Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jareth’s eyes blinked twice and ruffled his feathers against the chill breeze. Rain was coming just as he planned. 

He watched the yellow taxi pull up to the townhouse house in the fashionable part of London. The townhouse and the park not too far away was where everything began. The park is where he’d spied Sarah for the first time and couldn’t look away. She was young then. Perhaps a little too young but when you’re several thousand years old, what does young or old mean anymore? She twirled in her costumed dress, her dark, silken hair and radiant smile caught the light enough to get his attention. Her boldness at playing by herself with only a dog as a companion kept his attention. And the sincerity and conviction in her voice wove a spell he hadn’t been able to extricate himself from.

“For my will is as strong as yours…” 

He switched his weight from foot to foot on the branch impatient to see her. He could feel the diminishing power in his bones, weakened even further since their last encounter. She had been so beautiful standing there amidst the ruins of his castle, her blue eyes flashing in defiance of him. He would give anything to possess her. She was regal as any queen, even despite the torn clothes and dirt smudged face. But it wasn’t until that moment that he realized that Sarah was not one to be possessed. He had miscalculated.

“And my kingdom is as great…”

The minute the door opened and he spied the first dangling strands of glossy hair, his breath stopped. He focused as her face turned, looking around the street and beyond. 

She was even more beautiful than when he’d first seen her and that was saying quite a bit. She’d grown into her womanhood, become more graceful, her body sleeker, her face more refined and delicate. But there were some things that didn’t change. Her hair—she still preferred to wear it long and straight. Her eyes, dark like sapphires, still flashed with intelligence and challenge. Her mouth was still a small pink bow that could be smiling and kind one minute and haughty and determined the next. Jareth needed her, and he had plan to bring her to him. With the last vestiges of his power, he’d taken this owl form to watch and wait–for her. And he would not fail this time.

 “You have no power over me.”

Time would tell. If his plan succeeded, no power in any universe would come between them again.

The clouds overhead darkened and roiled through the late afternoon sky. The rest of the world would be worried about the thunder and lightning and the torrent of rain. No one would notice a simple barn owl flying around, or even wonder why an owl would be flying around in the rain to begin with.

But the time was close for everything to start over and for things to begin. He’d had thirteen long years of waiting and he’d watched, and waited and learned. This time he wouldn’t fail. This time he didn’t have a choice. Win this time or lose everything. And Sarah was the key.

Chapter Text

Toby hopped up and down at the bottom of the stairs. Why wasn’t Sarah here yet? His parents wouldn’t leave without her there, and besides, the idea of a whole month with jut him and Sarah together was the best thing he could think of.

“Why isn’t she here yet?” he whined.

“Son, relax,” his father said, coming to stand next to the boy. “Jumping around and making a racket won’t get her here any faster. Besides, your mother isn’t ready to go yet. Powdering her nose takes precision.”

“I heard that,” Toby’s mother said, entering the hallway where father and son stood. “One cannot rush perfection.”

“I never said it didn’t, dear,” Toby’s dad said, kissing his wife on the cheek.

Toby made a sick face. “You guys are grossing me out.”

His parents looked at each and chuckled. “There will come a day when kissing a beautiful woman on the cheek won’t be so gross, I can assure you.”

A knock came at the door. Toby sprang for the door and threw it open.

“Sarah!” he said as he threw himself into the arms of his sister.

“Toby, you’re getting so big!” she said, holding him and giving him a tight squeeze. She kissed him on the top of his head.

“Come on in,” her father said. “Let’s not let anymore of the rain in.”

A furry white and gray fluff came running into the room from the back of the house. “Woof!”

“Merlin!” Sarah said, crouching down giving the dog cheek scritches. “Are you being a good boy?”

“My dog gets a hello before her own father does?” the man said with mock offense.

“Dad,” she said, standing up and squeezing him tightly. She looked over at her step-mother. “How are you, Martha?”

“Doing well, thank you. I wanted to let you know we appreciate you watching Toby for us. It will nice to have an entire month to ourselves.” She turned to look with fondness at her husband. “Nearly fifteen years together. Time flies.”

Toby saw a little look pass over Sarah’s face but her voice sounded perfectly calm. “You know I love any chance I get to spend with Toby. I’ve been so busy in the West End these days that it’s nice to get a break.”

Martha handed Sarah a roll of keys and a notebook. “Here are the house keys and car keys. This has all the numbers where we will be in Paris and Barcelona. I just went to the grocers so you shouldn’t need to go shopping unless you want to.”

“Sounds like we’re all set,” Sarah said, putting her arm around Toby. 

Toby leaned into his older sister’s side, enjoying being close to her. Seemed like ever since she graduated from university, they didn’t get to spend as much time together anymore. She’d spent a lot of time downtown, being with her older friends and acting in plays. But even if she were busy, she always made some time for Toby. They talked at least every week, if not every other day on the phone and she always wanted to know how school was going for him, and what he was up to. 

That was a nice change of pace from his parents. His dad was nice enough but he was always busy with work and his mother never seemed interested in anything other than his grades and whether he had starched his school uniform blazer and pants. Even when he was little, the things he could remember the clearest were Sarah playing with him or telling him the stories of the Labyrinth. She had all these made up characters, like Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus and Ambrosius, and even the scary Goblin King, Jareth, who liked to steal babies from their big sisters. Sarah was the only one who accepted him for exactly who he was and liked him that way. His parents tended to treat him like a baby still. Sarah never acted like he was a baby. He was nearly twelve after all. That was hardly an age for a baby.

Their dad grabbed the luggage that had been stored near the door and walked them out to the waiting cab. Martha bent over to give her son one last hug and kiss before she walked out the door. Sarah and Toby waved them off as the taxi pulled away from their townhome.

“Ok,” Sarah said, throwing her stuff on the sitting room couch. “Who wants to eat homemade cookies and watch scary movies?”

“Me!” Toby said, jumping up and down.

They raced for the kitchen.

*~*~*

Sarah opened the fridge and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Soy protein replacement? Coconut aminos sauce? What is all this stuff?”

Toby shrugged. “Mom’s on this thing where she only eats that stuff. She says it helps her keep her figure.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “This won’t do. There’s no butter or milk or anything. How are we supposed to make proper cookies without those? Well, at least, they left the car keys,” Sarah said, going back into the sitting room and grabbing up the keys to the car. “Let’s hit the grocers really quick and get some real food.”

Lightning cracked over the house. Sara jumped. “Wow that was close.” What she was really thinking was “Wow, that sounded a little too much like that time where I went to the Underground.” She knew Toby didn’t remember that little adventure so she didn’t want to say it aloud. Rain pummeled the windows and roof harder than before. She looked out the nearest window. Yes, too much like that night for her liking.

She smiled at her little brother. Despite looking a bit too much like his mother, she felt a sweet spot in her heart for that kid. He was her brother after all. And it wasn’t just about the fact that’d she’d rescued him from Jareth, the Goblin King, all those years ago. She loved him before that, it’s just she’d been such a brat back then that she took it out on the easiest people to take it out on – her family. Her father was always quick to forgive her but her relationship with Martha had coalesced into a frosty cordiality.

Sarah could never quite shake the feeling that Martha secretly waited for Sarah to turn out just like her mother and disappear and break her father’s heart. But even though Sarah and her mother shared a lot of common interests, theater and the love of acting and wicked sense of fashion, she was definitely not her mother. She loved her dad and her brother too much to justify leaving them behind for something as stupid as a man that would dump her only a year later. Sarah would never give Martha the satisfaction of being right.

Sarah headed back into the kitchen and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. “Ok so what real food do we want to eat?”

“Fish and chips!” Toby shouted excitedly.

“Of course. How about bangers and mash? That’s pretty easy.”

“Yes! Mac n’ cheese.”

“Mmm. Cheesy yumminess. Good idea. Cold cereal for dinner is always a big favorite of mine.”

Toby grinned at her. Sarah wondered if the kid actually ever ate cereal for dinner. Probably not, knowing Martha.

“American hamburgers?” Sarah suggested.

“With chips too?”

“Duh. You can’t have hamburgers without chips, though they call them fries across the pond.”

“Pizza. And ice cream.”

“Together?”

“No. Pizza for dinner and then ice cream for after.”

Sarah laughed. “I think that can be arranged.”

She finished up her list and handed it to Toby. “You are the list keeper. I will drive us to the grocer. And then we’ll come back here and ignore all the stuff your mom calls food.”

Toby stuffed the list in the back pocket of his jeans.

“Oh, one more thing before I forget,” Sarah said. “Can you help me get my stuff up to my room?”

“Yeah!” he said, jumping off the breakfast bar stool and running for the hallway where she’d left her stuff.

She followed him up the stairs. Her dad had offered to let her stay in their bedroom because it had the private ensuite but she’d declined. For one, that was too weird to be sleeping in her parents’ bed. And for two, her room was nearly the same as when she’d left after university, so why not stay in it now?

Toby dragged the rolling suitcase towards the door and opened it. The air was a little musty so Sara cracked the large window at the bottom. She looked around. After her adventure in the Underground, she’d cleared out most of her knickknacks and pictures into a box that went into the attic. That included her once prized picture of her mother with her then-boyfriend, Jeremy. That actually had been the first one to go in the box. The picture made her mad now. Back then, she’d thought the whole idea of running off with your rich, handsome lover to live in a world you only saw in Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous was so terribly romantic. Now she found it sad and selfish. Her mom had left behind a man that adored her and a teen daughter that didn’t understand why she would pick a man over her. She still didn’t know. It’s probably why she hadn’t talked to her mother in over a decade and why she had no idea where she was or how she was doing.

“I’m going to go get something really quick. I’ll be right back,” Toby said as he left her room.

Sarah made sure he’d gone around the corner before she hurried over to her dresser. She pulled it away from the wall a little. The red book was still there. She sighed. Good. No one knew it was there except maybe Hoggle and that’s the way it needed to stay. No good could come from messing with The Labyrinth play. She pushed the dresser back into place and leaned against it in relief. A white flash caught the corner of her eye and she flew to the window to look around. For a worrisome second, she thought it might have been an owl, but she saw nothing through the rivulets of water coming down the pane of glass.

“Look what I found!” Toby said.

Sarah jumped, holding a hand to her heart. “Oh, you scared me.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to show you what I still had.” He held up a ratty, dirty bear.

“Lancelot!” Sarah said with a smile. She took the toy from her brother and gave it a squeeze. “I’m so glad you kept him. Looks like he’s had quite a bit of love from the both of us for one old bear.”

“I don’t really sleep with him anymore but I do like to put him on my bed after I’ve made it. I want to make sure he’s at least comfortable when I’m in school.”

“Do you know how great you are?” Sarah said, grabbing him and pulling him into a big hug. “You’re my favorite little brother in the whole world.” 

He rolled his eyes at her, but he couldn’t help the corners of his mouth from twitching up. “Duh. I’m your only little brother.”

“Exactly,” she said. “Now do you want to get out of here so we can come back?”

Another flash of lightning ripped across the sky and a deep rumbling of thunder followed soon after.

“And it looks like we need to get going sooner than later. This storm looks like it’s going to get pretty rowdy. Go get in the car, I’ll be down in one minute.”

Toby ran out of the room and down the stairs. Sarah looked into the mirror and smiled. She remembered the last time she’d spoken with Hoggle and Sir Didymus. It was right after she graduated and told them it would be a long time before she’d be able to talk to them again. Being in the world of grown ups did that. She inspected herself. She didn’t look all that different than she did the last time. Maybe a little taller with a little less baby fat maybe. That’s what intensive yoga three times a week will get you. She smoothed down the plain black tshirt and khaki pants she wore and sighed. She was nothing special. Just an ordinary girl fighting for her chance to be on the stage and earn a paycheck so she could keep being on the stage. And that’s the way she liked it.

Chapter Text

Toby waited for what seemed like forever for Sarah to come into the garage and get into the car. She put the key in the ignition when she looked over at him.

“Put your seatbelt on,” she said, doing herself what she’d told him to do.

“Aww, aren’t you supposed to be the cool big sister?” he whined.

“I am the cool big sister, and cool big sisters tell their brothers to wear their seatbelts.”

Toby grumped a little but did what she'd asked. Seatbelts were uncomfortable and stupid. Jeffery’s mom didn’t make them wear seatbelts in the car when she drove them to school. After pulling out of the garage, Toby realized how very dark it was now that the storm raged overhead. Sheets of rain poured onto the windshield of the car and banged on the roof.

“Sheesh, maybe we should have stayed home,” Sarah said, biting her lip. “If this wasn't a food emergency, we might have.”

The rain came down so hard the tires of the car splashed water up as high as the windows.

“My friend, Jeffrey, at school said in some parts of Africa it's so dry that when there's a big storm like this, the land can’t soak it all up and they have these huge floods.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that too. Can you imagine? You’re minding your own business with your dry yard and suddenly you’re ankle deep in water? That must be a shock.”

A car going around them splashed their car with water. Sarah jumped.

“You’re awfully jumpy today,” Toby said

“I don’t know why,” Sarah said. “This storm. It’s… I don’t know.”

“It’s ok, Sarah,” Toby said. “You’re a good driver.”

Sarah smiled at her little brother. “Thanks, Toby. When you’re in the car with me, I want you to be safe. You’re one of my favorite people in the entire world, and I want you to stick around for a very long time.”

“You’re one of my favorite people too, Sarah,” Toby said. His chest felt scrunchy saying it. “I’m glad you’re my sister. I love y—”

The next ten seconds happened in slow motion. A white flash dashed across the windshield, avoiding getting hit by inches. Sarah screamed as she turned the wheel to avoid whatever it was, spinning the car out in a circle. Toby gasped when another car's brakes screeched.

Sarah reached out for Toby.  A huge force smashed into their car, and Sarah's head whipped sickeningly towards him. She slammed back against driver's window and then  silence. Sarah slide back towards Toby, flopping against him like a rag doll.

Nothing made sense. What happened? Toby’s ears buzzed with the sudden quiet, and the smell of burning tires and petrol invaded his nose. He looked down at his sister's ashen face laying in his lap.  A red trickle moved down her forehead, and he reached out to wipe it away. He drew his hand back in horror. Blood covered his hands. So much blood.  

“Sarah,” he said, trying to shake her shoulder. Nothing. “Sarah!” He tried to move her again, but nothing.

Panic set in. Too much blood dripped down her face. “Sarah!” he yelled. “No, Sarah. Wake up. Sarah!” He struggled to get his seatbelt off, but he couldn’t find the latch. Tears streamed down his face. This was a nightmare.

A loud tapping came at his window. “Oy, you ok in there?” a man’s voice called from outside.

“Help!” Toby screamed. “My sister. She’s not moving. She’s bleeding.”

All at once, people swarmed the car. As they pulled Sarah out, Toby saw things were so much worse than he thought. Her face was too pale. Gashes criss-crossed her face and lips. Toby sobbed and tried to get away from the hands that held him down while they got him out of his seatbelt. In the background, sirens of the ambulance and police wailed, but he didn’t care. Sarah was hurt, maybe dead. He yanked his arm out of the grasp of a stranger as soon as his belt released, and he scrabbled over to her. Toby wiped some of the blood from her face.

“No, no, no,” he moaned. “No, you can die. Don’t die, please. I’ll do anything.” He lay his head on her stomach. Her heart beat but it sounded too soft. Gentle but firm hands lifted him off as the paramedics worked on her. The next thing Toby knew, they had him bundled in a blanket and set him in an ambulance. As soon as Sarah was strapped to a gurney, they put her inside as well and they raced towards the hospital.

For the next few hours, Toby remembered little. What he recalled was watching them take her away as they tried to evaluate him. He cried and begged them to let him see her. He made such a fuss that they put him in the room with her, not knowing what else to do with him. She had been the only adult present. The police threw question after question at him. He could only say they were on their way to the grocers and his parents were in Europe. Finally, they left him alone and soon exhaustion overcame Toby. He curled up on the floor next to her bed and fell asleep.

*~*~*

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” a man’s voice said. He sounded annoyed. “If I had known, I would have never done it. Now my plans are ruined. And I have hurt you. I will never forgive myself for that.”

The man sighed. 

Toby could see the man’s black boots pace back and forth along Sarah’s bed. “If there was only another way to convince you. You were always so terribly stubborn.”

Toby peeked up at the man from the other side of Sarah’s bed. He was tall, thin and strange looking. His blonde hair stuck out in all directions but as if he’d styled it that way. Despite that, strands of it hung to his shoulders. His eyes were piercing, almost alien with it’s almond-shape and contrasting colors. Most surprising of all, his ears had a slight point to them. Toby gasped and popped back down behind the bed.

“You know you can’t hide from me,” the man declared. “Stand up.” His tone brooked no opposition, sort of like his mother’s.

Toby stood up. The man’s eyes zeroed in on Toby’s face. He examined him a long time, saying nothing.

“Who are you?” Toby asked.

“A friend of Sarah’s,” the man stated. The man wore a strange black shirt with a ruffle at the chest, a large, almost moon shaped medallion and black leather gloves. The guy must be one of Sarah’s actor friends. No normal person would dress like that. “Who are you?”

“Toby,” he said.

Recognition alighted his eyes. “Interesting. The rescued baby is all grown up.”

The friend walked around to the opposite side of the bed, forcing Toby to back up against the wall. Something about this guy’s presence intimidated him. The man removed his glove and gently laid his fingers on the bandages on Sarah’s injury. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he glanced at Toby.

“She won’t die,” the man said. “I made sure she won’t. But not everything is well. Time will tell, as it always does.” Circles appeared under the man’s eyes as if he hadn’t slept in weeks.

He walked out of the room. Toby looked back at Sarah. Some of the color had returned to her face. Toby ran to the door, but the man was nowhere to be seen down either hallway at the hospital.

Sarah’s stories. The words echoed in Toby’s mind. Goblin King. Underground. The kidnapped baby. The Labyrinth. But there was no way. They weren’t real. They were just bedtime stories Sarah would tell him to get him to settle down enough to sleep. The man that had left the room fit Jareth’s description perfectly.

Toby returned to Sarah’s bed and took her hand in his. Tears threatened to fall again. “Sarah, I’m scared. Wake up.” He crawled into the bed. He put his head against her shoulder. “I should have had us stay at home. I should have popped us some popcorn or something.”

He fell asleep then, worried his sister would never wake up again no matter what that weirdo in black said.