A/N: After watching "Labyrinth" for the first time three days ago, I found myself mulling over Jareth's intriguing personality. Sarah was able to rile up his regal grace without breaking a sweat, so I couldn't help but wonder...how would an older Toby react to the Goblin Kingdom and its infamous king if he ever found himself taking an unexpected visit to the Underground?

On a side note, this is not a slash. Just a fic for my little sister...and yodelabyhoo, who, in truth, knows Jareth and Toby better than I do…

Title: The Unexpected (Chapter One)

Fandom: Labyrinth

Spoilers: The movie

Rating: Pg-13

Prompts/Challenges: (the list is written at the bottom of the page)

Disclaimer: I think it would be neat to own the Labyrinth, but I don't. I have absolutely no claim over it or anything related to Jim Henson's work.

Length: approximately 5,040 words

Timeline: Takes place twenty-two years after the movie

Summary: Toby's always lived his life by the natural laws of science and reason. The sudden disappearance of his newborn nephew, however, brings to light a whole new meaning of reality…

Thanksgiving was somehow colder than he remembered.

He stopped in the doorway and dropped his suitcase before turning to shut the door. It wasn't windy outside but the chill in the air was more than enough to make his bones ache and he involuntarily shivered before the warmth of the room had a chance to sink in. He paused, took a moment to enjoy the heat, and somehow managed to smile a little as he turned to greet his mother.

"How was the flight?"

"Alright," he murmured quietly. There was an itch in his throat that forewarned a cold but he knew it was for the best that he didn't let his mother know. She'd smother him the entire week if she thought he was sick. And chastise him. Endlessly.

Toby kissed her on the cheek and held her briefly as his father descended into the living room. The man was able to snatch up his suitcase before Toby could step back from his mother, winking as he turned to take it upstairs.

The house looked very much the same as he remembered it. It was warm and inviting and the old furniture has been kept up by his mother's natural diligence to preserve everything. The curtains were different, though, having been replaced by white drapes, and the wall was a pale blue instead of the old floral print his mother chose many years ago.

There was no place like home.

His mother gave him a small pat on his cheek before retreating to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner. The old grandfather clock in the corner chimed the hour as Toby started up the stairs after his father.

"I can carry my things, dad."

"How's Susan?" his father asked, completely side-stepping the request as he reached the top step.

Toby followed close behind but didn't make a grab for his case. It felt strange to be home again after so many months. His mother usually fused over him and his father never gave him the chance to wear himself out, but Toby knew it was all for the best.

"Susan's fine," Toby replied as they reached what was once his old room. "She's at her cousin's baby shower."

"When's she coming?"

"I'm picking her up at the airport tomorrow morning…"

As his father flicked on the light switch, Toby couldn't help but pause and stare. His room had been changed for a while now but he'd never get over the awkward sensation he felt whenever he entered the strange room. He'd never forget his childhood...not the dragons or the princesses from his sister's fairytales or the long lost children from her story books.

The walls were painted a lighter shade of green and the spaceship stickers his father pasted all over the wall when he was six had disappeared. In place of the small double bed there now stood a queen-size, and his old painted dresser was replaced by some tall black thing with drawers. His mother put a few paintings over the walls to hide the tack marks from his posters, and it looked…

…exactly like a guest bedroom.

Toby tried his best not to sigh as his father went on to talk about the weather. It wasn't as though his parents decided to get rid of all his things…

Toby did.

'Once upon a time' he believed in Sarah's stories. She was an author now (and was busy raising a family of her own) but she never outgrew fairytales the same way he did. She almost seemed a little sad when he stopped asking her to read him bedtime stories.

Maybe he changed just for the sake of being different? He loved Sarah but he needed something that was all his own, something that didn't require the same creative flare his sister possessed. Toby was…well, he was pretty dull these days. He had no creative 'flare' or 'spark' to speak of.

"How's work?"

Toby's head snapped up at the sudden change in conversation. He had all of three seconds to interpret the question in his boggled mind before his father raised his left eyebrow curiously.

"Wonderful, actually. Very…stimulating."

His father shook his head. "I suppose if you can consider Immunology 'stimulating'."

Toby couldn't help but frown at his father's choice of words. "A day in the lab might not be as exciting as a roller coaster ride but the research saves lives."

"I'm not disagreeing with you," his father replied quickly, reflexively putting up his hands in mock defence. "I'm just saying…you used to enjoy playing the piano, you know? Now you never touch it."

…That was only half-true. His mother used to make him play (which, in the beginning, had born a sort of hatred for the instrument in his heart) but Toby found a natural joy in listening to music. Sarah used to sing to him when he was younger and he would sing too, but now…

"I have stage-fright."

"Doesn't everyone?"

"It's not the same—"

"I know, I know…" His father took a seat on his edge of his bed and patted the empty spot beside him. Toby took care not to knock his suitcase off the mattress as he sat down. "I guess it makes sense, you know. I have two children, both of which are almost entirely different. Sarah might be fiery and restless, but you're more reserved, I guess…more down to earth. There's nothing wrong with that."

Toby folded his hands over his lap and stared at them. He felt like a child again—how old is he? Five or twenty three…?

"When is she coming?"

"She's already here."

Toby's head snapped up.

"She and Samuel already set up shop in her room. He had to run to town to pick up a few things for dinner but Sarah's upstairs. She's asleep with the baby."

Something tugged at the corner of his lips and Toby couldn't help but smile. Baby Johnny was almost a month old and he was beginning to associate what he heard with what he saw. Sarah loved to sing to him, and Toby…he was a little nervous around the babe (it was such a small, fragile thing…) but he loved the kid to bits. He hadn't seen Jonathon since he came to visit Sarah in the hospital.

He was somewhat surprised that Sarah and her husband hadn't started a family earlier. Sarah always wanted to have kids but she never seemed to have the time to stop and sort her life out when she first began publishing her children books. Now, however, she said she couldn't bear the thought of living another day without her precious little newborn son, her enthusiastic, eight-year-old daughter Kimberly, or her quiet, middle-child Jacob.

"Do you think she would mind if I popped in to say hello?"

His father chuckled warm heartedly and patted his knee before standing. "I don't see why not. She's missed you, Toby."

-1-Toby-1-

He found her lying half-asleep in the center of her bed, Toby's old cradle set up near the door for the new baby. Johnny was currently lying asleep in the crook of his mother's arm, pressed close to her chest as she gazed lovingly down at him, eye's half-lidded with fatigue.

She looked divine.

"I can come back later…" Toby murmured quietly, peeking his head through the small gap in the door to catch her attention. He considered leaving her alone until supper but he hadn't seen her in so long…

"You know…I was just thinking about you."

When Sarah glanced up at him, Toby couldn't help but smile. His father once told him that she was something of a hot head when she was younger, always quick to judge and little spiteful in her retaliations, but that all changed one day when Toby was just a babe. Nobody knew what brought upon the change but no one could really complain…

Toby was careful not to make too much noise as he crept into the room and stole a spot on the edge of the bed. He wrapped her in a one-armed hug and leaned back to stare at the sleeping babe. The bit of hair on the baby's head was dark.

Toby hoped he turned out to look like his mother.

Sarah had always had dark hair and dark eyes but her soft features sharpened somewhat when she grew up, much like Toby's had a few years back. His hair had always been blonde in comparison to hers, his eyes blue where hers were brown, but they shared the same nose and the same eyebrows. Toby's complexion was fair, like his mother's, but they both looked very much like their father.

"You look exhausted," Sarah said quietly, tugging at the hem of his dark green turtle-neck with her free hand. The fabric was still cold, almost as though it dragged in the evening chill when he arrived.

"You should be one to speak."

Her eyes lit up at his smile and she shook her head before gazing down at her babe. "How was the flight?"

"Long. Susan was supposed to come with me earlier, but her cousin changed the plans for her baby shower at the last moment."

"I'm surprised you didn't drive here."

Toby quirked his eyebrow slightly. It made Sarah laugh.

"I'm just saying, you used to be afraid of heights. I thought you didn't like flying."

"I'm only afraid when I'm falling."

Sarah laughed again and the baby began to stir. Luckily, he didn't cry, just opened his eyes slightly and looked up at his mother.

"Hey, baby," his mother crooned "I don't suppose you remember Uncle Toby?"

"Tom," Toby corrected quietly; ashamed. "Everyone calls me Tommy..."

Sarah looked mildly annoyed. "But why? What's wrong with Toby?"

"It was just a vain attempt to pick up a nickname, you know. You can't exactly break down 'Toby'. That gives you…what, 'Tob'?"

"Might as well call you Thomas then. You can't exactly break down my name either, silly."

Actually, it was something of a mistake on his colleagues' behalf. People at work mistakenly called him 'Tommy' instead of 'Toby', and since he was never much of an outspoken person in public he just let the name slide. He was afraid Sarah might be a little disappointed in him if he told her the truth. She knew how to stand up for herself.

Toby was…a bit timid in social settings, to say the least. He didn't have the nerve to stand up to people; didn't know how to say 'No'.

"Well, I suppose if that's what you want…" She pouted a little and tried to look innocent, "…Can I still call you Toby?"

"However often you like."

"Well then, Toby Williams, would you mind holding the baby? I should probably change for dinner."

He looked over her pyjama pants and loose t-shirt, and nodded before holding out his arms to collect the warm bundle. He sat there, stalk-still and quiet, as Sarah slipped off the bed and snatched a few things from her suitcase before tiptoeing out into the hall to the washroom. Johnny was silent. His eyelids flickered open for a moment, almost returning from his dream world, before drifting back to sleep. He squirmed, fingers closing into tiny little fists, and settled down again peacefully.

Toby smiled at the little babe and then he remembered…

Wasn't there a story about a babe? A boy, perhaps, that was rescued from the Goblin King by his older sister?

Toby bounced the baby gently in his arm as he tried to think. Was it a story his sister or wrote, or was it one of the ones that inspired her? Sarah had a collection of books she used to read to him when he was younger. Maybe it was somewhere in her bookcase.

Careful not to wake his nephew, Toby lifted himself to his feet as gently as possible and carried the baby with him over to the bookshelf in the corner. Sarah's toys were gone (mostly boxed up and stored away in the attic) but a few trinkets were left in the room, just a couple of figurines and her book collection. She had some board games stashed under her bed for her two older children to play with during the thanksgiving holiday, but everything else was gone.

Eyes skimming the titles, he tried desperately to remember the name of the story in question. It was something about a maze…

The moment he saw it, he knew it was the book he was looking for. It was one of Sarah's favourites: The Labyrinth.

The red spine was torn at one corner, the once-glimmering letters dulled by dust and other grime from seeing so many years of use. Sarah was thirteen years older than him—he wondered how long she'd had the book…

Toby was tempted to take a look but he knew he'd have plenty of time to read it later. His mother would probably nag at him if she found out he was still interested in Sarah's old tales. After all, it was his mother that tried to keep him from growing up to be like her stepdaughter. His leash had been a tight one thanks to Sarah.

"Uncle Toby?"

Startled, he turned his head quickly and stared at the door. Jacob was standing there, dressed in shorts and an overly large sweater—possibly his fathers. In his arms he cradled their pet cat Jinx (who was, in Toby's opinion, unnaturally fat) very much the same way Toby was hold the baby.

The feline turned its half-lidded eyes on Toby, head lulling back lazily from its awkward position in the child's arms. The cat was accustomed to being manhandled by the children.

"Jacob, you're going to drop the cat."

"Sorry," he murmured, struggling to hold the cat properly—before it leapt from his arms and sauntered down the hallway with all the pomp and grace of its species.

"…Is there something I can help you with?"

"I need to find my mom."

"She's getting changed. What do you need?"

"Dad's on the phone," the boy replied, referring to Toby's brother-in-law, Samuel. "He said someone crashed into him."

Toby gaped at the six-year-old boy before his mind registered the statement. Quietly, he carried the babe to the cradle by the door and settled the newborn down before following Jacob out into the hall. Half racing down the stairs, he could hear his father in the kitchen, talking on the phone.

"—fifteen minutes. I'm just getting Sarah right now—Jacob!"

Toby turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs and halted in the dining area, only a step behind his nephew. His father jumped at the sudden appearance of his grandson and stared at him curiously.

"I thought told you to get your mother. Where is she?"

"Don't know."

"Jacob, I don't have time to—"

"I'm here!" Toby had only a second to step aside as his sister darted into the room, stealing the receiver from her father before speaking to her husband, "Samuel, what's going on?…Uh-huh…How?"

"Broke his leg," his father explained as he stepped up beside Toby. His mother stood by the stove, stirring the gravy idly as she watched Sarah on the phone. "I'm going with Sarah to the hospital. Do you think you can help mum watch the kids tonight?"

"No problem," he whispered, eyes trained on his sister's worried expression. She looked terrible…

Jacob quietly sidled up on Toby's other side and took hold of his uncle's hand. All Toby could do was watch mutely as Sarah hung up the phone and ran to grab her jacket. Their father dashed into the living-room to find his keys.

"I guess it's just us and the kids tonight," his mother sighed. She'd always been a little harsh on Sarah but Toby knew she cared for the girl and her husband…she just had an odd way of showing it… "You might want to wash up and find Kimberly. Dinner will be ready soon."

" 'Kay, mum…"

"And find the baby chair, will you? You father forgot to bring it up from the basement."

" 'Kay, mum…"

So much for the holiday…

-2-Toby-2-

"Can you read us a story?"

"In a minute, Kim. I'm on the phone with your mother."

Kimberly frowned and crossed her arms, trying to look as indignantly as she most possibly could for someone her age. If Sarah wasn't careful, her daughter was going to grow up to be just like her.

"I hope the kids aren't causing you any trouble."

"None at all," he replied, adding an extra dash of sweetness to his voice as he ruffled Kimberly's hair. The look she gave him then was priceless. "They're behaving like perfect little angels."

"You've always been a horrible liar, Toby."

"True. How's Samuel doing?"

Sarah sighed wearily on the other end of the line, somehow managing to sound as the weight of the whole world was literally resting on her shoulders. "Fine, thankfully. He doesn't need surgery, just a cast. We should be home in an hour."

"How's the other driver?"

"You mean the drunken idiot? He doesn't have a scratch on him."

"How much does he owe you?"

"A lot. He's—"

"Uncle Tobyyyyyyy!"

"Kimberly, not now!"

"Is that Kim? Tell her if she isn't in bed by time I count to five, she's not going to have any of the cake mommy's planning to bake tomorrow afternoon."

"But she won't hear you."

"All the same, it'll work."

"I trust your judgment," he laughed. Looking down at his niece, he put on a stern face. "Kimberly, mommy says you have until the count of five to get upstairs. Otherwise, you won't get any cake tomorrow."

"I don't believe you," she retorted, stomping her foot as she crossed her arms. She looked too cute to be menacing.

Calmly, he held out the receiver for her to take. She didn't grab it, but they could both hear the faint 'One!' his mother shouted through phone before his niece scrambled up the stairs.

"…Do all mothers have mystical powers?" Toby asked as he returned to the conversation.

"Only the ones who believe in magic."

"I see…"

"I have to go now, Toby. Is everything alright over there?"

"Fine and dandy. My mother fed the baby and put him to sleep an hour ago. She had a migraine, so she went to lie down." He glanced at the clock: 8:07. "Your kids, of course, are wide awake, but that won't be for long."

"I could cast a spell on them for you, if you'd like?"

"That won't be necessary. I'll just read them a story."

"Don't read 'Alice in Wonderland'. Jacob gets all these ideas in his head that Jinx is the Cheshire cat."

"Duly noted. Goodbye Sarah."

"See you soon."

He waited until she hung up before turning off the mobile phone, carrying it up with him to his sister's room. He leaned over the crib to glance at the sleeping baby before tiptoeing over to the bookshelf.

The Labyrinth was the first book that caught his eye.

He didn't know why he was drawn to the story. It always felt so real to him whenever Sarah read it to him—or maybe Sarah was the key to its reality. She was the one that brought it to life. She was the one that made him want see the Goblin Kingdom, to challenge the Goblin king and brave the labyrinth when he was a child.

Jacob and Kimberly would love it.

He reached up to grab the book but it was wedged in good between the many other volumes lined up on either side. He has to toss the mobile phone on the bed and use both his hands to tug it out quietly.

The baby stirred about the same time he pulled it free.

Toby licked his lips nervously and crept back to the crib. He remembered accidentally waking Jacob once when he was just a babe and it took Sarah forever to put him back to sleep. Johnny seemed to be more peaceful than either of two his siblings, but Toby didn't want to try his luck…

Toby reached into the crib with one hand to brush his thumb against the baby's cheek. "I wish you could see your mother's world…" he whispered before taking a step back. "I wish you could see the Labyrinth."

He ended up stepping on the cat.

Jinx hollered as though the devil himself suddenly had materialized in the room and Toby nearly yelled as his heart jumped up into his throat. The baby made a small moaning sound as it stirred but it didn't wake.

He bumped the cat with the toe of his shoe into the hallway and made sure to close the door behind him as he stepped out after it, book in hand. "Stay the hell out of there," he hissed at the feline as it scampered off to wreck havoc elsewhere.

He paused for a moment with his back against the door, trying to even out his breath as his heart continued to race. He didn't know why he was still so nervous, so edgy. He felt as though he was forgetting something important…

Then the phone rang.

Inside the room.

Startled, he turned quickly to open the door and dashed back inside in hope of answering the phone before it had a chance to wake the baby. The baby, however, didn't make a sound and the phone, which he was sure he left on the bed, was now lying on the floor.

Cautiously, he knelt down to the pick up the phone and stared at the small glowing screen above the dialling numbers. It read 'ringer volume on high' as though someone had been fooling around with the buttons.

Toby felt a chill run up along his spine. In all the years that he lived in this house as a child, he never once thought the place was haunted.

What was he thinking? Of course it wasn't haunted. Ghosts and spirits and angry little demons didn't exist. The phone probably just fell off the bed…

He bit his lower lip nervously but felt relieved when he remembered the baby. Johnny was one hell of a sleeper…

Of course, it would've been nice to confirm that idea if the baby was still, in fact, fast asleep in the crib.

The panic he experienced thanks to the cat and the phone paled in comparison to the sheer terror he suffered just then. The baby was gone as well as his blanket that his grandmother wrapped him in only an hour ago. The crib was entirely empty and Toby's newborn nephew was nowhere in sight.

"Oh my God—"

Something move directly behind him and Toby began to panic again. Turning sharply on his heel, he caught a glimpse of a furry leg as something small and pudgy scurried under the bed. Part of him wondered if it was the cat, but Jinx was round and orange and that thing was…well…

Toby didn't pause to think about his decision as he dove down to catch whatever is was that came into the room. Sarah would never forgive him if she found out he let some weird rat-thing eat her baby.

"Come back here, you little—"

"Ah! Let go!"

He was more than halfway under the bed when his hand closed around something that resembled a small claw-like foot. It was dark, he couldn't see worth a darn and he was damn well sure that that squeaky little voice didn't come from him.

"I want my nephew back!" he yelled, not quite caring if the thing bit him. "If you don't give him to me, so help me, God—"

"Okay! Okay!" it shrieked, struggling helplessly to break free. The noise hurt his ears. "I'll take you to him! I swear!"

"Now!" Toby ordered.

And then the floor opened up beneath him.

The shrieking, squirming, rat-like thing fell with him and they tumbled a short distance through the air before Toby's body connected with the ground. The wind was knocked out of him and there was dirt in his eyes, but as soon as he got up on his knees he could breathe again. Rubbing his eyes, he realized that there was a light shining down upon him.

When he looked up, it took him a moment to realize there was a trapdoor hanging open about ten feet above his head. It was an old iron gate that slammed itself up and shut again almost as though by magic, locking him away from the anomalous bright light.

…This couldn't be right. It just wasn't possible…

"…Where am I?"

The creature that brought him there was sitting somewhere in the dark, just outside the reach of the blinding light. It moaned, cussed under its breath and then answered his question, "We're in an oubliette…"

…Which meant his only way out is through the trapdoor above him...

What the hell was an oubliette doing under Sarah's bed?

"What…How…I don't understand!"

"It's my fault, actually," the thing muttered apologetically. "You weren't in the room after you made the wish, so the other's just took the babe and ran. I just found that weird little glowing thing, and I'm not too good at traveling alone but…" it paused, then cursed again, "…Jareth's not going to be too happy about this."

"Who the hell is Jareth?" Toby snapped, feeling more outraged than frightened at the moment. The fact that he could be in another dimension hadn't quite settled in just yet. "And why did you take my nephew?!"

"You made the wish," it snorted matter-of-factly.

"What wish?!"

It cleared its throat as though it was about to recite a long poem, and said, " 'I wish you could see your mother's world. I wish you could see the Labyrinth.' There! That's what you said, so don't go telling me otherwise! It's nobody's fault but yours…"

The Labyrinth.

The Labyrinth.

Toby's heart almost stopped. This was Sarah's world? This was the place where babies were kidnapped by the Goblin king?

Was that who Jareth was—the Goblin king? Or was he one of the other characters? Wasn't there some small dog-like knight or…or…something?!

Toby couldn't remember…

His shoulders slumped and he rested a hand across his eyes, blocking the blinding light as he tried desperately to hold back his tears.

What had he done…?

-3-The Goblins-3-

They didn't usually act upon impulse in the Aboveground but this, they felt, was a special case. Their majesty was too busy those days to watch the girl forever, but they…they still admired the brave little woman that beat the Labyrinth. She grew up, got married and had children…the magic in her heart and mind was no longer channelled through silly little dreams and wishes. Instead, she vented her energy and her power into stories—wonderful, beautiful, enchanting stories that would keep the memories of goblins and fairies and dragons alive in the minds of the children for centuries to come.

Sarah Williams had always been both a blessing and a curse.

Her babe, they hoped, would be just a blessing. They had enough curses of their own to deal with, thank you very much.

And when the Goblin king returned from solving one problem or another in their beloved Labyrinth, they hoped he thought this little gift was a blessing too. Hoped he wouldn't be angry or spiteful. They didn't know if he'd resent the babe, the son of another man, the child of the girl who defeated him…

His eyes betrayed nothing.

Well…almost nothing…

Jareth moved with the ease of a man only with his knowledge and power could. Jareth was never startled, rarely angry and seldom depressed—so far as they could see. He had all the time in the world to build a brilliant façade and he'd seen all the wonders in the universe, something which left little room for surprises.

That's why they almost jumped for joy when he reached down to take the babe into his arms. They could see the flicker of recognition in his eyes—a spark that was both mischievous and pleasant. Slowly, the corner of his lip curled up into a look that was a cross between a smirk and something genuinely happy. And then they knew…

The baby was smaller than the last one—obviously much younger than Toby. It was curiously at ease in the Goblin king's arms and they wonder if it was due to Jareth's own magic or some unseen grace bestowed upon the babe by its mother. Sarah Williams had always been a little different than regular human beings.

The throne room erupted into the sound of shouting and yelling and laughing and singing—it was a myriad of noises that didn't seem to bother either Jareth or the babe. They almost missed the faint words that passed his lips…

"You remind me of the babe…"

-A/N:-

I apologize if it sounds little choppy. If something seems off, just poke me and I'll fix it.

One a side note, I've changed the tense of the story from present to past—I've also been re-editing the chapters in my spare time.

[Prompt list for this chapter: Character development (complete opposite of Sarah?), rats, oubliette, husband, Cheshire cat, at least 5,000 words, Thanksgiving, clinging chill, "You remind me of the babe..."]