**Falling Down**

"Hey, All. Just wanted to thank you for coming out and listening to us tonight. Welcome to The Underground!"

The music started immediately and Sarah recognized its style as progressive metal mixed in with a bit of techno—more on the classical side, but definitely metal. It certainly wasn't what she was expecting. Bodies around her began pulsing to the music, but all Sarah could do was stare. It was her baby brother, yet he looked so different and sounded so…magical. His normally close-cropped hair and grown some since she'd seen him last Christmas. It now stuck out in wild tufts, still short enough to stand straight out without wilting from the weight. He wore tight black jeans and a loose fitting shirt, unbuttoned with a tank top beneath. He looked older, more mature—certainly not the baby of her memories any more. She couldn't believe it had been so long since she'd last been to her parent's home less than a 20 minute drive away. Time had long ago lost all meaning to her, but she felt bad that she'd missed so many changes. In 6 months, Toby had turned from a gawky teenager into a mature young man complete with a six-pack that was easily seen through his shirt. And the girls loved him.

She was so absorbed in her own little world that she almost jumped into the person next to her when Julie yelled into her ear, "Sarah! What's wrong with you? Even you aren't normally this stoic. Lighten up!"

Sarah took a deep breath and explained as best she could over the noise of the band and the off-key drunk singing next to her. "That's my baby brother. I didn't even know he sang. It just caught me a bit off guard."

"Tobias Williams is your brother? How is it possible that you were not aware of The Underground? They're the hottest new band of the year!"

Sarah shrugged and tried to allow herself to forget it was her brother on stage. She would definitely talk to him about this later! Her only consolation was that it appeared her parents didn't know about his after school activities any more than she did. Shouldn't they be more concerned about the amount of late nights he spent away from home?

The first song took some getting used to for Sarah—she typically liked mellower music—but once she got over the initial shock and allowed herself to really listen to it, she found that she enjoyed it. Arnold Schwarzen-cherub was extremely talented on the guitar, weaving melodies within melodies that she had yet to explore fully. Toby had a smooth baritone voice that was mesmerizing and the guy on keyboard filled in a nice harmony on the chorus.

By the second song, Sarah was swaying with the crowd, feeling more alive than she had in years. She didn't even notice the sudden space that opened up around her as a presence appeared behind her, moving with Sarah in time to the music, but not quite touching her. All she felt was freedom. It was as if Toby's music and erased a weight that she hadn't even known had been crushing her. Her eyes closed, a smile gracing her lips and for a brief time the beautiful girl who had defeated a king inhabited her body once more.

When Toby's third song started, she was so caught up with the musical interlude being played by the guitar and keyboard that she almost didn't hear the words. "There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes. A kind of pale jewel.." In an instant, the weight returned and it took all of Sarah's will-power not to rush up on stage and shake her little brother. Where had he heard those words? The melody was different, the style was different, but it was his song…his words.

Sarah stood immobilized as Toby sang his way through the chorus, "Falling in love as the world falls down." And Sarah felt another emotion welling within her. Anger. She was livid at the Goblin King for manipulating a young girl's emotions in order to win a game, and to a lesser extent, angry at Toby. She had devoted her life to keeping him from that world. She had given up her only true friends and lived a half-life so that he would never have to know the painful truth—that in a moment of utter selfishness, Sarah Williams had chosen to hand her helpless baby brother over to goblins rather than listen to him cry for one more second. It was all for naught. She'd suffered for years for her family and it was pointless.

Somehow he'd learned of the Labyrinth.

The spell broken, Sarah started pushing her way through the crowd over to the side of the stage where Toby would be exiting. She needed to speak with him immediately. She needed answers.

She'd almost forgotten about Julie when her friend began tugging on her arm. "Sarah! Where are you going? They're not finished playing.." Julie stopped midsentence as the force of Sarah's glare was turned on her. Having never seen such passion on Sarah's face off stage, she was completely caught off guard.

"Julie, I am waiting for my brother. You can come or you can stay. I probably won't wait around for Element to play. I'll find my own way home." Without an apology of any sort, Sarah turned and continued her trek to the side exit. She knew Julie would stay; Element was her favorite band.

"But Sarah! What about the guy?" she asked, grabbing Sarah's sleeve and pulling her back again.

Sarah allowed herself to be pulled to a stop. She hadn't noticed anyone around her, which could be dangerous—there was that murderer on the loose after all. She really should pay more attention to her surroundings. "What guy?"

"The hot guy dancing with you! I've never seen anyone like him before. You should at least get his number!"

Sarah jerked her sleeve away. Wasn't Julie too old to be acting this boy crazy? She turned back around, yelling over her shoulder, "You can have him!"

It was harder than she thought it would be to get through the crowd. Apparently she wasn't the only one interested in seeing Tobias. When she finally made it to the guard, he gathered himself up to his full height, folded his arms and tried to make himself look intimidating. In the mood she was in, the Goblin King himself wouldn't intimidate her.

"I need to get through. Toby is my brother. I need to speak with him."

The guard with the little man syndrome chuckled. "That's what they all say, girlie. No one is admitted back stage without a pass."

She glared at him. "Look. Tobias Williams is my brother. Will you please just tell him that Sarah Williams is looking for him?" As the last words exited her mouth, she could hear the band wrapping up—they were only the opening act after all. She gave the guard a meaningful look. "Please?"

Something about her expression must have touched him because he flipped a switch on his walkie talkie. "Fine." And then into the headset he said, "Hey, Roger. Do you mind askin' Tobias if he is expecting a Sarah Williams?" The man on the other end said something that made the guard glare at Sarah. "Yeah, I know. Just do it, okay?" He nodded to himself and flipped the switch again. Then he went back to staring straight ahead, ignoring Sarah completely.

Less than a minute later, Sarah was being escorted backstage. Apparently when Tobias wanted something, it happened. When did he become such a big shot?

"Sarah!"

Sarah turned to find Toby actually running to her. He looked so nervous. This was not the confident lead singer from on stage, this was Sarah's baby brother and immediately her anger melted. He still needed her protection.

"Sarah! You saw my show! What did you think?" Toby chewed on his lower lip and Sarah smiled.

"It was great Toby. Really. I'm very proud of you! I had no idea you were so talented! Do Dad and Karen know about this?"

Toby folded his hands behind his back and brushed the floor with his left toe in classic 'I'm in trouble' mode. "I haven't really gotten around to mentioning it yet. They've met the guys, but everything just happened so quickly! We put a song out on the local college station a few months ago just to see if they'd play it. All of a sudden we were getting gigs at local night clubs and every once in a while we'll hear our song on one of the main stations. We couldn't believe it when Element—El. E. MENT!—asked us to open for them tonight! It was a last minute thing too! Apparently their normal opening act got food poisoning this afternoon and there was no one else. I couldn't believe how many people were out there!"

Toby's eyes lit with excitement. Sarah had never before heard him say so many words at one time. She grinned. "I couldn't believe it was my baby brother up there! You guys all sounded so good. You looked like someone out of a music video. All the girls around me were drooling." She couldn't imagine Toby being more excited than he already was, but that bit of information shot him over the edge. He was smiling so wide that she feared his teeth would fall out.

But Sarah needed to know what he knew about the Labyrinth. Fighting the urge to shuffle her feet, Sarah asked nonchalantly, "So…was one of the songs you were playing the song? You know, the one on the radio?" She kept a straight face as she inwardly screamed, 'please don't let it be his song, please don't let it be his song…'

"Yeah. The first one. What'd you think?"

Sarah's eyebrows shot up. "The first one? What about the one about the world falling down?" At the strange look Toby sent her, Sarah tried to calm it down a few notches. "I mean, the first song was good too, but I especially liked the falling down song. Did you come up with that on your own?" 'cool, Sarah. Stay cool…'

"Well, I…" Toby began, but he was interrupted by his band mates slapping him on the back. Until that moment they'd been hanging back near the refreshment table. They had impeccable timing; showing up just when Sarah was about to get the information she wanted.

"Hey, Tobes, who's your friend?" It was Arnold Swarzen-cherub that spoke, his eyes were definitely not angelic as he unabashedly scanned her from head to toe.

Sarah's chin rose in automatic defiance of his appraisal as she responded, "I am Toby's older sister, Sarah. And who might you be?"

The guitarist burst into laughter. "Oh…she's got spunk! You should bring her around more often!" Apparently only Swarzen-cherub could speak. The other two studied her coolly, as if waiting for her to attack them or something.

Toby finally came to her aid. "Hey guys, this is my sister, Sarah—like she said. Sarah, these are the guys: Marcus, Nathaniel, and Gabriel." He pointed to the drummer first, then the keyboardist. Ironically enough, Gabriel was the cherubic guitar player.

As he introduced them, Sarah took the opportunity to study them a little closer. There was something not quite normal about these guys. She couldn't call them teenagers or men—it was impossible to put an age to them. And they were attractive—gorgeous even—their looks went far beyond those of a traditional male model. She had noticed it when they were on stage, but up close they all had a similar appearance, despite being completely different in hair and eye color. It was something about the shape of their eyes or the angles of their jaws... Sarah couldn't quite put her finger on it. "How old are you?" She blurted out. She was only a little embarrassed by her outburst. After all, these guys were taking her baby brother around to night clubs and who knows where else. She wanted to know as much about them as possible.

"They look mature, don't they? They get that all the time!" Toby said, obviously pleased with his friends' ability to pass for "adults".

The drummer, Marcus, answered for the group. "I'm the oldest. I'm not quite 25. Nathaniel is around 23, and Gabriel is in his very early twenties." His voice was deep and melodic and Sarah was almost distracted enough not to notice his ambiguity. Though he hadn't stated any of their ages definitively, Sarah decided to let it slide. Now that the introductions were complete, she wanted to get back to her questions.

"So, Toby. You were about to tell me where you came up with that falling down song." Sarah pointedly did not look at the other band members; the way they stared at her was a little too intense. It made her feel invaded.

Toby looked over to Nathaniel and Sarah noticed the silent communication between them. Before he had a chance to make an excuse, Sarah had an idea. "Hey, Toby. Why don't we head over to Starbucks, just the two of us? We can get caught up a little. You'll have to drive though—my ride is sticking around for the after show."

Toby's face fell. "I would, Sarah, but I didn't drive today—Marcus did. If you want a ride home though, I'm sure we have room in our van. Right, guys?"

They all gave Sarah a look that spoke volumes, but Marcus spoke up—looking directly at her, "Sure, Sarah. Please let us escort you home."

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A/N: Okay…not going to say much—that's what the review box is for :-D. I did want to say a quick thank you to those of you who reviewed the 1st chapter. Especially startraveller776 for being gracious enough to be the first reviewer. If you get a chance, review her stuff—she has some great Labyrinth pieces! I would also like to thank LadyCavalier for stopping by. I hope you were equally intrigued by the 2nd chapter :-D. And notwritten thank you again for being such a faithful reviewer!

Now everyone else…please review! :-D