Author's Notes: This is my first attempt at fanfiction in the Labyrinth genre and I ask that all you lovely readers keep that fact in mind. I've had this idea bouncing around my skull for a while and finally decided to start fleshing it out. Here's hoping it's something original and entertaining, for that's the purpose, isn't it? I ask for patience, as I am hoping to slowly develop the plot. Read on and feel free to tell me exactly what you think, I'm always open to suggestions, criticisms, and flames, as they make the best s'mores. Happy reading, everyone!

Disclaimer: The Labyrinth and all it's characters are property of Jin Henson studios, etc. I own no rights of the movie or its characters, though I would enjoy an hour alone with David Bowie in those tights… Ah yes, all original characters are my creation though, so I'd appreciate being asked before they're tortured, maimed, and/or killed. Thank you.

Field of Innocence
Chapter 1: I still remember…

It is said in the Underground that the ruler does not choose his land; rather, the land chooses its ruler. While the Fae may fight wars and form treaties to better their kingdoms, when all is said and done, it is the land itself that has the final say, whether they are aware of it or not. It is a potent entity that grants power to those deemed worthy. And those who are greedy and malicious often meet an unfortunate end at the hands of the very thing they would control. It is a belief that has faded in the minds of all creatures, yet it should not have been. Now, it is a belief that must be revived, lest the very balance of the two worlds be forever skewed…

Shadows danced at the edges of the streetlights, teasing the edges of the small circles, not quite daring enough to enter. They had other matters to attend to this night. They were busy trying to shield the unfolding scene, to hide the figure that darted through the alleyways, running from an unknown pursuer. But it wasn't meant to be on this night. On this night, they failed in their task, and could only cloak the walls in inky blackness as the confrontation ensued.

A small figure dashed through the city streets, lost and confused, and always afraid. It was wrong, it wasn't meant to be here like this. It just wanted to go home. Now, as a wall loomed unforgiving in its path, there was no choice but to turn and face the thing that chased it.

"P-please, don't hurts me! I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to do anything!"

Shadows lengthened and stepped back, allowing the entrance of the second figure into the dim light. The silence that followed was heavy as judgment was pending. Finally, a voice.

"What are you doing here? This isn't your world."

"It was an accident! I swears! I just want to go home!"

"Very well, I can send you home. Only if you give your word never to come back!"

"Yes! Yes! I swears it. I'll never come back here again" Nodding vigorously, agreeing to any terms, just to be able to leave.

A soft spoken incantation, a flash of light, and the creature was gone leaving only the shadows to slink back from the moonlight that filtered through the clouds.

From the shadows stepped a young woman, confusion crossing her features as she questions the empty night air, her only companion.

"What was a goblin doing Aboveground?"

She stared at the empty spot where the creature stood for only a moment longer before she wrapped her arms around her slim frame and made her way back into the night.

The incessant ringing of her alarm clock brought Sarah out of the ballroom, giving her the first clue that she was dreaming yet again. Her second clue came when she cracked one eye open to the blinding sunlight and saw the disarray of her bedroom through bleary vision. Shaking her head to clear out the remaining vestiges of sleep from her mind she sat up and stretched slowly, wincing as her neck reminded her how stiff it was at this hour. She glanced at her clock. 7:15 am. She'd gotten little more than four hours of sleep, so it was a good night, she supposed. Scowling, she caught a glimpse of her Botany books and grimaced. Well, perhaps not that great of a morning when she had a test in forty-five minutes.

Reluctantly dragging herself out of bed, she showered quickly, changing into a pair of jeans and an oversized T-shirt. She padded barefoot down the hallway of her small apartment in the direction of the kitchen, foregoing shoes with the intent of making some kind of breakfast to start the day.

Several minutes later, she was leaning against the gleaming white countertop, peeling a banana while two slices of bread toasted slowly. She mentally ran down the checklist in her mind of things to do.

Take test, go to class, go to work, finish writing a paper, study for the next test, and…answer the phone. The incessant pealing broke through her reverie and she reached for the annoying piece of plastic.

"Hello?"

"Sarah? Glad I caught you!"

"Hi, dad. Is something wrong? This is kind of early for a phone call."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but listen, I was wondering if you could possibly make it home this weekend for dinner. We haven't seen you in a while, and it'd be nice to touch base."

"I don't know, dad. I've got a test in a few minutes, another next week and a paper to write. I don't think this weekend's good for me." Inwardly she winced at the repetitiveness of the lies she told each time her family called.

"I understand that, Sarah, but Toby's got a big game coming up this weekend, and I think it'd be great if you could surprise him and come down and cheer him on. It's not that long of a trip by bus, and we'll cover the fare."

She felt her heart sink at the mention of her little brother. She knew she wasn't being fair to him, and that's probably why she gave in.

"All right, go ahead and send a ticket for Friday afternoon, I'll get there that evening and stay until Sunday."

"Great! Toby will be so excited. We'll see you on Friday. Good luck on your test, sweetie."

"Thanks, dad. Talk to you later." She hung up and slumped back against the counter.

"Great, just great." She spoke to the empty apartment. "The council's just going to love this." She glanced at her watch and rushed to grab her books. Class first, council later. It was going to be one hell of a day.

Later that afternoon, Sarah walked off of her college campus and headed towards a familiar warehouse on the other side of town. She was glad that she was going to school in a small New England town. She wasn't too far away from home, but at the same time, there was enough distance between herself and her family that she felt fairly independent. She supposed it was better this way, though she missed her hometown something fierce. She'd needed a change, and in this case, it was for the better. She frowned as she thought of the many times she had to cancel plans with her family, and revised her thoughts. Maybe it wasn't always for the better, but there were just some things that couldn't be helped, really. Shaking her head as she realized she was once again arguing with herself, she pushed open the door and stepped inside. There was enough time to have a nervous breakdown later. Right now, she had business to attend to.

Once inside the doorway, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light before making her way down a long hallway. Turning into the last door on the left, she blinked as bright light assaulted her senses, forcing her to squint into the room. It was always disorienting, going from one extreme to another, but then, that's how they liked it, the council members. The standard reason given was that it kept everybody alert and ready for any surprises, though how they believed forcing people into premature blindness was a good thing was beyond her.

"Sarah? Is that you? We weren't expecting you until this weekend." A tall man came into her field of vision and Sarah smiled. At 6'3", Brett Hackard was a good six inches taller than her at least, but his lean build and prematurely grey hair gave the appearance of frailty. Sarah knew better though, there was a hidden strength in that slender frame, and if you looked closely enough, there was an almost feral intelligence in those pale grey eyes.

"Hi, Brett. Plans have changed. I have to put in an appearance with the family this weekend, they're starting to get slightly suspicious of my never coming home."

"Bull, they played the Toby card, didn't they?"

Sarah winced; he did know her, all too well. "There's apparently a big Little League game this weekend, and it's really important to him. My father thought it would be a good surprise if I showed up and supported him."

Brett shook his head. "And you'd do anything for your brother. Dammit, Sarah, they are not going to like this! You know the rules."

Sarah frowned. "I do know the rules, but this was last minute. Besides, there's also a rule not to let anyone suspect, right? I have to do this."

"I know, I know, but it's not me you have to prove that to. I'll go ahead and explain it to them myself; they'll listen to me more. Get out of here, ok?

Sarah smiled in relief. "Thanks, Brett, I owe you."

Brett grinned, "And I aim to collect, bright and early too. Be here at 5:30. We'll have an extra long training session, so you don't lose your edge during your weekend retreat."

Sarah stifled the groan she knew he was waiting for. "Fine. I'll see you then." She turned and walked out of the room and back down the hallway, asking herself just why she was doing this again.

It had started almost immediately after her return from there, right after the celebration in her room. She noticed that her reflexes seemed to be just a little sharper and slight changes in her perception of things. She brushed it off as shock of some sort, duly recorded her every thought and impression in her journal, and removed even the slightest hint of that foray into insanity from her room. Her life as she knew it was changed, but like all such events, the results of such changes weren't evident overnight. They were more subtle. After all, no one can change themselves overnight, can they? Of course they couldn't.

She chose instead to carry on as if it hadn't happened, though her life was already affected. She still remained the quiet girl in school, staying inconspicuous, though she'd taken to studying more and more, while retreating into fantasies less and less. Finally, after she graduated, Sarah realized, that her one experience with the supposed supernatural had pretty much stamped out her infatuation with anything magical and rid her of all desire to pursue a career in theater or film. Instead, she felt that she was best suited to a different lifestyle, though what it was, she wasn't quite sure. Feeling that it was best to sever any link to that memorable night, she applied and was accepted to Oldham Mills Private College, a small university, in an even smaller town, just a five hours drive from home.

All ties could not be severed though. Her relationship with Toby had changed since that fateful night, and she slowly became a big sister any parents would be proud of, always happy to baby-sit, patiently teach, and just plain play with the young boy. He was her one true tie to her hometown, when you got right down to it, and it was a bond that wasn't easily broken. Mentioning Toby was always a sure way to get her to comply with any request, and her parents weren't ashamed to do so, when they felt she was secluding herself from them. It wouldn't have been that much of a problem, if her first year of college hadn't proved to be more eventful than anyone could ever have imagined.

Normally, any freshmen in college would be the first to say that it's an experience that isn't easily forgotten, but for Sarah, the phrase took on a whole new meaning. For, the initial shock she classified after her trip through the Labyrinth was more than just shock. Somehow, she had…changed. How, she didn't know. Why, she didn't know. She just…didn't know. All she was aware of however was that the stress and frustration of her first year at college unlocked something within her, and that, apparently, was one of those instances when her life did change overnight. She, Sarah Williams, had developed a gift of some kind, though she didn't know what to make of it.

Now, given the situation, and her experiences in life thus far, she was more than willing to just push it to the back of her mind, forget about it, and carry on with her life. However, fate had other plans, or so it would seem. She was met outside of her last class one afternoon by a man and a woman, claiming to know of her gift, and willing to show her how to use it. Despite every alarm in her head going off, Sarah still retained some vestige of that girl who loved intrigue and the thrill of the unknown. She was also a young woman who was growing frustrated with having to make a willful effort every morning not to wake to objects floating in the air around her. She walked the short distance to the car they had waiting and stepped into what was later dubbed her future.

She had her first experience with the council that day, the unreadable faces of five men staring down at her and asking questions about things they couldn't possibly have known. She had a gift, they told her, than ran deeper than any of them could possibly fathom, and she was needed to help maintain that delicate balance between the Aboveground and the Underground. Naturally, she was shocked that anyone actually knew about the Underground other than her. That was her downfall. From there on, it was a whirlwind of training – Brett introduced himself in one breath and was testing her physical prowess the next – information processing and lessons on the intricacies of what exactly the council did.

That was three years ago, and she had been a member of the organization ever since. It had no real name, as it thrived on secrecy, but she was a member all the same, working with the others to keep the barrier that separated the worlds in place. Throughout her entire time there, she had never mentioned her visit to the Underground. From the impression she received, the Underground was believed to be a place of horrors, meant to be kept separate from the real world. Rather than contest, she kept her peace, knowing that for every task she completed, she made this world that much safer for Toby.

Blinking groggily, Sarah peered at the bus station in front of her. The trip was shorter, apparently, when one dwelled on the past six years of life. She reached absently up for her bag, stretching as she walked to the door. She could see her father waiting patiently inside the terminal. She couldn't help but smile, he hadn't changed a bit. She walked up to him as he checked his watch and looped her arm through his, startling him momentarily.

"Sarah! Look at you, all grown up."

"I haven't changed since you saw me at Christmas, dad."

"I know, honey, but it's still hard for me to believe that you're 21 now. My little girl's an adult now."

Sarah shook her head and smiled up at him. "Come on, dad. I want to get home in time to surprise Toby before he has to go to bed."

The drive to her old house took no time at all and Sarah could feel a slight twinge of excitement at being home again. Her father held the door open, calling out a boisterous "We're home!" as they stepped inside.

"We? But dad, you just went to get some-Sarah!" A blonde head appeared at the top of the stairs, only to fly down as the figures in the doorway became apparent.

Sarah laughingly caught Toby as he rocketed towards her. "Toby! It's so good to see you! Look at you, you're huge! What've they been feeding you?" She held him out at arm's length to examine him before ruffling his hair and pulling him into another hug.

"Sarah, what're you doing here? Are you coming to my game? This is great!" Toby grinned and shouted as Karen came into the room. "Mom! Sarah's here!"

"I can see that, Toby. Now, it's getting late, and you need to get ready for bed. You've got a big game tomorrow, remember."

Toby sighed dramatically. "Do I have to?"

Karen smiled at her son but remained firm. "Yes, Toby you have to. Tell Sarah and your father goodnight, and go get some sleep."

Toby pouted slightly, but did as he was told. "Night, dad. Night, Sarah. It's gonna be a great game tomorrow!" He ran back up the stairs and the sound of his door shutting echoed through the house.

Karen turned to Sarah. "It's a good thing you came, Sarah. You really made him happy."

Sarah smiled and shrugged out of her coat. "Yeah, I'm glad I came too. It's good to see you again, Karen."

"There's some hot chocolate for you in the kitchen if you'd like, and your room's ready if you'd rather go to bed."

"I think I'm going to go ahead and get some sleep, but thanks for the offer. It's been a long day."

Her father nodded. "All right then, sweetie. We can catch up tomorrow, go get some rest. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, dad, Karen. See you in the morning." Only too eager to escape the ensuing awkward silence, Sarah went up the stairs and into her own room, looking forward to a night of eight actual hours of sleep.