A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, but it's a really long one so hopefully that will make up for it. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Still don't own any of the Buffy characters or Jareth and Sarah.

Joyce Summers had come to terms with a lot of things since learning several months ago that her daughter was the 'Slayer.' Being a single mother is a difficult task in its own right, and no time is more difficult for a mother than helping her daughter get over a bad breakup with her first love. Joyce would have welcomed such mundane events, but was instead treated to the wonderful experience of learning that Buffy's boyfriend was not only a bicentennial undead bloodsucking vampire with a soul, but that consummating his love for her daughter had caused him to lose said soul, turn evil, kill people, and attempt to destroy the world. Joyce had found this turn of events particularly disturbing.

This said, she was quite pleased with how well she had adjusted to the situation after the initial shock had worn off. She had even learned to stop protesting when Buffy left the house in the middle of the night armed with axes and swords and came home covered in vampire dust or other things that were even less pleasant and even more difficult to wash out of her clothes. She had adapted, reluctantly, to the strange relationship her daughter had with her undeniably handsome middle aged librarian. More than once she had made dinner for Buffy's friends as they plotted midnight massacres of demon hatchlings. Joyce was proud to call herself a modern, open-minded, enlightened sort of mother.

Even so, the sight of the strange man in leather and linen crouched over the unconscious naked girl on her couch gave her cause to furl her brow in consternation. He was a very odd sort of man; he reminded her vaguely of the glam rockers whose posters had hung on her wall when she was a teenager. He was kneeling next to the couch doting over the unconscious girl and whispering. Gently he removed his soft leather gloves and began running his hands over the cuts, bruises and burns on her face. It was an intimate touch, and Joyce was not entirely sure she was comfortable with it. When he pulled back the blanket that covered her and began to move his hands down to the burns on her neck she was sure she wasn't comfortable.

"What's he doing?" She asked no one in particular.

Pausing in his downward decent but not bothering to look up, the strange man answered her. "I'm attempting to heal her wounds." He said in an accent very similar to Giles.' Perhaps they were related? After a second look she decided that no, this man was definitely not related to Giles. There was something distinctly not human about him. This realization surprised her. It was odd to think that she could now gauge humanity when only a few months ago she didn't know the need for such a skill existed. She was equally surprised to see that the minor cuts and bruises on the girls face were fading before her eyes.

"I didn't know vampires could heal." She said, not knowing why she had just assumed that the man was a vampire.

"They can't." Buffy answered, "And he's not. A vampire I mean. He's a…..a…." she turned a confused face to Giles, who shrugged.

"For light's sake I'm a goblin of course." The man said, not taking his eyes away from the girl on the couch. He completely missed the eye widening and mouthing of the word 'Goblin?' that took place on the faces of the teenagers behind him. He went back to his work, grinding out a terse command as he did so. "Would you all mind leaving the room so I can finish this in peace?"

Giles seemed to wake from his reverie at these words. "Yes, yes of course." He said, ushering Joyce and the reluctant teenagers out of the room.

"Now wait just a minute." Joyce said, resisting Giles' efforts to shoo her into the kitchen. "This is my house, and I don't know who you are, but I'm not about to leave you alone with this young woman while she's in this condition." Finally the strange man looked up at her.

His eyes, she discovered, were the strangest thing about him. One as blue as the ocean, one the color of rich honey, and both blazing with power and mystery and seduction. When he spoke, it was with the soft clipped tones of someone attempting to curb their anger. Goblins, she decided, were a lot sexier than she would have given them credit for. "Madaam," he said tightly, "I assure you my intentions are completely honorable. This young woman has been very badly injured and without attention she could develop an infection and die. Now if you would be so kind…"

Joyce cut him off, refusing to be intimidated in her own home. "Please, carry on with your...healing." she said. "I'll be sitting right over here, and I won't make a sound." Jareth stared at her for a long moment, but when she showed no signs of backing down he sighed. Like mother like daughter he supposed. Why am I constantly surrounded by obstinate women, he wondered. He ran his pale fingers through his paler hair and went back to work.

Joyce made herself comfortable in the chair next to the couch and the others quietly left the room. They made their way into the kitchen where at least four of them began chattering and giggling as though it were just another day. Xander began the customary plunder for cookies and squealed with delight when he found a large bag of chips instead. Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. How was it he had been exiled from the room with the children? Rifling through the kitchen cabinets he found teabags, sugar and, Gods be praised, a bottle of Excedrin.

­

In the living room Jareth continued to heal Sarah, while Joyce looked on. He lowered the blanket inches at a time, careful not to expose too much. He was thorough, making sure that he found every hidden bruise and burn, but he was respectful as well. "What happened to her?" She found herself asking though she had promised to be quiet.

"She was tortured," he said darkly, "And almost killed." His response seemed angry, but she didn't think it was directed at her. She remained quiet as he progressed to the lower portions of her legs, and was satisfied that the unconscious girl was not in any immediate danger, at least not from the…goblin. She rose to join Buffy and her friends in the kitchen. Stopping at the door she turned to address the strange man again. "I think I smell Giles brewing tea. Will you join us when you're done?"

Her words were said pleasantly and with a smile. Jareth recognized the attempt at kindness, but also the gentle command beneath them. What she was really telling him was 'Now that you're done you can come with me because I'm not sure I trust you enough to leave you in here alone.' He smirked, but nodded. It was her home, after all, and she seemed to be a gracious woman. Pausing to make sure that Sarah was completely covered, and whispering a few soft words in ear, he rose and followed Buffy's mother into the kitchen.

As they came through the door Giles held out two steaming mugs. "Tea?" he asked and Joyce and Jareth took them graciously. Passing a bowl towards Jareth he offered "Sugar?"

"I don't suppose you have any honey?" Jareth asked and Joyce shook her head.

"Sorry." She said.

"Pity." Jareth commented, spooning sugar into the hot liquid. When he was done he looked up to find seven pairs of eyes watching him inquisitively. "Yes?" he asked, his face stoic.

"I believe its time for the question and answer portion of our program." Xander said, and Jareth looked at him quizzically.

"Does he always speak this way?"

"Unfortunately," Giles sighed, ignoring Xander's pout. "The lad is right, though, I believe you owe us a few explanations."

Jareth momentarily assumed his customary haughty expression. Who were these mortals to demand explanations of him? But then he thought of how they had risked their lives to help him save Sarah, and decided it was the least he could do. "Very well, then, what would you like to know?"

Giles opened his mouth to speak but Joyce cut him off. "Well for starters, who the hell are you and who is the girl in there on the couch?"

The next few minutes were spent bringing Joyce up to date, and she seemed to catch on quickly enough. When they were done, Jareth turned his attention back to Giles. "So where were we?"

Again Giles tried to speak and again he was cut off, this time by the one person he would have least expected. "Dude, you're a goblin!" Oz said. "How cool is that?"

Jareth blinked, attempting to understand the question. "Of course I'm a goblin." He finally said, "I'm the Goblin King."

"I thought that was just a title, like the Lion King." Xander said unhelpfully.

"Xander, the Lion King was a lion." Willow corrected him, and Xander smiled knowingly.

"Just in the cartoon, but in real life he was just a guy. We studied about him in history. King Richard the Lion King."

"You mean Richard the Lionheart." Willow corrected again, trying not to giggle "The Lion King was a whole different thing."

As the Goblin King looked from the other in total confusion, Cordelia sighed disgustedly. She tapped the table in front of Jareth to get his attention. "But you don't look like a goblin." She told him.

"And precisely how many goblins have you seen?" Jareth asked her.

Cordelia hesitated. "Well…none I suppose. But from what Sarah told us earlier I thought they were little slimy brown icky things."

"Ah, yes." Jareth nodded. "The 'icky things' as you put it are the lowest of the goblin classes. They are more like pets than people. Goblins come in many shapes and sizes. Those on the low end of the spectrum possess no magic to speak of and very little intelligence. Mortals generally find them quite unpleasant, which is why I summon as many of their kind as possible when a challenger faces the labyrinth. It gives them a bit more motivation when they think that they represent what their child will be turned into should they fail."

"But don't they always fail?" Willow asked.

"Of course not, most of them win. My labyrinth is difficult, but not impossible, not if the challenger is well motivated. I have no wish to keep the children who are wished to me, merely to make them more appreciated."

"But some do lose." Joyce said.

"Yes, but mainly because they failed to try."

"And those children are turned into goblins?" Buffy asked.

"Only because the human life span is so much shorter. I consider it a consolation prize for being wished away and abandoned. They aren't turned into low goblins of course, nor high goblins, such as myself. They tend to populate the goblin middle class. If Sarah told you of her time spent in the underground then she may have mentioned her friend Hoggle. He was a wished away child whose mother didn't even attempt to run the labyrinth, though he doesn't know that."

"So you're a high goblin?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, the royal family is the highest class, and the only goblins who possess my type of magic. Once there were many of us, but now only a handful remain." These last words were spoken softly, as though they were difficult to form.

Seeing his chance to finally have a word in edgewise, Giles spoke. "I gathered from events in the woods that Bothis is not just a dead gypsy?"

Jareth shook his head, clearing the fog of memories that had suddenly filled it. "Oh, I'm quite sure he took up residence with the gypsies and used them to gather earth magic, but that was not his beginnings. Once upon a time his name was Bothvar. He was my cousin and, I thought, my dearest friend."

"What happened?" Buffy asked gently, recognizing the thinly disguised pain in the Goblin King's eyes.

"He betrayed me." He answered thickly. "He betrayed all of us. At that time there lay a kingdom to the south of mine ruled by creatures called the Cree. They were large, beastlike creatures who while vocally inarticulate possessed a singular intelligence and the ability to communicate telepathically with each other and with those of us with enough magic to hear them. They also possessed the power to call down rocks and stones. Luckily for us they were a peaceful race and we were amicable neighbors. That was until Bothvar began his scheming. It was only later that we learned how it all started. Bothvar had organized the assassination of the Cree King and Queen. Then he convinced the Cree that my father, who was the Goblin King at that time, had ordered their assassination. They demanded blood, and Bothvar told them exactly when to strike us."

"But why?" Joyce asked. "Why would he turn against his own people?"

"Why does anyone ever do anything evil? For power. I try to tell myself that he never meant for things to go as far as they did, that he never intended the full scale war that nearly wiped my people out, but I really don't know." He paused and summoned a crystal to his fingertips, manipulating it back and forth and staring at it as he continued to speak. "They struck during our Harvest Celebration. It's a holy time in my world, when thousands gather at the end of summer to celebrate and give thanks for our impending harvest. In those days it was a joyous occasion, attended by goblins of every station. The entire royal family, the nobility, and thousands of others were gathered together in an open field. We never suspected anything, and so we were completely defenseless when the attack came in the middle of the night.

"Without warning, stones began to fall from the sky. They were small at first, a curious annoyance. Then they started to get bigger, and to come faster. The camp was in chaos, people running for their lives but with no shelter to run to. As pebbles became stones and stones became boulders, people began to die. All around me, my kinsmen were being crushed. Several of the nobility who possessed magic began to form a shield to protect the lower classes. It was their only salvation, but it left the casters completely defenseless. The rest of us gathered weapons and went in search of the cause. Just over the hill we discovered the Cree army, standing shoulder to shoulder chanting the cry that called the rocks.

"I drew my sword and the others followed my lead. Together we plowed through them, spilling their blood in hot waves. I remember the satisfying way it splashed down my arms and onto my boots." He paused then and looked up at Buffy, knowing that she might understand that statement. She nodded, a thin smile on her face. Satisfied he looked back to his crystal and began to speak once more.

"Some of the Cree warriors stopped chanting and tried to fight back, but most resigned themselves to call the rocks and wait for death. We massacred them, killing all but a handful. It was from one of these, a prince of the Cree named Darro,a younger brother to the newly crowned king, that we learned what had happened, and discovered my cousin's duplicity. He halted the rocks, and together we sadly surveyed his losses. His army lay drenched in blood in the wake of our righteous fury.

"Together we crossed over the hill and back to the Goblin camp. My heart froze at what I saw. I remember sinking to my knees, tears burned the bruises on my face. Even Darro cried in anguish, for while he had lost an army, our devastation was so much more. In front of us lay thousands of my people dead and dying. Not just the nobility, not just the soldiers, but commoners, men, women, children. So many had been crushed by the stones that it was difficult to move through them without stepping on a body. I made my way to the center of the camp, passing entire families who had been crushed while huddling together, mothers with their babes in their arms. Darro wept openly. Bothvar had told his people that only the Royal family and their armies would be camped here.

"I didn't have it in me to be angry with Darro or his people. My rage was directed in one direction only. When we finally made it to the center of the camp, I felt my world fall down around me. Many of the middle and lower goblins escaped harm that day thanks to the shield that had been created by my kinsmen. However, they had sacrificed their lives for it. All of the Nobility, all of the High Goblins who had not followed me into battle, were dead. My father and mother lay huddled together, along with my only sister, who was merely a child. All of my family, all of my kinsmen, were dead at my feet.

"It took those of us who were left five days to bury our dead. What once was our holy gathering place is now a cemetery." Jareth stopped here, needing to collect his thoughts before he could continue. Long buried emotions threatened to break free, and it took all of his willpower to suppress them again.

It was Buffy who finally broke the silence. Justice was her forte, and she was eager to hear how he had dispensed it. "What did you do with Bothvar?" she asked.

"I wanted to kill him. As the new King it was my right to kill him, and I should have. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I found him back at the castle. He had not joined us for the gathering, claiming that his pregnant wife Ilena was feeling under the weather. He seemed genuinely shocked when he learned the magnitude of the battle. He had naively believed that the Cree army would focus its attack on the Royal family, sparing everyone else. He had hoped to be rid of my father and myself, leaving him to rule the kingdom. In deference to Ilena, who I was sure had no part in his schemes, I spared his life, but I stripped him of his magic and banished him to your world, where I thought he could do no harm."

"I guess you were wrong." Cordelia pointed out.

"It appears I was." Jareth conceded.

A voice spoke from the back of the room. "So he came here and he discovered my people." Jenny said, gliding towards the group sitting around the table. "He took advantage of them, learned to control their magic, and took his revenge on you by spawning the legends which malign your name and that of your race."

"Jenny, I wondered where you were off to." Giles said, although truthfully he had forgotten her until that moment.

"I tried to follow Bothis…I mean Bothvar. I'm afraid I didn't have much luck, but I don't think he's done with us yet."

"Indeed not," Giles said, "Although I no longer think he's after Sarah's wild magic.

"No." Jareth confirmed. "He's after revenge, and he's using Sarah to get it. You see, it's impossible just to hand over wild magic. Gypsies may be able to manipulate it to some degree, but they don't actually possess it. That is a talent reserved only for High Goblins."

"What are you saying?" Giles asked, removing his glasses and cleaning them fervently.

"I turned Sarah into a High Goblin, a member of the ruling class. As the king I have that power. Bothvar knows I would only have given such a gift to someone whom I intended to make my Queen."

A gasp from the doorway alerted them to Sarah's presence, and they turned to find her standing there with her blanket tucked neatly around her and her mouth agape. "You did what to me?" she asked, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Sarah…I…"for the first time in many years the Goblin King found himself unable to speak.

"Take it back!" Sarah shrieked. Willow jumped from her seat and put her arm around Sarah's shoulders, trying to calm her down, but Sarah shrugged her off. "Take it back now, damn it!"

"Sarah, I can't. What's done is done." Jareth said flatly. He was completely unprepared for slap Sarah landed across his cheek, and he leaped to his feet to tower over the girl menacingly. To his chagrin, she wasn't the slightest bit intimidated.

"You bastard." She spat. He tortured me, who knows what he would have done to me if Buffy hadn't saved me." She held up her right arm, displaying a nasty burn that had not yet healed completely. "This is your fault, Jareth."

"Sarah," he said gently, "Try to understand."

"There's nothing to understand, Jareth." The name was a curse. "You gave me this magic that attracted this demon who obviously hates you, and now he's using me to get to you. And now you tell me I'm not even human anymore?" With these last words she began to sob, and he reached out wanting only to hold her and make her understand. She pushed him away so forcefully that he nearly stumbled. "Don't touch me!" she screamed. "Don't come near me! Just go away!" With that she turned and ran out of the room, Buffy and Willow close behind her.

Jareth moved to follow her as well but Giles caught his arm. "Let her go." He said, knowing he needed to get the Goblin King away for a while so that he and Sarah could both cool down.

Jareth looked at the other man harshly. "But I have to explain" He said.

"Explain what?" Giles answered. "She obviously doesn't want your explanations. Buffy and Willow will talk to her, and afterwards, she'll need time to think. In the meantime, you could use a drink, and so could I. I know just the place, so do what ever it is you do and let's go."

Jareth hesitated. "I should stay to protect her." He said.

"Yes, because you were so useful before." Xander muttered, and Giles shot him a warning glare.

"We'll look out for her." Oz said, a little more helpfully, and Giles nodded his agreement.

"And Buffy will be here. Now come on, let's go." Jareth seemed to think about it a moment longer, and then nodded.

"You know how to call me if something happens?" he asked, looking at Xander and Oz.

"Yes, now go before G-man starts pinching his nose again." Jareth nodded once more, placed his hand on Giles' shoulder, and the two men disappeared.

Joyce stared at the space the two men had recently occupied and sighed. "Maybe I should try to get transferred to Cleveland." She said. "Nothing exciting ever happens in Cleveland."