Author's Note: This is slightly less intense (in my humble opinion). But it leads directly into the next chapter (again) and therefore is only a Part One of sorts. Toby's needs are about to be sorted out, and with it, the true identity of what they really want from each other.

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"Jareth, what are you doing?"

The Goblin King looked up from his desk and scowled. "Why are you out of bed?"

"I was cold," Toby protested, "I couldn't sleep. Why are you here?"

"Because I'm the sodding King of the Goblins," the half-goblin snapped. The pen went crashing against an ink-smudged wall. The ledger followed, spilling sheets of papers and a list of number-like marks.

Toby looked at the pen, the ledger and the little goblin that was sitting at his desk in the corner as if hoping that no one would remember his existence. The room was bare, full of journals and locked cupboards and had nothing more than a scattered multitude of lamps to warm it. Like the library and his bedroom, it was one of the few rooms in the Castle with actual windowpanes and curtains, though it still managed to be freezing cold.

The mortal sighed and beckoned to the terrified clerk. "Go. His Majesty doesn't need you any more tonight."

Jareth said nothing as the goblin thankfully bowed to each of them in turn and then left, efficiently quick at running away.

There was silence until the door shut.

"What do you want, Toby?"

Six and a half months pregnant and Toby definitely did not like that tone of voice. He had heard it used to a goblin that had ended up in an oubliette for a week. Unconsciously he folded his hands protectively over the ever-widening girth of his mid-section, a flicker of doubt in his blue eyes.

"You haven't answered me."

"I just wondered where you were," Toby replied. He refused to voice what had brought him struggling from his bed at three o'clock in the morning- heavy with child and sleep and various other ailments- to this stone-cold room near the forbidden top level of the Castle, to a lover who barely slept in the same bed as him any more. He hoped that the desperation was not clear through their bond.

Mismatched eyes narrowed in speculation, seeing a hint of some sort in the unnaturally stiff little body. Not that it was all that little any more- the formerly flat stomach seemed to grow rounder by the minute, Toby's joints were all swollen and to top it off the boy never ever emerged from under the most voluminous clothes he could find. At this time of night, Toby was wearing an oversized shirt and a coat the size of a tent, along with loose trousers. While the Goblin King could understand the human's need for warmth and comfortable clothes, this was really just carrying things too far. And he had too much else to think about besides a man in denial over his own pregnancy.

True to form, the mortal shifted uncomfortably beneath that dark gaze. Toby felt the now-familiar prickle of fear as the male he'd married got gracefully to his feet and swayed towards him through the shadows. The sight took his breath away, made him tremble where he stood and freeze altogether when long white fingers reached to tangle in his hair.

"Still no answer?"

"Jareth, don't."

The fingers dropped and the Goblin King stepped back. "Go back to bed," Jareth muttered, striding away to retrieve his pen and ledger.

Thin shoulders slumped for a moment and were forcibly straightened. Toby hesitated a minute. "Aren't you coming?

"Surely you can sleep alone?" The silky voice was cold and brutal, attention already seeming to be directed to something entirely different.

Toby opened his mouth to say something and thought better of it. So few months into this peculiar marriage and it was long enough to make him fear the half-goblin. His bond mate was not someone to challenge. And while the very thought of Jareth exacting a particular form of punishment was not something Toby was particularly averse to, he wasn't sure he could handle Jareth in a real towering rage. Not while he had no assurances that their child would not suffer the consequences. Shaking his head slightly, he flexed his fingers to grip the door handle.

Jareth's head snapped up as the dull throb echoed into his own body. "Wait!"

The fire-blond jumped and turned a little too fast, his bulk throwing him off balance to land heavily in his husband's arms with a breathless exclamation- "Ow!"

"Are you all right?"

"No! I'm as big as an elephant and I'm about to give birth in three months. How the hell do you think I am? Get off me!"

Jareth let go, ensuring only that his lover was safely supported by the wall before backing away. "I meant the pain."

"Pain?" Toby asked, looking genuinely bewildered. "What pain?"

"I felt you ache. What happened?"

Toby looked to the handle with a puzzled frown and down to his hands. Pain? Oh! His confusion cleared as he realized what Jareth had felt. "My hands," he explained, holding them out, "They're a little swollen."

Jareth took one look at the red appendages and grimaced in concern. "A little?" the Goblin King echoed, "Your fingers are the size of small branches! Why the devil didn't you say something?"

Golden skin tinged pink at the question as the hands were drawn back and hidden in warm pockets.

Jareth gave up. "The pregnancy," he guessed.

Toby nodded silently and stared resolutely over Jareth's left shoulder. He didn't want to talk about it. Being pregnant was bad enough without squirming with embarrassment for having to be in the state he was. It was humiliating to have to roll out of bed like a barrel, or lean backwards for better balance, or go to the toilet so often because his bladder was compressed. And Jareth would just dismiss them. The Goblin King didn't understand and Toby wouldn't- couldn't- tell him just how awful it was. And whom could he blame?

'How does the pregnancy work?'

Jareth had tried to pull back, to rein them in. What had Toby said? Toby had said he'd do it. Hang the consequences if he could only get fucked. Wasn't that what it had been? Just for the bloody sex! Everything just to get a dick up his arse. What kind of person did that? How desperate did it make him? Well, it served him right because now he was… and he had to… and it was a child that he loved!

Soft hands touched his face, cupping his chin and forcing his face up to Jareth's gaze. "Stop," Jareth asked, "This silent anger at yourself is not healthy- not for you or the child."

The lamps flickered as Toby's pride began to assert itself. Sensing the potential damage to his work, Jareth quickly transported them to their bedchamber. There, Toby could scream and rage all he wanted without the bother of precious books in the way.

And Toby did scream and rage. Jareth stood off to the side and stayed away both physically and mentally until Toby finally fell off balance and landed on the floor, the room a shamble of shredded cloth, splintered wood and broken china. The windows he'd had inserted in deference to his lover's condition and the cold of the Underground winter were all shattered, not helping matters by allowing the frigid air to stream into the room and create even more chaos.

"Tell me what's wrong," Jareth sighed, petting the gold hair gently. Even in his misery Toby would not let his body come into contact with him. "Why are you upset?"

"Look at me, Jareth. I'm a freak."

"You're not. I've told you that before. You knew this would happen if you fell pregnant. You accepted this."

"I accepted it in theory!" Toby pulled away from that hand, rising awkwardly to his feet and refusing to turn around to look his husband in the eye. "You needed children. We were in love and there was no way to say no when you… and you had to ask. You made me decide, Jareth. Why did you make me say yes?"

The Goblin King was now irrevocably confused. That Toby couldn't cope with having children he could understand; but with agreeing to it? Why was that an issue? He held his tongue and let the youth ramble on, pushing gently against the agitated mind to pick up on what Toby might leave unsaid.

"I would give you the world," Toby murmured, "Given you everything." A splashing sound could be heard from beyond the Castle as the waters of the rivers and lakes began to churn in their beds. "But you had to ask. You shouldn't have asked."

"You want me to take it?"

Jareth had only meant to reason with his lover. He was not expecting to see the blond head dip and rise in agreement. He did not expect to see the thin body hunch away from him with shame. And he certainly did not expect to feel the yearning need to forget slide into his mind. Was Archer right about Toby?

"He needs something stronger than you have yet given him. He needs you to show him what he needs."

Jareth pulled Toby back against him, wrapping an arm around his chest to hold him in place. Toby shivered and struggled a little, but made no actual move to break free. Jareth breathed in the scent that clung to his bond mate's hair. The gold strands were brighter and silkier than ever, hanging overlong down his neck in a wavy mat.

A plan began to form. True, war was brewing between the Goblin and Fairy Kingdoms, but Toby didn't need to know that now. He didn't need to know that at all until it actually happened. Not while he needed to be kept rested and at peace. At which thought Jareth only smiled, for he was going to disturb that peace just a little. It was the only way to bring his husband to a proper rest.

"Go to bed," he ordered, releasing him, "I have some business that needs to be finished tonight. I will see you when I am done."

Toby looked around in some surprise, but something flickered in blue eyes when he saw the look on the Goblin King's face that forbade him to argue. It was almost a look of gratitude, which was quickly quenched when the boy nodded and meekly lay down, drawing the curtains around their bed in a habit he had recently acquired. Jareth shook his head and left the room.

Slipping silently out of the Castle on noiseless paws, the white tiger took off at an easy lope for the snow-dusted Labyrinth.

It had been a long time since Jareth had enjoyed a midnight run in this shape. And it wasn't Toby's fault; he had simply never thought of it what with something or the other happening to disturb him. And his Kingdom was almost bearable when it was cold and silent as it was now, the Labyrinth beckoning him on with soft words.

The part of his mind that he retained in any physical form he adopted began to map out his path to Hoggle's cottage with as much accuracy as he could remember. He'd been there before; Hoggle was a convenient pawn to press into service. And of course, no other being besides Arienne knew half as many interesting potions for interesting things. Jareth sometimes wondered why the dwarfs had deliberately buried their ages-old medicinal recipes and forgotten them. But whatever the reason, Hoggle would know what he wanted. If not, he could damn well make it up and pray it worked!

The twisting turns began to melt around him as he descended into the Labyrinth proper, but he didn't stop. The Spirit would play a few games with him along the way, but Jareth rather enjoyed them. He kept his eyes open for the first one.

The dense mist that came down was not particularly original, but Jareth was quite enchanted with it. It called to its victims with a honeyed tongue, urging them to lose themselves in forgetfulness- one of his better ideas if he did say so himself. It would take a challenger a while to eventually roam out of there.

He had to stop when he burst out of the mist. His eyes were streaming and the mist made him sneeze. A night bird with dark blue plumage watched in surprise as the large tiger crouched for a moment and shook his head, sneezing a few times with cat-like grace. It let out a cackling cry as the beast began its hunt once more.

The Goblin King let out a roar in reply, practically whirling in delight. He bounded onto a low wall for a moment and enjoyed the thrilling theatrics of being a white tiger in a dark night. It was, he exulted, rather a nice feeling. But he drew the line at pawing at the sky. There were limits!

Leaping down, he took the first turn right on a hunch. The Labyrinth threw up a blank wall but that didn't faze him. He growled and swiped at it, clawing at the bricks hard enough to crack a few. Smirking inwardly- because unfortunately his tiger form could not do it for him- he stepped serenely right into it. The wall faded and shimmered around his body, giving way to the formidable belief that yes, he could indeed walk through a wall simply because he could. It was strength of mind that worked with the Labyrinth, and a childish spirit of adventure. Jareth had both in abundance.

The thought of his lover sobered him up.

He loped off again, padded feet barely touching the muddy ground with its snow and churned earth. Just another few minutes in a straight path and he should be exiting the Labyrinth. And then a run along the perimeter of the outer walls to the edge of the Flat Plains and Hoggle's little hovel should be there.

He was right.

Hoggle woke up with a start to find a large, white tiger in his room. The beast was panting slightly, lying by the fire with mismatched eyes turned gimlet-like on to him. Long, vicious looking teeth were discreetly obvious.

"Aaa!"

Jareth changed back and got up off the floor, chuckling evilly to himself. He loved doing that. "Well, well, Hidwart."

"Your Majesty!"

"Yes." Jareth waited only until Hoggle had tumbled to the floor in his haste to get out of bed to continue with his purpose. "I have a small task for you tonight."

"Tonight?" Hoggle gulped, struggling to get his pants on as fast as he could. He couldn't very well ask the King of the Goblins to leave so he could change. On the other hand, he refused to walk around all night in his nightshirt. "Uh, but it's night!"

"Are you refusing?"

"No."

"Good. I need a salve or paste of some sort, or even a potion; I don't care what form it is. What I want it to do is relieve pain and bring down swellings. Can you do that?"

Hoggle scratched his head. He knew the recipe, but... "I could," he admitted, "But I needs to get more Little Pine for that."

"Rosemary, you inept idiot. The plant is rosemary," Jareth snapped. Hoggle would, of course, translate the names of the herbs he used from the Old Language to English with no thought as to what the English names were. The Goblin King had once spent the entire night looking for White Pods when Hoggle meant vanilla seeds.

"Y- yeah," Hoggle stammered, backing up a step, "Uh, rosemary."

Jareth stared at him for a good long moment, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. He finally sighed with exaggerated exasperation and bent down. "Are you going to make it?" he asked sweetly, "Because if not..."

Hoggle was gone, a coat thrown over himself as he trotted off to his work shed. Jareth politely stayed where he was, standing in front of the fire and staring moodily into it. Cold or heat, neither really bothered either the goblins or the fairies. But dwarfs, elves and mortals were very susceptible to it. He reasoned it was due to a closer tie with nature than goblins or fairies had. Goblins liked nature, respected it and cared for it, and when the time came they could take it or leave it. Fairies were even worse. Elves and dwarves now- they lived in nature and through nature. Neither was happy unless they had wilderness around them or at least a tree in their backyard. And mortals? Well, Jareth was still not sure about mortals. They were the enigma in the bunch.

The sound of feet crunching over snow sounded and he looked up in time to see Hoggle return with a small pot and a bundle of things tied under his arm. The dwarf set his tools on the table and went to work.

At the best of times Hoggle could be a clumsy oaf- at least in the Goblin King's opinion- at the times that he was brewing something, he was quite simply the most precise machine going. The large fingers were no obstacles to the delicate measurements and the tiny boxes and bottles of ingredients. Jareth sat by the fire and watched.

An hour passed and Hoggle stared when Jareth suddenly sat bolt upright and looked tense. The watery blue eyes widened when the moon-blond head shook very emphatically and Jareth glared at the hearth as if about to accuse it of treason. The entire situation ended with the half-goblin jumping to his feet and growling, "Stay in bed, you fool! Before I chain you in!"

A candle was suddenly lit in the large head. "Oh," Hoggle muttered, turning back to stirring the hot water into his mixture, "That's who it is!"

Jareth began to pace up and down, hands clasped loosely behind his back and head down as if listening to something... or someone. "Toby," he said out loud, "I warned you to stay where you were. You will obey."

From the sounds of things, Hoggle almost sniggered, Sarah Williams' little brother was just like his sister- stubborn! And Jareth never could handle Sarah.

"Stop sniggering!" the Goblin King snarled, grabbing Hoggle by the ear and shaking, "Or I'll have you in the Bog of Eternal Stench before you can beg for your life!" His warning delivered, he then proceeded to throw himself in a chair and think dark thoughts for the rest of the time.

Another hour passed and this time, Hoggle was the one who moved. "Here," he sighed brusquely, "It's done."

Jareth yawned behind his hand and got stiffly to his feet, long fingers snatching the large pot up and into his hand. "Thank you," he said, "Take the rest of the day off to sleep."

Hoggle stared at the spot where the King had been standing. The rest of the day off? Jareth was certainly losing his mind if he was actually repaying him for his services. But he wasn't about to question such a thing, so he stripped off his clothes and tumbled back into bed with a happy groan. Bed!

Jareth was thinking much the same thing, appearing beside his own bed just moments later with the precious pot in his hands. It would soon be five-thirty in the morning and the sun rose just after six. And his room was still a shambles.

All except for his bed, which was like an enormous, blue curtained cubicle in the middle of the room. And somewhere inside that cubicle- sleeping like an angel with golden hair- was his own personal little poltergeist. Jareth was tempted to just start immediately. Teach the boy a lesson!

But he didn't.

Instead, he concentrated and mended his broken furniture and shredded furnishings before sending a call ringing through the Castle for ten goblin servants. In a minute, twenty were at the door of his suite, bowing low before their King as he stood awaiting them in the doorway. He selected the ones he wanted and threatened them with dire violence if they made so much as a sound as they worked. But both King and servants were aware that the threat was an empty one. Goblins could be cunning and silent creatures when they wanted to be. And though they would all deny it vehemently when asked, any in the Castle would do anything for their King's consort, who laughed and joked with them as if he were a goblin himself. And he was pretty too, which all goblins admired, and since they were his friends they were willing to do quite a lot to make him comfortable.

Once the debris was gone, Jareth summarily sent them away.

The room was back to its former glory and he took the opportunity to take a bath and change. It was somewhat refreshing to soak the cold and tiredness from his bones. And he had reached a very satisfactory decision on two subjects:

The first subject- he decided that he didn't care if the Goblin Kingdom went to war with the fairies. If Amarild offered peace, he would accept it. If not, they would fight. The goblins had won every major war for past millennium; he didn't see the pattern changing now.

The second subject- he would not and could not tolerate Toby's denials any more. The boy was about to wake up to a rather rude shock this morning. He was certain of that.

And Toby did wake up to a rude shock. For some reason he was lying in bed with the sunlight falling directly into his eyes, stark naked for the first time in two months and a pair of very cold, very angry dual-coloured eyes trained on him from the side of the bed.

It was not, he realized with a shiver that was part shock and part terror, going to be a restful day.