Author's Note: Someone asked me whether seventeen was young enough to be called a child. Sorry, I don't have an email address for you. But Toby's actually only about a month past his sixteenth birthday. He's also been rather sheltered by his family. And Jareth is four hundred and fifty- something years old, so there you go. Hope it clears up the doubt.

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He stood there- on one side the clear, clean drop of the cliff, on the other a dark figure all shrouded in black. The figure was looking straight at him, strangely luminous in the moonless night.

Toby stepped sideways, inching towards the cliff's edge as fear prickled over his skin. He knew this feeling, this figure- he would be hurt again and the thought kept his eyes fixed firmly on his tormentor, fearing the sudden attack that would surely come. And there would be no way he would ever escape it. Just as he would not survive it this time for he knew he would go mad with grief. The very thought made him sick to his stomach.

Jareth started awake from the light sleep he had fallen into, his back stiff from the constrictive bounds of the chair. He blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision and then cursed, swiftly and shortly, at the sight of Toby's evident distress. He bounded to his feet and leaned over the boy, touching his shoulder and calling his name.

The blue eyes were wide open, glazed over with some form of nightmare. But it couldn't be a nightmare. Toby wasn't asleep. His breathing was wrong, and the jerking movements of his eyes and fingers meant that he was experiencing something.

He pulled Toby off the bed and into his arms, laying him on the floor for space. Stroking his cheek with the gentlest of touches, Jareth tried to call him into reality, desperate to fight his way into a mind that had already thrown up walls in reaction to a rape. And something was in there, he could tell; the blue eyes were staring with fatal fright in their depths.

Jareth recognized a trance when he saw one.

He began to work a counter-spell.

"Hello, dear heart," the figure drawled, stepping closer and ever closer.

Toby was a step away from the edge. He would choose death if it came down to it. But he didn't want to die. Something was calling him, another of those slender rays of sunlight was glimmering somewhere in his head again and he wondered where it was and what it was trying to tell him. Surely someone would save him? Jareth, maybe? Or his family? He couldn't even delude himself into believing that it was a dream like the last time. It felt too real.

"You have not answered me!" Clearly his tormentor was angry, prowling only the space of seven paces away with panther-like stealth. "What? Do you think someone will save you? Your bond mate perhaps? Why would he care?"

The snide words felt like a kick in the stomach. Toby forgot to breathe for a moment as the air rushed out of his lungs.

The figure was standing on the ledge two feet from him, staring down with bored amusement. Dark eyes looked back up at his victim. "Jump then. Your saviour may be spurred into action quicker."

One step close.

"It would certainly save him from you."

Another step closer.

"But will it help you? You won't get rid of me so easily. You know where I am, don't you?"

A hand reached out to touch a strand of Toby's hair, the boy frozen in fright.

"In your pretty little head. I'm always there, dear heart. Jareth thinks he can protect you," a cold finger drew down his cheek, "But I know better. Because I... know... you!" Nails dug deep into flesh and Toby jerked his head back in panic.

Jareth pressed harder against the boy's mind, applying strength to force the mental blocks away. Toby twisted in his arms. Jareth wondered what he saw seeing that made him writhe and breathe so deeply. This image of him was almost obscene, though cruel. Drops of blood began to fall from a tear in his neck, glittering red on the pale golden skin. Golden, the half-goblin's disoriented mind decided, like honey and twice as sweet. But there was no time for that! Toby was beginning to fall deeper, his eyes turning silver in the flickering candlelight.

The figure dropped his hand as he laughed a silver note of glee. He tilted his head in a gesture of contemplation that struck a chord of familiarity in Toby's aching brain. But he couldn't think where he had seen it before.

"Your poor bond mate knows not the darkness in your soul," the man finally resumed, "Or the poisoned depths of your body..."

Jareth gripped the thin arms so tight he knew he would leave finger-shaped bruises.

"Do you think he'll want any part of you now that your innocence is corrupted? Where is the fun in that?"

It was working! The silver began to fade and blue seeped back into the wide irises. Jareth kept going, putting questions aside for another time.

"He can't truly love someone like you. He wanted a creature of light and innocence. He wanted the infant he held in his arms. You will only ever satisfy his lust. He can't love you."

The first soft moan filtered through the room as Toby began to shift- against him too perhaps, but at least it was a step in the right direction. If Toby was able to make a sound, the walls were crumbling.

Toby found his voice and courage in a quick burst of sunlight that threatened to drown his senses: "That's not true! And if I'm poisoned, it's only because you poisoned me. Get lost! Get out of my head. You don't have any power in here."

Jareth paused to gather himself.

Toby had been sitting on his own, moaning slightly in his daze as his blue eyes stared inward at a battle Jareth couldn't help with. The half-goblin had drawn back for just a second, had let his power drain down for just a second, and suddenly Toby crumpled to the floor again, his eyes just as silver as at the peak!

"Such a pity," the figure chuckled, "Because I do have power over your body. Ah well, I'll make do."

Suddenly Toby found himself on the ground, a mouth descending savagely to his for a stormy kiss that ripped at his soul and seared through his body with liquid hate.

"NO!"

Jareth pounced and shook him hard, no longer sparing him as he applied a vigorous blow against the strong walls to shatter them. The body jerked in his arms and the eyes fixed in his direction- "Toby! Toby, come out of it. It's not real, child. It's not real. Listen to me."

The silver faded and those eyes slid closed.

Silver. Jareth cursed himself for not bothering to check the boy's mind, so preoccupied had he been with the body. Whoever it was would be gone by now, and no trace would be left of anything except the black magic that had clearly turned Toby's eyes silver.

"Toby. Wake up. It's over. It's all over now. Wake up."

Toby refused to open his eyes as he felt arms tighten around him. He whimpered and tried to pull away but there was no feeling in his legs, and the rest of him was too weak. He heard a sigh and then felt someone lift him. He scrabbled at the arm cradling his head and felt himself lowered to something soft. Something like a bed!

His eyes shot open.

He was lying in a bed not his own, in a room not his own, loosely covered with a pile of blankets. He wore nothing but a pair of loose trousers that hung low on his narrow hips. It was night and Jareth was leaning over him, panting gently and looking bleary-eyed with tiredness. One weary arm still draped under his neck from where he had lifted him.

Toby sat up, ignoring the pain in his body and head by doing so, and pulled away. He curled himself into as small a ball as he could, his skull splitting with the pressure. His lips still tingled from the brutal kiss; he could still feel it dust over his wide mouth. He felt the hysteria rise up and threaten to choke him as his hands dropped to pick convulsively at the quilt.

"Toby, look at me." Jareth had seen that look before. It came from sheer terror and was not helped by pain. The somewhat warped trust Toby had placed in him over the past day wouldn't mean much after this. Considering everything, the child should well shy away even from him. "He won't have you, my elf; I won't let him."

"No," Toby began, unable to stop plucking at the silk embroidery on the topmost quilt, "No, you should let him. It's fine. He'll take what he wants and it won't hurt so much. Right? It doesn't hurt after a while, right? Maybe he'll just kill me. He said I need to die. He's right, it's the only way. I have to die or he'll get me. You see that, don't you? How it is? I don't mind so much, really I don't. It's fine. You know, right? I've messed up... not worthy. I should go. Need to go... get... something! Don't know what; something... soap for one; so terribly dirty... clothes! No, I won't need them with him, will I?" The mortal let out a high-pitched cackle that ended on a hiccup. "He'll just get me out of them again."

Jareth gaped at this sudden rush of words. If he didn't know better, he'd say Toby had gone insane. "Stop this immediately. Come here." He grabbed Toby by the arm and hauled the wriggling, squirming, shrieking bundle into his lap and held him there until he'd stopped and stilled.

Toby slumped in exhaustion against the hard planes of unyielding flesh. So gloriously hard, he thought dazedly, like walls; safe walls too if those arms were anything to judge by. He should leave; go elsewhere where he wouldn't be in a position to delude anyone. And the Goblin King didn't even like him!

"Sorry," Toby offered softly, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I wasn't asleep." The lack of it was making Jareth sound abrupt. He liked his sleep and had missed it for about two nights now.

Toby lifted his head off a hard shoulder and looked around. "Oh," he said blankly, "I- I'm sorry! You should have told me. I could've gone back to my room. I didn't mean to take your bed."

Jareth sighed and shook his head, blue-brown eyes worried and gentle. "I didn't want to move you," he admitted, "Besides, it would be wiser if you did not sleep alone for a few days. In light of your current traumas, I elected to take the chair. It's best not to wake up alone in a strange place."

Toby shuddered as he thought of what that would do to him. Unconsciously he burrowed deeper into Jareth's warmth, nuzzling lightly against the pale neck laid temptingly within reach.

Jareth looked down with raised eyebrows and drew in a sharp breath as Toby's thigh rubbed accidentally against his hip. If anything, Toby's distress had only made him a little more appealing. The Goblin King was so tempted to force the issue- Toby was too confused to say no and really mean it- and mark the child as his again. Whoever had dared rape his bond mate had taken something Jareth jealously regretted losing. And yet the operative word was 'rape'. Moral obligations aside, Toby's body and mind couldn't handle any more.

The Goblin King unceremoniously dumped Toby back into bed and went back to his chair. It was a summer night and quite warm enough for keeping vigil in chairs by the open window. In truth, even if it hadn't been, he wouldn't have had the energy to do more anyway.

"Jareth, I should go." The statement was hesitant and soft.

It made the half-goblin look up with an enquiring frown. "And where would you be going?"

"Aboveground. I don't want to be a burden on you and I've already taken your bed- I mean, for one night- and I've caused so many problems. I thought it would be better to just go."

"No." Jareth leaned his face into his hand and shut his eyes.

Toby stared. No? Did Jareth not see how blind he was being? Toby needed to get away. He needed to leave! And Jareth shouldn't want him to stay. "But..."

"I am not sending you back to the Aboveground like a box of damaged goods," the Goblin King snapped, "I am your bond mate and, by all that's pure, you will take your solace from me."

Toby shrank back, whimpering as the noise smashed through his skull. At any other time he would have fought over the possessive, but the rape proved how weak he was. He'd been unable to protect himself against one determined assault; who said he could protect himself against another? Jareth could probably break him in half with a snap of his white fingers.

"I'm sorry. Put your head back on the pillow and it won't hurt as much. I simply worry for you, my elf. What just happened was no mere nightmare. You were in a trance. Whoever attacked you made an added attempt on your mind. I fear for your mind..."

"He's not there any more!"

Jareth blinked at the emphatic interruption. "Only because he did not press his advantage. Toby, do you know the consequences of that happening? Everything that you are, that you know, become his to command. Can you feel the agony he could have caused you by the fight alone? What you feel now is a taste. Think of this pain prolonged and sharpened, arhythmic so that you never grow used to it. Think of the moment when it reaches the exact point where it grows so large you can't even comprehend what it is you feel."

"But he didn't take my mind," Toby whispered, not looking at him.

Jareth found himself shaken by the way he had upset the already upset mortal. It made him feel... somewhat guilty; an emotion he had never really enjoyed before. "If you would let me call a healer, we would be certain."

"I don't want anyone else poking around me," Toby snapped, pulling the covers tighter.

"Toby, what happened to you was an ugliness no one should have to endure. I am sorry that I shouted but it enrages me to think that such a thing was done in my Castle while you were under my protection."

"Oh, it wasn't your fault!" Toby hadn't interrupted this time but he spoke too quickly. "It was me. I'm to blame. I- I enticed him even though I swear I didn't mean to. I get things so wrong sometimes."

The Goblin King frowned at him. "Enticed him? How do you mean?"

It was clearly not a question Toby had expected to be asked. "I guess I said the wrong thing. Or did the wrong thing. I didn't think."

"I don't understand. You're saying you enticed a man to rape you by saying something that could have been an invitation? I don't recall such behaviour. Is that what he told you?"

"He explained it."

"And you don't think this man can lie?"

Toby didn't choose to answer that. He pressed his cheek into the pillow and shivered. It wasn't a very warm night for him. There were shadows in the room, and one of them lay just behind Jareth himself, lurching ominously across the floor.

"Toby?"

"I didn't act right," Toby whispered, "All of it. I should have fought more."

Jareth tipped his head to the side as he contemplated such a ridiculous notion. "You could have done no more than you did," he asserted confidently.

"But how do you know?" Toby ground out, anxiously raking his fingers through his hair to try and ease some of pain.

Jareth didn't look up this time as he settled back into the chair. "Because I know you," he answered implacably, as if that explained everything.

'Your poor bond mate knows not the dark depths of your soul, or the poisoned depths of your body...'

Poisoned. Yes, because Toby was certain he still had traces of the man inside him. Unclean, unclean! Poisoned! How could Jareth even look at him again? Not that Toby wanted him to. He didn't think he could do this sort of thing again. Besides, he wasn't gay and the rape had proved that. "Jareth, was this was you wanted to do to me?"

Jareth considered pretending to be asleep. But that would serve no purpose for either of them. Besides if Toby needed to talk about this- "Not in the least."

Toby considered telling him and plunged on recklessly. "I had this dream about you," he relayed quickly, looking at the dark wood dresser opposite him, "It was just after the feast when you tried to seduce me. And you kept saying these things to me. You told me that you wouldn't wait forever for me to- to submit to you and you said it would be soon or else. And you said you would enjoy me. You said those things and look what happened."

"You heard that?"

"In my dream, yes."

"It doesn't matter. Go to sleep." Jareth shut his eyes again. Only a few hours to sunrise.

"Jareth?"

"I am not a monster," he retorted, eyes snapping open and flashing fire, "I do not rape the innocent if that is what you are afraid of. When I said I would enjoy you, I meant that you would be a part of it. You would not be tied down to a bed and hurt for my pleasure. I would not have ever taken you without your consent. Do you doubt that?"

"Yes."

Both stared at the other, one clearly scared and the other swinging between insult, anger and understanding.

Toby wanted to be back in Jareth's arms, held safe and secure against the world. There was something inside him that soothed instantly at Jareth's touch. He hadn't noticed it before but since the 'incident', he'd needed a lot of soothing and he'd discovered it. But even the thought of being touched again by anyone made him sick to his stomach and if there was ever a chance that Jareth still wanted him in That Way, then soothing be damned. He was staying away from his bond mate for life.

"For as long as you need I will repeat it- I will never hurt you," Jareth vowed, "I have already alerted the entire Palace to seek out anyone who may have entered the Castle yesterday. No, I have not told anyone of your hurt. It is not their concern."

Toby relaxed and lay down.

'As it stays he will never find me...'

"You won't find him," the boy mumbled, rolling over onto his right side so he could see the door, "He doesn't want you to."

Jareth would never have admitted it, but that was what he was afraid of. So far no reports had been made of anyone suspicious or out of place. That could mean it was someone within the Castle, but he didn't think so. Toby had said human and the only humans inside were locked into the Ivory Tower. A light whimper sounded from the bed, forcing Jareth to turn from his contemplation of the night sky to his patient. Already fear was throwing its shadows into the boy's face. A little more of this and Toby might forget how to heal himself. And from that would come a slow, painful death. It was a fact of life in the Underground that made things like rape and abuse so very deadly.

And the demon spawn responsible was wielding high levels of black magic. It wasn't traceable; black magic was too impersonal for that. Anyone could have it, and how would he know? Even if he was the more powerful, he couldn't punish someone he couldn't find. And he wouldn't find this someone if they were half-way to intelligent, which they clearly were. This little threat with the trance and the mind games said so.

Stopping to place a chaste kiss on his bond mate's cheek, the Goblin King assumed bird-form and set out to ask the creatures of the Labyrinth for news.