Disclaimer: The Labyrinth and all related material do not belong to me. They belong to Jim Henson and George Lucas. I wish I owned Jareth.

A Family Reunion

Jareth appeared back in the throne room, gently bouncing Conner to stave off the crying. Instead, Conner squealed and clapped his hands.

"E, I, e, I, o!"

"Don't you know anything else?"

He set the babe on his feet. Conner took two toddling steps and fell on his butt. Instead of crying, he crawled away, heading for a goblin that was passed out.

"Probably not a good idea."

Jareth scooped him up again and carried him to the throne. The floor here wasn't the cleanest.

"What was that? You were in the middle of a sentence and you vanished!"

"I was called."

Charlie glared in a manner reminiscent of Kate. Jareth had to laugh. She had all her own mannerisms, and Charlie picked up hers.

"Daddy!"

"Conner!"

Charlie lifted the baby out of Jareth's lap and hugged him. "Daddy was worried about you."

"Mama!"

"Yes, you were with Mama."

"E, I, e, I, o!"

Charlie laughed and wiped a tear away. "I'm so sorry, Conner."

Conner hugged Charlie, both arms around his neck, mumbling.

"I'm sorry I wished you weren't here."

Jareth raised his brows. Kate wasn't wishing away Charlie on a whim. It was in revenge for her baby.

"You know, going after the cubs is a surefire way to get the mama after you. And then you're dead."

"I know."

Charlie closed his eyes and hugged Conner. He could remember one time they were at a family party and Conner was being passed around. There were five minutes when they didn't know where he was and those five minutes he saw Kate at her most frightening.

And her most magnificent.

"Kate would do anything for him, even if it meant harming her extended family."

"What did she do?"

"One of her cousins had set him down and he crawled off. It wouldn't have bothered her if we weren't outside and there weren't big dogs running around. She's not worried about Conner and dogs, but it was just… Big dogs and a tiny baby are not a good combination." Charlie opened his eyes. "Her step-dad's Black Lab was watching over him. It's how we found him.

"But she let her cousin know just how stupid and incompent she was."

"E, I, e, I, o!"

Charlie laughed and set Conner down on his feet. Conner wrapped his hands around his Daddy's pointer fingers and began walking, trying to chase after a chicken.

Jareth watched Charlie and Conner walk around the throne room. The man truly cared about his son. He just knew the best way to hurt Kate was through Conner.

Which was always a bad move.

Jareth conjured a crystal and peered in it. Kate was striding through the tunnels. He had to grin. The woman acted like she owned the place, a Queen.

She was coming to one of the underground towns.

This was going to be interesting.