Rewriting the Stars
Endgame: Liason

Rubbing her hands together, Sarah lets out a deep steady breath, glancing at her watch before returning her gaze to the horizon. It's only a matter of time now. It would be only a half-hour longer before the door to the hotel opens up and they walk in, talking amongst themselves, completely oblivious to her presence. Once the door shuts behind them, Sarah rises to her feet, making her presence known, rolling her eyes at the shock on their faces.

"Sarah, for goodness sake," Carolyn voices as she sets her bags aside. "Could you have not called before barging into our hotel room? How did you even find us?"

"Please, finding you is as easy as finding my reflection in the mirror," Sarah states, anger seeping into her words. "You are both creatures of habit. Same hotel. Same room. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to find you."

"Young lady, I don't appreciate this tone of yours," Jeff says, moving to set his bags down by his wife's. "Now your mother and I have had quite a hard time traveling here. We'd like to get some rest before we go to the hospital."

"You had a hard time?" Sarah scoffs. "Elizabeth was kidnapped, Gramps had a heart attack and you were nowhere to be found! Your family needed you and you stayed on vacation! You are the LAST person to speak of hard times!"

"Now listen here..." Jeff starts to say but is quickly cut off by Sarah.

"No! You listen here, Jeff," Sarah states. "You are not taking Elizabeth anywhere. She needs her family, her REAL family, to get her through this. You will not take her and stash her away like all your other problems! You hear me?"

"Just who do you think you are speaking to us like this?" Carolyn questions, venom in her words. "We are your parents! Let's not forget who you rely on for financial gain. You're about to go to college, that costs money, money that you require from us! We will not be spoken to like this!"

"You think I want anything from you?!" Sarah shouts, tears stinging at her eyes as the anger flares to new heights. "Keep your blood money! I'd rather die than accept a single cent from you heartless bastards."

"That's enough! We are here at your grandmother's request!" Jeff snaps. "You will not speak to us like this!"

"Or what, Jeff?" Sarah counters, standing toe to toe with him. "What are you going to do about it? What could you possibly do to me that's worse than what you've done to Elizabeth?! It wasn't bad enough that she was kidnapped and practically tortured, no, come to find that she wasn't even insured! What kind of parents pay for minimal coverage for their own child?! Now you want to come here and act like a savior?!"

"Since when do you care about what happens to your sister?" Carolyn questions, moving her husband out of the way to stand before her. "I didn't see you complaining when we spent every last dime available to give you every lesson under the sun! Where was all this concern when we stopped giving Elizabeth allowance to up yours?"

"I'm not blameless, I know that, but I am no longer your puppet!" Sarah states sternly. "I don't care why you're here or what you think you'll accomplish by coming because it was a wasted trip. Elizabeth isn't going anywhere."

"And just what do you think you can do to stop us?" Carolyn questions, disgusted with the girl standing before her. "You're not her mother."

"No, but I am her guardian," Sarah states, grabbing her purse and pulling out the document to hand it to her. "You look surprised."

"Where did you get this?" Carolyn questions as she skims through the document, lifting her gaze to glare at Sarah. "Who gave this to you?!"

"Your lawyer faxed it over," Sarah replies plainly. "Imagine my surprise when I read what you had done. You were gonna pawn Elizabeth off to a neighbor in Boulder for her senior year and leave any decision that needed to be made to me. And here I thought you couldn't sink any lower."

"This means nothing!" Carolyn shouts. "We are her parents!"

"Even you can't be that stupid," Sarah says, yanking the paperwork out of her hands. "From the moment I turned eighteen, Elizabeth became MY responsibility and - until she turns eighteen - it's up to me what happens to her. So, I suggest you get back on whatever hellhound brought you here and stay gone. You are no longer needed by any of your children."

"We can void that as easily as we penned it," Jeff states as Sarah gets ready to leave. "It only takes one phone call."

"Make the call," Sarah dares him. "Then we can go before a judge and I can watch you try to explain how you chose to stay on vacation while your daughter was kidnapped at gunpoint! Meanwhile, I will go to every last reporter, anyone willing to hear me out, and I will spill every last thing you ever did to Elizabeth. For instance, your method of punishment by way of locking Elizabeth in a closet until she behaved, I'm sure the courts will just eat that up."

"Who are you?" Carolyn questions as the walls start to close in on her, seeing just what lays ahead if they choose to fight this.

"I am Elizabeth's sister," Sarah states. "Cut your losses, move on with your lives, and continue to pretend like you're actually decent human beings."

Yanking open the door, Sarah takes one last look at her parents before slamming the door shut behind her, a part of her thankful that they are selfish as they are because it gave her the opportunity to stand up for her sister. As the true image of her parents comes into focus, the past aligns, as well, opening her eyes to all the pain that they put Elizabeth through. To think she ever idolized them makes Sarah sick to her stomach. Enough is enough. They will not get the chance to do anything like that again.

"You came back," Fiona says as she walks out onto the back patio, finding him leaning against the railing, staring out at the backyard.

"Yeah," Johnny voices. "Told you I would."

"Hey," Fiona touches his back gently, prompting him to look at her, allowing her to see the pain in his eyes. "You can still go back."

"No, I can't," Johnny replies, standing upright. "I already quit my job...said my goodbyes...I made my choice."

"And it has gutted you," Fiona whispers, hurt by his pain. "If only I were stronger back then...if I had chosen you..."

"Does it hurt to walk away from that life? Yeah, it hurts...like a knife in my gut...but I wouldn't change a thing," Johnny admits, sliding his hands into hers, letting it dangle between them. "I'm not saying things will magically fix between us, but I want this life with you. I want our family. If it takes sacrificing what I had in order to accomplish that, well, clearly I've made my choice. Balls in your court now, Fi."

"You are truly something else, you know that?" Fiona voices, unable to understand why he's so willing to give up his life for her. "You have my answer, John. If this is what you truly want, I want it for us, I just hope your sacrifice doesn't lead to resentment."

"It won't," Johnny replies before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss upon her forehead. "I'm gonna hit the hay. Your father's expecting me in the morning."

Leaning back against the railing, Fiona lets out a heavy sigh, she can see what this is costing him to choose a life with her. If she thought she could convince him to go back, she'd say and do anything to give him that, but he's made his choice and she was just a tad too selfish to let him go. Johnny has always been the person that understood her inside and out, loved her even when she didn't deserve it, to have him want a life with her and be able to have it, Fiona can only pray that they'll have the marriage and life they always should have had.

"And where have you been?" Audrey voices when Sarah walks into Steve's hospital room.

"I was where I needed to be," Sarah says, walking to stand on the opposite side of the bed from her. "Jeff and Carolyn are not coming, Gram. I made sure of it."

"Why?" Audrey questions in disbelief.

"Why would you call them?" Sarah questions, her heart hurting. "Have they not hurt her enough to last a lifetime?"

"Elizabeth needs to be in a long-term care facility..."

"Please don't feed me that lie," Sarah whispers, shaking her head, seeing the truth in her eyes. "It's not her fault that she was kidnapped. It's not her fault that Gramps had a heart attack. The only person at fault here is Lucky Spencer."

"Are you done?" Audrey questions, turning her attention back to her husband, tears frozen in her eyes.

"Yeah," Sarah says, seeing that she was beyond reason. "I guess I am."

Walking to the door, Sarah glances back at her grandmother, hoping that one day she'll see that none of this is Elizabeth's fault. Letting out a soft sigh, she walks out of the room, making her way to her sister's hospital room. After dealing with their parents, Sarah just needed to see her, to see for herself that she's safe and on the road to recovery. Just as she gets to the room, Steven comes walking out, prompting a soft smile to touch her lips.

"Hey," Steven smiles slightly. "Where have you been? I went to check on you and Gram said you left without a word."

"When she told me they were coming back, I couldn't sit by and do nothing," Sarah admits, following him to a nearby waiting area to have a seat. "I went to their hotel and I waited for them to show up."

"You should have told me," Steven voices gently. "I would have gone with you."

"I had to do this myself," Sarah explains. "I had to face them...to tell them exactly what I think of them...and to tell them to get the hell out of town."

"I can't imagine they took that well."

"You imagine right," Sarah replies. "But Elizabeth is no longer their concern and I made sure they understood that."

"How?"

"By making them fall on their own sword," she explains, pulling out the guardianship document and handing it to him. "They can try and fight it, but that would require going to court and you know how they feel about having their indiscretions aired out to the public. No, they'll get back on that plane and never turn back."

"I always wondered what they'd do to Liz once you left for college," Steven sighs, handing her the document back. "Just when you think they can't sink any lower."

"Yeah," Sarah agrees, putting the document back into her purse. "There's something else we should talk about."

"What's that?"

"Gram," Sarah says carefully. "She's the one that called them back."

"What? Why?"

"Her grief is clouding her judgment," Sarah sighs, shaking her head. "She's blaming Lizzie for what happened to Gramps."

"My god," Steven replies, he had thought it was strange that they'd show up now, but he never expected their grandmother to hold such resentment. "That's unbelievable."

"I know," she agrees. "But she won't hear reason. If the worst happens, we just might have to consider having Lizzie treated out of town. Give Gram time to cope and find her way to reason on her own."

"Yeah, maybe," Steven agrees. "Look, she's going to be out for the rest of the night, why don't we go grab some grub? Looks like we got a lot to talk about."

"Looks like it."

Following him out of the hospital, Sarah finds herself wishing that things could finally look up for her sister, but reality rarely ever gives them such things. For whatever it's worth, she will do whatever it takes to help her sister heal and move on to lead a beautiful life away from this horror. Elizabeth has been through so much, more than anyone should ever go through in one lifetime, and sooner or later enough has to be enough. As long as the three of them stick together, she feels like they can do just about anything, even create a future for themselves outside of their parents' shadows.

Author's Note: Was this a surprise? Tell me the truth, lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this update and sound off in the review box below with your thoughts and feelings on it. Till the next one, take care of you and yours, a million virtual hugs to you all, and the reminder that you are truly appreciated.