Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the song.
Jareth put down the shot glass and glared mournfully at the nearly empty bottle of tequila. It didn't have quite the kick of Goblin Moonshine, but it was still pretty damn good. He held the bottle up and shook it. There seemed to be something floating in the bottom. "Lorne," he said, his head wobbling only slightly, "I believe something has died in this bottle." The statement was punctuated with a gurgully hiccup.
"That's the worm, Jareth Babe," Lorne said. He was only slightly less drunk, but he wore it better, as he was much more accustomed to the condition. "It's supposed to be good luck if you eat it.
Jareth looked at his green friend dubiously. "Good luck for whom?" he said.
"Well," Giles said, lifting his head from the spot on the table where he had put it to hold down the table when he realized it was spinning, "Obviously not for the worm." The tree men stared at each other silently for a moment, and then burst into raucous laughter that lasted conspicuously longer than the joke called for. When they were finished, Giles laid his head back on the table and moaned softly. Jareth hiccupped.
"Well, guys and gals," Lorne began, putting down his seabreeze, "As much fun as this had been, don't you think its time you told me why you're here?"
"Quite right," Jareth said. He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again, his expression displaying multiple shades of confusion. "Why are we here Giles?"
Giles opened his eyes, but didn't bother to lift his head this time. "Because," he slurred, "you turned the woman you love into a goblin, you're dead cousin wants to use her to get revenge, and she's infuri…infuri…she's pissed."
"Oh, yes, that's it." Jareth said sadly. He would have been just as happy not to remember all of that.
"Well, that does sound like a bit of a pickle." Lorne said smiling. "You always did have a way with the ladies, as I recall."
"Mmmrrpp." Jareth agreed, leaning his head on the wall.
"Well, I can see you're upset about it. What you need to do is tell your old buddy Lorne all about it."
"It's a long story." Jareth said.
"And you need to sober up, so let's hear it." Lorne coaxed.
Jareth spent the next several minutes explaining the situation to Lorne, starting with Bothvar's deception and ending with the empty bottle of tequila. It did indeed take several minutes to tell the story, during which time Jareth's goblin metabolism kicked in and processed most of the alcohol in his system. By the time he was done with the story, he was only slightly tipsy. Giles, having no such talents, was still very drunk. To his credit, he was carrying it well, and there was only a small puddle of drool on the table.
"So your cousin Bothvar caused all that trouble?" Lorne asked incredulously.
"The very same." Jareth acknowledged.
"I always thought he was shifty." Lorne said.
"And now Sarah hates me." Jareth mourned, turning the empty tequila bottle over in hands and watching the poor dead worm slosh from side to side.
"Oh, I'm sure she doesn't hate you." Lorne said. "But what were you thinking, turning her into a High Goblin. I thought that was against the law, anyway."
"Lorne, there's only a handful of us left. There's no one left to enforce the law except me." Jareth pointed out, "And I'm being punished enough."
"Point taken." Lorne agreed. "I can understand why she's angry, though. I mean, the least you could have done was give her some flowers, take her to dinner and a show."
"I offered her her dreams!" Jareth protested. "Besides, I'd planned to come back one day when she was older and explain myself to her."
Lorne nodded. "That was a good plan, except you got the sequence wrong. You should have explained yourself to her and then asked if she wanted to be turned into a goblin."
"Well," Giles slurred, "Hindsight is twenty twenty."
"And foresight is even better." Lorne added, swirling the ice in his empty glass absently. Then he looked up at Jareth and grinned. "Do you still sing?"
Jareth blinked at the apparent change of topic. "Um…yes?" he said.
"Great," he said standing up. "Think of a song, preferably something modern. This crowd hates the retro stuff." He pulled Jareth up out of the booth and began dragging him towards the stage.
Jareth tried to pull away. "Lorne, for lights sake what are you doing?"
Lorne stopped, realizing he would have to explain to get Jareth on stage. "I've discovered a new talent since I came to L.A." he said, "I can read people's aura's while they sing, and sometimes I can get a glimpse of their futures."
"And what if I don't want to know my future?" Jareth asked.
"Then hold your ears closed while I tell Giles, now come on." Without further explanation Lorne pulled Jareth on the stage. Taking the microphone he stepped in front of the crowd and smiled his best "Entertainer" smile.
"Ladies and gentlemen, demons and demettes, it's with great pleasure that I introduce to you my good friend, Jareth, the Goblin King!" Lorne put the microphone back in its stand while the audience applauded. "Knock em dead, tiger." He said to a dumbstruck Jareth.
He was leaving the stage when Jareth hissed behind him, "How recent?"
Lorne turned, momentarily confused. "Huh? Oh, last thirty years or so." Jareth nodded and turned to pick up an acoustic guitar that leaned in its stand at the back of the stage. Then he pulled a stool up close to the microphone and sat down. After idly strumming the guitar for a few chords to make sure it was in tune and to gather his thoughts, he began to play.
Giles, who had come to the front of the room to hear him sing, laughed as the melody made its way into his memory. "I never would have had him pegged as a country music fan." He said to Lorne, who was now standing beside him. Jareth continued to play, and finally began to sing.
If you had not have fallen,
I would not have found you,
Angel flying too close to the ground.
I patched up your broken wings,
And hung around awhile,
Trying to keep your spirits up,
And your fever down.
I knew someday that you would fly away,
For loves the greatest healer to be found.
So leave me if you need to,
But I'll still remember,
My Angel flying too close to the ground.
Fly on; fly on past the speed of sound,
I'd rather see you up,
Then see you down.
And leave me if you need to,
But I will still remember,
My angel flying too close to the ground.
Jareth finished the song to thunderous applause. Smiling and bowing slightly he put the guitar away and quietly walked off the stage. He approached Lorne and Giles, who were both smiling broadly. "Willie Nelson?" Giles asked, suppressing his laughter.
"He moves me." Jareth replied evenly. He turned to Lorne, one inquisitive eyebrow raised. "Well?" he asked.
"Very good," Lorne replied. "If you stuck around I could probably make you famous."
Jareth sighed in exasperation. "What about the aura and my future and all of that?"
"I thought you said you didn't want to know." Lorne said.
"Lorne…" Jareth growled.
"All right, all right." Lorne surrendered. "As far as your aura goes, no surprises there. You're a moody bastard."
Jareth hung his head in defeat. "And my future?"
"Well, I don't want to spoil it for you." Lorne smiled, "But for once I have no dire warnings."
"So everything will be fine then?" Jareth breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Well, maybe not everything." Lorne said, "But for once, I have no dire warnings or cryptic apocalyptic messages." Jareth only stared and Lorne decided simplicity was a virtue. "There's still trouble ahead, but I believe your lady friend will be fine." He said.
"Just fine?" Jareth said, slightly disappointed.
"Hey, the oracle has spoken, amigo. The rest is up to you."
Jareth nodded his acceptance. It was, at least, a ray of hope to keep him going. He was about to ask Giles what time it was when suddenly his head snapped up and his eyes widened.
"What is it?" Giles asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"It's Sarah." Jareth answered. "She's calling out to me. Something must be wrong. Come on, we've got to go." Without another word he and Giles disappeared from the room.
"Well goodbye to you too, old pal, nice to see you again." Lorne said to the empty air. Then he smiled. "You better invite me to the wedding."
A/N: Wow, another chapter! I have to go back to work tomorrow, so this might be it for a few days. I got lots of reviews last time, so thank you to each and everyone.
Nightwoman: Ye, I used to hate it when Buffy went into bitch mode, but it fit this story quite well. I have new respect for it now.
Lady of the Labyrinth: Note the spaces. You scare me a little, but in a good way.
Solea: I can always count on your reviews to make me smile! I'm glad you approved of my use of Buffy Bitchmode. I agree, Sarah needed to be slapped around a bit.
To everyone else who reviewed, thank you so much, it makes my day. To the couple hundred of you that didn't, there's the little box right there, just click it!
