Hello dear reader,
Just some clarification. I gave the Fire Gang names because I think that they deserve to have names of their very own.

The Names Aedus, Aiden, Ea, Eth, and Edan mean fire in either Irish or Scottish... I thought the meanings were appropriate all things considered.

This fic was written for the "Don't Do it It's A Trap Challenge."

Dedicated to My Muse Doctor Laura.

"Hoggle, I need you." Sarah spoke softly.

The mirror on her vanity rippled like liquid silver as the creased face of her friend appeared.

"Sarah! I've missed you calling." He said happily.

"Me too, Hoggle… me too." She fell silent for a moment. " Can I come over there." She all but whispered.

"O'course. Come on then. Come on, come on!" He beckoned impatiently, overjoyed to have Sarah coming for a visit after so long.

She laughed softly at her friend. Gently, she pushed herself through the mirror, sighing in relief when she was safely on the other side. It didn't matter how many times she went for a visit to the Labyrinth, she never got used to the feeling of pushing herself through that cold, clammy space between the Underground and the Above. Once she was standing on the other side she took one look at Hoggle's kind, wrinkled, face and fell to her knees wrapping him in a fierce hug.

"I missed you." She whispered into his shoulder.

Hoggle nervously returned the hug, the promise that Jareth made to him still rung in his ears whenever Sarah would show affection. "We thought you'd forgotten about us down here." He confessed.

She squeezed him tighter in response.

He cleared his throat, awkwardly. He'd never been one for shows of affection anyway. "How about a cup of tea?" He asked gruffly.

"That sounds nice, Hoggle." She said softly.

They shared silence after that as Hoggle made a tea of spiced peaches and Sarah looked at the new things in the hut. They didn't need to fill the silence as the warm smell of peaches filled the air. It was their favorite fruit and it was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't let the ballroom incident ruin it for them.

"So what brings you callin' on me for a visit all of a sudden?" Hoggle asked, interrupting her melancholy thoughts about earlier that day, as he set two steaming mugs down on the table in the center of the room.

Sarah flashed a overly bright smile as she sat down. "Can't I just want to come visit the friends that I have been atrociously negligent of these past few months?" Her bright voice darkening with guilt at the end.

Hoggle sat down in the other chair, giving her a look that said 'you're not fooling anyone'.

"Don't try and hide from me Sarah or I'll fetch the Wise-Man."

Sarah plonked herself down in the other chair with a sigh, grabbing a-hold of her tea cup. Unconsciously she rubbed her thumbs over the lip. "How could her tell?" She sighed.

"Something's cracked in your eyes."

Another sad sigh blew past her lips. "Johnny broke up with me today." She took a deep breath, inhaling the warm scent of peaches and cinnamon. "He said I'm too hard to get close to." She pushed her cup away and laid her cheek on the rough wood. "It's just that… none of them can compare to-" She stopped, a blush lighting her cheeks.

"Compare to who?" Hoggle asked, confused.

"No one! No one! Let's go see if Sir Didymus and Ludo are home." The end of her sentence came from beyond the threshold of the door as she rushed out before Hoggle could corner about WHO it was… he would have fits if he knew.

Hoggle puzzled over it as he poured the cooling tea out the window into the compost heap. Who could it be that she would have such a strong reaction to him knowing? He wondered, as he set the now empty cups on the table. His eyes widened and the mugs fell the last couple inches with a clatter.

"She's not referring to that rat Jareth now is she?" He asked himself with not a small amount of shock. He tramped outside, his eyes searching out Sarah where she had first entered this world, standing of the sandy hill at the edge of the domain of the Labyrinth. As he came closer he could see her cheeks were still tinged pink as she stared at the castle beyond the goblin city.

"Sarah?" He called gruffly.

She cast her face down to him with apprehensive eyes.

"You wouldn't be fancying that imp of Satan, Jareth, now would ye?" He asked suspiciously.

Her eyes widened, her mouth opened and closed before she spoke with vehemence. "Of course not! He stole my brother from me when he knew I didn't mean it. He sicked the entire, humongous goblin army on us, drugged me with that stupid enchanted peach, stole three hours of my time and sent the cleaners after us, just for saying the Labyrinth was a piece of cake!" She took a deep breath after her tirade, her blush long since having disappeared.

Hoggle nodded along but to his ears it rang untrue, like a cracked bell. "All right, I remember. No need to yell." He grunted with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Good… now let's go see Ludo and Sir Didymus." She called as she skipped down the hill and past him towards the wall. Hoggle ran to catch up. Stopping to the left of the runner's gate, she ran her hand over the bricks of the wall, trying to find the one that would make the door appear. Just as Hoggle caught up her fingers slid in with a chink, causing a door to appear in the wall just big enough for her and Hoggle to slip onto the walk on the other side.

They walked along, side by side, silent as they twisted and turned through the maze and ducked through holes in the hedges. Avoiding the goblin guards and the helping hands. Silent as they snuck by the Wise-man's mouthy bird. Laughing with the Fireys as she pulled off their heads and ran for the swamp. Ludo was sitting silently on the bridge, looking off into the forest on the other side when they ran up.

"Ludo!" Sarah screamed happily, as she sprinted into his furry embrace. "Oh Ludo. I've missed you so much." She nuzzled her face into his fur, burying her nose in it to escape the stench of the bog.

"Dear Brother, the cry of a young maiden has assaulted my ears! We must go hither to her side!" Sir Didymus cried as he sped by on Ambrosius.

"Sorry Sir Didymus, that was me. I was just so excited to see Ludo again." She admitted, sheepishly.

"Lady Sarah, is that truly you?" His bushy eyebrow rose so his, glossy black, eyes were visible.

Sarah nodded sadly. "Yeah, it's me. Sorry for not visiting sooner… I missed you guys. You wouldn't believe how frightfully dull it can get in the Aboveground." She screwed up her face in not so exaggerated distaste.

"Ludo miss Sawah." Ludo bellowed sadly.

"I know and I'm sorry buddy. I'd just met a new boy and I was trying to make it work but… well…he thought I was distant so he…uh…moved on." She mumbled.

"You are the loveliest of flowers, My Lady. No boy will ever be worthy of you." Sir Didymus declared stoutly.

"Thanks for the sentiment, Didymus." Sarah said, sweeping him up into her arms for a hug.

"Not at all, My Lady. I speak only the whole hearted truth." His voice muffled by her shoulder.

"Still it's nice to hear, all the same." She said, putting him down.

Ludo trundled forward, leaning down to look in her emerald eyes. "Sawah sad." Ludo rumbled.

She closed her eyes. "It's okay, Ludo." She breathed softly. "I've just come to a sobering , and scary as hell, realization that I'm not quite willing to face at the moment." She thought to herself.

Her eyes flashed open and a smile split her lips. "How about a game of twister with the Fireys?" She asked, a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"An excellent proposition, My Lady." Sir Didymus cheered.

Sarah laughed. She remembered the first time she had brought twister to the Underground… who knew Didymus had such a wild side to him when it came to party games. "Is it still locked up in the cupboard at Hoggle's?" Sarah asked slyly.

"Yes, and that's where it's gonna to stay!" Hoggle stated firmly.

Sarah lent over to look him in the eyes. "Pretty please, Hoggle? Pretty, pretty please?" She begged with as much honey as she could summon. "It'll help me forget about Johnny."

"Yeah right! You forgot about him the minute he left, you just want a distraction from a certain fea with a penchant for very tight breeches." Her little ,pink wearing, Satan laughed at her.

"Damn straight, and I'm going to get it!" She hissed back.

She saw Hoggle cracking and went in for the kill with her puppy dog eyes. "Pretty, pretty please?"

Hoggle crumbled. "All right!" He howled. "Shrink your eyes back to their proper size." He mumbled from between the hands covering his face. "But just this once!"

"Yay!" She yelped, giving him a hug before jogging back way they had come. "Ya coming?" She threw back over her shoulder.

Hoggle sighed before running to catch up with her. "Gonna have nightmares again. Why did Sarah have to show us that thrice-damned movie? I still haven't been able to unsee that drunk furry knight doing The Time Warp." He grumbled.

Sarah stopped for a moment, waiting for Hoggle to catch up. "Do you have any Goblin Ale left?"

Hoggle scratched his head. "No I think we drank all of it last time." He said after a moment.

Sarah groaned. "Curse it! I was hoping I wouldn't have to go into the goblin city today." She whined with a stamp of her foot.

Hoggle smiled. Sarah had not yet grown out of all her dramatic ways it seemed.

She sighed. "Alright." She muttered. "You go get Twister, I'll get the ale."

"I don't like it Sarah. Ya've not gone to the city by yerself before." He worried.

"Yes, I know but you're banished from the city and castle so that leaves me." She said reasonably, a hint of something else in her voice. It still made her angry to think of the unfair sentence placed upon Hoggle for helping her through the Labyrinth. "You have a few coins?" Sarah asked, holding out a hand.

He hesitated. He wanted to tell her to forget the ale but he could tell by the look in her eyes that she would not be dissuaded.

"It's either coin or the jewels." She looked pointedly at the little pouch hanging from his belt.

He placed a defensive hand on the on the pouch, remembering the last time she had grabbed it. "Alright, alright." He muttered grudgingly but fought the smile that tugged at his lips, knowing that some shiny trinket would show up at his hut. After all, Sarah always paid him back with some treasure.

A handful of coppers and brass fell into her palm. "Thank you, Hoggle." She called back over her shoulder as she followed the path that Labyrinth made for her toward the goblin's city.

"Sprite." He muttered under his breath (burying his shock at the Labyrinth's reaction to Sarah as he had only seen it react similarly to one other person) as he too turned and followed the twisted paths away into the Labyrinth.

Sarah's smile dripped from her face once she was out of sight. She unseeingly walked the way to the Goblin's city, lost in her melancholy thought, Johnny's accusations ringing in her ears.

Drawing close to the gate she pressed a goblin's carved face into the wall and walked through the door it provided. She'd learned long ago that the gate was only to scare the runners, no one ever used it.

She pulled a smile back over her lips as she jogged up the still boulder strewn avenue. She dodged around the bustling goblins as she made her way to the pub. Some of the goblins stopped to point and whisper among themselves at the lone appearance of the raven haired woman who had beaten the Labyrinth and broken their king.

With a confidence she didn't feel she pushed her way into the crowded pub, wading cautiously through the the small bodies of inebriated goblins.

"Three kegs of the strongest ale you have, to be delivered to the Firey's Forest." She slapped the handful of coppers down on the counter, knowing that hoggle had given her just enough to cover it, plus some incentive. After all, he had taught her how buy ale from the goblins when she had first started drinking.

"Yes, Queenie." The goblin answered mischieviously.

"I've told you before, Kiple. I'm not your queen." Sarah said exasperatedly.

"Sorry queenie." He squeaked, impishly.

"I don't know why I bother anymore." She muttered.

"Just admit it. You want to be Jareth's 'queenie'." The little devil on her shoulder mocked her.

"Bog take you!" She thought venomously back.

"Goblin King and Sarah sitting in a tree. K-I -" Sarah's devil got to the end of the first verse before she could shut it up.

"Why does my personal Satan have to be so juvenile?" Sarah mentally grumbled. Shaking her head Sarah held up the extra coins she had rubbed to a shine on the way. Kiple's eyes fastened on the coins, clinking on her palm.

Seeing she had his attention she smiled. "I'll let you have these if you collect those barrels and come with me now." She enticed softly, slowly drawing the coins closer to herself.

"Right away, queenie." He called, scampering into the back. A moment later he reappeared with all the kegs in tow on a sled of sorts.

Sarah stepped forward. "I'll take the sled and you show me the shortest way to the forest." She saw something flash in Kiple's eyes and quickly added. "You don't get any coins till I'm at the forest. Understood?"

Kiple pouted but started away towards the door to the tavern with a nod.

Sarah smirked. She never would have thought that goblins were as bad as magpies when it came to something shiny but Hoggle had taught her that trick.

"Don't matter if it's worth less than dirt as long as it shines." He'd told her.

Sarah sighed, almost happy again, as she followed Kiple down the twisted paths of the Labyrinth. A handful of minutes later they had arrived on the outskirts of the Firey's Forest and Kiple was bouncing rather impatiently while staring pointedly at the hand that held the shiny pieces of promised brass.

"All right, all right." She laughed at the focused look on his face. " You did wonderfully." She gave him two of the three coins she held holding tightly to the last as he tried to yank it away.

"Queenie, you promised!" He accused petulantly, crossing his skinny arms.

"You get the last one if you fulfill my next request." She responded evenly.

"You not play fair, Queenie"

"Of course not! I learned that from your master." She said faking shock as if the very idea of playing fair was repellent. "But about that request of mine…" She trailed off to see if he was listening.

Kiple's eyes fastened on her face interestedly.

She smiled. "How about you go fetch some friends and come play twister with us." She knew that the goblins would show up invited or not but she'd found that if a formal invitation was given they were less likely to make unwanted mischief. "Besides a party is always more fun with goblins." She thought to herself.

Kiple screeched something about not missing a drunken Sir Didymus, snatching the coin from her palm before scampering off to find his friends.

Sarah's mouth twisted into a wry grimace before she started to pull the sled again. It seemed that Didymus's drunken antics had become well known in the goblin gossip rings. She felt kind of bad about that. It wasn't long before she could her the cackle of the Fireys and Ludo's bellows. She sighed, she hoped they weren't trying to take off Ludo's head again.

"Edan, Aedus, Eth, Aiden, Ea! You better not be torturing Ludo again or we'll play Twister and you'll have to watch!" She shouted. The bellowing and cackling stopped abruptly. You could have heard a pin drop on the soft loam below the trees. She chuckled softly. The Fire Gang were like a bunch of small children, threaten to take away something they love and you have complete power. While she was lost in her thoughts of controlling the Fireys' antics the sled caught on the dips and crevices of the forest floor and no amount of tugging by Sarah would free it.

She growled. "Ludo!" She called. "I need your help with the ale!" His soft bellow answered her and a few minutes later Ludo trundles into sight. "Can you pull the sled for me, Ludo? It's stuck." His big head bobbed up and down for a beat. "Thanks big guy." She said gratefully as she gave him a hug.

"Love Sawah." He rumbled as he picked up the sled and set it back down on a smoother piece of ground.

"I love you too. I'm sorry for not visiting for so long…" She took a deep breath. If she could talk to anyone it would be Ludo… she let the words start falling out. " I just thought that having no reminders of him would allow me to make it work with Johnny… I really did like him." She whispered sadly.

"No sad, Sawah." Ludo rumbled imploringly, his eyes boring into hers.

She laughed. "For you ludo, I'll try to not be sad."

He bobbed his big head up and down as he started walking again.

"So, has Hoggle come back with Twister yet? She asked after a moment.

"Twistaw!" Ludo bellowed happily.

"I'll take that as a yes then." She laughed.

After a few more twists and turns she could see the Fireys' red fur flashing among the trees. She giggled. Being able to get drunk during a betting game was a sure thing when one was playing against the Fire Gang and Sarah was planning to get drunk enough to forget her own name. The Fireys swamped Sarah the moment she walked into the clearing, bouncing off her shoulders and head.

"Yo Chilly. Ya been practicing taking off your head?" They asked excitedly.

She chuckled as they bounced off each other and pulled off their own in demonstration. "I have, I promise, but I haven't had much luck with it yet." She said with mock solemnity.

They pouted childishly. "Ya's not getting down enough." They stated seriously. (Or as seriously as those clowns ever got which is not saying much, all things considered.)

"That's why I'm partying with you all." She laughed, poking Ea in the nose fondly.

"Time to chilly down!" They cried, pulling Sarah to the twister pad that was already laying on the ground.

"Alright, how many shots for the loser?" She asked with barely concealed glee as she stood beside the pad.

The Fireys pulled off their head and held the in a huddle. They hissed at each other for a moment before they were returned to their rightful positions. "Five." Aiden and Edan cackled together.

Sarah smirked. "Bring it on." Twenty spins later Sarah was flat on her backside. She downed her five shots of the burning ale and softly shoved Sir Didymus onto the pad to face Ea. He was by far the youngest of the fireys and - in Sarah's estimation - the sweetest.

She giggled again as Sir Didymus determinedly placed his right hind paw on blue. Eleven spins later and Sir Didymus downed his three shots. He hiccuped his way over to Hoggle before pulling his saber and escorting him to the boards edge with the tip uncomfortably close to Hoggle's backside. Hoggle protesting vehemently all the way.

Aiden grinned mischievously at Hoggle. "Ten shots." He cackled with a smirk.

Hoggle looked at Sarah's grinning face before rolling his eyes and nodding. Fourteen spins later and Hoggle was taking his ten shots of medicine amid the jeering of the goblins that had arrived silently during the last round's spins. Scowling, Hoggle - quick as a flash - had Kiple by his pointy ear and was dragging him to the pad to face a grinning Aedus.

Turning, Aedus called to his gang. "Tap your pretty lookin' feet! We've got one a' Jareth's own playing our games." He looked back at Kiple. "Twen'y shots for the goblin."

Kiple nodded with a grin before placing his left hand on green. Nine spins later Kiple landed on his little head, knocking him even sillier if that's possible. He downed his twenty shots before squealing maniacally as he flashed over to Didymus and pulled him back to the pad for another go.

Sarah was giggling at Sir Didymus's expense when Hoggle sat down next to her, a worried look on his lined face. "Sarah?" He began, not sure what he was wanting to be asking her. So he blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Why did you go and show us that movie, Rocky Horror Picture Show?" The horror was palpable in his voice.

Sarah looked at him for a moment, startled, by the out of the blue question. Before she chuckled into the hand that she's moved to cover her mouth. "Hoggle you should see you face! It's priceless! She chortled, the ale making her giddy.

Hoggle scowled. "It's not amusing you cursed imp! I couldn't sleep for weeks after seeing that furry knight of your's dancing the time warp! Every time I closed me eyes! Every time!" He howled. "I could see 'im dancing in me head!"

Sarah couldn't hold in her amusement anymore and collapsed, howling with laughter. She clutched her sides, gasping for air in between bouts of laughter, tears streaming down her face.

Hoggle crossed his arms and growled, glaring balefully at her.

"Oh Hoggle, I'm sorry." She gasped out when she could breath again. "You just looked so indignant." She pressed a hand to her mouth to smother the laughter she felt growing in her throat.

She was saved from having to placate Hoggle by Ludo pulling her back to the game board.

Ea smiled at her. He could tell that she wanted to get drunk and he wasn't about to get in her way like everyone else was. "Ten shots. You need to shake that pretty little head." He exclaimed happily.

"Alright!" She said gleefully. "We're upping my stakes."

Sarah made it to a record breaking (for her) thirty rounds before having to down the bitter brew. Which was just fine by her. More ale meant less coherent thought, which meant less thoughts about a certain unattainable fae with a penchant for overdosing on glitter.

"Yes, alcohol really is a wonderful thing." She thought to herself.

She went back to sitting next to, a still pouting Hoggle, knocking her head playfully against his. She laughed when the goblins cheered on a very lewd version of the time warp by the one and only, Sir Didymus. She blanched before chuckling when her little Satan started contemplating whether or not Sir Didymus might have spent some time as a stripper. The Fire Gang started singing Shilly Down and Sarah leapt into the impromptu concert. She collapsed on the ground and pouted though when she couldn't pull her own head off.

"It's not-" She started before cutting herself off with a dark look. "Get out of my head you sparkly, fairy bastard!" She hissed drunkenly.

"I knew it!" Hoggle slurred. "I knew you'd been thinking of that rat."

She didn't say anything as she dropped her limp arm over her face, hiding her expression from searching eyes. The goblins had helped drain the last of the kegs and drunkenly scampered off to make only god knew what kind of mischief. She blearily hoped that Jareth wouldn't be to angry with her for whatever trouble the goblins were sure to make in his castle.

She smirked softly to herself. "Angry Jareth is pretty hot though… it would at least give my masochism something to enjoy." She thought rather sickly to herself.

She realized after a moment that everything had gone rather quiet. Letting her arm drop from her eyes she used it to prop herself up onto her elbows to blearily look about. The Fire Gang had disappeared to wherever it was that they went to to be alone and Ludo was curled up in the roots of a tree, cuddling Sir Didymus. They were both snoring fit to make a polar bear proud. She smiled to see them so, so much like brothers they looked in that moment. Hoggle was nowhere to be seen but that didn't bother Sarah much. For all she knew, he could be taking a leak in some foul smelling pond like when she had met him.

She was just about to collapse back to the ground and put her arm back over her eyes when pale bits of wispy blue light flickered in the corner of her eyes. Curiously she turned her head to watch the little glowing bits of light dance among the trees.

"I've never seen that before." She slurred a bit drunkenly. Then again she had never been this soused before either but she chose to ignore that fact as she stood up a bit unsteadily.

"Guess I'm a bit of a keg myself ." She concluded silently when the ground didn't tilt and the trees didn't spin on her. Ungracefully-no matter how well she dealt with liquor she was still drunk-she began to stumble after the spheres of light.

"I hope they aren't like the wisps in Brave." She thought after a moment, ironically seeing the parallels in her fogged up mind.

She placed a hand on the tree next to her as she watched the wisps begin to bob and dance in a slow hypnotic circle. It was a lovely sight to behold and the alcohol had made Sarah forget the lesson the Labyrinth had taught her… "Nothing is ever as it seems." Caught by the swirling lights she herself began to twirl and sway round and round the clearing. She raised a hand to the lights and was just about to take the last step into their embrace when Hoggle's voice snapped over her ears like a whip.

" Sarah! Don't do it, it's a trap!"

She froze, her fingertips centimeters from the sparkling circle.

"That rat Jareth is up to his tricks again." Hoggle spoke with venom.

Sarah whipped her head to look over her shoulder at Hoggle. "I figured." She returned with a wicked, almost suicidal, glint in her eyes before she bonelessly fell into the ring of lights, disappearing. The clearing went dark as the light disappeared with her.

Hoggle stood for a moment, shocked that she would do something so reckless, before he scowled. "Stupid girl!" He snarled. "See if I rescue you this time." He huffed out, knowing what Jareth wanted to hear. He waited till the eyes on him faded out before he let a slow grudging smile spread over his face.

"You have no idea what you're in for Jareth." He chuckled. "Serves you right ya' glittery imp!" His eyes softened a bit though, despite his harsh words. After all, the Labyrinth had held much less mischief since Sarah had remembered her right words that day five years ago.

Jareth was hurting as much as Sarah… he was just too much of a fae royal to admit it. A worried look entered Hoggle's eyes after a moment as a thought occurred to him. "She is just a stubborn as him… I hope they don't destroy the Labyrinth while at eachothers throats." He threw his hands up in the air in defeat. It was out of his hands now. "He better not hurt Sarah anymore than he already has." Was Hoggle's last thought before he turned on his heel and marched back to his hut to have a nice cup of peach tea while he worried.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Sarah appeared in the throne room of the castle, amid a puff of glitter and the scent of peaches.

"So tell me precious." Drawled a deceptively calm voice from somewhere in front of and above where she lay on the cold stones.

She cracked open one eye to look at the overly puffed owner of the voice that was currently lounging across the throne with the boneless grace of a large cat, looking intently into a crystal with a mystified air,

"Would you care to explain why my goblins are dancing around my personal chambers singing about doing a time warp?"

Sarah made a wry face. "They were watching Sir Didymus." She muttered cryptically.

Jareth stopped tapping his boot with the riding crop that he seemed to perpetually have on his person.

"I'd like to take that riding crop to his person." She thought hotly, her mind in the gutter.

"What would posses that stuffy knight to do this?!" He exclaimed, shocked. He took another look at the crystal he held as an almost imperceptible shudder passed through him. "More's to the point, where did any of them learn that?"

Sarah could hear the goblin's squeaky, off key, voices singing about doing the pelvic thrust and she shuddered too, glad that she couldn't see them. Hearing was bad enough she decided as she shifted guiltily. A move that didn't go unnoticed by the Goblin King.

"Sarah." He spoke softly, dangerously.

"Rocky Horror Picture Show." She muttered unwillingly.

"A film?" Jareth said with a sneering quality to his voice. "And I suppose I have you to thank for this show of defiance, little girl."

Sarah could hear the crack of the crop on his boot again. "Yep, He's angry." She thought.

"But you were right, it is hot!" Her little devil piped up.

"Shut up!" She hissed back. "Dang it! You're a buzzkill Jareth" She groaned silently, wondering why she didn't feel thoroughly pissed anymore.. "I don't hear any gratitude." She snipped back.

"Oh, I'll show you gratitude, Sarah." He growled darkly.

She wanted to moan at the melted chocolate dripping from his words but instead she heard herself telling him exactly where he could stick his gratitude. Before she could finish the colorful retort though she heard a pop and suddenly she was sprawled across The Goblin King's tightly clad lap. She bolted up to look at him, her legs straddling his lap, trying to ignore the part of his anatomy that her bottom was resting on.

"That's not-!" She stopped, glaring at him with blazing emerald eyes.

"Not what, Sarah? Not fair?" He snickered cruelly. "Well neither is this but when have I ever played fair?" He asked before crashing his lips to hers.

He'd expected her to thrash, to try and get away from him. He really was a masochist to start something that would only tear him apart again when she rejected him. He hadn't expected her to melt into him, to mold her lips to his or her to bury her hands in his glittery mane to keep him close.

He froze.

Sarah pressed herself to him harder before she too pulled back, trying desperately to hide to pain in her emerald eyes. "I knew it. I knew he was just toying with the mortal girl." She thought bitterly.

"I guess the world has finally fallen down. Right, Jareth? She spoke softly as she moved herself to slide off his lap and race away to find an oubliette to hide in.

His gloved hands snapped forward to wrap like vices around her thighs, holding her still, preventing her escape. "What do you mean by that precious?" He asked softly.

"You never meant what you said." She spat. "You were just flouting the rules. Teasing the little mortal girl. Tell me I'm wrong!" She hissed, an almost imperceptible begging note clawing it's way up her throat.

When he didn't say anything her shoulders slumped in defeat and she tried to slide off his lap again but his hands were holding her captive still, drawing soft circles on her inner thighs. She shuddered as they tightened.

"Let me go, Jareth." She spoke evenly, not giving anymore indications of the feelings that his hands were causing to bubble up inside her, while trying to pry his hands off of her.

"You think I didn't mean it." He spoke in her ear.

How she didn't notice him drawing that close to her she didn't know but the whisper of his breath over her ear was enough to make the rest of her coherent thoughts take a suicidal plunge out the proverbial window. She stopped trying to pry his hands away and let them lay limp over the slim fingers that resumed their stroking of her jean covered skin.

He pulled back to look into her shining, defeated eyes. "You think that I didn't mean the words that I spoke in the crystal ballroom… why?" He asked sadly, almost angrily.

She closed her eyes. "Why should I, oh' Goblin King?" She said, sneering, her voice dripping with self deprecation. "I was just another foolish, mortal runner." Her eyes flashed open, burning into his angrily. "And you, the all powerful goblin king, charged with the care of the wished away. Why not have some fun at the expense of the naive mortal's expense! After all, I'm sure you need to find amusement in whatever way you can!" She spat with a venom verging on savage. She closed her eyes tightly, tilting her head back, refusing to let the tears fall.

"Sarah." He coaxed softly. "Sarah, I meant every word." He sighed, closing his own eyes for a moment.

Her eyes flashed open. "Stop jerking me around!" She screamed. "Just 'cause I'm mortal doesn't make me stupid, you fairy bastard!"

An angry tear streaked down her face. He reached up a hand to wipe it away only for Sarah to swat it away. He caught her hand in his, snaking the other around her waist to rest on her hipbone, pulling her flush against him as he kissed the tear.

"I'm gonna be majorly depressed once he is done with messing with me anyway so I might as well get as much out of this as I can now." She thought, resigned, as she turned her head to press her lips to his. She felt his spread into a smile underneath hers as the hand that had been holding hers captive snaked up over her jaw and into her hair, cradling her neck lovingly.

She opened her mouth softly to delicately lick his bottom lip, desiring a taste of what he was, as she trailed her hands over his chest and shoulders to tangle once again in his soft platinum hair. They moaned lowly as his lips parted underneath hers.

He slumped further down in his throne, pulling her down with him not letting there be a whisper of space between them. The fingers on Sarah's waist flickered for a moment, a popping noise and several pitchy screams registered faintly in her befogged mind before something cradled her back softly as a certain fae pressed their every curve together, making her squirm with want. Reasoning won out when she realized what she was laying on, though. Reluctantly she pulled her lips from Jareth's, ignoring the soft bed beneath her.

"Jareth." She whispered hoarsely as he nuzzled her neck. "Whatever I am, I am not your sex kitten." She said firmly despite her fear of what saying so would cost her but all he said was.

"Of course not." He pressed a kiss to her collarbone before drawing back to look her in the eyes, a smirk playing softly across his slightly swollen mouth. "You're my bonded mate." He finished before pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth, his arms tightening about her possessively.

She froze, going stiff in his arms. "Jareth." She said, deceptively calm, ignoring the part of her that was jumping for joy in favor of entertaining the part that had just realized why she couldn't let any boy close to her. "Mind telling me when that happened and why you didn't tell me?!" She yelled.

"In the Crystal Ballroom." He replied calmly. "What did you think that confection of glitter and white silk was." She felt his scowl against her neck as he spoke his next words. "Of course I wasn't expecting you to run out on me."

"Jareth, look at me please." She voiced her command as a request.

He could hear the unmistakable authority in her voice and nearly growled at the sound of it - he knew she would make an excellent queen - instead he drew back to look at Sarah. She smiled sweetly before letting her fist sail into his face. His head snapped back from the force; It didn't really hurt but lord was he turned on now.

"Arg!" She screamed. "You stupid Fairy Bastard! I was still a child myself in that ballroom!" She cried out in indignation. "No wonder I couldn't let any of those boys close to me!" Feeling a shiver of delight go up her spine as his eyes flashed with a moment of jealousy as she continued to rant. "My heart had already been stolen without my consent years ago by an egocentric prick! Yes, Mr. High and Mighty, I've read the legends! I can't believe you bonded with me without my knowledge! I'm gonna-!"

Jareth decided that he would listen to her threaten him later. At the moment he just wanted to feel her lips against his again after so many years of dreaming of what they would taste like.

"Bastard." She muttered one last time against his lips before going silent. She was happy to be held him - no matter what she said - after thinking for so long that she had fallen for a fae who wouldn't give a damn. She felt in that moment like what he always called her… precious.

Slowly, languidly they explored each other. Jareth delighted at the discovery that she practically came undone in his arms at his soft attentions to her neck and Sarah proud that she could reduce him to a glittery puddle with a few soft caresses over his pointy ears. She laughed when he pouted because she told him no to second base and her trust in him grew as he simply pulled her back into his arms and laid a chaste kiss to her nose and a nip to her delicate chin.

Contentedly she lay in his arms before her curiosity got the better of her and she lent up to look around her. The room they were in was huge and lovely. It wasn't Jareth's , of that she was certain, it was too effeminate… tasteful but effeminate.

"Where are we?" She asked curiously, contentedly wrapping her arms about his waist.

"The Queen Consort's chambers."

She looked at him with shock.

"They're yours if you want them." He said quietly.

She tilted his head up to look into his eyes. His face was blank.

"Please let me see you, Jareth." She requested softly, stroking his brow. She watched as, grudgingly, the mask fell away and he stared at her with scared eyes.

"Yes, Jareth." She whispered, watching the relief and joy flood his face before he buried in her chest. "Besides, I can't very well leave you when I'm bonded with you. Now can I?" She said rather pointedly, with humor coating her voice, scowling playfully at the top of his head. Thoughtfully she ran her fingers through his hair before she stated rather matter a factly after a moment. "I hope that you aren't going to make me stay in the queen's chambers all of the time though." She stated with a wicked grin as he looked up at her. "I rather like the thought of sharing a bed with you."

He smirked as he lent up to capture her lips but she stopped him with a hand over his mouth. "I'm still pissed that you didn't tell me about being bonded." She stated seriously.

"What was I supposed to do." Jareth demanded. "I seem to remember the words 'You have no power over me.' being spoken quite emphatically by a fifteen year old girl determined to get her brother back. No power means no power. Not even to talk to you."

"Then how did you call me to the throne room before?" She challenged him.

He smirked, pleased with his work. "It did work out rather well." He thought to himself, eyeing the woman sitting in his lap. "It's not my fault if I leave a transport spell active and a young woman just happens to dance right into it, right?" He asked just a little too innocently.

She just looked at him through her lashes before whispering almost inaudibly. "I thought there was something wrong with me, Jareth" Her lids dropped over her emerald orbs hiding them from his gaze.

She felt his hands cradle her face as he gently placed a kiss on each of her closed eyes. "Forgive me, precious?"

She exhaled softly before speaking honestly. "I already have." She kissed him softly before asking. "Why did the Labyrinth send me home? I ate fae food, I shouldn't have been able to leave."

He could tell this had confused her for a while and he was once again impressed by how much she had come to know about his world with only her three friend and the wiseman to teach her. After all, the aboveground had run out of accurate information centuries ago.

"You were returned home because you had to grow up before you could stay… you were too young." He told her sadly before giving her a ribald grin. "Trust me Sarah, if you had been old enough you would have been in my bed that night."

She swatted his arm in mock reproach as he buried his face in her neck.

Withdrawing he softly he pressed his lips to hers. Sweetly he tried to offer comfort to his lady for the news that he had yet to tell her. Sighing he drew back to speak but Sarah's voice interrupted him.

"I'm not going to be able to go back am I?" She spoke softly, voicing what she knew he was going to tell her.

He shook his head sadly, guilty for making her choose.

"I want to say goodbye." She said, giving him a sad but firm smile.

"But of course, Sarah." He pressed a kiss to her brow.

"The park bench." She commanded softly.

He flicked his wrist, making a crystal appear in his hand. "Say your right words, precious." He commanded, handing it to her. The moment her fingers brushed it she vanished with a small pop. A sprinkling of glitter and the taste of her on his lips the only reminders that it hadn't been a dream. God knew that he had had enough of those to last till the world fell down.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Quietly she sat on the park bench across the street from the old victorian she had called home.

Karen's words to her, a year ago, her only goodbye.

"I just want you to be happy."

"I am... mom, I am." She closed her eyes as the sun started to rise, casting a warm glow over her.

"Goodbye, daddy. Goodbye Toby… I love you." She cried before she opened her shining eyes and said the words that made Sarah Williams disappear.

"I wish the goblins would come and take me away right now."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

This End… is only their beginning.

Thank you for reading.

This was written for a dear friend of mine by request. I actually like how it turned out and I had been wanting to write a decent Labyrinth fiction for a while now so here it is.

I hope you enjoyed the update! Please tell me if you did or didn't.