My first Labyrinth fic. I haven't seen Labyrinth for some time now, so forgive me if I get anything wrong, but I have ordered it from Amazon, and it should arrive in a couple of days, so I shouldn't make any mistakes. Please don't be too harsh, but constructive criticism is accepted. This is a crossover with the TV programme, Tru Calling. You don't really have to have seen the programme to understand the fic, because everything should be explained as the fic unravels. Tru Calling is basically about a young woman who works at a morgue, and has the amazing ability to hear the dead speak to her. She is then propelled back in time, and has the chance to re-live the day to try and save their lives. But anyway, on with the story :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth, nor do I own Tru Calling. Enjoy.

"Give me the child."

The words echoed out into the strange, twisting room. The speaker, a fifteen-year-old girl, stood at the base of a flight of one of many staircases in the room. The staircases twisted and turned, and basically defied the laws of physics and gravity, throughout the room. From her stance, the girl was very tired, but determination shone through every pore on her skin. She was staring at an oddly dressed man, who stood at the top of the aforementioned staircase. He had long blonde hair, with streaks of blue, but his eyes were the most interesting feature. One was an icy blue, and the other was a deep green. Both eyes surveyed the girl coldly.

He spoke at last.

"Sarah, beware. I have been generous until now, but I can be cruel."

The girl, Sarah, was shocked to the core with these words. The man didn't know the meaning of the word generous. After all, he had only taken away her baby stepbrother, forced her through some twisted labyrinth, and scared her senseless. She started to advance towards him, trying her best to look dangerous, whilst squashing her fear and fatigue deep inside.

"Generous?" She asked in disbelief. "What have you done that was generous?"

"Everything!" The man spat. "I have done everything you wanted. You asked that the child be taken," he said, gesturing to the infant, who was crawling up one of the upside-down flights of stairs. "I took him."

Sarah tensed at this. He was right: she had wished her brother away. But how was she to know that he really would turn up and kidnap him? Besides, she wasn't about to allow him to win now. Not now that she had got so far.

"You cowered before me. I was frightening." The man continued, taking small steps back as he spoke. "I have reordered time, I have turned the world upside-down, and I have done it all for you!" His anger magnified and was projected loudly as the sentence went on.

Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing. Determined more than ever to thwart this man's plan, whatever it was, she took another step forward.

"I am exhausted from living up to your expectations. Isn't that generous?" He seemed to grow more nervous the closer Sarah got, and took another couple of steps backwards. "Stay back!"

This only served to fuel Sarah's determination. Confidence brewing in her dark hazel eyes, she stepped closer.

"Stay back!" The blonde man demanded, but it was for naught.

Sarah remembered the words needed for getting her and her brother out of this situation. Recalling her rehearsal in the park earlier, she stepped up the stone stairs with more determination.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen." She began, confidence oozing throughout her words. Sarah was very glad that she had put aside more time to memorize these particular words, and continued up the stairs.

"For my will is as strong as yours – "

"Stop!" The man interrupted desperately. "Wait Sarah! Look, look what I can offer you." He raised his hand, and made a gesture. A spherical, glass object appeared in his palm – a crystal ball. He held it out towards her, trying to tempt her. Sarah was unfazed.

"It will show you your dreams. You remember."

Sarah took another step towards him; he took another step away from her. She continued.

"And my kingdom as great..."

"I ask so little," the blonde continued. "Just believe in me, and you can have everything you want."

Sarah continued up the stairs, but was frowning as she struggled to remember the words.

"...And my kingdom as great...damn!"

She had forgotten the words – the precious words, the words needed for getting her out of this nightmare. What were the damn words?!

The man seemed pleased at her struggle. He started to advance towards her, still holding out the crystal.

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I...I will be your slave."

"Damn...Kingdom as great...kingdom as great..." Sarah was frantically searching the deep recesses of her memory. Dammit, she had only been rehearsing these very words half a day ago! She cursed herself for not having a better memory. She had long ago stopped walking towards him, and stood on the stairs in her own little world, trying so hard to think of the words that a migraine was developing.

The man was too close to her, and the crystal shone irresistibly before Sarah's nose. He smiled arrogantly, knowing that she would not succeed.

"Kingdom as great..." Sarah tried again, panicking, knowing she was on borrowed time. The words would not come; her memory was failing her completely, and the distracting crystal waving in front of her was not helping.

Somewhere in the confusing room, a bell chimed, followed by twelve more. The man smiled dangerously. Sarah looked up in confusion and horror.

"No...!" She whispered frantically. Right at that moment, the words came back to her.

"You have no power over me!" She screamed desperately.

"Too late, my dear Sarah, you were so close too." The man seemed very happy regarding her failure. Sarah blanched.

"No! No, I wasn't too late!"

"The time is up Sarah, Toby is one of us now."

The room started spinning out of control. Sarah whipped around hastily, and saw that her stepbrother was nowhere in sight.

"Toby!" She cried desperately...

...And promptly woke up.

Sarah Williams sat up quickly, gasping for oxygen. Looking around frantically, she realised that she was sat in her bed. Her room, her things, everything was set around her as normal. No Escher room, no stairways, no Goblin Kings were in sight. Calming herself whilst still trying to take in some air, Sarah knew it had just been a nightmare.

The nightmares had been plaguing her ever since she got back from her trip to the Labyrinth ten months ago. However, this particular one had been the most vivid, and the scariest by far, as in her dream she had lost her baby brother, and her freedom. Sarah had thought that the Labyrinth was just a distant memory, something in her past, but her subconscious was telling her otherwise.

Looking at the green numbers on her digital clock, she knew that sleep was no longer an option.

'Four am, and on my birthday too...' Sarah thought regretfully.

Glancing to her left, Sarah spotted three presents and a card. Grinning, and having got over the vivid images of her nightmare, Sarah stretched and got out of bed. Turning sixteen was not an everyday thing, and would only happen once. Deciding to appreciate her birthday, starting from now, Sarah stretched and climbed out of bed. Taking the bedside presents, she took them downstairs to the comfort of the lounge and decided to open them early.

A cup of tea and snuggling into the fluffy sofa served to make Sarah feel better, and she opened her card first. The front was decorated with a large number sixteen, and the background consisted of a single rose, with complicated gold writing lacing the front, saying:

On your birthday, sweet sixteen,

We take this opportunity to say,

You are a wonderful, selfless, beautiful person,

Have a happy birthday,

And may all after serve to bring you peace.

Sarah expected something sappy and sweet, and it brought a large smile to her face. Opening it, she read the inside, and saw that her father, stepmother and Toby had signed the inside, and completely covered it with large, wobbly kisses – probably Toby's doing, Sarah thought, a warm feeling coming into her insides.

She opened the presents, and discovered a golden heart shaped locket from her father, which contained a picture of her mother and herself, making Sarah smile with happiness and sadness at the same time; a beautiful, soft, skin hugging cardigan from her stepmother, and a small black box, decorated with glitter and sequins from Toby (who no doubt had help from Karen and her father). Sarah was touched, and carefully laid the box on the table, whilst putting on the locket and cardigan. Her family knew exactly what she loved, and she couldn't believe that only ten months ago, she was arguing and making life difficult for them. So things were still a little strained with Karen, at least the two could get along now, Sarah thought, still smiling.

Deciding that her family wasn't going to be out of bed for at least another four hours, Sarah chose to watch a DVD, and had just finished watching the extras after the film, when her stepbrother made his appearance.

"SAWAH!"

A little blur of something barrelled straight into Sarah's legs as she stood, and almost sent her flying. She grinned as she realised that the blur was in fact Toby. He clung onto her legs as though there was no tomorrow, probably so he could keep his balance. He had, after all, only learnt to walk a few weeks ago. Smiling from ear to ear, Sarah reached down and picked up the little striped bundle.

"Hey squirt," she said affectionately whilst ruffling the tuft of blonde hair on Toby's head. He laughed loudly, no doubt waking Karen and Robert, Sarah's father. Glancing at the clock, Sarah saw it was only seven-thirty.

Toby's face screwed up in concentration as he tried to remember what he was supposed to say. He pointed wildly at the little black box he had made.

"Like...present?" He managed to get out, smiling when he realised Sarah understood him.

"Very much, thank you Tobes." Sarah laughed and put the infant on the ground. "You hungry?"

Toby nodded fiercely. Right on cue, his stomach gave a huge growl. Sarah laughed again. This day was going very smoothly already, and it wasn't even light outside yet. Carefully pouring a small portion of porridge into a brightly decorated bowl, Sarah hummed a tune, making Toby shriek with glee. He loved that tune.

As her brother tried to eat the mixture, although more was landing on the table than in his mouth, Sarah headed upstairs to shower and change. Half an hour later, and looking very healthy and active, she brushed her long dark hair, and walked back downstairs, only to be greeted by her stepmother and father with loud shouts of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Her father made her some pancakes whilst Sarah thanked Karen for her gift. An hour later saw Toby scribbling on a piece of paper whilst Karen, Robert and Sarah laughed when Robert recalled one of his more unfortunate birthdays – he had broken a leg whilst returning home from a party. A knock at the door sounded, and Sarah went to open it whilst picking up the mail on the mat.

"Hey, birthday girl."

Her best friend from school stood there, his dark hair making a startling contrast to his bright blue eyes. In his hand he held a small wrapped up something, and he grinned mischievously down at her.

"Hey, Andrew, come in." Sarah said, stepping aside to let him walk through the entrance.

Her family greeted him warmly, and Andrew gave her the present he was holding – a CD of one of her favourite artists. Hugging him, Sarah thanked him loudly. They talked for a while, and then Andrew tapped his watch, looking meaningfully at Sarah.

"Time to go," he said briefly, winking at Robert whilst Sarah wasn't looking.

Sarah had almost forgotten that Andrew was taking her out for "lunch". Truth being told, it wasn't just for lunch, it was also for a surprise party, but Andrew and her family had made sure that Sarah didn't catch the slightest hint. All of her friends were already making their way to the pizza restaurant, and Karen, Robert and Toby would sneak out after Sarah and Andrew were five minutes ahead.

Sarah put on a jacket and scarf, as it was supposed to freeze and possibly snow later on. Andrew opened his car door for her, and she climbed in, not at all aware of what was going to happen once they reached the pizza place. Andrew climbed in the driver seat, and started his car, unsuccessfully.

"Damn weather..." He grumbled, before managing to start the ancient machine.

The car rattled down the road for a good few minutes, whilst the two sat in silence.

"So, having a good birthday?" Andrew asked kindly.

Sarah proceeded to tell him about her gifts, her brother's greeting, and how early she had awoken. She left out the details of her nightmare; after all it was only a dream. It wasn't like that had happened anyway – she had won. She had got her brother back, and had beaten the Goblin King. No, everything that had happened was behind her. Sarah had even neglected to call her friends, Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus, convincing herself that it was merely a bad dream.

Her explanation was interrupted when a large bird flew in front of the windscreen, causing Andrew to curse and swerve to avoid hitting it. The icy roads didn't help, and Sarah screamed as Andrew struggled to regain control of the car. Finally, he managed to hit the breaks, and narrowly avoided colliding with a lamppost. Sarah shook with shock, and stared out of the window at the culprit.

Her blood froze as she saw a large, white owl flying away. She tore her gaze away, and stared out of the windscreen, trying to regain some air. She mentally chided herself for jumping to conclusions. 'There are plenty of white owls in the world,' she thought, desperately trying to calm herself, 'it doesn't mean it was him.'

"Are you ok?" Andrew's voice broke through her reverie. She looked at him shakily.

"I-I think so..."

"Damn bird, they should stay in the trees like normal." Andrew cursed. He preoccupied himself with trying to restart the car.

"Yeah..." Sarah agreed, not really listening. She was still badly shaken from the sight of the owl.

Andrew drove the rest of the way in silence. Sarah tried to think of good things, happy things, anything that would take her thoughts away from a certain someone.

'It was only a dream,' she thought to herself.

Who are you trying to convince? A nasty voice chided in the back of her head.

'Shut up.' Sarah thought angrily.

"We're here." Andrew said, pulling the car into the nearest space. He stopped the car and grinned at Sarah. "Ready for some food?"

She grinned back and nodded. Her father's pancakes seemed like an eternity ago, and her stomach growled in agreement. Not noticing the many cars scattered throughout the car park, Sarah climbed out and followed Andrew into the large restaurant.

"SURPRISE!"

A very loud shout caused Sarah to jump back in shock. She stared at the crowds of people in the seating area, and recognised every single one of them. She couldn't help grinning like a Cheshire cat as she realised that Andrew was behind all of it.

"You..." Sarah pointed a finger in mock horror at Andrew, but couldn't wipe the smile from her face.

Andrew jumped back, feigning surprise and hurt, but like Sarah, couldn't hide the large grin that had surfaced.

Sarah ran over to join her friends, and was even happier when she spotted Robert, Karen and Toby sitting in one of the booths in the seating area. 'This day couldn't be better,' she thought, grinning from ear to ear as she ate pizza and cake, and listened to Andrew's ordeal at making everyone keep quiet about the surprise.

"You should have seen Renee, she was bursting to blab about this to someone," Andrew explained, pointing a finger at another of Sarah's best friends. Renee stuck her tongue out at Andrew.

They partied the day away, and Sarah was quite surprised at how much pizza, garlic bread and cake she had eaten. By ten o'clock that night, the place was a huge mess, and it was a good thing that the restaurant had been booked so that it was only their party eating there that day.

Karen and Robert had taken Toby back home early. Sarah grinned at them and thanked them for such a wonderful day. It was now up to Andrew to take her home, and as everyone else left the building, leaving Sarah and Andrew to thank the chef; Sarah thanked everyone, and hugged all of her friends. She had had such a wonderful day, and she loved her friends more than ever.

"Thank you for everything," Andrew thanked the restaurant owner. "Sorry about the mess..." He grinned sheepishly.

The manager shook his head, smiling.

"Just glad to help. Happy birthday, miss." He smiled at Sarah, and vanished into the staff area.

"Thank you for everything." Sarah poked Andrew's arm. "I've never been so happy in my entire life."

Andrew laughed, and the two went to his car. Sarah climbed in, and turned the heater up to full blast, as the temperature had plummeted and the promised snow had arrived. Andrew shivered as he climbed inside and attempted to start the car. He grinned over at Sarah.

"Ready for a good night's sleep?"

Sarah nodded, still smiling. The party had worn her out, and what better way to end her sixteenth birthday than to sleep in her warm, fluffy bed?

They drove past all of the now closed shops and offices. Suddenly, Andrew stopped the car with a screech of the brakes, slapping a hand to his head in dismay.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Sarah asked, panicked.

"I left my wallet at the pizza place..." Andrew smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Sarah tried unsuccessfully to slow her racing pulse.

"It's ok...you want to go back for it?"

"If you don't mind...Karen won't mind if you're a little late, will she?"

Sarah shook her head, and Andrew turned the car back around. They made it back to the pizza place in ten minutes, and Andrew stopped the car and got out.

"I'll be back in a flash," he said, winking. "Sorry about this." He ran into the restaurant, which fortunately was still open.

Sarah sighed and leaned back against the leather chair. She had had enough scaring for the day, and her heartbeat still hadn't reached its normal rate even now. Five minutes passed.

'Where is he? He must have lost it,' Sarah thought, shaking her head but smiling slightly all the same.

Another five minutes passed. Sarah grew more nervous as the minutes ticked by, and there was no sign of movement against the lit up, frosty glass that made up the windows of the restaurant. A sudden shout jerked Sarah out of her daydream, and she looked up in terror to see someone burst open the entrance door. Someone...who upon closer inspection appeared to be armed.

Sarah froze in terror. No doubt that the glinting, shiny object in the figure's hand was a gun. In his other hand, the man carried a bag, which looked as though it had been hastily stuffed full of something. Comprehension dawned on Sarah.

'Oh my god, he's burgled that place!'

Andrew was still inside...

'Oh my god...'

The man looked around wildly. In the distance, sirens could be heard, as though the police had already heard about the robbery and were on their way.

'Please hurry,' Sarah thought. She would have raced into the restaurant to see if Andrew was ok, but she was frozen to the spot in terror. Besides, she couldn't risk letting the man see her, in case he needed to do away with his witnesses.

The man saw Andrew's car, and started running over to it. He stopped and banged on the window, scaring Sarah senseless.

"Open the bloody door!" was heard through the thin glass of the window.

Not knowing what else she could do, Sarah unlocked the doors. The man yanked the driver door open, and jumped into the seat. Terrified, Sarah tried to escape through the passenger door, but the man grabbed her shoulder and forced her back into the seat.

"You're not going anywhere!" He fumbled for the ignition, and Sarah realised that Andrew had left his keys in the slot so that she could continue listening to the radio. She felt sick with fear, and gasped for oxygen as the man started the car.

The car jerked to life, and Sarah's captor spun the wheel with such ferocity that the car swerved to the right. He raced out of the car park and started careening down the road. The sirens heard earlier were suddenly behind them, as the police caught up with the vehicle.

Sarah sat frozen in the passenger seat, all sorts of thoughts going through her mind. She thought of her father, Karen, Toby, her mother...

'I'm going to die, I'm going to die...' Sarah couldn't think straight, and all was blur. Her vision and hearing were failing her as she panicked about her safety.

The icy roads and earlier fallen snow caused the car to slide all over the road. The man behind the wheel fought with the steering wheel to keep the car under some sort of control whilst racing down the motorway. Control of the car was out of the question, however, as the weather conditions made for treacherous driving. The car swerved out of control all over the roads as the man made a desperate attempt at escape.

"Pull over the vehicle!" A voice could be heard over an external PA system attached to one of the police cars swerving behind them.

The man swore and ignored the policeman. He put his foot on the pedal, and the car, if possible, went faster over the road. This was too much for the car's wheels however, and one of the tyres slipped out of control on the black ice.

It all happened in slow motion. As the man swerved to avoid an oncoming car, the tyres on the left hand side of the car gave way, and the car started spinning in 360 degree motions. The forward momentum was still there however, and as the car was spinning, it was still travelling forward, plunging the car straight into the path of an oncoming truck.

Sarah screamed and closed her eyes as the bright flash of headlights blinded both her and her captor. She could hear him scream, she could hear the sirens, and she could hear the screech of brakes against the cold ice surface of the road, before she knew nothing more.