Chapter IX: You Remind Me of the Babe

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

The transcript is by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

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Sarah was preparing another pot of tea. Jareth had been taken by some of Mycroft's goons. Irene had long left 221b Baker Street. It was three in the morning and Jareth had yet to come back. Sarah was uneasy. Mycroft generally informed Sarah if Jareth was going to be long on a case for the "government".

As Sarah put the pot of tea on the table, she heard the front door. She grabbed another mug and set it on the table, preparing Jareth a cup of tea.

"Jareth, was Mr. Umbrella being long-winded again or did you go off to a stag party or something?" Sarah asked jokingly.

Sarah turned around and instantly regretted trying to make a joke. Jareth was standing in the living, his face haggard. His eyes scared her. She had never seen him look so lost.

"Jareth, what happened?" Sarah asked.

Without a word, Jareth walked over to Sarah, fell to his knees, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her stomach. "I need a minute, precious."

Sarah put a hand on Jareth's upper back and the other in his hair. "I will give you all the time you need."

Jareth breathed quietly and stroked Sarah's lower back. Sarah petted Jareth's hair, unsure of what else to do. She just knew that Jareth would break if she moved away.

"Do you want to know a secret, Sarah?" Jareth asked.

"Only if you want to tell it," Sarah said.

Jareth looked up at Sarah and placed one of her hands over his heart. "The words you said, 'You have no power over me' is not how you defeat the Labyrinth. You must complete the Labyrinth and discover that life is not fair. Do you know what the words are for? To defeat the Goblin King. Only an equal of the Goblin King can remove the ruler from the throne. Your will was not only as strong as mine, but your kingdom is great."

"I don't have a kingdom and I don't have power. How..."

"You are the babe with the power, Sarah," Jareth said, "Symbolism, precious. A spouse will either make or destroy a person. I should have viewed you as good but... I had become wary of any who had power over me unless I could have power over them as well. I was... wrong, Sarah. I shouldn't have blamed you. I shouldn't have tried to bully you into staying with me. I didn't understand the pain of such a power play until... until now, precious. I am sorry."

"Jareth what happened?"

Jareth pressed Sarah's hand tighter against his chest. "I am worse than your mother. She at least has the decency to stay away from you."

Sarah got on her knees and held Jareth's face in her hands. "You are not that cruel. You are forgiven for any hurts you have caused me. What happened? Who hurt you? What can I do?"

Jareth was very quiet as he spoke. "I sentenced Irene Adler to death. I figured out the code and... she won't live the month. Mycroft certainly is not going to help her. I didn't realize how much I still cared for her and yet... I know that she has made her choices and I have made mine. The world will be a little safer now, but a little less interesting as well."

Sarah kissed Jareth's forehead. "I am sorry for your loss, Jareth."

Jareth nodded and pulled away from Sarah. He took off his coat and rolled it up on the floor. He laid down using his coat as a pillow. "I think I will just stay here, precious."

Sarah laid down with Jareth, resting her head against his heart. "Do you mind if I stay with you?"

"You may always stay with me, precious," Jareth said.

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Sarah had been caught in the rain when she had gone out on her run. She made her way back to Baker Street, cutting her run short. As she made it closer to 221, she saw Mycroft standing outside Speedy's, smoking a cigarette. Sarah stopped in front of Mycroft.

"You don't...smoke," Sarah said, panting.

"I also don't frequent cafes," Mycroft said. He dropped the cigarette and stomped it. He closed his umbrella, picked up his briefcase and went into Speedy's cafe.

In the cafe, Mycroft ordered a mug of tea and Sarah had water. Mycroft placed a file on the table that said "RESTRICTED ACCESS – CONFIDENTIAL". Opening the file, Irene's camera phone was on top of several documents.

"This the file on Irene Adler?" Sarah said.

"Closed forever. I am about to go and inform Jareth – or, if you prefer, you are – that she somehow got herself into a witness protection scheme in America. New name, new identity. She will survive and thrive, but he will never see her again," Mycroft said.

"Why would he care?" Sarah lied, "He never wanted to see her again."

"Jareth is... sentimental. I cannot begin to claim I know Jareth the best, but of the two of us, I have known him the longest. He misses the Underground. It is a long story, but Ms. Adler was an ally to Jareth and a powerful one at that. At one point, she was even friends with Jareth's sister and brother-in-law. Losing her is another connection lost to the Underground that he will never regain again."

Sarah nodded. "He'll be okay with the witness protection, never seeing her again. He'll be fine."

"I agree." Mycroft took a deep breath. "That's why I decided to tell him that."

Sarah froze. "Instead of what?"

"She's dead. She was captured by a terrorist cell in Karachi two months ago and beheaded," Mycroft said.

Sarah covered her mouth and closed her eyes. She focused on breathing for a few moments before speaking. "It's definitely her? She's done this before."

"I was thorough...this time. Jareth isn't clever enough to fool me that much. Besides, he was at Baker Street when Ms. Adler was killed."

They looked at each other, a mutual sense of pain for Jareth.

Mycroft spoke and slide the file to Sarah. "So... what should we tell our friend?"

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A/N: I was never a huge Mycroft fan until I started writing this series. Writing him made me realize that he does have character depth in the actual series. I really have enjoyed writing him.