A.N. Thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate so many kind words and I cherish them... Like my many children, though they don't make a mess and eat all my bloody chocolate... Can you tell I've been babysitting my cousin, actually I did this while she was watching Postman Pat (An English children's program) so I'm sorry if I go slightly crazy during the middle. If anyone can guess where the funny banter came from, I'll give you an imaginary cookie!

Questions

Sarah fought the urge to giggle.

Now was not the time for laughter, both Jareth and herself crouching in the long and yellowing grass as they watched the creatures before them fighting. They had been watching for long enough to know that the creatures were foolish enough not to hear them, instead carrying on beating each other with any tool that came to hand; rocks, branches and at one point Sarah caught sight of one hitting the other with his own head.

She laughed as quietly as possible.

Jareth had told her at some point that they were a mutation of the Goblins; the Goblins themselves had been around at the start with the Labyrinth, the start of time! They did bear a likeness to the Goblins, though they had shifted into something different entirely.

They were at least a foot taller, arms that look too long for their body and a lot skinnier. They skipped rather than shuffled, using their hands to gain speed against the hard dirt. She could automatically point out the leader of the little group; the creature that sat on a nearby log, one finger up his own nose as he went from watching the clouded sky to watching the fight before him.

At his side sat a large - and some what worryingly - heavy looking club.

Yet she carried on giggling silently, feeling her stomach muscles cramping with the effort to keep quiet.

The group were trying to wrestle each other, not getting very far before they forgot who it was they were actually fighting and turning on an innocent bystander. When anyone came towards the Goblin like creature with the weapon, he would simply grunt and send them away with a look.

For something so dense, they seemed to have a hierarchy of their own.

With a slight jolt she felt a leather encased hand grab her own from the ground, giving a gentle tug before letting go just as suddenly. She watched Jareth scuttle away - taking care not to watch his behind at such an inconvenient angle - as he scuttled down the hill and out of sight, Sarah following as quietly as possible.

Slowly they began to stand, their forms now completely hidden as they resumed their original path. With all the squawking and growling that was, even now, still audible they had strayed from their walk to investigate. With an easy quiet, they walked on and as the voices faded, Sarah walked a little faster to come level with Jareth.

She looked up to him with a faint smile, a smile that died instantly to his outraged expression.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, keeping her gaze on Jareth as he began to slow and refused to meet her gaze. He pondered the horizon for a long time, seeming overly shocked as she gave his shoulder a light poke. He looked down to her with a blank look in his eyes, before becoming aware and resuming his previous anger.

"The mutation," he nearly growled at her, causing Sarah's eyes to widen slightly. "It's not just draining the Labyrinth dry, it's creating anew!" A pause. "I thought, we all though!" he paused once again as Sarah heard the leather gloves creak as his fists tightened, saying nothing more as she waited.

"What difference does it make?" she said softly and wondered if she had said something wrong as Jareth glowered down at her briefly, taking in her shocked expression before calming a little.

"It makes a big difference," he gave her a light smile. "It is creating life, Sarah," he said her name too softly for her liking, making it hard to fight the shiver that passed up her spine. "With it's own creatures, the mutation is not our only worry," he finished and gave her a few moments of silence to process the information, when she did finally nod her understanding he continued. "It also confirms something I have been fearing for a while; that this is not merely some sort of disease, it has been created by another, not a something anymore," he stopped completely as she widened her eyes in understanding, her mind following his easily as they points registered.

"A someone,"

"Exactly." he nodded stiffly, gracing her with a break from his usual scowl or smirk. With the silence feeling anything but comfortable, Sarah realised the difference in Jareth that she had been pondering for so long.

"It's already taking it's hold on you," she took a step closer, ignoring his cold demeanour that immediately came to his face as she scrutinized him. He looked pale as ever, yet the lines below his eyes and his posture told her just how far the mutation had come. "It is, isn't it?" she asked softly, fighting the urge to rest a hand on his shoulder.

"Sarah," his tone started harsh, his eyes cruel before she put her hands on her hips; silently daring him to continue, though she gave him no choice before she began talking herself.

He was already being drained, his magic and very life form being drawn away by the mutation the closer they came to the centre.

"Just because you're the Goblin King, doesn't mean you have to pretend!" she gave a glare equal to his own, softening as his gaze continued without some of the hostility. "I mean, who am I going to tell?" she grinned as the corner of his mouth twitched, before he quickly schooled his expression.

Without another word they walked on, both in their own little world as Sarah allowed him to walk a pace in front of her. She gazed unseeingly into his back as she walked, her mind running a mile a minute as she tried to analyse her feelings.. Not that she needed to, she knew exactly what she was feeling.

She was scared.

Not for herself exactly, but for the Labyrinth and how this world seemed to be collapsing in on itself. She did not want this world to die; the Underground that had filled her mind for years with magic and mystery, with the creatures within that had fuelled her imagination through the years of near solitude.

She had been lucky to run into Rhiannon; a girl that shared her love for fantasy and mythical creatures, although her friend had grown out of the obsession after a few years whereas Sarah had simply stopped talking about it.

She loved this world.

She loved the magic and slight danger that came with it too, she couldn't bear the thought of the place withering away to nothing and knowing that she had done nothing to stop it. Yet, she thought with a little flash of panic, Jareth was the King of these lands and he was struggling. Calling on a mortal girl for help, something he was obviously none too pleased with yet had agreed to do for his land.

That was another thing, the little voice in Sarah's mind whispered evilly, Jareth will die.

She suppressed the odd flood of worry and focused on the lands before them, feeling a droplet of water hit her nose lightly before turning her face skywards. Another series of droplets hit her soundly on the face before she properly caught sight of something that worried her briefly, something that would have been completely normal in the Aboveground.

"Goblin King?" she stopped walking and watched as he turned, a brow lifted in anticipation. "The sky is black, and it's raining" she murmured and watched as Jareth turned to the sky, a frown on his face as his eyes scanned the sky. Sarah had tried to say his name, opting for his former title at the last moment for reasons she couldn't really explain.

"Yes, so it is," he said mildly with his face still tilted upwards, turning downwards to her with no expression visible. "We've reached the boundary, I believe," a pause as the rain gathered strength. She turned towards the sky and squinted her eyes to the wind and rain, ignoring the eyes that still rested on her.

She heard rather than saw her companion move on, passing by her before she focused and followed behind.


The rain carried on pounding to the ground around them, some still hitting them as they sat silently below a hanging cliff. Neither spoke as Sarah placed the silver cup just under the rain, listening to the rain that sounded within with a musical jingle. She accepted the food that passed before her eyes with nothing more than a tilt of the head, biting into it without tasting it as she watched the weather grow even worse.

After a few moments of silence she turned to Jareth, watching as he curled one leg under himself and rested his arm on his other bent knee. She carried on observing as he straightened his gloves and deliberately ignored the attention he was receiving.

"How long will it take?" she asked suddenly, her eyes never wavering as he seemed to glare into her very soul.

"To reach the centre?" he asked finally, his voice lighter than his guarded expression. She nodded mutely, staying patiently silent as he looked away briefly before returning his gaze to her own. He shrugged easily, leaning back against the rock wall, shifting a little against the jagged rocks as Sarah copied his movements unaware of doing so. "Seeing as it is still growing, I cannot give you a precise guess," she nodded. "It is growing daily, although I think we have caught it early enough to make the journey relatively short,"

He turned away to her second nod, facing the rain as she took in his profile. He seemed a little distracted, watching the horizon with a sort of alertness that belied his tired eyes and occasional heavy sighs. His hair still seemed to carry the fluffy height as it always had, belying the fact that they had been travelling for days. She tried not to think of the state of her own state, pushing away the idea that she may actually care what Jareth thought of her appearance.

With a sudden spark he smirk warmly, eyes still staring unseeingly into the rain as he raised one finely sculpted brow. "What are you looking for, my dearest Sarah?" he turned to her as she jumped, the silence suddenly broken. "I am not suddenly going to collapse, you have nothing to worry about." his grin seemed to grow with every passing second, giving Sarah a few moments to glare and turn away.

She didn't say anything for a few moments, instead picking her words carefully. "What makes you think I was worried, I was just trying to decipher how long we've got before I'm dragging you to the centre," she grinned evilly with an exaggerated flutter of the eyelashes. He raised a brow once again, ignoring the comment as they both carried on watching the weather.

After a few moments, Sarah couldn't take the oppressing stillness that had settled so easily once again. Turning to face him, she searched her mind for something to say, anything really. "Why do you do that?" A pause as he turned back to her, questioning eyes prodding her to continue. "Sarah, my dear," she adopted his clipped tones easily, completing the look with a flamboyant gesture with her hands. "My dear, my dear," she paused and caught sight of his expression of amusement. "Do you always do it?"He grinned at her openly, tilting his head to study her from an angle.

"Why, would it bother you if I did?" A pause as she frowned, allowing him to continue. "If you were not so adored, if I said that the term was nothing more than that, a term?" Silence followed his question as Sarah tried not to look away, instead focusing on his nose and blinking.

She tried to ignore the term adored, it made her more nervous than she was comfortable questioning.

After a few minutes she also tried to ignore the faux innocence that Jareth was displaying, instead crossing her arms heavily as she turned back to the scenery. A few more moments of silence and she heard Jareth's chuckle of triumph, he knew she was uncomfortable. "So, you're not going to answer my question?"

"What, when you won't answer mine?" he quipped easily.

"Doesn't it matter than I asked first?" she tried to keep the anger from her voice, only half succeeding as he grinned to her annoyance.

"Doesn't it matter that I'm King?" he straightened and his features took on a regal expression.

"Does that make a difference?" she asked after a fraction of a pause, brow knitted together.

"Why shouldn't it?" Another minor pause as Sarah frowned up at him, before her face broke into a unsure grin.

"Are we playing questions?"

"How do you play?" he tilted his head to one side, reminding her briefly of a puppy. She grinned fully to the image before - forgetting their earlier disagreement - she relaxed against the stones a little and gave Jareth her full attention."Well, the title kind of gives the game away, all -"

"Foul, statement, One Love." he stated simply, looking down at her with a triumphant smirk that brought his whole face to life; eradicating the traces of lethargy from his features in one easy gesture. She tried to be outraged, yet couldn't help the excitement that began to build. She hadn't played Questions in such a long time - usually playing with her father until she had emerged herself into her books and fantasy worlds - that the thought of competing with Jareth, a man known for his quick mind sent a trickle of excitement within her.

"Isn't that cheating?" she tilted her head a little to match his earlier expression, ignoring the amused yet tight lipped smile and the eyes that scanned her face at a leisurely pace which left her with burning cheeks.

"Not sore are we?" he drawled, eyes slightly squinting, daring her to defy him.

"Do you always resort to trickery to get your way?" she crossed her arms defiantly, smirking to the banter as it unravelled.

"Does it bother you?"

"Why should it?"

"Why bring it up?" a wave of a gloved hand as he schooled his expression to boredom, but Sarah could tell by the avid eye contact that he was already trying to figure her game method out. "Why not?"

"Does it bother you?" he asked again with a little bit more agitation in his voice, waiting for her to fall into silence.

"Foul, repetition, One all." she grinned charmingly to his obvious annoyance, although good-hearted he still reminded her of a child as he pouted slightly and glanced into the distance.

"Are you scared?" he asked suddenly, turning from the weather outside to watch her with hawk - no, not a hawk, an owl. Watching her with owl like eyes, taking in every movement and discovering the meaning behind it.

"Of what?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he stopped short of releasing the sigh that Sarah could see just below the surface, he had taken her for granted if he though it was really that easy to trick her. She had had too much practise to fall from such an easy try.

"Isn't it obvious it isn't obvious?" she grinned sweetly, biting her lip to the low growl from Jareth - she knew he was pretending to be annoyed, yet it still caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end abruptly.

"Do you want me to spell it out?"

"Are you calling me stupid?" she glared and put a hand to her hip, smiling as Jareth grinned.

"Are you offended?"

"Why would I be?"

"Are you avoiding the question?"

"Isn't that the whole point?" Another set of grins exchanged between the pain."What is the point?"

"You're asking me?" she pointed to her own chest, face a mask as he gave he a brief shrug. She was trying to think one step ahead of a man who's mind seemed to work on another level, trying to twist the conversation into the direction she wanted.

"Why not?"

"Why me?" she tried desperately, voice barely a whisper as she realised that they were getting further and further from a meaningful round of questions - if it carried on much longer then she wasn't sure where they'd end up, knowing the Goblin King she'd probably be the one blushing.

"Foul, non sequitor,"

"What?" A pause. "What's a non sequitor?"

"Latin for 'does not follow'," he studied her for a second. "Okay, I'll let that one go, but from now on it's a rule." he stated seriously, waiting for her nod before relaxing again and letting the professional air slide.

A pause before Sarah asked, nearly shouting to try and catch him off guard. "How do you feel?"

"Why do you ask?" she failed as he answered swiftly, smirking to her efforts.

"Are you not tired?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Why are you so defensive?" Once again she crossed her arms over her chest, fighting the urge to pout as their game got her no closer to any insight to the Goblin King.

"Does it offend you?"

"Would it matter either way?"

"Why wouldn't it?"

"Do I matter?" she asked in a half whisper, wishing to take it back as soon as the words left her mouth. She felt the game slipping into Jareth's favour as her mind seemed to freeze, throwing her own feelings into the mix instead of throwing him out of sync.

"Why do you ask?" he leaned sideways a little, closing the distance between them and grinning triumphantly to her flustered appearance. She was losing, she knew it yet she felt powerless to switch the game in her favour.

"Why don't you answer?" she said desperately, leaning out a little as Jareth loomed a little closer with every second; his coat rustling against the rock wall as he slid sideways bit by bit, grinning widely to her wide eyes.

"What was the question?"

"What's you're game?" she stopped moving back with a conscious effort, finally persuading her body to cooperate with her head as she glared at him evenly.

"Do you really want to know?" he whispered sensually, the silence stretching out for what seemed like years as Sarah fought the hormones that flooded her brain. She felt her heart race and her breathing become shallow and uneven, she could hear the blood singing in her ears before the shock finally settled and her body calmed.

He was flirting quite openly, grinning down at her and reminding Sarah of the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood… And if that story had any hint of advice to it, then she was definitely in trouble. She ignored the mismatched eyes that flashed to her lips as she bit them, the man before her was a Fae. She had to remember that; they were known for their tricks and devious ways to get their own way… They stop at nothing. "Foul, hesitation, Two one," she blinked stupidly for a minute, watching as Jareth tilted his head once more to study her. "I think I win."

She had been played, he had played her emotions… Sarah wouldn't admit, even to herself, that it hurt.

She turned slightly glazed eyes to the horizon; realising in a distant way that the dark clouds looked no lighter yet the rain was slowing. She grabbed her bag from beside her, flinging it over her back as she picked up the half filled silver cup and took a drink. She handed the cup over to the now standing Goblin King with out making eye contact, suddenly supremely interested in the wall beside her.

"Sarah," he said evenly, waiting as she turned from watching the rain shuffle to a half as she laid eyes on him. "Are you sulking?" he asked with a mock frown, one hand coming to rest on a narrow hip as the last of the rain started to vanish, passing the cup back as she emptied in and threw it into the backpack.

Sarah gritted her teeth, clenched her jaw and balled her hands into fists. She had grown up in the past four years and knew that shouting and screaming how truly unfair the whole existence of the world really was would get her nowhere, so instead she carried on clenching every muscle she possessed and waited until she was a fraction calmer.

How was it that one moment she could be relaxed and having a conversation with this man, and then next wanting to slap him so hard he'd have to check his face was still there? The slight jibes and mocking smiles, flirtatious comments that meant nothing but at the same time left her confused and angry… Yet she had come to learn in a very short time that that was just Jareth.

"No." she nearly growled, clenching her jaw almost painfully as Jareth raised a questioning brow. Mocking her without saying a word, questioning her as Sarah felt the urge to cross her arms and pout. With a heavy sigh she walked out of the cliff-side and carried on along the path as before.

She stomped a little further as a low chuckle reached her ears.


They stood silently on the hillside, two shapes silhouetted in the fading light of day as they observed the scene before them. Everything seemed grey and lifeless below, shifting in the wind that neither grew nor wavered, but kept coming with an unnatural strength.

Sarah fought the shiver that ran down her spine, a scene so familiar and yet she had never been here in body… Only in her dreams had she seen the scene; a place so dead and yet alive that she wanted to shy away from it, a place that - even as she watched - started to leak forward like spilt ink, slowly but surely reaching towards them as she took a minute step closer to the Goblin King.

She didn't want to do this.

She couldn't.

Yet as Jareth turned to her with weary eyes and panic written clearly on his face, she gave him a reassuring yet tight smile and scanned his eyes… Willing him to understand that she would do this, whatever it was, to save the Labyrinth, to save her friends…

To save the Goblin King.

He looked away quickly, walking on with his head down and showing no sign of hearing Sarah follow immediately behind. He carried on as he met the grey landscape, passing into the stone walls that were covered in slime and shifted in the distance without a moments thought.

Sarah stilled, just for a second, but it was long enough for Jareth to turn to her with a worried expression.

She needed to tell him about the dream, if not now then she didn't know when she'd get the chance again. When she could make herself tell him about the guilt…

"Goblin King, I -" he held up a gloved hand, quieting her straight away as he gave her a sad and tired smile.

"Jareth," he corrected as the raised hand was offered to her, an inviting offer that she felt herself favouring. After a brief moments thought, she lifted a hand and placed it lightly within his own, taking the crucial steps within this twisted form of the Labyrinth without a seconds thought.

She'd tell him later.