Tapestry of Scars

The Deep End

A/N: Take a deep breath before this one. There is a lot of triggering material in it. This chapter is a little longer than the previous chapters. There was some material I didn't want to rush.

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Chapter 8:

The Deep End

Visiting her brother always put Alison on edge. Not because she didn't love him, but because she felt responsible for the way things had ended up for him.

Aria had gone with her to visit him. Spencer had come, too, for legal purposes. She wanted to talk to Jason about the court appointed lawyer he'd been given.

Alison thought about asking Emily to come with her, but she was worried that it might be crossing the line. She knew that Emily would come to support her, and Alison didn't think that was the best idea. She wanted to try and keep Emily out of her drama. Plus she knew that Emily had an appointment at the doctor to get her liver and kidney values checked. And Emily was always edgy when she came home from her doctor's appointments.

The visitation area was tiny. Alison felt crammed in with Spencer and Aria both there, but at the same time she was glad she wasn't alone.

She'd been in her head about Emily ever since their encounter after the disastrous night at the club two nights ago. That kiss had sparked something in both of them. She could tell Emily wanted more, and she wanted more. But she also knew Emily was vulnerable. They were taking it slow.

She wanted more than anything to be with the brunette instead of packed into a tiny stuffy room that smelled like piss. She hated that her brother was stuck behind bars. But she also knew there was nothing she could do about it. He wouldn't let her do anything about it.

"Are the shackles really necessary?" Aria frowned at the officer who'd walked Jason in.

"It's protocol, ma'am." He locked Jason's feet in place and then walked towards the door.

"I am not a ma'am." Aria's eyes burned with a fiery gaze. "I am 26 years old, thank you very much."

"Ease up, Mother of Dragons. No need to burn Westeros to the ground." Spencer tried to rein her in.

"No one understands your nerdy references, Spencer." Alison rolled her eyes.

"It's good to see you all, too," Jason said sarcastically.

"How are you doing?" Alison started to reach across the table to touch his hand, but he pulled it away and shook his head.

The cop was watching from outside and they didn't allow physical contact, which sucked, because Alison could really use a hug from her big brother.

"I hate this place." Alison sighed.

"It's not so bad, Ali." He was lying. Alison knew he was lying and it just made her feel worse. "I've got structure here. Three hots and a cot. Just like old times overseas."

"Complete with maniac terrorists trying to kill you."

"No worse than the action I saw over there."

"We can see about getting you transferred if you're having problems with the other inmates." Spencer suggested.

"No guarantee I'll end up anywhere better. Besides, who knows what's going to happen now that they're looking at my file again?"

"I don't understand how they can do this. Isn't double jeopardy a thing? Didn't they make a movie out of it?" Alison grumbled.