DISCLAIMER:: not mine. belongs to shonda and abc studios

A/N:: okay, so finally a longer chapter. all of those who wished for elizabeth to confront her father... well she's not going to. at least not directly. but somebody is. elizabeth's story has been leading up to this culmination. this chapter is another one of my favorites and probably would have been a great place to leave this story, but i'm not finished, not quite yet at least. i still got four more chapters coming to wrap this fic up. to answer your question evelyn burnheart, jason is on the backburner but far from forgotten.

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Why should I care?

You weren't there when I was scared

I was so alone

You, you need to listen

I'm starting to trip

I'm losing my grip

And I'm in this thing alone

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Arizona flitted around her office. She had barely seen or spoken to anyone since she returned. She had run into Mark Sloan and his girlfriend in the hall on her way to the Chief's office. She hadn't answered the questions in their eyes. She knew what they were asking. Where's Callie? She didn't quite feel ready to tell them Callie had stayed in San Francisco with Dr. Hahn, that Callie had picked Dr. Hahn. Well, in all fairness Callie hadn't picked Dr. Hahn… yet. But Arizona had known she was going to and she couldn't be there to witness the guilt in Callie's eyes as she told her to go back to Seattle without her. She couldn't watch Callie crumble internally as she broke her heart.

Her biggest regret had been leaving without even saying goodbye to Bree. She had stopped in the living room and found Bree on the floor in front of the couch, asleep under a blanket. Arizona had smiled at how humble she looked down there. Bree wore designer suits and, like most politicians, considered her appearance in all aspects of the decisions she made. But this trip had shown the human side of Bree and Arizona cared for her all the more because of it. But she hadn't woken her to say goodbye or thank you because she knew, like Callie, Bree had the power to convince her to stay. And she knew she couldn't stay.

It had been several hours since she left San Francisco, but the Chief had told her she wouldn't return to work until the following day. Still, she couldn't bring herself to go home. Her apartment still contained traces of Callie. Her heart did too. At least if she was at work, she could try to forget what had happened. Maybe she could sneak down to the pit and lend a hand without anybody noticing, or caring, about her presence. They wouldn't care that she wasn't supposed to be on duty; they'd just be grateful for the extra hands.

Yes, that's what she would do. She headed straight for the door and stopped dead.

Callie was standing there with one hand raised to knock on the open door. She stood there with a cautious look on her face. Obviously she was waiting for Arizona to speak first. But Arizona couldn't move, couldn't breathe. She now had to revaluate all she been thinking about over the last couple days. Ever since she had found Callie at Erica Hahn's house she had felt this sinking in her stomach that told her she was losing Callie. This morning she had come to the conclusion that she already had. But now Callie was here. She was here. She could have stayed in San Francisco with Erica. But she had come back.

Arizona smiled, and the burning of a fresh wave of tears caused her to scrunch up her eyes. She fanned herself. Callie smiled in response and that caused Arizona to grin even wider. She raced forward until she slammed into Callie and threw her arms around the brunette's neck. She had won. Callie had come back.

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Bulbs flashed in front of the podium as reporters got in the pre-PC shots of all the advisors whispering to each other. The press conference wouldn't start for another ten minutes but that didn't stop the reporters and photographers from warming up their equipment, whether it be a pen or a camera. They were reviewing their questions and checking their batteries.

The podium had been set up in a huge conference room in the hospital. In fact, it was the same one where Mark had leaned across the seat and answered "last I heard you were at hand holding, foot rubs, and lots of late night cab sessions" when Erica had asked what the Chief's new rules were. The Chief had objected to having the press enter the hospital at all, but the Senator had offered a generous donation for the inconvenience and the board's hands were tied, which meant so were Richard Webber's. But he had insisted they keep it controlled.

Outside of the room, Elizabeth paced. Her father had been the picture of perfection since she had met with him in the Chief's office. He had been playing good dad. Years ago, his concern would have warmed her to no end. She had often sought daddy's approval growing up. But now she knew the charade. She knew that this was just his way of apologizing for the violence he ignored. She had only seen Richie once when her father had brought him to the hospital to see her. Richard Hanley Sr. had insisted she stay in the confines of a hospital room while her heart was in such poor condition. She had objected, but of course, that meant nothing.

Bree had been her only saving grace. She stayed with her, never leaving, except for when she left to shower and get ready for the big press conference. Elizabeth was used to parading in front of the cameras, playing the happy daughter for her father's sake. Bree was even more accustomed than she was. They knew what their father expected of them and they knew this time was no exception. Her father's advisor had devised the perfect story for her disappearance. It was a story of kidnapping and brave escape. Her injuries, of course, were results of her capture. It was perfect and believable. It would paint herself and her father in a great light. It would possibly even give her father enough support that he could finally take the white house like he'd always dreamed.

"Miss Hanley, it's time."

Elizabeth looked up and smiled that fake smile at Laura, one of her father's security detail. She nodded and followed Laura out into the hall where she met with Bree and Richie. They were led to the door's of the conference room where their father was waiting with his other security guard, Robert.

Her father smiled proudly at her. "You ready Bee?" Chloe Bee. That's what her mom had always called her. She felt a flash of anger at his violation of her mother's memory, but still smiled and nodded. She was ready as she ever would be.

He pushed open the door and strode out to the podium. Flashes lit up the room. Elizabeth waited the appropriate amount of time before she followed with her sister and brother. As soon as she crossed the safety of the doorframe she was back in the world she'd wanted so desperately to escape. Flashes were going off, reporters were screaming her name. She was in the public eye again with the reason for her pain at her shoulder. His hand was heavy on her shoulder and his nails dug in. Her brother was already once again imposing his dominance over her. He was already claiming her existence once again.

Her father stepped up to the podium and raised his hand for silence. Eventually all the reporters calmed down enough that they could hear him clearly. The flashes still went off, getting her father and herself from every available angle.

"I called this press conference today to welcome back a member of my family, who was found late last night. Despite what has been a traumatizing month for her, she has come here to share her story."

Elizabeth had to focus all her concentration to keep from rolling her eyes. She knew if she did someone would catch it on camera. As her father continued to talk she scanned the crowd. In the sea of faces she picked out a couple she recognized. Arizona was there, next to Callie. She wanted to wave to them but she resisted the urge. She wondered if Bree saw them too. She risked a glance at her older sister but Bree's eyes were glued to their father. Almost too glued as if she were avoiding looking at anything else. Erica wasn't there, but she had promised Elizabeth she would watch it on the news.

"Without further delay, I will turn the floor over to my youngest daughter, Chloe, so that she may share her story with you."

Her father stepped aside and gestured to her to step up to the mics. She stepped up front row center and faced the crowd as she had been trained to do.

"My name is Chloe Elizabeth Hanley. On the night of June 4, 2009 I was kidnapped from my neighborhood in Washington DC. I was held captive, taken to various discreet locations by my captors to avoid detection. They were cruel and unkind to me, breaking my wrist and other horrific deeds that I can't share in detail with you tonight."

She went on to describe some of the places she'd been taken to, feeding them the story she wanted to hear. She had been given a written prompt that was set on the podium before her. It highlighted all the fine points of her capture, or her capture as they had fabricated it. She glanced over it as she was coming to the end of her speech. Near the bottom she saw one fact that they hadn't yet gone over with her, but she was supposed to recite. Someone had been captured and charged for her kidnapping. Jason. They were blaming Jason. She hadn't agreed to this. She hadn't agreed to make him the scapegoat. She was aware that she had stopped and confusion rippled through the press assembled before her. But she didn't care. She stared at Jason's name and thought of his green eyes filled with only concern for her, not for what might happen to him, as he saw her off. It now seemed like it had been years. She'd grown so much in the past week. She looked up and her eyes locked with Arizona's and then with Callie's. She couldn't do this to them. She had to be stronger. If she had learned anything during her time with the doctors, it was that you fight. You fight for freedom… you fight for those you love. And she loved Jason. She crumbled the paper and opened her mouth to speak.

"No!"

All eyes in the room turned to Bree, amazed at her outburst. "I'm tired of lying! I'm tired of protecting you!" She stalked across the stage and, much like Arizona had a few days prior, slapped her father clean across the face. Flash bulbs went off like mad. That little action was all it took to start the reporters off.

"Miss Hanley, what do you mean?"

Bree turned towards the crowd.

Their father reached for her. "Bree don't!" He lowered his voice so the only ones who could hear him were Bree and Elizabeth. "You'll ruin me!"

Bree shrugged out of his grasp, shaking her head. "That's the idea." She stepped up to the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I would like to apologize for the lies my father has been selling you throughout this ordeal. My sister was not kidnapped, she ran away. And I was the one who helped her escape."

A collective gasp ran through the crowd and the reporters having caught a whiff of the story, leaned forward hungrily.

"My sister has been a victim of child abuse for over a decade. We understood that her only chance of escape was to remove herself from the situation. I'm sorry that we have had to deceive the public for so long, but her safety would have been compromised had the truth been exposed earlier."

Elizabeth stared in awe at her sister who had taken command of the audience so swiftly. She really was a commanding presence. No reporter dared to interrupt her until she had finished and was ready to answer their questions. Their father stood off to the side, a mixture of pride at what his daughter had become and horror at what that was making her do, written all over his face. Richie had been inching towards the door. As Elizabeth caught sight of him she felt the anger sear through her body. He was not going to get away with this. Their father's ignorance made him partly to blame, but she could never forget what her brother had done to her. She would never forget the fear he hand instilled in her every single day. Bree had been right; she would never be free of what he had done to her. But now she knew she would be stronger because she never would forget. She would never let someone do this to her ever again. She would never let someone take her freedom again.

"You don't get to leave." She said it under her breath, but the room still quieted.

Richie turned to Elizabeth and puffed up to his full height. Even when he could see it all slipping away he was still trying to dominate her. She stepped up to him. "Never again." She looked down at her broken arm, her slapping arm. When she looked back up at him, he was smiling, having seen what she saw. She shrugged. "Oh well." She swung her good arm and her fist connected with the side of his face, sending him straight to the floor. "I still got a mean right hook." She shook her head disgustedly at the boy on the floor. "That, was for taking away a piece of me every day of my life. That, was me taking it back."

She turned her back on him, and she knew it would be forever.