"Hey, you!" Erin spun. The man in blue had followed her out! She raced across the strange black surface, the metal…blocks? Carriages?...rushing towards her. One skidded right in front of her. Erin felt her breath stop as she waited for it to hit her, but object somehow stopped itself, letting out a loud blaring noise. It was enough to get Erin's limbs moving again, she launched herself over the top the object. She could hear the blue man cursing as another metal object skidded to a stop a handspan from him; she left him behind her as she scrambled into a back alley.

The glare of the lights was less obvious here, and up ahead Erin could see a clearing with trees and grass and no black stuff to sting her feet. Her dress kept ripping—not that it covered much to begin with, but if she kept running for much longer, she would be completely indecent. Erin added an extra spurt of energy as she jumped over the low metal fence with all the ease of a practiced country girl. She landed with a giant rrrrrrrip and winced as the cool night air discovered new patches of uncovered skin. She could hear the sounds of her pursuer close behind her, and, holding her dress for dear life, she dove behind the cover of a bush nearby. Erin could feel her heart returning to normal. Now out of the outlandish surroundings of lights and metal, she could pretend that she was hiding from their neighbor after she had stolen apples from his orchard. This was familiar to her, in its own way.

She heard the man in blue wheezing as he approached the fence. She listened as his footsteps shuffled first one way, then the next, and his disgusted sigh as he left the alleyway. Erin smiled; her first triumph outside the Labyrinth.

The breeze whipped around her, and Erin felt the chill of reality close in on her.

"Alright," she muttered to herself. "You are…essentially naked, you are lost in a place where people poke you with tubes and chase you, you have no food and…you just escaped from fairy tale kingdom where you've been dreaming for God knows how many years. But," she said, examining herself, "I don't seem that much worse for wear. Except for my feet." She scrunched her nose at her dirty, scratched feet. But her little talk seemed to have helped. She hadn't really said anything out loud since she had awakened in the white room, and she spoke mostly to remember how her voice sounded. The Labyrinth had a way of…clouding things. Had she even spoken in the Labyrinth? She closed her eyes her eyes and tried to remember, but it come rushing back too quickly; the swirl of gowns and candlelight threatened to overwhelm her…she felt herself being called back…Look into this crystal, Erin. It will show you your dreams…

"NO!!" Erin yanked herself back to the grass, the bushes, the trees surrounding her. Had she almost been pulled back into the Labyrinth? Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest, but each agonized beat reminded her that she was not there any more. She had freed herself from that place. "I am not going back!" she shouted defiantly the sky.

"Do you mind?" a voice drawled behind her. Erin felt her blood freeze in her veins where it had been pounding moments before. She turned slowly, agonizingly and saw… a booted calf dangling in her face. She tilted her head up. Sitting in the tree was…

"Jareth," she whispered. The world was swaying around her.

"If you're going to collapse, pray do it away from the rhodenderons." The voice continued conversationally. "It would be a terrible bother if you upset the garden fairies around here. I prefer to deal with nasty little buggers as little as possible." He shifted his head slightly, and Erin felt her heart stir again as she realized she was seeing ebon black hair, not silvery blonde and a matching set of grey eyes.

"You're…not Jareth." She said, not a question, but not exactly sure of herself, either.

The man sighed, inspecting his fingernails. "No, I'm not your Jareth, though I rather expect I'm something a good deal worse." He smiled a predatory smile so like Jareth's that Erin wasn't so sure any more. Could Jareth change his appearance?

"How…how would you be worse?" He merely smiled at her again. "Um…do you know if there's someone who could help me?"

"Yes, well, there's usually a relief crew for ragged runaways, but they took the night off tonight."

"Oh, yes," she whispered, embarrassed. She was certain he was making fun of her, but she didn't understand what a relief crew was. Or why they were taking the night off. "I mean, is there…a place…or something…" He was laughing at her, she could feel it. "…or food, at least?" she finished helplessly.

"Let me think; someone who feed a delinquent child with no money and an officer chasing after her?" He was toying with something in his hands, but in the ark she couldn't see what. "There's really only one person within one hundred miles of here who would do such a thing." He smiled at her again. "Me."

"You!" Erin squeaked. She did not want anything to do with this man.

"Yes." His eyes gleamed in the moonlight as his gaze traveled down her body. "I'm sure we can think of…some…form of payment." Erin felt herself blanch. He laughed, and it sent shivers down her spine. "No, no. I won't ravage you. Virginity is overrated. No, I'm much more interested in why you stink of old magic."

"It's not mine. I can't do anything. I was just…under a spell. It was just a spell."

"Yes, well, we'll see. There's enough magic rolling off of you that I can practically bottle it and sell it to the nearest warlock on a street corner. And if it turns out to be too disappointing, I can always dump you back here in the same condition you're in now."

"I think I'll take my chances out there." Erin looked out at the distant lights flickering around them. She didn't trust someone who looked so much like Jareth.

"Really?" Contempt colored his voice now. "You wouldn't last five minutes out there. You hardly lasted your run from the hospital. Do you know what a car is? A sidewalk? Denim?" Erin shook her head. "Well, then, I suggest you take my offer. I guarantee you there won't be anything better coming your way." He scanned her body again, only this time she could feel him weighing and measuring every ounce of her. "At least, not any offers you'd enjoy." Another gust of wind cut through her. Erin gathered herself.

"I want food, clothing, and safe lodging for…three nights. And in return you can…I can tell you about the magic on me."

"Deal." He jumped down and stepped into the light. Erin suddenly realized why he reminded her so much of Jareth. It was because he was fey. She had just made a deal with another fey.