Author's Note: Well, this is my first M fic, so I'd really like to know what you think- even if you hate it- because I'm not really sure if I should continue with it, or how far I should actually take it.

The usual disclaimer applies; I own nothing, though I wish I did.

Oh, and this story contains Dark Jareth- you have been forewarned! Hope you enjoy it. :)

"Hoggle?" Sarah called out.

If anyone had entered her room, all they would have seen was the dark-haired eighteen year old staring so intently into her mirror. Anyone who didn't know the real reason she looked into the mirror might think her vain. But she wasn't being vain. She was staring into the mirror in front of her, however her eyes were not focussed on herself, but rather darting anywhere else, seemingly looking for someone other than herself in its reflection. It was only when she had almost given up hope and was about to get up from her chair that a voice answered her.

"Sarah?"

Sarah turned straight back to the mirror; a smile lighting up her face as she saw her friend in the mirror.

"Hoggle! I thought you'd forgotten me!"

"Me? Forget you? Not likely," he grumbled in response.

"Hoggle, I'm sorry I haven't, you know... spoken to you in a while... it's just..."

"It's alright, not bothered... Don't need me no more..." he mumbled, almost to himself.

"Oh Hoggle, don't say that! I do still need you! I think now more than ever!"

Hoggle's face brightened at the thought.

"Really? You do?"

Sarah nodded.

"Well, that's okay then," Hoggle said, in a more pleasant tone.

"How've you been?" Sarah questioned after a pause.

The dwarf shrugged, and then said, "Oh, you know how it is, more fairies to exterminate... Everyone misses you though..."

"I've missed you all too! Everything's just been a bit busy here."

Sarah paused, absentmindedly fiddling with a hairbrush on the table.

"Karen says we're moving..."

Hoggle tilted his head to the side and waited for Sarah to continue. It took a while before she had readied herself to say what was really on her mind.

"It's been three years since everything happened. And it all happened here. It feels like- leaving here- I'll lose more than just the house I grew up in... I feel like I'm going to be losing my connection with you and the others."

"Naw, of course not! Remember, should you need us."

"I'll call," she finished in a whisper.

A small smile curved her lips upward at the memory of the end of that night and the spur-of-the-moment party she'd had in her room with her friends from the Underground. Sarah sighed then, the smile slipping from her face. She would miss that memory at just the sight of her room.

Not all of that night had been as pleasant as that party though; and she well remembered it. The Goblin King. She shivered at the memory of the fae King. He had been so beautiful; so entrancing, particularly the last time she'd seen him. But Sarah had eventually seen past the veneer that he had tried to present her with as a distraction from her task of saving Toby. It had seemed that his entire purpose towards her during her time in the Labyrinth had been to distract her. And although now, she did note the Goblin King's appeal, Sarah would always remember how she had turned him down; repeatedly. And the only time that he had actually succeeded in making her mind spin was due solely to her being under the influence of the hallucinogenic drug he'd forced Hoggle to give her in that wretched peach. His distraction had never really worked against Sarah as he had so hoped, and that thought made her smile again.

Sarah let out another long and loud sigh as her mind was drawn back from her memories. She hadn't even noticed Hoggle's image disappear from her mirror until then. Sarah felt a pang of guilt that she'd called her friend to her and her thoughts of the Goblin King had overtaken her mind again. Those thoughts, it seemed, often gained control of her mind should she find herself thinking of him. Sarah cursed under her breath and murmured an apology to Hoggle, just hoping that he'd hear her. A knock at her door made her turn from her mirror and her thoughts of her visit to the Underground all those years ago.

"Sarah?"

She frowned at the voice behind her door. What does she want? Sarah thought, her anger at the woman brought back fully, simply by the sound of her voice. Her stepmother didn't even wait for a response before opening the door and entering Sarah's room.

"What, Karen?" she snapped back.

"Sarah honestly, I wish you'd stop treating me like I'm ruining your life-"

"Haven't you noticed you are?" Sarah retorted under her breath.

Karen rolled her eyes at her stepdaughter. She often wondered what she'd done to deserve an eighteen year old who acted so childishly. The girl had been nothing like she'd expected or wanted in a daughter when she married Robert- and it had been abundantly clear to Karen that she was the last thing that Sarah wanted in a mother, step or not.

"I came to see if you'd started packing yet," Karen said as she frowned and looked around Sarah's room.

"Sarah, we're moving in less than a week; if you actually want to keep anything you own, I suggest you start as soon as possible."

"Like you'd care if I didn't pack. You think all my stuff's junk anyway!"

"Well Sarah, perhaps you could stand to lose some of these old toys that you're far too old to even take notice of," Karen answered in the sickly sweet voice she used when something was irritating her.

Sarah stared at her stepmother indignantly and just waited for her to leave. Eventually Karen gave in as she usually did when Sarah gave her such a stare, leaving Sarah alone to her thoughts. The girl let out a long and impatient groan. Why has she always got to be like that? It's not fair. When it came to her stepmother, Sarah had no patience, and she had a right not to. Karen had never cared for Sarah, and Sarah's opinions never mattered a shred to Karen. That was one of the reasons that they were moving, and one of the reasons that Sarah had had no say in the matter.

Sarah lay down on her bed, staring up at the room that would only be hers for a matter of days. She knew exactly what Karen meant about having kept all of her old toys that most would say she should have discarded years earlier. But she hadn't. Though they didn't mean what they used to mean to her, they were a reminder of what had happened three years ago; of the dangers she'd faced and the friends that she'd met. They were a reminder of the person that her visit to the Underground had allowed her to be, and she'd be damned if Karen was going to get her to throw them away now.

Sarah slowly opened the drawer beside her, revealing the little red book that she often found herself reading when her mind was troubled. She pulled it out and placed it in the centre of her vanity table, right before her mirror. With another long sigh and a glance at the book that she would likely be drawn to later, Sarah stood and reluctantly picked up one of the empty cardboard boxes that littered the corner of her room.

Leaning her back against the white, panelled door, Sarah took one last look around her room, taking it in for the final time. She couldn't help but feel so sad as she looked over the emptiness left by the absence of her things. She didn't want to leave the place where she'd grown up, where she'd experienced so much. It made no sense to Sarah why Karen got to decide that she could just uproot the whole family as she was doing now. It just wasn't fair.

Sarah pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin against them, remembering the many arguments she'd had with both Karen and her father over the past week. She had tried to explain to them what the house meant to her, and all that they had said in response was that she would soon be moving out to go to college soon anyway. It was the truth, but before, Sarah had always known that she could return home at any time.

This time she'd never get to come back. And she was afraid. Afraid of the memories she had fading and eventually disappearing. But most of all, she didn't want to lose her connection with her friends in the Underground. And something in the back of her mind told her that moving out of her house might just sever those ties for good.

Sarah leant her head back, knocking it lightly against the wooden door behind her and closed her eyes. It's not fair, she found herself thinking, suddenly remembering all those years ago the words of the Goblin King's response to her outburst of the very same phrase. "You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison is." Even though it was a memory of Jareth, Sarah would still miss how easy it was to be reminded of the Underground in this house.

She sighed, knowing that she had only hours before they left for good. And there were a few other places that she needed to say goodbye to before she left. With that, Sarah pushed herself from the carpeted floor and picked up the bag by her side. She'd packed a few things that she'd known she'd find herself wanting at some point that day, and somehow, that little red book had found its way into the mess she'd stuffed inside.

Sarah opened the door to her room and left it, despite a tugging in the back of her mind that tried to keep her inside the room she didn't really want to leave behind. She found herself in her father and Karen's equally empty bedroom, her eyes travelling over to the French doors and the balcony behind them. Sarah let out an audible sigh at the sight. She wasn't even really sure why she'd come to look at the French doors, and it took her three long minutes to figure out why.

Between those open French doors, she had first seen the Goblin King and had made her entrance to the Underground. Those French doors had been her doorway to meeting the best friends she'd ever had, despite what it had almost cost her. The sight beyond them now was much different to what she had seen that evening though, as now she stared at the light-grey sky and saw no barn owl or castle in the distance. Sarah shivered and turned away from what had once been and what would never be again; at least not for her.

She would never again wish her brother away, but she never regretted having done it the first time. She had often felt extremely guilty about putting her brother in such danger and of having let him be stolen away by the Goblin King. But she had never regretted it. There had been so much she'd gained in that one trip through the Labyrinth for her to ever really regret having ventured into the Underground. As Sarah headed downstairs, she was met again with the droning sounds of Karen's voice.

"Sarah, there you are. I need you to go and buy some bread so I can make Toby's lunch," Karen said, gesturing at some money that rested on the table before her.

Oh sure, that's exactly what I want to be doing, Sarah thought grumpily. Just because she doesn't care that we're leaving doesn't mean I don't. She was about to shoot back a snapping retort, but one smiling, happy look from her four year old half-brother told her that she was going to go out and buy bread regardless. Taking the money and shoving it into her small bag, she flashed a small smile at Toby. Sarah had almost made it out of the door before Karen started speaking again.

"You know Sarah, we're moving into a new neighbourhood today, the least you could do is try to look a little nicer. Put some make-up on or something."

Sarah rolled her eyes at her stepmother, but almost had to hold back the small smile as she remembered that she had put her Sony Discman into her little bag. She could already predict that it was going to be particularly useful at drowning out the sounds of Karen's voice. Sarah left the house quickly, not caring to hear anything more that her stepmother had had to say.

Besides, Sarah had another place that she wanted to see before they left town for good. She decided that before she bought the bread she would visit the park. Truthfully, the park was her favourite place to be. She had spent countless days just sitting under a tree reading, or oftentimes she could be found acting out some part from a play that had captured her imagination.

Sarah reached the park quickly, knowing her route perfectly and she sat down on her favourite bench, one that looked out over the small lake in front of her. Sarah took in a deep breath of the fresh air she was so accustomed to and her eyes searched the surrounding landscape, trailing everything so familiar that she wouldn't see again. There was seemingly no one else near, and the grey sky seemed to be darkening so much that Sarah guessed that rain was soon to follow.

"This is so depressing," Sarah said to no one but herself.

"I wish this wasn't happening."

She regretted it as soon as the words slipped through the barrier she usually put up regarding the use of "I wish". Sarah looked around quickly, just to make sure for herself that she'd not just made a horrible mistake. No one was there though to Sarah's relief, even when she checked behind herself. A long ragged sigh broke from her lips as she tried to calm the thoughts that had arisen because of the last time she'd made a wish.

"Making wishes again, Sarah?"

Sarah's whole body immediately tensed. Her green eyes had gone wide and she dared not take another breath. The voice she had just heard behind her was one that she would never be able to forget. It was sneering, almost mocking; but that only reminded her more so of the danger the voice brought.

Slowly, Sarah turned, attempting to ready herself to face the King of the Goblins. But when she turned, there was no one there. Sarah was stunned; shocked. He wasn't there. You imagined it, Sarah, she thought, putting the memory of his voice down to her impending upheaval from the home she'd grown up in. But when she turned her head back to face the lake again, Sarah's breath caught in her throat.

Before her, stood the Goblin King, dressed magnificently in the black armour that Sarah had first seen him in, his long, dark-blue cloak draped behind him. He was mystifying. Beautiful as only one of the fae could be. The two were frozen for a moment, trapped in the silence of their stares, hers terrified, while his was dark, dangerous and definitely amused. A smirk took hold of his features as he took note of the fear in Sarah's eyes.

"You," she whispered as soon as she found her voice again.

He cocked his head to the side, his smirk broadening as he replied, "Me."

"You... y-you can't be here. You can't-"

"Whatever gave you that idea, my dear?" he interrupted in a soft yet taunting voice.

Sarah opened her mouth to answer but found that she was lost for words. Instead she tried to tear her eyes away from the fae King before her, searching for anyone, anything, that might help her.

"There's no one else here, Sarah. You're simply wasting your time."

She saw immediately that he was right. That there was no one near to help her. Would they even see him? she thought almost helplessly; but she found that another thought nagged at her. Why is there no one in this park?

"Why are you here?" Sarah asked, trying to reinforce her voice with a strength that she was finding it hard to grasp on to.

"You made a wish, Sarah," Jareth answered simply.

Sarah frowned; her thick brows creasing in frustration.

"But I didn't. I never-"

"You know very well that you did," he said, his tone serious.

"And you know very well that I was listening."

"But I... I didn't mean to."

"Oh, you didn't?" he said, reminding her very much of the night he had first appeared to her.

"Wait," Sarah said, realisation worming its way into her mind.

"That wish had nothing to do with you."

His smirk, if it could, widened even more, causing Sarah's resolve to start to crack slightly.

"Think Sarah. What did you wish for?"

Sarah paused and said quietly, "All I wished was that this wasn't happening. That's nothing to do with you though."

"You wished what wasn't happening, Sarah?" he asked, his mismatched eyes sparkling.

All Sarah could do was stare at the towering figure before her. She couldn't tell him the truth; that she wished she wasn't moving for risk of losing her connection with the Underground. She knew that that would make him too happy, and give him too much of a reason to be standing in front of her.

"I wished that I wasn't moving," she lied as she gathered her thoughts.

"You're lying, Sarah," Jareth said, his voice had an almost sing-song taunting quality to it now.

"I've lived here my whole life. I don't want to leave," she retorted, trying to justify her badly formed lie.

"Sarah, it would do you well to stop lying."

He needn't have added "to me" to the end of his sentence; his tone more than implied it. But there was something even over that in the tone of his voice that truly shocked Sarah into silence. She could feel his eyes intently watching her.

"The wish had nothing to do with you," she answered, reasoning that that at least, was the truth.

"What's said is said. And it is well within my power to grant your wish."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah questioned eventually, feeling increasingly confused.

"You don't want to forget about the Underground. That is easily remedied."

"What do you mean?" she asked, worry creeping into the fringes of her voice.

The Goblin King tilted his head to the side again as he stared her down.

"Come, come now, Sarah. Don't act so childishly; you know exactly what I mean."

He paused.

"I'm taking you back with me."

She stared speechlessly at him as her eyes widened.

"But... I-I beat you. You have no power over me."

Something flashed in the Goblin King's mismatched eyes; something that told Sarah that she had just said the wrong thing entirely. He took a step forward and Sarah tried to stand; she wanted to get as far away from Jareth as possible. But she found that she couldn't. He was straight in front of her, crouching so that they were at eye level before she could even blink. Sarah couldn't help but visibly flinch as his hand reached out to take hold of her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"I wouldn't say that," Jareth said through his smirk.

It was clear to Sarah now that he did have some measure of power over her; but that didn't meant that she would give up so easily.

"I ran your Labyrinth, I beat it. You can't take me back there anymore than you can Toby!" she shouted desperately.

"It's true that I may not be able to take your brother back, but you made a wish, my dear."

"Not for you to take me back!"

"I thought you'd have learned before that wishes are not always what they may seem. You made a wish, and now you get to face the consequences."

"No!" she yelled, trying to push herself back from him.

She didn't get the chance to say anymore though because with that, the Goblin King's free hand moved up to hold her arm at the elbow and she almost cried out at the strength of his touch. Sarah tried move back from him, but his iron grip around her arm and his fingers grasping her chin forbade any movement.

"Let go of me," she ordered through gritted teeth.

"I think we both know that you're in no position to be issuing commands."

"No, let go! It's not f-" she caught herself before she finished her sentence, hoping that Jareth wouldn't notice what she had almost said.

Of course, Jareth had; and the laugh that came free of his lips was amused but held an underlying harshness.

"What? Not fair? Really Sarah, I thought you'd grown out of saying that," he replied mockingly, daring her to answer.

She had sense enough to stay silent in response. Jareth stood with the smirk still lingering in his expression, and pulled Sarah up to stand before him. She grimaced as she was forced to stand so close to the Goblin King, staring up into those mismatched eyes.

"Please, just let me go," she said a whisper.

"I've frozen time for you and still, all you can do is act so ungratefully. Though I must say I'm a little surprised at you, Sarah. I just thought you might have grown up a little in the years you've been back here."

So that's why there's no one here, Sarah thought dejectedly. She wanted someone desperately to see them; to save her. She needed someone's help. And he had just confirmed that no one would be saving her. She was alone; and she couldn't see any way to save herself on her own this time.

"You rejected me all those years ago, but this time you don't have the luxury of that choice. This wish leaves no room for a rescuer."

"But I didn't wish for this!" she said loudly, trying to pull back from his hand.

His grip tightened around her elbow, making her take a deep, sharp breath.

"But this is what you're getting regardless. And I must say; it's long overdue."

"Why are you doing this?" Sarah whispered.

The Goblin King stared at the young woman before him, almost surprised that she did not know the answer to the question she'd asked. Jareth wasn't one to answer her so easily however, and instead of replying to her, he shifted his hand from under her chin to gently caress her cheek. He felt Sarah shiver beneath his touch.

"Please. Stop. Just leave me be," she said, her voice drifting into a weak and vulnerable waver.

Jareth let out a short laugh at her plea. To him, it was just an admission of her helplessness. Sarah couldn't even look away from those mismatched eyes as she felt a gust of wind sweep around them. If she had been in a different frame of mind, Sarah might have thought, how cliché or I hate magic, but as it was, she couldn't keep her mind off of the hand stroking softly at her cheek. And what it really meant.

"There," Jareth said finally, giving the dark-haired young woman in front of him one last small smile before he released her arm.

She pulled away from the hand on her cheek as soon as he let go of her, stumbling backward. It took her a moment to place where he had taken her, for as she glanced around, things seemed to take time to come into focus. She was in a throne room. Jareth's throne room, she corrected herself.

The wide throne, the room's centre piece, stood directly behind the Goblin King, looking regal compared to the rest of the filthy room. Sticky, grubby fingers of hundreds of goblins had no doubt been the cause of the dirty marks that smudged over the stone walls. But the room was empty of the creatures now and its only occupants were the Goblin King and the wide-eyed girl now at its centre.

"Welcome home, Sarah," Jareth said with a humoured yet menacing tone.

Sarah stared over to him, not knowing how to respond. Home? she thought, her mind whirling. No. No, this isn't right.

"This isn't my home," she snapped eventually, pulling some fire from deep within herself.

That dark something flashed in Jareth's eyes again, signalling once more that her words had not been the ones that he wanted to hear.

"Well you'll never be returning Aboveground, so I'd get used to it if I were you," Jareth replied in a harsh tone.

"You can't keep me here. It's not like I'm some child that was wished away. You have to take me home."

"Think carefully, Sarah," he said patronisingly.

"You wished yourself away. And there's no one to run the Labyrinth to save you."

She stared at him blankly.

"But I didn't wish for this. I just didn't."

"You wished that nothing of what was happening to you was happening. I simply ensured that it won't. Honestly Sarah, there's just no pleasing you, is there?"

"You have no right to interfere like that!"

"You're about to cross a thin line, Sarah. I'd watch where you step."

Something in his voice warned her not to respond, but she pushed it aside and shouted, "Bullshit! Just take. me. home!"

"Language, Sarah," Jareth said harshly as he stepped toward Sarah, closing the gap that she had created earlier.

"Fuck you!" she spat back, deciding that if coarse language was what bothered him, coarse language would be what she used.

His hands took hold of her shoulders in a forceful grasp. Sarah's hands came up against his chest, trying to push him away from her; an action that only painfully tightened his grip on her. Jareth squeezed harder until she couldn't stop herself whimpering aloud in pain. He smiled at the sound, and then spoke again.

"You should take note, Sarah, that now you live in the Underground, I am your King. And as my subject you must do as I say."

"Screw you!" she whispered through clenched teeth.

Jareth's eyebrows rose in an amused gesture as a smirk broke into his expression once more.

"Be careful what you wish for, my dear."

Sarah froze in his vice-like grip. She could tell that he was deadly serious despite his seemingly trademark smirk; and she was honestly terrified of him.

"I have been generous, but I can be cruel," he added, repeating the words he'd said in their final encounter all those years ago.

Sarah was fighting hard now to bite back her threatening tears, but as he continued to stare at her so seriously, she finally broke down. An overwhelming sense of hopelessness washed over Sarah and she seemed to slump in Jareth's grasp. He released her arms and she sank to the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"It's n-not fair," she whispered through the gasping breaths she took in.

No one knew about the Underground. No one knew that she'd been there. No one knew how she had defeated the Goblin King and won back her brother. No one would save her. No one would even know where to look.

And no one knew what Jareth wanted now- not even she. Sarah had merely thought that Jareth's offer to her three years ago had been simply an attempted, and failed, distraction. Jareth knew though, that his offer had indeed been genuine; and now he had a lifetime to make her see sense- in whatever ways he had to. He let out a long and amused sigh as sobs began wracking Sarah's body. Jareth stared down at her, smirking.

"Ah but Sarah; the best is yet to come."