Disclosure: I do not own the Labyrinth or any of its original characters, they belong to Jim Henson.
This chapter is a little dark just FYI.
Chapter 14: The Babe
Echo had found Sarah in the hallway of the castle, she had been laying down, covered in a cold sweat, rolling around in pain. She had taken her to the infirmary in the castle. She really had no idea about pregnancies let alone human/ fae pregnancies so out of panic she had called for Rowan who was a fae healer and the closest one in the underground. When he had arrived and he had accessed and seen the gravity of the situation and he had come to the realisation that Sarah and Jareth's baby had the potential to kill her, he was not entirely sure as to why, but he did have a couple of different theories. His first thought was that her human body just could not cope with carrying Fae blood. He had managed to slow down the process and to settle her crimpling pain, but he was not sure how long she would have.
"Sarah, you asked me here for my help and I am offering it to you." Rowan said firmly.
"Echo asked you here, because you are a healer. You are not getting rid of my baby.
Over my dead body. And if you survive that, Jareth would kill you." Sarah said defensively.
"Sarah this baby is draining the life out of you, it may just kill you... You are a human woman, there will be other babies, other children. You and Jareth have a lifetime together to bear children." He said gently.
"No! Don't you come anywhere near me, we are just fine!" Said cried out, running towards the door in an attempt to escape.
"Sarah please reconsider this, try to put your feelings aside and think about the bigger picture." Rowan said persuasively.
"You have absolutely no idea how I feel, or what it feelings like to be growing a tiny being inside of you. So you are not allowed to weigh in on this." Sarah shouted in defensively.
"Sarah pleas-." Rowan began.
In a final attempt at talking some sense into Sarah, Rowan began to speak but as he started he noticed her face appear white and her anger subside as a look of shock and fear washed over her face...
"Somethings happening to me, I can feel a pulling! Someone's wishing for me- I can hear it!" She cried out.
Rowan reached out to grab Sarah's hand out of reflex but he knew all to well that there was no stopping it.
Sarah was surprised when she felt herself go, whenever she would materialise with Jareth she would feel warm and tingly all over, weak at the knees but he was always there holding onto her and making her feel secure. This time travelling on her own, she felt cold and afraid, she still felt that same weakness come over her like it had always occurred before, but this time there were no hands to protect her.
Loosing her balance as she landed, she fell onto the cold concrete of the basement floor, she tilted her head up and looked around at her surroundings.
"Not again." She said under her breath, angst in her voice.
"Oh Goblin king, it seems we now have our honoured guest with us. " Nick said cheerfully.
"It was always the goal to have you back with me Sarah after I finished off my little plan, but that was the only thing I hadn't quite figured out how I would accomplish. But you marrying this "King" just made my life ten times easier. -my, my, you are far more radiant and beautiful than I remember." Nick said, reaching his hand out to touch Sarah.
"Don't you touch me." She spat.
Sarah began looking around the dark basement, she peered her eyes over to the far corner, she was mortified to noticed that Jareth sat in a chair, whilst he looked to be unconscious, he was wrapped with barbed wire, blood oozed from his wounds.
"JARETH!" Sarah shouted in panic as she attempted to run to him.
"Now, now, now. You are here for me, not for him." Nick said, grabbing Sarah forcefully, pulling her against him, smiling evilly into her face.
"Shall we wake him." Nick said, smacking Jareth across the face.
"I had to knock him out, when I wished for you darling, he may have tried to stop you and what good would that have been for us?" Nick said smoothly.
Jareth opened his eyes, exhaustion and pain clear across his face. As he came to and his eyes focused he knew his fear had come true.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH. IF YOU HURT ONE HAIR ON HER HEAD, I WILL UNLEASH HELL ONTO YOU." Jareth screamed.
Fury crossed Nicks face at Jareth's statement, out of rage he took a long and rusty nail and stabbed it into his thigh.
Jareth screamed out in pain, on the other side of the room, Sarah feel to her knees as if in sympathy and clutched her abdomen as if she too had been stabbed. Nicks eyes snapped around to see Sarah crying out.
"Please, stop. I'm begging you. I'll give you whatever you want. Just don't hurt him." Sarah said softly.
"Interesting, that you can feel his pain." Nick smirked.
"I wonder if it works both ways." Nick said coldly approaching Sarah, he pulled her up off her knees by her hair and yanked violently. Pulling her into his body, feeling her backside. She cried out in pain at the contact, attempting to push Nick off of her.
"Get you bloody hands off of my wife!"Jareth shouted however appearing to be unscathed but Nicks violence.
"Hmm, very interesting." Nick said coolly, circling Sarah as if she were prey.
"This won't do honey. It's going to have to go, if we are going to be together you're not having another man's baby." Nick said pulling Sarah into a painful kiss.
Sarah pushed Nick so hard that she nearly fell back in the process.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Just let me help him. He'll die. Please. I'll stay with you. It can be like you said." Sarah gently said trying to coax him.
Jareth sat in the chair, coherently listening to the conversation. When he had processed what was going on and his brain had cliqued as to why Sarah was connected to him. His face turned white and his eyes became pin holes.
"A babe." He whispered to himself in state of shock and joy.
a primal instinct then took over. He had to protect his wife and his babe. His family. Those were the thoughts in his mind at that moment.
He began thrashing violently pulling the wire off of him. He rose weakly out of the chair.
"Get your own God Damn Family." He said demonically.
"And while you're doing that, get your fucking hands off of my pregnant wife." He spat.
Nick startled by Jareth's sudden burst of strength, grabbed Sarah and grabbed the pocket knife he had in his pocket, this time however he held the knife to her lower abdomen and slowly starting to push it into her soft flesh, Sarah cried out from the pain of the knife breaking the skin.
"I would sit back down if I were you. You don't want both of them dead now do you?" Nick said coldly, panic in his eyes present.
"This time you don't have your magic to stop me, perhaps I'll have a little fun first shall I? Nick said, as he rubbed his hands down Sarah's body, groping her curves aggressively.
"You won't kill her, you say you want her and love her, why would you do that?!" Jareth shouted furiously now.
"I don't care, you're not having her, if she won't be with me, she's not leaving this alive and you're certainly not having this child!" Nick shouted in desperation.
"Just love me Sarah." Nick pleaded nuzzling lovingly into Sarah's neck.
Disgust overwhelmed Sarah's beautiful features, her thoughts began to run wild and she started to devise a plan. She locked eyes with Jareth to ensure he knew what she was thinking and that he supported it. Somehow it was as if they could read each other's minds. He looked into her eyes and she stared right back into his.
Sarah saw the opportunity and she took it. She knew it was a massive risk, she knew it might not work. She knew if it didn't then they would all die.
With a sudden attack, Sarah grabbed the arm that Nick was using to hold her hostage and forcefully took his rough flesh into her mouth and bit with such force that her jaw shook. Shocked and in pain Nick screamed and clutched his good arm on his now wounded one.
Jareth watched his beloved make her move and excitedly watched her get away.
"Run precious, RUN!" Jareth shouted with urgency.
Sarah ran as fast as she could, she didn't look back. She stopped at the door and yanked it back with all of her weight, she then ran up the narrow wooden stairs, she could hear Nicks steps behind her closing in- but she wouldn't look back. She could hear Jareth in the distance still shouting but this time he was shouting at Nick.
"Don't you bloody touch them, I'll kill you!"
She got to the tops of the stairs and made a left, she saw a door that she thought would lead outside and followed it through but was disappointed when she realised it lead her in the back yard, with not an exit in site. She felt a pull on her hair that made her fall backwards with a solid thud. Nick pulled her along the grass and back into the house where he dumped her onto the kitchen floor. He squatted down to her level and pulled her face to his.
"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS, NONE OF THIS HAD TO HAPPEN SARAH." He shouted out desperately.
He began to shake her, all the while still screaming he pulled his arm out and hiked it right back as if he was ready to make a swing at a baseball but in this case the baseball was unfortunately Sarah's face.
But the swing never came.
Nicks arm could not swing, it felt to him as if it was frozen. He stood stunned.
What was happening?
Sarah began to laugh hysterically.
"You idiot. You took the bait. Where's all your iron now." Sarah said laughing to herself.
Nick turned around to see the face of the Goblin King in all his rage. Cruelty filled his eyes with no glint of mercy.
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