This is in response to the jdbfangirlharemJuly/August challenge. (that has been extended into October 2010) Challenge guidelines are: One-shot, Jareth/Sarah pairing, romance, with the elements: a bicycle, pinecones, the swans, and a phonebook.
Summary: Racing against time Sarah must find him one last time-to prove he was real. Jareth must hold the portal open, risking exposure to his kingdom, to give her one last chance to have forever.
Disclaimer: The only thing I claim to own is the insane idea that formed this story. Everything else is borrowed.
Last Portal To Forever
She cleared the treetops on white felt wings, circled the lake once then glided majestically along the water's surface before landing upon the near still water. She turned her head this way and that, her calls to her mate echoed eerily in the quiet, early morning. There was a rustling in the trees off to her right, causing her to swim closer to the center of the open space and avoid danger. Her calls now had a frightened sound to them as she circled bodily in a small area. More rustling sounds near the shore alerted her to possible danger and she spread her wings to take flight. Her mate wasn't coming, this was obvious. It was time to save herself and leave this place.
He flew within the morning breeze, giving himself more speed as he followed her calls. The morning air was thick with fog and smoke over the forest, more than once he almost touched the treetops only to pull up at the last second to avoid injury. He was late, having diverted a threatening prey away from her as they flew over the forest to their sanctuary. She waited for him, trusting he would come to reunite with her, and he would not let her believe something had happened. He burst through the trees on gilded wings, calling to her to not leave him, his desperation to be with her was obvious in his voice as he leveled himself along the water's surface.
She was almost airborne when she heard his answering call. Settling back to the water's surface, she turned to swim towards him as he landed with gracefulness, perfectly coming to a stop abreast his mate. She cooed her welcome and rubbed her long, sleek neck along his with inexplicit joy to have him near her once more. He reciprocated her feelings, entwined his neck around hers with closed eyes. They will never be apart again. This was all they lived for, to be with each other forever.
XxXxX
Sarah stretched and yawned languidly before slapping the alarm clock to silence. She loved that dream. It was always the same and never got old. The feeling of love and devotion she felt while being a swan couldn't compare to anything in her life, though reality hurt more and more when she would wake up alone with the feeling of abandonment and utter loneliness filling her heart. She never questioned if the dream meant anything, she believed it did. She believed that it meant 'someone' was out there waiting for her, searching for her, and that one day he would find her and they would remain together forever.
With a resigned sigh she threw off her blankets and climbed from her bed. Time to face reality, shower, get dressed, and head in to work. Who knows, maybe today would be the day he would find her, and tomorrow she would wake up with her heart filled with contentment just like in her dream. After dressing for the day, she grab a slice of toast, her cup of coffee, her car keys and bag, and headed off to work.
"Sarah," Melinda Marks, the office manager, addressed as soon as she was through the door. "Can I see you in my office as soon as you get settled at your desk?"
"Sure," Sarah replied casually, pausing only briefly as she continued towards her desk. Melinda wasn't just Sarah's boss, she'd become a friend as well, and being called into her office at any given moment was never anything to raise a brow about. After putting her bag and light jacket by her desk, she entered the glass office without any worries whatsoever.
"Close that," Melinda directed pleasantly, jutting her chin towards the door. Sarah complied then proceeded to help herself to a nice, fat, overly stuffed jelly donut from the box on top of a filing cabinet before sitting down across from her boss. "Sarah," Melinda addressed heavily with more than a little bit of unease.
"What?" Sarah asked cautiously, eyeing the woman warily with jelly stuck on her fingertips. "I'm not fired or something, am I?" she joked with a nervous chuckle.
"Oh gracious, no!" Melinda replied with a relaxed laughed, leaning back in her chair while taking a deep breath. "Was I that uptight to give you 'that' impression?" Sarah nodded mutely, slowly chewing her donut. "Sorry," Melinda smiled and took another deep breath. "I need you to expand your job description. As you know, we've been surveying an area in Montana for the past four years. And, uhm… something happened… and…" Melinda paused, to collect her thoughts of how to approach Sarah with her request. "Ah, hell," she suddenly expelled with self irritation. "Sarah, I want you to reschedule your vacation and go to Montana."
"You're kidding me?" Sarah questioned deadpan, licking powdered sugar from around her lips. "First of all, I've been planning this trip for three months, and you know it," Sarah elaborated, putting the remainder of the donut on the desk with a napkin. "Second of all, I have no field experience, why are you asking 'me' to do this?"
"Technically," Melinda stressed, holding Sarah's eye contact directly. "You don't have 'physical' field experience. But, you have experience in this field."
Sarah's entire countenance hardened at the answer given her. "I confided in you with that as a friend, Melinda. Don't pull strings like this, not for this job, not as my boss, please, just don't…"
"Sarah," Melinda interrupted, leaning half over the desk. "I never told a soul about the things you've told me about goblins and all that. You have no idea what I had to go through to convince the higher ups to agree to let an office assistant go out in the field like this. But, I'm doing this more for you than the research team. I know you've been searching for … 'something' or 'someone' every time you go on one of your trips."
"That has nothing…"
"Let me finish," Melinda interrupted. "Your trip to Bermuda seemed normal. Your vacation in Ireland was no brow raiser, either. But, the four day sprints to New Orleans, Vegas, Maine, and then Colorado got my attention. Sarah, you come back looking so desolate each time you travel that I started my own search." She sat back in her chair to continue. "Don't be mad at me, but, I compared your trips to team outposts, and I don't think it was coincidence that every time one of our outposts thought they found something, you put in for some time off within two weeks and went to that exact place.
"But, that wasn't enough, was it?" Melinda asked rhetorically. "You weren't finding what you wanted to see, and I think this is your chance. I want you to go with the team first hand, when all the proverbial shit hits the fan, and see what you can find. Because, I can't take watching you go through the motions of trying to shake that 'lost' look you always have lingering in your eyes when you return."
"I didn't realize it was so obvious." Sarah responded. "I've been searching for something I'm not even sure exists, Mel." She shook her head to block out the mental images in her mind of a man with long blonde hair and captivating eyes. "What's going on in Montana that you think I might be interested?" Sarah asked tight lipped.
Melinda breathed deeply, leaned further back in her chair with remorse etched on her fair features. "Well, the only human resource we have is a local man who lives in a cabin a few miles from our sight, and he's completely out of his mind. Or so everyone thinks, anyway," she added suggestively and sat upright in her chair once more. Taking hold of a folder on her desk, she removed an enlarged photograph and handed it to Sarah. "He claims that goblins run wild in the woods, which is ridiculous, right?" Melinda quipped rhetorically. "That picture was taken by a deer camera that was smashed to bits two days ago. The film was strewn all over the ground, only that one frame had been salvaged. Up to the point of seeing that picture we were convinced it was the loony old man sabotaging our sight, but… apparently it's not."
Sarah stared at the crisp, clear black and white image of a goblin in the photograph, not even realizing that she hadn't blinked or breathed since her eyes beheld it. After all these years she had proof. It was solid, inexplicit proof that goblins really did exist. That she hadn't dreamed that entire adventure. That she really had traveled to a different land, met different creatures, saved her brother, and… . The harrowing breath that finally forced its why through Sarah's lungs sounded shaken and not entirely normal.
"Seventeen years is a long time to believe in something no one could prove, Sarah," Melinda stated softly, delicately, and with inner passion. "That's why I want you to go out in the field. It's just not to give us answers, but to give you answers, too."
Sarah raised her watery eyes to meet Mel's gaze and took a deep, resolved breath. "When do I leave?"
XxXxX
"We have returned, your Majesty," Dink, the head guard of the goblins announced upon entering the throne room.
Jareth righted himself in his chair at gaining an audience, placing both feet on the floor in front of him. "Where you able to destroy their equipment?" he questioned in an even tone.
"Yes, your Majesty," the goblin replied with a reverent bow of his head. "We made sure that everything they put in the forest was broken. But, I don't think it's going to make them stay away."
"No, Dink, I don't believe it will," Jareth responded in a resigned, sad tone. Rising to his feet he briefly cracked his stiff back, then stepped down from his throne. "I fear it's time for me to get involved personally," he informed his goblin. "I've learned that mortals can be persistent, if nothing else," he continued saying as he strode from the hall. "I must seal off the portal. They're getting too close to discovering its power, and that, I'm afraid, would be the end to us all."
"But, your Majesty," Dink countered respectively, turning to face his king's retreating back. "It's the last portal we have to the Aboveground."
Jareth paused his strides, his back visibly becoming rigid as his head raised proudly. "I'm more than aware of that, Dink," he replied in a tight, emotional voice. "I have no other alternative." He half turned to face his subjects. "Their world is far too destructive," he explained. "They would invade this kingdom, and every other kingdom in this realm, by the thousands with weapons and force. We would be forced to use our magic against them, and I can't allow that to happen." He lowered his gaze to one side, to unseeingly stare at the floor. "Either way we're facing the destruction of our realm." He raised saddened eyes to look upon his head guard. "At least by sealing off the portal our magic won't be tainted with the darkness. Which, is by far, a worse fate then simply fading from existence."
The Goblin King turned once more and left his throne room. Ever since the girl beat his labyrinth, said her words, and was returned to the Aboveground with her sibling the portals between the realms had to be sealed off. One by one they had been discovered by the mortals, causing more than one accidental invasion into his kingdom. Luckily those invasions had specifically been by chance and Jareth had been able to simply send them back to their own realm without them remembering what had happened to them before sealing off the portal. But, as time wore on, it was necessary to seal off portal after portal for more reasons than Jareth could count.
The mortal's technology had advanced enough to pinpoint directly to the portals as anomalies with excess energy readings on their machines. The sky portals had been accidentally found by the growing number of aircrafts flying in the skies of the Aboveground. The oceans were now littered with ships and boats so great in number it was near impossible to keep track of them all. Hundreds, if not thousands, of mortals had transported into his realm, into his very kingdom, by accident since he'd lost his power over one single girl.
"Sarah," he whispered to himself in a voice filled with loneliness and despair. "If only you had accepted me. If only I had shown you more kindness. If only…"
"Your Majesty!" Dink cried out in alarm a mere moment later, racing towards his king on urgent feet. "Your Majesty, we have a problem!"
"What is it, Dink?" he questioned disheartened as he turned to face the goblin.
"We were caught, your Majesty!" Dink explained, pausing to catch his breath. "I just received word that we missed something!" he continued with breathless honesty. He took two more deep breaths, then informed his king of the bad news. "They have proof of us, your Majesty. And, they're coming back with more machines."
"It won't matter, Dink," Jareth informed his servant, turning to walk away. "The portal will be sealed off by the time they return to it."
"But… 'she's' coming with them, your Majesty," Dink stated informatively, but not without reservation. "And, it's the last portal in their realm."
Jareth's back went rigid with this new development. There was only one 'she' that Dink would refer to. Only one mortal that Jareth would even consider risking invasion to have her come back to him. He slowly turned around to face his head guard. "How much time do we have?"
"They're preparing to leave as we speak, your Majesty. But, the other mortals will reach the portal within two days unless we keep stalling their progress."
"Well!" Jareth shouted abruptly with urgency. "Then by all means, keep stalling them! Take more guards and protect the portal! Make sure the army is ready in case you need them." Jareth took a long, slow, deep breath as he straightened his back regally. "We wait for her at all cost, Dink. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, your Majesty!" Dink responded with a quick bow before rushing off to do the king's bidding.
XxXxX
"Excuse me, comin' through!"
Sarah stepped to the side from the truck to get out of the way of the guy carrying a large, wooden crate. She quirked a brow curiously when the pick-up sagged under the weight as the slender, red haired man all but dropped the case on the tail gate, chipping off a corner of wood. He didn't look anywhere near strong enough to haul something that big, or that heavy.
"Whew!" the guy breathed, wiping a sweaty brow with his forearm. "Thanks," he stated, facing Sarah. "I would've definitely dropped it if you didn't get out the way in time." He smiled broadly once he'd gotten a good look at Sarah and changed his demeanor to a flirtatious style. "You're the princess, ain't chya?" he asked with an appreciative smile.
"Excuse me?" Sarah quipped dryly with raised brows and an indignant tone. She hadn't been called a princess since her father separated from his second wife, giving Sarah a nice big dose of reality during a horrible divorce and even worse custody battle. By the time it was all over she and her father were lucky to have the house, and visitation rights with Toby.
"Every trip we take to the camp sites there's always one person who's, for the lack of degrees, just along for the ride," the lanky man answered. "We call them the princesses cause they never do any hard work during the entire trip."
"Right," Sarah quipped in a neutral tone, not sure if she'd just been insulted or not. The fact that she was tagging along with this group as 'an advisor' basically put her in the 'princess' category he had just described. However, Sarah herself wasn't one to remain idle while there was work to be done as most 'advisors' were known to do. "Well, I guess I should've left the boxes of rations on the ground with ants crawling all over them instead of putting them in the truck out of harms way, then," she quipped before turning away in a huff.
"Whoa, hold on!" the red haired man called out, rushing forward to catch Sarah by the elbow before she could storm off. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tick you off," he apologized sincerely, letting her go as soon as she stopped and glared back at him balefully. "It's just that the advisors normally don't do anything to help."
"Well, this one does," Sarah all but snapped at him. "Maybe you shouldn't take things for granted so easily. Words can have a bigger effect than you'd think."
"Okay, fair enough," he answered in surrender, dogging her heels as she walked off. "Been awhile since I've been told off by such a pretty thing," he smiled over at her, hustling to get a little ahead to look at her face. "My name's Fred, by the way," he introduced, holding out his hand while walking backwards in front of Sarah. "I'm the one who puts his foot in his mouth all the time. In fact, I usually don't stop until I've gnawed at least up to my knee."
Sarah stopped to look at him more intently. There was something really odd about this guy, his eyes told her that he was hiding something. But, she didn't get the feeling that he was harmful or malevolent so she shook his hand in god faith. "If that was an apology, then I accept. My name's Sarah."
"So, Sarah," Fred voiced undeterred, once again dogging her heels as she started to walk away again. With a small skip he caught up to her side. "You're the one the goblins are going to run in fear from."
Sarah chuckled without humor. "I don't know who you've been talking to, but I think you got me confused with someone else."
"I think you underestimate your gifts, is what I think."
Sarah stopped dead in her tracks. "What did you just say?" she questioned, her eyes hardened with speculation as she looked upon him.
"There's something about you that's just… well, scary," he answered with a casual shrug. "I've already seen it flash twice… uhm, correction… three times in your eyes." Sarah narrowed her eyes dangerously at his comment, causing the man to back up a step. "Hey, I'm not a threat, lady," he surrendered with hands in the air. "I'm on your side. And, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, okay?"
"Just what is it that you think you see flashing in my eyes, Fred?" she questioned in an even tone, advancing upon the man as she spoke. It wasn't the first time that someone had told her that she gave them the creeps, and they had sworn that they had seen 'something' lurking in her eyes sometimes.
It was Fred's turn to chuckle uneasily, licking his lips nervously. "Wow," Fred voiced uncomfortably. "I jumped in the fire with both feet this time, didn't I?" he quipped with a nervous chuckle. "How bout we finish packing the equipment and get on our way, then we can talk more when there's nothing else to pass the time?"
"Alright," Sarah conceded carefully with a nod, knowing that they had less than an hour to finish loading the vehicles. "But, I'm watching you, Fred. You just managed to do something that nobody's done in a very long time."
"Wha… what's that?" Fred asked warily.
Sarah stepped abreast with the tall, slender man and stared him squarely in his eyes. "You make the hairs on the back of my neck hackle. And that's only happened to me once before in my entire life." She squared her shoulders and shifted her weight to appear more menacing as she continued. "You better be ready to answer some serious questions, Fred. Or you're going to find yourself left behind on the side of the road."
Fred let out his breath after she walked away from him. Glancing around he made sure no one was paying attention to him, then slipped out of sight to the back of the storage building. He must've been out of his head for thinking this was going to be easy. Sarah Williams had been formidable enough when she was only fifteen, thinking she wouldn't change much in seventeen years had definitely been the understatement of a lifetime. Fred pulled out a small cosmetic mirror from his pocket, looked over his shoulder once more to make sure he wasn't being watched, and flipped open the case to stare into his own eyes until they changed to a fiery red.
"Dink, we have a problem."
XxXxX
The small caravan pulled into a road side diner and gas station within twenty miles from their destination. After their flight from Minnesota to Montana, the survey team had doubled the truck loads so that only three vehicles were needed instead of the five they had taken to the airport. Stepping outside the diner after grabbing something to eat, Sarah joined a couple of older men at the tailgate of one of the supply trucks.
"Is something wrong?" she asked congenially.
"No," one of the lead scientists, Marcus, answered, scratching his balding head thoughtfully.
"Yes," the other scientist, Danville, contradicted airily. "Some jackass at the airport nicked a corner off the crate for the fluctuation equipment," he explained. "And now it teeters with every bump and turn we make."
"And, this is bad, why?" Sarah prompted curiously, recognizing the crate as being the one Fred had loaded up at the storage facilities.
"Because, it's a very delicate piece of equipment," Danville answered impatiently. "And, if it gets knocked around too much then it can malfunction and we won't get accurate readings. Then this entire trip would be for nothing."
"So, why don't you just stick something under the crate so it doesn't teeter," Sarah stated with a shrug.
The men chuckled softly, humoring Sarah with politeness. "Yea, we'll get right on that," Marcus replied sarcastically. "In case you haven't noticed we're not exactly in supply central." The man spread his arms wide as emphasis to their isolated location.
"Don't mind him," Danville man stated, stepping closer to Sarah. "He's always cynical. The truth is, we can't find anything that would fit under it without making it a big project. It weighs far too much to simply lift it up and replace the broken piece of wood. Not to mention it being in the tight confines of the truck where there's absolutely no room for leverage whatsoever."
"Maybe you're just not looking in the right places," Sarah quipped with a knowing grin. "I might be able to help. I'll be right back," she told them with confidence, venturing off toward the diner, leaving the two men to look after her with frowns of confusion.
Entering the diner, Sarah found Fred seated on a stool at the end of the counter wolfing down a plateful of food. "Do you honestly think that by avoiding me you can get away with not answering my questions?" Sarah asked, coming to stand next to him at the counter while he quickly finished his meal.
"We haven't had any free time that I'm aware of," he answered airily, focusing his attention to his meal to deliberately avoid her eye contact. He hadn't expected Sarah to be suspicious of him as quickly as she had. His orders were to protect her while delaying the convoy until the area around the portal was secured by the king without telling her much of anything before hand. Fred was certain that this seemed to be an easy task from his majesty's perspective. However, his majesty wasn't the one with the lady breathing down his neck for answers, now was he.
"No, I guess we haven't," she stated agreeably, even though she knew the comment to be an excuse. There had been plenty of time while on the plane for them to talk, except Fred had remained in the back with the equipment crew during the entire flight. And then, once they were in route out to the sight, he had conveniently chosen to ride in the utility van instead of the SUV with the rest of the team. Looking over the counter as the waitress drew near, Sarah put on a friendly smile for the woman. "Would you happen to have a phonebook, by any chance?"
"Sure do, Hon," the woman replied appeasingly, reaching down under the counter. "It's outdated, and has definitely seen better days," she added as she placed a ripped, beaten, stained, phonebook on the countertop. "We use them for the kids as booster seats."
"May I keep this one?" Sarah asked with a smile. "We have something in the truck that needs leveling, and those men out there can't seem to figure out how to fix that problem."
"Be my guest, Sugar," the woman replied with gusto. "You go show em a thing or two!"
"Thank you," Sarah replied with a genuine smile, her eyes alit with accomplishment as she took the phonebook in hand. "I'll do just that."
"They won't appreciate you interfering," Fred warned lightly from over his shoulder. "Those two have been in this line of work longer than you've been born. They like figuring out their own problems."
"Well," Sarah quipped in an even tone from over her shoulder. "We'll find out soon enough how much they appreciate my interference, now won't we?"
Fred glanced further over his shoulder as Sarah pushed through the double glass doors to leave. "How she goes through life thinking she's always right is beyond me," Fred murmured under his breath, turning his attention back to his plate.
"Sometimes that's all it takes," the waitress remarked, refilling Fred's glass of iced tea. "A positive attitude can get you further than you think. And, most of the time, what do you have to lose by trying?"
Fred bowed his head after watching the woman make her way to the other end of the counter to wait on someone else. 'Oh, I don't know,' he mused to himself, staring at the ice cubes swirling in the glass. 'An arm. A leg, …my head.'
As it turned out, Sarah's contribution to fix the teetering crate had been more than appreciated. Shoving the torn phonebook under the corner of the crate, they were able to secure it to everyone's satisfaction, leaving two cynical scientists to walk away with happy grins on their usually smug features. Having that dilemma solved the team loaded up to head out, anxious to get to the sight before it got too late.
Fred downed his glass of iced tea before wandering off towards the bathroom, having no idea that the woman he was supposed keep an eye on had successfully solved the problem that he himself had created to delay the entourage to their destination. A few minutes later he stepped outside just in time to witness the small caravan rumbling down the road, leaving him behind.
"Hey!" Fred yelled frantically, waving his arms in the air over his head in hope that someone caught the motion through a side view mirror as he ran after the last truck. "Hey! Wait!"
His efforts were to no avail as the tailgate of the last truck rumbled around the bend of the road. Frantically, he looked around for something, anything, that he could use to catch up with the group when his eyes befell an old rusted bicycle leaning against the side of a shed near the dumpsters. Racing across the parking lot, he grabbed the rusted metal handlebars and pulled the bike into the light on the telephone pole.
The seat was missing completely, one pedal was nothing more than a metal stump, the tires were deflated strips of rubber sagging on broken spoked wheel-rims, and the chain had erosion literally dripping from it. Glancing around his surroundings, Fred found no one watching him and turned his focus back to the bike. With his hand hovered in the air over the bicycle he glided his palm from the front rim to the rear wheel, watching as the bike magically lost its decayed state as though it rewound back in time until it was ride-able again.
With the seat and one pedal still missing, the bicycle was otherwise fully functional within a few short seconds. Swinging a leg over the middle bar, Fred started peddling as fast as he could to catch up. 'How much trouble could she possibly afford you?' The Goblin King had asked haughtily when Fred balked at the command to watch Sarah from afar. 'You simply disguise yourself to appear as a mortal human, and she will never know your true identity.'
"Easy for you to say," Fred grumbled between grit teeth at the reminder of that conversation, pushing hard to turn the wheels of the bicycle along the semi-dirt road. "You always did underestimate her!"
XxXxX
Marcus caught sight of Fred peddling frantically behind the truck, yelling and waving for them to stop as he tried to catch up. "Looks like we forgot someone," he snickered over at the driver, causing the driver to check his side view mirror. With a chuckle of his own, the driver sped the truck up some, closing the space between himself and the SUV. "This is hilarious," he laughed. "Look at him pedal!" The man made Fred peddle hard for the better part of four miles before finally pulling over to let him catch up to the truck.
"Now what?" the driver of the SUV exclaimed, noticing the utility van slowing down to a stop behind them. "Hey, Princess," the driver addressed with an amused chuckle over his shoulder towards Sarah who sat comfortably in a bucket seat in the back. "Didn't you mention to that lanky kid that we were heading out while you were in the diner?"
"My name's Sarah," she responded with a hint of curtness, then smoothed her features to give an innocent expression. "And, I wasn't aware that gathering the troops was part of my job description. Why?"
"The damn fool missed the departure and is pedaling a bike to catch up," the driver chuckled with humor, now knowing why the utility truck had been speeding up and slowing down so much as they traveled the fairly straight road they were on. "All he had to do was use the walkie and we would've stopped for him!"
"Oh," Sarah voiced with absent mindedness as she reached down into her backpack. "This walkie?" she asked, showing the others the hand held transmitter. "I thought someone just forgot it, and left it on the counter in the diner. I took it to give back to its owner once we made camp."
"You didn't realize that it belonged to the red head?" one of the crew members seated next to her questioned lightly. They'd all seen the skinny guy talking with the princess back at the diner, but no one noticed that he hadn't gotten in the truck before they pulled out.
"I had no idea," Sarah replied with feigned innocence. "Was I supposed to remind him to wash his hands, too?"
The other members of the team chuckled lightly under their breath at her response. Whatever transpired between the two obviously hadn't gone well. "Remind me to never piss you off," the driver laughed, pulling back onto the road after seeing Fred safely inside the utility truck, bicycle and all.
XxXxX
"Jasper," Commander Daniel Banks barked in a gruff tone, hoping he got the right name with the right soldier. He was, hopefully, addressing James Jasper Banks of no relation to himself, not to be confused with JJ Hawkes, who was not to be confused with Horace 'Hawk' Tumbles. Sometimes, being part of a Special Service Unit became a tricky thing when all the 'nicknames' people acquired over their years of service ended up in one group. "Get the men to put the equipment over here," he ordered directly, pointing to a specific area. "Looks like this is the spot we're looking for."
Surveying the area of destruction from the science team who had been there to collect data, Daniels was correct in his assumption that they had found the right place. "Post eyes on the perimeters," he continued to order. "we're not letting that crazy son of a bitch get within five hundred yards of our camp." But, Daniels' assumption that the old coot living in these parts had anything to do with this mess was sorely wrong, as he was about to find out very soon.
XxXxX
"Your Majesty," Dink addressed reverently, interrupting Jareth from his scrying. "They reached the portal."
"Yes, I can see that, Dink," Jareth answered, lowering the crystal from his face to look gravely upon his army commander. "How close is she?" he asked, his expression strained and hardened in order to keep face before his servant.
"Too close, your Majesty," Dink replied with regret in his eyes. "The Fiery was unable to delay her group as he had planned. She is suspicious of him and sabotaged his efforts."
The king grimaced, but not without a touch of admiration. "So, she is still sensitive to our magic," he mused aloud. He raised his face upward, closing his eyes to hide the inner emotions that ran rampant within him. "If only I'd known sooner," he whispered inaudibly, making Dink strain his hearing in an attempt to catch his sovereigns words only to miss what was obviously not meant for him to hear.
"What is your command, your Majesty? What should we do with her arriving too soon?"
With a deep, cleansing breath Jareth squared his shoulders and opened his eyes. "We defend the portal as planned, Dink. It cannot be discovered at any cost," he paused the span of a heartbeat before continuing. "I cannot risk my kingdom for her," he added, seemingly telling himself out loud what he didn't want to hear. "Tell the army…" he paused again with heartfelt reluctance. "tell the army to spare no one who gets too close."
Dink saluted his king with understanding and turned to carry out his orders as Jareth closed his eyes against what his heart told him was the wrong thing to do. Raising the crystal to his eyes once more, Jareth observed the mortal military unit as they defended themselves against his army of goblins. "If only we had more time," he whispered, closing his eyes to the tears that threatened to fall from behind his lids.
XxXxX
The entourage slowly meandered its way in the dark towards the designated spot on the map. Fred's efforts to stall the scientists had failed, the last attempt to magically blow out a tire on the utility truck had left him sorely dismayed when the driver stated they could carry on without it since the double wheel on the same axel would support the truck well enough to get to the camp.
With the SUV in front, carrying Sarah as a passenger, Fred wasn't willing to risk her injury by using magic on that vehicle to stop it, and so they continued onward through the forest in the dark. Reaching their destination everyone got out of the vehicles with more than a little reluctance at what the high beamed headlights of the trucks showed them. Someone had been there since their last team, and it appeared to have been recently. Gingerly touching the remains of broken equipment, and toeing the remnants of shredded camping gear, the scientific team looked at each other with bewilderment.
"What happened here?" Sarah asked, being the only one bold enough to voice what was on everyone's mind.
"The same thing that always happens when someone comes out to this spot," the balding scientist answered with cautious reserve. He glanced warily at the tree line surrounding them. "Do we have any weapons with us? Does anyone know how to use them?"
"This wasn't done by some old coot in a cabin chasing off trespassers," one of the drivers remarked.
"No, it wasn't," one of the supply men agreed, lifting a backpack from the ground by the strap with a heavy stick. "Whoever these people were, they were military."
"Military?" the older scientist remarked incredulously. "Then, where the hell are they?"
"Sarah," Fred addressed quietly, coming up behind her in the dark. "You have to leave here, now, or you'll get hurt."
"I think I've had about enough of your bullshit, Fred," she remarked irritably. "What happened here? Did you do this?"
"I was with your team, and you know it. I can't be in two places at once."
"Then, you better start talking," she demanded with arms crossed over her chest. "I know that you're not what you seem to be. So, tell me what you're doing here."
Fred grabbed her by the elbow and ushered her to a more isolated spot so they weren't overheard. "The portal must be protected, Sarah," he told her in hushed tones. "At all cost, these people can't find it. Do you understand?" he stressed, yanking on her arm. "At 'all' cost, Sarah."
"It was you," she commented with realization, looking up into his eyes in the darkness. "You've been trying to sabotage this trip the entire way." She pulled her arm free from his grasp. "The brake lines that failed on the truck going to the airport, the equipment that almost fell off the lift when they loaded it to the plane, the crate being unbalanced, the flat tire… it was all you, wasn't it?"
"My magic is limited here, and I didn't want anyone getting hurt, especially you. But, yea, it was me."
Suddenly the surrounding forest came to life with eerie noises, human shouting, and gunfire. Men wearing camouflage uniforms appeared out of the forest, running backwards while firing shots into the forest. "Evacuate!" a man shouted over his shoulder in a commanding voice. "This area is not secure! I repeat, this area is NOT secure! Get the hell out of here! We are under attack!"
"Sarah, run!" Fred urged forcibly. He twisted her around to face the woods with his hands on her shoulders and gave her a firm shove. "Get away from all this equipment, and don't come out until sunrise!"
Sarah caught her balance after stumbling a few steps and turned around to argue with him when something lurched into the air from behind the trees. Standing stock still, Sarah witnessed a dark gray mass fling itself into the air to land squarely on Fred's chest, a metal weapon of some sort slashed through the air towards his throat. Before she could even think of crying out on Fred's behalf he grabbed the small creature and flung it from his body with more strength than anyone would've guessed he possessed.
"I said, run!" he shouted at her venomously with red glowing eyes. His hair suddenly became frayed and wild all over his head, face and neck before his entire body transformed into something Sarah had hoped to never see again. A Fiery from the Underground. With a roar and a cackle Fred shook his entire body free of the restricting human clothes, then focused his attention on Sarah one last time. "You don't listen very well, do you?" he shouted at her, and threw a fireball at her feet to get her moving. "RUN!"
Not needing any more spurring, Sarah turned tail and ran into the forest, blindly pushing through bushes and ducking under branches in her flight. Her foot became snared in a thicket of vines, causing her to reach out to grab a sapling to prevent herself from falling only to trip over the roots of a larger tree. Stumbling and staggering, she finally broke free of her entanglement only to come face to face with several dark gray creatures.
Goblins. Live and in person. She'd been searching for them for years, only these weren't anything like the ones she remembered from her experience as a teen. These goblins were hardened and frightfully angry looking with sharp weapons and full armor covering their grotesque forms. Dodging to the left, she ran around a huge tree trunk in an attempt to get away.
"Not her!"
Sarah heard the shouted warning as she fled with all her strength and dexterity. The voice sounded like Fred's, accompanied with what could have been another fireball striking goblin armor. But, Sarah wasn't going to stop to find out if she was safe, she ran faster, harder, tripping and stumbling so much that she wondered if she was really getting away at all. And then she saw it, a shimmering light, just ahead of her glowing from between two trees. Without any thought of what it could be, or who might be behind the light, she ran towards it with renewed hope of being safe.
"Protect the portal!" a grovelly voice shouted from behind her, accompanied by multiple shuffling sounds through the underbrush.
"Sarah, Don't stop! RUN!"
'Fred.' Sarah twisted her upper body to look over her shoulder. It was Fred urging her to keep going. He was trying to help her! But, with her focus behind her she tripped and fell to the ground just as a barrage of gun fire streamed over her head. She crawled on her belly, terrified of getting caught by anything at that point, especially a bullet. Everything was happening so fast! Men were shooting at anything that moved, goblins were attacking from every direction. But, the shimmering light was only a few feet away, and Fred was yelling for her to go… GO! She shimmied herself along the ground using her elbows and legs to stay as low as possible. Tears streaked her face as she cried in fear for her life.
Sarah heard something crashing through the forest behind her, heading her way. With Fred's shouts sounding further away she knew it wasn't him coming to help and reach out to grab the first thing that fit in her palm, a pinecone. Rolling to her back with her head up she saw a human shape break through some trees and threw her weapon with no regard of who she was throwing it at. The sound of an oath muttered in anger had Sarah reaching for another pinecone. She threw that one with the same accuracy as the first, but it wasn't stopping her assailant.
Scrambling to her knees she hustled faster towards the shimmering light, grabbing a pinecone in each hand as she went along. Pausing only briefly she twisted sideways and let loose her missile only to find empty space behind her. Frantically, she got to her feet and started to run, the shimmering light between the trees her only focus. She was a mere foot away from her destination when the entire forest suddenly became deafeningly quiet.
Bringing herself up short, she froze one step away from the shimmering light. Slowly, with fearfully hesitation, she turned around to see what had made everything go silent all at once, only to be forcibly grabbed by strong restraining hands. Sarah screamed and lashed out instinctively as her assailant struggled to re-capture her flailing arms and abusive hands. But, he was stronger, taller, and more prone to combat than she was. Within seconds the wind was knocked from her lungs as her back was slammed against the trunk of a sturdy tree, her arms painfully wrapped around her own back with vice-like grips at her wrists.
"Please, don't," she cried, unable to finish her plea as she looked up at her capture's face. The breath was knocked from her for a second time, though not from physical force, but from utter shock. She'd been searching for him for so long that she never thought about what she would do, or say, if she ever actually found him. Without having anything in mind, she simply stared at him with awe struck shock.
Jareth was angry as all hell at nothing going as planned. The mortal military unit had proved themselves difficult targets at best, as well as being exceptional shots with their weapons despite the darkness. With at least fifteen of his goblins injured, and the Fiery setting everything on fire, he had no idea who he'd prevented from entering his portal until she cried out.
'It's Sarah.' His brain registered in the midst of his anger. He released her immediately, letting his arms fall to his side while taking half a step back to put some space between them. Time seemed to stand still around them as they simply stared at one another, their expressions mirrored in each other's astonished eyes. Slowly, Sarah let her unbound arms drop from behind her back to hug herself, babying her right arm as a dull thud of pain registered vaguely in her mind as she stared up at the man before her.
"Sit down," he commanded firmly, pointing at a huge outcrop of roots from the tree. "You're hurt. I'll see if I can help heal it."
Saying that Sarah obeyed him would be a drastic exaggeration when in truth she took his advisement to sit down as a substitute for simply passing out. She slid her back along the tree trunk until her bottom touched the oversized root he pointed at.
"Not very smart," Jareth commented in a kinder voice, lifting her wounded arm by the elbow to examine the bloody spot on her forearm. "to go running in the woods in the middle of a war." He pulled out a small piece of pinecone that had somehow imbedded itself into the softness of her flesh, then wiped away the blood. He healed the small cut by rubbing it with the padding of his thumb and an ounce of magic, then moved back from her a pace. "There, all better."
With her mind still in a whirlwind, Sarah rose to her feet to step closer to him. Reaching out a hand towards his face she gently rested her fingertips near a small cut on his cheek. "I did that," she whispered softly, her brain finally starting to work again. "I'm so sorry. I…"
"I was told you were looking for me," he stated directly in an impassive tone, pulling his face away from her gentle touch. "So, now that you've found me, what's next, Sarah?"
She couldn't snap out of her astonished mental state. He was really here, living, breathing, talking to her, …here.
"Sarah," he addressed in a neutral tone to bring her back to herself as she simply stared at him in disbelief.
She blinked in rapid succession, focusing her eyes to his gaze directly. "I've waited so long… searched everywhere, for proof that it had been real, and now you're here. I don't think I was actually expecting to find you… I have nothing to offer. I have nothing to give. I just…" She raised a hand to his face once more, smiling breathlessly when he allowed her to make contact this time. "I just wanted proof."
Jareth held her gaze with a guarded expression. His last hope of having her remain with him fled with each word she uttered. "Then, I'm glad I was able to sate your curiosity before I leave forever."
"What do you mean, leave forever?" she asked, frowning with confusion. Her hand slowly fell to her side unnoticed.
"Our portals are being discovered by your technology, and they must be closed off to this world. This is the last one to my kingdom. Once we overpower the people you've come with, I must close it to protect ourselves from mortal discovery."
"No," she breathed. "You can't. I just found you!"
He scoffed openly at her, turning away to pace a few feet before meeting her gaze once more. He tilted his head slightly to one side, as though listening for something, then addressed Sarah again. "You could always come with me," he suggested in a pleasant tone, closing the distance between them within a few long strides. "Then, we would have forever to 'discover' one another."
"Whoa," she breathed, backing away from him with her hands palm up as he approached. "I don't know… I just wanted proof that I wasn't delusional, not make promises of forever."
"I see," he replied flatly, diverting his gaze off to the side. "Then, I'm truly sorry that I've encountered you again, because I had hoped that your searches for me were for other reasons entirely." He turned his back to her and raised a hand in the air. A crystal appeared within his fingers and began to glow an eerie green color.
"It's not that I wouldn't be interested in getting to know you," she corrected, stepping closer to his back, though refrained from getting too close with the glowing crystal in his hand. "Lord knows nobody else wants me," she added under her breath.
Jareth twisted his upper body around to look at her sharply, the crystal in his hand temporarily forgotten. "Why would no man want you?"
Sarah's eyes widened. "Shit, you heard that?" She licked at suddenly dry lips, diverting her gaze to the forest floor. "I don't know," she shrugged uncomfortably. "I just haven't met anyone who… understands me." She briefly looked over at Jareth, then diverted her eyes again. "Maybe I shouldn't be so picky. It's not like I have anything to offer someone." She raised her gaze again. "It's just that… he hasn't found me," she explained, her eyes shone with an unshed tear, pleading with him to understand. "Does that make sense? To believe that someone is looking for you. To feel it in your bones that… you just haven't met yet. But, when you do, when you finally find each other its going to be so wonderful!"
"And how, may I ask, would you know when you meet this person?" Jareth asked, turning to face her fully, his crystal utterly forgotten and extinguished. "Would there be fireworks in the skies, perhaps? Or, maybe the ground would tremble underfoot. What explosive flight of fancy would allow you to recognize that you've finally, after all this time, found the one who has been just as lost without you?"
She was stunned. Not just by his words but by the emotional display he'd said them with. Shaking her head, she mentally denied that he was speaking of himself in regards to her. "I… I don't know," she answered with great uncertainty. "I would 'just know', wouldn't I?"
"Perhaps you're right," Jareth almost sneered. "You seem too blinded by your own expectations to see clearly what is being offered to you." With his mind spoken, Jareth once again turned his back to her and raised his crystal, hiding his tormented expression from her view.
"I don't understand your animosity towards me," she stated from where she stood, not daring to get any closer to him. "One minute you're gentle and healing a little cut, then you're ripping my head off and spitting down my throat. And, why? Because I won't go back to your kingdom with you?" With each word that passed her lips, her confidence increased. Folding her arms, she continued. "You think I don't know what would happen if I said yes to you? I would get a hole in the wall in your oubliette with you laughing at me for being stupid enough to fall for your trickery after all these years!"
"Is that what you think?" he questioned hotly, again forgetting about the crystal in his hand as he turned on her. "Let me remind you that it was by my command that Hoghead rescued you from my oubliette." He stepped closer to her. "It was by my orders that my goblins captured the timid beast knowing you would rescue and befriend him after Hoghead left you on your own."
"Hoggle," she whispered softly as she backed up as he advanced upon her. "His name was H… Hoggle."
"Tell me that you never figured out why you both ended up in my bog when you kissed him." Jareth stalked closer and closer, eating the ground between them faster than Sarah could back away. "Look me in my eyes, Sarah," he continued in a deadly soft tone as he loomed over her. "And tell me that you honestly were so ignorant to what I truly wanted from you." He abruptly turned away from her in disgust. "By the time you ate the peach I would've done anything you had asked of me just to have you stay in my kingdom." He slowly half turned to look at her from over his shoulder. "I did exactly what you asked when you made it clear that all you wanted was to go home, and be as far from me as possible."
"I know," she whispered in defeat, sagging her body against the nearest tree with her head hung low. "That's part of the reason I've been searching for you, for goblins in general, to prove to myself that it 'was' all real." She raised her eyes to look at him sorrowfully. "But, I never thought about what I would do if I did prove it." She pushed away from the tree to take a step in his direction. "What am I supposed to do, Jareth? You have magic at your fingertips. You're gorgeous, powerful and strong, what woman 'wouldn't' want you? And yet," She slowly shook her head with her eyes filled with regret. "There's no sign for me to say yes. I 'need' that explosive flight of fancy that would tell me beyond a doubt, that you are truly the one I've been waiting for."
"Then, I'm afraid this meeting is near its end, for I cannot, nor will I, create an illusion to convince you. I already failed in my last attempt to deceive you in that manner."
"I'm sorry, Jareth. If only we had more time, then…"
Sarah's words were interrupted by the vocal cries of a bird flying overhead. Raising her face to the sky, Sarah caught a fleeting glimpse of white wings through the canopy of trees as the sun illuminated the sky with predawn light. "I know that cry," she whispered with distraction, and broke into a run to follow the haunting cries from overhead.
With momentary confusion, and curiosity, Jareth followed her through the thick forest of trees, though without half the trouble she encountered as tree roots and living vines moved to clear a path for the king. Sarah gained momentum as another cry was heard from not too far. Pushing through the tree line, Sarah would've fallen headlong into the lake if Jareth hadn't been so close on her heels to grab, and pull her back to solid ground.
"It's her," Sarah whispered with awe, watching the beautiful swan swim to the center of the lake while calling for her mate in alarm. "Oh my god, Jareth. this can't be happening. It was me all along. I was the one who scared her." She turned her face skyward, searching the treetops frantically. "Come on, fellow, where are you?"
"Sarah?" Jareth questioned, looking upon her with a confused frown.
"I've dreamed of this at least once a week since I came back from your kingdom," she informed him in a whispered voice. "He's using himself as a decoy to protect her from danger. She's scared and upset that he's not coming to her fast enough, but we've frightened her even more by crashing through the bushes, and she's going to take off in another minute." Sarah paused in a moment of silence before whispering words of encouragement to the swan who was spreading her wings for flight. "Just be patient. He's coming…I know he is."
"There," Jareth stated, pointing over Sarah's shoulder towards the treetops on the far side of the lake. "There he is."
Tears of joy fell from Sarah's eyes as she witnessed her dreams of the swans come to life. "I think I just got my explosive flight of fancy, Jareth," she whispered, sniffling with emotion at seeing the swans reunited as she turned her chin to her shoulder to look up and back at him. "If you're offer still stands that is."
"After all your conviction, you think I would still have you?" he asked, sounding affronted. "I think you need to choose your words more carefully," he added as he turned away from her to head back towards the portal.
"Jareth wait," she called, trampling through the forest after him. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry! I didn't expect to ever see you again," she explained as she dogged his quick strides. "But, tell me, why would I let myself have feelings for someone I wasn't even sure really existed?" She ducked under a branch that seemed to lower itself in front of her after Jareth walked past. "Dammit, Jareth!" she yelled in frustration, stopping in her tracks. "Give me another chance!"
Without any warning whatsoever Jareth spun on his heels, cupped both hands on each side of her face, and kissed her soundly on the mouth. Sarah's first reaction was to become rigid with shocked surprise, her hands reflexively covered his. He lessened the pressure of his kiss, and moved his lips over hers seductively, taunted her mouth with sweet promise. After a moment he ended the kiss to look down upon her face. Patiently, he waited for her eyes to flutter open, noticing how her cheeks had flushed, and her breathing had become uneven during his kiss.
"Tell me, Sarah, why I should take you with me after all you've said to the contrary."
"Because," she whispered, opening her eyes to look at him. Her breath caught in her throat as the rising sun shone into his face, making his mismatched eyes seem all the more mystical. "I'm stupid for never realizing that the one person I spent most of my life searching for, has always been just a few simple words away." She drew in a haggard breathe while holding his hands fast with hers. "I wish to go home with the one I belong with forever."
Jareth smirked connivingly. "Confident that I am that one, are you?"
"I am now, yes."
He smiled broadly as he pulled his hands from hers and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. "Have I ever mentioned that you have a beautiful voice?"
"No," she replied, slightly baffled as she let him lead her back toward the portal. "I don't think you've ever said that to me."
"Well, it's true," he reiterated, bending forward enough to fully look upon her face. "especially when you say such beautiful words as those."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"Now, why would I make fun of you when you've finally uttered words I've wanted to hear from those pretty lips?" he asked with a devilish smile.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past you," she replied slightly chagrinned.
He laughed outright, pulling her closer to his side as they neared the portal. "You know me so well, Sarah. I 'am' capable of such cruelty," he told her, pausing to take her by the shoulders as he moved to stand in front of her. "But, this is not one of those times."
After gaining a nod of understanding from her, Jareth stepped from her to once again stretch an arm high above his head. A crystal, once again, appeared within his fingertips to glow an eerie green.
"What are you doing?" Sarah asked, remaining where she stood. "That's the third time you've made that thing glow that putrid color."
Jareth smirked, un-phased by her comment. "I'm calling all those from my kingdom to come home," he answered in a pleasant tone. "And, if you would stop distracting me, I would have been done already."
"Oh," she breathed. "Sorry." She stepped back further to give him more room as he manipulated his magic. "What about the science team I came with?" she asked in whispered voice, as though it would be less distracting if she spoke in a softer tone. "And those other men? Were any of them hurt? Or,… worse?"
"They're fine," he replied in a bored tone. "Some of the men sustained minor injuries, but nothing life threatening. They'll all forget what happened last night, once again putting the blame on the poor soul who lives in the cabin not far from here."
"Well, that's not right," she remarked without thinking. "He'll be arrested for things he didn't do. Probably be put in a psych ward since everyone thinks he's crazy."
"He is crazy," Jareth stated with a light chuckle, twisting his upper body to half face her. "He's also someone you know."
"Someone 'I' know?" she repeated quizzically. "From where? Who is he?"
"Sarah, please, hold your tongue," he stated curtly, turning back around to face front. "I must concentrate for another moment. I don't want anyone to be left behind."
"But, I don't see anyone. If you're calling them home, then where are they? I mean this forest was full of goblins just a little while ago, but I'm not seeing one of them now. And where is Fred?"
"Sarah!" Jareth shouted at her impatiently.
"What?" she shouted back at him. "I'm trying to understand things!"
"You want to understand better?" he questioned more cordially. Sarah nodded mutely. "Then, come here, and stand with me."
Her first step was full of hesitation, but the ones that followed were full of curiosity and determination as she walked over to where he stood. Engulfing her within his arms from behind, Jareth stood at her back and lowered the crystal enough so that she could reach it with her fingertips as well. "Place your hand under the crystal as I have it," he instructed her with patience in his tone.
Sarah was subjected to a flash of blinding white light upon contact, then she heard the most beautiful sad song she'd ever heard. Closing her eyes, she felt the song reach deep within her, drawing her to come to the white shimmering light. Her body swayed on her feet, though she wasn't aware of it. Jareth held her steady with his hands on her shoulders, watching her face intently for any possible reaction to the magic she was both absorbing and expelling through his crystal. If there had ever been any doubt in his mind that Sarah was his soul mate, this would squelch it wholeheartedly for only your soul mate had the ability to channel a fae's magic as Sarah was doing at that moment.
"Jareth," she choked, swallowing the tears in the back of her throat. "I can see them. I can feel them answering you. But, why is your song so sad?"
"Because we feed from the dreams and imagination from mortals," he whispered into her ear as he held her close. "Once the portal is closed, we will lose all that magic from this world."
"No," she exclaimed, open eyed and with conviction as she twisted in his arms to face him. "You don't have to close the portal!"
"Yes, I do," he answered sadly, taking his crystal from her hand to raise it high above his head once more. "Since your return to your world, Sarah, I've had more mortals accidentally enter my kingdom than anyone else in the history of the Underground. It requires too much magic, and planning, to rectify those visits. I must close the portal to save my kingdom."
"No, you don't," she insisted. "you just said it yourself! The accidents started happening after I left!" Sarah pressed herself against him, using his body as leverage as she reached up on tippy-toes to grab the crystal from his hand. "Look, Jareth! Look into your own crystal like I just did!"
With great hesitation Jareth did as she suggested, not knowing what it was that she had seen to get her all fired up. Closing his eyes, he focused his full attention into his crystal, and felt himself be moved. He could see all the other portals, the ones he'd spent the past fifteen years closing, completely open and fully functional between his kingdom and this realm with no mortal paying them any attention whatsoever.
"You told me to choose my words carefully, Jareth," she whispered up to him, holding him bodily as he swayed to his own song. "You said my voice was beautiful when I spoke words such as those. Jareth, it was all my fault. I was so intent on finding you that I must have wished it more times than I could count. Only you didn't hear those wishes because…"
"You rejected me and my magic," he finished for her, opening his eyes. "All your incessant traveling only made my portals more accessible to mortals, carrying your wishes along with you." He took a long, deep breath of realization. "That's why only my kingdom was effected."
"I'm sorry," she apologized heartfelt. "I didn't know. I swear I would've never…"
"Shh," he hissed to silence her, his expression bearing a frown. "This is by far not your fault to take blame for. If I had spared one thought as to why you went from one place to the next, I would've realized what you were doing."
"Did you just admit you made a mistake?" she asked cautiously with a devilish grin.
"Hmm," he sounded deep in his throat, dropping his gaze to meet hers fully. "I suppose it could be translated as that. But, let's just keep that between us, shall we?"
"Ooh, shared secrets already," she smirked at him, her eyes gleamed with mischief. "I like that."
"Do you now?" he quipped with interest, a grin of his own firmly on his lips.
"Oh, yes," she nodded, tongue in cheek, sliding her hands up his chest to his broad shoulders. "Cause the more secrets we share with each other, the more we can laugh in the company of others who won't have a clue as to what we are laughing at."
"You, Sarah Williams, can be so cruel," he smiled with affection.
"I've been told that a lot throughout my life," she admitted with a serious frown, then cleared her expression to look up at him coyly. "But, I get the feeling that you find it attractive instead of insulting."
"That's because I understand you better than you ever gave me credit for."
"Excuse me, your Majesty," a masculine voice interrupted from behind Jareth. Jareth half turned to see who addressed him, then side stepped so Sarah could be seen in full view as well. "Oh, Fair Maiden!" the slim man exclaimed upon seeing her, and bent down to one knee in homage.
"Jareth," Sarah whispered, grabbing his arm to prevent him from moving too far from her. "Who is that and why is he bowing to me?" 'yes, fair maiden, if you should ever need us…' "Oh my… is that? Sir Didymus?" she questioned, stepping away from Jareth to approach the other man.
"Tis I, Fair Maiden," he replied, getting to his feet once more. "It is good to see you reunited with our king at last."
"Uhm… yea, it's good to see you too, Sir Didymus."
"I've heard the summons, your Majesty," Sir Didymus addressed to his king. "But, I would like to ask if I may remain here, in this world, if I may, Sire."
"For what reason?" Jareth asked, narrowing one eye with speculation.
"I've lived my long days, you're Majesty," he began to explain. "And, even in this realm I am seen as an older man. But, I've found someone, you're Majesty. Someone who is kind, and treats this valiant knight gently. I ask that I may remain here to be with her till my dying days, Sire."
"Then, your request is granted, my valiant knight. Though my army will be lacking by your absence."
"These old bones still have a good fight or two left in them, Sire! If ever you need me, I shall answer your summons proudly!"
"You're the crazy old coot who lives in the cabin, aren't you?" Sarah asked with dawning.
"Aye, never have I met so many challenges as I've encountered living in these woods. Why just the other day I was…"
"Sir Knight," Jareth interrupted in a firm but pleasant tone. "We grow short of time and must return home. However, I have just been informed of the true cause of the portals being discovered, and so they shall remain open as they have done for over a thousand years."
"That is good news indeed, your Majesty! I would look for you on occasion, then?"
"That you may."
"Goodbye, my Lady," he said with a bow. "I shall see you again as well, I am certain."
"Yes, Sir Didymus, I'm sure we'll meet again," Sarah replied sincerely, if not with slight confusion.
"Why would you leave him here by himself?" Sarah demanded to know, facing Jareth as soon as Sir Didymus had disappeared from sight. "Are you fully aware of…"
"I'm aware of more things than you could possibly understand, Sarah. Don't let my shortsightedness on your behalf be an example to anything else I have power over."
"Oh," she sounded, her ire deflating quickly. "Right. I forgot about that."
"Yes, that much is obvious. Besides that, the knight is far from being alone considering my goblins play in this forest on a regular basis. That being said, I must insist that we return to my kingdom immediately."
"Why? I thought that I opened all the portals again by making that last wish."
"You have. Now it's time for my kingdom to prepare to receive their queen."
"You're not giving me much time to adjust to any of this, are you?"
"And risk you changing your mind? Absolutely not. I want you in my kingdom, in my castle, and…" he paused dramatically with a knowing smirk. "in my bed as soon as magically possible."
"Hey lady!" Fred called out, approaching from within the forest in his natural form. Sarah quickly took a step closer to Jareth's side. "How'd you'd like to let your fingers do some walkin?" He cackled at his own humor, holding out the decrepit phonebook to set it on fire.
Sarah knocked the burning book from his hand, then made a fist and swung at his face. Her fist made contact with his jaw, which knocked his head clean off his shoulders.
"Hey! Ouw! That hurt! Ouw, ouw, ouw!" he cried out as his head bounced along the forest floor.
Jareth suavely stepped passed Sarah to crouch down next to the severed head. "Still playing your games, I see, Fred."
"Hey! Your Majesty!" Fred exclaimed overzealously. "How's it hangin?" His smile immediately left his face after uttering those words. "Oh, not exactly a wise question coming from my current perspective, was it?"
"I'd say, no. But, it's hanging very nicely, thank you," Jareth replied nonplussed as he stood tall. "Are you ready to return home, Fred?"
"Yes, your Majesty. That would be nice, thank you."
"Sarah," he addressed, giving her his attention. She replied by raising her brows curiously. "Be a dear and step to the side, would you?" Sarah stepped to one side as he requested, having an inkling of what he was about to do. Lining his booted foot alongside Fred's head, Jareth let loose a powerful kick towards the portal.
"Score!" Sarah yelled, jumping up and down with her hands in the air. "And the crowd goes wild!" After only bouncing twice, Sarah turned, still in an exaggerated cheerful mood, to find herself suddenly engulfed in strong arms. "Whoa," she uttered, placing both palms on Jareth's chest. "I'm not used to people getting close like this."
"And, I hope you never do."
Sarah huffed nervously. "Why would you say that? I would think you'd want me to get used to being near you."
"You're already used to me," he replied with a smile. "You just haven't realized it yet. But, I find it absolutely enticing how my nearness flusters you so. The result is perfectly arousing."
"You really have a way with words, you that, right," she stated with short breaths, gazing up at him as the sun broke through the canopy of trees to shine down upon them.
He smiled knowingly down at her before his gaze shifted off to a point behind Sarah distractedly. "Hold that thought for a moment."
Sarah turned with him as he stepped away from her. Following his line of sight, she chuckled at seeing Fred's body still wandering around with his arms splayed out trying to find his way. Jareth turned the body by the shoulders to face the portal, and gave it a magical shove, making it whiz straight through the portal without further complications.
"Now, you were saying?" Jareth quipped, returning to her once more.
"I was saying that I think we should leave now before something else comes along to distract you."
"That sounds promising," he grinned, moving around her to throw his arm around her shoulders. "Have I ever mentioned that you have a beautiful voice?" he asked as he lead her towards the portal.
"No, I don't think you've ever said that to me," she grinned up at him.
"Well, I'll have to make it a point to mention that to you once in a while," he replied, holding her close by his side.
"Yes, I'd like that very much," she stated as they stepped through the shimmering light together.
XxXxX
"son of a bitch!" Marcus exclaimed, shaking the device in his hands with frustration. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?"
"What's the matter?" Danville asked, coming up behind Marcus, shaking his own electronic device with a frown. "Damn, mine just stopped working, too."
"No, it didn't stop working," Marcus corrected. "They're still working. They're just not picking up anything to analyze."
Both scientists looked at each other, then around at their surroundings. "What the hell…"
Marcus followed Danville's line of sight as his partner bend over something that was smoking on the ground. "What is it?"
"It's a phonebook. It was set on fire, and recently."
"Aye! Who art thou, tresspassin on my property!" Sir Didymus exclaimed, welding a heavy stick in his hands.
"Ah, shit," Danville exclaimed disgruntled. "Not him again."
~The End~