I do not own Labyrinth or its characters - or Rumplestiltskin or the Brothers Grimm...

Carl's all mine though, lucky me...

Once again, I bow to the great powers of nothingnothingtralala - she sacrifices her precious free time to make these chapters much more than they would be straight out of my head (and keeps them making sense for you!) Best Beta ever, as always I'm in awe of you and sending gratitude and love your way!

A soft breeze tousled Sarah's sweeping curls.

She felt at peace with her decision. She would make her last wish and she would be truthful and open; she would tell the Goblin King that she loved him. The wish itself seemed unimportant now; the fact that she was entrusting him with it was all that really mattered.

She had nothing to fear.

Well…maybe rejection… Sarah shook the thought off; what would be would be.

The Goblin King had been tense before, but at the mention of the wish he had taken his head in his hands, and now his face was hidden from her. When he turned to face her again it was with his usual mask of indifference. Sarah's heart sank slightly; it was more difficult to gather her courage and take this step when his demeanour made him seem so distant, and she hoped she wouldn't falter.

"I'm tired, Sarah," he sighed. "What will you, what is your wish? What exactly do you want?"

She met his gaze without hesitation. What she wanted couldn't be wished for; it needed to be freely given, just like the items she had traded him. What she wanted only he could bestow, but she wouldn't cheapen it with a wish, wouldn't accept a lie granted in its place. What she needed first was to know that she could pursue what she wanted without injuring others. She would make them safe, she would trust that he would make them all safe.

She would protect him too.

She took a deep breath. "I wish that you would take every evil deed performed by Carl and his accomplices, return it to them as punishment, take their personal evil and punish them with it. I want justice." Her voice struck out like a thunderbolt, leaving silence in its wake. The words hung between them like raw energy, crackling with life and purpose. She waited for the Goblin King to say something, but he simply slumped back in his chair, his face unreadable. "This is the best way I could think of," she told him uneasily, suddenly feeling less sure in her decision. "This way you needn't take anything of value from an innocent victim, you're punishing the guilty with their own crimes." She felt a little lost. She hadn't expected him to be grateful, but she had expected that he would be pleased by this wish. She had thought it rather clever; his lack of reaction confused her. The silence pressed in around them, the power of her wishing words diffused.

Then, suddenly, he began to laugh.

A laugh like shattered glass, like the sharpening of a blade, like razors cutting flesh. He laughed until he choked for air, until it seemed that rather than laughing he was screaming. Sarah sat bolted to her chair, shocked and frightened by his change. She watched tears stream down his cheeks, and felt like the distance between them had suddenly stretched wide, as if a chasm now gaped open at their feet. Slowly, his laughter began to subside, and he twisted his face up to regard her, his sharp teeth flashing in the starlight. His voice was no more than a desperate rasp.

"What will you trade, Sarah?"

Sarah, stunned to silence, stared stupidly at him. She was vaguely aware of a waiter placing food on the table before them. She looked into the Goblin King's eyes as if they were the whole world, and shivered at what she perceived there.

"I don't understand," she whispered.

"Yes you do," he told her. "It is as I said it would be… the pattern repeats."

Sarah blinked in confusion. His words reached her, but the meaning behind them was lost.

"You have protected him, you have chosen Carl," he said.

Sarah's temper rose at his accusation, and she swept an arm across the space between them, knocking a glass over and spilling water across the table.

"No I didn't," she ground out between her teeth. "I was protecting you." Why didn't he understand, why could he never see her past Carl? His hooded eyes were hidden by shadows; an ironic smile twisted his lips.

"Punishing them for their deeds, Sarah, punishing Carl for his deeds – " He shook his head and opened his hands, his palms towards her. "What deeds am I to punish him with, what deeds do you expect he is guilty of? Something done, performed, accomplished, an exploit or an action for which he is culpable? There are none." Sarah choked on her next breath, coughing as she fought for air and words.

"That's a lie," she barked, "he hurts people, he's a terrible person." The Goblin King inclined his head, his lips twitching.

"Not physically Sarah, not actively," he replied. "He orders, he plots, but the deed itself is done by others. Ill words, ill thoughts are not ill deeds; his hands are clean after all this time, he has climbed high on the backs of others who have carried out his evil." Sarah's mind reached for reasoning. Wasn't giving the order enough? Did the action only become a deed once it manifested itself physically?

"No," she cried weakly.

"Your words, Sarah," he smiled coldly, "you chose to punish by deed and you have protected him." Sarah stared blindly.

"No," she whispered again, "you're twisting my words and using them against me… Why? This isn't what I meant; you know this isn't what I meant. I wanted justice! There must be some dark deed in his past, what of the children he has hurt?" she cried. The Goblin King's eyes sparked at the word 'children'. He leaned across the table until their faces were almost touching.

"What children?" he asked as Sarah wrung her hands.

"His appetite is for children, I saw it when he looked at Toby." She shivered. "There must be children that he has…" Her voice broke before she could finish. The Goblin King regarded her emotionlessly; the candlelight cast ghastly shadows about his face.

"Not a single one," he told her. Sarah felt as if the bottom dropped out of her. He must be lying, she couldn't be wrong. She had seen it in Carl's eyes; she had known his perverse tastes immediately. "Oh, his tastes are there I'll grant you," agreed the Goblin King, gauging her reaction, "but he has never acted on them physically; he has watched, he has ordered and he has watched." Sarah raised a shaky hand to cover her face and found that her cheek was wet with tears. She wasn't sure how long she had been crying for, or when exactly the tears had started, but she felt like there would be no end to them. The wish had gone horribly, terribly wrong; the Goblin King was letting it go wrong, her Goblin King was. She had known not to trust him, she hadn't trusted him, but she had had faith. She had believed he would do the right thing, that he would punish the wicked, and that she had found a way for him to do it without getting hurt himself. She had been so pleased with herself for thinking of a solution which wouldn't harm innocents. She had been so wrapped up in her decision, and her infatuation, that she had not seen this betrayal coming. Her heart twisted in her chest.

"No," she sobbed. "No." A long silence drew out between them; somewhere far away she could hear Carl still yelling into his phone and the low chatter of waiters in the background. It was another world.

"So, what now Sarah, will you marry the kingpin, give him your child?"

Sarah wept quietly, shaking her head. How could he think that she would ever, EVER, choose that?

"Let that man touch me, let him father a child he would come to desire? You make me sick, how can you even ask?"

The Goblin King paused: "Then give it to me, Sarah," he suggested.

Sarah sniffed, glancing at him confused.

"What?"

"Your firstborn child," he explained. "Give me your firstborn." Sarah felt her mind go blank as she stared at his serious face. After a moment of contemplation, she snorted through her tears.

"Is that some sort of sick joke?" she spat. A shadow settled across the Goblin King's face.

"Oh Sarah," he smiled darkly, "I'm very serious." Numbly, she stared at him, her brain tumbling over itself in confusion. She tried to unravel the situation like a riddle, reaching for puzzle pieces that slipped away from her as her touch always did from him. It was to no avail; she could not decipher his meaning as anything other than a serious suggestion. "The unwanted belong to me," he reminded her. "You owe me a boon to grant your wish and I will have it." Sarah felt a flicker of fear. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, confused and bereft. She knew he took unwanted children, she had accepted that fact long ago. The question was, why would he think that her firstborn child, if such a child were ever to exist, would be unwanted? Momentarily she panicked that he had seen it happen, but then that was impossible, part of his power restrictions regarding her meant that he could not see her future.

"I would never," she said. "No child could ever be unwanted to me." Her voice faltered slightly, and she wondered if it was the hint of a lie. She tried to imagine raising a child forced on her violently by someone like Carl or Russo, and felt nauseated. The child would be an innocent, but her heart was sick at the thought of carrying their blood to term within her. She doubted herself.

"Don't be cheap with me, Sarah," the Goblin King sighed wearily. "You've already sacrificed so many other children for this cause." He stared coldly down at her, as if he could see her very thoughts. To escape his judgement, she stood, pushing the chair away from her and taking a step forward on shaking legs. She found she did not have the strength to stand and stumbled, sliding to the floor gracelessly and looking up at him wide eyed.

"I didn't mean to wish away Toby," she whispered helplessly.

He rolled his eyes. "Must every discussion come back to your brother?" he sniped. "I'm not talking about Toby, I'm talking about the other children." Sarah felt a shiver run up her spine.

"What other children?" she croaked. She was afraid; suddenly, she was so very afraid. Perhaps, she realised, she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"What did you think?" he asked, "that wishes were without consequences? Don't make me laugh Sarah." He looked down his nose at her, effortlessly plucking a scratch card from thin air, holding it out towards her. "One big win," he taunted, "taken from a drunk down on his luck, and given to you. This win would have paid the rent for his apartment, it would have enabled him to buy food and send his son to school, but he lost it to you. After the loss, yet another perceived loss in his life, he drank himself to near oblivion. He raved about how life would be easier if he didn't need to provide for his six year old son; he lost himself in anger. He said The Words Sarah."

Sarah felt her breathing still; it was as if he had reached inside her chest and crushed her lungs with his hands. She stared at the card in disbelief. I wish the Goblin King would take you away right now… her own petulant, childish voice sang in her ears. It had only been a small wish, a moderate win; just enough to save her, it wasn't greedy, was it?

"You took his son?" she whispered.

A small, self-depreciative smile pulled at his mouth. She felt sick. Her tongue was sandpaper in her mouth.

Remember that I was generous with your wish in the future. No matter what comes of your wish I hope you can remember that much at least…

"Why would you take the win from such a desperate man?" she accused, directing her self-hatred towards him. She needed to make him responsible for this burden, if not she could not bear the weight of it, the weight of the wish. If only she had paid even a little bit more attention, if only she had really understood what she was trading with him at the time. The Goblin King's eyes burned with intensity: he was not finished yet. He pulled the lottery selection slip from the air and Sarah sucked in a breath.

"Then what of this, Sarah? There was a single division one winner, do you blame me for choosing him too?" she shook her head; shook it wildly as if she could make his voice disappear with enough force. His words stripped her bare, engraving themselves deep into her bones. "I took this man's winning numbers," he told her, "not a desperate man, a man of means, a man of family. I took the numbers from him so that he would not remember them, nor remember his reason for choosing them." The Goblin King leaned in close, whispering conspiratorially, "The numbers corresponded to dates, his wedding anniversary, the birth dates of his three children. I removed his reason for choosing them, his memory," he told her. "The most important events of his life forgotten, a life emptied of meaning. He could not remember getting married or having children, they are all strangers to him now. That life is torn apart, that family is broken. His wife is aggrieved and desolate; she will fold to the pressure soon and say The Words, I have foreseen it."

Sarah found that she was shaking. How could her wishes have shattered lives so thoroughly, how could this have happened? She stared up at the Goblin King, tears thick on her lashes as she blinked them away. "I thought I paid the price," she croaked, as moisture spilled across her cheeks once more, unnoticed.

"The price?" he laughed. It was a jarring sound without mirth, as if someone were sharpening a blade in her head. Reaching inside his long coat he pulled out her silver locket and swung it back and forth before her hypnotically. "Sentiment, Sarah, it's always sentiment with you. I asked you if this had any value to you, and you denied it. The meaning behind this locket, the sentiment attached to has been denied by you, but not by all." He swung the locket into his palm. "I have seen that in two months' time your father will enter a pawnshop to sell off the household silverware; he will be attempting to raise enough funds to enter a poker tournament that will be held soon." The Goblin King flicked the locket open for a moment to glance at the photos inside, snapping it shut and returning it to the maze inside his coat. "He will find this locket there. He will know it, and he will know it is yours. Finding it there, what is he to think? That you have died, certainly; that he is responsible for your death, almost definitely. Dead from his misdeeds, dead due to the debts he has accumulated." The Goblin King smiled pityingly. "He will throw himself from the highway crossover bridge and die instantly upon impact with the road below."

Sarah breathed heavily as she looked up at the terror that was the Goblin King. Her heart ached, her cheeks were stained with tears and her whole body shook as she willed him to stop, to stop talking, to stop telling her, to stop it all from being true. She choked down his words; her mind played an endless loop of her handing her locket to him as if it were something that disgusted her. As if she could use it to be rid of the father she had come to detest, and now she had.

And sentimentality is worth nothing?

Not to me, not right now.

Curling into a ball she shut her eyes tight, rocking herself back and forth while tears streamed down her face. Her nose had started to run but she didn't care, it hurt, oh it all hurt so much, and it wasn't even her hurting the most; she had inflicted so much pain on others. She had thought she was giving the Goblin King a pittance for his help; she had just doomed four children to his Labyrinth. She had just killed her own father. A spark within her flickered to life and she gritted her teeth, glaring up at him through a stream of salt water. "Why have you done this?"

He stared at her coldly, his lips a thin, uncompromising line.

"I only made the wish – I only came here because of the powers you gave me, if not I might have found another way!" She knew that wasn't true, there hadn't been another way. "Even being used by men, even meeting the worst fate I could have at Carl's hands would be better than this! I might have suffered, but at least all these innocent people might have been spared," she railed.

The Goblin King clicked his tongue and kneeled before her, reaching out with his hand as if to run it over her cheek and completing the action without ever making contact. "Why is it you never listen, precious?" he asked. "I haven't done any of this, it's all you, it's always been you. I didn't give you any powers Sarah."

Sarah shook her head pleadingly. Tentatively she took his gloved hand, as if to entreat his pity, but he shook her off. "But the book..." she started.

He hissed, his whole face becoming a story of anger and distaste. An ill wind whipped at his hair, rising, it seemed, from the core of his fury. "This, Sarah?" he grimaced, ripping her copy of The Labyrinth from the flurry of air which was whirling around him. "Did you think that I loved you and gave you Certain Powers?" Jumping up from his chair suddenly, he threw the book with a terrible rage, and Sarah watched as it collided with the glass wall divider violently, half surprised it didn't crumple to dust after impact. "That isn't a story about you, Sarah, always so self-conceited; does the world revolve around you?" he shouted. "I never gave you powers, you took them, took them from me!" Sarah blinked, she could feel tears pooling in her eyes again but more than that she felt shocked by his outburst. The question died in her mouth as he turned back to her, his eyes ablaze. "You have no power over me," he spat. "Did you know that words themselves have power, Sarah? And so it was, my power gone. But where did the power go, Sarah? Power doesn't just disappear into nothing; it has to go somewhere. You took it; you stole that power from me and took it with you back to your realm." Her mind spun. Could it be possible? All along this power was something she had unwittingly taken with her, stolen from the Goblin King's own power? But if she'd had some great form of power, why had it never revealed itself as anything other than luck? "I know what you want to ask," he smirked, "I can read your confusion. When Certain Powers are bestowed they do not manifest immediately, they cater themselves to each individual; it could have been anything, but with you it became the power of luck. Do you know why, Sarah?"

She did. All at once it was suddenly obvious to her and she felt her heart quail at the realisation. Perceiving her epiphany the Goblin King leered. "I imagine it starts with the story of a poor ordinary girl, a girl who desperately wanted to be special. Abandoned by her mother, left only with a father to dote on her, and so he did for a while, but then he found another to love and a second child was born. Some of that betrayal was remedied by a run in my Labyrinth, but not all. Some part of that little girl who wanted to be special and craved her father's attention remained." The Goblin King cleared his throat. "He has always had a gambling inclination, you know, it didn't start with your powers. You were so young and naïve, and hoped more than anything to be useful to him, to be needed. In your need to be special to a man with an addiction, to be lucky, your powers found their foothold." Sarah nodded wearily. She knew it must be true. She remembered a time when she had yearned for her father's affection and attention more than anything. She had made herself this way. She had stolen powers unwittingly, bent them to her will, she was the reason her father's addiction had escalated, she had placed herself in need of the Goblin King, she had wished.

But why did I need to wish? My luck was gone, why should it disappear so suddenly? "Then tell me this, why did my luck run out Goblin King?" she cried. It was a hollow question. The answer wouldn't change what had come after, but she hoped the cause could be blamed for some of the events which had since transpired. "If the luck must go somewhere then where did it go, did you take it back from me?"

The Goblin King chuckled, shaking his head at her. "How could I, with no power over you, come to reclaim power from you?" he asked. Sarah looked at him dumbly. "Where did it go, where did your luck go, precious Sarah? It went nowhere; your luck never ran out. It has been lessened now, because you have returned some of the power I did not have over you, but it has always been there." Sarah didn't understand. It was impossible; she had started to lose and had known the luck must be gone.

The Goblin King read her expression. "Is it so odd that you would feel overwhelmed in the situation you found yourself in, odd that even someone as strong as you would long for help? If it seemed your luck had abandoned you, it was because you wanted to give yourself a reason to call out for help, a reason to find someone who could provide an answer to the problems that where crushing you. But, sweet Sarah, the power was always there. I told you when we first met that you wanted to make a wish; I never said you needed to."

The weight of his victory overwhelmed her.

Bending over she retched continuously, unable to stop the boiling sensation within her stomach, barely able to hold herself up on her shaking arms. Crumpled before him, she cried until she was laughing hysterically, she felt hollowed out and empty and vile.

He was right, it was all her fault.

No matter that it was all innocently done, she had taken power, she had manifested it in such a way that it had fuelled her father's addiction and led them into this trap. Then, in a moment of weakness, she had lost herself and called out for help, and knowingly made wishes which would be to others' detriment, regardless of whether she had known just how much injury they would inflict. Worst of all she had made them to the Goblin King, when she of all people should have known better. She who had known she could never trust him. Through her tear-streaked vision she watched him watching her, and she hated him for it. She hated him and she hated herself. Most of all she hated the fact that although she could loathe him now, although she was hurt and angry and disgusted, even still a part of her loved him, and that was the greatest betrayal of all.

"Why?" she cried, wanting to both reach for him and never touch him again, conflicting needs at war with one another. For the flicker of a moment she thought she saw his face soften, a small trace of pity in his eyes, but his voice was cold and distant.

"What will you trade, Sarah?" he asked coolly. She thought of her wish. She thought of Carl walking free, she thought of how many more might suffer the consequences of her idiocy. She retched again.

She had to get away from him.

Not for another minute could she bear to be here with the Goblin King, bear to have the coldness of his presence weighing down on her. Stumbling to her feet, she swayed slightly and felt her empty stomach heave again at her activity. She half threw herself into a run towards the elevator, slipping awkwardly on ungainly limbs which were slow to respond to her need.

He let her go, not even bothering to reach for her.

She crossed the patio in a dream, Carl's surprised face flashing past as he noticed her. Even as she tumbled against the door of the elevator and clawed at it the Goblin King remained still. She heard Carl swear and drop his phone as she reached for the down arrow, her slippery hands lighting the glowing triangle to aid her escape. Her mind gibbered as Carl caught and clutched at her arm yelling; she fought him. The elevator, she had to get away, she needed to get as far as she could from the Goblin King. Far from wishing, far from the guilt of what she had done. If he were to offer her a peach now she would take it, take it and eat it with a relish to forget, to live in a dream instead of with herself. With the strength of desperation, she stumbled through the elevator doors once they had opened, dragging Carl behind her. Only as the doors closed behind them, trapping them in the tiny glass box, did she start to come back to herself. Her mind fought to focus in her confusion, her whole body shaking so that she could hardly stand.

Carl slapped her once, hard across the face, literally knocking some sense into her. "What the hell are you doing, Sarah?" he screamed furiously as he shook her hard. Her panic stilled slightly, gall rising at being touched by him. The lights inside the elevator hummed brightly and she could see through the glass of the elevator as they started to descend from the roof terrace.

She tried to remember what she was doing. She tried to shake Carl off.

Opening her mouth to bring clarity to them both, she screamed instead as the elevator plunged downwards suddenly, dropping them from a height and then stopping hard. They were both thrown into the air and then hard against the glass wall. Sarah's gibbering fear returned with the idea that the glass would shatter beneath their combined weight and they would fall to their deaths, but it didn't, and the elevator had halted safely. For a moment it was just her and Carl stuck alone in the dark, both of them breathing unevenly, sprawled on the floor, battered and bruised. A red emergency light blinked on, washing the elevator in an eerie flush of foreboding.

The Goblin King towered above them.

Sarah felt her jaw crack under the pressure of clenching her teeth tightly together. Carl scooted backwards, craning his neck at the sudden appearance, his face pale with fear and confusion. "Where the hell did you come from?" he screamed.

He could see him; Carl could see the Goblin King.

Despite this he was ignored. All the Goblin King's focus was on Sarah as she shivered on the floor in a huddled mess, not able to bring herself to look him in the face.

"It's not polite to leave without paying, Sarah," he glowered. "What will you trade?" She shook her head brokenly. Her insides felt like they were in a thousand pieces, and it had nothing to do with an elevator injury. She wanted to scream but she didn't have the heart for it anymore; she simply lay on the floor, defeated.

"You know him?" hissed Carl, grabbing her shoulder to steady himself. "What the hell is going on?" Sarah drew her knees up under her chin and continued to sob into her dress, she shook her head and refused to meet his eye. "What the fuck is all this about!" screamed Carl, grabbing Sarah's hair. He wrenched her face up to be level with his own. Almost immediately he let her head drop as he himself shrieked in pain.

The Goblin King had closed his own hand around Carl's wrist; he was twisting his fingers closed so tightly that Sarah could hear the bones in Carl's wrist snap. The Goblin King grinned terribly as he did it. "Didn't your parents ever tell you," he asked, his eyes alight, "that you can take what belongs to someone else, but one day you'll have to face the consequences." Carl started to make a shuddering, moaning sound in his throat as he tried to free himself from the Goblin King with his other hand, only succeeding in further wrenching his wrist. "Sarah," sang the Goblin King, "pay attention now, the emergency brakes on the elevator are going to fail. Before they do, I need to know, what will you trade?"

Sarah shook her head. Let them fail; let them all fall to their deaths. She couldn't live with this guilt, she couldn't live with what she had been responsible for and she couldn't live loving the monster that had brought it all about. She had given him the benefit of the doubt, and she was betrayed.

"Precious Sarah," he coaxed. "Didn't you want justice?"

"I'd settle for mercy," she sobbed. There would be none of that though, not for the children she had doomed to wander the Labyrinth. Wished away by their own parents, no one to retrieve them…

A thought flickered in her mind, as fast as quick silver. Her heart started to beat fast in her breast.

The Labyrinth.

A tiny spark of hope fluttered to life in her chest: something she could nurture, something she could grow. Schooling her features to misery, she looked up into the dark eyes of the Goblin King.

"You accept broken things," she remembered.

She saw his eyes flash hungrily.

He had brought this about for a reason, even this situation was no mistake, and she knew exactly what he wanted. Looking away from him she caught sight of herself in the red wash of the elevators reflective glass. The vision from before was gone. Now she cowered like a dog, her face streaked black with tears and mascara, her hair wild and tangled, falling into her eyes, one long stretch caught between her lips.

Broken indeed...

She could hear the squeaking of metal gears above her, ready to give way, the elevator trembling around them. She felt the weightlessness as the elevator began to drop, and told him.

"Take me then."

The end...

Just kidding.

Seriously though, show of hands, who saw this coming?

For those of you who thought this story might be drawing to a close, surprise! We're only about half way-ish.

I think I've answered quite a few questions for you all this chapter, I was REALLY looking forward to writing this one but I'm not sure I did it justice - hopefully the next one will be a little easier.

I re-read the last chapter and it got a bit rushed towards the end so I've cleaned it up a bit, I think I'm notorious for sprinting at the end of my chapters and losing focus - apologies.

Jay Madeleine Griff: I think this would be the chapter where we say 'poor Sarah,' most definitely.

Kaytori: Yes Jareth is certainly taking some risks with her, they did not notice the scratch card change, but the thought that they could have was always hanging in the air - very dangerous.

We will find out what's happening with the Williams family, but not for quite some time.

Sorry you didn't like the love turnaround, I'm not sure it came out as well written as it was in my head, I've added a bit to the last section to help cememnt the moment. In my thinking it was a turnaround because it was the first time Jareth has shown weakness in front of Sarah, and she realises that it's okay to be vulnerable in front of those you love. It also indicates that the decision she was making mattered to him, which by extension means so does she - or so it was in my mind anyway, sorry if it didn't pan out quite as well in the moment.

As for the rest - we've had part of the story revealed, the rest is coming up!

PeachesAndCrowns: Ahahaha oh my that's a severe mispell - not sure whether I was half mad or just did and unfortunate right click correction. Thanks for pointing it out, i've fixed it up now so that future followers won't trip over it.

Aleta Wolff: Well you like them dark... consider this chapter dedicated to you!

Lizzy: I did indeed, I'm a huge GlaDos fan!

LingeringSentiments: Don't breath to heavily in anticipation, you'll become light headed - and we've stil got a ways to go...

obsessive360: Thanks, hope you like the new chapter!