Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rights to "The Labyrinth" or "Groundhog Day", their respective characters, original plots, or dialogues. Those still belong to the Jim Henson Co., Lucasfilm Ltd., Walt Disney, and Columbia Pictures. This is for entertainment purposes only; no money is being made, nor will any be sought.

Summary:

A "Groundhog Day" inspired "Labyrinth" fic.

After her adventure in the Labyrinth, Sarah is planning to change her life for the better and start fresh with her family. Unfortunately, time has other plans … Stuck in a magical time-loop, Sarah is forced to rerun the Labyrinth over and over again. With no way of knowing how to stop it, Sarah is going to need all the help she can get, too bad it seems only she can remember the previous day. Sarah must fight to end the cycle somehow, but there's nothing wrong with having a little fun along the way … is there?

Rerun

Chapter One

'I should have seen this coming,' Sarah thought as she twirled around, wildly kicking out at any stray goblin that got too close. She didn't fully understand what was going on, but she would not allow them to take her brother from her again.

Clutching Toby to her chest, she tried to soothe the distraught toddler as best she could given the circumstances. She knew it was a lost cause, her own hysterical fear partnered with the raging storm and the creepy looking goblins ensured that.

The disturbing giggles and rustling noises grew louder as the storm beat more intensely against the balcony doors in her parent's room. The doors she knew, for a fact, would soon blow open and end any hope she had of protecting Toby.

"You can't take him!" she yelled as they scampered around, "I didn't say the words! I didn't say the words!"

The goblins paid her no heed as they continued to mock and jeer her from the shadows. Behind her a small goblin began climbing its way up her legs, determined to reach the boy.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed at the odd, prickling feeling of its blunt claws scratching her through her jeans. Able to twist and bat the ugly goblin away, Sarah held onto Toby tighter as she turned and booted it out into the hallway. It thumped comically against the wall, stood dizzily, and then shook it off, cackling manically all the while.

Sarah sneered at the nasty, brown dirt stain it left where it hit the wall, hoping it didn't leave any of that grime on her. 'This day has been so messed up,' she complained, upset with how her first day as a "better person" had gone.

The entire day had been beyond bizarre. Sarah wasn't sure what to call it, but simply calling it déjà vu was too mild for what she'd been experiencing. Her rational side had been working hard all day coming up with excuses for all the unnerving coincidences.

Reasons for why her parents kept having, word for word, all the same conversations from yesterday or why it seemed that everyone but her insisted it was Saturday.

Doing her best to go through the motions, Sarah tried all day to convince herself that she must have mixed up the days in her head. Yesterday must have been Friday, not Saturday. There could be no other rational explanation…

Sarah's denial continued until just after dinner when her parents, donning the same outfits as last evening, left her standing distraught on the porch holding a wailing Toby. Watching them pull away as the skies opened up at precisely seven o'clock left Sarah feeling nauseously hollow.

Not long after, the electricity had predictably gone out.

She should have known there would be no rational explanations, there couldn't be, because it was magic. Sarah was upset with herself for spending so much of her time ignoring her gut feelings and pretending that the day wasn't repeating itself.

And now Toby would be the one to pay. She'd been so stupid to believe her confrontation with the Goblin King was over just because she'd said a few choice words.

Just as the goblin's heckling and the storm reached its crescendo, the doors to the balcony blew open in a maelstrom of wind, rain, and glitter. Turning her back to the door and hunching over, she shielded her younger brother from the owl that flew in to terrify them. Sarah watched the floor in growing horror as a shadow elongating from the open doorway until it had stretched into the form of a man.

Once the wind died down and silence filled the room, Sarah straightened her back and locked eyes with her adversary. He was just as frightening as last time.

Scowling, Sarah turned to face him. "What are you doing here, Goblin King? You can't take my brother!"

"I can't?" The look he gave her made her feel even more childish than last time.

Only then, did she realize what the silence truly meant. Sarah looked down into her empty arms and gasped, not even sure when Toby had been magically taken from her arms. "No! Give him back!" she pleaded, eyes misting over in anger, "I want my brother back, right now!"

Jareth raised a wild brow at her impertinence and appraised her slowly with his eyes. His lingering, brazen stare caused Sarah to blush and cross her arms self-consciously. With a shrug, he dismissed her and shrewdly began perusing the room. "What's said is said."

"But I didn't say anything!"

"Oh, you didn't?" he drawled.

"No, I didn't," Sarah insisted, "so give him back!"

He stopped pacing around the room long enough to level her with an incredulous stare. Struggling to meet his gaze, she stared right back, putting as much conviction as possible into her own eyes.

After a long moment, his eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. Slowly, he stalked closer until he was just a hair's breadth away from touching her. Sarah tried not to shake as he towering over her. "You might think you are a very convincing," he whispered intimately, "but your lies won't work on me. You said the words or I wouldn't be here."

"I did say them," she said, not backing down, "just not today!"

His brow arched higher at the absurdity of her argument and tilted his head, waiting for her to continue.

"What I mean is," she stuttered, suddenly feeling warm despite the cool breeze coming in from outside, "it was today, just … yesterday's today. This already happened."

The Goblin King stared blankly down at her before he smiled arrogantly. "Oh, I see how it is," he said, stepping away to circle her. "It's been a while since someone like you has been in the Labyrinth. It can be a … crazy place. You'll feel right at home."

Sarah huffed at his condescending tone. Placing her hands on her hips, she scowled up at him. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Flippantly, he waved her off. "I've brought you a gift," he said, skillfully twisting his hand to magically summon a crystal. Hypnotically, he rolled the orb within his hand as he continued to prowl around her.

"I don't want it," Sarah said, not even bothering to look at it. The young woman focused instead on keeping the tricky man in her sights.

"Not even if it will show you your dreams?"

"Still not interested, Goblin King, just give me back my brother."

"Sarah," he said patronizingly, "forget about the baby."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Being sure to emphasize and slowly enunciate each word clearly, she said firmly, "I want my brother back." His answering sneer gave Sarah the distinct feeling that she might have pushed him too far with that last bit.

"Sarah…" he warned, "Don't defy me." With an agile flick of his wrist, the crystal left his hand and in mid-air transformed into a snake.

Frantically reaching up to cover her face, Sarah screeched and pranced as the snake landed across her head and shoulders. Grabbing it firmly, she threw it to the ground and stomped on it until, like the day before, it transformed into a non-threatening scarf.

Eyes burning with rage, Sarah jerked her head up to glare daggers at the Goblin King. "Stop throwing that snake at me!"

"You're no match for me," Jareth said smugly.

She felt her pulse race faster as she clenched her hands into fists. "That's what you said last time," she challenged insolently.

Jareth pretended to shrug indifferently, but the twinkle in his eyes spoke of amusement. Sarah was shocked to see he was enjoying their banter.

"If you want him," he gestured past the white, billowing curtains to the Underground realm that now waited outside. "He's there, in my castle."

As before, Sarah stepped past him to gawk at the vastness of the Labyrinth, amazed that she had succeeded in making it through something so colossal the first time around. A small seed of doubt was starting to grow. What if she couldn't make it this time? What would happen to Toby?

Sarah shied away as the Goblin King invaded her space from behind, trying not to shiver at the feeling of his breath on the shell of her ear. "Do you still want to look for him?"

Not trusting her voice to speak, the young woman just nodded. She couldn't see his face, but she could practically feel his narcissism fill the air around her.

"I shouldn't have to," she argued weakly, knowing it would do no good. "You had no right to take him."

"Turn back, Sarah," he pleaded softly into her ear. It was said almost tenderly, as if he were truly concerned about her. "Turn back before it's too late." It was voiced so differently from the way he said it yesterday, it gave her the strong impression that he wasn't talking about facing the Labyrinth.

Continuing to stare straight ahead, she breathed, "I can't."

The strange, intimate moment ended without warning as Jareth pulled away to walk briskly past her. "What a pity," he said, reverting back to his customary arrogant tone.

Following his lead, Sarah stepped through her parent's French doors and into the Underground. Pretending she didn't find the task before her daunting, she scoffed. "It doesn't look that far."

"It's further than you think. Time is short."

Strutting toward a deadened tree stump, Jareth willed a gnarled clock to appear. Magically spinning the hands until they pointed up, the Goblin King turned to gaze sternly at Sarah, all manner of playful banter gone.

"You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us, forever." Promptly, he faded from view until only his voice remained. "Such a pity…"

"Hogwash."

The dwarf growled fiercely and twirled to face his unexpected companion. "It's Hoggle!" he hollered before recognizing the lithe figure he was yelling at. "Augh! Yer Majesty! I's was just…"

"Quiet," Jareth commanded sternly. Looking down in fear, Hoggle bobbed his head meekly as the Goblin King began erratically pacing in front of him. Eager to end this conversation, Jareth immediately got straight to the point. "A runner will be at the gate shortly, a girl by the name of Sarah. Do not let her out of your sights, but don't interfere with her run."

Hoggle puzzled over the unusual request. "So, I's don't have to trick her 'n lead 'er back to the beginning?"

"Not this time."

"Oh," he said simply. He eyed the Goblin King suspiciously; something was clearly bothering the glittery git. "But why's I gotta watch the little lady?"

"She says she went through the Labyrinth yesterday and won," Jareth said, pausing to stare towards the Northern Gates where Sarah would soon be arriving. The dwarf scoffed, a runner had yet to finish the Labyrinth. "And she wasn't lying."

Hoggle's eyes widened. "But how's that possible?"

The Goblin King remained silent and kept his gaze on the horizon. "I need you to watch for anything… unusual," Jareth said. "This could mean trouble if it is what I suspect."

"What kind o' trouble?" the dwarf asked warily.

"Nothing that will affect you, if that's what you're worried about," Jareth snipped, fully aware of the dwarf's cowardice.

Hoggle nodded his head even though he didn't fully understand, sometimes it was better not to know.

"Hobble?"

Hoggle looked up at Jareth hesitantly. "Yes?"

"Why are you still here?"

Those five words sent Hoggle into immediate motion. "I's was jus' on my way there now," he stuttered, tripping over his own feet in his hurry, "to… uh, keep track of that girlie fer you."

His little legs carried him quickly out of sight, leaving Jareth blissfully alone. The Goblin King knew he would have to return to the castle soon to care for the baby, but for now he would enjoy the silence.

Allowing the weariness he'd been struggling to hide bleed through into his posture, Jareth wearily closed his eyes. "This is it, the beginning of the end," he said. "Oh Sarah, how you exhaust me…"

"Such a pity…" echoed around her as the Goblin King faded from sight. Looking at the Labyrinth before her, Sarah visibly wilted at the thought of completing the task for the second time.

The selfish, spoiled teenager persona she was still trying to shed was rallying to throw an epic tantrum, the likes of which not even her parents had seen. Even the calmer, semi- reasonable side of Sarah was inwardly protesting the unfairness of the situation. Her talk with the Goblin King had not gone as she'd expected. Their conversation had surprisingly stayed true to the script she remembered from yesterday, for the most part; the bits that changed were the ones she changed or influenced herself.

'I thought for sure, he was responsible for today repeating itself…' But, the way he had acted said otherwise. 'So, if Jareth didn't cause this, what did?' Sarah was scared to find out. It had to be something magically strong enough to turn back time and wipe the Goblin King's memory.

"Best to think about that later," Sarah said as she descended the steep hill towards the gates of the Labyrinth. "Toby needs me."

This was a mystery that she didn't have time to stand around and ponder; she'd have to solve it on the go. Hoping that she'd find Hoggle again along the perimeter's wall, Sarah walked quickly and fervently prayed that her friend could tell her what was going on.

Author Note:

So, here's chapter 1. Mostly it's just a rehash of what happened in the movie, but it needed to be done to lay the groundwork for this story. Next time, what will be different and what will be the same as Sarah repeats her time in the Labyrinth?

Comments/suggestions or critiques welcome.

Thanks for reading!

nearly a maniac