A/N: I don't own the Labyrinth or any of the characters therein. Somebody much smarter than me does that.

Chapter Two

Sarah looked around her and saw nothing but desert. And, of course, him, Jareth. She felt sick to her stomach. What had she done wrong to end up back here? She wasn't as brave as she used to be. She knew fear now. She was smarter than she used to be, and faster and more inclined to think before she acted. But brazen impulse was what won her the Labyrinth last time – that and unswerving dedication. What was she fighting for now? Her sanity? It was already gone and in three short minutes he'd already wrecked the life she'd built for herself. Damn him. Damn him to hell.

Jareth was watching her, calculating the changes. She was still so young to him. Still so foolish. He wondered what she was thinking, what she dreamed of last night and he wondered how to use it to his advantage. He had been waiting a long time for this rematch. She'd rejected him time and time again. He had warned her not to defy him. He was not jesting when he said it. It was time for Sarah to reap the consequences of her actions. She was a mere girl, a mere mortal and regardless not to be underestimated. This time, Jareth assured himself, he would win. And when he did…

"So what game are we to play this time?" Sarah asked, cutting off Jareth's thoughts. He scowled at her.

"Game? Was my Labyrinth merely a game to you Sarah? Well, I shall make sure that it is not so lenient this time. You will not receive help from your friends this time Sarah. And you will not run the same path. We are half a day's walk from the nearest gate. This is the Desert of Lost Hope. What lives here, Sarah, you must hope to never meet," Jareth said, producing a crystal to dance on his fingertips. Sarah frowned.

"Wait a minute, what are you saying? That I have to run your Labyrinth again? How long do I have? Is my aim still your castle? Or is it too ruined from my last visit?" Sarah asked him. Jareth suppressed a wince at the memory of his beloved city as a pile of rubble. She had learned which of his buttons to press.

"My castle is just fine thank you, and you may see it. In twenty-four hours. You have a day to run the Labyrinth," Jareth said.

"Or what?" Sarah asked him. Jareth looked at her questioningly.

"Well, at this point, you usually issue an 'or else' don't you? Like, I'll never see my baby brother again," Sarah explained, speaking like Jareth was a child. Jareth laughed.

"Oh yes, you are right of course. Or you'll never see your baby brother again," Jareth mimicked. Sarah scowled at him.

"C'mon Jareth, tell me what I'll lose. Tell me what the prize is," Sarah dared him. Jareth grinned wickedly.

"The prize… and give you something to play for? I don't think so, Sarah," Jareth retorted, remembering the Crystal Ballroom. Sarah thought about arguing but decided it would just pander to what he wanted. She didn't want to give him anymore power than he already had.

"If you're my slave, can I not just wish you to let me win?" Sarah asked him tiredly. She really did not want to do this. She wanted to turn around and never see him ever again.

"Every wish will incur a negative reaction equal to the positive action," Jareth said superiorly. Sarah repeated him under her breath.

"So if I wish for three more hours," Sarah began. "I'll get it, but I'll be held up for three hours?" Jareth smiled.

"Such a clever girl. You've got the general idea. So you see, it will do you no good to wish your way out of this one Sarah. You'll simply have to make the best of it," Jareth said. He gestured in the general direction of the gate.

"The gate is that way," he said. "Start walking." And with that, he disappeared.

Sarah stared at the space he used to occupy for a beat. Thank goodness he's gone, she thought to herself as she began walking in the direction he indicated. His arrogant posturing was really starting to piss me off. She kept a steady pace, focusing intently on walking in a straight line. Little voice in her head started trying to speak to her. 'You've already lost everything, why not just give up now?' one said. 'You'll never win,' another chimed in. 'He's stronger, older and smarter than you are,' a third whispered. Sarah shook her head. What had Jareth called this place? The Desert of Lost Hope? More like the Desert of Jareth's Ego, she snorted to herself as she kept walking, blocking all the voices out with a monologue of what she was going to do to Jareth once she caught up with him, and got the sand out of her shoes.

Jareth was waiting for her when she arrived at the gate. He looked bored, but Sarah could tell he was pissed off. She knew she'd made excellent time.

"You made good time, Sarah. But then, you live in fear of me, don't you? You run everyday just in case I make you run the Labyrinth again?" Jareth taunted her. Sarah's anger throbbed through her veins and her eye's flickered.

"My hatred of you spurs me on when I grow weak," she spat at him. Jareth glared at her.

"Do not say things you may live to regret, Sarah," Jareth reminded her. Sarah just scowled at him.

"Can we move this along, you're wasting my time," she said indignantly.

"So you really think you can beat me again, do you? We'll soon find out either way. Have fun Sarah," Jareth tossed at her before disappearing. Sarah suppressed a scream of frustration. How she hated him! That's good, she told herself, use it. Don't let it make you weak, let it make you strong, she told herself. She placed her hands on her hips and looked up at the gates. They were three times her height, the length of her house wide and made of what appeared to be a very heavy metal. And they were very, very overgrown. Now, she said, how am I going to get through here?

Sarah thought back to the last time she'd entered a gate to the Labyrinth. She remembered Hoggle and his little door. She remembered the Goblin King's words. Nothing is as it seems in his Labyrinth, she reminded herself. She looked up and down the gates for clues. There was movement around some of the vines and she saw some fresh prints on some of the joins. She folded her arms over her chest and smiled to herself.

"If you don't open these gates RIGHT NOW, you'll regret it," Sarah yelled.

"Why? Whatchya gonna do 'bout it?" a gruff little voice called out. Sarah's grinned broadened.

"I'll start singing, and you won't like it," Sarah replied.

"Singing? We likes singing. We likes it when the king sings," the voice said.

"I don't sing like the king, you won't like it," Sarah warned him.

"We's not opening these gates for nobody and nothin' sept the king hisself," the voice replied.

"I warned you," Sarah called out. "And once I start I shan't stop till this gates are opened." With that, she started singing 'Somebody to Love.' She couldn't think of anything else off the top of her head. Her singing teacher used to beg her not to sing at school. Part of the reason she hadn't made it in acting was her inability to pick up rhythms in speech properly. Her voice warbled as she got loud her, ridiculously off key and out of time. She closed her eyes and kept bellowing. She was just about to finish it off when she heard movement.

"Wes opens the gate! Wes opens the gate! Stops your singing! Stops it! Wes opens the gate!" the voice was crying out as it fought to open it as quickly as possible. Sarah smiled to herself as the gate opened. She stepped inside and looked at the small goblin who had pulled it open. He really was tragically ugly. She smiled at him anyway.

"Thank you very much," she said to him. Wes looked at her in horror.

"No more singing! Castle's that way," he said pointing. "Just no more singing!" Sarah thanked him again and set off in the direction he'd pointed out. Sometimes, faults were perks.