Disclaimer: I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

Summary: AU "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really want to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

Warning: Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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Three Times

By: Kadasa Mori

Part III – The Result

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Leather glove covering her mouth and restricting air for the much needed scream to release, Sarah panicked. In some corner of her mind she was telling herself that she needed to go beat up Kira for ever telling the stupid ghost story, then Kara and Jason for leaving her by herself, and finally Merlin for not rescuing her and being a lazy dog. She knew she wouldn't ever land a punch on the man who seemed to be trying to suffocate her so he wasn't added.

But back to the suffocating… that was bad yes? Realizing that the only way to get sweet air back into her lungs would be to remove the hand on her face, she extended her nails (which wouldn't help at all really because she was always ripping them off) and embedded them into the glove. She clawed at the hand and he seemed to realize she needed air soon.

"If you promise not to scream I'll let you go…" She nodded and he released his hand. She darted off the bed and raced towards the door letting out a shrill shriek. The door slammed closed in front of her and she grabbed 

the doorknob, trying to open it but to no avail. "I thought you just promised not to scream," he stated coolly, sitting on the edge of her bed, propping himself up with his hands.

"That wasn't a scream," she snapped angrily. "It was a shriek. Now let me go!"

"Oh no dear Sarah," she jumped as he was suddenly leaning against the wall beside her. As she vaulted back, he sent her a cool look. "You released me therefore I need to grant you a favor."

"Favor?" she asked curiously, but still keeping her distance. "Like a rake your lawn for free favor? Or an 'I'll-kill-someone-for-you' favor?"

"I detest manual labor," he stated then sent her a cool look. "But I'm up for killing. Someone in mind?"

"One of my friends," she muttered angrily, "for telling me about you, but otherwise no."

"Ah… well I couldn't kill her anyway. She helped to release me."

Sarah took another step back, even closer to the baseball bat leaning against the dresser. "Oh? Well wouldn't you owe her a favor as well?" She glanced back at him, but he'd disappeared.

The bat tapped her shoulder and she spun. He twirled the bat in his hand. "No. You released me, therefore I only owe you the favor."

"Hm…" She glanced between the bat and the door behind her, wondering how he could move so fast. Well duh… he's a demon thing… He raised an eyebrow as she stared at him. She mentally whacked herself. Less thinking more demanding why he's here.

"Why are you here?"

Smooth Captain Tack…

"I'm here because you summoned me, releasing me from that disgusting prison beyond the mirror." He swung the bat carelessly and her heart leapt into her throat as it raced for a rather breakable vase. At the last minute it disappeared, knocking lightly against the dresser in its original resting place. "And for that I owe you a favor." He paused. "I feel as though we've already covered this…"

"Indeed." Last tactic. Tell him to leave. "Well, I need sleep and you need to go away."

"Hm…"

"Look. If you don't leave I'll-"

"You'll do what?" He grinned cruelly, eyes darkening and she stepped back automatically. "If you've forgotten already, I'm supposed to be eating your heart." He stepped towards her, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. "Add that to the fact that I can make your life a living hell before you blink and I'll assume you won't threaten me anymore." She trembled in what he originally thought was fear but now could see it was repressed anger, eyes narrowed and glaring at him. He glanced over her once then turned on his heel. "Until next time." He waved a hand, the door opening and letting him out.

She scowled at the door. Traitor… Glancing down the hallway she frowned, not seeing him anywhere. Something tapped the back of her head and she spun, finding him smirking down at her. "What?" she asked nervously.

"Forgot one thing."

There was a pounding noise at the back of her brain. She frowned darkly. "And that is?"

"Good night." He placed a finger against the middle of her forehead and pushed gently.

"Sarah! Good god! Wake the hell up!"

Sarah's eyes flashed open and she found Kira standing above her, arms crossed angrily. "I've been trying to call you for an hour! Why are you still in bed?!" Sarah glanced at the clock reading '4.53pm' She looked at the window quickly and found the sun low in the sky.

Kira walked over to her closet, throwing random things out. "Kara called me up and told me you had a bad dream last night. Damn it. You should know better than to listen to my stories Sarah!"

Sarah frowned, trying to piece together her night. She couldn't remember what went in what order. "I…"

"You-" The lost look on her face must've stopped whatever else was coming from the blonde's mouth. "Go get showered and then we'll talk."

Twenty minutes later, Sarah sat at her breakfast bar, staring out the window. Kira set a sandwich in front of her, sitting across the bar with her own. "So… what happened last night?"

"I did it."

Kira raised an eyebrow, biting into her sandwich. "Did what?"

"Called him. The Goblin King."

Kira snorted, almost choking on her sandwich. "Is that why you had nightmares?"

"He was here Kira."

Kira giggled, then spotted the look on her face. "Sarah… you're not serious." Sarah just stared and Kira groaned. "We've gone over this before Sarah. Ghosts and things aren't real. It's just your imagination playing tricks on you.

"No. He was here."

Kira sighed and rubbed her temples. "Sarah. You really need to get rid of this overactive imagination."

Sarah scowled at her. "I'm not lying Kira!!"

"Yeah Kira!" Jason's arms suddenly landed on the blonde's head. "Why would Sarah ever lie about anything?"

"Jason?" Kira asked. "So that means Kara's here too?"

"Yup." She smacked her sister upside the head. "You scared Sarah last night. She was convinced her Goblin King was here."

"Yeah. She's telling me that now."

"He is here!" Sarah shrieked, nearly falling backwards out of her chair. "Turn around and you'll see!"

"Har har," Kira rolled her eyes. "I may be blond but I ain't stupid enough to fall for that trick."

"Yeah!" Jason chirped, tossing a chip into his mouth. "And even if he was here, wouldn't he be trying to eat your heart?"

"And why would I try to do that to my savior?" a cool voice spoke out. Kira, Jason and Kara spun around only to choke (Jason), shriek (Kira and Kara) and back up quickly at the blond haired man leaning against the wall behind them. Jareth smirked.

"Damn it! You're real!" Jason shouted, the first to recover.

Jareth let out a bark of laughter and leaned away from the wall, stepping towards them. Jason stiffened, Kira backing up. "You can't have Sarah!" Kara shouted angrily. Jareth's eyes flashed dangerously but he stopped moving. A blink later he was in front of Kara, a finger under her jaw.

"Sarah wished for me," he murmured. "You can't do anything." With that he took a step back, disappearing again. Sarah yelped as he appeared behind her. "Well… what's for dinner?"

She blinked then her eye twitched. "Get your own food!" she shouted, spinning around and ignoring him.

He stepped in front of her. "It would not be polite."

"I don't care. Get your own food and stop bothering me. I'm talking with my friends."

"Tell your friends to go away. I'm hungry."

She growled. "This is my house. I'll do as I please. Now step aside so I may speak with my friends." When he didn't move she growled. "Now."

"Want to know why you slept all day?" he asked suddenly.

She blinked. "Huh?"

"You slept all day Sarah?" Jason asked, munching chips and looking between the two, totally at ease. Kira and Kara were still wary, Kara's hands inching towards the metal pot nearby.

Jareth disappeared, reappearing in front of the fridge. "You slept all day because you used so much power getting me here."

"I used power?" Sarah asked in slight shock. "I don't have power!"

Jareth pulled out a package of cheese, cocking his head. "Sure you do." He glanced at Merlin who was sitting beside him wagging. "You just didn't know it till now." He pulled out a piece of cheese and handed it to the dog.

"Don't feed him!" Sarah snapped, hurrying around her no-longer-afraid-now-amused-at-her-expense friends and bumping him away from the fridge. "He's on a diet!"

Jareth raised an eyebrow, then leaned around her and looked at the dog. "Poor thing."

She snatched the cheese back from him and opened the freezer. "Want fish sticks?"

"Fish… sticks?"

"That's what you're getting." She pulled out the box, dropped the entire bag into the toaster oven and turned it on high.

Jareth leaned around her, watching it glow. "What is that thing?"

"It's a toaster oven. It cooks your food."

"Fascinating."

She turned and scowled at the sarcastic remark but his eyes hadn't left the machine and there was no smirk on his face. "You really didn't know what it was?"

He glanced at her then sighed irritably, leaning against the counter. "My dear. I've been stuck in that prison for about nine hundred years. Humankind has changed quite drastically since I've last been here."

"Nine hundred?" Jason asked incredulously. "Dude! Are you immortal?"

"No. I'm fae. We live long lives."

"Obviously," Kara said dryly, stealing the bag of chips Jason held, ignoring his wail. "But what's a fae?"

"Think elf but in a higher position in the government."

"You have a government?"

"The Underground isn't so different than the Aboveground where you live. We just don't have contact with the Aboveground."

"Except to eat people's hearts right?" Kira chirped.

Jareth slowly smirked. "Right…"

"How many hearts have you eaten?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yes I would. That's why I asked."

"Fish sticks are done." Sarah grumbled, pulling mitts on and throwing them onto a plate. She held it out to Jareth who raised an eyebrow and carefully took it. "Now, you three-"

"Oh damn!" Kara cried. "Just forgot! We've something to do! Come on Jason! Let's go Kira!"

Kira blinked as Kara pushed Jason out of the kitchen. "I've got nothing to do-"

She grabbed the back of her sister's shirt. "Let's go Kira."

Sarah blinked after them, Jareth watching in amusement, munching on the fish sticks. "You… you're all horrible friends!" she shouted, hurrying after them to the door as they got into the car and drove off. "I hate you all!"

"Bye Sarah!" Jason called, waving out the window as they disappeared.

Sarah shook in silent fury then stomped back into the house, slamming the door. "They were rather odd," Jareth remarked. "Is that why you're so weird?"

"Shut it fairy!"

His eyes narrowed darkly. "Excuse me?"

"Fairy! Fae! Elf! Whatever you are! Shut it and leave me alone!"

He smirked and took a seat on the couch. "No. I don't think I will. I'm quite comfortable you know."

"No I don't know seeing as how I'm not sitting on someone else's couch even though I'm supposedly a different species from another world!"

"Not another world, love. Just another layer."

"Whatever!" She stomped off towards the stairs then stiffened and spun around. "And don't call me that!"

"Whatever you say." He waited until she got far enough away. "Love."

There was a muffled scream and he smirked darkly. Life was gonna be fun for awhile.

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She was staring at him. Jareth scowled, looking out the window. He was started to get annoyed, a tick at his left eyebrow and fingers tapping against his bicep. After a few more minutes, he couldn't take it and turned to her lazily. "What?"

"What happened last night?"

He raised an elegant eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I thought I was going insane. There were all these signs of sleep but I don't recall ever falling asleep…"

He sighed and turning, leaning against the cool glass. "You called me out and I stepped out in time for your friends to appear. Believe it or not you were in the bathroom for about an hour. The time changed because of the power you were using. After those two left, a little after midnight, you went around turning everything off. You went upstairs and turned everything off and fell asleep for a few hours. The dog wanted to go outside so you went downstairs, let him out and sat on the couch to wait, fell asleep, woke up, went upstairs and I spooked you-" he pretended not to see the scowl "-and those two came back because of the dog. They calmed you down and I waited in your room till you came back. We chatted-"

"More like you threatened me…"

He ignored her. "-and you fell back to sleep because of the amount of power calling me took out of you. That girl came back before dinner to yell at you cause you hadn't been answering the phone. That's all that happened."

She frowned. "My brain is so scrambled…"

"That tends to happen."

She looked up sharply. "You've been called before?"

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "More times than I care to admit."

"Then why are you still locked behind the mirror?!"

"Because…" he trailed off. The clock chimed and both turned to it. He stood with a sigh, stretching. "Well. It's eleven and I believe that you should go to sleep. You'll be out once you hit the pillow. Yesterday's sleep wasn't enough to fully recover you."

"What?! I slept for like 16 hours today!"

"Well nearly 20 is needed. So go. Off to bed."

She scowled. "Don't treat me like I'm five!"

"Whatever you say, love. Now off to bed."

"Goblin King! Don't-" He reached out quickly and she yelped as his hand grabbed her arm. The living room disappeared, her bedroom reappearing. "What the hell was that?!"

"That was me being awesome. Now, go to sleep." He turned on his heel and disappeared.

She blinked, suddenly realizing she really had no power over him if he could disappear and suddenly reappear, like someone from Harry Potter. She changed quickly and lay down, asleep before she even knew it happened.

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To all readers and reviewers,

Yes I know. You're all going 'what the hell?!' Well it'll be explained later on. Hopefully… if I remember…

I apologize for the long wait. This was supposed to be up two weeks ago but I've been working like crazy lots so fanfic hath been abandoned for the past few weeks. T.T I weep in sorrow…

So, yeah. The beginning started out all drama-like, but this is a humor fic so it will begin to get more humorous in the upcoming chapters. Jason will rock our socks with funny and Jareth and Sarah will argue like there's no tomorrow.

Till then!

Kadasa Mori

P.S. When I went back through this I realized that while Jareth didn't know what a toaster oven was, he knew what the refrigerator was so as an explanation, he watched Kira get food out of the fridge to make sandwiches so he knew that's where the food came from. Good? Yes? Awesome.