Spider and the Fly

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Labyrinth. And until I become disgustingly rich and powerful, I never will. I can, however, write about it. winks



Thanks to all those who reviewed and took the time to write me about what I could improve. And don't worry dears, now that I know how perfectly ridiculous chocolate colored eyes sound, I'll never use that term again. Even now, it sounds so cliche my skin's crawling. I didn't even remember writing that, so that means I've been reading too many romance novels and not watching enough Jim Henson movies.



And that could have made a fantastic ending, the cruelty that they both displayed so well. But I'm too vain to let it end there.





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Jareth placed her down gently, motioning to the old healer he had summoned. The old goblin moved quickly for one so ancient, and took her wrists in his hand. Muttering under his breath, the healer quickly preformed a healing spell. The cuts on her arms closed up, but there were so many pink marks, lines going up and down her arms, from her wrist to her elbow.



Jareth growled at the thought of how stupid she had been. This can't be the Sarah that defeated me! She would never have done something so foolish! he thought angrily in his head.



The healer nodded at him and shuffled away towards the door. "Your majesty," he began in his dry, raspy voice. "She has been healed physically, but she has lost much blood. She should rest."



"Understood." Jareth nodded curtly.



The healer opened the door and glanced back at Sarah. "I also placed a certain spell on her... she is very lovely, your majesty."



"What does this spell do?" Jareth spat at the old goblin.



Smiling at the king, the goblin looked back at Sarah. "She is very lovely... and very young. Don't worry, your majesty. The spell will fade with her moontime's blood, and should you wish it be renewed-"



"OUT!" Jareth roared at him, enraged by his audacity. The goblin escaped down the hall, cackling at the once-in-a-lifetime look on his king's face. They both knew easily which spell the old healer had cast on Sarah. Jareth was furious. Only a woman's mate had the authority to cast that spell on her. It was a invasive spell, one that must not be used so... callously. What angered Jareth the most, however, was that he was not the one to cast it.



Hissing between his teeth, Jareth stormed around his throne room. He was infuriated that Sarah, a mere girl, thought her life so tragic, so horrible, so empty, that she had to end it. If only she had accepted my offer! This never would have come to pass! He paced angrily before settling down in the window. He closed his eyes briefly-





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Sarah was standing at the edge of a empty playground. She was in a thin white cotton dress with almost invisible straps. She stood, watching silently, as Jareth walked up to stand next to her. He was dressed in his usual attire, he noticed, but Sarah was not. The cotton dress seemed too simple and thin. Autumn graced the trees with her presence, the leaves brilliant scarlets and golds.



"Where are we?" he asked her. His voice was strangely echoing, as if they were in a large chamber.



Sarah's face was devoid of expression or emotion. The only hint that she was alive were her eyes fluttering as her hair flew around her face, caught in a breeze. Her eyes were a vivid green, made even more so by the red rims. She had been crying.



"Why are you here?" she asked him in return, her voice echoing as his did.



"You called me here, Sarah."



"I did no such thing." She replied, standing as still as a pillar of stone. "You came to me, Goblin King. I would not have you see this."



"What is this?" he asked, trying to get her to reveal what she was hiding.



"A memory." Sarah whispered, her voice still echoing across the empty playground. She began to walk forward, but turned to look at Jareth. "You may watch, but do no interfere."



Sarah changed before his eyes, her clothing shifting into a red sweater and jeans. The sky above them darkened into a midnight clustered with stars. Sarah sat down on a park bench, her hair hanging down to cover her face. As he stood there, he heard muffled sobs coming from her. Sarah stood up, her face streaked with tears, her hair wild in the sudden wind.



"WHY?!" she screamed at the sky. Nothing answered her, except a few twinkling stars.



"Why do you have to take him?! You've taken everyone else from me! Why HIM?!" she screamed, falling to her knees and pounding the earth. Sobs broke from her, uncontrolled and boiling forth like too much stew in the pot. She kept weakly hitting the ground, her sobs quieter but by no means any more controlled. Finally, she stood up, swaying unsteadily on her feet.



Whispering, Sarah lifted her face to the sky again. "First Daddy, then Toby, now Karen... what do you want from me?!" she screamed suddenly. "I can't even remember his face! I read the book, over and over! I call him, and he doesn't come! Why?! Why HIM? Isn't it enough?!"





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Jareth snapped out of the dream. It was definitely from Sarah... but it wasn't on purpose. Growling like a feral cat, he melted into nothing. Reappearing in his chambers, Jareth stalked over to Sarah, lying peacefully in his bed. She looked like a porcelain doll – except for those hideous pink and red marks on her wrists. Cursing, he placed his fingertips on her skin. A whitish light came from his fingertips and covered her wrist, making the scars disappear. When the one wrist was healed, he took her other and did the same.



"Sarah..." he lay next to her, still and pale and barely breathing. "Did it hurt you so much? Did my rejection, the same you gave me, did that make you want to die?"



She didn't answer, just slept on. Jareth reached down and lightly touched her cheek. She was almost frozen, her skin soft and smooth like satin in the winter. He pulled her close to him, warming her body with his.



"Because that is just a taste of the pain you caused me, Sarah. But I was never so foolish to act on my desires. No... I waited until you called me back. And now... now you're mine." he murmured into her ear.



Sighing in her sleep, Sarah snuggled closer to him, her lips on his throat.



"You will wish that you were dead, once you realize what it is you have done." He smirked at her still form.





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Sarah woke up in a dark room. She was disoriented and afraid for a minute, then everything came crashing back.



Jareth.



His refusal.



The bloody knife.



The blood pool in the tub.



I should be dead.



Sarah struggled with her emotions. She wanted to scream, to cry, to do SOMETHING, but all she could do was sit there and wish there was someone to hold her.



Unbidden, a memory came to mind.





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"Sarah..."



She woke up in the chair next to Toby's bed. "Hey kiddo." she smiled sleepily at her little brother.



"Sarah... I'm scared." he whispered, his eyes full of tears.



"Scared? Toby, why are you scared?" she asked him, sitting next to him on the bed.



"I'm going to die, aren't I Sarah?"



She swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat. "No, of course not."



"That's what Mom says." Toby, frail and sick since the cancer made its appearance at age 3, slumped against his pillows. "I don't believe her either."



"Hey, everyone dies at some point."



"What will happen to me, Sarah?"



"What do you mean, Toby?"



"Will I go back to that place?"



"What place?" she asked uneasily.



"The place with the scary people and the Wild Man." he whispered, looking around for Karen.



"Toby..."



"Will I go back there, Sarah?" he whispered. "I don't want to go back there."



"I know, kiddo." She pulled him into a hug and held him. "It's not all bad there, though. I made friends when I went."



"When you rescued me." Toby was falling asleep against her.



"Yes, I did." she whispered back. She stroked his head. Chemo had taken all of his hair away. "And I'll do it again, too."



"I love you, Sarah."



"I love you too, Toby." She held him as close as she could without bruising him. He bruised so easily now...



"Sarah?" his voice startled her.



"Yeah, Toby?"



"What happened to your wrist?"





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Sarah forced the memories away from her. "I'm sorry, Toby. I didn't keep my promise." she whispered, a tear leaking down her face.



"And what promise was that, my dear?" Jareth's voice cut in through her misery.



Sarah jumped at the sound of his voice. Will his voice ever stop doing that to me? she asked herself, delighting in the shivers. "Whe-where are you?" she called out, hating how her voice broke. "Why am I here?"



"Why are you here?" his accent made "you" and "here" heavily emphasized. "Why, because you asked me, begged me, to bring you here, Sarah, remember?"



"I- I thought..."



"You thought what? I left you to suffer and to die of a broken heart, like you left me? Is that what you thought, Sarah dear?" he sneered, the room still dark.



"Yes." she whispered, hanging her head in shame.



"Ahhh. So you thought I had no heart, that I was as cruel and vicious as you? Really, Sarah, after all I did for you."



"I'm sorry."



"Oh, I bet you are. I offered you everything in my power. I asked for you to do so little... do you even remember?"



"Yes." she whispered again. She remembered, clearly, every night for the past six years. "Of course I remember." she spat the words at him with some of her old fire. "I remember every damn day!"



"What did I say, Sarah?" he prompted.



"'You asked me... to fear you, to love you, to do what you said and you would be my slave." her voice



"And you said what?" he spat.



"I said-"



"Six words that ruined everything I tried to do for you." He snarled.





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Sarah clasped her hands and retreated into herself. He's right. You ruined it. You ruined everything. You always ruin everything. You can't take care of yourself. What ever made you think he could love you?



Without realizing it, she started crying. Silent sobs shook her body and she subconsciously gripped the owl pendent. Tears streamed from her eyes as she ruthlessly destroyed herself from the inside.



Jareth felt the air around Sarah change as her emotions whirled. His eyes narrowed as he felt her withdraw.



"Oh no, Sarah, you won't escape my wrath that easily." he snarled and reached for her.



With little gentleness he flung her down onto the bed they were laying on. She let out a quiet squeak as he covered her with his body. She was still too far within herself to be truly realize his plans.





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Jareth kissed her.



The electricity startled them both, and left her with a rush of heat. She gasped, and Jareth took advantage of her open mouth. His warm tongue slipped in and teased her before leaving and his lips trailed a path down to her shoulder, his tongue sliding under the strap of her silk nightgown.



Sarah was sighing with pleasure and her hands running over his back, pressing against him and her legs twining around his. "Jareth..." she whispered, her eyes closed and her voice trembling.



Growing impatient, Jareth slipped the strap off her shoulder and pulled it down, exposing her breast. Within seconds, his mouth was on her, tasting and teasing and flicking over her skin. Her nipples hardened under the pleasurable onslaught, and her back arched underneath him. Sarah moaned as his hand traveled up her leg, under her gown, stopping on her thigh. To feel his fingers on her like this, gloved or not... to have him touch her was ecstasy.



Jareth felt himself losing control. He wanted to bury himself in Sarah's soft body, her moans and sighs promises of pleasure for them both. But he knew he would regret it. She was not ready... no matter how much they both wanted her to be. With a start he realized his hand was on her bare thigh, under her gown, and so close to her... he started to pull away, but Sarah moaned in his ear and he couldn't. He slid the other strap down and took her other breast in his mouth, hearing her breathing increase as he lightly nipped her. She whispered his name again, this time with more demand and need in her voice.



Sarah felt Jareth starting to pull away, and she cried out in pleasure at the thought of how close his hand was to her. When he started paying attention to her other breast, she thought she would die.



"Jareth!"



She knew then she had crossed a line. He ripped her dress away from her, leaving her completely bare and shivering under his gaze. His lips curled in a feral smile- and he was gone.



Sarah was lying on the bed, naked, aching and needing, and Jareth had disappeared. Shivering from the sudden cold, she curled into a ball on the bed, trying to cover up.



"Come now, Sarah," Jareth's voice echoed in her head. "Did you honestly think I would give you that honor? Especially when you spurned it six years ago."



"I didn't-"



"Spare me your excuses, Sarah. Perhaps you'll have that pleasure someday... but after you've suffered."



Hurt and embarrassed at her reaction to Jareth, Sarah flung the only insult she had at him.



"I HATE YOU!"



His mocking laugh echoed in her head and then she knew he was gone. Sobbing, she curled up tighter and wished he let her die.



The one thought she had before slipping into that blissful darkness from before was comforting and oddly disturbing. He didn't know... how could he not know?





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Jareth paced in the throne room, cursing her, his weakness, himself, the goblin that was sleeping in the corner. He wanted to go back to her, to bury himself in her, to hear her scream his name and to feel her nails bite into him. He wanted her kisses and her moans. He wanted her.



A knock on his door interrupted his pacing. "What?!" he shouted.



A goblin stuck its head in the room. Resembling a furry shrunken potato, it crept into the room, wary of his King's mood. "Beggin' yer pardon, yer majesty, but we was wonderin' if yer want yer dinner?"



"Yes, fine, bring it." He waved his hand at her.



"And... the missus?" it ventured.



Jareth glared at the goblin. "She is fine."





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Sarah eventually fell asleep, exhausted from the lust and then the sadness and self hatred. She woke up some time later, alert there was something in the room. She sat up, trying to cover herself, at least parts of herself.



"Oh, calm down Sarah, if I wanted to ravish you, I wouldn't have left. Although you were quite willing last I checked." Jareth's silky voice whispered in her ear.



Sarah shuddered at those words and tried to slip away, but his arms were around her, pinning her to the bed. "Jareth, let me go!" she panicked, trying to get away.



His lips on hers stilled her movements. "Hush, you stupid child." He muttered, then kissed her again.



Sarah didn't hold still, if anything she struggled harder. Jareth growled low in his throat and bit her neck, right under her ear. When she nearly managed to slap him, he pinned her down and glared at her.



"Will you behave?" he snarled.



She sighed and stopped struggling. Jareth's gloved hand slipped up and framed one side of her face, stroking her cheek. "You were always so beautiful when you dreamed, Sarah. Why did you stop?" he whispered, his voice a seductive caress in itself.



Sarah heard his question, but she ignored it in favor of his lips so near her ear.



"Sarah!" he said, his voice hard. "Dammit Sarah, answer me!



She closed her eyes and then tried to wrench away. She managed to grab ahold of his hair and yank his head away.



Jareth gripped her wrist and pinned it above her head. Grabbing her other hand, he pinned it with her other hand and pushed himself off of her. "Get ahold of yourself, Sarah, before we regret it." he hissed into her ear, his grip brusing her wrists.



Sarah heard him, finally, and fought to get control of herself. Something he did to her, now that she was older... it made her crazy. She idly wondered if other women were as insane around him.



"I'm trying. Stop touching me and I'll get my head clear." she hissed back at him. She still couldn't see him, but somehow he always managed to see her in this room. See her, know where she was... he could see her naked!



Sarah tried to rear up and free herself, but she couldn't fight Jareth's strength. She remembered those long slender fingers of his and nearly lost herself in perverted ideas. Finally, she calmed down and stared up at where she thought his face was.



"Will you get off of me? And turn on some damn lights!" she snapped.



"As you wish." he whispered. The weight disappeared and the lights came on.



Sarah looked around and found herself in a luxurious room with dark red and black. Jareth sat on the window ledge, watching her with his amused smirk. Sarah flushed and realized she was on a large silk covered bed. Grabbing the blanket, she yanked it over herself.



"Oh, come Sarah, I'm not that big a brute as you imagine." Jareth mocked. "You've been fully clothed this entire time."



Sarah flushed redder and looked down at herself. There was a tight white top and skirt that were so skin tight they felt like they weren't there at all. That explained why she hadn't felt them at all. Even my nails are painted white... what in all the hells? She wondered to herself.



"What do you want, Jareth?" she snapped, bristling that he'd tricked her again.



"Ah, there's the old Sarah I know." he said, smiling his cruel and beautiful smile. "The one who dreamed, the one who ran my Labyrinth and defeated me."



"What do you want?!" she demanded, sliding out of the bed. As soon as her bare feet touched the floor, the lights flashed. Sarah jumped but still kept moving towards Jareth. He watched, amused, as the lights went out and Sarah was plunged into darkness. "Why are you doing this?!" she cried out.



"I have questions, Sarah, and I want answers." His voice answered. "Why did you stop dreaming?"





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Sarah was surprised by the unwarranted question (at least, unwarranted in her opinion) and said nothing, absentmindedly rubbing her wrists were her scars used to be. It was then she noticed her wrists were smooth. No cuts, scars, or even scratches.



She gasped.



"Admiring my handiwork? It was quite an impressive collection, Sarah. Even one as old as I doesn't have as many scars."



"Why did you-"



"Come come, Sarah, I couldn't have such a lovely guest in my house, bearing the marks of such cruelty." He laughed mockingly. "Even if it is cruelty bestowed by the guest herself. I wonder what your family would think of that."



Sarah sank to the floor as she realized: he wouldn't stop until she told him.



Taking a deep breath, she spoke.





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"My stepmother, Karen... never cared for me. Not in the way wicked stepmothers acted, she just... didn't know, didn't understand. She didn't care enough to try. I was a puzzle that was too complex and put aside, randomly pulled out into the open when she needed a distraction.



Shortly after my stay in the Labyrinth, I was so jumpy. Shadows and the slightest noise would make me scream... and the nightmares... they were too much . For her... and for me." She swallowed before continuing. "Karen tried to talk to me about it. I told her about the Labyrinth, about Toby, everything."



"Even me, Sarah?" he whispered. "Even your hated enemy, the Goblin King?"



"Especially about you." she whispered. "You were – you are my dreams personified. Everything I ever wanted, everything I ever dreamed... you offered it to me. And I... I was an idiot and spurned you. I gave up my dreams for Toby to be safe. I gave up all you were offering. I was an idiot to give up you."



Her voice grew softer as her story progressed. Jareth was surprised she admitted that about him, but found himself struggling to hear, and abandoned his post at the window. Seating himself next to her, he listened.



"Karen was convinced I was crazy. She starting talking to Daddy, about how I needed to go to a doctor, get help, how all the stories turned my head. Eventually, Daddy got so stressed one night... he hit me. It wasn't anything big. Just a slap, really, but still. It shattered all I was. All my thoughts about the world... gone.



I ran into my room and slammed the door, locking it. I had a knife. I used it for projects when I couldn't find my scissors. And then..." she idly traced her wrist again. "The first cut hurt, but it felt so good, to feel it bleed. Eventually I wrapped it up and hid it under my long sleeves. I was able to hide it, for so long. Arm warmers and bracelets helped too.



Until one day Karen went too far. She told me she hoped I died like my mother. I cut so hard I couldn't stop the bleeding. Eventually I did, but I had a huge bandage. Stupid, self absorbed girl I was, I forgot that I had to go shopping the next day for a dress for the school dance Karen was making me attend.



She saw the bandages and the cuts, the scars."



"What did she do to you, Sarah?" he whispered, his voice dangerous.



She sat there, still idly tracing the marks she remembered so well.



"Sarah? What did she do?"



"She took me to Daddy. She showed him my arms." Sarah's voice broke. "They locked me up in a mental hospital. I was placed in a straight jacket and force fed. One of the orderlies beat me, and I was medicated until I was little more than a zombie."



"Sarah..."



"That wasn't the worst of it." she continued as if she hadn't heard his pained whisper. "Some of the orderlies were sick. They amused themselves with patients. One night, they came for me." Her voice caught on the last word.



"Sarah..." Jareth reached for her hand, lightly grasping it.



She didn't seem to feel, lost in memories. "I screamed. I screamed and screamed and screamed. It brought one of the good orderlies, and he hit the fire alarm. In the end, it was too late. After... after they were done, the doctors said I was... okay. A little beaten and bruised, but otherwise I was okay. There would be no permanent damage, and with the drugs I was on, I wouldn't remember any of it.



After that, even though Karen was trying to convince him otherwise, Daddy pulled me out and brought me home. I stopped cutting. I was happy, seeing Toby everyday. Until the day he got sick."



Jareth's mind was reeling. She had been through so much. But when she spoke of Toby, her voice changed to that of a plaintive little girl's. Like a girl who was lost and couldn't find anyone she knew.





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"Toby was diagnosed with a cancer. It was in his bone marrow. He was only 5... we all tried to find him donors, but none of us matched. No one matched. We couldn't save him, but one day, he started getting better.



We were so happy! He was getting better...



But then it got worse, it got so much worse. Daddy had a heart attack at work, and we were left alone. Right about the same time... Toby's cancer returned. It spread to his blood." Sarah's voice was breaking on almost every word, but she kept going.



"I was the only one at the funeral. Karen told me to go, I knew Daddy better. I went, and stood alone as all his friends and business associates said their condolences. It was too much for me. I tried to call Hoggle that night. I tried, and I couldn't. Sir Didymus and Ludo were gone too. Everyone was gone!"



Her plaintive wail tore at him.



"I found another knife. I slashed my arms so badly... I tore up a shirt to make bandages. I managed to sleep and woke up so tired. I didn't dream that night, or the next. I couldn't even dream during the day. I just remembered happier times. Times when everyone answered, when we were all healthy and alive.



One night, I was with Toby in his room. He saw my arms... and made me promise to never do it again. I did. I promised him I would.



He died the next week. He was barely 7... it was 3 months ago."



"And your stepmother?" Jareth inquired.



"Karen killed herself the next week. Poison in her drink. Everything we had was spent on Toby's bills. We didn't have anything left. All I had were my clothes.



I lived with friends for a few months, until I saved up enough to get out and get a place of my own. I did okay... but my memories kept coming back. My regrets."



"Regrets? About what?"



"About not saving Toby. Letting him become a goblin was probably better than dying like that, wracked with pain. About losing good friends... and... you."



"You regretted me?" He asked in surprise.



"I regretted saying no." she said simply. Her hand was ice cold in his.





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Jareth pulled her close, molding her against him. Patting her head, stroking her hair, rubbing her arm... just letting her know he was there. Sarah sighed and buried her face in his neck.



"Why didn't you let me die?" she whispered, broken.