-Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or any of its original characters. They belong to Jim Henson.

Chapter 19: The Dagger

Sarah's heart was racing so fast she could feel her pulse in her ears. She was so overwhelmed at the sight of Nick that she hadn't even tried to pull the door open, she just stared blankly at him, as if she were in as deep as a trance as he himself was. He appeared very dishevelled, his clothing tattered and soiled, his hair frazzled and out of place, his eyes were the only thing that appeared to be clear and focused. Focused on one of Jareth's crystals, it floated in thin air and had captured his attention so thoroughly he appeared to not even be able to blink.

She caught herself out of her trance and an angry frown appeared on her face. Her baby kicked her hard in the ribs as she tried to pull the cell door open.

"Ouch!" She winced in pain.

"I don't want you being born in a world where he exists." She whispered softly her unborn baby.

To Sarah's shock the cell door opened easily, she stared into it expecting to be walking into a trap, she did not think for one second that her mission would be this easy.

She began to walk into the cell and stopped just a few feet away from Nick's body. She stared at him, a mixture of emotions present on her face, the main one being pain.

"I hate you." She said swatting the crystal from his face.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Echo had come back to the royal bed chambers and was unpleased to see that the dinner tray she had left almost an hour before was still sitting on the floor next to the door.

"Your Majesty, I am coming in." She said sharply.

Echo was shocked to see that when she entered the bedroom, that Sarah was not present.

"Oh dear, where the blazin' hell is she, I best call the king." She said frantically.

Moments later a summoned Goblin King appeared, looking indifferent and slightly annoyed, his normal facial expression for anyone that wasn't his Queen.

"What do you want Echo? It better be important." He said annoyed.

"Well as you can see your highness, her majesty isn't here. I have looked everywhere for her, she hasn't even touched her dinner, I was worried something had happened to her. I am sorry for calling you." She said bowing her head slightly at the kings angered expression.

Jareth tried to keep his composure at Echo's words, but deep down he felt a rush of panic take over his body.

"I'm sure she is around Echo, I will check in my crystal." He replied, forming a crystal quickly in his gloved hand.

An enraged and fearful expression appeared on his face, almost as if he had seen a ghost.

Before Echo could ask where Sarah had gone he had left leaving only a trace of glitter behind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I hate you." She said again.

"I hate you, I hateee you, I HATE YOU." She cried slapping Nick firmly across this face.

"That's a shame, because still after everything, I am still madly in love with you. I won't die Sarah, you will never rid yourself of me, can't you see- I will always haunt you. If you truly hated me- that means that you must care for me, so I can accept that your hatred." Nick said tiredly.

"I want you dead, I don't want you living in a world where my family has to live in your presence." She said defensively, clutching her growing waist.

"Then you should have asked me to just kill him." Jareth sad coldly behind her.

Grabbing her by her hand and yanking her away from nick, he pushed her in behind him as if shielding her from a monster.

"What's the matter, are you afraid of me all mighty King, afraid I'll once again steal her from you." Nick said condescendingly.

"I'll deal with you again in a moment." Jareth said angrily.

"We will discuss this upstairs, come on let's get you out of her." He said worriedly.

At first Sarah didn't think he was actually angry at her, but upon closer inspection she could see the fury in his mismatched eyes. She knew herself that she had pushed him too far and that she would pay for this. In the end she could see it solved nothing but put herself and their unborn baby in danger, she sighed at herself... she hadn't even made a plan as to how she would kill him.

"What the hell was I thinking?" She thought to herself.

Jareth proceeded to herd Sarah out of the cell, as they were walking out she could hear Nick clearing his throat as if to speak.

"Sarah my love, when you fuck him at night, is it my face you see?" Nick said smirking.

Disgust washed through Sarah like she had never felt before, she looked down at the table next to them and saw at a glance that there was a long dagger sitting there well within her arms reach.

It can't be there just by coincidence, it has to be a sign to end this... the stairwell to the dungeon on my way back from the library, the lack of guards, the door opening and now the dagger, this has to be fate. She thought to herself.

She reached down so abruptly that Jareth hadn't even processed that she had moved, she grabbed the dagger and aggressively pushed Jareth off of her, she ran towards Nick not stopping, not hesitating, only one thing on her mind and that was that she wanted his blood on her hands.

Nick looked into her eyes, fear finally evident on his face, and she loved everyone moment of it, an internal malignant laugh echoed through her.

In the next moments following she felt multiple things, the first thing she felt was the dagger pierce through Nick's skin, she had aimed for his kidney and by judging by his cry of pain, she had succeeded.

At what felt like the same moment, she felt Jareth pull her towards him and pry the dagger from her hands. Adrenaline began to kick in and she began to shakeuncontrollably. Jareth nuzzled her into his chest to comfort her even though he was completely livid.

She pulled her head out her chest, tears filled her eyes but her face no longer showed pain.

"I hate you. I told you that I hate you. I'm done with you. I rid myself of you. You can rot in Hell." She spat.

Nick felt the life drain through him, the physical pain that he initially felt seemed to become numb and his body began to feel cold. As he felt his last breath approaching near, he took one last long deep breath.

"I'm not sorry for everything, I am sorry for the pain that I have caused you. I love you Sarah, even with my last breath." Nick said faintly.

With one last slow blink in his eyes, his breath ran out and all that could be seen were his deep brown eyes still glistening in the candle light.

Moments passed, Jareth and Sarah still stood there clutching each other, She finally felt the reality of the situation take over and she began a heart wrenching cry.

"It's over now." Jareth finally said, holding her even closer than before.