Darklady: I'm soo sorry this took so long everyone. This was actually pretty much a group fualt. Grace was a little busy with family in town and I was a little busy trying to breath ) Such a stupid past time.

Jareth: Well everyone you must welcome a new character to this story, one who seems to be hell bent on joining our little parties.

Gabby: Hello everyone.

Sarah: Welcome Gabby.

Ly/Jareth: Like we weren't out numbered enough, you have to go and add another girl Lady?

Darklady: Oh shut up, there will be another male for the ranks I promise. Alright everyone enjoy!

Chapter 16: The Party (Part 2)

Sarah, on some level at least, was laughing. Had she noticed? No, she thought it was a rather intriguing looking bunny. Alex was looking carefully at James, as though deciding whether he was friend or food. Sarah looked to Jareth, who unhelpfully seemed to be lost in his own world.

"James…." What was she supposed to say?

"Yeah Sar. I'm listening. Just tell me what's going on," James urged, weary eyes still trained on violet eyes just as intent on studying him. 'Alright here goes nothing,' Sarah thought as she took a deep breath.

"Jareth gave her to me." Sarah answered honestly, if shortly. She wasn't fooling herself, she was completely aware of the fact that she was trying push off the question to her companion.

James' lips pursed at Sarah's vagueness, "Thanks, now try telling me where he got a white tiger cub, let alone a white tiger cub with PURPLE eyes?" Even through his question, James' eyes remained locked on the small carnivore, waiting for it to do something other than lay contentedly curled next to Sarah.

"From…I'm not sure." Sarah paused, frowning as she turned to Jareth. "Where did you get Alex?" Sarah asked, more than willing to turn the spotlight on the Goblin King. James looked from Sarah to Jareth questioningly, never letting Alex out of his peripherals.

Without a pause or moments thought Jareth turned to James. "Do you believe in magic?" Jareth asked completely serious as Sarah smacked her hand to her forehead. James narrowed his eyes and fixed his best friend and her…boyfriend with an irritated scowl.

"What does that have to do with anything?" James asked with a frown.

"Quite a bit actually, but if you have a closed mind I should just erase this from your memory." Sarah jumped at the mention of memory.

"Jareth you are NOT going to mess around in his mind. Gods only know what the effects could be." Jareth looked to Sarah amused, both forgetting for a moment that someone else was in the room.

"There was no ill effect the last time." Jareth said to Sarah's complete shock.

"What the hell do you mean 'last time'?" Sarah asked as the cub's agitation grew with her own.

"He's had his memory tampered with before, as have you, and there were no adverse effects." Jareth said matter of factly, neither paying any notice to the other male in the room.

"When did you use magic on James' mind?" Sarah asked, outraged, but James had apparently had enough of being ignored.

"Would somebody PLEASE tell me what the HELL is going on here?!" The angry boy shouted. Jareth looked to Sarah, his face a mask of indifference as his eyes asked for help.

Sarah smirked holding Alex close to her chest. "Uh uh, you can tell him. You're the only one who could get him to believe the truth anyway." She said petting and purring at the baby in her arms.

"Would someone just start explaining!?" James said, finally slamming into the break in his patience.

"I asked you before James, do you believe in magic?" Jareth asked, trying to hold onto this bored tone.

"Do you mean 'pull a rabbit out of my hat' magic or spells and potions?" James asked with the first twinges of confused shock pulling at his voice.

"Does it matter?" Jareth asked, picking something invisible off his pants.

"In that case, no…I think it's fake." James answered, crossing his arms.

"Maybe in this world James, but not in mine." Jareth said fixing James with a serious stare.

"What are you talking about? There is only ONE world, the REAL world and magic is not real." James looked to Sarah and joked, "What, you guys going to tell me every time I say I don't believe in fairies one falls down dead?" Sarah looked to her friend puzzled, then turned to Jareth who shook his head.

"True or not I'm not sure, but if it was Hammer would be out a job." Jareth answered truly uninterested.

"Alright, you two wait here. I'm going to call for some help." James turned to open the door and found it wouldn't budge.

"Sorry James, you asked a question I am going to answer." Jareth said smiling. "Magic, my young friend, is quite real. It is faint in this world but thrives in my home." Jareth said, trying his best to keep his tone level.

"Your world, you mean like the mother ship?" James asked, trying to keep from panicking. Sarah however felt the growing fear in her friend and ached to put him at ease.

"James what would Jareth have to do to prove he could do magic?" Sarah asked calmly.

James looked to Sarah shocked. 'Is this for REAL?' He thought to himself.

"Umm…I don't know. How about he calls a goblin…" he started teasingly, mocking them both. "…or better yet, how about a fairy?" James said on the verge of hysterics.

Sarah shook her head. "James calm down. Jareth call on a goblin." Jareth gave her a questioning stare. "Fairies are too mean." She answered with a shrug.

Jareth thought for a moment. There were quite a few goblins he could call, but only two that really belonged around Sarah. Creating two crystals Jareth dropped them on the floor, letting the perfect spheres shatter in a puff of glitter. As the glitter cleared two small forms were left behind. Flix and Lilli looked to Sarah and their King showing proper respect to each before asking any questions.

"Majesty? You have need of us?" Flix asked with an exited smile. Jareth smirked as his gaze caught James'.

"Goblins." Jareth said as he gestured to the two creatures that stood confusedly between them.

"Lilli, Flix…I would like you to meet James Wagner, one of Lady Sarah's most trusted friends. James this is Lillianah and Flix, Sarah's personal maid and goblin guard." Jareth explained, his smirk deepening as the two turned to show respect to their Lady's confidant. James looked to Sarah, an uneasy chuckle bubbling up in his chest.

"Sarah are you serious? This is just a joke right…kids dressed up in costume and some," he gulped slightly. "…interesting special effects?" Sarah looked to Jareth, wishing she knew what to say to her friend. James' mouth dropped at her silence. "You can't expect me to believe this." James said breathily, his voice catching in his throat as the truth began to claw at him.

"What do you want me to say James? I've never lied to you before, NEVER! You want me to tell you quick and easy. Rip it off like a band aid and get it over with? Fine. He's the Goblin King." Sarah said plainly, knowing full well it would take more than that to make James believe her…a small, silly part of her deeply hurt that he didn't already.

"Come on Sar, tell me the truth, this is just a joke right?" James snickered, unable to keep from laughing any longer.

"Damn it James, I am telling you the truth!" Sarah yelled and Jareth watched as she slowly started to loose her control. It didn't take but a second for James to be hanging upside down, as though held by an invisible hand. "James Amadeus Wagner I am loosing my patience." Jareth smirked, considering the boy was hanging upside down about three feet off the ground…he would make a fair guess she wasn't loosing her patience…it was GONE. "I have never lied, I am telling you the truth. What do I have to do for you to BELIEVE ME??" Sarah cried as Jareth and Rin both tried to calm the emotional girl.

"I think holding me upside down with no wires or a guy named Bubba is a pretty good start." James said shakily, panic creeping in. That simple statement went further in calming Sarah, than either of Rin or Jareth's attempts. "Sarah, please put me down?" James pleaded, attempting a smirk.

"I don't know James, are you going to open your mind or do you still need a bit more blood down there?" She asked, knowing full well if there was any more blood going to his head it would just pop off.

"Sarah put me DOWN!!" Sarah smirked and released what hold she had on the boy, letting him fall with an unnerving thud. Lilli looked quickly to Sarah asking for silent permission to check on James, which Sarah gladly gave.

"Well deary, something tells me you shouldn't have upset Lady Sarah like that." James laughed at the maids' comment.

"Yeah you're probably right, should I give it another shot and see if she throws me to the ground?" James asked, rubbing his head as he sat up, smiling a bit when Lilli laughed at his joke.

"Well tell me now, how many fingers do you see?" Lilli asked wiggling two fingers in James' face.

"Umm…five?" James said after a moments thought.

"Close enough, can you stand?" James nodded to Lilli, still a bit careful about her. True, he believed this was real, but he was more than just a little…bothered by the idea. James turned to Sarah and could still see the warning fires dancing in her hazel eyes.

"So umm…does Jesi know?" James asked, some part of him already knowing the answer.

"Jesi is another one of Jareth's subjects. She was sent here to watch me after Mitch came back." James moved to Sarah's side instantly at the mention of her uncle's name.

"When? Where is he? Did he touch you?" James spat out the questions as he searched her body for evidence of an attack. Sarah found herself laughing as James inspected a certain rib.

"James take a breath, I'm fine. Jareth took care of Mitch and I'm ABOSOLUTELY SURE that he is never coming back." Sarah said calmly, her voice reassuring.

"How can you be sure?" James asked, truly worried for his friend.

"James I will admit that I have failed Sarah in the past, but I promise you both right now, the people who hurt her are going to and ARE paying for their crimes against her." James gazed at Jareth as he spoke, fear and hurt swirling in his eyes. Sarah seemed to be the only one to notice Jareth's words…but decided not to comment.

"But HOW do you KNOW he isn't coming back? How do you know he won't hurt her again?" James asked desperately.

"Because I won't let him, James. Sarah is my chosen, my mate, my heart. I will NEVER let ANYONE harm her again." For a moment Jareth thought James wouldn't believe him, would beg and plead for some kind of proof that Mitch was gone. But as the two men regarded one another Jareth watched as James mind yielded and trusted Jareth's words. Jareth took James' hand in his, holding it tightly as he spoke. "James as long as I have breath in my body I promise I will use it to protect your friend." James returned Jareth's firm grip.

"You had better Goblin King, or I'll be PUMPING iron into your veins!" Jareth smirked at the boy's threat and nodded.

"I would expect nothing less." Jareth admitted.

Sarah watched as Jareth and James came to their own, albeit strange, understanding of one another. In her arms Alex twisted, trying to get from her mother's arms. She was anxious about something, so was Sarah, there was something wrong. Sarah looked to Lilli and Flix and smiled, there was nothing wrong in their world for the moment.

The same could be said of Jareth and James, upon reaching their 'understanding', they began to whisper and smirk back and forth. But Alex knew something wasn't right, the little creature growled and purred with upset as she tried to free herself from Sarah's firm grip. "Settle down little girl, it's alright." Though still anxious Alex rested against her mother, snuggling into Sarah's warm and cushioned embrace.

Sarah sat speaking with Lilli and Flix as the two others in the room continued with their 'secret meeting'. Lilli had gone earlier to make sure that Alex, "a wonderful name" as she put it, was ready to meet her new mother. Flix had been sitting with Ly and Jesi, watching Jesi kick Ly's butt in chess, quite happily. Moments passed and a knock sounded on the door once again. With a quick snap of his fingers Jareth placed Alex's disguise in place, JUST as Marah came into the room.

"Sarah, James, Jareth is anyone…OH there you are. James I sent you in here with a question did you get me an answer?" James gazed at his mother, lost by her question and slightly jumpy about the two/three mythical creatures in the room.

"Umm…sorry mom, I don't even remember the question." James answered honestly.

"Well isn't that just wonderful? Sometimes I swear you are just like your father. Oh my goodness, Sarah what a lovely kitten." Marah said, coming further into the room to pet the cat. "Where or perhaps I should say WHO," Marah corrected, glancing at Jareth "did you come from?" Jareth smirked back at Marah, unable to resist.

"Why ask a question you already know the answer too?" Jareth asked as his smirk deepened.

"Just to see that sinfully delicious look on your face, my dear. NOW Sarah people are wondering when you're going to start opening gifts, personally I think everyone is anxious to see what everyone else got you." She stated with a wink and a laugh. With Alex now lounged comfortably around her shoulders, Sarah stood.

"Alright well I guess it would be impolite to leave everyone waiting." Sarah said pulling Jareth and James up from the bed.

"Yeah, I guess it would." James said, knowing full well she could care less if everyone else thought it rude.

"Well that reminds me James…what did you get me?" Sarah asked with a devilish gleam in her eyes.

"I gave you the party, my present quota is already full." James answered, both knowing he would NEVER not get something for her. In Sarah's mind James' presents had always been the best, he would always get her something that even SHE didn't realize she liked or loved. No James' gifts were never a disappointment.

"Fine by me, you probably couldn't beat Alex anyway." Sarah said winking to Jareth. Lilli and Flix were sent home, as they didn't care much for the Aboveground both saying it was too loud, bright, and weird. So Sarah, James, Jareth and Marah with Alex still a living fur on Sarah, made their way to the living room. The gifts were piled in the center of the room or rather packed. Sarah sat on the couch before the large pile of gifts and proceeded to open each one in turn.

After a half hour of laughs, giggles and gasps Gabrielle's was the only present left, save for James' who present was ALWAYS last. Sarah lifted Gabby's, for that's what she'd been told to call her, present carefully. The box was small and black with a silver bow. It was strange Sarah thought, somehow the box looked familiar, felt comfortable in her hand. Sarah looked up to Gabrielle and saw a glow of pure delight in the woman's mesmerizing eyes. As Sarah turned back to the box she felt wave after wave of hate and anger wash across her skin. Looking up quickly she glanced at Jareth, who seemed to have noticed her sudden unease 'Rin what's up?' Sarah asked putting Gabrielle's gift to the side, as Alex started to hiss around her neck.

'Your beautiful birthday party is about to get ugly.' Rin said with a secret bit of glee. Sarah heard her mother ask, "What's wrong?", heard another guest move to her side, only to shake them both from her mind as the front door opened.

Karen Williams walked the steps to her front door. Inside her home she could hear the sounds of a party, music, people and plates clattering. The mere idea made the throbbing in her head worsen 10 folds. It had started early the morning before, succeeding in making sure she didn't enjoy her mini vacation with her family. It had taken Robert all day to convince her, but finally the pain had been going on for so long and had taken so much out of her, she couldn't fight him.

Now as she walked up to her home she felt a prickle of anger start to seep through the clutter in her mind. 'What the hell is Mitch doing throwing a party in MY home?' She smiled after the thought crossed her mind, something evil and secret, perhaps it was forgivable. That was IF he had done as he was told. She had been quite upset the last time, to come home and find her step daughter still breathing. But it was only a minor set back…one that took SEVEN YEARS to fix.

As she opened her front door Karen felt all the blood drain from her face. The throbbing in her head had gotten dramatically worse and to make things even more fun the party being thrown was for SARAH! Karen turned to see her step daughter staring nervously at her. Upon opening her mouth Karen had planned on asking where her brother was, when she heard his voice. "Karen you bitch! Get me the fuck out of here!" Karen turned every which way, trying to find her very ticked off sounding brother. Only to look back to Sarah and growl. "Where's Mitch?"

Sarah looked to her step mother for a moment, utterly confused by her question. She could feel Karen's fatigue and upset, but her confusion and sudden fear were what bothered Sarah. She took in her step mother's appearance for the first time that night.

In the 7 years that Sarah had known Karen she had never seen her look so…unkempt. Her normally perfectly styled hair lay flat and lifeless on her head. She looked as though she had gone to bed with wet hair and not bothered to even brush it when she woke up. Her makeup was smeared and uneven, reminding Sarah of Alice Cooper after a rough night of partying at Studio 54. Her clothes, though complimenting and proper, were wrinkled and un-tucked. Sarah found herself shaking her head at the normally fashionable woman. At the same moment Sarah felt a strange pang of pity rush through her, something was up with her step mother…and she was GOING to find out what it was.

"Karen?" Sarah started, the house hushing, quietly watching the two women.

"Where is Mitch, why did he call for help?" Karen asked, moving towards Sarah with pure rage glowing in her brown eyes.

"Karen I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen Mitch all night. I haven't seen Mitch in two days." Sarah said calmly as her father stepped in on the scene.

Sarah watched as her father and younger brother came into the house, silently closing the door and turning to face the small party. She watched as his concern for his wife melted away as he saw his daughter's mother standing beside her. For a minute Sarah even thought he might drop Toby, but it seemed, thank the gods, that he wasn't THAT shocked to see Linda Williams again.

"Karen?" He asked before staring blankly at his former wife.

"This is all your fault! You couldn't just handle her by yourself, could you, you stupid SLUT!?" Karen looked to Sarah, who couldn't hear the screams that Karen could, and growled.

"Damn it you little whore, where is my brother?" The room gasped at Karen's crude and uncalled for insult.

"Who the HELL do you think you are?!" Gabrielle asked, outrage that BOTH of the girl's parents just stood by and watched. Karen turned her gaze from Sarah to the curly haired woman flanking Sarah's right side.

"Who the hell are you?" Karen bellowed, yelling over her brother's latest insult.

"Karen damn you, you should have killed Sarah yourself. But NO you wanted to play with that idiot husband of yours, remember when WE used to 'play' Karen?" Karen felt blood rush to her face and bellowed to the woman again unaware of the fact that her question had been answered.

Sarah watched her step mother in horror. It wasn't like her to say such things with other's around. She had always kept the defense that Sarah treated her like the wicked step mother no matter what she did. Now here she was, cursing and yelling like she SWORE she never did.

Sarah glanced to the woman on her right and saw her amazing eyes flash fire. Red sparks dancing in and out of their green depts. Something wanted Sarah to warn the woman about her step mother, about how incredibly cruel she could be, but something else made her stop. Looking at Miss Mitchell your first thought would have been about her size and her fragile look, but the air around her seemed to be thick with determination and intelligence, her very stance saying she could more than handle herself.

The room as Sarah only knew, was filled with a staggering amount of emotions. Some unpleasant, most confused, but one person seemed to be quite amused. Sarah turned her eyes to her step mother's form and wondered what could possible be funny about someone in such a state. Behind her she could hear James and Jareth whispering, though she couldn't make out about what.

Sarah had thought for a minute, to turn and question the men at her back. An idea that was quickly forgotten when Karen started to yell again. "Damn it Mitch shut the hell up!"

The whole room became a mass of confusion and upset. Quickly Sarah closed herself off, not caring to feel so much at one time. "Sarah where the hell is Mitch?" Karen bellowed again. Sarah moved closer to her step mother, aware of Jareth's movements behind her and Jesi's careful eyes on both her and Karen.

"Karen, Mitch isn't here. I haven't seen him in over 48 hours. I didn't do anything to him." Sarah stated in complete honesty.

Jareth stood behind his chosen, watching her every move carefully. He had told James the source of his amusement and was pleasantly surprised to learn the young man approved. Jareth's mind flashed back to the night he sentenced Mitch Matthews and Karen Williams, smirking wickedly at his own brilliance.

Jareth pulled at the magic that kept him from hearing Mitch's pleas and chuckled to himself as he heard the man curse and condemn his sister. He had trapped Mitch in Sarah's locket. When she opened it she would see a small mirror and a picture of Toby, but Mitch would forever see Sarah. He had also created or rather enhanced the sibling connection, making it so that Karen could ALWAYS hear her brother's call. The sound varying from almost a whisper in the back of her mind to a mind blowing yell, depending on how close to Sarah the older woman was.

He watched with twisted glee as Sarah moved closer to Karen, blissfully unaware of the damage she was doing. He would not tell Sarah of her step mother and uncle's punishment. Mitch Matthews and Karen Williams would never again threaten the life of ANYONE and that was all she needed to know.

Sarah moved closer to her step mother and smiled to her. She had never seen ANYONE, let alone Karen this upset. Even with her empathy turned off Sarah could feel the worry dripping from the walls. Sarah's eyes sought out Toby's, the babe's eyes locked on Jareth's form behind her. She watched as the babe struggled in his father's arms, trying desperately to go to the man who had watched over him so well in the Underground.

"Jareff! Jareff!"

"What are you talking about Toby?" Karen asked her son, sounding more cross at the infant than Sarah could ever remember. Toby looked to Sarah, something in his ocean blue eyes asking her for help.

"Jareth is my boyfriend Karen, he wants Jareth to hold him." Sarah answered calmly, watching as both Karen and her father turned a shocked gazes to her.

"You don't have a boyfriend!" Karen said, yelling over the voice in her head. Sarah nodded her head and felt Jareth come to stand beside her, in between her and Linda.

"I would have to happily disagree Mrs. Williams, Sarah and I are most certainly going stiff." Jareth said, leaning down as Sarah whispered a correction. "Steady…Sarah and I are going steady." Karen looked Jareth over and Sarah watched as her step mother's light brown eyes shot fire.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked with a snarl. Beside Sarah, Jareth smiled and bowed his head.

"Jareth King, pleased to finally meet you." Jareth said politely with underlying amusement.

"Yeah whatever. Sarah what the hell is going on here? Why are all these people in my home?" Sarah looked at her step mother confused for a minute.

"Umm…James and his parents threw me a birthday party, everyone here was invited." It was strange, as she answered Sarah could be almost SURE that Karen didn't hear a word. Sarah had no idea how right she was, as Karen started to shake her head.

"Karen you fucking bitch this is all your fault! Why did I ever think your plan would

work? Of course it wouldn't work, you fucking thought of it!" Karen shook her head and screamed to Mitch, unaware that he was the only one who couldn't hear her.

"Screw you Mitch the plan would have worked perfectly if you could have kept your pants zipped long enough to kill Sarah!"

Sarah felt her heart stop. Had her step mother just said that, aloud and in front of so many people? Sarah shook her head, she wouldn't believe it! For a solid minute she thought she had lost her mind, until Toby started to cry. "Ommy NO hurt Sawah!" Sarah moved away from Jareth, passed Karen and took her frantic brother from her father's arms. The babe snuggled close to his older sister tears streaming down his face. Toby was the proof for

Sarah that she hadn't lost her mind.

Her step mother had planned to kill her!

Moving back to Jareth's side, Sarah felt numb. All she could feel was the upset baby in her arms, clinging to her as though she would slip through his pudgy little fingers. She looked about the room and found everyone staring at her and Karen, wondering what would happen next. What confused Sarah most was Jareth. It took her a moment to realize that he was humming, a song that calmed Toby and made her heart ache, because her world was indeed falling down.

Darklady: Alright what did everyone think?

Gabby: I think that Karen is a BIAAATCH and she's lucky Jareth is the one thinking of punishments.

Sarah: Hmmm??

Jareth: Nothing love. (Glares at Lady and Gabby) Lets go check on Alex, I'm sure that she is getting a bit upset. (Disappears with Sarah in cloud of dark glitter)

Ly: I have to say I think that Jareth's idea is quite brilliant.

Darklady: Well I hope that all of you will tell me what you think. OH and to answer a question asked before. No James has no magic, Jareth just forgot to put Alex's glamour on. That's all. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I hope to hear from you guys soon. Sorry again for the delay. Byes for now.