Author's Note: Well, here's the chapter a lot of you have been waiting for. This one took ages since I knew it was the big important thing of the whole story and I wanted to do it right. No idea if I actually did, but hopefully you're all at least semi-satisfied with it! This is the last chapter of this story, but I had some inspiration on a little addition that might eventually be posted separately.

Chapter Five

Elizabeth had long since forgotten what her parents' voices sounded like, but when she heard that voice she knew who it belonged to without needing to look. There was no doubt. It was like she had heard his voice only yesterday instead of decades ago.

"Hi, sweetheart," Benjamin Adams greeted.

Tears streamed down Elizabeth's face and she held a hand pressed over her mouth. There was no point in trying to hide the tears as she couldn't tear her eyes away from her parents' faces. Her mother's eyes were misty with tears too, though none had yet escaped their confines. Her father was simply beaming at her, his face glowing like the sun. Elizabeth doubted whether his smile could ever get bigger than what was currently illuminating his face.

Elizabeth had had more conversations with her parents in her head than she could count after they'd passed. None of them had gone the same since there had always been so many things she'd wanted to say to them. There had been some recurring themes throughout her internal discussions, but she'd always had more than enough to tell them to have completely different conversations each time. Now, when she actually had the opportunity, she was at a complete loss for words. Even if she had known what to say, she wasn't entirely sure any sound would have made it out of her mouth when she'd tried.

Her parents had been waiting for her to make the first move, but the shock of seeing them again had left her completely incapable of figuring out how to respond. Eventually her father decided they'd waited more than long enough and took matters into his own hands.

"Who would have known teaching you to play golf would have become so beneficial."

That broke the ice, and Elizabeth was shaken out of her shock. One type of shock at least. Her father had certainly managed to shock her with his comment though.

"Oh my gosh, Dad, seriously?!"

"It is a big part of your job."

Elizabeth's jaw dropped at first. For a moment she actually thought he was being serious. Then she saw the gleam in his eyes that he couldn't hide and remembered how much of a tease he'd been. Shock shifted into a smile. She advanced on him, arm extended and ready to jam a finger into his chest to show him just how she felt about that comment.

"Very funny. You're terrible!"

Benjamin burst into uproarious laughter. Grinning, it was Suzanne that ended up swatting him instead of Elizabeth.

"You've officially lost the first hug, buster," she told him.

With that said, she grabbed her daughter into a fierce hug. Elizabeth's breath hitched again at the contact and she twined her fingers into the back of her mother's shirt, just as she had done when she'd been incredibly upset as a child. When she finally pulled away there were traces of tears on her face which she quickly brushed away. Not that there was likely much of a point in that. The moment she embraced her father she felt the same burning behind her eyes and suspected she would be crying again within moments. She managed to hold them back by focusing on something else. This time when Elizabeth pulled away there was a teasing smile on her face instead of tears.

"Admittedly golf skills have come in handy with politics, even before I became the president."

"Ah, you see! I've been totally helpful."

That sent some of the teasing straight out of Elizabeth even though her father had meant it as a continuation of their banter.

"Of course you have. I am who I am today because of how you both raised me. I became who I am because of you."

Even though their time together had been so short, more than just their death had shaped her life. They'd instilled work ethic, positivity, and determination into her as a child, and all of those traits had enabled her to succeed in whatever she did. Her parents had given her that, and she wanted to make sure they knew it.

Tears filled Suzanne's eyes at Elizabeth's words. Even Ben's eyes became misty as he wrapped his arm around his wife and pulled her against him. Neither of them had really known how Elizabeth would view them considering how profoundly their early deaths had impacted her. It wouldn't have been totally unexpected if she'd been angry with them over what had happened. To hear that she still thought so much of them made their hearts soar.

"I am so sorry we couldn't be there to watch all of your successes and see you become the amazing woman you are now," Suzanne told her.

"But we watched the whole time from here and were rooting for you every step of the way. We're so proud of you, Elizabeth," Ben added.

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to tear up.

"I wish you could have been there with me too. And I wish you could have met Henry. You would have loved him."

"Oh, baby, we do love him. We've grown to know him just as you have, and I don't think you could have picked a more amazing husband. He's absolutely wonderful. Even your father approves of him, and that says something."

Elizabeth turned an amused smile on her father, and he nodded his head in agreement.

"I couldn't have asked for anyone better to look after my little girl. You make sure he knows that. And knows that I'm watching him, just in case."

He pointed two fingers at his eyes then turned them on Elizabeth to emphasize he was watching. Elizabeth couldn't help laughing. If her father thought that would bother Henry in some way, he was wrong. Henry already gave her his entire heart without knowing her father was keeping an eye on him. He couldn't be any better to her than he already was. Knowing Benjamin was watching would change nothing.

"Like that would bother him," Suzanne said, giving voice to her daughter's thoughts. "He's already an amazing husband and amazing father. He should know he has nothing to worry about."

"Just as good of a father to our grandkids as their mother is to them, and she's something else."

"You think so?" Elizabeth asked tentatively.

She had doubted her parenting ability on more than one occasion. All of her children had faced major stumbling blocks in their lives so far, and Elizabeth felt partially responsible for them. While she and Henry had joked about the fact that none of their kids had become a drug addict, there were times when that low bar felt more adequate than joking.

Suzanne stepped away from her husband and cupped her daughter's face in her hands. She met Elizabeth's eyes with a glowing warmth in her own that she hoped would seep into Elizabeth's soul.

"I don't just think so, baby. I know so. You're an absolutely wonderful mother. You love those kids more than life itself, and you've always put them first. Sure you've made mistakes, but so does every parent. You do the very best you can. If you ever doubt yourself, look at your children. All three of them turned into amazing people. Just like you."

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome." She beamed at Elizabeth and brushed a strand of hair out of her daughter's face.

"We might have a pocket here…"

Hardly audible, the disconnected words washed over Elizabeth as water would off a duck's back. She barely even registered them. Instead she was completely focused on her mother, who didn't appear to have heard anything either.

"I still can't help seeing my little girl with pigtails despite everything you've become."

Elizabeth's face flushed pink in response.

"I was still doing the whole pigtail thing up until Conrad asked me to become his Secretary of State."

"Literally up until that, I believe," Benjamin teased.

"Yes, Dad. Literally up to that moment. I wasn't exactly expecting a visit from the President when I started cleaning out manure."

"Oh, I bet you weren't!"

Elizabeth missed what her father said next as her attention was drawn away by a different voice drifting out of the darkness. It was muffled and vague, reaching her from out of a far distance. She didn't recognize it, and the words weren't remotely related to her discussion with her parents.

"I think I found someone!"

Despite straining her ears to catch anything else, the voice didn't return. Elizabeth quickly put it out of her mind and focused again on her parents. She would only have so long with them. That time would be over far too quickly, and she wanted to make the most of it.

"We knew you were going to be something amazing one day," her father explained, oblivious to the fact that Elizabeth hadn't been following the entire conversation. "To think it would be President of the United States. I must say, you far surpassed anything we had imagined."

"It surpassed everything I had imagined too. I never would have dreamed of being President. The idea crept up on me very slowly, and even once I started considering it I think there was always a part of me that didn't believe it would truly happen."

"But it did, and you've been amazing," Suzanne replied.

Elizabeth was about to comment on that when the unknown voice called out again.

"I need some help over here!"

Her head whipped around, trying to identify the source, but it didn't feel like there truly was one. It sounded like the words were coming from everywhere and yet from nowhere all at the same time. Her reaction to the voice was strong enough this time that her parents noticed.

"What is it, baby?" Suzanne asked, her forehead creased in concern.

"Nothing. It's nothing."

At least she didn't think that it was. While her mother didn't look convinced, her father was absolutely unconcerned and carried on as if nothing unusual had just happened.

"Now I want to know something, Liz."

"What, exactly, would you like to know?" she asked, a smile quirking her lips in a teasing manner.

"Did you seriously start a water balloon fight with Henry in public?"

The mere reminder of that incident caused Elizabeth to break into a fit of laughter. That day was still one of her best memories. It had been a hot day near the end of the semester when Elizabeth had gotten the idea into her head to surprise – and admittedly torment – Henry. She'd hidden a decent number of water balloons inside her purse when she'd met him on the campus quad. She hadn't been able to resist long enough to reach him, but she'd been more than close enough to hit her mark on her first throw. Henry's yelp had drawn the attention of everyone nearby. Not that that had bothered Elizabeth any. She'd just continued her assault as Henry attempted to escape her. It had all been fun and games until Elizabeth's last balloon had missed spectacularly and landed at the feet of Henry's primary religion professor. The balloon had broken with an explosion of water that had left Henry's professor covered from mid-chest down. Henry had never lived it down the rest of the year as his professor had found a way to bring it up nearly every class. At the time Elizabeth had been incredibly guilty, but it hadn't taken long after the year finished out that she'd just found the entire event even more amusing because of Henry's prolonged suffering. Now the incident was nothing short of hysterical.

"Yes," she admitted, rather smug.

Benjamin's eyes lit as a smile split his face once again. He was nearly as giddy over the memory as Elizabeth was.

"That's my girl."

"It's her! It's her! We found her! Someone get a medic!"

It was the same voice she had heard before, and she just couldn't ignore it anymore. The problem was she wasn't any closer to identifying where the voice was coming from or why she was hearing it.

"Did you hear that?" she asked as her eyes darted around.

"You heard something, sweetheart?"

Elizabeth hadn't known what kind of response her question would get from her parents since she wasn't sure whether or not they would be able to hear what she did; however, whether they'd heard it or not, she hadn't been expecting the note of sadness she caught in her father's voice. His expression mirrored that sadness, though he tried to hide it back behind a mask when Suzanne squeezed his arm. Elizabeth had no clue what any of that meant.

"What's wrong? What was that?"

"They're voices from the other side," Suzanne answered, as Ben didn't appear able to.

"What?"

"Ma'am? Ma'am, can you hear me?"

Elizabeth's head snapped around again even as her mother continued her explanation.

"They're meant to call you home. It means we don't have a lot of time left."

She had barely finished speaking when Elizabeth heard the voice again, calling her name. The calls were coming closer and closer together now and growing louder each time.

"You need to follow them, Elizabeth. That's how you get back."

"You don't belong here with us, sweetheart," Ben added. "You belong back there, with the rest of your family and all of the people counting on you."

The reality of that hit Elizabeth fast and hard. She was going to have to say goodbye, and that goodbye was coming very soon. Tears gathered in her eyes, though she tried to hold them back. She didn't want her parents' last view of her to include tears.

"Come on, President McCord. Open your eyes. Open your eyes…"

"Go, baby. Follow the voices. They'll lead you where you need to go."

Gazing out into the darkness, Elizabeth fully believed her mother was right. All she needed to do was keep walking and focus hard on the person calling her. It was time. She needed to go back now or she would miss her chance and never be able to. Despite that, she couldn't just walk away. Turning back around, she met her parents' eyes.

"I didn't get to say goodbye or tell you that I loved you last time. I'm not making that same mistake again."

She wrapped an arm around both of them and held tight.

"Goodbye. I love you both so much, and I'll miss you terribly until I see you again."

"We love you too. More than you can ever imagine," Suzanne replied after kissing her daughter's cheek.

Benjamin did the exact same thing before tucking Elizabeth's hair back behind her ear.

"We will always love you, and always look over you from here. The same goes for your brother. You make sure he knows that. When he eventually shows up here he better not still be feeling guilty or I'll kick his butt."

Elizabeth snickered softly and shook her head at him.

"I'll tell him that. I promise."

"She's fading fast. We need to get her to the hospital. Hold on, Ma'am. Hold on."

"Go, Elizabeth!"

The urgency in her mother's voice told Elizabeth all she needed to know. She couldn't delay any longer. Elizabeth risked one last look at her parents before turning away and moving off at a jog, ears alert for any new sounds.

"Stay with me… Stay with me…"

The words distorted strangely, and the next thing Elizabeth knew she was falling. Terror rushed through her in a blinding panic as she struggled to understand what was happening. Her panic only escalated when she suddenly found she couldn't breathe. It hurt. Everything hurt, now that she thought about it, and the extent of the pain took her breath away. Despite all of the pain coming from every inch of her body, she felt a comforting touch against her arm. A human touch.

"We're going to get you out of here, Ma'am. Don't give up."

She didn't intend on giving up. She'd just fought her way through an unexplained netherworld to make it back. After that long walk back home, she had no intention of winding of back there again, this time for good.

Opening her eyes had never been so difficult. She'd accomplished nuclear resolutions easier than this. The thought of nuclear resolutions caused Zahed's words to flash through her mind: "You have never lacked willpower." Summoning up all of the strength and power of will she could muster, Elizabeth turned it all on opening her eyes. Every millimeter was a fight. She'd fought worse before though, and as George had reminded her, she'd never been bothered by taking the hard path. Slowly her eyes slid open, taking in the hazy light and the dust covered face looking down at her.

"Don't worry, Ma'am. Everything is going to be alright."

As Elizabeth gazed up into her rescuer's eyes, she knew that he was right. Everything would be alright, both with this and with her presidency. She was sure of that now. Her self-doubt was gone, and all it had taken was a trip outside of the living world and the help of important friends who had walked that path before her.

O . o . O . o . O

Breaking News Update

After the first day of searching 11 people were pulled alive from the rubble and 7 have been confirmed dead at the site of the Virginia energy conference collapse. While investigations into the cause of the collapse are still underway, preliminary reports show no sign of terrorist activity or any other deliberate action to compromise the building. At this time the FBI is looking further into possible structural failings as the cause of the accident.

President McCord was among those found alive buried within the debris. She is under the careful care of doctors at a local hospital and being treated for various injuries, the worst of which being internal bleeding and a broken pelvis. Reports are she is still in high spirits and intends to visit the other victims of the collapse. When advised against this course of action by her doctors due to the need to rest and recover, McCord allegedly responded that she would like to see them try to stop her, further supporting the belief that she will survive her experience without major implications. If a falling building can't stop President McCord, chances are nothing can.