Time May Change Me...

'Heroes' of the Underground Fell to Earth

"Labyrinth" FanFiction

Happy Birthday David Bowie

Sarah Williams had woken up from the dream again, shaking her head and falling from her fantasies back to her feet: the sun was shining through her window, the birds were chippering,… she sighed and looked at the ceiling of her bedroom. Am I ready today?

An hour later she was sitting cross-legged on her favorite bench in the park, her back leaned against the arm, sheets of paper and pastels sprawled in front of her. She tapped the back of her pencil against her lip in thought as she read what she had written over again: her novel was finally coming to an end. She sat the last page of the book face down at the top of the pile, then flipped it so the cover she had drew could be seen and the title read: A Land Serene. She smirked in satisfaction. Yes, today I'm ready.

"I'm ready to go to this serene land"

Thanks Heavens she had a hand on the papers, or the blow of air that followed the sentence would have swept them all away, ruining hours of rearranging the pages in the correct order.

She looked up and her gaze locked with the dark eyes of a splendid golden blond barn owl that had perched himself on the back of the bench. They sat there for a while, staring at each other's pupils. Sarah started to feel uncomfortable under his gaze: she felt a slight tingle run all over her body, something almost electric as she looked at the perfectly still owl.

Injection.

When she felt like she had regained her senses, she stood, collected her things and stuffed them all inside her bag. Then, hugging the massive fascicle to her chest against the nervousness, she spoke: "Well? Are you going to stare at me for the rest of the eternity or are you coming?"

The animal shook his head and ruffled his feathers, then took flight heading towards a tree. It flew behind it and when it reappeared, it was no owl anymore. Instead there stood the Goblin King in all his regal glory.

Sarah's jaw almost dropped when he started to walk towards her dressed in Aboveground clothes: black shoes, blue jeans that hugged his hips thanks to a large belt, a black cotton shirt was tucked in them and a leather jacket of the same color covered it, around his neck was simply wrapped a blue and white scarf that showed geometrical patterns. The only things that reminded her of the Jareth she knew, were his hair that still fell on his shoulders and his eyes, so different from the owl's, still so similar.

He smirked flirtatiously at her: "You'll come to understand that the eternity is not long at all. Where are we going, Sarah mine?"

Sarah had to take a few instants to recover again before answering: "I thought we could maybe go to my place. You know, to… to talk, catch up. When was the last time we saw each other anyway?" she asked nervously.

Jareth chuckled: "Well, the right question would be, when was the last time you saw me anyway? I saw you every day since we parted" he emphasized his meaning by rolling a crystal on the back of his hand.

Sarah ran over to him and took the crystal from his hand frantically, purposely avoiding to meet his eyes: "Are you insane?! Put this thing away before anyone sees you!"

"You are so cute when you blush, precious" he whispered in her ear.

"You shut up and follow me!" she hissed as she turned towards the path to go home. After a few steps, having not heard following steps, she turned to see that he was still frozen where she had left him. She was about to call him, but he tilted his head toward a big building at his right that she recognized as the block she lived in… and that was on the opposite direction she had taken. Mentally face palming, she turned and shoved her hands into her pockets, muttering a 'thank you' as she passed him by. The way her feet touched the ground had become suddenly interesting.

She opened the principal door of the block and let him in. She accidentally ignored the polite greeting of the porter, all too wrapped up in her rage/pleasure/uneasiness of having the Goblin King back and simply walked to the elevator and pressed the proud red button beside its door.

Not having ever seen a grey door without a handle like the one he was in front of then, Jareth mimicked her by standing still and doing nothing. After a few seconds of silence he had to ask: "What exactly are we waiting for?"

"The elevator" she answered.

"I think you should call it 'the lift' for him, miss Williams!" the porter joked. His greeting had been returned by the tall blond guy and he had heard his distinct British accent.

Jareth quirked an eyebrow. Suddenly a bell ringed once and the door slid noisily open to a very small rectangular box-like room. He entered when he saw Sarah move in.

Sarah pressed the button to the fifth floor and the door closed. Once they were safe inside and the lift had left the ground she exploded: "You've been spying me all these years?!" She yelled at him. She saw him opening his mouth as to reply, but she didn't give him the chance: "Have you any idea who much time has passed? Because I know: six years! Six Jareth!" she started pacing the small space: "Have you really been violating my privacy for so long!?"

"S-Sarah-"

"I hope you have some really good piece of an excuse not to be killed right- Jareth?" He was gripping the handrail of the lift a bit too tightly for her liking, he had unwrapped the scarf from around his throat and now it was just hanging from his neck and his complexion had gone sickly pale: "Jareth what is it? Are you alright?"

"Dizzy… what kind of place is that?" his legs trembled and his knees bent.

Sarah was at his side in a blink, holding him up by an arm, panicking: "No, no, don't you dare fainting!" He didn't seem to be intentioned in standing. "Look, just sit here, ok? It's alright, we are almost there, hang on". She knelt beside him and helped him down as well, then looked at the screen on top of the buttons: third floor.

"Sarah…" his eyelids dropped.

"No, wait, yes come on, talk to me! Say my name again!" She held his face in her hands, his half opened eyes were unfocused.

"Get me out of here…" he slurred, barely aware of her palms on his cheeks.

"I-I can't" the screen had changed to 4thF a while ago: "In a moment! We have to get to the next floor, can you hear me?"

He groaned, his head fell forward and he into unconsciousness.

"Damn it! Jareth, please, don't do this!" she yelled. Her heart was pulsing in her throat as she shifted at his side not to let his limp body fall, his head leaned helplessly on her shoulder.

When the screen changed to 5thF the longest three seconds of her life started. With a bump the lift stopped and the door finally opened.

-/-\-

When the muffling sensation that had invaded his mind seemed to fade, he felt consciousness slip back in. For a moment he focused on nothing but on repressing the sense of nausea he had by inspiring deeply and exhaling slowly. He realized he was laying on a soft surface, his feet were propped up and something reassuringly cool was pressed against his forehead. He decided to open his eyes. The curtains of the window he saw in front of him shielded him from the sunlight. He was, in fact, laying on a couch: his feet had been lifted on a pile of pillows. Lifting a hand to his head he discovered he had a wet cloth on his forehead.

"No thanks, Joe, I'll manage. I should be fine, I'll just wait for him to wake up" Sarah said leaning against her door frame.

"Alright. Uhm, I should be going now, don't hesitate to call if you need anything" said the tall man, offering her an unsure smile.

"Thank you so much" they nodded at each other and went on their separate ways.

Sarah closed the door and leaned against it. She slid down, sat on the floor and took her shoes off. When she got up she threw her jacket on a chair and sighed passing a hand through her hair.

"Sarah"

She turned and saw that Jareth was looking at her form his position on her couch. She ran to him and knelt on the floor beside his face: "You are awake"

He moaned: "You don't say". He furrowed his brow, looked down at the floor, back at himself and at her: "How could you…?"

"Oh, Joe helped me. He lives next door and… heard the mess"

He looked at her with quirked eyebrows: "What mess?"

"Me dragging you on the floor 'till my door step? You aren't exactly light, I couldn't possibly lift you!"

He crossed his arms over his chest and did not look at her. He heard her shift, her breath on his cheek, then her soft lips pressed there.

"Please, don't be ashamed. Everyone has their moments of weakness"

He turned his head. Their lips were mere inches apart.

Sarah cleared her throat: "A-Are you ok? Are you feeling alright? You had me pretty worried earlier"

"Better" he said.

"You sure?" she pressed.

He glared at her with his most annoyed look.

"Look, don't blame me if I got scared by you fainting dead against m-mmhpf!" his mouth silenced hers by planting a powerful kiss on her soft lips. She took his head and gently, not to make him lightheaded again, she pressed him harder against herself.

Eventually, they parted for air.

"You have changed your mind"

She looked at him: "I didn't change my mind" she replied a little too quickly.

He rolled his eyes and lifted himself up in a seated position, then looked at her hard: "The truth, Sarah"

Feeling like he was melting her with that stare, Sarah sighed and sat on the floor. She passed a hand through her hair: "I want to go back to the Labyrinth with you, still, there's something I can't put my finger on that holds me here… whether it is Toby or my book, I don't know-"

"You could bring your book with you" he suggested.

She sighed: he had a point. "What of Toby?"

After a moment, Jareth came to kneel in front to her on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. He took her hands in his like he had done before, stroking their backs with his thumbs, then raised his eyes to hers once more: "If we went back down in the Underground, I would be King and you would be my Queen, Sarah. I gave you certain powers, remember?" At her nod he continued: "You'll be able to generate crystals and see him through them, enter his dreams"

Sarah considered this, then asked: "Won't I be able to physically see him?"

"Only if he'll wish so"

She lowered her head in thought, weighting her options carefully. What if Toby didn't want to see her anymore because she had left him? She had grown to love him like nothing and anyone else before… but when she looked at her hands wrapped in Jareth's… that 'anyone else' became an 'anyone else before'. She felt her head being pulled up by gentle ungloved fingers.

"Reality can be easy to go through, but not always. Sometimes it hurts, an as bad as hell, I can assure you. But Sarah: you'll face no more suffering if you come with me. I'll give you anything you need, anything that you want and I will be your slave: the only thing that I ask you, is to respect me and love me just as much as I love you". Jareth saw a smile, bright her face up and a salty trail trace her cheek. He moved his hand to wipe it away, not fancying the fact that something that was different from his fingers or lips would brush so gently on her smooth face.

She giggled lightly: "You were not this clear and gentle last time"

"Last time, I was a little more occupied by winning my own game" he chuckled.

She smiled wider, shook her head and leaned to pick the pile that was her novel up: "Then, as you are already here" she moved to him and kissed the side of his mouth teasingly: "I wish the Goblin King would take me away, right now"

Inspiration: Songs by David Bowie, ""Heroes"" and "Underground", plus the film "The Man Who Fell to Earth".

Special thank you to LabyrinthDavidBowieWildcats30 for her support last year after the publishing of the first chapter ;)