DISCLAIMER!!!

Still not mine! .:pouts:. But don't worry my precious, I'll find a way...

Jareth: Uh...right... .:runs away and hides from the crazy lady:.

CHAPTER 2

For the first time, the two people in the kitchen noticed the owl, and that was only because the bird had started attacking the window. Almost as if…

"It's trying to get in," the woman whispered. In the back of her mind, memories stirred. Memories that she had suppressed for the last ten years all came bubbling back to her...

You're him, aren't you? You're the Goblin King. I want my brother back, please, if it's all the same.

What's said is said.

But I didn't mean it!

Oh, you didn't?

Please…where is he?

You know very well where he is.

Please bring him back. Please.

Sarah…

"FUCKING BIRD!"

Startled, the woman—Sarah—came out of her reverie and looked around at the strange scene that surrounded her. Her husband was cursing at the top of his lungs, trying to swat at the beautiful barn owl fluttering around the kitchen. Said owl merely swooped and flew over his head, landing on the floor in front of the window through which it had come. Seconds later, a very odd looking man (or at least, man shaped creature) stood before the husband and wife and folded his arms, looking critically at them both.

"Bloody fucking hell!" The husband roared. "And who the fuck do you think you are, faggot?" The second man merely smiled and took a step towards him.

"My name is Jareth. I am the Goblin King."

Sarah had expected her husband to fly into a rage at that, and go screaming around the room attempting to kill them both. However, he didn't. Instead, he was absolutely silent. One could've heard a pin drop in the kitchen from across the small house. The husband opened and closed his mouth, looking like a fish out of water. He stared first at Sarah, then at the self-proclaimed King of Goblins. Finally, he found his voice.

"Is this some kind of fucking joke? Because if it is, I sure as hell ain't laughing."

"This is no laughing matter," said Jareth. "I am here for one reason and one reason only."

"And what might that be?" Snarled Sarah's husband, looking murderous.

"To make you an offer, Tom."

Sarah's husband stopped. "How the fuck do you know my name?"

"I know all that I need to know."

Another few seconds of silence passed.

"What kind of offer?" Tom asked cautiously, apparently having forgotten about his oath to beat the living shit out of his wife.

Jareth smiled evilly. "You have made a wish. You wished that I would come and take your wife away from you, out of your life. My offer is this: You may come to my kingdom and run my Labyrinth to save her, or…" his voice trailed off as he rolled his wrist and revealed a crystal sitting on his finger tips.

"Or what?" Tom demanded, glancing at his wife for the first time since Jareth had entered the room.

"Or you may take this," Jareth said, holding out the crystal.

"What is it?"

"It is the very thing that you claim you wish you had never lost when you took Sarah to be your wife. It is your dreams."

Tom stared at the crystal as Jareth played with it, absentmindedly rolling around his hands in an almost hypnotic way. Tom blinked, looked at Sarah, then at the crystal, then back at Sarah, then up at Jareth. He reached out, and pulled it from the other man's grasp.

Jareth grinned, and an instant later, Tom was alone his kitchen.

Jareth lost his smile the instant he and Sarah were out of the kitchen and back in the Goblin Castle. She was still on the ground, in the same terrified position she had been in while her husband was beating her. It worried him. This was not the Sarah that had fought so hard to make it past his Labyrinth a mere ten years ago. He knelt down next to her, and she winced.

"Sarah. Listen to me." She looked up at him with terror in her eyes. "Do you remember me?" He didn't know where the question had come form. He had intended to ask her if she was all right, but it suddenly seemed that being whisked away to the Underground by the self proclaimed King of Goblins after being beaten mercilessly might have affected her mind in an adverse way. "Do you remember me?" He repeated.

Slowly, she looked around at the deserted throne room and back up at him. After what seemed like an eternity, she nodded.

"And do you remember this place? Do you know where you are?" Nod.

"Do you understand why you're here?" Nod.

Jareth nodded as well. "Good. You'll be safe here."

He stood up and offered her a hand, causing her to wince again. Poor girl, he thought as he gently pulled her to her feet. She's been hit so many times that she can't expect any other form of physical contact. Such a pity. A second later, he had transported them both to another part of the castle, a part that Sarah hadn't seen on her last visit to the place.

Jareth opened a door and held it for her, motioning her inside. "This will be your room," he said simply. He led her to the large and comfortable looking bed. "Get some sleep, I'll send someone to check up on you in the morning." Sarah nodded again, and Jareth turned to go out of the room.

"Goblin King?" Sarah said, suddenly. He was surprised; she hadn't spoken to him at all since he appeared in her kitchen…not that he had expected her to, after what she'd gone through. He turned back to her nonetheless, hiding his surprise.

"Yes, my dear?"

Sarah hesitated and then blurted out, "You're not going to turn me into a goblin, are you?"

Jareth grinned evilly. "Would you like me to?"

"No!"

"Then I won't…yet." With that, he left the room and disappeared, leaving Sarah to wonder whether she should be relieved and comforted or worried and careful.

Giving the room a last glance, she crawled into the bed and fell asleep without even bothering to undress.

Well, that's it for chapter 2... You know what would be really neat? If I had about ten emails in my inbox that say "Review Alert" on them... .:hint hint:. ;-)

Jareth: .:rolls eyes:. Try being a little more obvious, I don't think they'll be able to figure it out.

Sarah: Yeah, really. Next time say something like, "I'm holding Jareth and Sarah hostage until I get at least ten reviews."

TXReaper: You think that would work?

Sarah: .:nods:. definitely

Jareth: .:Smacks forehead:. Now look what you've done...you've created a monster!