"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes-and ships-and sealing-wax-
Of cabbages-and kings-
And why the sea is boiling hot-
And whether pigs have wings."
People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.
It's in the rules, and I should warn you... one of us always tells the truth... and one of us always lies. That's a rule to... He always lies.
"The clock is ticking." Jareth chided.
"I've only finished two challenges...I suppose there are three and you're trying to move me along?" I quirked a brow at him. I was feeling resigned, not an altogether familiar feeling, I wondered if he was poisoning my mind somehow.
"Clever girl." He drew a step closer to me, predatory eyes flashing. In a heartbeat we were once more in the throne room. The Doctor sat upon the window sill, he hardly reacted to our sudden appearance. There was still no sign of Clara.
Jareth leered in apparent glee from his throne, he didn't speak or move...he watched. His rapt attention made me uneasy, my skin prickled and my stomach churned. I was so unnerved that it took Clara's unexpected entrance to make me realize that I'd been staring him down.
Crashing through the door of the blue box, Clara came to an abrupt halt when she saw us. With wild eyes she scanned the room, her gaze settled upon the Doctor. Relief flooded her flushed face. Panting, she turned to address his majesty.
"I've made it to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth. Does that mean I win? Can we go?" She spoke briskly.
"You're right, you have. However, Sarah explained the rules of a game she and I played a long time ago. You see, they've changed a bit since then." He smiled amiably.
Clara's face became a blank slate. The Doctor and I said nothing.
"What do you want?" Clara gave him her full attention. She was clever herself, and patient, calculating even...she wouldn't let him get to her quite the way he did me.
"You have one final challenge to complete, but it is a fun one, I assure you." He leaned forward, donning his Cheshire grin.
"Ok. Let's have it then." She shifted her hands to her hips and waited.
"The Doctor will tell you three things. You tell me which is a lie." Jareth canted his head and smiled at the Doctor.
I realized that this could be a very uncomfortable game. Interest peaked, I turned away from Jareth and observed the Doctor and Clara.
"Well, let's get on with it then Doctor." Clara faced her friend without an ounce of trepidation.
"Make sure that your statements are entertaining ones Time Lord." Jareth sneered.
The Doctor looked at Clara with his ancient eyes for only a second before he allowed them to sear into Jareth.
"I'm better off alone." The Doctor drawled. "But, when you travel with me, I do all the talking and you stay close."
"Those are the rules." Clara smirked as she turned back toward Jareth.
"Well?" He smiled pleasantly.
"Rule number one, the Doctor always lies." Clara's eyes danced with mischief.
Jareth's face rearranged itself into a thoughtful expression before he grinned again. "Doctor, do you ever actually follow the rules?" He laughed.
"Good men don't need rules." Clara said plainly. "Now, I've told you what was a lie. We are free to go."
"Yes." Jareth leaned back, satisfied.
Clara moved toward the blue box, but stopped upon realizing that I and the Doctor were not moving.
"Well, come on before he changes his mind." She huffed at us.
"Oh, he won't change his mind. He does follow the rules." Slowly the Doctor approached Jareth. "He's not finished with the girl."
"Woman." I corrected absentmindedly.
"Whatever." The Doctor waved a hand dismissively.
"Correct, Doctor. Sarah and I have another round yet, and she is slowly running out of time." Jareth was a blank page, it was impossible for me to read any emotion in his desultory eyes.
"I'm no villain Doctor." Jareth chuckled at last. "Sarah has nothing to fear from me. She's her own worse enemy, as is your little friend over there. You see, they don't quite understand."
"What don't we understand?" Clara retorted, moving toward the Doctor.
"Anything...everything..." Jareth grinned enigmatically.
"But, you are a villain, you fiend!" I finally found my voice and was tired of being spoken about as if I wasn't in the room.
"What have I done?" He turned those helter-skelter eyes on me.
"You stole Toby from me." I whispered.
"I did what you asked." He replied casually. "Everything I've done, I've done for you."
"But, I didn't mean it. I didn't want it..." I tried to state calmly assuming the role of a fifteen year old girl at the mercy of a fairy-tale yet again. "...not really."
"Orange and blue." The Doctor flashed his angry old eyes at me.
"What?" I was beginning to feel like I was part of some sick pantomime. I was repeating once more.
"You cannot reason with him, not from your moral standpoint. You're on two completely different planes of thought. You are black and white, he is orange and blue. And, to him you are most assuredly in the wrong." The Doctor turned to give Clara a warning look, a look of preparation. "Finish his game woman." He barked at me.
Suddenly, I was the game-master. I felt the weight of it descend upon me.
"Jareth, tell me three things and I will tell you what is a lie." I spoke automatically, thoughtlessly, emotionlessly.
His grin was quick as were his words.
"You asked that the child be taken. I took him." His words were layered with meaning. "I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you."
And then finally he spoke the words I knew were coming, "Your love...your fear of me are inevitable, there is nowhere for you to run now because you ran to me." He was so chaotically beautiful in his righteous indignation. There was joy and hope in those fallen eyes, he would have his due, he would get his revenge.
I swallowed hard, my heart dropped out of my chest, and the breath rushed from my body. "You always tell the truth."
Cheshire grin be damned, he looked more like a crocodile and I was suddenly the villain, I was Captain Hook listening to the Tick Tock of the clock as my old adversary swam about me. The Doctor and Clara were most certainly Wendy and Peter-Pan. He had grabbed her hand and was pulling her into the box.
"There's no more to be done here." He growled as she tried to resist and sent worried glances my way.
"But, Doctor..." She mouthed.
"But, nothing. She's no innocent, she's not a child, let her clean up her own mess. We can do no more here." His words stung, but I knew that they were true. I knew that his concern had been the shifts in time, the disruption they could cause. I was the root of the problem, Jareth had fixed me. I was the villain. I was maybe black and white, and Jareth Orange and Blue, but the Doctor was most certainly neither...he was all Greys.
Vworp Vworp
And they were gone.
oo0oOo0oo
I'm watching him now. He is Time and I am Inevitability. He moves and I watch and wait...I wait...
I feel as if my entire life has led to this point, this fixed mark. Is he to blame, or am I? I don't know. Perhaps, it was all chance. I don't know and I am unraveling as his wayward glance flashes over me. My pulse quickens, and my heart itself begins to tick like a clock in my throat.
"I've been waiting for forever." He sighs, suddenly still.
I don't talk. His will is as strong as mine, his kingdom as great.
Slowly, as though savoring every second of his triumph, he brings his lips to me ear. "You have no power over me."
But, he's wrong...just as I was all those years ago. We are two sides of the same coin, a push and a pull.
I don't mention this to him, I just let him kiss me. His hands are in my hair, his teeth crack me open. It feels both right and wrong, good and bad...maybe I am afraid, but I realize that I love it.
Perhaps I won't always be black and white...maybe I should run...maybe It's a dream.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream —
Lingering in the golden gleam —
Life, what is it but a dream?
Firstly, I want to thank Jalen Strix for introducing me to concept of Orange and Blue morality. (I had to look it up after encountering the term in her writing.)
Secondly, thank you folks who have listened to me complain about things such as writing this story in first person, especially Ellen Weaver and tmwillson3.
Lastly, thank you for reading and reviewing. You're lovely.
All quotes are from The Labyrinth, Through the Looking-Glass, and various episodes of Doctor Who.
And, babewiththepower, I am sorry there was not more lovely-doveyness...
