Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth or any of Jim's Henson's wonderful characters.

Chapter 7

Return of the King

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away… right now."

Sarah stood in the doorway to her bedroom and could do nothing but listen as Herald said those twelve words she thought she'd never hear again. The wish echoed in her mind – right now, right now, take you away, right now.

The sudden flash of lightening outside the window brought her back to her senses.

"Toby!" she screamed. "No!"

Sarah ran into the room and tried to grab her brother, but he suddenly disappeared in a whirlwind of glitter, and her arms clutched around empty air.

"Herald," she said, turning to face the little goblin on the floor, not fully comprehending what just happened. "What have you done?"

Herald didn't seem to hear her as his eyes were glued to the bedroom window, which was now rattling violently on its hinges.

With a loud crash accompanied by a distinct boom of thunder, the window burst open and the white owl that had been perched outside the bathroom window less than an hour ago swooped into the room. Sarah threw up her hands as the owl's wings beat around her face – never touching her, but much too close for comfort.

The wind suddenly died down and the storm quieted. Sarah lowered her arms but no imposing figure stood in front of her. Then a warm breath brushed against her neck and a soft voice whispered in her ear. "Hello, Sarah."

Sarah whirled to face him and found herself pressed against his chest. Instinctively, she moved to step back, but his hands wrapped around her waist and held her in place.

Then she really looked at him for the first time since he entered the room. The soft light coming from the hallway and outside the window made it just bright enough for her to see the outline of his angular face. Those eyes – the ones that made you never want to look away – stared into hers, one blue and one brown. There was a look in his eyes that made her think that the owl was still hunting for prey. Emotions swirled through his mismatching orbs – amusement, delight, hunger – before a wall dropped down and he adopted a look of superiority.

His hair was exactly like she remembered it – a light golden mane with tendrils framing his face, and his mouth was curved upward in his characteristic smirk.

"Let go," Sarah ordered.

"No," he breathed in her ear.

She raised her hand to smack him, but he grabbed her wrist before the blow could land. This, however, loosened his grip around her waist, and Sarah was able to slip away and put as much distance between them as possible while he was stilling holding her wrist.

"Bring back Toby. Right now."

He laughed, his eyes glinting in the soft light. "What's said is said," he said simply, repeating the words he had said to her all those years ago.

"Since when can goblins wish away people?" she spat.

Jareth's smirk widened. "Since now, precious."

"What? You have to be shitting me! You can't do that! That's not –" she abruptly cut off her sentence.

He grinned, knowing exactly what she had been about to say. "What, Sarah? Surely you weren't about to say 'fair'?"

That smug, feathered-brained bastard was enjoying this! Her other hand flew up in a left hook, but once again he caught her wrist. She struggled vainly against him.

Jareth stepped forward, forcing Sarah to step back. Her back hit the bedroom wall. Oh, crap.

"There is no way, Goblin King, that Herald can wish away my brother," she growled, trying not to be intimidated by him standing over her.

"And why not?"
"That's not how the rules work."

"I am King. I decide how the rules work, precious. And I say that Herald can wish away Toby."

"Herald has no power over Toby. And neither do you."

"Oh, I think you'll find Sarah, that I do have power over him." The smirk returned again.

"Give me the child." She could not believe this. That jerk was making up rules as he went! If goblins could wish people away, Sarah was sure half the children in America would be living in the Goblin Kingdom by now.

"No."

Infuriating bastard! Against her better judgment, she thrust up her knee with the intent of hitting him where it hurts most. He moved to the side faster than humanly possible and then pressed forward so his legs trapped hers against the wall. This was not worked at all in Sarah's favor.

Beneath her anger, Sarah felt a strange new emotion swell up inside her chest – a fire – at the feel of him pressed against her. Before she could identify the feeling, she let rage and determination flood her mind.

"Back. Off."

He just smiled, but it was a darker smile now. Did she imagine it in the dark light, or did his eyes darken? "I don't see why I should. That was the third time you tried to assault me tonight, and I rather like this position."

"Assault?" she practically screeched. "You're the one who is breaking-and-entering, kidnapping, and sexually harassing! I should be swinging a baseball bat at your smug face!"

He tsked. "Such violence, precious thing? And what do you mean by sexually harassing?"

She looked pointedly her wrists still trapped in his hands and the way her body was pressed against the bedroom wall.

He leaned closer and she involuntarily shivered as his breath run down her neck. "I can do so much worse than this, precious," he whispered in her ear.

She gasped, and then narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't dare," she growled, but Jareth caught the way her voice slightly wavered. The words 'fear me' came echoing back. Somehow Jareth couldn't find it in himself to enjoy her fear as he had the first time he saw her six years ago. He tried to keep his face blank as he stepped back and released her.

"No, I wouldn't," he said. What did she think he would possibly do to her?

To distract himself from the feelings of love, lust, and pain swirling inside him, he turned to the goblin on the floor. The creature cowered under his stare, and pressed his ears flat against his head. He briefly tried to remember the thing's name before deciding it was unimportant.

"You know the drill. You have thirteen hours to run the Labyrinth before Toby becomes one of us forever," Jareth recited to the goblin. Though, of course, the goblin would probably like for Toby, or their 'Prince', to become one of 'us' forever anyway.

Sarah gasped from behind him. "You can't do that!"

Jareth growled. He was King. He could do whatever he wanted.

"And why can't I?" he asked, keeping his anger in check.

"He will never be able to defeat the Labyrinth!" she exclaimed, gesturing to Herald. "Toby doesn't stand a chance!"

"Rules are rules," he smirked.

"Rules aren't rules if you keep changing them!" she retorted. Oh, how Jareth loved her fire.

He pretended to think about that for a moment. Turning back to the ebony-haired woman, he said, "What if I make you a deal?" How low he must have fallen for the Goblin King to be making deals. Kings shouldn't make deals with mortals – they should be obeyed, but at that point Jareth couldn't be bothered with the technicalities of politics. After all, her will is as strong as his and her kingdom as great…

"What sort of deal?" she asked in suspicion, her eyes narrowing in distrust. Smart girl.

"An exchange."

"For what?"

"I'll return Toby for…." He let the sentence hang in the air.

"For?" she repeated testily.

"In exchange for someone else."

"Who?" she asked, feeling she already knew the answer.

"You, Sarah. You for your brother."

She already knew what her answer would be. Of course she would save her brother. But she asked a few questions anyway.

"Will someone run the Labyrinth to save me?"

Save me. Jareth internally winced. It's like she thought of the Underground as hell. Well that would have to change.

"Of course," he answered smoothly. "Herald will."

She groaned. There goes her last hope. "And at the end of thirteen hours?"

"You'll be one of us. Forever." He relished the last word as he said it.

'Forever's not that long – not that long at all,' a sing-song voice chanted in her head.

"As a goblin?" When she first ran the Labyrinth, she was sure Jareth would turn her brother into a goblin if she lost. She could not take being a goblin. No way in hell.

Jareth threw back his head and laughed at her question. "And why would I turn a beautiful young woman such as yourself into one of those dim-witted creatures?"

Sarah thanked God that it was dark out so Jareth couldn't see the flush that spread over her cheeks when he called her beautiful. She did not know, however, that Jareth had owl-like eyesight and could clearly see the rosy pink color flooded her face. He reveled in his ability to get that sort of response after her.

Ignoring the way Jareth had laughed at her and his use of the word 'beautiful,' she plowed on with her next question. "Can I run the Labyrinth to save myself?"

This caused him to laugh again. "Let's give someone else a chance, shall we?" Someone without even the slightest chance of winning, that is. He had no plans of losing Sarah again anytime soon.

"Make your choice, precious – time is ticking. Will you trade yourself for your brother?"

She looked around her room one last time and took a deep breath. "Yes."

He smiled then in triumph and what Sarah thought could only be described as joy.

"Come then, precious." He held out a gloved hand to her. He could have simply transported her to his castle, but he was no fool to pass up any opportunity of physical contact.

She glanced at Herald (who was still cowering on the floor) and placed her small hand in his.

There was a strong tugging sensation in her gut before the room swirled around her and faded to black.

Jareth is finally in the story! Woohoo! Took him a while…

Sorry this chapter does not exactly fall under the 'humor' genre, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and read the last chapter:

Akirasan215 - mwuhahahaha! I love cliff hangers :) thanks for the review

TheraSerenity – whoo! No lawsuits. Thanks. I guess now Sarah doesn't have a chance to punish Herald. But, of course, there's always Toby…

general zargon – thanks for the review! :) I don't think Sarah ever had a chance against the Goblin King, poor girl (or extremely lucky depending on how you want to look at it). I think she'll have to come up with something even worse than the Bath of Lavender Fragrance now.

KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun – Jareth always does bend the rules. Naughty King.

notwritten – thanks for the review :)

hazlgrnLizzy – thank you!

phantomxxxxxxx – glad you like it :) hope you enjoyed this chapter too

helikesitheymikey – agreed about the guard hahaha. Goblins shouldn't be able to wish people away, but you know the Goblin King. Cheater. And I didn't even notice the 'prince' thing, so thanks for bringing it up – I like your logic about Toby being the Prince and Sarah and Jareth's kid being the heir – makes sense

freak-4-God – glad you like it! Was this chapter up fast enough for you?

Seriana-the-nymph – thanks, glad you think so

CeliaEquus – lol sorry if your sister finds that :P well, sort of sorry, anyway. Herald running the Labyrinth spells trouble, but he'll have a friend with him. Who has brains. Don't give up hope, Sarah!

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Please review again (or for the first time if you haven't yet) and leave your comments, criticisms, and ideas! I would love to hear them.