Disclaimer: Despite all my effots, I still own nothing. Le sigh.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews and the story alerts/favorites! It makes me so happy each time I get an email saying someone has added your story to their alerts. :D 3 I wish I could give you all a crystal ball that would give you your dreams.. But there is only on Jareth and he belongs to Sarah. Haha.
"Jareth," Brittany mumbled to herself. "Jareth. Who is Jareth? Is he a cat? That seems like a cat name. San, don't you think Jareth is a good name for a cat?"
Santana contemplated the name for a minute before shrugging. "Sure, B. Thinking about getting another cat?"
Brittany shook her head. "Jareth is the name of the-" Stopping herself mid sentence, Brittany realized she shouldn't say that Jareth was the name of the guy who took Rachel and Sarah away. Santana would never believe her. "The guy in a book I'm reading."
"B, I told you not to read books without me around. I don't want you getting any bad ideas. What is this book? I want to make sure it's okay for you to read," Santana said firmly, but well intended. The last time Brittany had read a book unsupervised, she had been convinced that Lord Tubbington was her familiar and that her candy wrappers were old, used spells. So Santana now read every book Brittany wanted, to make sure it wouldn't confuse Brittany or give her nightmares.
"I- it's called, Labyrinth. And Lord Tubbington ate it. This morning," Brittany said quickly. She had no idea where the word had come from or how she knew it, but Brittany was relieved. It sounded official enough.
"Okay," Santana said slowly. She gave a small smile to her best friend and spoke in a softer tone. "Please tell me when you find new books. I don't want you... hurt."
Brittany reached out and grabbed Santana's hand. "I'm sorry," she said simply. Brittany loved it when it was just her and Santana. The Latina was more relaxed, not as guarded. Together they were free to be who they really were.
There was a slight shift in the air. Jareth glanced towards the Aboveground and he gave a slight smile. Someone had said his name repeatedly. Then spoke of the book Labyrinth. Yet no copies had been sent out recently... a believer who had no proof or reason to believe? Jareth's smile grew. He loved those pure, innocent, child-like believers with their faith in him and his realm so strong and unshakeable. They were so rare.
"KINGY!" Satin, a small, delicate goblin came barreling into the throne room with wide, terrified eyes. "Bad man be stomp walking over Fluffy and Snaggle! He be shout talking at us to- to-" Little Satin broke off in tears, for a moment too scared to continue. "Snaggle dead."
Jareth felt a rage burning in the pit of his stomach at those words. He may complain about his subjects and threaten them daily, but he secretly loved them. Goblins were endlessly loyal and exceedingly protective of their king. Add their innocence and unwavering trust… He hated the thought of anything actually happening to them.
The other Fae often mocked him for his role as Goblin King, but Jareth didn't care and wouldn't trade his job for anything in the world.
"Where?" he asked in a low but gentle tone.
"West Wing entrance." Satin sniffled. She felt better when she saw the burning desire for revenge in Kingy's eyes. Kingy would take care of them. And deal with the bad man who had struck Snaggle down.
Remembering that Sarah and Rachel were here Underground, he quickly knelt down to Satin's level and looked her in the eye. "Satin," he said in the same tone you would use with a child, "I'm going to send you to Lady Sarah and Lady Rachel. I want you to tell them what happened and keep them there. Can you do that for me?"
Satin drew herself up, not proudly, but courageously. She would be strong for Lady Sarah and Lady Rachel. "I cans Kingy. I cans."
Smiling grimly, Jareth tossed a crystal at Satin, and stood as she vanished in a puff of glitter. Setting his jaw, Jareth stalked towards the west wing, conjuring another crystal to find the man who dared come into his land and kill one of his subjects.
Rachel gasped as a tiny figure appeared on the table, right beside the bowl of pancake batter. She quickly forgot about the mess of glitter when she saw that Satin appeared to be crying, or had been at any rate.
"Satin?" Rachel asked softly. "What's wrong?"
"Castle was 'tacked," Satin squeaked. "Bad man come and stomp walked on Snaggle. Snaggle dead!"
Freezing, Rachel stared at Satin with a dazed expression. Snaggle was the most charming goblin she had ever met. He pulled the most wondrous pranks and had the cutest little lisp. Just thirty minutes ago he had helped Rachel organize a group of goblins to sing the song Reflection from Mulan whenever Jareth was looking in a mirror. And now, he was dead?
"Sarah," Rachel called out, sitting down heavily in a wooden chair.
Hoggle and Sarah came into the kitchen, arms full of fresh fruit and vegetables from the gardens. Their smiles vanished when they saw both Satin's and Rachel's expressions.
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked. A knot of dread formed in her chest. Please let Jareth be okay. Please.
Satin repeated her story. She had to grab onto Sarah's legs to prevent the girl from running back to the castle. "Kingy said stay here. He tells Satin to keep Lady Sarah and Lady Rachey to stay heres!" Satin said urgently. "Lady Sarah and Lady Rachey not safe with bad man who stomp walk and shout talk!"
Reluctantly Sarah agreed to stay where she was.
Hoggle went and scurried to close the door and then the windows. He was taking no chances. Chances were, if there was one intruder there might be more. And he had the Lady of the Labyrinth and the Lady of Song with him. Both valuable girls. Jareth would have his head on a stick if anything should happen to either one.
The two girls sat with Satin and Hoggle, no longer in the mood for strawberry pancakes and whipped cream. Rachel cooked the pancakes so the batter wouldn't spoil – Hoggle didn't have a fridge; he didn't even know what one was! – though no one except Hoggle ate. And he only ate because he wanted to have all his strength in case he needed to defend Sarah, Rachel, and even Satin.
Sarah packed the rest of the pancakes in brown paper, setting them in her bag. She sat straight-backed at Hoggle's table, nervously tapping her fingers against the wood.
Rachel was faring no better. She was biting her nails and drew blood on her right index finger when she went passed the nail and bit the skin. If something was quick – and cruel – enough to kill a goblin, then they were surely a threat. It wasn't that Rachel feared for herself or Sarah, but it was Jareth and his sweet subjects that she was truly scared for.
Jareth rubbed his temples. An assassin had been sent to kill him and kidnap Sarah and Rachel. What someone wanted with the Lady of the Labyrinth and "the Lady of Song" he had no idea. Clearly he had underestimated the impact Rachel had had when she was last here.
He couldn't allow either to be down here until he figured out who was behind this. And Sarah would resent having an armed guard around her every minute she was down here. So it was Aboveground they went.
Not that Jareth wanted his Sarah and her charming friend to leave. He so enjoyed their company. Rachel was almost exactly like Sarah. The small singer didn't let him get away with anything. She wasn't disrespectful, but she did rebuke him in ways that rivaled his own mother.
With a wince, Jareth transported himself to Hoggle's, not looking forward to sending the girls back.
"JARETH!" Sarah cried. She knocked over her chair in her haste to get to him. She flung her arms around him and inhaled his comforting, familiar scent. "We've been worried sick. What happened? Who did it? Why did they do it? What did you do to them? Why didn't you send word as soon as everything was alright? I thought you were dead!"
"I'm alright, Precious," Jareth said smoothly. He was thrilled that Sarah cared so much, but this was no time to celebrate. "I'll explain at a later date. Everything. I promise. Right now though, we have to get you two home."
"Jareth!" Rachel said in an exasperated voice. "Sit down."
Shocked, Jareth obediently sat. He looked at the young girl with narrowed eyes. Her words had left no room for argument.
Rachel asked Hoggle for a washrag and when he gave her one, she dipped it in the water bucket and wrung it out. She came over and tilted Jareth's head back. "You're bleeding. Didn't you notice?"
Bugger. He had forgotten all about the small cut on his forehead. Best not mention the not-so-small knife wound that had cut his chest. He'd planned on going to a healer after he got the girls to safety. Jareth had forgotten how Rachel could spot an imperfection from a mile away.
Sarah was horrified. How had she not noticed? Then she gave a cry of dismay. "You're hurt!" she ripped of his jacket and nearly collapsed to the floor at the blood blooming on his white poet shirt.
"I'm fine," Jareth said firmly. "It's just a scratch."
Both Rachel and Sarah scoffed. "Just a scratch?" they asked in unison.
"Your safety is more important right now!" Jareth mustered all his energy and tossed a crystal at each girl. Their cries of outrage were soon silenced as a cloud of glitter whisked them back to the Aboveground.
Hoggle barely caught his King as Jareth collapsed from blood loss and the drain of spent adrenaline. Shaking his head, Hoggle motioned with his head for Satin to help him. He hoped his majesty knew that Sarah was going to be furious the next time she saw him.
"-and to just send us off like that!" Sarah was still blowing off steam as the girls went to their last class of the day.
Jareth had managed to get them back just before 5th period. Which would have been fine if he hadn't made them leave him the way he did.
"-and that was not a scratch! If that was a scratch, then I am the love child of Idina Menzel and Babs!" Rachel was ranting, her eyes flashing with more anger then fear. While Sarah was concerned about Jareth's well being, Rachel did not appreciate being tossed out when she was needed. Her father was a doctor; she knew a thing or not and could have patched him up if he wasn't so proud.
Standing by her locker, Quinn watched the two girls talking heatedly. She wondered where they had been for the past four hours. She also wondered why it bothered her so much.
"What are you eating, B?" Santana asked, breaking Quinn from her Rachel-Daze.
"Pancakes," Brittany answered. "Sarah was about to throw them away earlier. I told her I would eat them. Then I asked her if the Goblin King had made them for her when he kidnapped her. They didn't even notice that I figured out what happened to them. I think the Goblin King did something to make them angry."
"What are you talking about?" Quinn questioned, exchanging a confused look with Santana. "And why is there glitter in your pancakes?"