The nightmares soon returned, along with the hallucinations. Sarah would close her bedroom door and put her head under the blankets, and there she would remain for hours at a time, not trembling, but staying absolutely still, attempting to remain in control. At times she thought she heard distant, otherworldly moans, and she would want to fall prey to uncontrollable fits of terror, shouting for someone - Bruce, Alfred, Jareth… but she remained still. That, however, didn't mean she wasn't terrified.

With the first rays of sunlight, Sarah would regain some sense and control of her nerves. She thought that her nighttime anxiety was the fruit of her fear-induced time in the damp bowels of the city. This thought would remain in her head and she accepted it, until darkness began to fall again and the cycle of dread resumed. But she remained stoic, focusing on controlling her fear, and pushing it figuratively under the rug until it disappeared completely. She managed to sleep sometimes, but only for minutes at a time. Something always kept her awake – a strange creak or small, dark shadows that passed through the dark corners. Sarah had clung to the thought that they may have been goblins, or they may have been her friends. Either way, she had to dismiss the thought that these shadows were out to harm her; otherwise, she would lose all control again.

Until three nights after Bruce came back to the penthouse, near the brink of mental and physical exhaustion. Sarah lay in her bed, the night moving slowly, as it always did. She began to drift into a heavy sleep; so heavy that she began to feel suffocated. She suddenly didn't want to be in this dream state and attempted to wake herself up again. But this time she could not move and to her horror, found little control over her breathing. She felt like something was sitting on her chest, and she could not move to push it off. In this state, she began to see images of dark figures standing beside her, she heard strange choking noises; disembodied voices that were either laughing or crying – she couldn't tell which.

The weight on her chest became heavier as if it were pressing down on her deliberately. Her eyes moved up heavily, and she was able to see a tiny figure, no larger than a child, sitting on her chest. The paralysis suddenly carried an acute sense of danger. This may have been a nightmare that she wouldn't be able to wake from. Several seconds turned into minutes; but it seemed like hours.

Her heart beat rapidly as she felt her body began to shake and sweat from fear. The ghostly figures were coming closer. She felt nauseous when they knelt beside her; and her body became completely numb when they touched her and held her down with the little shadow person still sitting on top of her.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to move, breathe, anything. The pain and the fear reared up through her very soul as she found herself powerless to free herself and unable to fight back. Her head swam from the weight on her chest and her breath was stolen from her mouth when a cold, slithery voice whispered against her ear.

"Crane is coming…"

"No…" Sarah moved her lips to just a whisper.

She jerked upward fully awake and free of their grasp. She sat, gasping for air and clutching her throat as the shock of the sudden blackness, of her paralysis dissolved.

Bruce stood still, surveying the landscape of his manor that had remained in his lineage for generations, or what was left of it. It was all melted ruin and rubble now.

He stood before a dark, rocky mouth. Through this passage, the cave was seen as sweating granite, a shifting world of shadow. Bruce stepped inside and went deeper into the darkness. The walls around him were undulating, as if covered in water. But it was the restless shrugging of thousands of bats. Bruce felt his heart speed up, but he pressed on, sweat beading on his face. Ahead, a diffusion of moonlight illuminated a curving rock chamber, bats bringing the walls to life. He moved into the moonlight and looked up into a narrow, stone chute. This was the fall he took as a child. It was here he first encountered the bats, thousands of them swarming all over, attacking him.

Suddenly, in the darkness ahead, a dark shape moved, head rising, slits opening to reveal two blood red eyes. A giant monarch bat spread its huge wings, and rising, airborne, it rushed toward him. The screech of this fierce monster filled the whole cave and in response, roused the bats from their resting place. The horde of squealing, chittering bats filled the air like a black cloud, hundreds of them, taking flight in blind uncomprehending fury. It was a screeching swarm of hideous, black-winged creatures. All of this was Bruce's nightmare – to him it was the very picture of imagined evil, made live.

He was terrified, he wanted to run and hide from the terror that surrounded him, from this demon he couldn't tear his eyes from. The enormous bat's flapping wings beat like drums, closing fast. But Bruce decided to hold his ground, resolved. He faced the monster, screeching towards him, glistening fangs barely inches from his face. But then something remarkable happened. The bat held its position, stared into Bruce's eyes, and spread its wings wide. Bruce then raised his arms, a living mirror. The two faced each other, man and bat, a moment of communion. In the moonlight on the wall, their shadows began to blend, to merge, becoming one until his world flared into a blinding white.

From the mouth of the inner cave, a sudden screaming din of bats exploded into the cave, a shooting column of life, and there, from within, stepped a man in black armor with the mask of his most feared nightmare…

Bruce started awake. He could still hear the shrill cry of bats in his ears, and the smell of the dank cave that had once been the foundations of his family home. He gazed out the window, towards the East where beyond the stark power of Gotham, the Wayne manor was being rebuilt; though it would be a while yet.

He threw off the sheets and went to the window, his heart racing and his chest rising and falling dramatically. He was panicked and confused, but not about his dream. This dream had only given him the confidence he needed after Sarah had shaken him to his core. Very few people had, yet very few people could see into a broken soul.

He looked down at the short stack of papers Alfred had left for him last night. Alexandra was starting to embezzle money from the Martha Wayne foundation. On further inspection, it seemed a one way ticket had been bought for herself under a false name; she was going to run with his money and money from Maroni. He would have let this go and dealt with it as Bruce Wayne, but he was determined to go to the theater as Batman for another reason entirely. He had to go alone, and he was terrified.

He and Sarah had not seen each other since his return, they purposely avoided each other, and as such he never knew what he had seen and what she had defied so openly. Had he been a boy again, whatever he saw would have plagued his nightmares day and night. Whatever he was fearing, whatever he had seen, was there at the theater. He knew it was.

When the theater was initially ready to be built and began construction, he had stayed away entirely. His parents had been killed outside of a theater and this new one the city had approved of was a decadent monstrosity built on their money. It felt like a stab to him; a cruel joke every time something new was added. But by confronting it at its core, its nucleus, he would maybe find an answer to Crane. Bruce was convinced that this being that he knew to be hiding there was a part of something from his past that made him who he was today.

But this was also where Sarah came from. Like a strange, heady siren rising from her lake. Innocent and fragile, but with the eyes of a sorceress; with her secrets hidden just behind her shoulders - like translucent wings.

And if there was one thing that Bruce Wayne had learned in all his years as an individual, it was that nothing was as it seemed. He was living proof of that. Batman was a dark enemy to fear, but it was driven by Bruce's inherent humanity. Batman, for all its benefits and for all of the time Bruce devoted to it, was ultimately a tool for Bruce Wayne's efforts to make the world better.

He wanted to smile at this, but his nerves still shook him. A soft knock at his door made him flinch but he quickly steeled himself.

"Sir," Alfred walked in and wasn't surprised to see Bruce out of bed. "Sir, the wires you installed at Maroni's penthouse, he's ordered his men to the theater."

"Alexandra."

"I believe so, sir."

Bruce paused and looked down at his cowl that was waiting to be donned. "Something wants me to go there."

Wide awake from her sleep paralysis, Sarah rose from her bed and left her room. It was dark in the penthouse living room except for the moonlight through the curtains. Sarah moved across the floor, the pale light catching her white nightshirt. When a shadow moved across from her, she stopped, but at the doors that led to the balcony stood a familiar silhouette. Batman shoved his fist into a gauntlet, buckled his utility belt on firmly, and finally slid the cowl over his head.

"Where are you going?"

Batman turned calmly and seeming resigned, studied Sarah's face, almost unsettled at the accusation he found there, at the reflection of himself he saw in her green eyes that were shimmering in the moonlight. The gentle smile that he had once been so taken with had faded over time into a somber stare, piercing and powerfully dark.

"They're coming for her," he said. "At the theater."

She knew who it was; it had been obvious since the beginning. Alexandra.

"And you're going by yourself?" she asked, anxious. "Tell the police."

"They'll only bring a massacre. I trust only one man on that force and even he can't keep them all in line."

Her voice was as dark and as deep as a black lake. "Don't go."

"If I don't go then who would I be?"

"Your wounds…" she broke off, her throat closing, "they're not healed... and there are too many of them."

He moved closer to her, his figure stirring with the shadows alongside him. "Maybe there is a place for me in this world just as I am. Light cannot exist without darkness. Each has a purpose, and if there's a purpose to my darkness maybe it's to bring some balance to the world. It would be a better place without people like them."

Batman closed the distance between them, noting that she was still dressed in only her nightshirt, the top of it falling slightly off her shoulder as Sarah looked fiercely at him, her eyes glowing. "I struggle with this everyday," he said. "And maybe by doing some good I can be the hero and not the vigilante."

Sarah came right up against him. "You are Bruce," she affirmed. "You always have been."

He pulled away from her and marched toward the wide balcony doors. "Then as Bruce I just use all of this as a tool to accomplish what I need to do. I am a seeker of justice in this world I'm still fighting to understand." He pulled the doors open wide. "This is how I deal with my rage and vengeance, Sarah, by becoming a creature of night." He scaled the balcony ledge and stood above her, his cape billowing in the wind like a black flag. "I don't know what I am except that there are two, and there always will be. And right now, I'm Batman."

He lifted his arms, the cape splitting down the center, and went wide to familiar, black wings. Sarah's eyes went wide. He was truly no longer Bruce; he had changed into his other half, the dark side of his plagued soul.

Batman dove from the balcony, a shadow in the dead of night.

Sarah stared at the space he had once stood, now replaced with the dazzling city skyline. It was amazing how from here Gotham looked like a cosmopolitan jewel laid out for the world to see. But if one took a closer look, you could see the ever expanding cracks and flaws that were threatening to break apart.

The cracks were there; deep inside, but sooner or later she wouldn't be able to control it anymore. She had to tell Bruce everything. The secret had been hidden for too long. Maybe once she revealed everything she would be whole again. She wouldn't have to hide anything from Bruce anymore.

But first she had to help him anyway she knew how. She had strength on her side now, but how would that last against dozens of trained hit men? She knew of only one way to try and save Bruce. She must tell Jareth she loved him. No matter the consequences.

To leave Bruce would be painful because she finally began to appreciate what he did for her, and besides Alfred, she understood why he became Batman. In a way, she found herself loving him, her shadow side, the side that was hard to accept and bring to the light that she found with Superman.

"No one is ever born bad. We choose if we want to be good or bad. And it is that choice that determines our lives."

Sarah changed into dark clothes to help her blend in, and ran to the elevator, but of course it was locked. Only Alfred and Bruce knew the code. She went to the door to the set of emergency stairs. This was locked too but Sarah only had to push hard enough. The padlock broke off the hinge and was left in her wake. She ran down the stairs, grasping the handrail as she did so. She raced down a set of stairs, and then another and another, looking down briefly through her mess of black hair. It was nearly forty flights down, but it didn't matter how much farther she had to go, she had made her choice and was sticking by it. What she was worried about was getting to the theater without getting caught. She couldn't wait for a taxi; she would have to make a run for it through the alleys and side streets. She wouldn't dare stop for a breath or to rest, she kept running down the long, winding cement stairs; and every floor she reached that wasn't the first just kept her going.

She finally stopped and looked down before dropping another floor. She could see the double doors that led to the lobby. She would have to act as nonchalant as possible; the last thing she wanted was to make a scene. She took a deep breath and continued down the stairs that seemed as if they would never end.

Her whole body was damp and numb from the run down, but her mind was alert when she finally took that last step. She pushed the door open and walked out as calmly as she could. She was completely out of breath, but she held herself gracefully as she walked across the lobby and avoided all the curious stares of the staff and some residents. And as soon as she opened the front doors she broke out into a run.

She pressed forward and everything surrounding her, the pavement, the traffic, people; were nothing but a blur as she raced on. Her heart beat fiercely as she pushed herself further, no thoughts were made as her instincts drove her onward, every sound registered within her hearing. She could hear the street debris and gravel as it was crushed beneath her weight, the inhabitants of the streets watching her run, all thinking that she was just as mad as they were. Dodging pedestrians, streetlights, and newspaper kiosks; Sarah fought her way through the streets, fearing what may follow her.

"Boss," he spoke calmly into his cell phone. "She's out, she's running."

Yuri's voice on the other end. "Where is she going?"

"Looks like the theater."

"Follow her. We will be there in twenty minutes."

A picture wavered on the sphere's surface like water rippling in a breeze. Jareth studied it closely. It was Sarah sleeping soundly in her bedroom. She didn't toss or turn in her sleep, her breathing was normal, her mouth open slightly.

Disquieted, Jareth raked his gaze over his dark watchers. "She sleeps."

The goblins murmured loudly, their voices rising into a high-pitched moan. "Ssshe sssleepsss well without you, my Lord. Ssshe hasss overcome her fearsss."

Jareth's eyes glittered dangerously as he turned to back to orb. "And in such little time." The creatures buzzed among themselves. Looking over Sarah's image, Jareth continued, "She's always been one to rise above… but why does she not dream? Her dreams are rarely empty."

The goblins backed away, seeping further into their realm of darkness. Jareth watched them go, uneasy. Then turned back towards Sarah sleeping deep inside the crystal.

It rested magnificently in the glittering, new district of Gotham; but something seemed to take the theater in a dark, menacing hold. It stared down at her like an old ruined king; and throughout the street, a grotesque, towering monstrosity, that seemed to brood ominously over the landscape. Fog hung thick over the pavement and sidewalk, unusual for Gotham at this time of year. A thick silence dominated and was only dared to be broken by the random car horn or rumble of an overhead train.

Sarah looked up at the theater that was now deserted of all actors and audience; just barely locked up for the night, freshly dusted and cleaned inside and out. She crept up the stairs as quietly as she could until she halted in front of the pair of grand doors that stood at least twenty feet tall. Raising her eyes up along the doors, she had a brief flash of déjà vu…

"Knock and the door will open…"

She pushed on the doors and they opened slowly, revealing its inner world. It was in pristine condition, every minute detail sparkling under the silver, moonlit glow. Majestic columns stretched skyward and the expansive marble floor was inlaid with veins of pure gold. It was so dark and Gothic and disgustingly decadent in this almost unnatural light. The grand foyer, thick, luscious in its grandeur, quickly came into view.

Sarah quieted her breathing and tiptoed through the foyer, she felt sure that any sound she made would have reverberated through this massive space. She knew that people were already here, and she could feel her heart pounding within her ears as she started to move cautiously deeper within the halls. She looked at both ends of the hallway but no one was roaming.

Two Greek statues draped in their marble garments flanked the entrance to the auditorium, and above their heads hung a dripping, crystal chandelier. Corinthian columns dotted the walls of the auditorium landing making the space stretch higher than it seemed. It was eerily quiet here, a deafening silence that made one's skin crawl in fear. Sarah half expected to wake up in her bed safe and sound, this scene before her being only a nightmare but she knew that that was certainly not the case.

Alexandra may have been in her manager's office, but the plan was to find Jareth. She knew this theater well, but not as well as him. There could have been her secret room, but wasn't there a cave here too? He had once taken her there, but where was it exactly? And how could she get there? What if she ran into a group of armed men?

She stuck closer to the walls that were decorated with richly paneled frescos and stayed clear of the moonlight seeping through the windows. She kept looking over her shoulder and stopped at every cross hallway she had come to, peering down in each direction nervously. Before Sarah came to a wide corner, she heard deep voices and she pulled herself up against the wall. Slowly, she twisted her head around the corner and whipped it back around.

It was hard to get a look at the rotunda; the hallways were too dimly lit. But from what Sarah could see, there were five men circled around a smaller, leaner Alexandra. There was a mix of garbled voices, too low for even Sarah's ears. But they became louder and more insistent, until she could clearly hear Alexandra pleading.

"Listen to me," said Alexandra, "I have the money right here. I was going to give it all to Maroni tonight."

A loud thud followed by a man's voice. "You're bag is still packed for a long trip."

"I was leaving! But not after I delivered the money!"

"Maroni doesn't trust you anymore."

"I can still give you Sarah Williams, I know where she is! I know where she's hiding!"

The skylight overhead exploded, and in a rain of glass, Batman flew in, his cape blowing out in black wings as he descended. He landed to the floor with such force he broke the marble stone beneath him.

Alexandra screamed and Sarah saw her run for her life, but no one followed her. Sarah twisted around the corner and watched Batman smash a thug's head into the side of a marble pillar and knock another to his knees with a spinning back kick. He was blindingly-quick, lethal, and animal-like. She stood frozen, morbidly fascinated at how deadly Bruce could really be.

But one man stayed well out of range from Batman. His back was to Sarah but she could see him reach into both sides of his holster and pull out two guns, ready to aim at Batman.

Sarah immediately rushed around the corner, grabbed a large candelabrum standing on a marble pedestal, and knocked the man hard on the back of the head. He went down immediately, his guns dropping next to him.

Batman whipped around, and his body tensed when he recognized who stood before him. "You!" he hissed.

Sarah tossed her hair away from her face and set the candelabrum down, it should have weighed a ton, but to her it felt like a plastic toy. "You're welcome."

Batman marched toward her, seething at her defiance, at her stupidity. Sarah stared back; openly aware of her decision and the reprimand she would receive. But he didn't say anything. He took her hand as he sped past her and she willingly followed behind.

They both ran in a flurry of black down the moonlit corridors, heading in the direction Alexandra had escaped to, which was back toward the auditorium landing. Sarah could see the shadows moving beside her as she ran, and with them came the voices, slithering up her spine calling her name, following them down the dark hallways. Until the shadows turned into the silhouettes of men armed with guns and knives. Batman shoved Sarah out of the way as a bullet flew through the air, barely missing her arm. Batman threw a batarang and it snapped the gun out of the thug's hand.

Sarah instinctively ran up the grand staircase, but a two-toned man leapt forward, grabbed her arm, and in a panic, Sarah dropped to her knees. She gave a mighty kick and the thug toppled backwards down the stairs.

Batman, still at the bottom of the stairs, raised his grapple gun to another man aiming his rifle at him, and within an instant the bat grapple smashed into the man's hands, the rifle yanked away. Batman yanked the man along the floor using his grapple gun, taking down another thug next to him. He leapt for another as shots shattered the white marble all around them. He took them all out easily and looked up to see Sarah nearing the top of the stairs, but with three thugs following her. These men were different from Maroni's thugs; he recognized several of Yuri's burly, Russian men right away. He shot his grapnel up to the high ceiling and it sent him flying over the flight of the grand staircase.

Sarah moved behind Batman as he fell from the air and skid to the floor. She turned to see him knock down a man with a spinning back kick, another with a flying back-fist, and he spun and delivered a powerful roundhouse clocking the third in the head and sent him backwards down the stairs. Sarah turned and stepped closer to Batman, another group of men were waiting for them at the landing. Batman was right. There was going to be a massacre if the police came. There were too many, Maroni's and Yuri's men, she prayed that Crane's men would not show; but that was wishful thinking if the Russians were here.

Batman rushed ahead of her and heaved a large man over the railing of the staircase. The thugs closed in and rushed for Batman, swinging a chain at his head. Batman's hand shot out fast, grabbing the chain. He punched the thug in the chin and whipped the chain into the gut of another thug.

One man began to charge Sarah. Her adrenaline had been pumping so heavily in her blood that she had no qualms about striking her attacker hard across the cheek, sending him falling unconsciously to the already blood tainted ground. Sarah's eyes opened wide; she knew right then that she would never get used to this. Strong arms came around her and pulled her away toward the auditorium doors.

Batman pushed one door open slightly and they snuck inside like two black cats. They silently yet quickly hurried down the side aisles. Sarah looked up to the cathedral-like ceiling and multi-level balconies every now and again, hoping to catch a flash of white or even a shadow. They stopped at the edge of the stage; Batman still alert, his muscles tense, put a restraining hand on her arm. He looked overhead, and saw a catwalk spanning the width of the stage three stories up.

Sarah looked up too, but at the stage. "How funny," she thought rather cynically, "this is where it all started. Everything started here when I was fifteen, and it will end here." She looked over at the front row of seats, sitting so patiently for their guests. "This is where I saw Bruce for the first time…"

Batman shot his grapnel upward and lassoed a beam overhead. Sarah looked up again and without a word, wrapped her arms around his neck. They were pulled upward, shooting into the air until they were set firmly on the high platform of the catwalk. Batman peered down and examined the length of the catwalk. Unsatisfied, he turned and peered down the dark corridor behind them. He spotted the high, twisting staircase that led toward the rooftop. He grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her forward. Batman seemed both desperate and determined to get Sarah out alive now.

Sarah realized that he was going to sneak her out through the rooftop, but whether he would go with her didn't seem like an option for him.

"Stop!" she hissed, jerking him back.

Batman did stop, but he looked back and scowled at her. He clearly didn't like having his physical strength surpassed by a stubborn, young woman.

"In here," Sarah pulled him into an empty alcove where the stagehands would wait for their cues. Batman stayed at the opening of the large niche and listened intently to what he could only hear. Sarah stood against the wall, and with trembling lips she finally whispered, "There's a hidden closet in my dressing room. I can hide in there…"

"You wouldn't have to hide if you stayed away!" Batman growled. "Now we're compromised."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I thought I could get here before they did."

"Why are you here? Besides the obvious, you don't really know what you're doing."

"Yes I do!" She stepped away from the wall. "I know someone who can help you. He's here, in the theater…"

Batman breathed deeply through his teeth and turned away, his face suddenly deepening into a scowl. He eyed the corner with unease, there was a presence waiting on the other side. When Batman looked to the dark corner of the upper landing, Sarah followed his gaze, and shuddered. Yuri silently appeared from the shadows, a towering, black silhouette. Hand slowly moving to the hilt of his new katana, he purposely stepped forward, and silently drew out his blade.

Sarah began to back away slowly, but when Yuri saw her move, he sheathed the katana and leapt forward. A blur of solid black suddenly filled Sarah's vision as Batman hurled his body against Yuri. He was now nothing more than dark mass and bottled fury.

Batman caught Yuri as he lunged forward, his hands digging into his shoulders but not enough to draw blood. Knocked to the ground he held Yuri at bay, but he wasn't quick enough to stop Yuri from drawing his long katana completely from the hilt. The blade sliced through the air in a downward swoop, a loud clank was heard in return as scallops met with metal. Pushing down on his katana, Yuri watched with great satisfaction when it looked like Batman was struggling to keep the blade from coming down on him.

Batman clenched his fist and, with a gesture almost too quick to see, stepped back and punched Yuri in the chest. Yuri was flung back but he managed to kick Batman under the knees and he promptly fell to the ground. Yuri raised his blade over the dazed Batman and brought it down fast. Batman rolled clear, the blade wedging into the floor. It was all the time Batman needed. He back-flipped erect and delivered a flying front kick to Yuri hard in the head. Yuri was knocked against the wall and toppled to the ground. Batman took this opportunity to throw the katana over the edge, finally out of reach.

Batman turned and shoved Sarah towards the stairwell door that led down, he wouldn't risk bringing her to the roof now. Sarah bolted and smashed through the door just a second before the door swung wide open with Batman jammed against the wall by Yuri.

Sarah took off running down the stairs and briefly looked up in time to see Batman flipped over the banister, landing with a thud on the stairs right beside her. Yuri leapt over the railing as Sarah ran, bounding down the stairs, taking two at a time. She glanced up again to see both men tumble down the stairs, flailing at each other as Sarah kept running down.

Sarah rounded the last railing and flung herself at the exit door, but it wouldn't move. Sarah slammed herself against the door over and over again in a blind, unthinking panic. It barely moved, something was blocking it from the outside.

Suddenly Batman and Yuri came crashing down almost on top of her, fighting for their lives. Batman flipped over and grabbed Yuri from behind in a neck lock. Yuri shoved Batman backward, knocking Batman breathless, but he never lost his hold. They tripped and fell in a heap facing upward. It was here Sarah saw something glimmer from Yuri's chest; a pure, white flicker of light. She recognized it and immediately dropped to her knees at Yuri's side, completely unafraid of being this close to him now.

She reached out and ripped her diamond away from Yuri's chest, holding it up to his face. "This is mine," she hissed. She then punched him square in the face and managed to knock him out for just a moment.

Sarah took a deep breath, relieved and comforted to have her diamond with her again. She straightened and a smile creased her mouth. "See?" she said, holding up her diamond, "I am good for something."

Batman began to bind and gag Yuri while he was still in a stupor. Sarah stuffed her diamond tight into her pocket, and watched Batman drag Yuri to a small corner. "I think something's blocking the door," she said, "but there shouldn't be anything there."

Batman finished stuffing Yuri away and went to the exit door. They both pushed hard against it, but still nothing.

"They're trapping us in," he said. "They must have this whole auditorium surrounded."

Sarah started for a back corner and Batman followed. "There's a small passage back here that we use for quick changes," she said, pushing on a small door. It gave easily and they looked down the passageway. "This can take me to the smaller dressing rooms and I'll be able to hide in there."

Batman started to move down the passageway and Sarah went with him. They ended up exactly where Sarah said they would. Another space with separate rooms used for changing and rehearsing; at the end of it was her own dressing room. It was sparse these days as she rarely made an appearance on the stage now. It was terribly quiet and eerie here.

Both Yuri and Maroni's men would be clashing soon. A part of Sarah thought that they should all just kill each other and be done with it, but they had to be stopped regardless and Batman was the only one who would do that.

Sarah broke the silence. "What are you going to do?"

Batman checked his utility belt for remaining weapons. "What I said I would." Satisfied, he clicked everything back into place and stared hard at her. "You said someone was here who could help me."

She watched him for a long moment. "Yes, I did." She paused again, letting the shock of what she was about to reveal pass; it was time he knew. "You're not crazy, what you saw was real. I've wanted to tell you for so long, even when I only knew you as Bruce. It was him who hid me away from you when I ran away. He was the reason I disappeared that night at Krista's." Her throat started to close when her eyes clouded with tears. "I don't know why he didn't come for me when I was kidnapped." She swallowed and tried to regain control. Batman stood completely still, listening, absorbed at what she was saying. "He's not a ghost, but he haunts me. And you should be as afraid of him as I am."

Batman breathed in through his nostrils, this was exactly who he needed to find, and he needed to face it. He let the truth of Sarah's words roll over him. He became a believer of the supernatural the moment Sarah had levitated in the Church. Nothing could have changed his mind otherwise now.

"Where is he?"

Sarah sighed deeply. "I don't know. He could be anywhere."

Batman looked away and clenched his fists. He seemed to have an inner argument going on inside that troubled mind of his. Until Sarah realized that he had already made the decision to leave her here, and that it wasn't the best option, but it was the only one that was available to him.

Sarah's reached out and flexed her fingers on his shoulder. "Go," she said gently, "I'll try to do what I can, and I will not leave this room."

Batman nodded silently. He started to turn but then he did something completely unexpected and something so unlike what he had done before as Batman. His touch became tender as he opened his hand against her waist and turned to her, leaning closer to her face, and kissed her. It was warm and unhurried, not the passionate, soulful kiss that she would have expected from a knight about to do battle. It was filled with gentleness Sarah knew was within Bruce but didn't think Batman could inherit. She pressed her lips to his in return; forgiving him for his past and eventual transgressions, and asking for his, which he seemed to give willingly in this sustained, quiet exchange.

His eyes stayed on her as he pulled away. He was breathing fast, staring at her like he'd never seen her again. She saw something flash in his eyes, something akin to sadness, but it was gone too quickly to be sure.

"There has to be a hidden doorway," she began looking over the walls of her dressing room, "another passage somewhere…" she looked back again, but Batman was already gone. She stared at the spot he had just been standing a second before. "So we're both good at disappearing, then."

He had locked the door from the inside, but a sense of dread for the coming events that were to come to play filled her. It didn't help that a barrage of startled yells started near the auditorium until it became quiet again.

"Jareth," she whispered finally, "where are you when I need you?" She began searching through the corners of the room, pressing her hands against the walls and hoping to find a slot or hear a click. "Jareth!"

"Jareth?" A high, lilting voice from the darkness asked. "Who is Jareth?"

Sarah backed away, gasping soundlessly with terror. She could feel the freezing burn that accompanied Scarecrow's presence burrow into her skin. She moved back carefully, aware of his haggard form emerging like a skeleton from the grave. His burlap-covered head cocked at the sight of her.

Her heart beat violently as she felt her body began to shake with fear. The shadow figures she had so often hallucinated were in his wake. They rose higher and higher until they nearly towered over her. Her back was pressed against the door and she desperately searched for the knob as the Scarecrow stepped ever closer to her. She could almost see a smile tug at his twitching lips.

"Is Jareth a new friend?"

Sarah stifled a cry, but she found the knob and turned it, flinging herself out before Scarecrow could reach her.

Jareth's fair brows were drawn together in an expression of acute frustration as he stared into the glowing sphere; inches away from his face. "She has not opened her eyes even once," he breathed, "I must go to her."

The goblins moaned in dissent. "Mussst ssshe alwaysss have you there when it doesss not turn your way?"

"Silence!"

He replied a bit too quickly, a bit too sharp. The goblins inched closer and their yellow eyes glistened piercingly at their King. Jareth met their stare with an icy glare of his own.

"A little bit longer," they whispered. "Jussst a little bit longer. We know you worry for her ssso. But look how ssshe sssleepsss," they began to coalesce around the orb but Jareth flinched his arm back, wary of their nearness. "Ssso peaceful. Let her sssleep jussst a little bit longer…"

AN: I will try TRY to finish this before July 20th =) Thank you, thank you to all reviewers!