Jareth winced at the defeated tone of her voice and frowned down at her. She had been crying, obvious by the red around her eyes, and the baby was silent after crying the castle down mere seconds ago.

"Jareth"

"What?"

"My name is Jareth" He watched as Mercy turned the name over in her head before nodding.

"Okay, Jareth, what do you want?" Her voice was flat.

"Why were you in here?" Mercy looked over her shoulder at the cot and gave another sad smile. Jareth noticed and took a step towards her, to which she flinched and stepped back.

"You don't need to fear me…" He began, but was stopped short when she raised a hand.

"You bring me here thinking I am another girl that you seem to be obsessed with and then you send me home. I am then brought back to this…place and you send me into the forest with those monsters. What, up to this point, am I not meant to fear?" Her voice remained low for the sleeping child but Jareth knew she was angry. He motioned for them to exit the room and Mercy nodded, following him out of the room. She closed the pale wooden door behind her and leaned against it.

"I have apologized for wrongly bringing you here in the idea that you were Sarah, who I am in fact not obsessed with but worried for. It was your prince, I believe, who brought you back here and I was unaware the fieries were occupying that area of the labyrinth. Nothing I have done or said to you has been hostile or threatening" He placed a hand against her cheek so fast she couldn't stop him. He felt her stiffen, but he ignored it, and wiped another tear from her eye. She sniffled and started to shake and Jareth immediately pulled her into an embrace. She hesitated for only a second before slowly wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head against his chest. He smoothed down her hair as she silently cried against him and waited for her to calm down. It didn't take long. She started to pull away and Jareth let her go, waiting for her to explain. She gave another sniffle and wiped the tears away.

"I'm...I'm sorry" She rubbed her temples and tried to avoid his eyes. He nodded.

"I will try and help as best I can if you allow me. I can be kind" She looked into his eyes for any sign of malice and found none.

"It's not something I really want to talk about…I heard a baby crying and it was irritating me so I shut it up" Her voice turned cold and she glared at the king.

"Why is there a baby here?" Jareth explained his job role and what became of the children and Mercy's anger ebbed.

"We seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot…" Mercy held out a hand and Jareth took it in his.

"I'm Mercy" She gave Jareth a small smile and he smiled back.

"Jareth, king of the goblins and ruler of the labyrinth" He bowed before her and her smile grew.

"Can we try and be friends? I assume I'm going to be down here for a while…" Jareth nodded and she tried to hide the grimace.

"So…" Mercy relaxed and Jareth leaned against the wall. He raised a brow at her and motioned for her to carry on.

"Tell me about Sarah" Jareth frowned and shook his head, making Mercy tilt her head.

"If you tell me about Sarah I'll tell you why I was crying" Jareth wanted to keep her around because she might lead her to Sarah, but he knew he would like her more if he knew her. He took a deep breath and crossed his arms.

"Sarah…she wished her brother away and I did my job. I had never expected…I never thought it possible I would fall in love. She was young and foolish and she got on every one of my nerves. I thought the labyrinth would break her but it only made her stronger" Jareth smiled at the memories and sighed.

"I thought she would love me…if I offered her the world she would…but she ripped me apart and threw me into the darkness. I gave her brother back…" Jareth's voice was a whisper.

"I've been looking for her for so long…I need to apologize for everything I did to her…" Mercy frowned and crossed her arms.

"Wait. So she wished her brother away, made you look like an idiot for beating your labyrinth and then insulted you and broke your heart when she turned you down?" Jareth nodded slowly and Mercy let out a short laugh.

"Jareth you have nothing to apologize for! You did everything she asked and more, you offered her everything you had. If anything she should be begging for you to forgive her" Mercy placed a hand on his arm and Jareth felt his heart swell. No-one had ever said anything as kind to him in his life and he couldn't believe the words had come from Mercy; the girl that only days ago was a complete stranger.

"I just wish I could see her…" He shut his mouth as he realised what he said. Mercy knew she looked like Sarah and wondered if it was hurting him her being there.

"Hey look if you don't wanna be around me because I look like her I understand" She looked away from the king and he placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"It won't be a problem, tell me why you were crying" Mercy closed her eyes.

"There was this guy…" Before she could finish the sentence Nathan was beside them, and he looked a mix between angry and relieved.

"Where the hell have you been?!" He growled. He took a step towards Mercy and she instinctively moved behind Jareth. Nathan's face fell when he realised what she was doing.

"Mer I wasn't going to…"

"I know" She stepped around Jareth and hugged him. Nathan wrapped his arms around her waist and clung to her.

"Where have you been? I went to look for you and you weren't there. I managed to get some nutrients into you last night but I was worried" Mercy gave him a slight squeeze and he kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry Nat, I heard a baby crying and I had to calm her down. Jareth found me and we worked stuff out" Nathan gave Jareth a wary glance and Jareth nodded in agreement. Nathan gave a small sigh and let go of Mercy.

"Does this mean we can all get along now? No running off and throwing tantrums?" He tapped Mercy's nose and she pretended to be mad at him.

"If I have to be here I might as well learn to love it" She winked at Jareth and he raised a brow, Nathan missing it.

"Well I suppose we better get you settled in then" Nathan grinned down at her and she couldn't help but grin back; his mood was infectious. She took his hand and, thankfully, she didn't end up disappearing to another place.