A/N: Sorry for the wait. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

You might walk a lonely street
Until one day you chance to meet
A stranger who might ask where have you been

"What?" Jareth shouted, his loud cry adding to the chaos that was the city. His fists were clenched as his rage filled eyes bore down on her.

"What?" Sarah repeated, panic gripping her as she attempted to back away from him. She stood from her chair and slowly backed away from Jareth, trying to retreat into the bedroom. Sarah's breathing became labored, her mind racing to understand what she did to make him so angry. She struggled to calm her breathing before swallowing, allowing herself to speak. "What did I say?

The fright in Sarah's face finally registered with Jareth.

"Oh, Sarah," he said with regret as he relaxed his features. His downcast eyes studied the stone balcony before loooking up to face her. Jareth mentally cursed himself for producing such terror in her. There was a time when he found it humorous when she was upset; however, that was a game they were playing. But, this was no game.

Jareth took a step towards her, but she continued her attempt at an exit until her feet tripped over the stone. The panic in her eyes was replaced with fear as Jareth quickly reached out to grasp her upper arms, inadvertently drawing her close to him. Sarah gripped his shoulders, steadying herself.

"Thanks," Sarah whispered, looking off to the side, unable to look at him. "I didn't mean to make you angry."

"I'm not angry with you. That was not directed… I would never-" Suddenly, Jareth lost his ability to speak. He let go of her and took one step back. He struggled to focus on anything as his vision became blurry.

Sarah yelling his name was the last thing he heard before the world around him went dark and he fell to the balcony floor.

"Jareth!"

Sarah's voice called out to him, but he was unable to see or feel anything.

"Jareth!"

He could listen to her cry his name for eternity. Though, he wasn't happy that there was an alarmed tone in her voice.

Different circumstances, Jareth mused. That would be much better than this. Now, what is this?

Sarah dropped to the floor and grasped the sides of his head, attempting to make him look at her.

"Jareth!"

His eyes opened wide to see a pair of frantic, green ones staring down at him.

"Holy crap!" Sarah exclaimed, still holding on to his head. "What the hell happened? One moment, you were talking as though everything was normal, and the next, you just stopped talking, your eyes rolled to the back of your head, and you fell to the ground. But good news is that you're not bleeding. You must have a –um- very durable skull."

His head slowly rolled to the side, allowing him to feel her hands inadvertently caress his face.

"You are so beautiful," Jareth muttered.

"Huh?" Sarah asked, confused, since all she heard was him mumbling a language she didn't recognize. At least, he is speaking, she thought. Let out a relieved sigh, she sat next to him on the floor and grabbed his shoulders to help him sit up.

"Why am I on the ground?" he asked, silently relishing her touching his body.

"I just told you: you fell," she grunted as she tried to help him stand, wrapping an arm around his torso. "Okay, I need your help. Please don't make me carry your weight by myself again. The last time I did that, it didn't go so well." With both pushing against the floor, Jareth found his footing and started to walk into the bedroom.

"Shit," he hissed as he felt his legs go numb and about to give way again. Without warning, he felt a shove from Sarah against his back and then found himself face down on the top of the bed.

"Oops," Sarah said as she rushed over to maneuver his legs to join his torso on the bed. "But, I really didn't want you to fall again."

Jareth rolled over to give her his best scowl even though most of his face was obstructed by his long hair. "And that was your best idea? Pushing me without warning?"

"Uh, well, yeah," she said, holding her arms out as she shrugged. "I didn't want you hitting your head on the floor again, and that's the first thing that came to mind. You're welcome."

"Infuriating creature," he murmured, maneuvering so his upper body rested against the headboard. He rubbed both legs, hoping to find strength in them yet failing.

"What did you say?" Sarah asked, suspecting he said something that was not quite kind.

Jareth gave her a wry smile, which wasn't the reaction that she was expecting. "Nothing of importance."

Without thinking, she walked over to sit next to him on the bed. "Why'd you fall? What happened to you?"

"I don't know," he replied as he continued to rub his thighs. "I assume I haven't yet recovered from whatever was done to me. My body feels in ways that I'm not accustomed to."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, concern marring her face. Her hand went to his head in an attempt to see if he had any sort of fever. "How do you feel?"

Jareth closed his eyes as a small hum escaped his lips in response to Sarah's hand pressing against his forehead.

Sarah let out a small laugh, yet she continued to lightly brush her hand across his face, occasionally brushing his long hair to the side to feel his skin. "Are you gonna answer me or just let me continue guessing?"

"I'm not adverse to this method of yours," Jareth muttered, nearly groaning in frustration when Sarah's touch left him. She let out a nervous hum as she tried to put aside what he said.

"Seriously, do you feel okay?" she asked.

Releasing an immense sigh while he contemplated his legs, he replied. "My body feels as though it's carrying around a boulder on my back as though my entire being is weighed down. I can't seem to rid myself of it."

"That sounds like fatigue," Sarah stated. She briefly moved off the bed to help place the blankets on top of him before sitting back down on the bed. "How lucky that you've never experienced that before."

Jareth's face fell as he turned to look at her. "What did you mean earlier?"

"About what?" she asked, sincerely confused.

"About the dreams, Sarah," he clarified. Jareth was trying his best not to let his frustration and annoyance color his voice yet failed. Noticing that she was slowly retreating from the bed, Jareth grabbed her wrist to still her movements, his thumb gently caressing her soft skin. He captured her eyes with his. "My apologies, Pr… Sarah," he implored. "Tell me what happened."

Sarah looked down and saw his hand still grasping her wrist, but, this time, she no longer attempted to remove him from herself.

"I- There's nothing to say," she struggled to say as she tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. "No one really knows how it happened." Sarah looked over to see Jareth hanging on her every word. Her gaze shifted to his long fingers that were holding on to her. "Um- They said it could be from the satellites in the sky or maybe all of our phones. The main theory is definitely technology based. Hasn't stopped us from using it, though. I guess we collectively decided it wasn't that big of a deal; there were more important things to worry about."

"Who are they?" Jareth demanded, squeezing her wrist.

"They? Um, scientists?" she posited. Her eyes didn't leave where his hand held her. As her breathing started to become shallower, she wasn't quite sure if that was anxiety she was feeling or something else.

"Scientists?" Jareth asked, getting her attention with another squeeze of her wrist.

"Yeah-um," Sarah said, slowly shaking her head. "People who were trying to study this went on TV and write papers to explain it, you know. They never said it was a fact- just their best guesses. So far, all of their testing came up with no real answers."

"All humans- all of you- ceased dreaming?" he asked, trying his best to grasp the situation. "And… And you all simply accepted this fate?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "It kinda sucked in the beginning, but it's just a way of life now. Everything goes dark, but instead of dreams, there's nothing. And then you wake up. It's very simple. Although it's weird, everyone got used to it after a while. I mean, I assume we all did. What else can we do? Some people went to sleep all those years ago and are still not awake. They're not dead. They just never woke up. We call it the Fairytale Disorder. It's a little disturbing that it was given such a name. But no one has come down with it since this all went down."

Jareth's mind was spinning with this information as he struggled with which question to ask first, hoping to not scare or overwhelm Sarah.

"How long have you been without dreams?"

"Oh, hmm. Well," Sarah briefly thought. "For several years. Maybe ten or fifteen…" She looked down at the floor before realization clicked. "Oh shit!" Sarah snatched her arm away from him as she stood up to walk around the room before her wide eyes returned to him. "Oh my- holy- What? Fuck!"

"That was quite the outburst," Jareth said, briefly amused by her reactions. "This is very entertaining."

Sarah stuttered, struggling to make word. After nearly a minute, she found her words.

"So, the lack of dreams is all because of you being here?"

"It seems that way," he replied with a sigh. Jareth mentally thought of all the reasons that this would be happening. Yes, he had responsibilities. And yes, he was not able to perform his duties for these many years. But surely, everything he was in charge of- his burdens, his responsibilities, his kingdom- was not allowed to simply waste away?

Was it? He wondered, doing his best to keep composed. There was no reason why he should burden himself about those particulars when he currently had no magic and humans had no dreams.

"You don't know?" Sarah asked, bringing him back to the present conversation.

"Forgive me for not knowing for certain since I've never been trapped by anyone, human or otherwise, for any amount of time."

"Sorry," she huffed out. She crossed her arms over her chest in a failed attempt to not freak out. "I'm just trying to figure this all out. So- what? How are you linked to this phenomenon? Are you like a master of dreams?"

"Lord of Dreams and Wishes," Jareth clarified. He lightly held his head as an uneasiness washed over him. "Those were some of the other titles that I neglected to tell you earlier."

"Okay. All right… you are telling me that there is someone in charge of dreams, and that person is you?" she asked. She finally noticed he was appearing unwell. "Are you- Are you okay?"

"There are a great many things that you do not know. Things that you are not meant to know, Sarah," he said quietly, suddenly feeling exhaustion overtake him. He moved down the bed to lie on his back, allowing him to feel a little better. "I'm fine. I simply feel better like this."

"Are you going to tell me more?" Sarah asked as she walked over to the bed, standing over his prone body. "Like where you're from and how you are able to be this Lord of Dreams and Wishes?"

"I shouldn't," he mumbled as he rubbed his forehead. He was certain that he was getting what humans referred to as a migraine- another knew sensation he has to now deal with. "I've already told you too much."

Sarah gave him a lopsided grin. "You being here is too much."

Jareth chuckled as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "Touché, as you humans like to say," he said before his breathing became shallow.

One of Sarah's hands grabbed his and her other hand brushed his long hair from his eyes as she detected a small smile cross his lips before he slipped into a deep sleep.

"I'm going to help you figure this out and get you back to your normal self," she whispered. Without thinking, she leaned over to place a small kiss on his forehead. "Whatever normal is. Okay?"

Several hours passed before Sarah checked in on Jareth for the third time that day. The day had turned to night, and she worried that he had gone into another coma.

Who knows how long he will be out this time? She thought.

"Oh, hey," she said, opening the door to see him leaning against the closed balcony door. The side table lamps were turned on, allowing a little illumination in the room. Jareth looked over his shoulder to see the brunette walking in, giving her a small smile when he noticed her hair was no longer tied up and instead flowed free around her face. "Feeling better?"

"Barely," he admitted as he turned to face her, still leaning against the door.

"Then why are you standing?" Sarah asked, her tone disappointed and scolding.

"Because being in bed constantly is miserable," Jareth answered before his mouth curled into a wicked smile. "Well, it can be."

Sarah let out a nervous chuckle. "I think I'm starting to comprehend your personality now."

"You mean that you are finally seeing how delightful and fascinating I am?" Jareth countered.

"Something sort of like that," she said with a smile. "Hungry? Wait… you said that don't get hungry..."

"But I could eat," he stated as he eagerly followed her out the door.

They ate leftover takeout in a tense silence at the kitchen bar. When he finished his meal, Jareth pushed his plate away before he looked at the space behind him.

"We have several issues that we need to discuss," he stated as he placed his fork on the counter.

"About the basement…" she guessed, staring at her nearly empty plate.

"That is now an extremely tedious conversation that can wait for another day," Jareth said, brushing her concerns aside. "The dreams, Sarah."

Sarah's brows scrunched in confusion. "So… you don't want to talk about you being trapped in my former boss's basement for years?"

Jareth gave her a displeased glare. "Sarah."

"Right. We were talking about the lack of dreams," she sighed. "Even though, I don't know what else to tell you." She looked down at her hands before turning her attention to him. "Are you going to get upset again?"

"Probably," he said flippantly. "But, always know that my issue is not with you. I promise I won't frighten you." Jareth paused for a moment to consider his words. "I'll do my best not to frighten you."

"Amazing. I can already tell this is going to be a fantastic conversation." Sarah left her stool and walked towards the elevator as Jareth watched confused about the change in action.

"Do you drink?" she asked as she gestured to the small elevator.

Jareth's eyes lit up as he walked over to join her. "Of course."

When they entered, Sarah pressed the button labeled G, and they started to descend.

"Quite interesting," he remarked.

"I've always hated it, but jokes on me because this was the only way I was able to get your lifeless body upstairs," she quipped. Briefly, she peered over her shoulder to give him a sly smile. "You're heavier than you look."

Shocked to hear her say that and the smirk on her face, Jareth opened his mouth to say something but quickly realized he had nothing to say to her revelation. After the elevator stopped, Sarah exited first with Jareth following as he took in his surroundings. To his right was a corridor that led straight to what he assumed was the front door.

When he finally turned his attention back to Sarah, he saw that she was in an unusually dark room and behind a long, grand wooden bar with rows of liquor bottles on the back wall. After she flipped several switches on the wall to illuminate the room, Sarah grabbed two empty glasses from an overhead, open cabinet and placed them on the bar.

"So, what's your preferred poison?" she asked.

"Dalmore Constellation," he said, answering immediately. "Nineteen sixty four, cask nine."

"Well, damn," Sarah said with a small, nervous laugh. She gave a quick glance over at the wall of liquor even though she knew that there was no way she had what he wanted. "You answered that quickly. Also, that sounds very fancy, and, uh, I don't have it. Would you mind deigning yourself to drink some mid-shelf bourbon?"

"Is that what you are drinking?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Then, I'll have what you are having."

Sarah chuckled as she scooped out some ice to place in the glasses. "That sounds similar to a movie quote." She looked up to see no humor in Jareth's eyes. She went back to pouring the drinks. "I guess you haven't watched any movies."

"I did once," he responded as he took the drink from her hand. "I never understood the hysteria."

"Maybe you haven't found the right one. You know, there's a media room on the fourth floor-"

Jareth knew that she was trying to stall again. "Sarah."

"Right." She escorted him over to an over-stuffed leather couch.

Sarah felt her anxiety threatening to overwhelm her again. Although, she did try to calm her nerves by saying that whatever he was worried about regarding dreams had nothing to do with her… except that she helped imprison him for years which probably caused all of this to occur. And, actually, this was probably all her fault.

Oh god, she thought.

"Are you going to sit down?" he asked, pulling her mind to the present. Sarah looked over to see that he was already seated.

"I promise that no matter what you tell me- no matter what happens- I will never hurt you," he said, trying to reassure her. She hesitated but soon sat down on the opposite side of the couch, clutching her drink in her hand.

"It's just… you obviously care a lot about this for reasons, and I did say that I would help you- but I don't think I can," she said. "You know, whatever you are trying to figure out, I can't possibly be of any help to you. I just learned there was a Lord of Dreams and Wishes, and it's you. You. That person- otherworldly being- is in my home. Oh and magic is real apparently. This is all out of my depth."

Jareth took a swig of his drink before placing it on the coffee table in front of him. "This low opinion of yourself is peculiar and inappropriate for someone with your talents."

"Talents?" she asked as she grabbed his drink from the table and placing it down on a coaster, causing Jareth to give her a contrite grin.

"It doesn't take a genius to know that those men who were able to summon magic were not the ones who could read those books," Jareth explained as he pierced her with his gaze. "I've been around a long time. I can easily sense a useless human."

Feeling a little tense at his compliment, Sarah took a sip of her drink. "It's not that big of a deal."

"You continue to say that, and it's becoming infuriating to hear," he sneered.

Sarah tossed a hand in the air. "I'm not some sort of mastermind. And what exactly do you want me to say about all of this? I already told you that we don't dream anymore. That's all I know… I think."

"Humanity doesn't do well without dreaming," Jareth said, trying to hold in his temper. He knew she didn't know better, but he was finding this situation frustrating having Sarah, of all humans, unconcerned with lack of dreaming.

"You say that, yet we have done just fine," she countered. "I told you: we got used to it."

His face fell as he reached over to grab his glass for a quick sip before holding up the glass to consider its contents. "You used to love dreaming," he muttered absentmindedly.

"How do you know what I used to do?" she asked with a tinge of an accusation in her voice.

"All humans love- loved- to dream," he recovered as he stood up from the couch, feeling confined in his seat.

"I just don't understand why it's that big of an issue," she struggled to say, setting her glass down on the table in a bit of frustration. "You being upset over this is the most thought I've given to the situation in a long time."

"Is this what has become of you after all this time?" Jareth questioned in sadness and irritation. Having felt this feeling only once before, his heart sank seeing the human who once wished to live in a dream world be so resigned to this stale existence that she was trapped in.

"Sure, it's annoying to see a movie poster for yet another reboot of a reboot," Sarah teased, trying her best to ignore his accusation. "I mean, sometimes, everything feels a little dull and boring. Wow, everything now makes sense."

Jareth let out a loud sigh, unamused with her continued deflection of the subject. "Sarah."

"Damn it. What is it?" she asked, now becoming upset with his reaction. "You sure do like saying my name in that way." Her left hand reached back to grab onto the back of her head before forcefully combing her hand through her hair. "It feels to me as though you are disappointed in me. I don't know why that is. How often can I let you know that I didn't intend for this to happen?"

"You- of all people…" Jareth started to say as he finally put down his drink.

"What does that even mean?" Sarah interrupted, frustration rising in her voice. "What do you want from me?"

Jareth sat down next to her, eliminating the gap that was once between them on the couch. She saw his jaw clench, in annoyance she assumed. Without warning, Jareth's hand reached up to curl around the back of her neck, holding her firmly in place, feeling her anxious pulse beneath his fingers. Sarah gasped at his reaction yet allowed him to continue.

His eyes narrowed, penetrating her with his gaze. "What has happened that has turned you into such a human?"

"This what?" she implored, her eyes begging for an answer to a question she didn't know existed. "I'm Sarah. I've always been Sarah. I already admitted that this situation is not great, but I still sleep. Everyone still sleeps. That's what's most important, right? Some of us still get our eight hours at night, others don't. I mean, yes, no one gets that good deep sleep anymore. And yeah, some blame that on the bad things in the world. But it's fine." She paused for a few seconds. "It's fine."

"Is it?" he gently asked.

Jareth's thumbs softly traced her jaw, fervently hoping that the Sarah he once knew was still there. Her eyes had grown too complacent, too sad. He's seen humans age over many centuries, and this wasn't normal- not for someone like her "Is it?"

"Yeah," she huffed out. "Everything is the same as it's always been. People continue to go about their lives." Sarah felt tears piercing her eyes, much to her surprise. "People wake up, go to school or work, and then we just do it all over again. We live our lives, the same day as the next." Suddenly, Sarah remembered…

Her eyes widened as a vision of her teenage-self stood in a park wearing a dress with a flower crown in her hair and a book in her hand with Merlin resting on a bench briefly floated through her mind.

"Everything's… the same." Tears now streamed down her face as she looked up at Jareth, his expression full of pity. "Oh god," she whispered. "What happened to us?" Not thinking, she grabbed his wrist, not quite wanting to grasp the magnitude of what he was saying.

Sarah let out a silent sob as her eyes closed, allowing a few tears to fall. "I don't like this, feeling like this." She allowed her head to still be cradled by Jareth's hands. "It's difficult to remember how things were, but…"

She opened her eyes to see the peculiar yet harsh features of Jareth that she had become accustomed to soften as pity and sadness filled his eyes and worried his brow.

Releasing a few sniffles, she stood up from the couch and terminated the connection between the two. Snatching her glass from the coffee table, she walked back to the bar.

"I'm going to need another drink," she groaned, wiping the tears from her eyes. Jareth left the couch, doing his best to catch up to her. He stepped in front of her path and gently grabbed a hold of her shoulders.

"I told you already: I don't have any of that fancy stuff you wanted," Sarah muttered while looking down at the ground, doing her best to pretend that she didn't have tear-stained face.

Jareth let out an irritated sigh. "Look at me, Sarah," he ordered. When she lifted her head, he saw her bloodshot eyes and puffy cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I can't believe I did this."

"I already told you that this isn't your doing…"

Sarah regarded him with suspicion. "You already said that my translations did this. If it wasn't for me-"

"If you actually knew that your work would be used this way, you never would have gone along with those humans."

"How can you…?" she struggled to ask. "How can you be confident enough to say that?"

As he reached out to cradle the sides of her face in his hands, Jareth gazed at her green eyes, contemplating telling her everything. Nearly a minute passed as he said nothing while Sarah looked at him, eagerly awaiting a potential answer. Instead, he dropped his hands from her face and then grasped her right hand and brought it up to his lips for a soft yet sensual kiss.

As a blush rushed to her cheeks, Sarah was able to let out a small chuckle in between her sniffling. "I never took you for such a charmer… or whatever your version of a charmer is, since you are so special that you don't have to classify yourself."

Jareth watched her as she finished her drink, poured herself another, and then quickly drank the contents. She slumped her shoulders as her countenance grew morose.

"You appear to be tired," he stated, watching her closely.

Sarah slammed her glass on the bar and raised an irritated brow. "Well, that's rude as hell."

"I meant to say that I feel as though my presence here has caused you stress and worry," Jareth corrected. "This has never been my intention. I would hate to be the cause of any of your pain."

"Don't worry about it. You're not causing me any pain." Sarah threw a flippant hand in the air. "And it is what it is. Life is full of surprises now, isn't it? However, if you faint again, I think I will need to utilize that old parenting advice: I will sleep when you sleep or at least try."

"Are you comparing me to a child- a human child?"

"Hey, no offense," Sarah said, holding her hands up in a defense. "When you first got here, I just wanted to make sure that nothing happens to you while you are going through whatever it is you are going through."

"Offense taken," Jareth groused. "You dared to compare me to a human child."

"Maybe I should put one of those mobile crib things on the ceiling to entertain you when you want to stay in bed," she mused aloud. Jareth's eyes narrowed at her assertion.

"You should be eternally grateful that I don't possess my magic at this point in time," he warned as he leveled a threatening glare at her.

Sarah gave him a large smile. "Sounds like you have a liking for revenge," she smirked. Her face soon fell to a stoic glare. "In the basement… what did you do to-"

"That seems enough for today, Sarah," Jareth said quickly as he noticed the clock in the corner about to strike midnight. "I've occupied enough of your time for the day."

"I wasn't thinking that you did something kind," she muttered. "But, you'll tell me one day, yes?"

Jareth turned to her to give her a wary glance. "One day."