A rescue and a time for truth...

The beast reached out with one claw, ready to take the Goblin King into it's grasp. A clicking of boots could be heard against the stone floor and a figure stood over the stationary form of the Goblin King. The figure shook his head from side to side.

"So pathetic." He then looked up at the beast who gazed at the man with recognition in its beady black eyes. "Leave him. Grack has a meal for you at the end of the tunnel. A very big meal for a job well done." The beast complied and left the man to stand over the fallen Goblin King.

Jareth was coming to, moaning softly at the pain that was throbbing in his head. He tried to rise, but felt too dizzy to sit up and he held himself off the cold floor with one hand as the other gripped his head, trying to stop the walls from spinning. He could hear the sound of something approaching and he finally was able to look up. His eyes were still blurry but he could see three figures. One appeared to be a man, the other two were large creatures of some sort.

"I must admit that I am very surprised to see you here."

Jareth's brows lowered over his eyes at the sound of that voice and he stood quickly, forcing himself to ignore the dizziness that threatened his legs to sway, for him to fall. The moment he stood strong hands gripped him tightly. He didn't fight but stood straight and tall, a mask of arrogance on his face. The truth was that he hadn't the strength to fight them.

Gorgin stepped closer to him, his scar shining in the light of a torch that burned across the hall. "I guess the mortal was right...you do care about her. Such a pity." Gorgin paced around Jareth in a circle studying him as if the Goblin King was his prey. "I had thought that you would have learned that love is for fools, but then again you always were a fool anyway. Obviously you have not learned any lessons from the past."

"It is you who has not learned from the past. You were banished from your kingdom, your existence locked away by your own parents who were ashamed of you and your magic was taken because of your foul deeds. It is you who has not learned."

Gorgin spun at him and kicked Jareth in the gut, the toe of his boot jamming hard into the Goblin King's ribs. Jareth tried to double over to protect himself from further pain but the creatures that held him wouldn't have any part of that. He was forced to stand. He grit his teeth against the pain, grinding them together.

"I have learned." Gorgin told him with a devious smile. "This time I will have a Kingdom to rule and it will be yours. You will sign it over to me."

Jareth chuckled coldly the movement aggravating his bruised ribs, but he didn't care. "Not even my death would see you rule. My kingdom is safe guarded against such things, you know better that."

"I do know. Which is why you will sign over your kingdom to me."

"Not a chance. Nothing could make me sign over my kingdom to you."

A brow rose over one of Gorgin's eyes. "Nothing you say? How about the mortal woman that I have in my possession?"

Jareth turned his head from him, gritting his teeth. His face was a mask of arrogance a shield protecting his true feelings. "She means nothing to me." He spit out.

"Oh really? I find that very interesting information, seeing as how you put yourself in danger to come here and rescue her." Jareth glared at him. "I'm not a fool Jareth, so don't treat me like one. I know damn well that you are in love with the mortal woman. Rumors of her return to the underground spread like wildfire on a windy day. Was it a coincidence to find you out with your little ready made family in Goblin City? I think not. Even I know that you wouldn't dare set foot within Goblin City, not without good reason. You remain in your castle, you always have. You were showing her off to your subjects and showing her your kingdom as if she were to be your future queen!"

Gorgin controlled his temper and watched the Goblin King intently. Jareth's face was arrogant, cold, his stare icy. "I thought you would have learned from what happened to Artaygon that love kills, love conquers, love is for fools."

"Your brother has been dead for nearly a hundred years and you are still jealous of him."

Gorgin laughed. "What could I possibly be jealous of? An early grave?"

"You have never known love, even though Artaygon's brush with it was brief, he knew love for 6 months. He knew 6 months of peace in the arms of a woman. That's 6 months more then you ever knew."

"And those 6 months prepared him for his grave."

"You're still a coward, Gorgin." Jareth told him glancing at his henchmen. "You needed woman to hide behind last time and a group of beasts to hide behind now."

Gorgin's reply was a sharp kick to Jareth's ribs and once again he was not allowed to lick his wounds, so to speak.

The look on Gorgin's face was a look of pure rage. "You will sign your kingdom over to me and if you won't I will make you sign."

Jareth recovered quickly, doing his best to hide the pain that was ripping through him. He opened his mouth to speak but Gorgin cut him off.

"I'll allow you to watch me torture her. I'll chain you to a wall and you can have a perfect view as I kill her slowly." Jareth's eyes were full of anger, his physical pain nearly forgotten. "Her cries will force you to sign it over to me and if hers don't do it and her death doesn't, her daughter's cries certainly will. Their deaths would be your fault. Something you could have prevented had you signed a measly paper."

Jareth struggled, his anger beginning to get the better of him, when suddenly a sound stopped him. Something was coming down the tunnel, something very big.

Someone was yelling and running quickly and to his surprise he saw that it was Hoggle. The dwarf was running at them all at break neck speed and a beast similar to the one that had attacked them earlier was right on his heels.

"It's the beast from the other tunnel, the one that can't be controlled!" Gorgin cried out.

This beast was bigger then the one Gorgin had controlled so easily. Gorgin's creatures released Jareth and the Goblin King fell to his knees, rolling to the side wall just in time as the beast made it's way to them. Hoggle jumped to his side and tried to pull Jareth to his feet as the beast continued down the hall chasing Gorgin and his creatures who ran for their lives.

"Hoggle?"

"No time for explanations , I bought us some time, gotta find Sarah."

Jareth got quickly to his feet and followed the dwarf down on the hallways in the dungeons. "Sarah!!!" he cried out loudly. Hoggle joined in this time, yelling for the mortal woman as loudly as he could.

Sarah was sitting on the floor, shivering uncontrollably. She awakened as she heard noises in the usually deathly quiet dungeons. She heard voices.

"SARAH!!!" her name being called. Jareth's voice.

She rushed to the door, spilling the metal pan that had been filled with some kind of gruel while she had fallen asleep, all over the floor. She reached up gripping the small metal bars.

"JARETH!!!!!"

"Hoggle stop. I heard something."

"JARETH!!"

"It's Sarah!" Hoggle chimed happily. "Sounded like she's to the west. Follow me."

Jareth followed the dwarf, one hand on his ribs as he ran. He was in terrible pain, but he would be in far worse pain if he didn't find Sarah and get her to safety.

The Goblin King tore down the hallway his cape billowing behind him, as he followed closely behind Hoggle. The dwarf skidded to a stop when he saw pale fingers gripping cold metal bars. "Theres she is!"

Jareth rushed to the door. "Sarah?"

"Jareth!"

He reached for the handle to the door to find it locked. "How are we going to get her out?" He asked Hoggle desperately. They'd come so far. He'd been foolish to forget about the door being locked. Hoggle didn't look too concerned.

"You leaves that to me." He reached into a pouch that dangled at his side and pulled out a group of keys on a ring. "Jewelry ain't all I collect." He admitted proudly. He reached for the keyhole and tried key after key. The last key fit perfectly into the slot and made a satisfying click as he turned it.

Jareth pulled the door open quickly and Sarah rushed into his waiting arms. She was trembling and buried her face into the warmth of his body. She hugged him tightly and he winced. She looked up at him with concern.

"You're hurt."

"I'll heal."

"Where...?" she reached for him to see where he was hurt and he pulled back.

"Don't...I'll be all right. We need to get you out of here before Gorgin finds us. Can you run?"

She nodded trying her best to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach. He gently kissed her hand. He pulled back horrified at how cold her fingers were. He noticed suddenly that she wasn't trembling, she was shivering. It took him a moment to realize that the air was colder down here then it had been in any other part of the tunnels they had traveled through. He quickly removed his cape and draped it around her. He took one hand into hers and bent down to kiss her quickly on the cheek before he began to move, pulling her after him.

Hoggle was already leading the way.

They had run a short way when they heard Gorgin.

"NO!!! Impossible!! They freed her!! Tell the guardians to return to their posts!!!"

"He knows we freed her! I knows a longer but safer route we can travel. Somewheres where we can rest." He could see that the short run had already tired out Jareth and Sarah wasn't looking so good herself. She looked very pale. Jareth nodded and squeezed Sarah's hand as they followed the dwarf.

Hoggle opened a door that reminded Sarah of the one he had opened years ago to help her escape the oubliette. This one was hidden within the wall and it was barely large enough for her and Jareth to crawl through. They crawled on their hands and knees through a dark tunnel that slowly opened up into a larger passageway. Hoggle took a torch off of the wall.

"I thought you said that we couldn't touch the torches?" Jareth asked him. "The creatures memorized where the flames should be."

"Not in this tunnel. This tunnel isn't part of the maze. It was carved out by those who escaped the dungeons long ago. Only a few of us knows about it."

Jareth nodded not needing any further information and he and Sarah followed Hoggle for a half hour through the tunnels.

Jareth was slowing, leaning more heavily on Sarah for support as the pain in his side grew worse.. "Hoggle, we need to stop." She said softly. She wasn't feeling so wonderful herself.

Hoggle turned to see the sorry sight behind him. The Goblin King was leaning against Sarah and she looked even worse then before. Deathly pale.

"All rights. We can stop here." He found a crevice to put the torch in and watched Sarah help Jareth sit and lean back against the wall. Sarah sat beside him and he pulled her into his arms, cradling her against the side of him that had not been injured. She closed her eyes and felt the warmth of his hands brush across her face. He had removed his gloves and was touching her gently. Needing to feel the warmth of her skin, to know that she was real. Hoggle watched them for a moment before he started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Jareth asked him.

"See if I can finds us some food. This route is longer then the ways we came. We'll need food."

"Uggh don't talk about food." Sarah moaned, burying her face into Jareth's chest.

"You don't feel well?" Hoggle asked her.

"That's an understatement. I'm so nauseous."

"Ain't exactly nice down heres. To anyone who ain't used to the smell, that right there can do ya in. Clean air has a hard time getting down here."

She nodded and Jareth looked at her with concern. He tried desperately to conceal his fear from her as she looked into his eyes.

"I'll get some food anyhows. We may need it."

"Thank you Hoggle." Jareth told him quietly. The dwarf's eyes widened at the words. "I honestly thought that you had abandoned me in with that beast and in reality you went to find a distraction." Jareth looked at him hesitantly. "It's possible that you have saved my life as well as Sarahs and for that I am in your debt."

 Hoggle's mouth dropped and he stammered. "It..it...it weren't nuthin'.. I'll just a um go find some food." The dwarf retreated quickly as if Jareth's kind words were too much for him to handle.

Sarah gazed up at Jareth, a smile forming on her lips. "Can it be that you and Hoggle are getting along?"

"Don't hope for too much. We're not out of here just yet."

She nodded, a wave of sickness gripping her and she closed her eyes tightly, burying her face into Jareth's neck. His hands touched her hair, running the silky dark locks through his fingers.

"It's all my fault that you're sick. " He whispered so quietly she nearly missed the words. He sounded disgusted with himself and he pulled his hands from her hair quickly. She opened her eyes slowly. He seemed distant so suddenly.

"Jareth, don't be foolish. It's not your fault I can't stomach the smell in here. I always had a weak stomach.." She joked but he didn't seem to think it was very funny. She reached for him and he pulled away from her. She frowned. "Jareth..."

"Sarah don't.." he told her coldly. She drew away from him as if she had been burned. Her eyes filled with tears. She had spent nearly every second in that room, thinking about him, longing to be in his arms and now he was being so cold and distant.

"Jareth what is wrong with you?" She demanded. She reached for him, looking past the cold mask. She knew the man beneath it and something was wrong with him. Something was hurting him and she had a sinking feeling that it wasn't the pain in his side that bothered him. He was trying to hide behind a mask. "Jareth look at me....please."

He turned his head slowly, the look in her eyes made his mask fall away and left behind in it's wake was the expression of a man who feared he would lose everything.

"The grotesque smell is not what is making you feel ill..." His voice was shaky and Sarah tilted her head unsure of what he was saying. His hand rose over her, quivering in mid air as if he were frightened, or hesitant. It lowered and he let his palm rest gently against her stomach. She could feel the warmth of him through the flimsy silk of her dress. She gazed at him, a hundred questions in her hazel eyes.

He took a deep breath and pulled her hands into his, slowly kissing each of them.

"You feel ill because you are carrying my child..."