Infatuation (PLL Emison AU)

Under the Microscope

A/N: There is some NAT related stuff in this one, so tread carefully if you're easily triggered.

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Chapter 22:

Under the Microscope

Emily smirked at the text on her screen. She'd been flirting with Alison all day, even though they'd both been busy at work. The latest message was a spicy preview of what she expected when they got home and in to bed. She'd attached a picture of herself smoldering into the camera with a mischievous brow arched and a smirk on her face.

She wasn't a fan of selfies. She'd always felt awkward pointing the camera at herself and vogue-ing for it. Growing up, her mother would always tell her that she was beautiful.

"My brown-eyed girl. Look at you. Perfect brows. Beautiful smile. Flawless skin. You're so pretty, Emmy."

She had been self-conscious as a child. She didn't like people fussing over her. Now, she could look back and see the light in her mother's eyes when she hugged her tight and told her she was beautiful.

I was lucky.

Pam Fields wasn't perfect, but she loved her daughter, which was more than Emily could say for Alison's parents.

The blonde hadn't had the fortune of having a mother who cared about her beautiful features just because she thought her daughter was pretty. She had a mother who wanted to exploit those features. To exploit her child.

It was sick.

And now Emily had to pick at Alison's healing wounds. The revelation about NAT had changed the entire game. She'd always sensed there was more to the killings, but the bombshell about the dirty boys club and Alison's parents' involvement complicated things. She was emotionally involved with the blonde and couldn't separate herself from her feelings, but she couldn't ask anyone else to take on the task of digging around in Alison's head. Alison had told her about her childhood in confidence. Emily didn't feel right bringing anyone else into it.

Hearing about Alison's parents had been a bitter pill to swallow. The idea that anyone would hurt the blonde stirred a heated fire in the depths of Emily's soul. She pictured her at seven years old, her prick of a father trying to force her in to things, trying to hurt her. It made Emily's blood boil. Alison had been through too much in the past to end up in another tangled violent mess in her life. Whoever was killing the blondes to intimidate her had to be stopped, no matter the cost.

The case was becoming too personal. Normally, Emily latched on to the danger. She welcomed it. It kept her adrenaline pumping. Catching bad guys is what she did, but something about this case struck her on a deeper level. It was fundamentally changing something in her, bringing out an apathetic viciousness that had laid dormant in her for years.

The light in her soul felt like it was disappearing. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop it. Because darkness existed before light. Light traveled quickly, but it didn't matter, because darkness didn't have to be swift and fast. It was always there, waiting on the light.

Every time she closed her eyes she felt herself getting lost in the dark. She feared she was starting to spiral like she had after Maya's murder. Her sanity felt like it was starting to slip from her grasp.

A hollow pit of despair and anger lurked deep inside of her, permeating her heart and mind. Often it was silent, but sometimes she felt it rising to the surface. She was afraid that eventually she was going to lose control of it.

When she'd felt it gripping her during the short encounter she'd had with Alison in the locker room she'd reached for the only sanity she had left.

Alison.