It was a late Tuesday night on cool March night and once again Angela was up late with her newborn boy. She was exhausted and she had work in the morning. Angela looked at the clock sitting on a nearby table in the living room. 2:30am. She rolled her eyes and huffed in frustration as she gently rocked her baby boy in her arms, praying he would stop crying and sleep soon. A few hours, that's all she needed to rest her eyes before work.
She was trying everything she knew to get the baby to bed. She tried rubbing his back. A fresh, warm bottle, a warm bath, humming, sinGING, ROCKING AND NOTHING WAS WORKING! She could feel the frustration coursing through her veins and how it was quickly turning into anger. 4:30. An hour and a half! How had it been a hour and a half? She sat down on her rocking chair that had been handed down from generation to generation. She rocked her screaming child helplessly. Her mind drifted off to the memories of her mother rocking her when she was a toddler and how she always read her her favorite story; Labyrinth. The bookshelf was right behind her, she turned looking for it knowing it was somewhere close since she liked keeping it close by to reminiscent about her mother. It was close to the floor so Angela leaned back as far as she could to grab it. She straighten herself back out clutching the worn book in her right hand. Her son was still fidgeting and screaming in her arms. But being an only mother you learn to tune it out when you've reached your limit. She flipped through the book and stopped when she reached her favorite chapter; The Goblin King. She had been obsessed with this character as a child. She found him funny, witty, and even sexy during her teenage years. Angela was brought out of her deep thinking when her cranky infant smacked her in the face while throwing a wild fit to get her attention. She felt the rage flow through her and she couldn't control what came out of her mouth in that moment. "Oh dammit! What I wouldn't give for the Goblin King to come and take you away!"
"Oh you wouldn't want to do that, deary."
Angela let out a high pitched scream; startled by the presence of another person. "Wh..who are you?" She blurted out attempting to keep composure as she stood up from the rocking chair. She looked around but at first didn't see anyone. The phone wasn't far from her it was right by the-
"You can call me a friend." The voice was right behind her. She jumped around cradling her child close to her breast, with one hand on his head. The man was of average height and had brown curls that reached the middle of his neck. However what stood out to Angela about him was that his clothing seem to be set during the time of the middle ages and his skin...it shined a greyish green and almost appeared scale.
"What do you want?" Angela's mind was racing what was she going to do? There is a strange, weird looking man in her house and he is standing between her and the phone. The man gave her a creepy smile.
"I heard your wish and I came to give you a better offer." Angela looked at him bewildered.
"What wish?" The man pointed at the screaming bundle in her arms. "You mean about the Goblin King?"
"Yes. And trust me you don't want to send him off to be with a goblin. Nasty things, enjoy eating children."
"What are you talking about? The Goblin King is a fictional story from a book! He isn't real."
"Oh I'm afraid he is very real and on his way now. I can feel him and once he is here that baby is gone and there isn't anything you can do about it. I however can make you a deal and I can promise you I won't eat the little one." Angela's head was spinning.
"Look just-" Before she could finish her sentence a loud gust of wind blew upon all the doors and shattered the windows. Angela got down on her knees covering the her baby boy. When it stopped Angela slowly got up; her legs shaking. "What the hell was that?!"
"Me." Said a calm collective voice from the kitchen. A tall man walked into the living room. He was wearing a black jacket covered in jewels. His shirt was white and fluffy; his hair was long, big and everywhere. Around his neck he had a strange looking silver necklace. He walked as if he owned the place and everyone was beneath him. "I heard your wish and I've come to claim that bundle of bones in your arms."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Piped up Rumple. The man turned now ignore Angela and her baby. He smiled bitterly.
"Rumple. I thought I smelled something." Rumple grinned his usual sly grin in reply. "Why on earth are you?"
"Well if you must know, Jareth, I came for him." He said pointing at Angela, who was wide eyed with fear and panic.
"And why would you want a baby, last I checked you're not the best father material." Jareth said plainly wiping of a piece of fuzz from his jacket. This made Rumple's smile fade from his face.
"Listen to me," Rumple replied through gritted teeth and walking towards Jareth, "You live my boy out of this. And it doesn't matter what happened with my son it's about her's which we all know what happens to baby boys who enter your kingdom." Rumple was now inches from Jareth's face with Angela found her voice.
"Look I don't know what is going on here," the two men, whom had seem to forgotten about her, turned their heads at her direction. "But I'm just going to take my son and leave, OK?"
"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Angela jumped. Jareth was right next to her when just a moment ago he was several feet away. "You made the wish now it's time for you to pay up."
"And I can stop him. All you have to do is make a deal. Listen deary either way your son is gone. Now he can either be with me where he will never go hungry and have all the riches in the world or," He smiled wide looking at Jareth, "He can go with the Goblin King and get gobbled up. Now what do you say?" Angela went from looking at Rumple to the Goblin King, a stunned expression on her face.
"Is...is that make up?"
"What?" Both men said in unison.
"Really that is what you say when the life of your child's life is at hand? And people say I'm a bad parent."
"I..I'm just..." But Angela was unable to finish her sentence and just went silent. Rumple took a step closer to Angela and Jareth.
"Look all you have to do is make a deal. I take your son and he doesn't get added to goblin stew in return you can get whatever you want."
"Why do you want him so badly, Rumple?"
"That's my business." He said threateningly.
"It doesn't matter." Jareth replied waving him off. "She made the wish to me." He went in to take the child from his mother's hands but was knocked away into the closest wall leaving a human size dent by a wave of Rumpelstiltskin's hand.
"Look I'm not leaving without that boy." The Goblin King returned to his feet without moving a muscle. He wiped himself off and looked at Rumple showing no signs of being agitated.
"OK Rumple you want to play. I'm fine with that." He pulled from his jacket a round glass ball. "You have your magic and I have mine. I'll make you a deal Rumplestiltskin, you look into my magic ball and if nothing happens I leave and the boy is yours." Rumple seemed to like the sound of that since his threatening look and stance faded away.
"Deal." Rumple walked over to the Goblin King and grabbed the ball from his hands. With both hands cupping the ball Rumple peered into it and at first he smiled thinking he had one, when it slowly began to fade and fear clouded his eyes. He threw the ball at the wall shattering it. The Goblin King laughed and the shattered ball repaired itself before returning to it's owner's hand.
"Oh Rumple, you're pride is going to be the death of you someday and now thanks to it, I now know your worst nightmare." Rumple flew into a rage. He summoned a sword from thin air and began swing wildly but Jareth easily stepped out of the way. "You can't beat me!" He shouted at him enjoying seeing an old enemy of his suffer at this futile attempt.
"I can't have you knowing what you saw, Jareth!" Rumple yelled back. Jareth laughed at this, he had finally gotten a leg up on the Dark One. But in that short moment of celebrating Rumple had enough time to grab a hold of Jareth, making it impossible for him to slip away. "You're coming with me!" For the first time that night Jareth a glimpse of fear appeared in his eyes.
"What of the boy?" Hoping this would distract Rumple long enough to forget about him. Rumple pulled something out of his pocket. Angela, who had been hiding behind the couch, only saw what it was for a brief moment and it looked like a glowing bean. Rumple threw it on the floor and swirling vortex appeared in the center of the house. Angela screamed as the vortex began sucking things in. She held on to the the closest thing she could find and holding onto her son even tighter.
"I'll come back for him; once I've figured out what I'm going to do with you." Rumple jumped into the wailing vortex, pulling Jareth with him. Once out of sight the vortex closed and other than some things missing and the house a wreck, it had appeared like there was never a giant sucking hole in the house. Angela stayed where she was for several minutes before she thought the coast was clear. Shaking, she pulled herself up trying to come to terms with what she had saw.
"Okay buddy, no more stories for us." She looked down at her bundled up son and saw that at last he was finally asleep.