A/N: Thanks for the reviews and follows you guys! They make me so happy!
All the color drained from Sarah's face as she slowly turned around and came face-to-face with Jareth.
The Goblin King stood before her just as regal and intimidating as she remembered. His high-collared cloak swirled around him like black smoke. He wore the same dark armored outfit as before.
Glitter shimmered in the air around him.
She felt a fluttering in her chest as she observed his sculpted face.
His mismatched eyes, his high cheek-bones, and thin lips showed no sign that he had aged since she'd last seen him in the broken Escher room.
"Well isn't this a familiar sight?" He said, his mouth curling up into a familiar smirk.
"Give me back m-my niece." She tried to say firmly, but there was a slight waver in her voice.
"Now, Sarah don't be difficult." He chuckled darkly. "You know the rules."
The hidden goblins laughed in the background with him.
Sarah took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"Look," she took a cautious step forward, "it was an accident. Michael's just a baby, he didn't-"
"Mean it?" Jareth supplied. "It would appear that insincerity runs rampant in your family."
"It was just an honest mistake, ok?" She bristled. "He didn't know what he was saying."
"Oh, I think he knew exactly what he was saying. Curious how one so young would know of my Labyrinth and my subjects and how to evoke my power. Have we been reading one too many bedtime stories, precious?"
Sarah's mouth dropped open in shock and she started to tremble.
The Labyrinth!
Michael and Madeline both had the ability to call upon the goblins because they believed in the stories she'd read from the book!
"What a handsome little fellow. He looks just like his father."
She flinched at the close proximity of Jareth's voice. She hadn't noticed him approach and he was leaning in very close to Michael.
She leapt back and squeezed the baby to her chest.
"Stay away from him!" She snarled at the Goblin King.
"Mph, ouch!" Michael whined, squirming in his aunt's crushing hold.
Sarah muttered an apology and re-adjusted her grip trying to ignore the amused glint in Jareth's eyes.
"Alright," the woman said, turning to the Goblin King again and tilting her chin defiantly, "if you're not going to give Madeline back, then I'll run your Labyrinth again. It'll be a piece of cake."
Jareth's eyes hardened but his mocking grin stayed in place.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Oh Sarah, I'm afraid you can't run the Labyrinth for your niece."
"What? Why not?!"
"Because you didn't make the wish. Michael did. If you want little Madeline back, he has to solve the Labyrinth, not you."
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Sarah screeched.
"I am perfectly sane and not hard of hearing." He replied, rubbing his right ear nonchalantly with a gloved hand.
"He can't solve the Labyrinth, he's a baby!"
"Let's let him decide that shall we?"
Jareth crossed to her in two long strides and inclined his head to Michael's eye-level. Sarah balled her hands into fists but didn't move away.
"Hello little Michael, I am Jareth the Goblin King."
"Gobin king! Gobin king!" The toddler giggled.
"You know, you look just like your father when he was your age and your aunt Sarah wished him away to the Labyrinth."
"Dada go Labinth?"
"Yes, that's right! The only way your aunt Sarah could save him was by solving my Labyrinth in thirteen hours. Now, you wished your sister away to the goblins didn't you, Michael?"
"Uh-huh."
"Do you want to look for her and run my Labyrinth like your aunt Sarah, or would you rather forget about her and play with your toys?"
"Pway wif toys!"
"Michael!" Sarah shouted in astonishment.
"What's said is said." Jareth announced triumphantly and turned to the balcony.
"No! No wait!"
Panicking, Sarah placed her nephew on the floor behind her and stumbled forward to grab the edge of Jareth's cloak.
"You can't do this! You have no power over me!"
The Goblin King whipped around faster than she could blink, ripping his cloak from her hand. He towered over her menacingly and she almost dropped to her knees in terror.
"Quite true, Sarah-mine," he growled dangerously, "but, if I have no power over you, then it's only fair that you have no power over me either!"
"Please, please don't." She whispered, tears prickling her eyes.
"My time is short and I have more important matters to attend to." Jareth turned back to the balcony doors with a non-committal wave of his hand. "So unless you have something to offer me of equal or greater value, I bid you and your nephew good evening."
Sarah broke out in a cold sweat and she started to shake with panic. He was almost to the balcony, when the word came barreling out of her mouth.
"ME!"
He stopped.
"What did you say?"
Sarah's eyes widened.
What did she just say?
Had she lost her mind?
Too late to take it back now. She thought anxiously. Besides, it got his attention. Maybe I can save Madeline after all.
"Take me instead."
Jareth turned around slowly. His eyes were critical for a long moment before a mischievous smile spread across his face and his eyes darkened.
"A trade of infinitely greater value, indeed."
Sarah's teeth clenched as she felt a traitorous blush rise to her cheeks.
"Before I accept," he clarified, circling her like a vulture, "you must define the terms."
Sarah stood up straight.
For Madeline. For Michael. For Toby and Samantha.
"I'll take Madeline's place in the Labyrinth. Whatever you were planning to do with her, you can do to me instead."
"You realize, precious thing, that because you're doing this of your own free will, you will never be allowed to return to the Aboveground? That you will never see your family again? That you will live in the Labyrinth forever, with me?"
With me.
The thought floated through her mind like a gentle breeze.
Stop that! She scolded herself in her head. What's the matter with you? He's the bad guy, remember?
"Well, Sarah?" He had stopped in front of her and quirked an eyebrow.
Sarah inhaled though her nose and forced her fear to the back of her mind.
"I know what I'm doing and I accept the consequences."
Jareth grinned sharply.
"Done."
A source-less wind suddenly picked up in the room, it seemed to be swirling in a circle around the two adults like a tornado.
Jareth's cloak rose up and seemed to expand and stretch like hands around them as the wind increased its speed.
The glitter in the air gradually thickened. The cloak-hands began to envelop them.
The Goblin King's arms clasped Sarah firmly around the waist.
The last thing she saw before the glitter and black fabric consumed her was a goblin placing Madeline, safe and sound, on the floor beside Michael.
A/N: Reviews are a warm hug.