No Escape

If You Poke the Lion

When Emily arrived the next day, she could hear raised voices coming from Alison's room. Unsure of what she was going to find, she slowly opened the door, peering in. She saw Spencer, standingly rigidly, her back towards Alison, and towards the person Emily still couldn't see because of the door. Alison was reclined on the bed, looking more tired than she did yesterday despite it being early in the morning. Thinking she was probably allowed inside, she pushed the door open more, entering. She was surprised to find Detective Tanner.

It was then that Emily realized that Spencer's stance wasn't just rigid. It was protective. Her eyebrows furrowed. Out of the four friends, it had only ever been Emily who showed any kind of blatant affection towards Alison ever since she came back. It was a surprise to see Spencer going against a detective to protect Ali, especially since it had been Spencer who insisted that Ali tell the police the truth about everything. Ali had denied that truth.

Spencer didn't seem to notice Emily's presence. "She could have died! I heard you give that order! You could have given that much earlier!"

Tanner's face was blank, but not defensive. "I needed the men to scout the theater. The flashing images were buying them time-"

"Buying them time?!" Spencer's eyes flashed dangerously. "You risked Alison't life so you could look around that huge theater?! What if you didn't see that fake red laser? You'd have let her die?!"

"Wait a minute, fake?" Emily was slowly piecing together what happened, and something dangerously dark was settling over her stomach. "What are you talking about?"

Spencer moved to answer her, but Tanner beat her to it. "There was no gun. The red light we saw on Alison was a pinpoint laser."

There was dead silence in the room as everyone took that in. They could have saved Alison much earlier. She wouldn't have had to dangle in the air for them to watch helplessly. There was something in Emily that was simmering, and she didn't know how to deal with it. She rounded on the detective.

"What else? What else happened?"

This time, it was Spencer who talked over Tanner. "The didn't save Ali right away. They let her dangle there knowing there was no leverage against -A. Because they thought they could find -A in the theater. They-"

"Get out."

Spencer was taken aback. Emily only shook her head, staring down the detective. "GET. OUT."

"You're not at liberty to tell me to-"

"Detective Tanner." All eyes settled on Alison. Her voice was still hoarse, still weak. It was taking too much effort for her to even speak. It was fueling the protective instincts in Emily. She wasn't supposed to be questioned when she was supposed to be resting. "Please leave. You can talk to me later in the day."

Emily was indignant. "No! No, she's not coming back here!" She looked at the detective again, moving so even she had her back on Alison, now shoulder to shoulder with Spencer. "Leave."

Detective Tanner was silent for a moment, before she nodded. She directed a look at Alison that was fleetingly apologetic, or so Emily thought. But that wasn't going to be enough. She'd watch Ali struggle on that stage. She wasn't going to forgive whoever had called the shots that night.

Emily slowly turned, back still stiff from the revelation that morning. It wasn't even nine o'clock, yet. Spencer placed a hand on her shoulder, and Emily looked at her. "I'll give you two some time alone. I'll wait for the others, then we're going to talk about this. Ok?" She gave Emily's shoulder a squeeze, and reached out a hand towards Alison which Ali took, returning the squeeze.