This story has been banging around in my head since I finished my last FanFic, and as most of you would know the only way to get the damn thing out is to spend hours typing it out, and by then you damn well want someone to read it...
This is a sequel to my previous sequel Under and Above, the prequel of which is Jareth Begins. It's readable if you haven't read Under and Above but (insert shameless self promotion here) let's face it, reading the previous story is helpful. And let's face it. You're on this website reading this because you really have NOTHING better to do with your time. So you might as well give it a try.
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth. If I did I could afford a better laptop.
1
The small blonde boy jumped on his bed and giggled.
The boy's aunt leaned against the door frame of the bedroom out of sight. Jay attempted a somersault, oblivious to his audience. He failed, and landed on his rear on the floor and giggled again. His aunt hid her smile and made her presence known.
"Jay. It's time to settle down now." She said quietly. Jay froze, and then regained his composure. He was almost five now and clearly believed he was too old to be told what to do by grownups.
"Or what?"
"Or the goblins will take you away." His aunt tucked him in under his sheets. It was too warm for blankets.
"Or Goblin King!" Jay laughed.
"He's busy tonight."
"I wish the Goblin King would come and get me right now!" Jay said.
A gust of wind slammed the window open and the lights dimmed.
"Well well you little humans never learn do you?" a smug voice echoed in the silence. There was a fluttering of wings in the darkness. Jay was silent and holding his breath. Sarah rolled her eyes and stifled a yawn. Suddenly there was a flash of lightning, a clap of thunder, and a wind-swept glittering man with wild hair appeared by the window. "WHO DARES SUMMON ME?"
Jay giggled with delight.
"Uncle Jareth!" The lights came back on. Sarah smiled and shook her head at the sight of the giggling four-year-old being whirled around in her husband's arms. So much for calming him down.
Jay's father appeared behind Aunt Sarah at the door.
"No rest for the wicked I see." He said. Sarah smiled as Jareth gently lowered the little boy into his bed.
"Now. I've been told I'm not allowed to enchant you after the last time, but there's nothing stopping me from sending you in a tent to the bog of eternal stench for the night." Jay's laughter died. He knew the Goblin King would do it, at least until his daddy or Aunty Sarah could talk some sense into him. He continued. "Now, if you like your bed, and your fairly fresh air (yes, Little Jareth I can smell that and I know it was you), you will settle down and at least pretend to go to sleep so the grownups can have some peace and quiet. Now. Goodnight."He gave a bow and vanished again. Sarah's smile faded and stood back while Caleb saw to Jay. She hoped he would sleep now. The whole Aunty thing was getting old today. Caleb smiled at her.
"Now, before we were interrupted I believe I was about to offer you a drink?" he asked.
"It sounds good to me." She sighed.
After meeting coincidently (as if she believed it had been coincidence) during Jareth's ill-fated escape attempt from the Underground, Jareth's brother Caleb and his energetic offspring had visited twice now, thanks to a crystal Sarah had impulsively left Above. Jareth thought he was doing the right thing inviting them down for the weekend so she could have some human company while he would be busy attending to Goblin business. In reality, having them here made her miss him even more. Both Caleb and Jay had Jareth's mismatched eyes. Jay had his blonde hair and fiery personality. Caleb was quieter. He had a slightly bigger frame, a fuller face, and dark hair flecked with grey drawn into a short ponytail. The differences only heightened the similarities to Sarah. She tried to tell herself to get over it and that she was certainly not the only wife in either world with a husband who worked long hours.
Caleb was searching in his sports bag left on the sofa.
"I know I packed it...ah hah!" he emerged victorious with a bottle of Grey Goose. Sarah smiled again. He had no idea of the in-joke she and Jareth had with the drink but he knew it was her favourite and always brought a bottle when he and Jay visited. He looked around. "Glasses and ice...damn." Sarah held out her hands to the low coffee table in front of the sofa and picked up two glasses filled with ice that had not previously been there. She then took the bottle from it and held it in her hands until it had frosted over, poured their drinks, and as an afterthought conjured up three coasters. One for the bottle, two for the glasses. Caleb blinked.
"You really do need to teach me how to do that one day." Sarah laughed.
"I don't think your brother would like that. He gets a kick out of being the magical one." She handed him the glass and sat down beside him on the sofa and the two of them started their regular gossip sessions of what was happening in their separate worlds.
Although Jareth had been initially suspicious of his long lost brother, and Caleb was still convinced Jareth was smoking some hard drugs, the two of them complemented each other nicely. Jareth was all about the theatrics, the intensity and the magic of life. Caleb was calm and thoughtful. Sarah loved her eccentric husband with all her heart but appreciated Caleb's friendship and the small taste of 'normal' he happily gave her. As well as the Grey Goose he'd brought with him, he also had an iPod for Jareth containing digital copies of all his favourite Aboveground music ("Don't be ridiculous", Jareth had said; "This will never replace vinyl!") and several issues of Interior Design Quarterly for Sarah, who had made it her quest to try and drag the crumbly old castle into the 21st century by using indoor plants and muted neutrals, so far with limited success (although she had effectively banned all livestock from the throne room).
Several drinks and discussion about everything from the Matrix to George W. Bush somehow getting into office and Sarah was quite relaxed, head resting against the back of the sofa. She looked at the clock above the fireplace. Quarter-past thirteen. She sighed, and then noticed Caleb staring at her.
"What is it?" she asked. Caleb shook his head.
"You're different now, you know? You glitter like my brother does." Sarah laughed again. No more Grey Goose for you, her inner voice chided.
"He is a bad influence on most people."
"True. Jay threatened to put me in an oubliette this morning. What is that anyway?" Caleb asked.
"It's a place to put people to forget about them." Jareth said from behind them. "Such as strange men who are overly familiar with one's glittery wife." Sarah vaulted clumsily over the back of the sofa into Jareth's arms.
"I think as far as 'strange men' go you win the prize for that one." Caleb remarked. Sarah hid her smile against Jareth's neck. Yes, he was a little on the strange side. Although he tended to limit his eye makeup to formal occasions these days and had thankfully given up on the high-heeled boots his look still ranged between modelling for GQ and starring in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Today he wore a very respectable looking pair of well-fitted grey suit pants with matching waistcoat. Respectable but for the billowy red shirt, Goblin King medallion and mad hair anyway. The king's personal stylist, known only as Me!, certainly had a lot to answer for.
Fortunately Caleb was a very switched-on sort of guy.
"Well, thanks for the hospitality but I think I'll go to bed. From what the Jay was saying I have a busy day tomorrow."
"Master Jay wants to try his skateboard out in the Chamber of Stairs." Jareth said helpfully.
"Great." Sarah said, glancing at the skateboard in the corner. There had already been an incident earlier in the afternoon when a small group of goblins got their hands on it.
"Goodnight!" Caleb called as the two of them vanished from his room. He stayed in one of the more presentable guest suites nearby, one that Sarah had tried her hand at decorating with passable success.
After materialising in their chamber Sarah turned to her husband and saw he had brought the half-empty bottle of vodka and was downing a glass for himself.
"How bad was the meeting?" she asked him. His flat gaze (and second glass) said it all.
"Most of the crops in the north are in danger of failing. And the demand for gold and gems from Above has dropped, so we'll be lucky to be able to import enough food to keep everyone going for the year. The city is falling apart literally the list of repairs needed keeps on growing...shall I continue?"
"Oh." She wasn't sure what else to say. He set his glass down on their dining table (right beside a coaster) and walked over to the balcony. Sarah followed.
"The goblins expect me to fix it, Sarah." He said. Sarah wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Take it easy on yourself. Even you can't make it rain." Jareth gave her an amused look.
"You're very agreeable tonight. What happened to my screaming banshee of a wife I left here this morning? Bla bla spend more time with your brother bla bla something about the toilet seat...I forget the rest." Sarah ignored his baiting.
"I miss you." She said after a while. He held her close as they gazed out onto the parched landscape. And at the ruined Labyrinth. Neither of them spoke of it, each knowing the other was fully aware, but despite the cracks and damage the Labyrinth had grown. When Sarah had returned Underground it had been merely an annex to the city, joined on the south-west side. Now the entire city was surrounded. And none of the other creatures (goblins, dwarves or...miscellaneous) had seemed to notice there was a difference.
"Whaddya talkin' about? It's always been like that." Had been Hoggle's response when Sarah asked him about it a few days previously.
Sarah shivered. She knew that whatever was causing the growth or the dry, crumbling decay was not a good thing.
But for now, for the first time this week, Jareth had returned to their chamber while she was still awake. This opportunity was not to be wasted. She turned and kissed him and gave his bottom lip a little graze with her teeth, just enough to get him interested.
"Mmm oh really?" he murmured. She broke away from him and walked slowly back inside removing her top and bra as she went. She paused just inside letting the lamp light show off a hint of her curves and looked back at him over her shoulder.
Jareth was also a very switched-on sort of a guy. He didn't need any more hints than that.
A long time later after both of them were satisfied Sarah lay snuggled up to the Goblin King with her head pillowed on his chest. Just as her eyes were closing she felt him kiss the top of her head and whisper;
"I've missed you too."