Work Text:
Sarah
Sarah winced as she attempted to rest her cheek on her hand, the pain reminding her about the big purple bruise forming on her face. She shifted over to her other side to try to get comfortable. The bleachers she was sitting on weren’t helping the discomfort of her sore tailbone but as of right now she had nowhere else to go, and being at Muscle Beach has always made Daniel so happy. She really needed to to give the 4 year old something to distract him while she figured out where to go and what to do. She didn’t know if she could go home, it really hasn’t been home for her for 10 years. Especially after she met him, she wasn’t allowed much contact with other people, living across the country from loved ones certainly made it easier for him to isolate her from everyone. She didn’t know if she could really go back and admit her failure both personally and professionally. There wasn’t much there for her anyway, save for her brother Toby, even then she’s missed so much of his life they would be practically strangers. No, she decided that she wouldn’t go back there. She would find somewhere else, somewhere they could be safe and she would find somewhere that was home. She watched her little man try to imitate all the bodybuilders poses and couldn’t help but laugh. If it weren’t for him, she thought, I don’t know where I would be. Ten years ago, after high school, life seemed to be going exactly to plan. She wanted to perform and also get away from the family. She wanted to be independent and make it on her own, so New York was not an option. Too close to her birth mother Linda. No doubt Linda would see her as a rival or a threat, so she applied and was ultimately accepted into UCLA. She packed up her little hatchback, kissed her brother goodbye and was on her way to all her hopes and dreams. She was positive everything would work out exactly as she planned. The first year of school went by fast, she was doing well in her classes and going out on every audition she could. By the second semester of her sophomore year she was starting to get discouraged, hardly any of the auditions she went on led to callbacks, and even less turned into anything more than a small roles in the local theaters. Someone made mention that she should try her hand at modeling, but she quickly dropped that pursuit when more often than not the jobs would start off as bikini shoots and turn into porn. At 19 she resigned herself into becoming a hollywood cliche and got a job waitressing at a swanky place in Beverly Hills hoping to be discovered
Two weeks after she turned 21 is when she met him. On one of her few friday nights off she went to a bar with a couple of her classmates to see some live music. When she walked in the tall thin blond caught her eye instantly. He was on the stage strumming his guitar and singing in a low gravelly voice. She stopped dead in her tracks utterly fixated. He looked exactly like the man who had been haunting her dreams since she was 15. Well not exactly, his hair was long but not wild, and his eyes while stormy blue were not the same. The King in her dreams had what appeared to be different colored eyes, but once you got close to him it was clear they were the same color, only one pupil was permanently dilated. Everything after that night escalated quickly, and not for better. Even though she was a virgin, she let him charm her into having sex with him on the first date. She closed her eyes and acted out every fantasy she had for the Goblin King with him. She regretted it almost immediately,, she couldn’t believe she allowed her feelings for the Goblin King to influence how she felt about him. That night was she always considered one of the worst nights of her life. A. because she let him trick her into having sex and probably more importantly B. because that night she stopped having dreams about the underground. Ever since she left the Labyrinth her dreams were constantly filled with her friends and different places throughout the Underground. They were never memories of what happened, it was almost as if she was living a second life there. It took several months of dreams before Jareth appeared and once they settled some difference of opinions of what really happened that night with Toby, he came back all the time. He spent time with her, shared with her and became something of a staple in her life. He was someone she relied heavily on, and came to love. He never made any suggestions that he had more than friendly feelings for her, and he never once made his offer a second time. She was happy to just have him in her life, so if friendship was all he offered her she would take it. After that night though with him, the dreams suddenly stopped. It left her feeling empty and alone, she couldn’t help but feel abandoned by Jareth and her friends. He was very charming at first, and before she knew it, he had moved into her tiny apartment and she was paying all his bills. She’s not even sure how or when it happened. She was too far into the situation before she was even aware there was a situation to be in. He decided that his potential career was more important than hers, so she stopped going on auditions and only focused on working and school. Although, he ended up taking school away from her as well. Eventually he had complete control over her, she had no friends left, no school and hardly spoke to her family, and that’s when the cheating and abuse started. There was no love of affection, he only came to her bed when he was to drunk to go out looking for tail as he so charmingly put it.
At 23 she found out she was going to be a mother. Even though life was less than perfect, she was so happy. She would have someone to love and to love her back. She wasn’t alone anymore, and she vowed she would be a better mother than her own and this baby would be the most loved child in any and all worlds. He was not happy with the news, he smacked her across the face and accused her cheating. He stormed out of the house talking about how he found someone prettier and better than her anyway. She didn’t see him again tell Daniel was already turning two. He came back every once in awhile for what he considered an easy lay, but was actually her giving in hoping to distract him from her life and the life of her son. If he got what he wanted he would leave faster. Sarah had become pretty good at reading the patterns and was usually able to get Daniel away before he came over. He was positive the boy was not his, so he no interest in actually seeing him. Sarah was grateful for that, she could keep all the focus on herself and the kid would never be the focus of his abuse. She wasn’t willing to chance him actually sticking around too long and thinking he could get something from Daniel.
When Sarah found out she was having a boy she did what every new mother did and researched baby names. She wanted to give him a strong name, and desperate for that connection to her family, one that tied him to his Irish roots. She found a book of Celtic baby names and was drawn to the name Daniel. The description is was really sold it “ Donal: Donald or Daniel domhan "world" and all "mighty" implying "ruler of the world." "Donal Og" ("Young Donal") is the title of a fifteenth-century love song that is still popular among Irish traditional musicians and singers.” She loved the idea of her baby being “Ruler of the World”. She couldn’t ask for a stronger name. As Daniel grew up, he definitely lived up to his name. He had a very regal attitude, and his mother treated him like a little prince. He was a kind boy, and very intelligent. He had a wonderful imagination that Sarah tried to to harness. He loved adventure stories, and books about magic. His favorite being the story of the girl who loved the Goblin King. He was a happy child, he never knew of his mother’s sadness and loneliness. Sarah never understood how his father could refuse to claim him, not that she was really complaining, it just baffled her because he was an exact miniature of the man. She chose to ignore the fact that she had a miniature of the man who puts her through hell and pretended instead that she has a miniature of only man she really ever loved. Years of hurt and anger had subsided, she still felt abandoned by the Goblin King occasionally but mostly her thoughts were always kind, though she never actually said his name anymore. It was always just the Goblin King. It got even easier for her to pretend Daniel was his, after one day after Daniel fell down at the park hitting his face on rock he damaged one of his eyes and now one pupil was always open and dilated. Now every time he would try to give her attitude she couldn’t help but laugh. He’d put his hands on his hips, tilt his head to one side and squint at her and she was always reminded of the haughty expression of the King.
Last night he surprised Sarah and showed up at her door unannounced. She usually had a few drunk phone calls before he’d show up, it would give her plenty of time to get Daniel out of the apartment to stay the night at her neighbor's place. Last night though, he showed up sober and with flowers, full of regret and apologies. Daniel was her first thought when she opened the door and saw him. She thanked whatever god or goddess that was looking out for her that he was on play date with a school friend and not due back for a few hours. He pushed his way in and started pleading his case about how sorry he was, and how there was no one else in the world for him. How he had changed and wanted to be a family with her and David. She scoffed at the fact he didn’t even know Daniel’s name. She rebuffed his advances and when slapped his hand away from cradling her butt, that’s when things got violent. Once he was done, he swore to her that she would regret the day she turned him down. She and the boy would never be safe. She decided they had to get the hell out of town. She spent the night packing up the car with whatever she thought they needed, the rest be damned and they left first thing in the morning. Since she didn’t really know where to go, she ended up taking him to Venice Beach to see the weight lifters. It kept him distracted and not asking too many questions and gave her some time to think. She didn’t have hardly any friends and no support system. She was alone in the world, save for Daniel, she never fit into this world. She thought back to the last time she really felt accepted and loved, it was in the Labyrinth. She wished she had her friends to rely on. Just once she would like to have someone in her life who be there for her as everything around her was crumbling. She had that devotion from someone once, but she gave it up in order to save her brother. She sighed audibly and voiced her thoughts out loud
“ Well Goblin King, you promised to be there tell the world fell down, and my world is falling down again and you are nowhere to be found.” she shook head at her silliness, it’s been almost 7 years since the last time he visited her in her dreams and 13 since she saw him in person. He wasn’t coming for her,
“ Jareth, I wish you would come and help us though…” the sentence was left hanging in the air as she felt something. Her senses were tingling, she could smell him and feel him. She sat upright not knowing what to do.
Jareth
He was there the instant she finally used the right words. He always knew when she called out for him, he could always hear her, but could never go to her until she used the right words. Afterall, he had no power over her. When she left the labyrinth 13 years ago, he was heartbroken. After a few weeks of sulking and pouting he finally accepted her decision. He knew she felt the same way about him as he did her, but she was on a mission to save her brother. He realized his offer to her was an extreme all or nothing, but he wanted her and the boy. He felt a connection with the babe as well as her. He had wanted an heir for as long as he could remember, but since the Fae don’t reproduce easy he saw a chance with Toby to have a son. In his arrogance he was positive she would choose to stay with him. It wasn’t tell later that realized that she was too young to fully understand that sort of offer. He knew deep down she would come back to him one day, he just had to wait until she was ready. He knew if he could keep her connected to the Labyrinth and her friends it would be an easier choice for her to want to come back. So he left the link to the worlds open, allowed her friends to continue to see her and visited her in her dreams. It allowed him to get to know her, and her to get to know the real him. Not the Goblin King villain she cast him as. Through her dreams they were able bury the hatchet, learn to understand each other and even develop a report with one another. He relished in the fact he was able to become friends with her and was working on building a foundation of a great relationship. The benefit of already being over 1000 is he had plenty of time and would wait until she was ready. He would not offer her again tell he knew she would take it. He would not trick her or try force her into anything. If he could develop a strong friendship with her, he felt it would eventually move into a great and lasting love he knew they were destined for. He would not force her hand, and to be honest didn’t want to risk the heartbreak again. He would only ask her to come home when he knew she was ready.
Things were going great for over 5 years. He knew deep down she would be coming home soon, he didn’t want to pressure her and thought her going to school for a little while would be good for her. It would give her some life experience and she wouldn’t regret coming back with him thinking she missed out something important above.
Then he showed up in her life. Jareth was watching her through a crystal, he worried about her going out to bars in that horrible city she insisted on living in. So he would watch to make sure no trouble befell her, he witnessed the first interaction between his Sarah and that man. At first Jareth preened at the fact that she was so taken with someone who looked so much like him, but his face fell in jealousy when it seemed to go past a passing fancy. When she laid with that man for the first time, Jareth was furious. He threw the crystal against the wall and screamed a scream of heartache and agony. The entire inhabitants of the kingdom heard it. He threw the mightiest of tantrums, he destroyed the throne room and finally with all his energy spent he sat and hung his head and cried. Once again he was a fool for his arrogance. He was positive she knew they were destined to be together. Even if she were just a mortal, he knew she could feel that they were soul mates. That she was his perfect match. They completed each other and belong to one another. In a fit he later would come to regret, he sealed off all contact with the girl. No one would allowed to visit her, he would no longer look in on her. He left her up there to his poor imitation. It was only after his royal tantrum that he realized exactly what he did. He ended her open invitation to her world, and now he could have no contact with her, not even watch her through the crystals until she wished him back into her life.
They were soul mates, and because of this the connection was not completely severed, that would be his punishment for his anger. He could feel her happiness and her pain, he could hear her need for him but he was never able to do anything about it. He knew she would never use the words “I wish”, he had taught her words have power and he taught her too well. That was the price he paid for his hubris. He used this as a tool to improve himself, he learned to control his temper and think things through before doing something, most of the time anyway.
7 years, had passed and still no wish from her. It was killing him to not be able to be with her, and last night had been the worst night of all. He felt everything she felt, her fear, her anger her disappointment, her desperation, her worry. He knew something major had happened, and he had never felt more helpless in his long life, well actually he felt this way one night 4 years ago. He could feel she was pain, but for some reason tonight felt different. He paced the length of his throne room for hours hoping and even making his own wishes she would say it and allow him back into her life. He was on lap 5,694 of his pacing when he suddenly stopped. He felt something changing, and a smile lit up his face when he finally heard the words “I wish..” he was behind her before the sentence was even finished. He saw her sitting on the bleachers, he saw the moment she became aware of him. He watched her look around, a small smile played on his lips till she turned her face to the other side and he saw the bruise. His face dropped and his eyes filled with fire. He noticed the bruises on her arms and he almost went into a rage. He managed to calm himself and remind himself that he was here for her, she was his first priority. Once she was ok he would take care of the person who did that her.
Together
Sarah decided she didn’t want to make a scene, she would try her best to be nonchalant. As much as she wanted to throw herself in his arms, she didn’t know for sure how he even felt about her. She felt him silently sit on the bleacher directly above her, protectively putting her between both his legs. She felt his apprehension. Both were worried about the other’s reaction so they sat there quietly for a several minutes.
“Aren’t you afraid of what people will think of you dressed the way you are?” she decided to break the ice, “Actually never mind, we’re at Venice Beach, I doubt anyone will notice, everyone will just assume you’re a street performer. You just missed a man on his bike wearing a giant stuffed frog on his back like a cape loudly ribbiting as he passed people” she laid her head on his knee and felt him start to run his fingers through her hair as he chuckled. Neither could remember the last time they felt this peaceful and content.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked still smoothing down her hair.
She simply shook her head no. “Just someone I should have gotten away from a long time ago. Why are you here now? I’ve wanted you so many times before, why now?” she asked trying to hold in the tears.
” You finally said the right words.” his reply was so quiet she barely heard him. He didn’t want to tell her about how he had sealed off his world to hers, he just wanted to enjoy being with her. He didn’t think he could tell her just yet about his jealous rage, he was still too ashamed of what he had done, and felt guilty that if he hadn’t he could have saved her long ago.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t have come sooner. I should have come and gotten you years ago.” he stilled his hand trying to calm himself down.Now was not the time to have this conversation, there would be plenty of time to hash out the pain and hurt later. Now that he had her back, he was never letting her go again. When he stopped rubbing her hair, Sarah turned and looked up at him and his anger was calmed as soon as he looked into her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes that he thought he’d never see again. He leaned in and kissed her, it was slow and tentative at first but quickly grew to something more fervent and desperate. She let herself get lost for a moment in the passion, but quickly pulled her wits together and pulled away. He gave a small noise in protest, she placed her hand on his heart to try to ease the rejection.
“There is something really important I need you to know.” she tried telling him, he lifted her hand and gently kissed each finger, “I don’t care Sarah, nothing you say is going to change how I feel about you.” he replied finally noticing how she kept looking back at a child by the workout area. “Well, this actually might…” she took her hand away and called for Daniel.
The little boy heard his mother call and came up to find a strange looking man grabbing for his mother’s hand. Ever the good knight, Daniel was fiercely protective over her. He took the stance he felt was most threatening, his little hands balled on his hips, head tilted to one side and eyes squinted and proclaimed in a voice much older than his 4 years
“Who are you, and why are you kissing my Mommy’s hand?” Sarah laughed at the all too familiar way he was standing, waiting for Jareth’s reaction. It took a second for Jareth the register it was him being spoken to, he dropped Sarah’s hand in shock at the little 4 foot tall version of himself. “Well?” the boy demanded when he wasn’t getting a response. Jareth still couldn’t recover his voice to answer, especially after gazing into a pair of eyes that looked so much like his own.
“Daniel, this is Mommy’s very old very dear friend Jareth, Jareth this is my son Daniel.” Sarah decided to intervene, since for once in his life the Goblin King seemed to be speechless.
“Daniel? That means ruler of the world doesn’t it? I like your name, you seem to carry yourself as a little prince as well. Good to meet you my boy.” Regaining some composure he stuck his hand out for the boy to shake. This seemed to satisfy Daniel, he shook his hand then climbed into his mother’s lap. He chatted with her about the muscle men, and what great knights they would make. Seems he already had an entire plan about how he would have a gym like that in his kingdom so all his knights would be as strong as them. Jareth listened absolutely entranced by the young boy and his mother talking. He listened closely as they wove a tale about Daniel’s kingdom and its inhabitants, the knights, the dragons and now giants after seeing some of these men. He was amazed by his imagination and the way he spoke like it was all a fact that one day he would rule a magical kingdom. He was amused by their back and forth, Sarah seemed to be a wonderful loving mother.
“Mommy! The strong men said if it is ok with you they would bench dress me.”
“Press love, they will bench press.”
“That’s what I said, so can I?”
“Sure honey go ahead.” he smiled the most enchanting smile kissed her gently on the cheek and ran back to the “strong men”.
“His father is the one that did this to me. Well I say father, but he doesn't claim Daniel, he thinks Daniel is someone else's so mostly he pretends he doesn’t exist. Until last night. As long as we are in this city we aren’t safe. I just don’t know what to do, I don’t have anyone who can help and my family…” she was cut off from her rambling when gently turned her around to face him. “Sarah he’s…” she interrupted him, fearful of a rejection because of her having a son. He wouldn’t want someone else's kid,
“ I know now you probably don’t want me. I just needed someone to lean on and get a little support, I just needed to see you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, he’s the reason I never wished for you before. I thought you wouldn’t want anything to do with me after you found out I had a child. I know some men don’t want to raise other people’s children, even though Daniel is the most wonderful little boy...” even realizing the huge assumption she just made couldn’t stop her rambling, in fact it only made it worse, “Oh god, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to assume that you still love me, it’s just a fantasy I’ve had for years. I use to pretend he was your son, oh god! Why do I keep putting my foot in my mouth? I’m probably really freaking you out!” he finally had enough and put a finger to her lips
“Are you finished?” he asked with a small smile on his lips, he found her rambling adorable even if it was utter nonsense. She snapped her mouth shut and nodded yes.
“Ok, Im going to try to address as many of the things you said that I could actually make out. First I was going to say, he’s magnificent before I was rudely interrupted,” she couldn’t help but smile at his teasing and the compliment to her son. “ Of course I still love you my dear sweet girl, I have never stopped and never will. You are my other half. Now for the crazy notion of yours that Daniel would make me love you any less, I don’t understand why you think that. If anything it only adds to the joy of having you in my life. I wouldn’t change a thing about him, other than I wish I could have seen him as a baby. He seems wonderful, and he is very handsome,” the last thing was said with a wink, she blushed now at the nod that he too saw the resemblance
“ And for your earlier statements about not having anywhere to go, that is the ridiculous. You will come back with me. Come home Sarah. Come home to me and we will be together like we should have always been. I want to marry you, I want you to be by my side always, I want you to be my Queen and Daniel to be my heir.” she could see the love and vulnerability in his eyes. She looked down and said yes, so quietly he had to make sure he heard correctly.
“Yes? You’ll come home?You’ll be my wife?” she nodded again, tears filling her eyes. He grabbed her roughly and pulled her into his chest, and hugged her tight to his chest for fear of her disappearing. He kissed her head and told her how much he loved her. Daniel observed from atop one of strong man’s shoulders and smiled. He was positive his Mommy had finally found her Prince and could be happy.
Sarah leaned back to look at him, she could hardly believe he was real and actually here. He looked down equally as surprised to actually be holding her again for the first time in 13 years. He leaned down again and kissed her.
Satisfied she was not another day dream, he stood up held his hand out to her and said, “Come along my Queen, let's collect our son, we have a magical kingdom to show our little Prince.” surprised and overjoyed by the use of the pronoun, she took his hand and went over to the boy. They were stopped by a couple of men who had been watching the exchange,
“You the one who did this to her?” one of the men said pointing to the bruise on Sarah’s cheek, reluctant to hand over the child to a potentially dangerous man.
“God no!” he exclaimed with utter disgust at the accusation “In fact I fully intend to find the bastard and make him pay. He will regret the day he laid a finger on her, and if I’m feeling generous he will be allowed to keep said finger!” Jareth’s outburst seemed to placate the men and they let him through to get to Daniel. Jareth lifted him off the shoulders of the bodybuilder, and put him on top of his own to the delight of the child.
“Now Daniel, I heard your stories about your kingdom, and I’d like to take you show you mine. If you would like one day it could be your kingdom.” he said patting the boy’s leg.
“COOL!” the prince exclaimed loudly.
“Just one important question,” Jareth said grabbing Sarah’s hand and walking them away from the beach between two buildings so he could transport them home, “How do you feel about goblins?”