Hello all again! I would like to say once again that all my reviewers are the BEST! I'm a slave 2 you guys! Thank you soooooo much for all the encouragement, I really need it so KEEP IT COMMING!It'sgetting kinda dark so I need to know what youguys think. This popped out a little sooner than I thought it would, but here it isnone the less! Not so much smut as I'd hoped, next chapter should be chalk full of it though so stay tuned. Batty

Standard Disclaimer Applies

OOooOO

Jareth awoke with a start and in a cold sweat. He quaked as images from his nightmare still washed over him. Destruction, darkness, these were the things that he saw. His kingdom had fallen around him, the Labyrinth ripped to shreds and all the creatures within its walls were dead. He steadied his mind reminding himself that it had been only a dream. His castle was still standing, his kingdom safe for now. And yes, Sarah was still lying next to him. He lay back down and watched her sleep trying to shake the feeling of impending doom that consumed him now. He tried to focus on her face; slender cheekbones, cupid's bow lips, elegant eyes. 'She'll never love you, Jareth,' he thought sadly, 'She'll leave again, there is nothing you can do to keep her here no matter how you want her to stay.'

He rose and left the chamber with tears trickling down his face. He wiped at them indignantly but more fell to replace them so he gave up. It was still late in the night as Jareth paced through the Heart Garden and the only light was that shining down from the two moons overhead. What if his dream really was foreshadowing? If she didn't stay it was sure to come true. What then? What would become of him? He would fade away into nothing. No, not him. It was that thought that frightened him most of all, besides losing her, of course. That he, the impetuous irresistible Goblin King would just… wither away. He'd always pictured himself going out with a bang, not a whimper. Perhaps…just maybe he could go Aboveground and be with her? No one from the Underground had ever attempted such a feat. It was thought by his ancestors that one would die if one stayed Aboveground too long. But if she left and his kingdom crumbled then he may as well be dead anyway, so it was worth a shot, right?

'She won't want you there,' his cynical side butted in, 'you're her toy, nothing more. Something she can play with and then put away as she pleases.' He tried to shake it, but this thought plagued him. For safety he would wait until she brought the idea up, if she ever did. Maybe she couldn't love him, and if that were the case then only darkness lie ahead for him and his kingdom.

'Lock her away; keep her here no matter the cost. Take her, whether she loves you or not. No one could blame you for saving your kingdom.'

'No! I will give her time.'

'Time is something you're running out of and you know it.' His wicked thoughts were becoming more and more rational to him all the time and that scared him. This left him only one solution.

OOooOO

Sarah woke alone. She felt shaky, echoed feelings from the dreams she couldn't remember. She did remember a feeling of dread, and loss. She dressedandsearched the castle, nearly getting lost several times, but found no sign of Jareth anywhere. Finally she returned to the chamber to wait. Moments later he entered the room in grand fashion with a procession of servants behind him, all carrying platters.

"What's all this?" she asked in mild awe as the little goblins set up a table and chairs and aligned silverware.

"I cannot send you back on an empty stomach, it just wouldn't be right." He bade the goblins leave and sat down at the table. Sarah sat at her designated place across from him.

"Back? Back where?" She felt a sliver of panic pierce her gut.

"Back where you came from of course, what other back is there for you?" Sarah was floored. He said it so lightly as he poured her some sort of tea, he couldn't possibly be talking about sending her back Aboveground. Truly, the thought hadn't even entered her mind, save for the one time in the Heart Garden when she had thought about Toby. Jareth struggled to keep himself collected. He couldn't let her see how this was truly paining him.

"But I – I just got here, I don't want to go back… not yet at least. And besides you said if I ever leave again-" He cut her off.

"You cannot stay here and be miserable worrying about Toby, and he cannot come here. So you must go home." 'Excuses, excuses' he thought. His matter of fact tone was beginning to break.

"I won't let the Underground die! It means too much to me!" She was infuriated, "How can you do this, just send me away after bringing me back here for only a day! How could you after waking all these feelings inside me?" She stood suddenly sending the chair over backward. His eyes turned dark and his tone was suddenly stone cold. Her eyes grew wide as he stood slowly and walked toward her with all the intensity of a starved jungle cat. She whimpered as he backed her up against the wall.

"You think it doesn't mean just a much to me, if not more? I CREATED THE DAMN THING! " She recoiled, though there was only stone behind her, she would rather have been closer to the stone at that moment than him. He dropped his voice to a jagged growl, "Do you REALLY think I want to see my whole kingdom fall to pieces! Beg me, Sarah. Beg me to keep you here. Beg, plead, beseech, implore. There is a wicked part of me, Sarah, a side I have kept in check for as long as I can manage. This part of me wants to see you broken and cowering at my feet like the rest of my subjects simply because you bested me once." His breath on her face made her shiver with a mix of excitement and anxiety, mostly anxiety, "It is wretched to feel this way. This part of me believes you will never come to love me, and that I should TAKE you and MAKE you MINE! Is that what you want, Sarah? For me to brutally conquer you and break your very soul!" He was staring her down. His body was crushing her to the wall, so hard she almost couldn't breathe. His tone had her more frightened than his words. She had never seen such cruelty in those mismatched eyes, not even the first time she was here.

"No... no that's not how it should be," she managed to speak even though his force was like a silken scarf around her throat. He softened his voice considerably and let up on her body.

"No, it's not, so I must send you away before that part of me prevails and I hurt you beyond repair." He backed off, and sat again at the table, gesturing with his hand to the other chair, "Sit, eat."

She was still stunned. He would send her away and loose his kingdom forever to keep from hurting her. But sending her away would almost hurt her more. They ate in silence, Sarah biting back tears the whole time. It was all she could do to swallow her food around the lump in her throat.

The servants had come and dismantled the table and cleared the room and Jareth was about to leave when Sarah stopped him.

"What if I told you that I do love you," her voice was slow and hesitant and her eyes never came up off the floor. Jareth came to her and took her in his arms.

"I would say that you are a fool to believe that just to save this place." He held her close as she sobbed against him. He ran his fingers through her hair savoring the feel of her against him. He bit back his own tears now, but one managed to trickle down his cheek and land lightly on her forehead. She lifted her head and touched the wet with her finger. She looked between it and him in awe. He had let down his ever-unwavering guard. For the first time ever she could actually feel Jareth's affection for her beaming from him like sunlight on her face. 'The warmth' she thought, 'this is the warmth I felt in my dream.' She wiped the trail of the tear from his face with her fingers and took his face in her hands and pulled his mouth to hers. It was a gentle kiss, oh yes the want and passion were still there, but it was tightly restrained. She wanted only to convey her truest feelings; he already knew that she wanted him but he had to know that she cared.That this, him, the Labyrinth, was all that she wanted. She felt she had to make him understand with that one kiss everything that she had ever felt for him so she poured her whole soulinto it.

Sadly, he did feel and understand, but that didn't change things in his mind. She would still have to leave. He tore himself away and left her alone.

OOooOO

Sarah spent her last day in the Heart Garden soaking up all the sights and scents around her. This was the place she wanted to remember most. She tried desperately to memorize each flower, each beautifully colored petal so that she might never forget ever again. That she might one day explain to her children and her grandchildren about theplace where she felt her heart ripped from her chest. She felt as if she were on death row just hours away from the gas chamber. How could she go back after he had stripped away her logical armor? She couldn't bear to face the things that were waiting for her, the boredom, the monotony, and the mind numbing plainness of it all. At least not without him. Wait just a minute… not without him? . Could it be that simple? She justwouldn't go without him. She ran from the garden at full speed, the walls barely moving from her path in time.

OOooOO

Jareth sat in the darkness of his chamber debating whether or not to even say goodbye when she left or if he should just stay holed up and listen as his kingdom collapsed outside. He'd wanted to watch Sarah sitting in the garden, to remember her always with the sun on her face surrounded by the beauty thatlived there,but he didn't have the will or the heart to spy anymore. He felt broken and beaten, tenfold moreso than when Sarah had actually defeated him.

'It's not too late you know,' he didn't bother trying to shut it up this time, 'you could still lock her away. As a matter of fact there is a nice little spot on the wall right over there for a chain, and don't you think a crystalline collar around her neck would look just stunning? Yes…chain her to your wall like a scared animal. Perhaps dressed in something small and see-through, or nothing at all, that would be nice too.' As much as it disgraced him, certain parts of his body was actually responding to these thoughts, which made him feel even worse. 'Oh, you can't deny it anymore,it's a good idea. Then she would know how it feels to be a toy. Oh… the things you could do to her then, without your precious "not 'till she loves me" ideals getting in the way. You could plunder her until she screamed your name over and over again and then-'

His train of thought was suddenly (and gratefully) derailed by the sound of footsteps running up the hall toward his chamber and Sarah's voice yelling his name. 'Of all the times,' he thought as he tried to pull himself deeper into the shadows hoping maybe she wouldn't see him. She burst in the door and almost turned and ran out again, except she sensed him there. Not anything overt, just an inkling that he was there in the shadows somewhere. There was something dangerous in this feeling as well, but she put it aside and entered the room anyway. Stupid.

"Jareth… I know…. you're here…" she panted the words as she struggled to steady her breathing to a reasonable rate.

"You shouldn't be here, Sarah," His voice was low and harsh as it came from the shadows surrounding the bed. She almost didn't recognize it. "I'm not in the mood for games." She walked further into the room and jumped as the door slammed and locked behind her. "I tried to warnyou, now you're stuck." She steadied herself and walked yet closer to the bed.

"I wanted to talk to you, Jareth. I have a plan and I need to know if you think it will work." Her voice seemed so small in the darkness.

"You want to know if I'll come back Aboveground with you, don't you?" His words were slow and deliberate and they put her on edge as that dangerous feeling she had gnawed at her insides.

"Yes, that was it. So what do you think?" She tried as hard as she could not to sound terrified, though to be honest she would have loved to run for her life at that very moment. She stood firm as he emerged from the shadows into the meager light that slipped in from under the door. He sat on the edge of the bed facing her; the look on his face was one of a ravenous wolf looking at a pork chop. 'All he's missing is the drool' she thought absently.

"I think…" his voice dripped with want and he paused as he moved toward her ever so slowly, "I think you're in trouble."