shirt was already ripped from the earlier transfusion. Now her skin was exposed, and her body shivered involuntarily against the cold granite surface.

Emily hovered nearby, Wren objected harshly but he was an asshat and not in charge. She stayed as close as Percy said she could.

"You okay?" Aria whispered beside her.

"No," Emily told her truthfully.

The first cut made Emily nauseous. A river of blood welled up immediately, and Wren moved fast. Percy worked silently beside him, eyes narrowing in concentration. Her eyes fell on Wren's bag, surely there was something in there to take the edge off. She shook away the thought. She was no use to Alison high, she didn't even want to get high, she was just scared.

"There," Percy said, pointing. "You see it?"

"Yes," Wren murmured.

They worked as a unit, leaving Emily feeling useless, Alison twitched beneath their hands once, twice, but never woke.

Percy stepped back, arms covered in blood, "It's done. Bleeding's stopped."

Wren stepped away too, wiping his hands on a towel. "She's lucky I was here."

Emily didn't thank him.

… …

"I'll stay," Wren's voice came from the hallway when he was finished cleaning himself up. "I can monitor her vitals, help manage the pain when she wakes up."

Emily turned her head toward him, "No."

He blinked, "You can't be serious."

It was selfish. It was dangerous. But she couldn't bear being around him and she couldn't bear the way he looked at Alison.

"She doesn't need you here." Her tone made it clear. She understood now what it must feel like for Paige and Alison, to end conversations at will. For your word to be law, to be final. It was nice.

Eric moved in, "Let's go, doc."

Wren hesitated, then turned to leave. He didn't deserve Alison if he wouldn't even try to put up a fight.

"Eric," Emily called, "Help Noel with Wilden. Toby can walk Doctor Dipshit out"

Eric, slightly stunned, nodded and then disappeared down the steps to the basement. When the door shut behind Toby and Wren, Emily exhaled like she'd been holding her breath.

She turned to Aria and Hanna, "Follow me, I'll show you where you're sleeping."

They followed her quietly and she could feel their eyes on her back, they had questions they just didn't know how to ask them. Good, because Emily didn't have any answers. She opened the guest room door, it was cleaned up from the…Ben thing. There was still a faint scent of bleach but no sign someone had died.

Emily turned to go but paused at the door. "Noel can grab anything you need from the store tomorrow. Just make a list."

She left them there before either could say anything and took the steps two at a time back downstairs. The house had gone quiet. Alison was back on the couch, Percy had cleaned her incisions and blanketed her. Emily sat beside her, Alison's color was improving a bit, she smiled at that.

Emily leaned in close, brushing blonde hair from Alison's forehead.

"You're infuriating," she said softly. "We get into one little argument and you come back to me on the verge of death." She made light of their situation.

"You kidnapped me, completely fucked my life. I should hate you, I should be terrified of you.."

Emily sighed and ran her thumb over Alison's lips, "You better fucking wake up."

"How did you get the drop on Wilden while you were chained to a chair?" Emily asked knowing she would get no reply. Hanna and Aria only had bits to tell her. "You're a psycho. You know that, right?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Emily's mouth again and her voice dropped to a whisper, eyes locked on Alison's face, "You're my psycho."

Then her eyes welled with tears and her throat burned. She blinked them back, swallowed the emotion.

"I don't know what happens after this, but if you wake up… we'll figure it out."

Emily slid down beside Alison, careful not to lay on top of her. She interlocked their hands.

"Please wake up," she whispered. "I can't do this without you."