Infatuation (PLL Emison AU)

How it Ends

A/N: So, shit is going to get real in this chapter. Things are going to shock you. Things are going to hurt. And then you're going to want to hurt me.

*readies for pitchforks*

*****

Chapter 37:

How it Ends

The building was dank and musty. There was a lingering pungent odor, like it was rotting from the inside out.

It was the perfect place to bring everything full circle. There was a lot of pain and suffering hidden between the walls of the large abandoned building. A dark history. A history that screamed and wept and bled. A history of dark secrets and death.

It was a place where innocence was lost. Where souls went to die.

It would be perfect to close out Alison's legacy.

Despite her end, that's what the blonde was: a legacy.

The Scarlet Letter Killer...a child of darkness, dying in a place of darkness. It was only fitting.

It was clear that Alison couldn't continue her work. She'd been compromised...by love.

Sickening.

A gloved hand reached for a dangling chain, pulling on it, the light illuminating a set of photos on the table.

Photos of Alison and Emily, of their life together. Their family. Their friends.

A shadow hovered above a picture of little Liam Rivers sitting in Alison's lap. The little boy seemed to mean something to Alison.

The tips of the gloves played with the edge of the photograph for a few seconds before picking it up. Cold eyes set their sights on the child. Fingertips traced around Liam's figure.

Kids were Alison's weakness. They'd always been her weakness. Perhaps because of what she'd lost as a child. She had dubbed herself as a protector of the innocent. And who was more innocent than children?

The photo of Liam was gently placed next to a picture of Emily. Soon, that smile would be wiped from her face permanently.

Oh, the plans that were in store for the detective...

It made the excitement palpable.

The killer's eyes slowly tracked around the room. Everything was ready. Everything was prepared. Chains bolted to the wall. A table set up specifically for her prey. Alison's death would not be quick and painless. It would be slow agonizing torture. Tiny cuts. Broken bones crushed into dust. Chained to the wall, steel cutting into her wrists. She'd be forced to stand as her body weakened from the pain and the blood loss. She'd be begging for death.

The haunting monstrous place was where the biggest monster of them all would die. It's where Alison DiLaurentis would have the last bits of her soul shattered into oblivion, leaving an empty black hole.

Once everything had been taken away from her...

Her heart...

Her soul...

Her dignity...

After Alison had lost everything she held dear, after she lost her fight and her will to live, that's when she would die.

Breaking the blonde's spirit would be easy now that Alison had people in her life that she loved. She'd have to suffer before having the life drained out of her. She would be forced to watch her loved ones die, starting with Emily.

Soon the beautiful sounds of anguished screams would fill the air like a symphony.

After making sure everything was ready, the building was locked up. Eyes filled with bloodlust peered up at the grey sky.

It looked like rain.

An eerie smile curved into a devilish smirk, eyes expressionless, body relaxed.

A sharp inhale of breath sucked in the taste of the impending storm.

It was time.

o ~ O ~ o

Alison didn't like the ominous feeling looming in the air. She stood out on her front porch and shuddered as a gust of wind cut through her. She'd been waiting on Emily for over an hour.

Emily had texted her and told her she was running behind, but Alison hadn't expected her to be this late.

She imagined the brunette had just been caught up in her work. It had been a busy two days. Emily had been working a lot. She'd promised Alison to catch her up to speed as soon as she had information to share.

The blonde didn't know Emily had gotten the DNA results back. She didn't know her wife was keeping secrets from her. There was a lot that Emily was doing to try and protect Alison.

Alison reached for her phone, staring at the unanswered text she'd sent,

Starting to get worried. You were supposed to pick me up an hour ago.

They had been planning to go to Hanna's place for Liam's birthday. Alison had never been one for children's parties, not even when she was a child, not even for herself. The last memorable birthday was when Marco had given her a toy replica of Pepe.

She looked at the gift-wrapped box in her hand. They'd gotten him two things. A play dinosaur set, because he loved dinosaurs. And a tea set, because he wanted to play tea party with his mommy. He was a very sensitive boy. Sweet. Innocent.

Hanna and Caleb were wonderful parents. Their boys were showered with the perfect blend of affection and discipline. They were good boys. It was a reminder to the blonde that not all parents were horrible.

Alison had seen normal parents before. Naomi and Riley had pretty normal home lives. Nick lived with his mother. His father had drifted in and out of his life when he was a kid. The guy was kind of a dick, but nowhere near as bad as Alison's parents.

Alison didn't know anything was wrong with her family until she got older. She'd see happy smiling faces on children who looked up to their parents and she'd see parents looking back at them in adoration. She'd yearned for that, but she'd also been angry. She wanted to throw rocks at them and push them down in the dirt. But she'd learned to control her anger.

Seeing Hanna and Caleb with Aidan and Liam tugged at her heart in the strangest of ways. She wanted to experience that kind of love. She wanted to give an innocent little baby the childhood she'd never had. To fix her parents' mistakes. To prove that she was a better person. But what kind of life would that be for the kid? She'd already corrupted Emily. She couldn't do that to an innocent child.

She'd spent her life protecting the innocent. And she didn't regret it.

She peered at her phone again. She hit the speed dial for her wife. As soon as it connected she heard a chirping sound coming from a tree near the side of her house.

She lowered the phone and let it ring. She disconnected the call and the ringing stopped. All the fine hairs on the back of her neck prickled up. A shiver ran through her body, goosebumps popping up on her arms.

It can't be...

She could feel the world around her crushing her. Her senses immediately shifted as she honed in on the trees. She realized that there were no other surrounding sounds. All she could hear was the weight of her heavy breathing and the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

She took a step towards the tree, taking a defensive position in case someone was waiting there to attack. Without looking at her phone, she hit the speed dial again and the sound of Emily's ringtone broke through the hollow noises in her head.

No. No...

She slowly walked towards the sound of the phone. She carefully drew back, ready to strike, but when she looked on the other side of the tree all she saw was Emily's phone laying in the grass. Her contact photo lit up the dim skies. It was a picture of her and Emily together, kissing.

She scanned the surrounding area, but didn't see anything.

But she failed to look up. She didn't see the person hiding in the brush above her.

When she leaned down to grab Emily's phone she heard an explosion of loud barks coming from inside the house. She heard Duke throwing himself at the door, scratching and trying to get out. But before she had a chance to move, she heard a loud thud and felt something crash against the back of her skull.

Dizzied, but still conscious, she spun around to try and fight, but she was met with another blow to the face that sent her toppling to the ground.

She could still hear Duke barking ferociously, but it slowly faded into a fuzzy darkness.

She was alone in the abyss, struggling to find her way out. She felt like her body was being jolted, tossed against something heavy. She rolled around and crashed into things in the darkness. When the motions finally stopped she could hear voices, but she couldn't make anything out but the words.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

Why did that voice sound so familiar? She knew that voice. It called to her.

"Shut the fuck up." A crunching noise, then a scream of pain.

The scream made Alison's entire body flinch. She yearned to get up and fight. It was her natural inclination to protect those who needed her.

A flash...the night she'd seen Emily out at Ian's crime scene. That urge to protect someone, an urge bigger than her selfish desires. Something she'd never felt before. Something had awakened in her that night.

"Let her go."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

There was a period of silence, followed by hot and heavy breath against Alison's face.

"Here's what's going to happen..."

Alison struggled to hear the rest. Her ears were ringing. Her head was on fire. Her chest was so heavy that she couldn't breathe.

The excruciating pain slowly subsided. Her body was in motion again. Somehow, she was on her feet, but she couldn't see anything.

"Run." The voice growled.

She was shoved forward without any other instructions. But for some reason she did what she was told. There was a feeling of desperation in her actions.

Why was she running?

She was disoriented. It was dark out. Rain slapped against her, hard. It was if the skies were in a rage. It was less of a thunderstorm and more of a flood pouring down on top of her.

Every time water trickled against her body Alison flinched, her skin feeling as if though it was on fire, sizzling when the droplets hit her flesh.

Fitting...given I'm the fucking devil.

Her blood boiled. She could feel a bubbling mixture of anger and fear, two contradicting emotions she had grown quite accustomed to.

Anger and fear.

Her childhood.

Anger and fear.

She was running towards something, but she had no idea what it was. She just knew she had to get there.

The road before her was black. The street looked like a river rushing beneath her feet. She had to keep running or she'd be swept away.

A sudden flash of light blinded her.

Headlights rounded the corner.

As she watched she car speeding down the road she wondered if this was what Emily had felt like when she was run down like an animal.

The car pivoted, hitting a puddle of water before hydroplaning and spinning around, nearly hitting the blonde.

Alison screeched to a halt, the car within striking distance.

Like an angry New Yorker, she slapped her palms against the slick metal hood and yelled obscenities at the driver. She reared back, poised to lift her foot and kick the door, but the car lurched away from her, fishtailing as it raced down the road.

It spun towards Alison again, engine revving. It was like staring off with an angry bull.

The headlights washed out everything around her. She could see the rain flying past the high beams, like angry little bullets striking the ground. A hail of gunfire from above.

The back door opened and someone rolled out on to the pavement. The shadow grasped their ribs.

There was a cough of pain and then,

"Alison!" A familiar voice shouted as she rose to her feet.

The person who had been thrown from the car starting rushing towards her.

It was only then that Alison remembered what she'd been running towards.

Emily.

Someone had taken Emily.

Not just someone.

The copycat.

"Emily!" Alison started running towards her, whipping beneath the streetlamps.

The distance between them seemed infinite, like no matter how fast they ran...they never got any closer.

Alison saw a shadow emerge from the driver's side of the car, slowly moving towards the front of the vehicle...perching, poised, watching. The body occluded the headlights.

Alison watched in horror as the person lifted both arms, hands clutching an object tightly.

"Emily!" But before she could yell out a warning the flash of the muzzle lit up the darkness and an ear-splitting crack whipped through the air.

Emily staggered forward, underneath the light of a street lamp. A look of confusion twisted her facial features. Another shot rang out and the brunette fell to her knees, hands clutching her stomach.

"No!" Alison's shriek echoed above the thunderous rain.

She closed the distance between them just in time to see Emily pull her hands away, her palms painted red.

Fresh wet blood.

The bullets had ripped through her. The second Alison saw the injuries she knew they were fatal.

But they can't be.

This can't be how it ends.

Emily looked up at Alison, eyes wide in horror, a shocked expression on her face.

There was a softness in her eyes with a hint of guilt, like she was apologizing for dying.

Alison dropped to her knees, soaking her pants in a large puddle. She grabbed Emily's cheeks, a feeling of agony overwhelming her as she watched the life slowly drain from her eyes.

"Ali..." she gasped. Her voice sounded confused, conflicted, like it couldn't be real.

But Alison could practically taste her pain. Her hands pressed against Emily's wounds and the heat from the blood soaked into her palms.

"Oh, God." Alison stared at the blood on her hands. "Oh, God...no."

The blood was real.

Emily sucked in a gust of air and then collapsed.

Alison wrapped her arms around her before she could hit the ground.

"Em, baby, please..." She begged.

"Run." Emily's voice was fading. "You...have to..."

Alison put her index finger against Emily's lips, shushing her.

"There is no way in hell I'm leaving you." Tears streaked her face, mixing with the rain pelting her cheeks.

She saw the shadow moving in front of the headlights again. The gun was trained on them from a distance.

"What are you waiting for?" Alison screamed. "Just do it!"

There seemed to be a sense of satisfaction in the copycat's stance.

"Just fucking do it!"

But the copycat just stood there, staring.

They're getting off on this. It infuriated her. They enjoy watching me suffer.

If the fucker wasn't holding a gun they'd probably be masturbating to the tune of her pain. That's what it was about to this sick freak.

Fuck you. FUCK YOU!

Emily's blood soaked her sides and pooled against the wet street, slowly being washed away by the rainwater. It turned the ground a frothy shade of pink.

Her body trembled violently. She gripped Alison's arm weakly with her bloody palm.

"Don't...lose it." She sputtered, blood dripping down the corners of her mouth. One of the bullets had hit her lung. She was drowning.

She's suffering. She's going to die suffering.

This isn't right.

We were supposed to have more time.

We were going to solve this together.

Emily repeated herself,

"Don't. Lose. It."

"Lose what?" Alison leaned down, choking on her sobs.

Emily closed her eyes.

"Baby, lose what?"

"S-soul." Emily's stomach started clenching in short bursts. "Your soul. Don't let..." She gasped for air, "...them take it."

Alison cried as she laid her forehead against Emily's.

"They're not the one taking my soul." She whispered.

You are. You ARE my soul, Emily. Please don't go. Don't leave me all alone.

Emily managed to lift her hand, stroking Alison's wet cheek with her index finger.

"You'll..." Spittles of blood splashed Alison's arms, "...survive. You...you have to."

"Emily," Alison whimpered.

Their time together was too short. It wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair. Everything she touched turned to death. Everyone she loved was cursed because of her. But Emily...

Not her. Please not her.

It wasn't real. It wasn't happening.

A bad dream.

A nightmare.

Wake up.

Please wake up!

She could feel Emily slipping away from her. She could see the light dimming.

No.

No, no, no.

This isn't how it ends.

This isn't how it ends for us.

We didn't have enough time.

Her tears were like rivulets of pain and frustration. Her mind was screaming in rage, the world shrieking with her.

"Don't...stop..." Emily clutched Alison's shirt with her fingers, digging in with all the life she had left, "...fighting. P-promise me."

Alison couldn't say the words, couldn't comprehend the pain she was feeling, but she wasn't going to deny Emily her dying wish, so she nodded.

She felt Emily's hand loosen and start to slip away from her shirt. Her eyes glowed in the streetlamp above them. It was like watching a light flickering and going out.

It was a reminder to Alison that she'd seen the same look on Jason's face, but this wasn't something she would ever be able to block out. She'd never forget it. She'd use the pain and the rage. And she would avenge her wife.

"I love you, Emily." She peppered her face with kisses. "I love you, I love you."

You showed me how to love...that I was capable of it.

I'll never know love like this again.

Emily's lips twitched like she was trying to smile.

Smile through the pain. That's my Emily.

"I...love..."Emily tried to suck in one last breath, but it was too much.

Her chest fell flat and her body relaxed in Alison's arms. Her head drooped, hanging on her neck. Her eyes glazed over.

Alison watched the instant it happened. She'd seen it hundreds of times before. She'd watched as someone's life left their body. But watching the woman she loved fade into oblivion elicited more pain than she'd ever experienced her entire life. All of her trauma combined couldn't hold a candle to watching Emily die.

It was as close to being eviscerated while alive that a person could ever experience. The pain sliced into her like a dull blade, her chest being cracked open...a hand reaching in and digging sharp nails directly into her heart.

Alison vigorously shook Emily, trying to rouse her, even though she knew it was useless. It had happened so quickly. Not just her death, but the life they had that flashed before Alison's eyes.

Her smile.

Her laugh.

Her loyalty.

She loved me.

She really loved me.

She looked up at the stormy sky and screamed at the clouds.

A bolt of lightning light up the sky. It was as if the world could feel her agony, and it was as irate and filled with grief. She sobbed, holding Emily's lifeless body.

She waited for the copycat to pull the trigger, but nothing happened. When she looked up she saw the person lower the weapon and move towards the open driver's side door.

A fiery rage exploded in Alison's gut. A dragon wild and pissed off and ready to scorch the Earth. She kissed Emily's forehead and carefully laid her body against the street. When she rose, she was like a monster ripping through tidal waves in a hurricane.

She wasn't afraid of Mother Nature's storms. She was Mother Nature's most dangerous storm.

She let out a guttural scream and tore through the street towards the person who had stolen everything from her.

You don't get to walk away from this.

You don't get to live.

She closed the distance between them, but she didn't reach her doppelganger in time. The car revved, screaming as it lurched forward.

Then everything went black.

She wept in the darkness, her tears rising in a pool around her. When she opened her eyes to try and swim to the surface she realized she didn't want to. She didn't want to live. Instead, it was easier to swim down...down to the depths. Back down to where she belonged.

She deserved to drown for an eternity.

But eventually the water disappeared.

All that existed was darkness.

Then...

...her body jerked, like she had been free-falling through the air and she was bracing for impact.

When she opened her eyes she was staring up at her bedroom ceiling.

She could see the dawn on the horizon through the cream colored shades covering their bedroom window.

Her entire body was stiff, slick, and covered with sweat. She was breathing heavy. Her hands were clenched into fists.

She felt something warm and wet against her arm and when she looked over the side of the bed she saw Duke sitting there and watching her with worried eyes. He licked her again and she loosened one of her fists and reached out to pet him.

How long has he been there?

How long was he watching over me?

His sweet brown eyes were so comforting.

"Good boy," she whispered.

She heard Emily softly breathing next to her and more of her tension faded.

But the nightmare remained.

It felt real. It felt like a warning. It felt like that truly could be her future.

There is no way in hell I'll ever let that happen.

She glanced at Emily, who had rolled over in her sleep and was facing away from her. Alison gently reached up and stroked her back.

I'll protect you, my love.

I'll protect you no matter what it costs.

"Em? Are you awake?" Alison shifted closer to her, molding her body against the brunette's, kissing her shoulder.

"Hey." Emily rolled over, automatically pressing her lips against Alison's. "You're sweating." She pulled back, tasting the salt on her mouth. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Even though she was back in her bedroom, she still felt like was out on the street holding Emily's lifeless body.

Emily snaked her hands up between them and splayed her fingers out against the sides of Alison's neck. She could feel the blonde's pulse racing. Alison gently gripped Emily's cheek and pulled her in for another kiss, this one more heated than the last.

The thought of losing her wife was all too real for her. She wanted to grip her tight and never let her go. It drove an aching need inside of her to burrow into of Emily's embrace.

Alison pulled back, still holding Emily's face between her hands.

Emily could tell that she was upset. She could feel her tension. But she didn't know what had caused it, and so she couldn't fix it. Instead, she had to rely on Alison to tell her what she needed.

But the blonde could barely speak. She couldn't comprehend the horrors of the nightmare she'd had. She'd had bad dreams since she was a child. It had been a terrible lifelong battle.

The nightmare was gone, but that didn't change the fact that she'd seen it. It might not have been real, but she'd never be able to un-see it. She was aware of the beauty of her current reality, in her wife's arms. But she was also aware of how messy and complicated their lives could become.

Happiness would come a lot easier for her if she wasn't constantly trying to reconcile such a juxtaposition of forces.

She had grown accustomed to her nightmares in some respects. But this was different. Because this nightmare had involved the woman she loved. She'd lived through one tragedy. She wasn't sure she'd live through another.

She stared at Emily as the brunette combed her fingers through her damp hair. It was a simple motion, but it said so much.

I'm here for you.

I'll protect you.

I love you.

"I...love..." Emily hadn't been able to finish her thought in Alison's nightmare, so seeing it in her eyes was a comfort.

Alison slipped her hand underneath Emily's oversized night shirt and laid her palm against her taut stomach as she leaned in to kiss her again. She could feel Emily's muscles trembling beneath her touch.

Their heated breaths started to fill the room as the kiss deepened. Emily's hands were still on either side of Alison's neck, her fingers gently drawing patterns as their lips melded together. Alison pulled back and exhaled a shaky breath.

Her eyes met Emily's, asking a silent question, a question she always made sure to get an answer to so as not to lose control with Emily in the bedroom. A question of consent.

Can we?

Emily smiled sweetly at her, a smile that still made Alison's heart melt.

Whatever you need.

No words were exchanged as Alison moved her hand further underneath her shirt and slipped her other hand next to it. The moan that reverberated into Alison's mouth sent waves of pleasure coursing to her core. Pleasing Emily pleased her. She caressed and fondled Emily's breasts before moving to try and get her shirt off.

Emily sat up to help her and tossed the shirt against the ground, leaving her in nothing but her lacy panties.

Alison pulled her sweat-soaked nightgown off and threw it in a pile next to Emily's shirt. Emily peeked under the sheets and saw that she wasn't wearing underwear.

Alison gave her a devilish grin before she pushed Emily's back against the mattress and climbed on top of her. She moved down to kiss her chest, her lips rising and falling with each breath that her wife took. She closed her eyes, quietly appreciating her breaths...her heartbeat. All things that she'd lost in her nightmare.

She trailed a line of kisses down between her ribs, against her stomach, and moved until her lips were against the edge of her panties.

She could see through them that Emily was already wet. She could feel the heat radiating from between her thighs.

She peered up at Emily and smiled at her before slipping a finger underneath the band of her underwear and moving between her legs and kissing her dripping heat.

Emily shuddered, a whine slipping out, which enticed Alison to do it again. She loved the way she made Emily feel. She loved that she could make her feel good.

She slid Emily's panties off and marveled at the sight of her. Swollen, dripping, hot.

Unable to help herself, she slid her tongue over her delicate engorged lips.

Emily hissed and gripped the sheets, trying to keep herself from completely losing control. Alison didn't help matters when she grinned up at her with a sultry expression in her eyes as she teased her by tracing her finger around her entrance. Emily bucked, almost getting her to slip her finger in, but Alison wasn't done teasing her.

She held her pelvis down and kissed her again, reveling in her taste. She crawled up Emily's body, placing kisses in strategic areas, Emily's erogenous zones. The edge of her bottom rib. An inch below her bellybutton. The ridges around her erect nipples. She kissed. She nipped. She licked. She touched.

She knew every inch of Emily's body. She knew what she liked...and what she really liked. She watched as her trail of kisses turned Emily's body into a squirming needy mess.

She felt her own wetness trailing against Emily's thigh as the brunette rubbed against her, one strong hand on her ass to keep her in place and the other against her side, gently squeezing it, her fingers tickling the underside of her breast. The dual sensations sent an aching throbbing sensation between Alison's legs. She had to fight to control herself.

Alison's determination made the contact electric. A need surged through her. It was everything at once. Emotional, mental, physical. She slid up against Emily's body and grabbed her cheeks, pushing her tongue into the brunette's mouth as their lips met in a crashing kiss. Their tongues circled each other as they panted and moved their bodies in sync.

They were a perfect fit. They always had been. It was as if they'd once been whole together and then pulled apart to be two separate beings. But when they were entangled together they were one again.

Emily saw Alison's eyes drift to the toy drawer.

"Do you want to..." Emily moved to open it, but Alison stopped her.

"No." She planted a long hot kiss against her lips, slipping her tongue into Emily's waiting mouth again. "Just us." She blew out a heated breath. "Just you and me."

That's all she wanted to feel. Emily's skin against her skin. Emily's fingers inside of her. Her fingers inside of Emily. Her skin. Her body. She wanted to make love, not fuck.

Emily nodded with a smile and put her palm against Alison's cheek. Alison rubbed herself against Emily's movements, trying to create the friction they needed. Emily cupped her right breast, massaging it with her fingers, circling her nipple.

Alison felt her stomach start to spasm. She looked into Emily's eyes and could tell that she was close, too. They both took a moment to relish in it, to cherish it.

They had been treating every time like it could be the last time. With the intensity and the weight of the world upon them, they knew the delicacy of life.

Emily could see Alison getting lost in the moment, losing herself to the "what-ifs".

"Hey," Emily touched her cheek, bringing Alison's gaze to meet her own as they panted and thrusted against one another. "Stay here. Stay with me."

Alison groaned.

The warmth.

The heat.

Everything she does to me.

Everything she makes me feel.

A ball of fire grew inside of her belly, a burning hot passion she'd never get tired of. She put her hand against Emily's heart, which was thrumming wildly. Her eyes drifted away from Emily's eyes and down to where her hand was resting against her chest. Her hand moved frantically with Emily's heaving breaths.

She remembered the very first time she'd felt the brunette's heart beating. She remembered the moment she realized she had feelings for her.

The second she'd been wheeled into the ER with a bullet in her chest.

Emily's heart had opened up a door she refused to close. It flooded her with thoughts and feelings and emotions that aroused her, pissed her off, and made her feel warm all at the same time. It was as if she'd spent her entire life waiting for Emily to come along and spark that tiny little flame. The detective nurtured that flame, helped it grow. She had brought light into Alison's darkness.

"Alison." Emily huffed, drawing her attention back to her deeply intense stare. The importance of looking into her eyes as they came together meant the world to Alison.

She loves me.

Emily looked into the darkest part of her soul and still loved her.

Emily's lips moved against Alison's as she gently moved her palm between Alison's legs, building the anticipation. She slipped two fingers into her and curled them, hitting a spot that made Alison see stars.

"Oh God." Alison felt the mounting pressure. "Oh God, I love you so much."

When she looked into Emily's eyes she saw a flame and its reflection dancing in the night. She saw what Emily saw in her. She snaked her fingers between their slick wet bodies and teased Emily with a finger.

"I love you," Alison said again, softly.

There was something intense in her tone. Something vulnerable.

I love you like someone drowning loves air. Like someone parched loves water. Not a want. Or a need. A NECESSITY.

"I love you." Emily repeated back to her as she bucked against Alison's motions.

A flash

Emily on the ground.

Bleeding.

Dying.

"I...love..."

"...you." Emily's strong body moved against hers in waves, "Do you hear me, Alison? I love you."

Alison felt a burning heat surging through her as she hit her peak. She slid her fingers into Emily and started to gently pump them, sending Emily over the edge with her.

Sounds of ecstasy filled the air. Tears of joy prickled Alison's eyes. Less than twenty minutes ago she was holding Emily's bloody body in her arms in the middle of a rainstorm. The nightmare was powerful, but not nearly as powerful as Emily's love.

She kept her eyes fixed on Emily's as they reached their heights together. It was incredible to see the way the brunette opened herself up to her completely. She could see into her very soul. And when she saw the beauty in Emily she could feel it growing inside of her own soul, too.

She felt Emily gripping her fingers tight before finally letting go. She pumped a few more times, rocking Emily with aftershocks, before pulling out.

She collapsed on top of Emily, still panting. Emily matched her heaving breaths with those of her own. Emily's fingers were still inside of her. She twitched against them. Tears of joy slid down her cheeks and against Emily's skin. She placed frenzied kisses against her chest and buried herself into her bosom.

Alison hadn't been able to let go of the tension between them since Emily found out the truth. They'd been intimate, but not like this. This felt different. For the first time since she'd met Emily...she felt like she deserved her love. It opened up channels of emotions that she didn't know were there.

Emily seemed to understand why she was weeping. She gently stroked the side of Alison's jaw.

"Breathe in this moment," Emily kissed the top of her head. "Never let it go. I never want you to doubt my love for you. No matter what happens. Never doubt that you deserve my love." She lowered her voice. "You deserve to be loved."

Her genuine kindness made Alison cry harder. Her ear was pressed against Emily's heart. The quick rhythmic tapping spoke to her soul. She closed her eyes and let it soothe her.

Her tears stopped flowing. Her breathing settled. And soon, she was asleep against her wife's chest.

Emily stroked her back and finally pulled her fingers out, earning a whine of protest from Alison. But she didn't wake up. She was in a state of bliss.

Emily held her for nearly half an hour before she carefully moved her back on to the bed. She kissed her forehead and then slipped out of bed and put on a robe.

She glanced at the clock. She had to be at work in an hour.

She quickly cleaned herself up and then went to make breakfast so that when Alison got up they could eat together.

Duke was snoring on the couch. He'd left the bedroom the second the clothes had hit the floor. He popped his head up when he heard her coming, alert and ready to bark. But when he saw that it was her, he relaxed. He hopped off the couch and walked into the kitchen with her. She took him out to do his business and then came back in and put on a fresh pot of coffee.

She pulled her laptop out and grabbed the folder with the copycat case. She was going to tell Alison about Archer Dunhill and catch her up to speed. She would have said something sooner, but she wanted to be sure about her findings before pulling Alison into it.

By the time she finished the bacon and eggs she heard Alison stirring upstairs. A few minutes later the blonde walked into the kitchen, hair still a mess from their bedroom shenanigans. Her skin was glowing, and Emily could still smell the sex on her. It was more appetizing than the food she'd prepared.

"Hope you worked up an appetite." Emily smiled at her when she walked in.

"Mmm." Alison smiled back, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "The real snack was in our bed earlier." She winked. "I can still taste it."

Emily chuckled as Alison pulled out a chair, sitting at the end of the table where a plate had been set for her. A piping hot cup of coffee was there calling her name. She reached for the coffee and blew against the rising steam before taking a sip.

They ate their breakfast, enjoying each other's company. Alison slipped Duke a scrap of toast underneath the table. The sly dog then moved on and begged Emily for food, and she offered him the same thing.

"How is Marco doing?" Emily finished up the last bite of her eggs.

"He's starting PT today. He's determined to get out of the hospital as soon as he can." Alison chuckled.

Emily finished up her meal and pushed her plate aside to reach for her notes.

"What are you working on? Did you get an update on the copycat?" Alison eagerly leaned forward.

Emily had spent the last two days researching Archer Dunhill. And the more she looked into him the less she found. He'd been a very private man, which was another fit for the NAT club.

He was a photographer who preferred to be behind the camera. He'd given one limited written interview where he spoke about the value of hand-processed photography, which fit with what they found in the basement.

She couldn't find anything about his disappearance. She had requested the cold case file, though she knew she'd only get the redacted version. It had been archived and was taking a while. Her only lead was the person who had filed the missing report, his old boss.

Now that she'd gathered a significant amount of research she was ready to tell her wife.

"Actually, yeah. I did get an update." Emily reached into the folder and pulled out the artist rendering of Archer. "Do you recognize this guy?" She slid the hand drawing over to her.

Alison wiped the bacon grease off of her hands and picked it up. She studied it. After a few seconds she looked at Emily and shook her head.

"Never seen him before in my life." She looked up at her wife. "Why?"

"I have been looking into him." She slowly met Alison's gaze. "I got the DNA results. It wasn't a one hundred percent match, but it was a partial match. So he's a family member of whoever is terrorizing us."

It didn't take Alison long to piece together that the information she had on the man wasn't something she'd just learned this morning.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" She wasn't angry, but she didn't understand. They were supposed to be a team.

Emily sighed and put her pen down. She folded her hands flat on the table.

"Truth?" She looked at Alison. "I was afraid you'd go off on your own to try and protect me. And I wanted more information first."

Alison quietly digested the information. She could hardly blame Emily for thinking that way. She had snuck off on her own before.

"We've got to find some kind of common ground about this investigation." Alison reached over and cupped her palm over the top of Emily's hands. "I get that I destroyed the trust between us. I get that I betrayed you. I would believe the worst in me, too."

"Alison, I don't..." Emily tried to protest, but Alison spoke over her.

"I'm screwed up, Em. I acknowledge that and I'm trying to work on it. But this...this path I'm taking isn't exactly linear."

After Alison finished speaking there was a quiet pause.

"Can I talk now?" From anyone else, the response would have been sarcastic, but from Emily it came out as genuine. Patient.

"Sorry." Alison blushed sheepishly. "I didn't mean to ramble."

"It's fine. But you need to know something." Emily lifted her hand out from underneath Alison's. She leaned over, her palm grazing Alison's face. She brushed the tender flesh on her cheek with her thumb. "I do not see the worst in you. I've never seen the worst in you, because I see your light...the one you keep cloaked in darkness. I've always been able to see it."

Alison reached up without saying a word and pushed her palm against Emily's, holding it on her cheek.

"That's what this morning was about." Emily continued. "What just happened up there in our bed was different. We've made love hundreds of times before, but that was different. I know you felt it, too. You felt it when you looked into my eyes and let me in. We're connected. I know you. And believe me when I tell you...you have more capacity for love than you'll ever know." Emily smiled at her. "I wish you could see yourself the way that I see you."

Alison felt a rush of heat in her cheeks. Her immense love for Emily continued to blossom.

"You're the only person in the world who understands me. The only one I can really trust and just be myself around." Alison lowered her hand away from Emily's, reaching out to touch her cheek. "You have gone above and beyond for me. Thank you."

"I meant every word I said." Emily nodded slowly. "Not just here, but in the bedroom."

"I know." Alison smiled. "I felt it."

I feel YOU.

"You deserve to be loved. So let me love you." Emily leaned across the table and captured Alison's lips in a confident kiss.

When they pulled away from each other, Alison grabbed her hand.

"I think your love might have saved me from myself." She bit back tears and chewed on her lip. "Not that I don't still have the urges or that I still want to...do bad things. I'll always be me."

It wasn't some cheesy romance where love saved the day. Alison would always be who she was. She would always been flawed. She wasn't a good person. But she could be good to one person. She could be good to her wife. She could be good to her friends.

Life was a compromise sometimes. Emily's love hadn't changed her. It had transformed her.

"I'll always be me," she repeated quietly. "And you'll always love me."

Emily nodded.

Alison's eyes landed on the drawing of Archer again. After taking another look she thought she recognized something familiar about him. Had he been around her father at some point?

"Do you have any leads on him?" She picked the picture up.

"Not many. I can't find anything. It's like he didn't exist before he started his studio. I've put in a call to his old boss. He lives in Philly. I'm going to go this weekend..."

"Let me go with you." Alison looked up at her. "I'm off this weekend."

"I don't know..." On the off-chance that it was a trap she wanted Alison as far away from it as possible.

"You said we were in this together." Alison frowned, but she managed to keep her tone civil.

She knew she had no right to be angry at Emily for trying to protect her when she was doing the exact same thing. In fact, Emily had more of a reason to worry about how far Alison would go to protect her after that horrible nightmare.

"We are. It's just that...after everything I've been through..." She touched the healed cut on her head she'd gotten after getting hit by a car. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"And I don't want to see you get hurt either. You're the target. They're going to try and hurt you to get to me." Alison grabbed Emily's hand and squeezed it.

She had no idea the copycat was switching gears and had a torture chamber prepared for her.

"Duke will be with me..."

"I want to be with you." Alison wasn't taking no for an answer.

Emily mulled it over. It made sense for Alison to come. Now that she knew about Archer Dunhill she wasn't going to let it go. And the last thing Emily needed was for Alison to go off on her own.

She nodded.

"Okay. We're going out at one on Saturday." She pushed the file over to Alison so she could see what she'd gathered.

She grabbed their empty plates and started to clear the table. As she was putting the dishes in the dishwasher she turned to face Alison.

"Oh, don't let me forget, we need to pick something out for Liam's birthday next weekend. Hanna said he wants a tea set." She smiled warmly.

The words sent a chill through Alison. That's how her nightmare had started. She had to fight the urge to leap out of her chair and rush over to Emily and hug her and never let her go.

Instead she coolly pushed her chair out and walked up behind Emily. She slipped her hands underneath Emily's arms and wrapped her arms around Emily's stomach, clasping her hands and holding her in an embrace as she rested her chin against Emily's shoulder.

Emily finagled her way around to face her, moving so Alison's hands were clasped behind her back. Alison pecked her lips, which were still swollen from their love-making. Then she dropped her hands and let Emily go.

"What was that for?" Emily chuckled.

"Cuz I can." Alison shrugged.

Because you mean everything to me.

And that nightmare scared the shit out of me.

If I have to watch you die or destroy yourself I won't survive.

Nothing better happen to you.

Emily scrutinized her, sensing there was more that she wasn't saying. Whatever her nightmare had been about had cut her deep enough to make her bleed pain and fear.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about your nightmare?" Emily put her hand against Alison's hip.

Alison shuddered just thinking about it. She was afraid if she said anything about it she would breathe life into it. She was afraid to breathe it into existence. So she shook her head and pushed it out of her mind.

But ignoring it was not going to make it go away. Because the beginning of the end was already in motion.

o ~ O ~ o

Alison was flipping through the bio and some photos of Louis Palmer, the man who had reported Archer Dunhill missing. Palmer had quite a long artistic history. He'd traveled the world and captured shots that had been featured in National Geographic magazines. He'd won awards for his photography.

She couldn't help but wonder if any of his photos included little girls being tortured. She had an automatic distrust of people who wielded a camera.

"Smile for the camera."

Alison swallowed back bile.

Would her terrible thoughts ever go away?

"You okay?" Emily's palm landed on her knee, keeping it there as she used her other hand to steer the car through the Philadelphia suburbs.

They were on their way to see Palmer.

"Yeah." Even Alison could tell it was a lie when it came out of her mouth. She'd been quiet for most of the ride.

The nightmare she'd had days ago still weighed heavily on her heart. They were closer to finding the copycat, which meant they were closer to danger.

Emily was closer to danger.

"Listen..." Emily squeezed Alison's knee tenderly, "I know you're not okay. Whatever you dreamed about a few nights ago..."

Please don't remind me.

"Something has changed in you. And it's okay if you can't talk about it, but you don't have to lie to me about how you're doing. The things you're dealing with...the things you're feeling, they're normal, Alison. And you don't need to be ashamed of them." She peered away from the road to meet Alison's intense gaze for a second before facing the road again. "The fact that you've shown guilt and remorse...that's what makes you different. You understand that, right?"

"But I don't feel remorse." Alison admitted. "Not for hurting the people I hurt. I feel bad for hurting you though, and for hurting people who may have loved them...monstrous as they may have been. Because people do love monsters." She bit her lip and reached to touch Emily's hand. "I mean, you love me."

"You're not a monster, and you need to stop calling yourself one." Emily scowled at her.

"Or what?" Alison couldn't help but playfully challenge her.

"Or I'll withhold sex from you for a pre-determined period of time." Emily grinned.

"Oh, you're the monster in this car." Alison's jaw dropped.

She playfully pinched Emily's arm as the detective turned down the street where Louis Palmer lived. Duke sensed that they were slowing down and he stuffed his nose through the crack in the window to take in the surrounding scents.

Emily pulled up in front of the address she'd been given. The house was a renovated Tudor set along a quiet tree-lined stretch of drive. You could see the city from the front yard, but the backyard was lined with thick trees.

A medium sized Chocolate Lab ran towards them to greet them. Duke started whining, because he could see a new friend.

An older man trailed behind the dog. He was weathered by the years, but he was still in moderate shape, likely from gardening and landscaping. He had on a fedora and sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes.

He was tan and fit for a man his age. He had the unmistakable gait and confidence of someone well-traveled. Someone completely comfortable in his own skin.

Emily rolled the window in the back all the way down as she pulled the car to a stop. Duke shoved his head out the window, whining loudly as the other dog approached the vehicle. Both of their tails were wagging at the sight of each other.

Emily ordered for him to stay and stepped out to get a lay of the land. She wanted to get a feel for her surroundings, make sure nothing made her skin prickle.

"You must be Detective Fields." The man extended his hand. "Louis Palmer. Pleased to meet you."

"Thank you. You too." Emily gripped his hand tightly and gave him a smile that was all business.

She had a hard time trusting people after everything she'd gone through. She hated assuming the worst about others, but being on high alert could save lives.

She glanced at Alison and the blonde climbed out of the car.

"This is..." Before Emily could introduce her, Alison shoved her hand towards the man.

"Holly Varjack." She gave his hand a confident shake. She peered at Emily, who lifted her brows in curiosity. "Detective Fields' partner."

Louis shook her hand without blinking twice at the fake name.

Emily managed to keep a straight face. She imagined Alison had a reason for lying.

Duke woofed from the car.

"Who's your buddy?" Louis walked towards Duke.

Duke stood at attention when he saw the stranger approaching. Alison and Emily waited on Duke's cues.

"He a K9 unit?" Louis asked.

"No. You can pet him." Emily was using it as a test.

If he didn't want to get near Duke that would speak volumes since he had his own dog.

"You a friendly fella?" He gently lifted the back of his hand for the dog to sniff. Duke lowered his guard and licked him. "Aw, yes you are, aren't you big boy? Bet you and my Gus..." He glanced at the Lab, "...would have a great time playing in the yard."

He turned to face Emily and Alison. Emily decided she didn't have a problem letting Duke get out some energy before the drive back. She opened the door and Duke hopped out, circling and playfully barking at his new friend. Gus spun around in circles, his tail slicing through the air.

"Come on, I've got a big backyard with a whole area set up for them to run it out." Louis waved for the girls to follow.

Emily adjusted her gun on her hip and then she and Alison set a pace behind him.

"Varjack?" Emily muttered quietly.

"Too risky for him to know my real name. He used to research people and places for a living. He has ties to Dunhill." It was a fair argument on her part.

If he was able to connect this visit back to Alison it could spell trouble for everyone involved.

The inside of the house was just as magnificent as the outside. Louis chattered about the history of the house. It had been built in the 1920s. He'd taken on the renovation after his retirement ten years ago.

As they walked through the hallways, happy playful puppy yips echoed around them, bouncing off of the high ceiling.

They browsed the photos lining his walls. They were of people and places. Animals and sunrises and oceans. They were a blend of everything.

There was a large portrait that stood out around the rest. It was of Louis and a woman his age. They looked happy.

He noticed them looking at it.

"That was my Estella." He smiled warmly. "Cancer got her about six years ago."

"Oh." Alison's face flinched in pain. She knew that violent disease far more than she cared to. It had stolen her aunt from her. "I'm so sorry."

"Forty years we were married." He glanced at the surrounding photos, pictures of them at exotic locales. "She was a good woman."

"Any children?" Emily asked curiously.

She was still trying to figure out how Archer Dunhill tied into everything.

Louis sighed.

"Estella couldn't have children." He stopped to look at a framed portrait of his late wife. "The cancer she fought at the end of her life...it wasn't the first time. She was twenty when she was first diagnosed. Treatments made her barren. We'd talked about adopting, but I was traveling so much for work. I didn't want her to be a single mother while I was off gallivanting the world. So..." They turned a corner and found another wall, this one lined with photographs of the two of them playing with several different dogs that led to a sliding glass door overlooking a large doggy play area outside. "Our dogs were our children."

He opened the door and Gus and Duke bolted up a large playset that had been built specifically for dogs.

Alison and Emily glanced at the other surrounding walls to admire more beautifully framed pictures. Scenery, people, crowds, events. Nature. Rainbows. A plethora of lively events that had happened throughout the years. Not only did he have a passion for what he did. He was gifted at it.

"So..." He gestured to a table with a pitcher of freshly made lemonade, "I understand you all have some questions about a former employee of mine."

Emily took a seat and pulled out her notepad. Alison followed her lead. They were on her territory after all.

"Archer Dunhill." Emily nodded. "You were the one who reported him missing?"

"That's right." Louis poured them each a glass of lemonade before pouring one for himself.

Emily and Alison glanced at each other, waiting for him to take a sip of his own. Neither woman trusted him, despite Duke's approval and despite his love for dogs.

Dogs loved Alison, too. And she killed people.

"It's odd that his family didn't report him missing." Emily observed.

"I thought so, too." Louis stirred his lemonade with a metal straw.

"What can you tell us about his family?" Emily browsed the photos lining his walls.

"Not much. He was an extremely private man. He never spoke about his family. Never brought them around. Never saw any pictures. Hell, I don't know if he was just married or married with kids. Could have been lying about the family for all I know."

"Did he have any siblings?" Emily pressed.

"Subject never came up. He might have, but I can't say for certain."

"How did you come to the determination that he was missing?" Emily jotted down notes as she spoke.

Alison watched in awe. It was magnificent watching her wife in action.

"Archer was supposed to cover three events for me the summer he disappeared. I was miffed when he missed the first one, a lantern lighting ceremony. But I assumed he'd just accidentally overbooked. I tried to get him to call me back." He sipped his lemonade.

"Were you worried?" Emily took note, watching him drink the beverage. He seemed calm.

"Not initially. He'd occasionally missed assignments before. But he always made it up to me. And as much as it ruffled my feathers, I let him. He was one of the best photographers I'd ever met. Hell of a writer, too."

"What did he write about?" Alison piped in.

"You name it. Food. Entertainment. Travel."

"Like a blog?" Emily asked hopefully. Maybe there was a webpage out there with the answers she needed.

"I'd call it blogging before blogs." Louis nodded. "He was compiling it for a book, but what he was really interested in was politics." He let out a satisfied sigh and put his glass against a coaster.

"What kind of politics?" Emily asked.

"A mixture. He never really went into specifics. I think he wanted to get a feel for corporate politics and dip his toe into something bigger, like reporting on things no one was talking about. He even offered to be a police CI." He chuckled. "Cops turned him down, of course. He wasn't a criminal and he didn't have anything concrete. He also didn't have any dirty contacts. He was as clean as a whistle."

"You're sure about that?" Emily paused to gauge the man's reaction.

The CI thing was new. Maybe that's why his file had been sealed and redacted. Maybe the cops had taken him up on the offer after all.

"Did a thorough background check on him before hiring him," Louis said. "Not so much as a traffic ticket."

"What about the other two events that he missed? Can you tell us a little more about that?" Alison asked.

Emily was impressed with her questioning technique. She knew when to hold back and when to jump in. She'd make a hell of a detective.

"Second one was a lunar eclipse. He was supposed to meet with two other photographers, but he never showed. After he bailed on that I was really peeved."

Emily's lip twitched. Words like miffed and peeved were cute coming from his little old man mouth.

"I called him to ream him out."

"Did he answer?" Emily made a note to check old phone records...if they could pull something up from that far back.

"No. One of his buddies said he'd left the phone in his car. I told him to tell Archer to call me."

So someone had his phone. But who?

"I didn't think anything of it, but the third time he missed an assignment I knew that something was wrong." Louis frowned. "Tried to find contact info on his family, but he didn't leave me any numbers. Not even an address. He worked out of a home studio, but he didn't live there. He used the home studio as his primary residence when he applied with me."

That would be the house where they found the dark room.

"Mr. Palmer..."

"Please, call me Louis." He kindly interrupted Emily.

"Louis, when was the last time you saw Archer Dunhill in person?" Emily put the notepad down.

"About a month before I reported him missing. That's when we met to go over his assignments." Louis tapped his chin in thought.

"Can you describe his demeanor from that day? What was his attitude like?" Emily was careful not to put ideas in his head, because she needed to hear things directly from him.

"Well...I mentioned it in the original report. He seem antsy. When I asked him about it, he said he was working on something major. Said it was guaranteed to jumpstart his career. He was talking about being famous." Louis scratched his grey chin stubble. "I asked him if it was going to conflict with the assignments I was giving him and he said it wouldn't. That was all I really got from him."

A story that would break someone into a major career, a potential witness with his cell phone, and being jumpy about something when talking to his boss. It was shaping up to be a decent investigation.

"You know, I don't know if it would be of much help, but I've got some of his work if you're interested in seeing it." Louis offered.

"That would be amazing. Thank you." Emily nodded.

Louis excused himself to get the photos.

"What do we think?" Alison observed the lemonade glass without picking it up. She watched as a droplet of condensation dripped down the side of the glass. "Lemonade laced with cyanide?"

Emily chuckled. She picked up her glass and swirled it around, ice tinkering against the side. She took a sip.

"Mmm...nope." She smiled. "There is a hint of passionfruit, though." She put the glass down and the expression on her face changed. "Oh...wait...I'm feeling something..." She put her hand over her chest.

Alison's heart went into overdrive. She was ready to leap out of her chair, but before she could move Emily reached for her hand with a smile.

"My love for you." Emily winked.

"Jesus, Em. Don't do that!" Alison let out a sigh of relief before popping her on the shoulder.

She regretted not telling Emily about what she'd seen in her nightmare, because there was no way Emily would make light of the situation if she knew.

"Babe, we're being hunted by a psychopath." Alison scowled.

"Lighten up a little. Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me you think Grandpa Lemonade and his dog Gus-Gus are some kind of threat?" Emily motioned to the bouncy Labrador outside, who was giving Duke a run for his money.

Emily had made the determination about Louis as they'd started talking to him. His body language was relaxed. He was open to answering questions. He didn't seem tense or nervous.

"No. I guess not." Alison relaxed into her seat. "It's just...I want to protect you."

"Don't underestimate my skill set." She motioned to the gun on her hip. "You know I hit over 80% of what I aim for."

That's adorable. Alison thought to herself. My kill rate is 100%.

Except for the asshole who'd gotten shanked in prison, but she was still counting that as a win.

They heard Louis shuffling towards them. He had a large photo album in his hands. He moved the lemonade aside and put the album down in front of them.

Emily flipped the cover and they started going through his photographs. Louis was right about Archer's skills as a photographer. He captured the essence of what was happening in a photo. It wasn't simply that he saw something and snapped a picture. It was that he really honed in on the subject to a point where anyone looking could feel themselves in that moment. A magnificent waterfall with a rainbow dancing in the light. A bee engrossed in a ruby red rose. A sunset of oranges and yellows set on a backdrop of a mountain, black in the distance.

The photography he took of people was astounding, too. A toddler at a party engrossed with a bubble, pure joy on her face. A family enjoying a picnic together. College kids playing hacky sack and tossing a Frisbee.

"These are amazing." Emily looked over at Louis, who had settled himself back into his seat.

"Told you I kept him around for a reason. He was going places with an eye like that." He tipped back his lemonade and drew in the very last of it.

Emily took another sip of her drink as Alison turned the page.

The blonde was not prepared for what she saw on the next page.

Four boys, horsing around in the locker room. Smiles on their faces, not a care in the world.

Her father was one of them.

Her stomach tightened as she fought back a wretch. She managed to clear her throat and look at Louis with a straight face.

"What...um...what's the story behind this one?"

Emily noticed her fist clenched beneath the table. Her cheeks had lost their rosy color. She glanced at the picture, trying to put the pieces together. But she'd barely recognized Ken DiLaurentis when he was a photo of a corpse. She had no idea Alison's father was in the photo in the locker room.

"I think they were friends of his from high school. He had a lot of photos of them. Was never in them though. Guess he was the designated photographer." Louis shrugged it off.

Of course he wouldn't see anything wrong with it. He didn't know it was Kenneth DiLaurentis. The man who had slaughtered his family. The man who had abused his children. The man who raped little girls with his friends. Alison felt like hurling all over the photo album, but instead she found the strength to turn the page and keep going. There were several more photos of her father scattered in "with the boys".

If Archer truly was his friend it was very damning for him. It could indicate that Archer was part of NAT. Maybe he was the one taking pictures.

Emily could tell Alison was uncomfortable, and after a few minutes she was finally able to make the connection. She reached over to close the album.

"Would it be a problem if we took this with us to go through these photos one by one?" Her hand landed on Alison's shaky knee beneath the table.

"Yeah, I've got copies. I'd like it returned when you're finished, if you don't mind."

"Of course." Emily nodded.

"I'll go double check to make sure I don't have anything else to offer for the investigation." Louis glanced at the photo album in Emily's hands. "I'm pretty sure those are the only photos I have that he took."

"Do you happen to have his background check?" Emily asked. Maybe it would provide answers.

"I'll check my old filing cabinets, but I don't think so." He shook his head.

Emily turned to Alison, waiting until Louis was out of earshot. The blonde's face was a ghostly shade of white. Her childhood pain was written on her face.

"One of those men is your father, isn't he?" Emily gently took the album from her.

Alison tried to reply, but her mouth felt like sandpaper. She reached for the lemonade and started gulping it down. She nodded.

"And the others?" Emily was afraid to ask.

"I think maybe I saw one of them hanging around the house with my dad, but Jason was really strict about making me stay in my room when dad had his friends over."

It had saved her a lot of pain.

"And another guy...there was a tattoo..." Her hands were shaking. "It's...it was on one of the men in that picture of the NAT club with the little girl." The horror on that child's face was etched into her mind. "You really think Archer and my father were friends?"

"I don't know." It seemed like Archer Dunhill would have shied away from anything less than kosher. "From everything I've read about him, it seemed like he was on the outside looking in. Maybe he wanted to expose what they were doing."

"Maybe." Alison sucked an ice cube into her mouth.

"If this guy dropped off the radar maybe it's because he was threatened." Emily traced a fingernail against the edge of the photo album. "We have to find out more about his family. Why would he leave them exposed?"

They heard Louis's footsteps creaking towards them. He had a file in his hand.

"Turns out I do have that background check. Filing was my dear Estella's specialty. Nothing that woman didn't miss." He smiled as he handed it over to Emily. "If it hadn't have been for her I never would have been able to keep track of anything."

He spoke a grievance into the air that only a half of a whole could understand. With his wife gone he'd never be whole again. It weighed heavily on his soul. Alison knew how that felt. She'd felt it in her nightmare.

They spoke with him at length about Archer Dunhill, trying to droll up some answers.

Once they were finished with the questions they called the dogs back inside. Duke and Gus looked like they'd had the time of their lives. Both of their snouts were soaked from the large water bowl outside.

"You've been very gracious and extremely helpful." Emily rose to her feet and reached out to shake his hand. "Thank you so much for the hospitality. You have my word that all of this will be returned to you as soon as possible."

But he would never see the photo album again. They would never see him again. The last memory they'd have of him would be of him smiling and waving in his doorway with Gus by his side as they pulled out of the driveway.

Six hours later he would be dead, hanging from the stairwell, face to face with a picture of his wife. It would be staged like a suicide, and no one would ever believe anything different.

Then...the killer was going to come for them.

After the last link to the past was gone, the copycat was ready for the final act.

Alison and Emily.

o ~ O ~ o

Emily's investigation of Archer turned some very interesting corners. His background was a complete mystery. He had a diploma, but he wasn't in any yearbooks that she could find. He didn't exist until he was eighteen years old. It was like he'd come out of nowhere.

His photography was fascinating. Two images in particular had struck her as somewhat personal. One was of a woman's hand delicately cradling a rosebud. Probably his wife. The photo seemed intimate. But the wife was practically a ghost, too. Emily couldn't find a marriage certificate or anyone with the last name Dunhill within a two hundred mile radius.

The other photo was of what looked to be a neighborhood outing. A barbecue. There was a group of kids gathered around a cotton-candy machine. A little boy was handing a pink stick of cotton candy to a younger girl. A toddler was reaching for the sugary snack. Could that be his family? Did he even have kids, or was she wasting her time chasing a dead end? Was she chasing a ghost?

Emily knew she was close to a break in the case. She just knew it. While her coworkers chased their tails following dead ends on the SLK she was close to catching the real terror of Rosewood.

There was only one thing that could pull her away from her work for a few hours.

A toddler.

Liam had begged her and Alison to come to his "Birfday Pawty."

Emily and Alison had promised to go, but Alison had been held up at work all day.

The detective stared out the window at the approaching storm clouds, trying not to think about work. She scowled at the sky, but not because she didn't appreciate the rain. She was mad at it for pushing Hanna and Caleb to move Liam's birthday indoors. The little boy had been so excited about a big birthday bash at the park, but Mother Nature had other plans.

They'd gotten him amped up about an indoor party. He was excited to see his friends and eat cupcakes.

That was the thing about children. Resiliency. Ability to adapt.

Sure, they would cry and they were unhappy one minute. But all it took was something as simple as indoor laser tag and making slime, and they were all smiles again. Children were often simple little humans. The pure innocence was enduring. It made Emily wonder about Archer Dunhill and his family. Had he had children of his own? She hadn't found any birth certificates with his name in her research. If he'd had kids, why leave them? Unless...he'd been part of NAT. Perhaps his children hadn't been fortunate enough to get out of their situation.

"Em, you still there?" Alison's voice startled the brunette. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts she'd drifted off entirely.

A low droning rumble of thunder echoed in the distance.

"Sorry." Emily clutched her phone. "I'm cursing out Mother Nature because I know how much Liam wanted a bouncy house and a piñata."

"Is it raining there?" Alison looked out a window overlooking the parking deck. "I can hear thunder."

A flash of lightning painted the sky white for a split second. It gave Alison chills. It was like the weather was taunting her.

Emily's blood.

Her last breath.

"I love..."

"It's just sprinkling right now." The brunette watched tiny droplets of rain spattering against the pavement outside the Rivers house. "But it's supposed to get a lot worse."

"Stay safe. And give the birthday boy a kiss for me." Alison rounded the corner of the hallway on the way to her surgery suite. "I'll be there as soon as my shift ends."

"Liam wants you to bring Duke." Emily chuckled.

They had initially planned for Alison to pick up Duke after her shift because Emily had been busy with Hanna planning the party. She'd carpooled with her and there was no room for Duke since there were two booster seats and a car full of gifts and snacks.

Alison had been on edge about Liam's birthday. She knew she was probably being silly and that her nightmare had meant nothing, yet...she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong.

"Duke and Scout would probably love the play-date." Alison smiled.

Hanna's Beagle, Scout, was one of the friendliest dogs she had ever met. The little pup never met a stranger and he loved everyone. Duke, of course, enjoyed any time he got to spend with other dogs.

"Scout is apparently in the doghouse for chewing up Hanna's Jimmy Choos." Emily watched the clouds rolling by the window.

"Can you blame him? Chew is right there in the name." Alison quipped.

This is why we're married. Emily thought to herself.

Alison had a wicked sense of humor. It was easy to overlook her transgressions because Emily loved her. And she knew that Alison was a product of her environment, and what's more...Alison wanted to do better.

"I've got to run. The first party guests have arrived." Emily watched a van pull into Hanna's driveway.

She had an umbrella ready. Chivalrous as she was, she was watching the driveway so she could meet the party guests and usher them inside underneath the umbrella.

"Okay. I'll do my best to get there soon." Alison walked into the surgery prep area.

"Take your time. What you do saves lives." Emily responded.

The only life I'm interested in saving right now is yours, Alison wanted to say, but she refrained.

She was being neurotic and overprotective. Emily knew how to take care of herself.

Even so, there was a strange sensation in the air. The day felt...off.

It started with her surgery, which had gone from complicated to nearly impossible.

After nearly two hours she knew she was going to miss the entire party.

She had a nurse put Emily on speaker so she could give her the bad news and then she sang happy birthday to Liam and promised to make it up to him. He told her he could make it up to him by playing tea party with his mommy and Emily when she came over.

After Emily hung up the phone Liam ran over to his new pile of presents. A lot of his friends had already come and gone.

The weather had worried a lot of the parents. They knew that it was supposed to get much worse as the night wore on and they wanted to get their little ones home safely.

Liam had taken it in stride. He was so preoccupied with all the new things he had to play with that he didn't mind that his friends had to leave early.

He raced up to his brother. Aidan was playing with a toy airplane. He turned it towards Liam, zooming it around his little brother's head.

Hanna watched with a sweet smile on her face.

"How did I end up with such amazing boys?" It wasn't very often that she got sentimental, but when she looked at her children there was an immense amount of love.

"With you as their mother? I have no idea." Emily teased Hanna, poking her in the ribs. "You're an incredible mother, Han. Caleb is an incredible father. It's no shock to me that your kids are so great."

"I am going to be so screwed when they hit puberty. They're going to be menaces to society." She sighed. "I just want them to stay little like this forever."

"So...have more of them." Emily grinned.

Hanna guffawed and snorted out a laugh.

"Absolutely not. My cooch is closed for business. After Liam turned two and shoved my thousand dollar iPhone in the toilet I made Caleb get a little snip, snip." She winked and made a scissor-like motion. "His idea. He wanted to be able to reverse it if we change our minds. And he didn't want me going through a major medical procedure when it's so much easier for men."

"God, great kids and a thoughtful partner? You hit the jackpot." Emily nodded. She watched as Caleb swooped in and picked Liam up and played airplane with him.

Thunder cracked outside, shaking the house. The boys marveled at it.

"You and Alison talked about kids?" Hanna picked up a tray of leftover cookies and put saran wrap over them.

Emily prickled up. They had talked about it, but she knew that if they decided on kids it would not be for a very long time. They had a lot to work through first.

"We might try getting a dog first." Emily watched as Hanna's Beagle howled at Caleb, chasing him and the kids around. "Duke has been good practice."

"Speaking of, Liam still wants one more thing for his birthday." Hanna smiled.

"Right." Emily tapped the counter. "And since Alison can't make it with the dog..."

"We should take him to the dog." Hanna suggested. "We're taking Aidan to my mother's house, which is on the way to your place. Aidan begged to go stay the night with her tonight. She lets him stay up late and eat junk food and watch her shows with him."

"Such is a grandmother's duty." Emily nodded with a grin.

She couldn't help but wonder how her mother would be with grandchildren. Her mom certainly wanted them. She'd made that clear.

"I love that he's bonded with Ted, too. It's sweet. He likes to get into burp contests with Ted. Tells me all about them." She laughed, rolling her eyes.

Aidan came rushing into the room in a hysterical fit of laughter.

"Mooooom, can we go to Gramma and Grampa's house now? Puhleeeease?" He begged.

"And let you run off your sugar high over there?" Hanna rustled his hair. "You bet! Go ahead and get in the car. Your bag is already packed."

"Yay!" He exclaimed, tearing out of the room just as quickly as he'd entered it.

"Probably best to get there and back as soon as we can. I think it's supposed to get pretty bad out there." She stared at the rain pelting the ground. "Caleb! We're heading out in five!" Hanna called to her husband, who was in the middle of a tickle-fest with Liam.

"Cool. So five more minutes of the ticklemonster." He growled playfully at his young son.

"That man never grew up. He's still a child at heart. He laughed at a video of a farting cat last night." Hanna rolled her eyes.

"You laughed at that, too!" Caleb shot back with a grin.

Hanna went to change out of the cake-stained T-shirt.

They were all piling in Caleb's car a few minutes later. Hanna offered Emily the front seat, but she was fine squeezing in the back between Aidan's and Liam's booster seats. There was just enough room for her.

As Caleb was pulling out of the driveway and on to the road he glanced at the electrical panel and then made a face.

"Something wrong?" Hanna buckled her seat belt.

"No. Just checking. Feels like it's driving a little funny. It's probably just because the roads are so slick." He turned the wheel.

Had Emily not been wearing Liam's headphones, things might have turned out very differently. If she had only heard their exchange, she would have told Caleb to stop the car that very instant and insist on getting out. But she was playing with the boys, listening to one of Liam's favorite songs.

She had no clue anything was amiss.

After they dropped Aidan off, they started on their way to Emily's place. They were only a few miles out when something went horribly wrong.

Caleb cautiously took a corner, windshield wipers obscuring part of his view. At first he thought they were skidding. It wasn't until he hit the brakes that he realized...the brakes were failing.

The next few seconds were a series of Hanna's terrified screams, Caleb swearing, and Emily instinctively moving to protect Liam. The little boy didn't have time to react. He didn't have time to process what was going on. He didn't scream. He didn't cry. He just stared, stunned as the car hydroplaned and skidded out, flipping once before landing on its tires and slamming into a tree.

o ~ O ~ o

By the time Alison finished her surgery she was exhausted, practically falling asleep standing up as she scrubbed out. She followed up on the patient in recovery, opting to take the extra time to see post-op through to the end.

As she walked down the hallway to her office all she could think about was getting home to her wife. The sooner she had Emily in her arms, the sooner she could shake off the bad vibes she'd been feeling all day.

She tried Emily's cell, but it went to voicemail.

"Hey, I'm finally finished in surgery. I've got to do post-op and rounds. Call me. I want to hear all about children hopped up on a sugar high. Love you."

She put her phone down and reached for a chart, tapping her finger against it before opening it up. She tried to focus on her notes, but her eyes kept drifting to the locked drawer where all the research on the copycat was safely hidden away from her peers.

"To hell with it." She pushed her patient's chart aside.

She rustled around for the key to the drawer and pulled it open. She pulled out the notes that Emily had photocopied for her and started going through them.

No online presence.

No records prior to eighteen years of age.

Name change?

Aspirations to be taken seriously in photojournalism.

Knew Kenneth DiLaurentis in high school.

She choked back bile. The man knew her father. How intimately did he know him? Was he one of the men in the photograph with the little girl?

"Maybe he took the picture." She mumbled.

Maybe he liked to watch. Though Emily felt pretty strongly that because of his propensity to be at a distance and the fact that he liked to take candid photos of beautiful things in life, it might suggest otherwise.

They'd gone through old yearbooks searching for him, but there was no record of Archer Dunhill, which was strange.

A crack of thunder ignited the air around her. She felt the wild sensation of static electricity. The lights above her flickered, but they didn't go out.

She stared at the police sketch of Archer.

"Who are you?" She glared, eyes narrowed.

She wondered if there was anything that Louis Palmer had left out. She grabbed her burner phone and dialed his number to ask him a few follow up questions, but it went straight to voicemail. She knew better than to leave a message.

What she didn't know was that Louis Palmer would never be talking to her or Emily again. She didn't know his phone was dead in an evidence baggie at a police station in downtown Philly, where the cops were writing off his death as a suicide.

Even so, he had helped her more than she knew. Because of him she would be able to put together the puzzle that would solve everything. Sometimes it was the smallest things that broke a case. She was starting to understand that about Emily's work. All it took was one tiny crack in the foundation and things started leaking through it.

She pulled out her father's senior yearbook, gagging at his name engraved on the front of it. She started flipping through the pages, looking for anyone who fit the sketch of Archer Dunhill.

Her phone jingled. She reached for it in excitement, expecting to see Emily's contact photo glaring back at her.

But it wasn't Emily's number.

"Hanna?" Alison answered the phone skeptically.

Hanna never called her.

"Hey, Alison." Her voice was muffled. There was a lot of background noise, wherever she was. "Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you've heard from Emily."

"No..." She hesitated. "Why?"

"Oh." The way Hanna said it made Alison's stomach drop. "I thought...I thought she would have called you..."

"What happened? What's wrong?" Alison could feel herself trying to distance her mind and her emotions.

She couldn't lose control. No matter what...she couldn't lose control.

"After Liam's party we ran out to drop off Aidan with my mother." Hanna's voice was trembling. "The weather was just so awful." A whimper. "We never should have left. We should have just stayed home."

"Hanna..." Alison was on the verge of screaming at her, "SPIT IT OUT!"

"We were in a car wreck." The words suddenly had the room spinning. She could feel her pulse in her head. "We're at East End Hospital. It was the closest ER. Caleb was having chest pains after the airbags deployed..."

"What?" Alison was surprised to find her concern was genuine. "Are you all okay? Liam? Oh my God, what about Liam?"

"Liam is perfectly fine. The brunt of the impact was the on the driver's side." She fought hard to keep her composure, but Alison could hear her breaking. "I was so terrified to look back...so terrified about my baby. But I made myself. I knew I was blacking out and I knew I had to see my son..." Hearing Hanna cry brought a raging anger to the surface. If anything had happened to Liam...the world would burn, "Emily had practically shielded him with her body..."

"What?" This time it came out as a shriek. "Emily was with you?" Alison hadn't even considered the possibility. She assumed Emily had gone home after the party.

Why the hell hadn't Emily called her?

Oh God. Oh my God. Not again. Not this again. I can't...

"She's okay, Alison." Hanna replied quickly, and Alison let out a sigh of relief. "I saw her and Liam before I passed out. They were both alert. Emily had latched on to his booster seat, like she could protect him by sheer will or something..."

Sounds like my Emily.

"The last thing she said to me before I blacked out was 'I've got him'."

"How did this happen? Did someone hit you?" Alison had a feeling none of this was a coincidence.

"The brakes were acting weird...."

It confirmed Alison's worst suspicions, setting off her copycat radar. It didn't sound like an accident at all. In fact, it sounded like a targeted attack. Little shivers spasmed through her as she clutched her phone.

She felt like smacking herself in the face. She had taken Caleb's car to her house after the copycat sent her there. That psycho must have seen the car and thought she was using it to throw them off...and it pissed them off.

"The car is totaled, but we're all okay. I mean, I'm a complete mess, but medically I checked out okay. And Caleb is fine. I swear he's built like a brick house. We're just waiting on a few more test results before they'll discharge us."

"What about Emily and Liam?"

"That's the thing. I can't get ahold of her. We were less than a mile from your house when the brakes failed. When the ambulance came, Emily offered to take Liam so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping track of him when I got to the hospital. He likes to play hide and seek..." She was rambling. Alison could hear the nerves in her tone. "I felt like the hospital would scare him, so Emily said she'd watch after him. Caleb was kind of out of it, but he says he thought she mentioned that she was going to take Liam to see Duke, calm him down, and then head to the station where we could pick him after we're released."

"Did you call the station?" Alison asked.

"I did." A worried pause. "They're not there and no one has heard from her."

No. Oh, God...no.

"I tried her cell..."

"Are you telling me that they're missing?" Alison interrupted her.

A fucking serial killer is out there and they're missing...

Jesus...what if the copycat has them?

It was difficult enough to come to terms with the idea of Emily being at the mercy of this psychopath, but a child? A baby? Hanna's baby?

She wouldn't stand for it. A monster inside of her roared to life, and she felt something between a mixture of maternal ire and homicidal rage.

Not babies. NEVER BABIES!

She started wringing an angry fist into her scrubs.

"I don't know." Hanna sighed. "I'm sure they're fine. Maybe she decided to stay at your place with him. He'd be calm with Duke."

That didn't explain why she wasn't answering her phone.

"I'm going to run home. Maybe she's just trying to get Liam settled." She was hoping for the best, but patterns in her life had taught her to be prepared for the worst.

Please let them be there. Please let them be there.

"Yeah." There was an ounce of relief in Hanna's tone. "Yeah, maybe you're right. It's all kind of fuzzy to me. Caleb, too."

"Just take care of yourselves. I'll call you as soon as I get in touch with her." Alison was up and on her feet, shoving all the research about Archer Dunhill in a bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

She left the hospital in such a hurry that she forgot something pivotal...

The ring with the tracker. She'd taken it off for the surgery. It was sitting in her locker, sending a signal to somewhere in the universe, and it was lying about her location.

The rain soaked her as she ran out to the parking deck, pelting her face like little shards of glass. But she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything. The killer in her was detached, imagining the worst of the worst and how she was going to punish this person.

Detachment is not going to help Emily and Liam right now.

She knew she had to get it together. She had to stop examining everything and calculating what she was going to do and focus on what she was currently doing. She couldn't get ahead of herself.

Sloshing through the storms, she made her way home.

When she pulled into the driveway she didn't see Emily's car. She pulled her car into the two-car garage only to find it empty, too.

"Damn it." She shut the car off.

It didn't make any sense for Emily to bring Liam to see Duke and not take the time to call her. If she'd left for the station she would have been there by now.

She never made it to the station. The thought was sickening.

Still, she dialed Emily's office phone to double check. When Emily didn't answer she tried Toby. He didn't answer either, so she called the back line. The administrative assistant explained that Toby was meeting with the Interim Chief about something and that Emily hadn't been in since earlier that afternoon.

"Are you sure?" Alison gripped the steering wheel. "Can you page for her over an intercom or something?"

There was an annoyed breath on the other end that made her feel like reaching through the phone and strangling the young rookie saddled with desk duty.

"Hold on," he grumbled.

She was probably interrupting some stupid game on his phone.

Protect and serve, my ass.

After he came back on the phone he gave her the same line he'd given her when she first called,

"Fields isn't here."

"God damn it." She uttered, hanging up on him without so much as a thank you or a kiss my ass, which he had definitely earned.

All she could think about was that fucking dream. Emily gunned down right in front of her, dying in her arms.

"This can't be happening." She dialed Emily's number again, but it went straight to voicemail.

She was met by Duke when she walked into the house. He circled her and pranced happily, zipping towards the back door to be let out. If she had brought Liam by, why wouldn't she have taken Duke with them, especially after the wreck? It reeked of foul play.

None of this makes any sense.

Where was she? And why was her car gone?

She let Duke out. He quickly did his business and came back inside, shaking the droplets of water out of his fur.

Alison tried texting Emily again.

EMILY, ANSWER YOUR PHONE! I'm freaking out. Hanna says you all were in a wreck. Where are you?

To her surprise she saw three little thought bubbles appear.

Alison brought the phone closer to her face in anticipation.

The dots started and then stopped, which was frustrating. After a few minutes she finally had a response.

Sorry, I think the storms knocked the cell towers out. I'm okay, but my car broke down on the way back to Hanna's. I'm waiting on a tow.

The thought of Emily and Liam out there in the middle of the storm while there was a maniac running loose terrified her. But she knew Emily had her gun. She could protect herself.

Still...

Tell me where you are. I'll come get you.

She waited for Emily to reply, but nothing happened.

Where are you?

No response.

"Fuck." The service was down again.

At least that was the lie she was telling herself.

She grumbled in frustration. She didn't have the tracking app on Emily's phone anymore. As soon as Emily had found out the truth, she'd distanced herself in many ways. Alison had been honest about the dark web app. Emily told her to delete it.

Now, Alison was kicking herself for it. Emily had been erratic and emotional at the time and all Alison could think about was how she could compromise with her. She'd wanted to show her she was willing to change.

"Stupid." Alison grumbled to herself, flattening her palm against her forehead in frustration. "Stupid, STUPID!"

Duke cocked his head and walked over to her, as if he was asking her what was wrong.

"If anything happens to her..." Alison looked down at the dog.

He pawed at her, sensing her stress.

"Come on." She reached for the dog's leash. "Let's go find them."

Duke yipped at her and followed her out the door, switching from playful mode into serious mode. He knew they were going to work.

It was incredible that he was able to sense the shift so easily. Toby had trained him really well. He might as well be a K9 on the force.

She started her route the same way Emily would take to the station, but there was no sign of her car anywhere. As she drove by the station she seriously considered calling for reinforcements. Instead, she kept going, widening the scope of her search. She drove through neighborhoods, including Hanna's, searching for her car, searching for any sign of life.

She kept hoping that Emily would get back to her, but her phone went to voicemail every time Alison tried it.

After thirty minutes, the storm started to lighten up some, but the darkness was all Alison could see. She was starting to lose hope.

Hope. Such a stupid thing.

Life was easier before she believed in hope. Hope bred nothing but eternal misery. It was so human.

She was reaching for her phone to call the police station when she heard her burner phone chirping.

No.

Please...

She reached into the bag that contained files of evidence on the copycat and pulled out her burner phone.

She pulled off to the side of the road and took a breath before looking.

The second she saw the message her blood ran cold.

You're too late, Killer.

There was an attachment, but Alison was too terrified to open it. She felt Duke's nose against her arm and she looked back at him. It was like he was giving her the courage she needed.

She knew what it was going to be before she opened the picture. She closed her eyes as the photo loaded. And when she opened her eyes she saw her worst nightmare. The shadow of a brunette tied to a tree, head slack and falling forward. Long black hair falling in front of the camera. Her body was limp.

Alison couldn't tell if she was unconscious or...worse.

She's not dead. She's not dead. My Emily is a fighter. This isn't how it ends.

There was an audio message attached. Alison closed her eyes again, her heart aching. She wasn't sure she'd be able to bear the pain.

But she pressed play anyway. It was nothing but static at first, then,

"Help! Please! Please help us!" A child's voice cried before being cut off.

"Liam..." Alison whispered softly.

Not only was Emily's life at stake. This monster had a child.

An unpredictable killer. Her wife. And Hanna's son.

Alison forced herself to look at the picture of Emily, refusing to believe she was dead.

She's just unconscious. She's okay.

She zoomed in trying to get a better view...and she immediately found something familiar. A sign in the background. A sign she knew from spending time with her wife there. A trail marker she recognized.

The park.

The same park where Tim Roland had been scouted by Emily. The same park where Alison had pretended to see someone watching them. Someone had been watching them. She just hadn't known it at the time. It was back when her only interest had been getting closer to Emily...back before everything had become so complicated.

She took a moment to think things through. She had to be careful about her approach. The copycat was probably waiting for her. She glanced back at Duke, weighing the pros and cons of bringing him to search the grounds with her. What if the bullet didn't miss him this time?

She turned around, hoping that the dog would give her sign.

He did.

His ears were perked forward, having heard a child crying for help. His stance was intense...insistent. He wanted to help.

He looked at Alison and she looked back, a simple exchange that said, "Let's roll."

She took backroads to the park, trying to figure out how she wanted to move forward. The copycat had backed her into a corner. Of course she would come to Emily and Liam's rescue. But what was the endgame?

The storm had turned into a drizzle. The bleary glow of the headlights bounced off of the slick black road as she turned into the back entrance to the park. She turned the headlights off before continuing to drive forward. She needed every advantage she could get over the psychopath after her.

She pulled into a hidden spot and then shut the car off. She turned back to Duke, barely able to see anything but his shadow in the darkness.

"Here's how it's going to go," she said quietly. "I've got my go-bag in my trunk. I'm going to grab that and then you and I are going to scout out the area."

She spoke to Duke as if he would understand every word, but in reality she was speaking the plan out loud to herself.

She grabbed her satchel of instruments and a flashlight from the trunk and quietly shut it before letting Duke out. He hopped down and sat, awaiting her command. She grabbed a knife from her bag and then nodded.

"Track Emily, Duke. Track her," she said.

Duke woofed quietly and shoved his nose against the wet ground. He seemed confused at first, and Alison started to worry that the rain had washed out the surrounding scents.

After a few minutes he picked his head up, his ears pricked forward, his body straight. He started running towards the wooded area that led to the front of the park. Alison broke out into a jog, picking up her pace to keep up with the dog.

They carefully scouted areas where the copycat could be waiting for them, setting an agonizing pace forward. It was nearly ten minutes later that they rounded the trail where the picture had been sent from.

She looked towards the tree, but didn't see anyone tied up.

When she lifted her head she was horrified to see two figures strung up and hung by their necks. One an adult and one much smaller...a child.

Oh my God...Liam.

Duke bolted towards them and Alison followed, hand over her mouth as she tried to contain the shrieks of grief. She'd done her best not to alert anyone to her presence, but the sight of Emily's and Liam's bodies hanging from the tree broke her.

She raced forward, gripping the knife in her hand tightly. Caution be damned. She had to get them down and start CPR...that was...if their necks weren't broken.

Her footfalls slapped muddy puddles. She was soaked through to her core. The rain drizzled down on top of her. She could hear Duke's frantic barking as he raced ahead of her.

She was choking on her sobs when she reached the tree. Emily's hair covered her face as she rocked in the air, no sign of life.

Alison frantically looked for a way up, but when she aimed her flashlight towards their bodies swaying in the breeze she stumbled back in shock.

The brunette and the little child hanging from the branch weren't real.

They were mannequins.

"What the fuck?"

She had been so caught up in what she'd seen that she missed what Duke was doing. He wasn't rushing towards the mannequins. He was rushing towards someone in the shadows.

She didn't hear Duke's warning growls. The dog's reaction had come too late. Duke had lunged for the assailant primed and ready to attack, but there was a crack in the air.

Duke howled in pain and dropped to the ground, his body tremoring.

"Duke!" Alison cried.

There was a flash of lightning and the roaring sound of thunder.

She spun around, and images of her childhood flashed through her mind.

Archer Dunhill's eyes were staring back at her, and through his eyes she saw what she'd missed the whole time.

But it was too late.

She paused and got the sense of a rubber band being pulled back before snapping into her, the terrifying silence that came right before a loud roar.

A predator striking.

Pain shot through her arm as bone was struck so intensely that it forced her to drop her knife. She managed to dig her claws into her attacker, fingernails raking skin and drawing blood. The force of it was so intense that her index nail ripped away from her finger. In the scuffle it was kicked under the shade of the tree, protecting it from the elements.

Her teeth sank into the cheek of her copycat, earning her a, "You stupid fucking bitch!" and something hard cracking her skull. She was shoved back into the rough bark of the tree underneath the mannequins. She felt strands of her hair being ripped from her scalp as her head hit the tree.

I'm not going out like this...

Another loud crack filled the air.

Something struck her and sent a shocking amount of pain coursing through her body.

The world spun out of focus. Sounds were blurred in the background. She clawed at the tree to try and remain upright, but she lost her battle, her knees hitting soaked roots and dirt. She was on the ground an instant later.

Fuzzy blackness encroached on the edges of her vision.

The last thing she heard was Duke's pitiful whines. She looked into his eyes and her heart shattered. He bore an emotional expression in them, his eyes pleading with her, begging, asking if he'd done something wrong. A drop of rain traced a track of tears down his snout. If any animal could cry, it would be Duke.

He looked so upset. The look resonated. She knew how it felt. She knew what it was like to carry the weight of the world and think that one mistake broke everything. She felt that weight every day. For her brother. She realized some part of her still blamed herself. She looked into Duke's eyes and she saw sorrow.

He thinks this is his fault.

Duke, no...buddy, no...this is my fault.

All my fault.

Just like the night her brother died.

His eyes stayed locked on hers, as if he was conveying he could be a good boy. That he could do better.

I'm sorry. I was supposed to protect you, he said.

Dogs were too pure.

Alison felt her body going numb. The sounds around her echoed as if they were shouting back from empty canyons. Her chest was rising and falling. Her side throbbed, pounding like the ocean hitting the shore. Rising and falling like the swells of the tide.

It was like watching the end of the world. Not in flames and fire, but in cold wet drenching shadows dancing around her, taunting her.

Thoughts ran rampant through her mind, but she searched for the only thing she wanted to see.

Emily.

"Love is a collection of moments."

Emily had told her that once, right before their wedding. The collection of thoughts were like the leaves in the fall. Burnt orange, blood red, vibrant lively colors that survived spring showers, summer storms, and brutal fall conditions. They were life. They were love. They were infinite. They survived, unlike humanity, who were simple mortals that inhabited a planet full of everlasting life.

All Alison could think about was the detective she'd given her heart to.

Is she okay?

Is she in danger?

Does this monster already have her?

What about Liam?

Please, God, don't let this psychopath hurt that child...

Then...nothing but a black night sky.

*****

A/N: Commence the screaming now. Was Alison's dream a terrible foreshadow? Was Alison's vulnerability we saw in the bedroom the last we'll ever see of Emison? What happened to Emily and Liam? WHO HAS ALISON!? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO DUKE?! I'M FREAKING OUT HERE AND I WROTE THE DAMN THING.

I really am that bitch that went from Emily dying in Alison's arms to them making love (please don't mock me if it's too mushy), to plucky old Louis, to Emily and Liam disappearing, and now...Alison and Duke are in the clutches of a monster. To say it's a rollercoaster is an understatement. I'd call it more of an "OhGod, get me off of this train, it's derailing and it's on fire and everything is terrifying" chapter.