Chapter V: Fall

&%&%&%

Taken from "The Adventure of the Empty House" by Mr. Ithel Williams. Published in 1894 by The Strand.

"I had little doubt that I had come to the end of my career when I perceived the somewhat sinister figure of the late Professor Moriarty standing upon the narrow pathway which led to safety."

&%&%&%

It had been a strange day. First, Jareth thought he had dreamed the whole Victorian scenario in an attempt to figure out how Moriarty survived. And then it went back to the Victorian era and then back to the present… or was it the future?

Either way, Jareth now knew he was a dream. He had not been to Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland since the 18th century. Jareth staggered to his feet, back in Victorian garb. "Oh, I see. Still not awake, am I?"

Moriarty stood a few feet away, blocking the path away from the Falls. "Too deep, Jareth. Way too deep. Congratulations. You'll be the first man in history to be buried in his own Mind Palace."

Jareth motioned towards the Falls. "The setting is a shade melodramatic, don't you think?"

"For you and me? Not at all."

"What are you?"

"You know what I am. I'm Moriarty. The Napoleon of Crime."

Jareth shook his head. "James is dead."

Moriarty stalked towards Jareth and stopped a few feet away. "Not in your mind. I'll never be dead there. You once called your brain a hard drive. Well, say hello to the virus. This is how we end, you and I. Always here, always together."

Jareth walked closer so they were only an arm's length apart. "You have a magnificent brain, Moriarty. I admire it. I concede it may be even be the equal of my own."

"I'm touched. I'm honored."

"But when it comes to the matter of unarmed combat on the edge of a precipice you're going in the water."

Jareth fell to the ground faster than he realized he had been hit. Moriarty began to choke him. "Oh, you think you're so big and strong, Jareth! Not with me!" James threw in several punches for emphasis. "I am your WEAKNESS!"

The detective was out of Moriarty's grasp long enough to get to his knees. Moriarty kicked him in the head. "I am everything you HATE about yourself! Every time you are the VILLAIN! Every time you STUMBLE, every time you FAIL, when you're WEAK..." There were kicks for emphasis. "I. AM. THERE!"

Jareth kept trying to fight back, but he was beginning to forget why. Why keep trying? Why fight this?

"No. Don't try to fight it. LIE BACK AND LOSE!" Moriarty pulled Jareth to his feet and let both of them lean over the edge. "Shall we go over together? It has to be together, doesn't it? At the end, it's always just you AND ME!"

"Jimmy, if you would please stop hurting my husband, it would be much appreciated," Sarah said.

Moriarty looked back and Jareth grinned. His Champion in all her glory. She stood, legs spread and her hands on her waist. She wore the same modern clothes he had seen her wear as they said good-bye by the plane..

"That's not fair. There's two of you!" Moriarty whined as he let Jareth go.

"We're married. That's generally how it goes," Sarah said, "Jareth, would you mind disposing of him?"

"I rather thought it was your turn," Jareth said.

Sarah shrugged. "If it was actually Moriarty, I wouldn't have a second thought. However, I believe a person should defeat their own inner demons."

"Of course, precious." Jareth casually shoved Moriarty off a cliff. The detective sauntered towards his wife. "Now, I get to kiss the girl and wake up."

"What do you mean you get to wake up? I'm the one who is dreaming, not you," Sarah said.

Jareth frowned as he pulled Sarah against him. "Of course I'm dreaming. You are a lovely, lovely figurative of my imagination to help me figure out the Emelia Ricoletti case."

"Who's Emelia Ricoletti?"

Jareth stroked Sarah's hair. "You know in both timelines. You should know."

"Know what? Who is Emelia Ricoletti?"

The ground gave way and the two fell into thin air. The dark rocks turned into light stone and they landed in a place where rules were nonsense. They landed softly.

"This is where I defeated you," Sarah said as she pulled away from Jareth to spin around.

Jareth tugged on the sleeves of his long coat. He was back in the clothes he wore onto the plane. "Yes and no."

Sarah ran back to Jareth and gently touched his face. "But it's you. It's really you?"

He nodded. Sarah pulled him down for a passionate kiss. After saying hello and needing a bit of air, they rested their foreheads together.

"Why are we here, Jareth? What's happening? The last thing I remember was Mr. Umbrella being upset over something and saying your plane would be back in less than a minute."

"I… I have no idea. I… Moriarty is dead."

"Yes, he blew his brains out."

"I was trying to prove that and… I went too deep into my own mind. I don't think I would have gotten back if the Labyrinth hadn't sent you."

"The Labyrinth sent me?"

Jareth nodded. "Something is going to attack it. Something connected to Moriarty."

"But not Moriarty?"

"Not Moriarty." Jareth began to collapse. Sarah helped him to the ground. "It will never end, will it?"

"What won't?

Jareth pulled Sarah close. "This fighting. Someone else will show up to take our previous enemy's place. I'm so tired of fighting it."

"Doing the right thing is always going to be difficult. I certainly struggle with it. So does everyone else we love. Do you want to give up? Run away from all of this? Find a nice little island paradise and forget the world?"

Jareth shook his head. "No. It wouldn't be right. I couldn't do that. Why would I give up after my rather lengthy reform? Also, I hate sand."

Sarah laughed and kissed Jareth's forehead. "Good. I have faith in you, Jareth. And you won't fight this alone. We have so many friends and family who will fight with us."

He kissed Sarah again. "Thank you, precious, for saving me."

"You saved yourself. I merely helped."

A final kiss. "I love you, Sarah."

"I love you too. I'll be there for you until the world falls down."

&%&%&%

A slap to the face awoke Sarah. She jerked up and rubbed her jaw. "Good grief, Joanna! What was that for!"

"You didn't wake up either when the plane swooped past or when Ned cried for you," Joanna said.

Sarah shook herself and unbuckled Edmund from his car seat. "The plane has landed?"

"Yes. They are about to let Jareth off."

"Good. Good," Sarah said as she soothed Edmund, "It's okay Ned. The plane was loud, I know, but it will be okay. Your Daddy is coming back. I have no idea what's going on, but I think we're going to have to go save the day. Your Dad and I are rather good at that."

&%&%&%

A/N: You didn't think Sarah was suddenly going to sit on the sidelines, did you?

Jareth did not overdose. He lived in the Victorian era and his brain provided the details, but it went a bit too far.

*sigh* I'm going to miss Moriarty.