The woman was wearing a plan sun dress and flat shoes. She had light makeup that was a bit smudged around her eyes. It looked to Sarah like she hadn't slept in awhile. But Natasha's well-being didn't matter to her.

Natasha stood in the front of her car, patiently. "Miss Williams," she called. "I just want to talk to you. Could you come over here?"

She just wants to talk? Sarah thought, skeptically. That's exactly what her boss told me after he followed me home. Sarah picked up Jareth and walked over to Fran, who had now noticed Natasha. "Take him and start walking back home," Sarah told her. "I'll catch up."

"No way," Fran argued. "I'm not just gonna leave you with her."

"I don't want her near Jareth. I'll be fine, I just want to know he's home safe, okay?"

Fran thought for a minute before taking Jareth. "Be careful. We don't know if she's alone."

"Make sure no one follows you."

Jareth tried to cling to her again but eventually gave up. Sarah waited until they had started walking before going near Natasha.

"I apologize for interrupting," Natasha said. "But I know you live near here, so I knew I would find you somewhere around the area."

Sarah didn't answer.

"Seems like he's flying alright now, hmm?" the woman asked innocently.

"No thanks to you. If you hadn't brought him to your crazy boss in the first place, he would have been flying fine the whole time."

"Sarah, I...nevermind, that's not important now. You need to know that you're in danger."

That caught Sarah off guard. She had come to...warn her? "What do you mean?"

"Natas isn't going to let this go. You and your friend destroyed his career. You had his license removed. You got the Facility shut down. A man like him isn't going to take that lightly."

"Yeah, I caught that after he stalked me on my way home from school."

Natasha visibly paled. Only then did Sarah notice the dark rim around one of her eyes. "Oh, honey...he can do so much worse."

"...What does he want? What's his plan?"

"I wish I knew. He won't tell me much anymore, not after I lost that key you used to get in with. He's suspicious. But he wants to hurt that owl. And he wants to hurt you."

"Me?"

"You made him angry. When he came to talk to you. And you're the one who took the owl. He saw that you were staring at it when he came to your school."

"...What about Fran?"

"He doesn't care about her. Or the monkey either. The owl had given him trouble since he arrived. And you made it personal in his mind."

Sarah could barely put a sentence together, she was so afraid. "...What do I do?"

"Get that owl where it belongs as soon as possible. And be careful, Sarah. Make sure you aren't left home alone anymore." Natasha began to walk towards her car and opened the door, but paused. "..Believe me, Sarah. A man like Natas can do very, very bad things. And he can go home after and sleep like a baby."

Sarah stood there in shock as Natasha drove off.

Then she ran home as fast as she could.

As she raced up her driveway she saw Fran and Jareth sitting on the front porch. "What happened? What did she want?"

After Sarah caught her breath she walked into the house with them in tow. Karen was cooking, but paused when she saw them. "Karen...I need to tell you something."

She relayed the entire conversation to them. No one interrupted. "She says he's planning something, and that he's after Jar...the owl. ...And me."

After a few minutes of quiet, Karen took her hand. "Your father and I are not going to leave you home alone anymore, okay? If this doctor is really going to try something, we aren't going to let him. You're safe, Sarah. I promise. And the owl is going to go home in a little over three days. This is all going to be over soon, honey." Karen then wrapped her in a hug. It was one of those moments when Karen felt more like a mom to Sarah than her real mother.

She walked Fran to the door, telling her, "I want you to be careful. I know Natasha sounds like she's trying to help, but I don't want to be too careful. Make sure the door is always locked when you leave for school. I still want to make sure you and Lulu are okay even though she says he doesn't want you."

"Don't worry about us, Sar. You and Jareth just work on those clues. Sorry I couldn't be more help."

"It's alright. We're gonna figure this out." But Sarah wasn't sure if she believed that anymore. The sun had gone down. They had three days.

Sarah stood by the door for a while. "Are you alright, Sarah?" Karen asked. "I know you're still shook u-"

"Can he please come in the house?"

Karen gave her a confused look. "Can who come in the house?"

"Merlin."

Karen seemed to think about it for a minute.

"Please?" Sarah begged. "I know you don't want all his hair everywhere, but… Whenever bad stuff happened, Merlin was always there for me. He was a gift after my mom left. He was there through all the arguments. He would sleep in my bed when I got sad. And he would protect me whenever I got scared. He's my support, Karen…. And I'm scared. I don't know what's gonna happen."

After a minute Karen sighed. "Okay. He can come inside until this is all over. But he can't have any table food, don't let him on the furniture, and you have to pick up after him. And watch him around the owl. I know he seemed alright that one time, but it just got its bandages off. I don't want it to get hurt all over again."

Finally, Sarah felt like she could breath again. Merlin bounded around happily once he came inside. Sarah finally convinced him to come up the stairs and led him into her room. She set Jareth on the bed and watched as Merlin smelled all of her books and dolls. "Good boy," Sarah smiled, shutting the door. "You're gonna have a roommate for a while, Jare."

Jareth didn't seem overjoyed at the thought.

For the rest of the night, which was only a few hours more after Sarah ate dinner, they worked on the clues. "We haven't even touched the one on the backside. 'It comes from deep inside, a feeling you cannot continue to hide. When it comes from the heart, you will then complete the last part.' It doesn't sound like I can really help much with this one." Jareth nodded, understanding. Sarah honestly wished she could offer him some more help but… there was only so much she could do. And until they knew more about the other clue, they had hit a wall.

The night wound down and they couldn't figure anything else out. Worried and stressed, Sarah got into bed and stared at the ceiling. He can't survive out in the wild. He belongs in a castle with goblins that cook food for him and serve him his dinner in bed. Not foraging for good in the forest and sleeping up in a tree. But we have three days. And we are totally lost on these clues.

Not to mention…Natas. What am I gonna do? I've gotta get Jareth back home. And watch my own back.

This is so much worse than running the Labyrinth.

As if on cue, Merlin walked over and jumped onto her bed, lying down at Sarah's side. She laughed a little and wrapped an arm around him. Oh, Merlin. What would I do without you? You're always here when I need you. I love you, you big ball of fluff.

…We should probably give you a bath soon, though.

Jareth woke up to the feeling of a warm, smelly breeze on his face. Opening his eyes, he saw Merlin staring at him though the long fur that covered most of his eyes. You know, you might be worse than Lulu. He turned away and closed his eyes again, when Sarah's alarm went off. He knew the song by heart after hearing it every morning. Honestly, Jareth kind of liked it.

Sarah got up and let him out of the crate after seeing he was awake. "Any more clues come to you in the night?"

I wish, he thought.

She sighed. "We'll work on them when I get back. Don't worry, you'll be home before you know it, Jare." He noted that she seemed to keep using that nickname now. It was starting to grow on him. "C'mon, Merlin. I doubt Karen will let you stay in the house when I'm not home."

Jareth was left alone in the room once again with only his thoughts. I've got to get one of these clues done or it's back to catching mice in the woods. Why is this woman in need of rescue if she put herself in the dark tower? ...Women are such mysteries. Like Sarah. She comes off as a dramatic brat, but she's really a kind, caring person. And either her humor is improving or I've been here so long that I no longer have any idea what's funny anymore. She's not what she seems.I'm surprised no pimple-faced teenage boys have come around for her. She's fairly attractive.

For a young girl, that is.

He shook his head a bit to clear his thoughts and got back on the clues. But again, his mind began to wander as the music box on the dresser caught his attention. In the middle of it was a small woman with curly, dark brown hair dressed in a beautiful white gown. It reminded him of the ballroom. He remembered all of the masked faces. Everyone sort've blended in with everyone else. Except for the one person who didn't have a mask at all.

Sarah had stuck out like a sore thumb. She seems to do the same here as well, apart from when Fran's around. She just doesn't seem to really fit in anywhere, does she? He'd meant it as a joke, but...when he thought about it...Except the Labyrinth. She made friends quickly, figured out most of the tricks, it was as if she was right at home, actually. Sometimes I wonder why she didn't take my offer to stay in the Underground with the dwarf, beast, fox, and myself.

Well, not with me. She...I mean, I...what am I doing?! I need to figure out who the woman in this damned clue is!

And that woman is most certainly not Sarah.

For the second day in a row, Sarah couldn't focus on school. But today, playing Beatrice wasn't very important anymore either. "I don't know what to do, Fran. We have two clues left, and I can't do anything to help. We can't do anything with the tower clue until we know who the woman in it is. And the one on the back has something to with his feelings, so I really can't help there."

Fran didn't meet her eyes, just kept poking at her mashed potatoes. "... Yeah… That sucks."

Sarah looked at her, confused. "Are you okay? You've been really quiet all day." A thought came quickly. "Oh my God, did David Bowie lose his voice?"

"No," Fran moped. "It's not that. It's… Lulu. The vet called us yesterday. They said that even though her check up went fine, they don't think Lulu would be able to survive in her natural habitat. She has no family and she's never had to defend herself before. So they're…. Making arrangement with the local zoo."

"...Oh."

"I mean, she's gonna be safe and happy. And she'll have other monkeys to play with. It's just… It's not like the wild. It has trees, but also cement walls. But hey, it's better than a lab, right?"

"Right," Sarah agreed. "And at least this way, you'll be able to see her still."

"Yeah," Fran said, smiling a little. "... I think these potatoes with gravy are more Elie gravy with a little potato."

"That's why I bring lunch."

"So, how is rehearsal going? They haven't needed any backstage people yet, so I haven't see you."

"Really well, actually. I'm finally getting my Beatrice character down. Every time I need to talk to Benedick, I just picture Jareth." ...Why did I tell her that?

Fran's face lite up in surprise. "Jareth? He's your Benedick?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that."

"Do you do that even when Beatrice is being…. Romantic?"

Sarah's cheeks burned red. Yesterday, they had worked on a love scene and...she still…

"You did, didn't you? You picture yourself falling in love with Jareth."

"I'm not in love with him! First of all, he's thousands of years older than me. Second, he probably has tons of potential suitors in the Underground. And third he's a King, so that means he can only marry royalty, right?"

"You've thought of marriage?"

"No. I was just listing the reason why if I was in love with Jareth, which I'm not, it wouldn't work. That and I seriously doubt he would feel the same way."

"Hmmm...guess we'll just have to ask him when he's able to talk again."

"Don't. You. Dare."

"But to do that, we have to get through these last two clues."

At least she's focused on that now.

"Let's do this. For love!"

"Fran!"

A/N: Well, what are we thinking? Two clues left. And what's going on between Jareth and Sarah? :D