Disclaimer: I don't own it, I make no profit from it.
A/N: So, maybe a little bit longer for some butt kicking. I await your reviews like the desert awaits the rain…lol. Sorry, a little punchy these days. The Midwest is humid. Can't think, can't breath, humid. In some ways I miss the desert, in some ways I don't. I am enjoying greenery and thunderstorms. It's possible that those things will inspire me. Might I humbly suggest that you check out Enchantedpeachdreams offering of Paint Me A Picture? Great read, I got so caught up in it that I neglected my own….lol. As always, much love and I would love to hear (read) your thoughts.
Detective McKinney "Mac" was sitting in a dark corner of his favorite bar, looking at his partner Detective Cooper like he had just lost his mind. Coop had been earnestly telling him a story for the last half hour, one of murder, intrigue and magic. Children, who weren't really children, in disguise, Interpol being run by magical beings from an alternate universe and the New York District Attorney's office employing a secret magical Queen.
"Coop," Mac began uncertainly, "That's quite a story you've cooked up." Mac eyed his partner critically, wondering if he should arrest him for the admitted murders, or call Bellevue to come pick him up.
"That's the thing Mac," Coop responded eagerly, "How could I cook this up? You know it's true because no one could ever conceive of something like this unless it was real."
"I really think I would have noticed if you had been up to half of the stuff you say you have." Mac started looking around the bar, trying to determine if there was anyone who could help him if things started going sideways with Coop.
"I was given the ability to alter your memory." Coop said, taking a long drink of beer. "I hated doing it, but now I don't have to anymore, if you'll just agree to help. There'll be power and money enough for all of us." Coop said earnestly, signaling to the waitress to bring them another round, not paying attention to the fact that Mac hadn't touched a drop of his beer.
"Coop," Mac started slowly, "Maybe we should go talk to Lorenzen."
"I don't need a god damned shrink!" Coop bellowed. "I need you to be with me on this. Come with me to see my friend, you won't be sorry."
"Sure, Coop, sure," Mac said uneasily. "Just let me run by my place and grab a couple of things and I'll meet you right back here." He continued in what he hoped was a convincing tone. "Just have another beer and by the time you finish, I'll be right back."
"You'll come back, right?" Coop asked. "You won't make me come hunt you down? Cause it would be bad if I had to come looking for you."
"Coop, we're buddies, right? Partners? I wouldn't stand you up." Mac said, standing up and preparing to leave.
As he started to walk away from the table, Coop reached and grasped his Mac arm in a vice like grip, "I will come after you if you don't come back." He said darkly.
"I gotcha, man," Mac said nervously, pulling his arm out of the other man's grip. "I'll be back within the hour."
Mac quickly headed out the door, turning once to look behind him to make sure that Coop wasn't following. Once out the door, he hailed a cab and gave the address of the precinct, he needed help on this, Coop needed help, the man was seriously losing his mind.
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Sarah lay in the comfort of Jareth's embrace, thinking how many changes had been taking place in her life in a very short time, when suddenly, she saw a dark alley. Rain drenched and scattered with litter, the alley was old and twisted. A figure in a dark hooded cloak held out a pale, bony hand and dropped a small shard of crystal in a puddle. Smoke rose out of the puddle and shadowy creatures emerged. A red haze hung around the cloaked figured with streaks of black running through it. The figure then pulled out a shiny silver dagger and punctured his finger, letting blood drip into the puddle. Something large, with eyes glowing red emerges from the puddle, the thing bowed to the cloaked figure and then disappeared into the night.
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Liam sat in the library at Interpol headquarters, a large ancient book in front of him. Studying the drawings on the pages, his face turned white.
"Siobhan," he called softly. "Come here."
"What is it, brother." She responded, coming to look at the book over his shoulder.
"Doesn't this look like the orb that Aldric left in the oubliette?" He asked, gesturing to the page before him.
"Oh, dear," Siobhan breathed. "This does not bode well."
"Siobhan," Liam began, "This is an ancient, evil magic. The darkest of the dark. If Aldric is using this, we must inform the King. He may not be able to stop this."
"The Goblin King is very powerful, Liam. He, together with the Queen and the Labyrinth, should have far more power than this dark magic." Siobhan responded, her voice confident, her eyes full of worry.
"I will leave immediately for the castle." Liam stated, closing the massive book and tucking it under his arm.
"I will inform our forces here." She said, heading for the door. "Blessed be, brother, go quickly to the castle."
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Sarah sat up with a start, the vision still fresh and vivid in her mind.
"What is wrong, Sarah?" Jareth asked, worry and fatigue lining his face.
"I'm not sure," she responded. "I think I just dreamed something, but I didn't think I was sleeping." She said, her voice shaky, the terror she felt while seeing that alley coming back in fresh waves.
"Tell me about it," Jareth said softly.
As Sarah began to tell him everything she could about the cloaked figure, the alley and the creatures that had emerged, Jareth listened with a deepening sense of foreboding. It was becoming more and more clear to him that they were dealing with forces the likes of which he had never seen. He hoped that he could bring his kingdom and everything he held dear through this with as little damage as possible.
"Sarah," he said after she finished, "What you had was a vision. I told you that part of turning Fae, Royal Fae, was the ability to see all, that is part of your power now, it seems that you have regained your ability to see Aura's as well. This will be very important to us, as you would be able to tell someone's true nature and intent just by looking at them." He stood and went to the wardrobe on the wall, "You must be cautious though, my dear, as your fears and insecurities can also cloud your perception of a person or beings Aura." Pulling clothes out of the wardrobe, he threw some at her and began to dress, pulling leather armor out for them both.
"How do I tell what is real or not?" She asked, the beginnings of panic beginning to lace into her voice.
Jareth turned and pulled her into his embrace, kissing her softly on the forehead, he said, "I will be there with you. You will not go into this battle alone." Tilting her chin up, he smiled softly at her, his otherworldly eyes staring deep into hers. "As the world falls down, my precious girl."
"I believe that together, we can overcome anything," she whispered softly to him, bring her lips to his for a brief kiss.
A loud banging on the door interrupted them, "Enter!" Jareth shouted impatiently, as he set Sarah away from him with a rueful grimace.
"Your Majesties," Liam said, bowing low, "I have some news that you will want to hear immediately."
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Mac arrived at the precinct and paid the driver, heading in he looked around for someone likely to be an ally. Noticing that the desk Sergeant seemed to have his hands full with two uniforms hauling in a homeless drunk, he started upstairs to see if his Captain was still in his office.
Moving through the squad room, he greeted those who were still there, moving through the bullpen quickly, hoping that if he looked purposeful enough, no one would want to stop him for a chat.
Seeing that the lights were still on in his Captains office, Mac breathed a sigh of relief. As he got closer, he heard voices coming from inside. Shit, he thought, Captains got someone in there with him. As he drew closer, he thought he recognized the other voice as Coops. That can't be, he thought, I left him at the bar.
"Sir, you have to understand where I'm coming from." Mac heard him say. "I don't want to seem like I'm ratting out my partner, but I just can't ignore all of these coincidences anymore."
"Detective Cooper," Captain Maloney said heavily, "These are serious allegations you're making against Detective McKinney. Do you have any proof?"
Mac stopped dead in his tracks, looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to him. With a sigh of relief, he noticed that he didn't seem to be drawing any attention. Yet, a small voice said from the back of his mind. I have got to get out of here, he thought, Coop is trying to take me down for his shit. Trying not to draw any attention, Mac skirted around the Captains office, headed back to the break room and the fire escape that was outside the window.
Thankfully, the breakroom was empty. Grateful for whatever higher power was looking out for him, Mac slowly eased the window open and climbed out onto the fire escape. Looking around to make sure no one had come into the breakroom, he lowered the ladder and started climbing down.
"I sure wish I knew what in the hell was going on." He muttered to himself as he climbed down. "Everyone has lost their goddamn minds. Coop went off the deep end, Miss Williams has disappeared, Mrs. Powers and Barry dead in a godawful gruesome scene." He continued, when he reached the bottom of the ladder he jumped the last few feet to the alley and headed toward the heavily populated street, hoping that would keep him safe. At the opening of the alley, he looked right, then left. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to head left uptown. He didn't know it then, but that decision saved his life.
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Sarah, Jareth and Liam huddled around the book Liam had brought with him in Jareth's study. Reading the text, Jareth hissed several times in frustration. While the book offered dire warnings about the effects of the tainted crystals use, it offered little information on how to defeat the creatures they brought forth.
"Look here, Jareth," Sarah said, pointing to a particular paragraph. "It says, 'Pure light and pure heart', I wonder what that means?"
"It could mean anything!" Jareth snarled in frustration, balling his fist up and slamming it on the desk.
"Your Majesty," Liam said, "I believe that we only have a piece of the puzzle." Pointing at several lines of text that seemed to be jumbled together and have no real meaning. "When taken by themselves, these lines mean little, ramblings, perhaps there is a key that would decipher the meaning."
"What good is a key if we don't know what we are looking for or where to find it?" Jareth said angrily.
"Maybe we do," Sarah said, looking at the text and then looking at the red crystal in the iron box.
"My Queen," Liam said slowly, "What you are thinking is very dangerous."
"Sarah," Jareth said, "You know the affect that crystal has on anyone who touches it."
"Is it anyone?" She asked. "Or is it Fae?"
"How could we possibly know that?" Liam asked sarcastically. At a pointed look from Jareth, he lowered his head and mumbled, "Sorry, Your Majesty."
"We take a calculated risk," Sarah said. "So far these things have been used against Fae, whoever used them, used someone else to place them. Aldric had Detective Cooper bring it to the oubliette, he also had Elvin and Goblin guards place them in the castles of the murdered monarchs. Maybe that is because he cannot touch the crystal."
Jareth gave a low hum of approval, "Very good thinking, precious," he said, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "We have a lack of non Fae in this room at the moment, who would you suggest we use?"
Before Sarah could answer, three men appeared in the room rushing over to Jareth, "Your Majesty," one said, bowing low, "We have news on one of the men you had us watching."
"Report," Jareth said tersely.
"Detective McKinney has been approached by Detective Cooper about joining with Aldric. Detective McKinney made the decision to get Detective Cooper help instead of joining forces. This has forced a dangerous situation; Detective Cooper is attempting to make Detective McKinney a fugitive from the NYPD."
"Where is McKinney now?" Sarah asked.
"Headed north away from the precinct, he was forced to take the fire escape to exit the building unnoticed."
"If he's headed north, that means he's headed away from Hell's Kitchen." Sarah murmured, staring thoughtfully at nothing.
"Is that important?" Jareth asked.
"I don't know why, but I'm sure Hell's Kitchen is where the alley is from my vision." She answered. "We have to go get him, Jareth. We can't leave him to navigate this mess on his own. I liked him, his Aura was such a warm golden color, it made me feel safe."
"His Aura was gold you say?" Liam spoke up.
"Yes, his and Susan's," Sarah said.
"I believe he is what we need to decipher this text, Majesty," Liam said, pointing at a passage.
Jareth leaned over to read what had caught his attention, "Hmmm, I believe you may be on to something. Let us go and retrieve the esteemed Detective McKinney."
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Mac walked briskly down the sidewalk, every once in a while he would look over his shoulder because he felt sure he was being followed. Seeing no one, he continued on. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the events of the last few days. First Barry, then Mess Williams goes missing, then Mrs. Powers body is found. Coop lost his mind, now he was walking aimlessly down the street, hoping that one of the uniforms on beat didn't make him. If things got any more screwed up, he just might crack.
Looking over his shoulder again, he thought he saw something move in the shadows. Picking up speed, he was almost jogging by the next block, snarling in frustration, he stopped at the next corner when the Don't Walk sign came on. He felt something brush against his sleeve, then suddenly, Sarah stood in front of him.
"Miss Williams!" He gasped is surprise.
"Hello, Mac." She said, smiling warmly. She sent a look over his shoulder and nodded. "Hey Mac, I'm going to need you to come with me right now, ok?"
"Why?" He asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"I know that Detective Cooper told you some things and I want to clear everything up and keep you safe." She responded.
"Something weird is going on." Mac stated.
"I know, Mac. It's not safe to stay here." Sarah said, casting another concerned look over his shoulder.
Jareth walked up next to him, followed by Liam and several Interpol agents, saying, "Sarah, we must move quickly, I cannot hold them back much longer."
"Hold what back?" Mac asked, moving to look behind him.
"I wouldn't suggest that," Sarah said gently, putting a hand on his arm.
Too late, Mac realized she was right. Coming up behind them, it seemed that the very shadows of the street were crawling, slithering, toward them.
"What the fuck?" Mac said harshly.
"You have two choices right now, Detective," Jareth said, drawing Mac's attention toward him and away from the shadows. "You can come with us right now, or we have to leave you here."
Mac gave Jareth a startled look, then turned back to look at the things closing in on them. "I choose you guys!" He shouted, "I choose you guys!"
"Good man!" Liam said, grabbing his arm and throwing a crystal.
The small group disappeared and the shadows receded back into the darkness, gnashing teeth and snarling, something larger bellowed from the darkness.