"It hurts," Dawn said as Buffy came to her rescue.

"I got it," Buffy said soothingly. "Come here. You're gonna be okay."

But as her older sister helped her limp to the stairs, Dawn felt the blood on her feet and saw the portal opening. Buffy saw it too.

"Buffy, it's started."

They both watched the blue lightning from the portal strike out. Screams echoed back up to them and the tower rocked.

Tears slipped from Dawn's eyes. With the guilt and fear weighing on her, she could only turn to her sister and say, "I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Buffy tried to reassure her. With a deep breath, Dawn knew what she had to do. She tried to run past Buffy, but the slayer reflexes caught her. "What are you doing?"

"I have to jump," Dawn argued. "The energy…"

"It'll kill you!"

"I know," Dawn replied. There wasn't any fear about that anymore. The portal was calling to her, and it made her feel oddly at peace. The key is meant to go in the lock. "Buffy, I know about the ritual. I have to stop it."

"No."

The tower lurched.

"I have to. Look at what's happening." As if to prove her point, a dragon came flapping out of the light. "Buffy, you have to let me go. Blood starts it, and until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop."

What's the point of a key without a lock?

"Please, Buffy," Dawn pleaded. "You save the world so much. Now it's my turn. It's okay because I'm not scared anymore. I'm ready now."

A key belongs in a lock.

Dawn hugged Buffy and then ran back to the edge of the tower. Buffy was stunned but recovered and tried to follow.

"I love you, Buffy." Then Dawn jumped into the light.

Dawn groaned as she slowly came back into consciousness. She noticed two things immediately: it was bright, and she was lying on dirt.

Dirt?

She blinked her eyes open. Sure enough, she was on her stomach and looking at orange, glittering dirt. Using sore arms, she pushed herself up. The shallow cuts on her stomach pulled and were bleeding again. She was still in the sacrificial princess gown; then again, that really wasn't going to have changed on its own. Brushing off the dirt gingerly—as to not aggravate the cuts any more than standing had—she looked around. She was on a hill with orange dirt and leaf-less trees. Turning she saw a gigantic maze with some sort of oddly shaped mountain in the middle.

Wait. Was it supposed to be a castle? What sort of hell dimension had sparklingly dirt, enormous mazes, and a deformed castle?

She saw movement by the outermost wall, so she carefully walked down the hill. The wall glittered more than the dirt and up its side climbed glitter-covered vines. Small, white things fluttered by the vines, and Dawn looked closer to see that they were small fairies. She then heard the grunt and laughter of the small thing she had seen moving from the hill. It was some sort of short demon with a large nose and jewels dangling out of a pouch at its waist. It was spraying the fairies and kicking them in the dirt, but she hoped that it only preyed on things smaller than itself. It looked like just a gardener, but who knows if it wasn't a psychopathic serial killer gardener. She might as well take a chance.

"Excuse me," she said.

The demon jumped with a yelp. Recovering himself, he narrowed his eyes at her and her dress. "Who are you? Ain't supposed to be any runners today so you must be from somewhere 'round here."

"Well, I'm not!" Dawn said forcefully, answering rudeness with more rudeness. "I don't know what a runner is, but I fell through a portal and woke up here. Now I just want to go home."

She had nowhere to go, but she turned to walk away anyways. Unfortunately the pain from her cuts and sheer exhaustion overtook her and she was once more on her stomach in the sparkling dirt.

As soon as the strange girl collapsed, Hoggle ran for help. He entered the Labyrinth and walked through the wall right there at the entrance. It led straight to the Goblin City. He looked around hoping he wouldn't have to run to the castle as well. He didn't want to leave the girl alone for too long. Luckily he spotted Sir Didymus and his dog.

"Sir Hoggle, what brings thee here this fine day?" the little fox asked. "I thought that thou wast guarding the gates today."

"Get the Queen," Hoggle said curtly. What Didymus had more than Hoggle in speed he lost with all his talking. "There's a girl hurt just outside the Labyrinth."

"I say…"

But Hoggle didn't wait to hear what Didymus had to say. He had heard enough. He ran back to the gates of the Labyrinth and then out to the girl. She was still just lying there, and now he could see blood stains on her dress.

Fortunately it was only a few minutes before Queen Sarah arrived with goblin stretcher-bearers. If it had been the goblins alone, then Hoggle would never have trusted them to get the girl back to the castle in one piece. She'd been in many pieces with a few missing along the way. But with Sarah commanding them everything would be fine.

"What happened, Hoggle?" she asked while still keeping an eye on the goblins as they gently put the girl on the stretcher.

"She justs appears out of nowhere, Sarah," Hoggle answered. "She came down from the hill same as you did the first time you was here."

"The hill? All right, we'll know more when we get her cleaned up back at the castle and she wakes."

Sarah watched over the girl on the way to the castle and had her placed in one of the more comfortable guest rooms. A healer from the elf enclave came to tend to her. Her wounds were not deep or life threatening; apart from stress and exhaustion there was nothing else wrong with her. But the healer did confirm one fact: the girl was human. That answered one question. She was from Aboveground and had come to the Underground very recently.

Humans didn't last long in the Underground. A land of forever rejected mortal things; a person died or adapted and changed into an immortal creature. It was why some of the wished away children became goblins. The rest turned into other creatures—whatever suited their personality best. Sarah herself had changed into a fae like her husband.

She was sitting by the girl's bedside when her husband walked into the room and stood next to her.

"A human?" he said with some surprise.

"She didn't wish herself or anyone here, did she?" Sarah asked.

"No, I haven't had any summons recently."

"Will you be able to send her back home?"

"If she wishes to return Above, then I will take her there."

Unspoken was that he would only do it since Sarah asked. "Thank you, Jareth."

Dawn once again woke up in an unfamiliar place. This time she was in a bed in a light-filled room. Looking around at the furniture she guessed that she was now in the castle.

"Oh good, you're awake," came a woman's voice. Dawn turned her head to see a beautiful lady walk towards her bed. From the way she sat in the chair placed next to the bed she had to be royalty. "I'm Sarah, Queen of the Goblins and Lady of the Labyrinth."

"Dawn Summers, Mystical Key and high school student."

Sarah laughed. "So you are from Above… and American too. Where are you from exactly?"

"Sunnydale, California," Dawn answered.

"I don't think I've heard of it."

"Unless you are into mystical convergences, demons, and Hellmouths, there's not much there to hear of." Dawn figured that a queen of goblins wouldn't find demons too hard to believe.

"A Hellmouth? Is that what sent you here?"

"No, an evil hell god used my blood to open a portal."

"If your blood started it only your blood could stop it," came a male, British voice. A tall man with wild eighties blonde hair to rival Spike's punk look came where she could see him. His attire was actually kind of cool—apart from the pants. Just how many socks was he keeping down there?

"That's why I jumped into the portal," Dawn replied, trying not to look at the pants. "And then I woke up here."

"This is my husband, Jareth the Goblin King," Sarah introduced her. "Once you feel better we can take you home, right Jareth?"

"A Hellmouth makes no difference," he said haughtily. His wife must have been used to it, because while Dawn was a bit offended by his open arrogance Sarah only smiled. Dawn guessed the pants really did say it all about the Goblin King.

Dawn sat up. "I think I could go home now. Buffy must be so worried."

"I don't think Time will be much of a problem," said Sarah with a wink.

The queen helped Dawn into a robe and then the king held out a crystal ball. "Concentrate on your home and this will take you there."

"Do I have to click my heels three times?" Dawn asked cheekily. Jareth frowned, but Sarah laughed.

Dawn took the crystal and concentrated on home just as Jareth had said. She closed her eyes and began to feel the magic around her. As a dizzy, falling feeling came over her, she heard the Goblin King's voice.

"Try not to open any more portals."

Dawn opened her eyes and was in her own bedroom. It was only early morning. She might have been gone only minutes. She walked out towards the front staircase and heard the door slam open. It was followed by Spike cursing and Giles telling him to be quiet. Dawn walked down the stairs and saw Giles helping Buffy to the couch while Spike hovered. Buffy looked up and saw her first.

"Dawn?"

The two men followed Buffy's gaze and Dawn waved. The rest of the Scoobies came through the front door and stopped when they saw her. Jaws dropped to the floor.

Dawn decided to break the silence. "Hi guys! I'm back!"

"But," Buffy said slowly. "You died. I saw… you fell… Didn't you die?"

"Not unless dying involves a Labyrinth and a Goblin King with sock-stuffed super tight pants."

"You met King Jareth?" Anya asked excitedly. "I bet he still has all that sex appeal. Being a Fae he just radiates…"

"Ahn!" Xander interrupted.

"Eh, didn't notice," replied Dawn. "He's kind of married. But hey! We saved the world again. I'm back. Who's for pizza and a movie?"

FIN

This is just a one shot and I don't think there is really anything more to it- it's just one of those little rabid plot bunnies that attack when least expected.