A/N: I don't own the Labyrinth, or any of it's characters. Nor would I want to, really. Far too much responsibility. Though one day I would love to write something as… mesmerizing. For now, I'll just make do with lackluster fan fiction… enjoy…

Chapter One: Once A Runner

Fact One: Once you are a runner, you are always a runner.

I never stopped running. He tells you that you have to run the Labyrinth in thirteen hours. I did it in ten. He promises you dreams and worlds. I passed them down. He tells you he will be your slave. I pressed on in my speech. He doesn't tell you that once you're a runner, you are always a runner. I never stopped running.

I always ate what I chose. Karen used to yell at me about it; another thing to deride me about. Kind of like she couldn't believe I'd dare to spite her by eating chocolate and staying thin. How dare I have a metabolism? I never could figure her out. But no one was as shocked as her when one day I started to run. And she was even more surprised when her 'lazy step-daughter' started getting up willingly at six thirty for the privilege. I told her I was listening to words of wisdom. One day my metabolism would fail and I'd balloon out. Not so. I was in training.

You don't beat Him. And if you do, it's the battle, not the war. I didn't trust he wouldn't want revenge. He was a king. If I were him, I'd demand a rematch, crave it, need it and command it. He was biding his time, I felt. I wasn't going to be caught wanting when the time came. But the running… it's more than waiting for a rematch.

You never feel safe again. Home is never home and words are never just words. You lock your doors and check your windows. You triple check the baby sleeping soundly. You go to bed, still nervous, and ball yourself up tight. You pretend you don't hear noises in the night. You get up just one more time to check the baby. Toby was my brother. I still can't believe sometimes that it was all real, though I'll never doubt it. Contradictory I know. But it's the way it is.

I met a woman once. Irene Walker. She had a dream she had a baby. Her name was Elizabeth. Irene had been a child herself when Elizabeth was born. Irene had been left by the father of her child, abandoned by her parents and had nowhere to turn. Elizabeth had been a colicky baby. She screamed and wailed. Irene doesn't remember where the words came from, just that one day they were there, in her mind. And she said them aloud. When he appeared, she didn't really know what was happening. She failed to run the Labyrinth through to the Castle Beyond The Goblin City. She never met Sir Didymous or even Ludo. She ignored Hoggle. And she woke up from a dream about a baby named Elizabeth that she never remembers was the truth. She can't sit still. Irene is eighty-seven and she has lived in over ninety houses. Once you are a runner, you are always a runner. Even if you can't remember. Even if you don't know what you're running from anymore. You just know that it's time, time to run. It's like living in the Junkyard, or being trapped in a peach's dream. There's a real sense of urgency, but you forget what you're looking for.

Regardless, fact one remains unchanged. Once you are a runner, you are always a runner.