Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters and places that are recognizable belong to Jim Henson, David Bowie, and all the other wonderful people who brought that wonderful movie to life. Thank you for letting me barrow them for a while.
A/N: Thank you everyone who has sent in a review. I am so grateful especially since all the comments have been positive. I am still new at this, and having others read my writing is still unnerving. I especially want to thank Rayac for talking me though some ideas. The more I think about it I am getting excited about a possible prequel. It is still a mess of things in my head but I think about it I see it coming together.
As always I love to hear what you think of the story so if you could take a minute to review it would be awesome. I want to thank everyone who has read this fic, and thank you for sticking with me so far.
~PB
Sarah stared at the door for several minutes trying to wrap her brain about what had just happened. Did she just make a deal with the Goblin King? How dumb could she be? Making a deal with one of the fae? The original master manipulators when it comes to the art of the deal? She went over the conversation in her head looking for the obvious loopholes that he could take advantage of.
"Fuck me." She said out loud. "You really screwed the pooch this time Williams." Sarah slammed her hand down on her forehead. She agreed to take back her "protection wish". The one that had kept her mostly hidden from him, and safe from his voyeuristic crystals for the last twenty years.
He knew where she lived and worked she reasoned. The only way for the wish to fully work would be to quit and move. Would she do that, no she wasn't going to go running like a scared rabbit. She was a forty-one year old woman damn it. No the stupid thing in agreeing to rescind the wish would be those damn crystals. He could look in on her whenever he wanted, watch her no matter what she was doing. He did say he would not use them to spy, but the meaning of spy is open to interpretation. Freaking fae and their damn loopholes. Didn't she learn this lesson about this before? Never make a deal with a fae if you are tired, drunk, or horny.
Well what's said is said and all that. She would not give him the opportunity to say she welched on a bet. She would "take back" the wish, but she would also have a discussion about the definition of spying and boundaries.
So how do you take back a wish? Sarah thought. The only thing that she could come up with was to make another wish. This felt so stupid, but she looked up, why up she did not know, he certainly was no angel.
"Ok Jareth, here goes." Sarah said. "I wish that Jareth the Goblin King be able to locate me through magic and mundane means if he wants to find me. That he be allowed to communicate with me wherever I am." Sarah finished the wish. "Hope you are happy now you glittery asshole." She muttered.
Sarah headed out the door and down the stairs. She would have to have a long discussion with Neaven, their next business meeting will come earlier than he expects. The second floor of the club held private rooms, and her office. It was empty now, and she looked toward her office door, but there was no way she was in the mood to work at this point. She needed a drink, and definitely something stronger that what she had in the loft.
Walking down the second flight of stairs the club side of the bar was picking up with a DJ spinning music. She watched the wave of bodies on the dance floor. She had to do a double take, many of the people on the dance floor seemed to shimmer with a more ethereal look. I guess my sight has kicked in too. This is going to take some getting used to, or I'm going to be having a lot more headaches with this "double vision".
She reached the bottom of the stairs and headed to the bar. She sat down on an empty bar stool and waited for one of the bartenders to come over. While she waited she looked at the bar area. About three fourths of the patrons had the double image letting her know that they were from the Underground. Of the bartenders and servers about half of them were not human. This was going to take some getting used to.
"Hey boss." Said Danny one of her fae employees, she had to stop thinking like that. "We weren't expecting to see you tonight, thought you had company." He said.
"I did, it was just an old friend for dinner. He left, and I was feeling restless. So I'm a paying customer tonight." Sarah laid a fifty on the bar. "Give me a shot of Jameson and a pint of Guinness."
Danny came back with her shot and beer, and placed it in front of her. He picked up the fifty. "Want your change miss?" He asked with a wink.
"Nah, I'll run a tab if I drink past the fifty." Sarah told him and then downed the shot.
"Dinner didn't go well?" He asked. Both putting on his friendly bartender tone, and also genuinely worried about his boss whom he liked a great deal. Sarah was known to have a glass of wine or a cocktail at the bar sometime, often with friends. She was not known to do any hardcore drinking alone at Sanctuary.
"No, it was just not what I expected." Sarah said as she raised her glass. Then she whispered to herself "But when you are dealing with glittery assholes things are not always as they seem." She took a large swallow. "Get me another shot Danny, I promise I'm not driving home." She laughed at her own joke.
"Ok boss lady but a couple of us will make sure you can get up the stairs without killing yourself." Danny put the second shot on the bar.
Back in the castle beyond the Goblin City Jareth lounged on his throne. He was leaning against one armrest, a leg thrown carelessly over the other. The goblins were gathered around their king. He seemed happier than they had seen him in a long time. He moved his hand and a crystal appeared in his hand.
"Well, well Sarah let's see if you completed your side of our bargain shall we?" He said spinning the crystal on his fingertips. "Show me Sarah." Jareth stared into the crystal expecting to see the grey fog, but it never came. Instead he saw Sarah in the same clothes she was wearing when he left sitting at the bar in Sanctuary. He saw her tip back a shot after saluting the bartender. "Well now Precious it seems that our meeting has not left you unaffected." He chuckled. Then not wanting to overstep his part of the bargain he vanished the crystal. Secure in the fact that he would be able to see and contact Sarah without obstacle.
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The first thought Sarah had when she began to surface from sleep was getting the name of the truck that had hit her. Light was coming in through the uncovered window spilling across the bed only made the headache worse. She groaned and rolled over pulling the covers over her head.
"How much did I drink last night?" She moaned as conciseness returned. She had spent a few hours at the bar drinking shots and talking to Danny. He wasn't one of her best bartenders for nothing. Good looks, a great pour, and the ear of an amateur psychologist caused him to earn his tips. She certainly took advantage of it last night. She thought back, did she talk too much? No, she only talked in generalities of her problems. Well, she thought staying under here won't make the hangover go away.
Sarah got up padded into her bathroom. After taking care of the morning necessities, she got into a hot shower. The pounding of the hot water did wonders to get rid of her hangover. After getting out and toweling off, she put on her comfy robe and fuzzy slippers and ventured into the kitchen.
She got out her morning after hangover supplies. While the lemon tea was brewing, she took two ibuprofen tablets downing them with a sports drink. She set out a large glass of water and mixed together a quick spinach and feta omelet. The last thing that she felt like doing was eating, but experience told her she would feel better afterward.
After breakfast she felt better. Not great, but well enough to face the day. Not ready to dwell on the past evening with Jareth, but knowing that she would have to eventually. Sarah decided to push it off at least for now. She dressed in simple slacks and a t-shirt and headed down to her business office on the second floor.
Sitting at her desk she ran though the numbers from the week. Put the ordering aside for the next day, and she worked on the schedules. She loved the work at Sanctuary she realized, she loved Sanctuary. That is why she lived in the loft. It was her little kingdom, and she loved watching it grow.
She picked up the phone and called her partner. Sarah wondered how it worked now that she knew that Neaven was Underground not at his apartment or his house "up state". Yeah it gave new meaning to the phrase up state. As usual she got voicemail so she left a message. "Neaven, hey listen it's Sarah. Nothing is wrong, but I really need to speak with you. Today if possible. I'm working in the office just pop in." She hung up. Nothing to do now but wait, she said to herself. She settled down to her paperwork.
A couple of hours later there was a knock on her office door. Sarah called for whomever it was to come in. There wasn't much doubt who her visitor was, not many people had keys to the place, Neaven and her managers, well and now Jareth, but she doubted he would knock.
Neaven walked in, looked at Sarah behind her desk and smiled a little sheepishly. After meeting with Jareth he figured this summons would happen sooner rather than later. He was right. She didn't look angry, and her hands were empty so he felt secure that nothing would be fired at his head.
"Afternoon Sarah," He said cautiously. "May I?" He asked. Waving at one of the chairs on the other side of the desk, he waited for her to nod.
"So Neaven, that's what you actually look like. Not much different, a little weird to see you with guy liner though." She laughed.
Neaven visibly relaxed. "I didn't want to deceive you Sarah." He told her. "When Ryan brought you in with the band, I knew who you were immediately. I waited for the explosion, I mean you did have a bit of a reputation back in the day."
Sarah blushed knowing that he was referencing her destruction of parts of the Goblin Kingdom during her run. She wasn't aware that those outside of the goblins, and those she met through Jareth knew who she was. Back then she was still hurting from the breakup even years later, he is probably right that she would not have reacted well if she knew the truth.
"I get that Neaven. Really, and you were right. I just wish you had said something when I bought into the business. I mean the fact that this is a freaking fae bar should have been part of the disclosure agreement." She gave him a look.
"I know Sarah. But you were so comfortable here. I started thinking of you as one of my kids. Add the fact that you told me that you this place gave you a place where you felt like you belonged and you hadn't had that in a long time. Caring about you as I did, I just couldn't take that away from you. Since you didn't seem to notice, I put the word around not to bring it up to you and treat you like any of the other mortals. And I really wanted to retire." They laughed.
"So you know Jareth huh?" At his look she smiled. "It's ok we came to a bit of an understanding last night. "
"His Majesty and I are friendly. He was less that happy that I kept the knowledge of your whereabouts from him. But as I told you I think of you as one of my children, and I was well aware of your desire to distance yourself from the Underground and especially him. If he had asked me directly if I knew where you were, I would of course have to tell my king. But since he never did, I felt no need to volunteer the information." He smiled at her.
"I love that the master of the loophole got bit in the butt by one." Sarah laughed. "Well now that I am aware of what this place is, I guess I will need to change how I manage the place." She said.
"Why?" Neaven asked her. "You've been doing a great job. Our numbers keep going up. We have a great mix of both Above and Underground patrons. I don't see a need to change what you are doing. The question is can you keep running it now that you know what it truly is?" He gave her a hard look.
"Oh, Neaven. I think so, I hope so." Sarah said. "I still love this place. It still feels like home. I don't know what I would do without it." "So how does this work. From what I get magic doesn't work, but everyone still has a glamour."
"Simple spell over and around the building maintains a glamour for those from below, mortals never know the difference. That is the only magic allowed on the premises. We have a magic dampener to guarantee it. The last thing we need is magic warfare to breakout." Neaven explained.
"So his Majesty can't glitter poof into the bar or into my place upstairs." This interested Sarah.
"That is correct. No magic on the premises. Even as powerful as he is, and he is no he needs to play by the rules like everyone else here." Neaven patted her hand. "Come on Sarah honey let me take you out to lunch and you can tell me everything, or at least what you want me to know."
They stood, and Sarah walked around the desk to hug her friend. She grabbed her bag and jacket from their hook, and followed Neaven out the door.