Disclaimer: I don't own it, I make no profit from it, wouldn't it be wonderful though?
A/N: Please, please, please, review. I love you all, I can't stand your silence, I am neeeedy. Wow, chapter 12 already. My story is coming along nicely, my packing, not so much. I get the sigh and eye roll from the hubs every time he sees Word open on the computer. He loves me though, so he puts up with it. I love you all too, thank you for all of the follows, favorites and reviews. I think it's high time for Liam and Siobhan to act like the 260 year olds they are. How about you?
Jareth pulled Sarah into the library, quickly putting his above glamour in place, he indicated she should do the same.
"Do we have any hard information? Or just speculation at this point?" He asked Aldric, tucking silver daggers into the liner of his suit coat.
"She missed a meeting, when her supervisor went by her office, she wasn't there. He tried calling her at home and she didn't answer. He then went to her apartment, when she didn't answer the door, he became alarmed. Interpol was alerted when he called the local police precinct to have a welfare check performed." Aldric said, reading off of a scroll.
Sarah watched Aldric as he read what little information he had obtained, a look of alarm and worry on her face. She followed Jareth's lead and was putting daggers in the pant suit jacket that she had conjured for herself. The magic was coming easier to her now, she had barely thought about how she wanted to appear and the clothes had materialized on her. She was all business in the suit, the cut of it designed to let her move quickly and nimbly should the need arrive. A pair of comfortable low heeled boots completed the outfit.
"Very dashing, my love." Jareth said, taking delight in the fact that he hadn't had to guide her on the magic.
"So we really don't know anything then, do we?" She asked Aldric.
"We know that a woman who is punctual to a fault, failed to appear at a meeting," he replied. "We know that no one has seen or spoken to her since you took the children and disappeared."
"Can you all please stop calling us children?" Liam asked from the doorway.
Behind them stood Siobhan, nodding in agreement. "We're going with you." She said.
"No, you are not." Jareth stated flatly. "I have not spent all of these years protecting you, just for you to put yourselves in the line of fire."
"We're already there." Liam said. "We are of age, it is time for us to assume our thrones. Would you shield us even there?" When Jareth began to protest, Liam stopped him. "You could not. You cannot. It is time for us to stand up and face this danger."
"How are we to rule?" Siobhan asked, "If you will not allow us to grow up and defend our kingdoms?"
Sarah looked at the determined set of their faces, their bodies held stiff and proud. She had broken the glamour that Jareth had put on them, making them seem so young and fragile. Here before her stood a young man and woman, determined to make their mark.
"She has a point, Jareth." Sarah said softly.
"Et tu Brute?" He responded sarcastically. Finally, with a resigned sigh, he gave in. "You two will do exactly as you are told. You will arm yourselves and glamour yourselves to blend in above. If my orders are not followed precisely, I will send you straight back." He said firmly. "To the bog."
"Yes, My Lord." Liam said.
"Yes, My Lord." Siobhan echoed.
With one more exasperated sigh, Jareth turned to Aldric. "Please inform the Lady Fiona of this ridiculous turn of events. I will not pull her away today, however, I wish her to be ready at my call."
"As you wish, Majesty." Aldric bowed deeply and left the room.
"What's our first move?" Sarah asked.
"We should contact Interpol and the FBI, I want it made clear that Ms. Powers falls under our jurisdiction. I also want a location on Detective Cooper and McKinney. I am certain at least one of them is behind the recent string of events. I had hoped to question Fiona on why the hell they were in New York, unfortunately, I never had the chance."
Sarah nodded, "I got a bad vibe from Detective Cooper. That aura thing, his was off, all murky red and black. McKinney's was soft and gold, just like Susan's."
"Where was the black located on Cooper?" Jareth asked.
"Around his head." She replied. His only response a thoughtful "hmmm"
Jareth walked over to the desk and wrote something out on a scroll, then he rolled it up and placed it in a crystal, with a wave of his hand it disappeared.
"What was that?" Sarah asked.
"I sent communication to Interpol regarding all of your changes in status. You are now Inspector Sarah King, Liam and Siobhan are Agents Prince. I also informed them that we would be traveling directly to Ms. Powers apartment and to have Agents from the FBI and Interpol there. I don't want to get into another disagreement with the locals." He explained.
When they were all ready, they stood in a circle in the center of the library. As they prepared to travel above, a soft amber light appeared at their center, smoky tendrils of the amber light reached out and encircled each of them.
Jareth smiled in appreciation. "It would seem that the Labyrinth is blessing this journey and offering us its protection."
As they all murmured "Blessed Be." The light retreated and they were once again prepared to leave. After the encounter with the light, they all felt a little more at ease.
Liam threw a crystal, Sarah was surprised at how quickly she was getting accustomed to popping around from place to place. When she looked up, they stood in front of a four story walk up on Orchard Street just off of Delancey. Non-descript black SUV's blocked the street in front of number 95, NYPD squad cars sat on the other side of a yellow barricade, their red and blue flashing lights creating a garish pattern on the rain dampened pavement.
"The Feds are here." Sarah commented, Jareth merely grunted in response. He stood for a moment taking in the scene. Sarah watched him, watching other people. My God! She thought to herself, he is breathtaking!
"Come," he finally said. "Let us go see what awaits us."
As they were making their way up the stairs to the small studio apartment that Suisan Powers called home, Jareth paused, muttering a string of curses that Sarah found impressive, he turned to her and said, "Someone has attempted to break in to your apartment."
"What? How do you know?" She asked.
"I put protection wards on them. Should anybody besides myself or you attempt to enter, they would get a nasty jolt and I would be notified. Now, I am being notified."
"I hope it wasn't dad and Toby." Sarah said, slightly worried.
"Were you expecting them? You had only to mention it and I would have included them in the spell." Jareth replied, managing to look concerned and condescending all at the same time.
"Well, not really, I didn't actually know you were going to booby trap my apartment though, did?" She said, trying her best to imitate his trade mark sneer.
"I will send someone to ascertain if it was your family attempting to enter. If it was, it can be remedied easily enough."
"I can go." Sarah offered.
"No!" Jareth snapped, turning to encompass Liam and Siobhan in his steady gaze he said, "From this moment on, we stick together. Something does not seem quite right in this entire fiasco, I'll not needlessly risk anymore lives."
They all nodded and they continued upstairs. Something has him on edge, Sarah thought. They hadn't gone but a dozen more steps when the smell hit Sarah. She remembered that smell, it was the same one that had streamed out of Barry's office door when she had opened it. Death. Death and gore. Sarah's subconscious whimpered a little bit as they continued up the stairs. Steeling herself, she forced herself to continue, wondering if she should warn Liam and Siobhan what was likely to be waiting for them at the top.
Jareth tensed as he felt the realization hit Sarah of what was coming. Hopefully the worst is cleared out already, he thought. Looking back at the trio that followed him, his eyes lit gently on his wife, he knew she would get through it, she was strong, his concern was that it was too soon for her after the trauma of Barry.
"Sarah," he started.
"No, I know, it's ok." She replied
"Are you certain?" at her nod of assent, he said, "Well then, let us get this miserable business done with."
They arrived at the door to Susan Powers apartment, a flurry of activity was hustling about inside. Agents from Interpol and the FBI were taking photos and dusting for fingerprints. The body had already been removed, but Sarah knew, by the carnage that was left behind, that Susan's death had not been an easy one.
"Sir, Madam." An agent addressed them as they walked in to the nightmare that had been Susan's last minutes. Sarah recognized him from her office, she found herself wondering, strangely, about his age. Knowing now that Interpol agents were Fae, even though he looked like a fresh faced recent college grad, he could be centuries old. How did one deal with this kind of scene for centuries?
"Ah, Seamus," Jareth greeted him. "I've been made aware of a breach at Sarah's apartment here in New York, I would like you to take two agents to assess the situation, discreetly."
"Yes sir!" Seamus responded, motioning to two other men to come with him. "I'll take Randall and Jameson, sir." Jareth nodded at them and the three men moved quickly out the door.
Sarah heard Siobhan gasp behind her, turning, she looked at her and placing her hand on her shoulder, gave it a light squeeze, asking, "Are you sure you're up for this." At her nod, Sarah looked at Jareth and they all proceeded further inside.
Another man approached them, FBI emblazoned across his windbreaker. As he approached, Jareth flashed his badge at him, "Inspector King, with Interpol." He introduced himself, gesturing to the three behind him he said, "They're with me. What do we know?"
Agent Nettles," the FBI Agent said, looking around, he grimaced. "The scene was a mess, I'll tell you that. LEO's are chomping at the bit trying to get their players in." He looked at Jareth with pity and something else in his eye, Sarah couldn't tell if it was anger or just resignation at more violence and bloodshed. "We had a Detective McKinney in here, he was curious and confused about why he and his partner, a Detective Cooper, had been black balled on updates." He held up a hand at Sarah's snort, "I read the memo. Detective Cooper, anyway, is a suspect, that means no go for his partner too." He turned away from Jareth slightly and said, "I don't know that I agree that all of your evidence will hold up in court, but you have enough of a circumstantial case that the FBI will back you up. For now." He added and walked away.
Sarah looked around the room, she studied the blood drying to an ugly rust on the carpet and walls. She studied the people scurrying about, Interpol Agents mingled with FBI, Sarah found she could easily tell who was Fae and who was not, she was also surprised to see that some FBI agents weren't exactly human.
Seamus reappeared at the doorway, gesturing frantically for Jareth and Sarah. Jareth motioned Liam and Siobhan to stay where they were and turned to lead Sarah to the doorway.
"Your Majesties," he said, slightly inclining his head. "We secured the residence, however, we have evidence that it was a severe breach. I didn't see anyone left there but, I'm sorry to say," he said, looking solemnly at Sarah, "Whoever it was, killed Her Majesty's cat."
"I don't have a cat." Sarah said flatly. She knew of only one in her building that would be out wandering, a large, orange tabby named Marmalade, he belonged to the Mathias family on the third floor.
Sarah felt a dark rage build in her. She was sick of being one step behind this bastard. She knew Cooper was behind everything, she didn't care any more about catching him and bringing him to justice. As the blackness spread within her, she had one desire, to end his life.
Jareth looked at Sarah intently, he could feel the rage mounting in her. So newly Fae, with the power of the Labyrinth at her finger tips, she was more than dangerous. She had the potential to turn deadly. He was afraid these latest provocations would be too much for her.
"Sarah, my love," he began softly. "Perhaps you and Siobhan would be more comfortable back at the castle, Liam and I can investigate this threat. It would give you a chance to bring Fiona up to date and see if she is ready to join us."
Sarah rounded on Jareth, sneering. "Oh," she snarled, "Is that how you want to play it?" She asked, advancing towards him. "Send the weak, simpering females to hide in the castle? While the big, strong men take care of the big, bad man?"
Jareth backed slightly away from her, trying to figure out just where he had gone wrong.
"My Lady," Siobhan said softly, "You are not yourself. Perhaps the King is right."
"You can go running back to the castle if you're too scared." Sarah sneered at her. "I'm going to find this bastard and end this." While she spoke to Siobhan, Sarah drew a crystal into her palm. Rather a clear orb, glowing with white light, her crystal was cloudy and deep red. Jareth reached out for her as she threw it at her feet but he was seconds too late. In the last instant before the crystal shattered, Sarah looked at him in confusion before her eyes hardened again and she was gone.
Sarah reappeared in front of her apartment door. She was greeted by smears of blood. Someone had, thankfully, removed the cat already. She reached out for the door knob, as she turned it, a white hot stab of electricity shot through her and she was transported again. This time when her vision cleared, she was in a dark, round room. Looking up, she saw a shaft of moonlight high above her.
A sound behind her made her turn. Before she could conjure a crystal, iron shackles wrapped themselves around her wrist and ankles. Try as she might, she could not break free.
"Hello, Sarah." A voice whispered in the darkness.