Title: Heartache and Misery
Author: Errie Wyvern
Summary: Sarah is listening to Savage Garden, and Jareth is watching Sarah.
Rating: around G-PG
Disclaimer: Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson, I think. My VCR ate my tape, so I've kinda forgotten. I do know that Savage Garden and their song belong to Rough Cut Records! And that Labyrinth is not mine! Sue and get a cat and a pencil!
Authors Notes: I don't know if this is how ya'll do it, by my WolverineAndRogue list gets PO'd if someone forgets all this stuff. First fic in this fandom, please play nice!
Feedback: Flame me and I'll send someone strong after you! Constructive Criticism. If you don't know it, don't bother.

~~~***~~~

Love and other moments are just chemical reactions in your brain
And feelings of aggression are the absence of the love drug in
Your veins
In your veins

~~~***~~~

Sarah cleaned her room mindlessly, papers and other useless pieces of junk getting shoved under her brand new oaken bed. Her stereo had Savage Garden on repeat. Gunning Down Romance was one of their better songs.

A small red book stayed in Sarah's hands for a moment, and her cloudy green eyes snapped into almost painful focus. A single tear escaped the corner of her eye, to slide down her porcelain cheek and land on the crimson hardback, creating a small ruby lake.

~~~***~~~

Love come quickly
Because I feel my self-esteem is caving in
It's on the brink

~~~***~~~

Jareth sat on his throne, looking intently into the crystal orb perched upon his leather-clad fingers. His mis-matched eyes were as cloudy as a stormy sea sky. They were focused on the young girl in the clear ball. She picked up 'Labyrinth', looked at it for a few moments, and then set it gently in a drawer. Right next to her dagger. And her own crystal, but hers was a dark, angry blue. And it tended to change colors with her mood.

"Sarah, why can't you see me? Why can't you see me the way I see you?" Jareth already knew the answers to those questions; she didn't want to. She wanted to hate him with every fiber of her being; to hate him more than she hated herself.

~~~***~~~

Love come quickly
Because I don't think I can take this monster in
It's in my skin

~~~***~~~

As Sarah heard that line of the familiar song, she went to her drawer, picked up her dagger, and made a smooth slice across her perfect wrist, and then watched it heal as quickly as she wanted to rid herself of her tainted blood.

"Damn you Jareth." She muttered. She couldn't even cut herself with out Jereth's damn magic taking the pain from her. She just wanted to bleed damnit; she wanted to know she was still human. That she wasn't like him.

She had to hate him. She couldn't, wouldn't, love him. She just wanted fall out of love. But her heart wouldn't let her do that. And she didn't have the faintest clue as to why.

~~~***~~~

Love and other socially acceptable emotions are morphine
They're morphine
Cleverly concealing primal urges often felt but rarely seen
Rarely seen

~~~***~~~

He was getting high off of watching her take in his magic that he fed her, like an IV. She didn't know it, but it was she draining the magic from his to heal herself. He wasn't forcing it upon her. He would force nothing upon her. He could never force himself to do that, even if it was for her own good.

~~~***~~~

Love I beg you
Lift me up into that privileged point of view
The world of two

~~~***~~~

Sarah sat on the floor of her now clean room. The white rug was soft and plush, and Sarah dug her fingers in. The room now smelled like Pine-Sol and carpet cleaner. She wrinkled her nose and gagged. She threw open the nearest window and took in a beep breath of air.

Sarah looked down at the perfectly manicured lawn. Not a blade of grass uneven, not a speck of dirt out of place. It was beautiful. It was beautiful in an unnatural way. And Sarah hated it.

She hated the way everything was unnatural, like people were trying to fool nature into becoming their kind of order, not nature's own brand of order. The Underground had been wild, perfect. And Jareth had been its caretaker. He didn't control it as much as he made sure no one hurt it. Nature was allowed to take its course there. There had even been twigs out of place in the hedge maze.

~~~***~~~

Love don't leave me
Because I console myself that Hallmark cards are true
I really do

~~~***~~~

Jareth set the crystal down on its pedestal. It was a perfect sphere, not a nick or scratch on its shiny, opaque surface. Jareth reached out a slim finger and ran it down the crystal's surface. Then he picked up the sphere and threw it against the stone wall. It shattered into a million shards that disappeared into glitter and vanished into thin air.

He knew the truth; he was in love with Sarah. And he hated himself for it. He hated the fact that he wanted, needed, her. That he was too weak to continue without her by his side. That she hated the fact that she loved him as much as he did.
~~~***~~~

I'm gunning down romance
It never did a thing for me
But heartache and misery
Ain't nothing but a tragedy

~~~***~~~

Sarah opened her closet and looked at the leather scabbard. She had gotten a broadsword from her father on her 19th birthday. The raven-haired girl took the forged iron from its animal skin prison. Her dad had known about Jareth and knew that iron was deadly to fae. So he had gotten her an iron broadsword with which to protect herself from the fae lord.

Sarah held it in front of her and went through the motions that her instructor had taught her. She was spinning and twirling for all she was worth, it was a dance of death. She was toying with something that was a dangerous to her as it was to any fae. One wrong move and she could have a severe cut anywhere on her body, even a severed limb.

Since she had a fair amount of control, it took her only seconds to keep herself from plunging the iron into the Goblin King's cheek. He was standing stock still, his face expressionless.

~~~***~~~

Love don't leave me

~~~***~~~

Jareth was feeling nauseous even being this close to pure iron. The sword itself was weak, but was deadly enough to one who could be killed by what it was made of. He was relieved when Sarah lowered the weapon from his face.

"Speak now Jareth, why do you come to my realm?" Sarah demanded. Her heart was racing. She had come so close to killing him. It was a game with death now. And she reveled in every moment.

~~~***~~~

Take these broken wings
I'm going to take these broken wings
And learn to fly
And learn to fly away
And learn to fly away

~~~***~~~

"I have come to see you Sarah." Jareth spoke the truth. He could see and smell the excitement all around her. She was having a grand time toying with his life.

"Lies." She hissed, and thrust the sword towards his abdomen. He surprised her by conjuring up a sword of his own. He easily flicked the sword away from him. She gave a yell of frustration and brought her blade up in a wild arc that took him by surprise. The iron broadsword landed with a sickening noise in his shoulder.

~~~***~~~

I'm gunning down romance

~~~***~~~

Jareth's eyes went wide as a blazing white-hot pain flowed through his veins. The wound from his shoulder was bleeding onto Sarah's perfect white carpet. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

The dying King fell back onto Sarah's floor, but not before sliding down her dark blue wall, leaving a purple stain to mark his trail. Sarah felt a tear slide down her cheek, and she dropped to her knees beside him.

The poison was working its way through his system, and it was doing do very fast. She came down to his side, saying very quietly to herself, "nononononono" as his life flooded from him in a torrent of energy. She raised a pale hand to his ashen cheek, touching him one last time.

Jareth could feel his life slipping through his fingers. He was so close, so close to death. He had to tell Sarah that he loved her. Just this once, he had to let her know. So he brought his head up, put his lips close to her ear, and whispered, "I love you".

Sarah was crying openly now, and she whispered, "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you" over and over again. Jareth put a frail, fading smile on his face, closed his eyes, lay back, and died.

Sarah placed a hand over his still heart and kissed him. Jareth's lips were cold and all too human. Her salty tears crept down her pale cheeks and landed on Jareth's face.

Sarah ended the kiss. Then she curled into a ball next to him and sobbed over and over, "What have I done, oh Lord, what have I done?"

~~~***~~~

'Gunning Down Romance'
Savage Garden

Love and other moments are just chemical reactions in your brain
And feelings of aggression are the absence of the love drug in
Your veins
In your veins
Love come quickly
Because I feel my self-esteem is caving in
It's on the brink
Love come quickly
Because I don't think I can keep this monster in
It's in my skin

Love and other socially acceptable emotions are morphine
They're morphine
Cleverly concealing primal urges often felt but rarely seen
Rarely seen
Love I beg you
Lift me up into that privileged point of view
The world of two

Love don't leave me
Because I console myself that Hallmark cards are true
I really do

I'm gunning down romance
It never did a thing for me
But heartache and misery
Ain't nothing but a tragedy

Love don't leave me

Take these broken wings
I'm going to take these broken wings
And learn to fly
And learn to fly away
And learn to fly away

I'm gunning down romance