Chapter Eleven

The Heroes

Leah screamed and sat up. She looked around wildly and her door opened.

"I see your awake my lady," Nezwil said calmly.

"What happened?" Leah asked worriedly.

"You were attacked," the goblin said patting her on her hand "but his majesty saved you."

"Is he alright?" Leah asked worriedly. Nezwil gave a long pause. And Leah's eyes started filling with tears. Oh no, he couldn't have... died. Could he? Wasn't he immortal or something?

"He's a bit ill," Nezwil said.

"Define ill," Leah said.

"Shhh," the goblin hushed "sleep now." He left the room and Leah sighed. She looked at the clock, it was eleven. She couldn't bare if Jareth was severely hurt rescuing her. She got up and quietly opened the door. A goblin guarded it, but he was sleeping. She quickly walked past and walked down the hall.

She came to a door at the very end of the hall. Nothing was carved on it at all. She opened the door quietly and looked in... nothing. She mumbled a few cuss words under her breath and walked back. She heard Nezwil coming back down the hall. She panicked and opened the first door to her right and dashed inside, closing it behind her. She leaned up against it and sighed.

She looked across the room and there, in bed, was Jareth. She carefully walked over to him and sat in a chair beside his bed. She looked him over, he seemed alright to her. But then, nothing is what it seems. She gently felt his forehead, he was burning up. Ice water and a washcloth stood near by. She sighed and tossed the washcloth in and ringed it out. She folded it and sat back down next to Jareth. She patted his face, gently and he shifted slowly.

"It'll be alright," she said quietly, feeling very much like a nurse. She moved down his face and onto his neck. His breathing slowed. That was good, he was calming down. "I can't believe you save me," she mumbled aloud "you must have a death wish or some kind of danger fetish or something."

She moved to his chest, which wasn't that hard considering that he had no shirt on. He cringed when she moved near his left shoulder. She moved the blanket more. There was a very large bite mark. Leah felt her own neck. Two large gashes in the shape of an X had been left as a reminder that someone had leaked the poison out of her. She moved the washcloth over his bite anyways and a dark purple liquid oozed out.

Leah frowned. Her's didn't do that. She thought for a moment. Of course, Jareth had taken care of her's first. And then he must have gotten them back to the castle and passed out. There was no time for him to take care of his own. And knowing the goblins and how smart they were (A/N: no offence guys!) she figured they didn't know that you had to get the poison out.

Leah dashed into Jareth's bathroom and searched for peroxide. Finding it she found a small razor also and went over to Jareth. Slowly she cut an X into his skin. Blood and purple venom gushed out. Leah cleaned it up and poured peroxide on the wound. He winced and opened his eyes slowly. He breathed hard and Leah poured peroxide on a new washcloth. She placed it on Jareth's X.

Jareth was having a hard time focusing on who was tending to him. He was also having a hard time slowing his breathing down. Leah noticed this and put her hand on his chest. He only breathed harder. This wasn't going to work! Quickly Leah put Jareth in an upright position and sat behind him. She scooted down so he was laying up against her.

Though Leah wished there was another position to help him in, she couldn't think of any. She put her hand on his chest again and tried to get him to match her breathing.

"Breathe like me," she said "slowly. In.....out...... in...... out....." Soon Jareth's breathing slowed and the venom had all been drained out. She carefully came out from behind him and laid him down. He was half way asleep so, she didn't think he'd say anything. She bandaged his wound and pulled the blankets back up over him. She cleaned everything back up and put the peroxide by the bed, in case. She looked to make sure everything as in place.

"Leah," Jareth moaned and she just smiled.

"You're going to be fine," she assured him.

"You're alright?" Jareth whispered.

"Of course," she said "I'm more worried about you than anything." He gave a sad smile and sighed a relived sigh. "You saved me," Leah said kissing him on the forehead "you are my hero." Before he would object or even say your welcome, Leah had quickly left the room and tiptoed back to her bed.

..............................................

"Leah?" the voice asked in confusion and Leah quickly sat up worried.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, still feeling groggy from the poison and feeling more like that one time when she got a hangover.

"Its fine," Nezwil said, calming her down "just seeing if you were awake."

"Lovely," Leah mumbled throwing the covers over her head and Nezwil giggled.

"Do you know how smart you are?" he asked in amusement.

"Well," Leah mumbled "that depends what you're comparing me to. I know I'm MUCH smarter than fleas or any other insect for that matter. My hunting skills, as you may know, suck compared to spiders. I need more sleep than a giraffe that only needs about twenty minutes a day. And Nezwil I'm really cranky when it comes to waking me up if you haven't noticed, what the hell do you want?!"

"I've come to tell you that you've saved the king," he said cheerfully.

"It's the other way around," Leah mumbled and turned over.

"Nope!" the little goblin said jumping up and down on the bed "you saved him. That poison was slowly killing him. But you got it all out." Nezwil broke out into various and loud yelled of happiness.

"Nezwil," Leah muttered "tell me, is Jareth alive?"

"Yes," he said, feeling a little confused.

"And he's not ill, right?" she asked.

"Right," he said "he's just about as cranky as you actually."

"Alright then," she said "then get out of my room and let me sleep!" Nezwil laughed and dashed out of the room. Next door you could hear Jareth yelling but Nezwil proceeded in telling Jareth that he had saved Leah from the spider. Leah laughed to herself. Leah stopped and heard Nezwil in yet another room, telling all about both heroic efforts.

Leah quickly put her hair up in a ponytail and tossed on some jeans, a t-shirt and some socks. She dashed out of her room and went into Jareth's, without bothering to knock. Jareth had his head covered with his pillow and he grumbled angrily.

"I thought I told you," he grumbled.

"Aww," Leah teased "don't you want to hear about you saving me?" Jareth looked up and smiled.

"What are you doing here?" he asked grinning.

"Well," Leah said sitting on the bed "I live here." Jareth looked like he did all the time. Perfect hair, make-up, the only difference was that he had no shirt. It must have been a spell or something, she figured, or his hair would have been a mess.

"I know that," he muttered "I mean what do you want?" Leah sighed and felt his forehead but he batted her away. "I'm fine," he grumbled.

"You weren't last night," Leah said stiffly "I'm just making sure you're alright."

"There's no need," he said and Leah rolled her eyes.

"There's plenty of need," she said.

"I've already been checked on all morning," Jareth grumbled "I don't need YOU babying me too."

"Yes you do," Leah teased and pushed his hair out of his face. Jareth gave a cocky smile.

"Where'd you learn how to take care of people?" he asked.

"Last summer I was a candy striper at the hospital," she said taking a look at the cut she had made "I learned a lot there."

"Well you think fast," he said "any longer and I would have-"

"You would have been fine," Leah finished quickly "it would have worked its way out of your system eventually." She re-bandaged it and sat back.

"I suppose," he said worriedly "what about you?" He reached for her neck to take a look but she moved.

"I'm fine," she said "you already took care of me. I'm FINE."

"I know your fine," he said grinning "I'm just making sure you're alright." Leah waited a moment... did he just hit on her? She shrugged it off. "Let me see anyways," he said and Leah shook her head.

"I told you," she said "I'm alright." With a sigh Jareth motioned with his hand and Leah went sliding right to him. Her body froze for a moment, and then seeing no resentment, let her move.

"When I say come," he muttered looking at the X "you'd had better come." Patiently, Leah waited until he was done and then picked up a pillow and hit him with it.

"And when I say no," she said, giggling from Jareth's shocked look "and you make me do it anyways, you better know that you're going to get hit for it."

"You can't do that," Jareth said, shocked but still smiling.

"No," Leah teased "I can."

"Oh you're going to hate me," Jareth chuckled and turned his index finger in a circular motion. Leah looked at him, wondering what he was doing. Then she felt like someone was tickling her. She started laughing. More and more tickling. But she couldn't fight against anyone! She giggled and screamed but it wouldn't stop. Soon she was crying because she was laughing so hard.

"Stop," she laughed "make it stop." Jareth laughed too and Leah hit him with the pillow again "Jareth!"

"Are you going to listen to me now then?" he teased. She gave him a cold look and then the tickling became more intense.

"Alright!" she laughed "ok, ok, I'll listen." He turned his finger the opposite way now and it stopped. She sat up and gave him an odd look "you cheated." He chuckled and she hit him again. "You cheated!" she laughed.

"Only a little," he teased and then gave a sly look "now come here." Leah looked at him and then the ground. She hesitated a moment and then sat in front of him. She looked down at the ground and Jareth lifted her head with his hand. "Look at me," he ordered. Teasingly Leah looked up, and made her eyes laugh at him. "Now," he said "show me."

Leah hesitated. He couldn't seriously mean for her not to hide her eyes from him. That was her only weapon, to confuse him and leave him baffled. She didn't want to show anyone all the pain or all her secret joys. No. She wouldn't do it. She looked up and gave a cocky smile. But Jareth's gaze met her's unsteadily.

She waited a moment. Nothing. She looked harder. Nothing. Why couldn't she read him? Then, it dawned on her. He'd let her. He'd let her see every emotion he'd felt from day one. Why was that? He had showed her that he wasn't cruel, that he acted out his big scary Goblin King image. That he'd enjoyed her company. That he'd been hurt by her sarcasm and annoyed and perplexed by her stubbornness.

He had risked his life to save her, though. Leah quickly made up her mind. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath and exhaled. She opened her eyes. Jareth stopped breathing. Every thing was laid out for him to see, like a map. Every hurt, every joy, every awful thought, even her deepest wishes, right there. He had won them from her, taken them away like so much treasure. He stopped and closed his eyes.

"Don't show me," he said quietly and Leah kept herself from falling down and thanking him repeatedly. She knew how badly he wanted to understand her. She knew that she teased him with what she felt constantly and so she kept her eyes open, completely free for him to grasp whatever he wished from her memory.