Chapter 12: Help!

A/N: Another collaborative chapter brought to you by Ismira Daugene & Queenoftheslayers. Please view chapter 1 for more detail on the purpose of these short stories.

o O o O o O o

"Is she here?" Jareth the Goblin King's voice asked from Elise's doorway.

Elise swiveled around in her computer chair to face the fae monarch. "No…" she said slowly. He rushed into the room, slamming the door behind him then turned back to see a bewildered Elise staring at him. "What are you doing?" she asked as he pressed his back against the door.

"They're after me."

"Who's after you?"

"The hunters…"

"What?"

"She sent them. I had no idea she had contacts in such high circles!"

"Marie? Well, I really don't blame her after what happened."

He glared up at Elise. "I expect my scribe to be on my side," he ground out.

"Not when the person you drugged is your scribe's roommate! And the person it was intended for is one of my best friends! Sorry if they come first!"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Humans," he grumbled.

"So what do you expect me to do?" Elise asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't know; call her off! Tell her to get the hunters off my back!"

"She wouldn't listen…"
"She would if you told her!"
Elise rolled her eyes. "I'm only helping you because I know you're not really evil." She reached back on the desk and grabbed her cell phone. Flipping it open, she quickly tapped in a message and hit send. "There, I sent her a text."

A tone chirped from the mobile a moment later and Elise grimaced as she read the message. "What does it say?" the Goblin King asked.

"You really don't want to know," she answered as she typed out a reply.

The blond monarch raised an eyebrow but didn't press. "I trust you are defending my case?"

Elise snorted in mock amusement. "I think you deserve a bit more trouble from the hunters she's sent after you, personally." He glared at her, his eyes narrowing and his mouth set in a firm line. "But," she interjected before he could say anything. "You are my king…"

Jareth seemed mollified, albeit slightly, and nodded once. Elise hit the send button once again and set the phone down on the desk to wait. "So, what kind of trouble have the hunters caused you?"

"Why do I get the feeling my answer will affect how well you defend my case to your friend?" Elise smirked and leaned back in her chair a bit more, but didn't say anything. He let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand. "I don't want to get into the specifics of it, but somehow they managed to cut off my access to the Underground."

"What? How could they do that?" Elise leaned forward.

"I don't know, but obviously it needs to be undone."

"Definitely… you need to be able to get back to your subjects."

"Precisely."

"Hmm…" The twenty-two year old leaned back in her seat once again, her brow furrowed in thought. "Maybe you could make a deal with Marie? Promise to not go near her for a while."

"Like a restraining order?"

"Yeah…"

"But you're my scribe and live right next door to her." He pointed out.

"Ah yeah, didn't think about that."

"Obviously," he scoffed.

"Hey, a little support here? I am trying to get you out of this." Jareth remained silent, waiting while Elise thought some more. "What about if we just set up a meeting spot and if you need me for anything then you can just send me a message and I'll meet you there."

"Sounds a bit childish…"

"Sorry, it's the best I can come up with considering you're depending on me to get these hunters off your trail," she reminded him. He grumbled something unintelligible and refused to meet her gaze. "Right, I'll just text Marie about the new plan." She opened her cell phone once more to type out the message and send it. It took several minutes, but eventually Marie responded, and this time it was a little more favorable. "She says that she'll agree to it so long as the meeting place is at least one hundred yards away from where ever she is."

Jareth grumbled a little, but nodded his assent. Elise messaged Marie back that it was agreed to then flipped her phone shut. "Alright your Majesty, I've helped you, now please get out. I have a paper on Lady Macbeth's influence over Lord Macbeth due in the morning that I still need to finish."

The Goblin King gave a mock bow and disappeared in a swirl of glitter, which caused Elise to curse and march to the closet to fetch the vacuum cleaner.

o O o O o O o

A/N #2: Just in case you were wondering, 'hunters' is referring to Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural of whom Marie is pretty good friends with.

Sam & Dean Winchester (c) Erik Kripke

Jareth the Goblin King (c) Henson, Lucas, Froud, & Bowie