**Confounding Toby**

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"She's getting worse. I just can't do this anymore.

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What do you mean?

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Suz! She passed out outside my bedroom door with a note to call her little brother and his band!

I can't live like this anymore! What if she ends up dead? I don't want to be the one to find her!

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Look, can I stay with you or not? …"

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Julie's voice was muffled on the other side of a door, but toward the end, it was raised to a level that Sarah could hear as clearly as if she were standing next to her bed. She didn't blame her roommate for her panic. As the Goblin King had predicted, Sarah's symptoms of magic withdrawal came on quicker and harder than any of the previous times. She had barely made it to Julie's room before sleep knocked her out cold. But now the world was slowly coming back into focus, which meant…

"Hi, Toby."

Sarah slowly opened her eyes to look into the worried, and slightly angry, stormy blue pair of her baby brother's. At the sound of her voice Toby leaned back, releasing her from one of many fuzzy hugs he'd given her through the haze of waking up; though her mind hadn't registered the physical signs of affection until that moment. Toby always was a bit touchy feely.

"Sarah, what is going on? I get a call from your roommate saying not to talk to Mom or Dad, but just get over here as quickly as possible with the guys—no explanation whatsoever—and then I get here and you're dead in the hallway! Do you know how freaked out I was? What happened?"

Sarah looked over her brother's shoulder to Marcus who was watching her like a dog guarding a bone, waiting for the slightest indication of a challenge; the other band members stared at the floor sheepishly. "Well, Tobes, I'm not exactly sure what's going on, that's kind of why I needed your friends here. I know this is going to sound weird, but there is something I need to discuss in private with them…"

"No way! What the crap, Sarah! I know they're my friends and all, but come on! You just met these guys and now you need to spend time alone with them? What's going on?" Toby ran his hand through his sun-kissed locks and paced the floor, attempting to figure out the mystery by sheer willpower.

Sarah sighed. "Look, Toby, I promise I'll tell you everything once I know it myself. Your friends know more about what's going on than they're telling you. No, no," she held up her hand as Toby opened his mouth to protest, "listen, I know what I'm talking about. Please, Toby. I just need a few minutes with them."

Toby was not one to hold grudges, but the fierce look he shot at everyone dropped the temperature in the room a full five degrees.

"Please Toby?"Sarah pleaded.

He stared at her for a moment as if trying to read her mind, then looked at his friends in an attempt to draw the information he needed from them. Finally he threw up his hands in defeat, grumbled something under his breath about getting coffee, and left, shutting the door behind him.

Sarah listened for Toby's footsteps to retreat down the hallway before sitting up fully, crossing her arms, and focusing two green lasers from the Battlestar Williams on the men in front of her. She was surprised they didn't burn up where they stood from the vehemence of the glare sent their way. "Speak. Now. I want to know everything."

The lighthearted Gabriel stepped forward, his gleaming white teeth beaming as he tried to ingratiate himself to her. It was interesting that she no longer found these men as attractive as she had a few nights ago. Compared to the Goblin King, Toby's friends seemed almost ordinary. "Sarah, we meant you no harm. If you remember correctly, it was you who asked for a ride. We tried to keep as much distance between ourselves and you within the van as possible. You can't blame us for triggering your relapse. We didn't know."

"Ah, but you know now?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow. "What changed?"

"We can't tell you." It was a deep bass voice and a small part of Sarah recognized it was the first time Nathaniel had spoken in her presence. The rest of her was out of bed and across the room before the thought had fully formed.

"Like hell you can't!" she yelled, poking him in the chest for good measure. "I have the right to know something! Who are you, exactly? How do you know the Goblin King?"

Marcus stepped forward and placed his hand on Sarah's arm in what she assumed was supposed to be a calming gesture. She shook it off and turned the full-force of her glare on him causing him to take a step back. "Listen, Sarah, we can't tell you because we don't really know. All we were told was that you were not to be informed that His Majesty had visited. He didn't want his involvement to influence your decision to return to the Labyrinth."

"Until last night, I didn't even know it was possible to return to the Labyrinth! And you never answered my question: who are you and how do you know the Goblin King?"

The three men looked at each other and communicated via facial expressions before Marcus finally spoke. "Well, who do you think we are?"

Sarah's hand clenched into a fist and she fought the urge to let it loose on his perfect nose. Once again she was shocked (and a little thrilled) by the change these creatures caused in her. It had been so long since she'd felt so passionate and she realized that she would do practically anything to keep it.

Sarah released her pent up energy in a deep sigh and closed her eyes briefly. "If I had any clue as to who you are, I wouldn't have asked," she growled through clenched teeth, trying her best to remain calm.

She opened her eyes to the impassive faces of the men before her. "Oh," she groaned. "This is impossible! You are even more cryptic than he is!"

"Not if you ask the right questions," Nathaniel said in a tone reminiscent of her friend, Hoggle.

Sarah took her bottom lip between her teeth and thought for a moment, trying to determine exactly what it was she most wanted to know. "Do you know about my time in the Labyrinth?"

Marcus nodded.

"Were you there during that time?"

Again, Marcus nodded.

"Are you human?"

"Ah," Nathaniel said stepping forward, "That's the right question."

Sarah waited for him to continue and when he didn't Sarah threw up her hands in frustration. "Well? Are you?"

Gabriel's angelic face lit up with mischief. "We used to be. And for the time being we are again."

"What is that supposed to mean? What are you when you are not human?" Sarah asked in exasperation.

"Goblins," the three responded.

Squinting, Sarah attempted to see any of the goblin-esque characteristics she remembered from her time with her friends. They weren't there. "You expect me to believe you are goblins? I really find that hard to believe. For one thing, goblins are…well…a little on the simple side. No offense."

Gabriel grinned. "You will find that things are not always as they seem."

A very unladylike snort escaped Sarah's lips. "I may have heard that before."

Gabriel continued, "When we are in our goblin forms, everything is condensed. It is rare for one of us to retain our thought processes during the transition."

"So how is it you are here? How did you become human?"

"His Majesty had need of our services. We were not told much—only that we needed to befriend Toby," Marcus stated this as if "befriending Toby" were as simple as picking a flower or taking out the trash. "Once he trusted us, His Highness instructed us to form a band, and you know the rest."

"So you're using him?" Sarah hissed, trying hard to keep her voice low so Toby wouldn't overhear. "What kind of game is the Goblin King playing? If he wanted me, why not come directly for me? Why did you have to involve my baby brother?"

Marcus had the decency to look embarrassed. "Please don't be mad. You have to understand how liberating it is to be out of those forms. It's not that we dislike being goblins when we are goblins, but to be able to think, to be able to move, to be able to fornicate…" he looked at her darkly and Sarah blushed, "we would do practically anything His Majesty asked."

Gabriel touched her shoulder. "We like Toby. The king may have asked us to become his friends, but we are now truly his friends. We won't let him come to harm."

"Even if His Majesty wills it?" Sarah challenged, shrugging off his hand.

Marcus glared at her. "The king specified that no harm should come to the boy…or to you." Sarah recognized a fierce loyalty in his tone that went well beyond their physical manifestations. She had insulted them by insinuating the king had devious intentions. It was good to know that not all of his subjects hated him.

But that brought them full circle. "So, if he doesn't want me harmed, what is it he wants from me? Why enter my life again now?"The three men shrugged and Sarah believed they were truly ignorant of the reasons behind the Goblin King's actions.

The four adults stared at each other, each lost in thought. Downstairs they could hear Toby's muffled voice speaking with Julie. Moments later a loud crash echoed throughout the house as the front door slammed shut and presumably a vase fell off the bookcase, punctuating the return to silence. Suddenly Sarah had an idea. "Your instructions were to keep me from harm?"

"In a roundabout sort of way, yes," Nathaniel answered.

"Okay boys, you've just hired yourselves a manager. I won't be much good as an actress now anyway."

"What?" the three asked in unison.

"A manager. There has to be some way to explain why I'm always around. It's either manager or groupie and I can't see myself fawning all over you, so manager it is. If the Goblin King wants to keep me from harm, the surest course of action is to keep you close and the magic withdrawal at bay until I have a chance to figure out what's going on. Oh. And one of you is moving in." At their raised brows Sarah amended, "Or all of you. I don't really care, but I have no intention of returning to the labyrinth until I know more, and," she gestured toward the window at the sound of Julie's car pealing out of the driveway, "it seems I'm in need of a roommate."

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A/N – Hi Everyone! Long time no see! So sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but to be fair, I was out of town at my best friend's wedding and didn't really have access to a computer. I hope you aren't too angry with me! I'll try to be better in the future…

Thank you all for you kind reviews! They kept me going when I was too exhausted from packing/unpacking to really want to write. I appreciate the encouragement. LadyCavalier I hope you enjoyed your camp! Nanenna did you notice that I worked "fuzzy hugs" into this chapter? It was not how I originally pictured using that phrase, but it just kind of put itself in. I might reuse it later in the original scene in my mind…we'll see :-D. And Melissa72 you really challenged me with "battlestar"! When I first read it, I couldn't picture using it at all, but it made it in this chapter. Thanks for the challenge! I hope I used it appropriately enough for your liking. :-D

For everyone else, keep those challenges coming…they're fun for me! And thank you again for all your reviews. You are much appreciated!

Hopefully the next chapter will be up by this weekend—reviews help keep me on my toes though—hint, hint… :-D