A/N: Chapter seven, R&R!

Disclaimer: My power over Labyrinth extends only so far as the plot of my story.

Sarah's flight from the psychiatrist's office lost her lunchroom privileges for the day, but it hardly bothered her. She was still angry with herself for speaking of him. When the nurse brought her tray, she ignored it, except to knock the overripe peach onto the floor. It reminded her of that stupid ballroom fantasy again, which she was doing everything in her power to forget.

So she dwelt instead on the issue of Toby. Her baby brother, as young as he was, obvious recognized the white barn owl as the Goblin King, but how? As far as Sarah could tell, there were three possibilities.

Option one: Toby remembered the thirteen hours he had spent in the Goblin City, in Jareth's company. But she doubted it. After all, how could a baby have such a good memory?

Alright then, option two. The Goblin King had returned, now that Toby was unprotected and was trying to steal him away again. Sarah clenched her teeth at the thought. Jareth would have her to deal with if this were the case.

The third option was rather silly, but Sarah needed to consider all the different possibilities.

When she had first returned home from the labyrinth, Sarah had insisted on keeping Toby close to her at all times. For the first few weeks, she had brought him to sleep in her room. She knew she talked in her sleep; he father constantly teased her about it. Sarah also knew that her dreams during that time had been mainly of him and his labyrinth. So it was possible that Toby had picked up the name then.

Sarah felt heat in her cheeks and she knew she was blushing. Annoyed, she turned her thoughts back to her brother.

As far as she could tell, there were no other possibilities. No fourth option. The idea that he had returned seemed the most likely and Sarah felt her face flush again, this time in anger. Even if she were on her best behavior, staying the full time of her sessions with Dr. Ako, eating all of her meals and sleeping at night, it might not be enough for them to let her leave. But, at the moment, it was the best plan she had for protecting her little brother, so it would have to do.

With an exasperated sigh, Sarah collapsed onto the bed and pulled her pillow over her face.

Hoggle wished he knew where he was. It would make everything so much easier to know. When Hoggle had first started visiting Sarah, Jareth had told him all the magical laws about being seen by humans. The rules were, obviously, different in the Underground than the Aboveground.

Inside the labyrinth, or anywhere in the Underground, magical creature could be seen by humans. Simple enough.

Rules for the Aboveground were more complicated. Children could see magical creatures, as could people who had traveled to the Underground before. Adults who were especially perceptive or still had good imaginations could sometimes see them too. Other than that, magical creatures were invisible.

Hoggle was just beginning to wonder if he was in some sort of daycare and about to cause an uproar, when heard a cry behind him.

"What the hell was that?!"

Hoggle ran around the corner and hid himself behind the first unlocked door he could find. It seemed to be a supply closet and he peered out the keyhole, ignoring the mop poking him in the back. He could see two men in off-white scrubs walking down the hallway towards his hiding place.

"Where did it go?" the man who had seen him wondered.

"There was nothing there, Steve." a second voice said impatiently.

"I saw it, Paul!" argued Steve. "It--it was like a--a troll or a gnome or something!"

Hoggle scowled into the darkness. Couldn't a person tell a dwarf when they saw one?

"You were imagining things." Paul decided. Then he laughed. "Hey, maybe working in an insane asylum is making you nuts!" Steve laughed too, only hesitantly, and they went on their way.

Hoggle waited until their footsteps died away and then cautiously opened the door and slipped out. Why was Sarah in an insane asylum? Wasn't that where they locked up crazy people? Even though he knew he had to be more careful now, Hoggle wanted, more than ever before to find his friend. Jareth's worry that something was wrong suddenly didn't seem so far off base. The dwarf trotted down the hallway, his concern growing with each moment that passed.

When the older nurse, the less cheerful one, brought Sarah her dinner tray, she changed her routine unexpectedly by talking to Sarah.

"Miss Williams? Have you seen anything odd, inside or out of your room today?"

Sarah looked up from the peas she was smashing with the back of her plastic spork, surprised. The first thought that came to her mind was Jareth perched on the back of her chair, outside the therapist's office, but she said: "No, why?"

The nurse sighed and shrugged. "They told me to ask all the patients."

Sarah was mildly interested. "Why?" she repeated curiously.

"Apparently, there have been some patients, and even a few orderlies and nurses who have reported seeing a little gnome-thing running around here." She rolled her eyes, as if to show Sarah what little stock she put in stories like this one.

"A--a gnome thing?" Sarah had dropped her spork, completely engrossed in the story.

"Yeah, you know. 'Bout three feet tall. Squashed looking little fellow. Potato-sized nose."

Sarah did know. She wasn't descibing any gnome Sarah had ever seen. It sounded more like a desciption of her dwarf friend. But nonetheless, after the nurse had left, she tried to quash the little seed of hope that was slowly growing in her chest. Surely Hoggle hadn't come back, after all this time?

If he had, all she could do was wait. Sarah hated waiting.

She put the pillow back over her face.