Sarah's back Aboveground trying to deal with the repercussions of her attack, Jareth's Underground trying to prevent a war but unable to keep his mind off Sarah… If you've not read The Pain Would Come and The Eye of the Storm I'd advise heading to my profile and reading those first as this is the third part in the series and won't make much sense without them.

That's right, it's finally here!!!! The third and final part of my Labyrinth series! I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get here, not had the best year, but it's here and that's all that matters, right? So I hope you enjoy it…

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth… I do however own all the original characters.

Sarah awoke with a start, sitting up in bed, gasping for breath. Her skin was drenched in sweat, her heart pounding. For a second she sat there disorientated, detached from her body, her mind still in the terror of her dreams…

Eventually her mind began to register her surroundings; the small yet comfy bed, secure in its familiarity, the undersized room, cramped but homely, the shelves of soft toys gazing down at her with loving faces. All of it safe, all of it now recognizable to her fear consumed brain.

As her heart began to slow she felt the dull ache begin in her leg, a reminder of the injuries that had never a really healed, of memories that would never really fade. She felt the tears begin to fall as the nightmare came back in vivid detail, as she began to live the horror all over again.

She heard a knock on her door before it was opened by her housemate Mark. He stuck his head around the door and upon seeing her tears, sat by her side on the bed and wrapped his arms around her protectively. Instinctively she flinched before relaxing into him. For a while there was silence as she let his familiar, safe presence soothe the panic coursing through her veins. Resting her head on his shoulder she heard him speak, breaking the peace of their embrace.

"Wer' it the nightmares?"

Tensing up once more as the memories invaded her mind, she felt him hold her even closer as she replied.

"Yes, it was the nightmare again. I dreamt the whole thing this time…"

The tremor in Mark's arms as he held her brought her back, back to this world, back from the terror of that night. "I wish I knew what t' do t' help ya Sarah" he whispered. "I hate t' see ya in such torment."

For a second, Sarah lost the slight control she had over her tears. She wished she knew how he could help too. She longed for peace, for an end to the torture those memories brought, but she was at as much of a loss as he was. Taking a deep breath, she looked into the eyes of her best friend and said, "Never wish for anything, wishes only bring more trouble. No, it's time I began to come to terms with this. I was…" Her voice faltered, her nerve wavered and her head drooped, closing her eyes she tried to stop the tears once again threatening to break free. Taking another deep breath she raised her head and began again. "I was raped. As hard as this is, wishing isn't going to help, but you being here is. You're my best friend, you and Amber and I honestly don't know how I'd have got through these last three months without you both"

By this time she was shaking, the memories hurt, but saying it out loud made it even more real, intensified the pain, brought the night back into full focus. Her life up until then had been nothing out of the ordinary, boring job, few friends, a family that was about to fall apart due to an alcoholic father, shopaholic stepmother, a younger brother who she adored but had become dependent on her due to the impending breakdown of their parents marriage. She'd suffered from depression and embraced a metal lifestyle, and it was this that had led directly to her attack, in the stairwell of a car park after leaving an alternative club at three o'clock in the morning. Though she had fought for her life, she had been too weak to fight two of them. They had raped her, beaten her and left her for dead. Somehow though, she'd survived, after a month in a coma she had finally woken up to find herself in hospital, covered in tubes and casts for broken bones and alone, completely alone.

The doctors had been stunned when they'd found her awake and coherent, she'd been put through rigorous tests and intensive physiotherapy for her injury's, but she was still far from completely healed. As for the mental injuries… Two months in therapy had hardly helped dull the pain of her attack. She couldn't think about it without breaking down, and often found her mind going blank in an attempt to block out the pain. Sometimes she'd lose hours before finally coming back to her senses, but she never mourned those lost hours, they were her only respite from the pain. Even sleep was no sanctuary now. At first her body had been so exhausted from her physiotherapy she'd fallen into a dead sleep every night, but after a couple of months, once things had calmed down, her sleep began to get lighter. It wasn't long before she began getting nightmares. At first they'd been vague, simply unsettling, but now she was reliving the attack in her dreams every night. She'd wake up terrified and each day became harder to get through. They say the pain fades with time, but hers seemed to be getting worse. It was as if some part of her was missing, some part so integral to her that she couldn't function properly without it. The doctors had put it down to her attack, saying the men had taken her self-respect, her dignity, the feeling of invulnerability so essential to the human psyche, that she felt lost without it. Sarah didn't care, all she knew was that it hurt. Unbearably.

The only good things in her life were Toby and her friends, Mark and Amber. Toby had been a godsend to her, seeing him for the first time after she woke up, she felt like she'd been reunited with a part of her soul. Even though hugging him had left her in physical agony, she couldn't help it. He'd visited her in hospital every day, and now she was out she made sure she saw him at least four times a week, even if it was only for an hour. She'd felt guilty for moving out of her family home and in with Mark and Amber, but life with her father and step-mother was just too hard. She needed support and they simply couldn't give her it. When she'd first moved back her father had been attentive to her, but within a week he'd gone back to his old ways, working, drinking, staying out all night. Sarah couldn't cope, Toby was asking too much from her, she just didn't have anything to give him. Concentrating on not breaking down constantly took all her effort, putting on a cheery face for her little brother when neither of his parents came home at night was impossible. She knew that with her gone, at least one of them would have to come home, surely that was better for him? She didn't know, all she knew was that if she had any chance of surviving her ordeal, she needed to be with people who would help take care of her, she just didn't have it in her to take care of a child right then.

So she'd moved in with Mark and Amber. They were the only two real friends she'd had, sticking by her after her complete image change, understanding her love for metal, not backing off during her mood swings and attitude problems. They were the only people who had even tried to understand her depression, they were the only ones who'd visited her in hospital. They'd been there for her every day since, and when it was obvious she wasn't coping at home, they'd immediately moved her in the spare room in their house. Sarah couldn't have asked for better friends, she knew she'd never be able to pay them back for helping her, but she tried to let them know how much she appreciated all they did for her.

She was left feeling constantly guilty for waking them up every night with her screaming. Often one or other of them would end up holding her until the small hours of the morning until she eventually drifted back off to sleep. It was taking its toll on them, but they wouldn't turn their backs on her, not for a second. They both cared for her deeply, she was their friend, and they would do whatever it took to help her get herself back on track.

That night it was Mark who'd awoken to her screams and gone to comfort her, Amber was out working, when her boss had offered her the night shift merchandising job she'd jumped at the chance. She enjoyed the work, but more importantly, it meant that Sarah wasn't left alone during the day. Both Amber and Mark were terrified of what she'd do if things got too much.

When Amber arrived home that morning she noticed Sarah was looking worse than ever. Forgetting her own exhaustion she immediately got changed, grabbed both their coats and ushered Sarah into her car for a day of shopping and pampering. At first this did nothing but terrify Sarah, she was scared of going outside, scared of being around men that weren't her family or Mark, but Amber didn't give her a choice, Sarah needed to get out and about if she were to recover from this. They spent the morning shopping, or at least window shopping, money was a bit tight. Although Sarah's father contributed to Sarah's keep, Amber and Mark were still having to support her, they never moaned, but Sarah knew it was hard on them.

They ate lunch in a small Italian restaurant, before heading home to put on some girly DVD's, eat popcorn and give each other facials. It was days like this that Sarah could feel almost normal. Amber kept up a steady stream of chatter that kept Sarah's mind off her ordeal, she'd find herself forgetting about it for hours on end before it would suddenly hit her again with an intensity that would cause her to almost burst into tears. Sarah had barely thought about her attack all day, it was only after Amber had fallen asleep half way through watching Pretty Woman that it all came back to her. The scene of the attempted rape cut Sarah like a knife and in her panic she grabbed her coat and left the house, desperate to get away from the film, to escape the memories. She walked for hours, roaming the streets in no general direction before eventually heading home to two distraught friends. Sarah calmed them with reassurances that she'd just needed some air, but she could see the fear in their eyes. They were terrified that one day she'd leave and wouldn't come back. That night Sarah cried herself to sleep, her breath coming in gasps, the sobs shaking her body uncontrollably. A day away from the pain only made it harder to bear when nightfall arrived. The memories were agony and it was almost dawn before exhaustion finally took over and she fell asleep

A/N: So what do you think? All comments are appreciated, even negative ones as long as they're constructive, it all helps improve my writing.

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