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Last Resort	By : jinx1764 Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 7045 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth, don't make any money, this is a work of fanfiction.

Chapter List
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Their initial plans for sleeping late Saturday morning abruptly changed when both she and Jareth were awakened by a loud knocking at the front door. Sarah opened her eyes to see his cool blue mismatched ones staring back at her in sleep dazed shock.

"Who the hell could that be?" She blurted then rolled off her bed and grabbed her robe. Jareth watched her exit the bedroom mildly curious to whom it might be before exhaustion won out and he closed his eyes again. Sarah looked out her peephole to find her father and stepmother standing outside her door.

"Oh, crap! What are they doing here?" Sarah loved her father and Karen very much and they all did their best to stay in touch given the distance to Rhode Island that separated them. However, her traumatic childhood left its mark on her and her parents bore a portion of that responsibility; therefore Sarah sometimes found it difficult to emotionally connect with them. They all had, after all, missed out an important section of her formative years plus the strained relationship beforehand and it added up to a very guilt-ridden, shaky adult relationship.

"Sarah, Honey, are you home?" Robert Williams knocked again and she knew she was outed. There was no way her father would believe she wasn't home. He was too smart and sneaky. It's what made him a top attorney. Sarah took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hey Dad, Karen, what are you guys doing here? Today? This early? On a Saturday? What's up?" She mentally slapped herself, 'yeah, that didn't sound nervous or anything.' Karen and Robert exchanged a curious look and Robert answered.

"What, Sarah? Can't grandparents make a surprise visit to see their granddaughter once in awhile?"

"Oh, of course you can, Dad!" Sarah verbally backpedalled. "It's just that you've never done this before and I'm really surprised!" Robert smiled then reached out to hug his eldest child.

"There's a first time for everything, Sarah. Karen and I just had the urge to come see our two favorite girls. Right, Darling?"

"Absolutely, Robert! Now where's that sweet Lizzie?" Karen exclaimed as Sarah let them both in and shut the door behind them.

"She's still sleeping. It is awfully early and we've had a busy week."

"Really? Do tell." Robert smiled at Sarah and she suddenly got the feeling that she just hit a trip wire then mentally shrugged it off. It's not like it mattered. They were here now and likely to stay the weekend by the size of their bags. There was no possible way she could stash Jareth somewhere until they left so she might as well spill the story now, or at least the public approved story of Jareth.

"How about some coffee and I'll tell you all about it?" She smiled sweetly and they readily agreed. A short time later the three family members were sitting around her small kitchen table as Sarah finished her thinned out version of Jareth Noble and their history.

"Sarah, you expect us to believe this story?" Her father accused.

"Robert, please!" Karen admonished him. Karen tried her best be close with her stepdaughter; she harbored a tremendous amount of remorse for never believing in her years ago. While Karen could never accept that Sarah's hallucinations were real, she was diagnosed with a mental disorder, she realized too late that she should've accepted that they were real to Sarah and believed in her. But she had not supported her they way a mother should and Karen knew that she forever lost her opportunity to form a true emotional bond with her only 'daughter'.

"Sarah, he only means that we used to watch you paint when you still lived with us and we never met nor heard you speak of any model before. In fact, I seem to remember you quite adamantly stating that all your work came directly from your imagination. You can see how that is confusing for us." Karen explained calmly.

"It's more than confusing!"

"Robert!"

Sitting quietly opposite her parents Sarah very much felt interrogated by her father. Why the sudden interest? How did they know�wait...'damn it, Eric!' She thought. He must have called them after he dropped Lizzie off the other day. 'And got his ass kicked.' She added to herself with a small smirk.

"Sarah, this is not funny! Why are you smiling?" Her father asked sharply.

"Oh, it's nothing. Dad, let me ask you something. Did Eric call you this week?" She smiled staring her father down.

"He...He might have called for a friendly chat. We don't see him nearly enough anymore." Robert stammered caught off guard.

"I knew it! He just can't keep his nose out of my business!"

"Now, Sarah. He is still your husband!" Robert stated.

"Only because he refuses to accept the truth and sign the divorce papers which he originally agreed to sign. Geez, Dad I can't believe your on his side!" She threw up both arms disgusted with her father's attitude.

"I'm not on his side or anyone's, Honey. I just know how devastating divorce can be. He cares about you and just wants to work it out."

"No, no, and no!" Sarah stood and paced her kitchen floor. "Rule number one: if you want to stay this weekend there will be no further talk about Eric, how much he loves me, or stopping the divorce. Is that clear?" Robert flushed and started to rebut until Karen placed a calming hand on his forearm and replied softly.

"Yes, we understand and I think that's an excellent idea." Karen smiled and Sarah returned it a second later.

"Good."

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Jareth woke to a very pleasant hand rubbing his back gradually moving to his lower back and then under the sheet to his buttocks.

"Mmmmm...Sarah," he rolled to his side and met her gaze with a passionate one of his own.

"Morning." She smiled moving closer to him from her position sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Morning, I like that waking method much better than your horrendous alarm clock machine." He stated pulling her down for a quick kiss.

"I thought you might. Listen, Jareth, about the front door earlier...My parents decided to drop in for a surprise visit this weekend. Apparently, Eric called them about us and my Dad wanted to 'check up' on me."Sarah waited for his response with a sheepish expression. He lay still for a few seconds absorbing this information.

"Well, I guess we'd better be on our best behavior then, hmmm?" Sarah nodded with relief and kissed him.

"Thanks, Lizzie's already up and eating breakfast with them. So let's get dressed and get this over with."

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Robert and Karen continued to stare at Jareth for several minutes after he entered the living room cleaned, dressed, and introduced himself formally away from Lizzie.

"Mr. Williams, Mrs. Williams, it is a pleasure to finally meet both of you."Jareth bowed his head after shaking her father's hand and kissing her stepmother's. Sarah thought Karen might faint any second. Her face flushed bright red and she stammered a reply.

"Oh, my, you're very polite, Mr. Noble, you said, Sarah?"

"Please, madam, call me, Jareth."

"Jareth Noble? Can't say I've ever heard your name before but you do look very familiar." Robert said suspiciously coming straight to the point.

"I must apologize for that. I asked Sarah years ago to keep my name private in regards to her art because of my own family concerns but be assured that I did model for her in years past." He smiled at Robert holding his gaze for an extra minute until her father grew uncomfortable.

"Well, we didn't remember a model so you can see our concern."

"Of course, you have only your daughter's welfare at heart. Rest assured her welfare is my greatest concern as well." Robert had no answer for Jareth's sincerity and decided to drop the subject for the present.

"Okay, well, it's good to finally meet you, too. I hope we can spend some quality time getting to know you this weekend."

"Great! So now that we're all getting along how about some breakfast?" Sarah announced.

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The weekend with Sarah's parents was interesting to say the least. Breakfast mainly consisted of a strained conversation of Sarah defending Jareth staying with her and Lizzie. Her father expressed his displeasure regarding a man sleeping over with a woman who was still married and her young daughter. Karen tried to calm her husband and rationalized that Sarah must have a good reason to allow such a breach of conduct.

Sarah snatched at Karen's olive branch telling her father that Jareth had arrived in the City unexpectedly late at night. She expanded her lie to a traumatic mugging of all his luggage and personal effects; including his passport since she continued with her story of Jareth being from a distant, rural European town. Karen gave all the appropriate oh's and ah's of sympathy during her story and Jareth remained stoic and nodded whenever he sensed subtle prompts to lend credence to the expanding falsehood.

He watched her father's face carefully for any suspicion and found that Robert seemed to accept the majority of his daughter's story. Lizzie's enthusiastic agreement and obvious comfort in Jareth's presence supported Robert's acceptance. But Jareth could tell that Mr. Williams was not completely convinced and still refused to accept that Sarah allowed another man to remain in her home.

"Dad, he doesn't have anywhere else to stay. He doesn't know anyone else in the City and he doesn't have any money right now. I can't just toss him out on the street!" Robert grumbled but had no answer for that. Eventually they all reached a compromise while Robert and Karen stayed for the weekend. Sarah's parents would stay in her bedroom while Sarah would sleep in her studio and Jareth would sleep on the living room couch. Neither Sarah nor Jareth liked the idea but they decided that one night of acquiescing to her father's wish was easier than a full weekend of fighting; even if it was her home.

They spent the rest of Saturday at the zoo, a thing Jareth had never seen; he was fascinated at the variety of collected animals yet appalled at some of the living conditions. During a private moment with Sarah he whispered to her that even his goblins lived in better conditions than some of the animals. She agreed, she never cared for the zoo and only visited because Lizzie liked to go.

The ended the day pleasantly at a nice Italian restaurant where they ate family style; another new experience for Jareth and Lizzie was happy to be his teacher. Robert watched closely from the opposite side of the table as Jareth listened intently to his granddaughter's instructions; how to serve yourself from the large platters, how to twist spaghetti on a fork, and most important how to lay the napkin on your lap to protect your clothes from the stray sauce.

Lizzie and Jareth interacted well and Jareth appeared to take her seriously and respect her. Not sure how to feel about this revelation Robert turned his attention to his dinner. Karen noticed his discomfort and smiled to herself. She knew how much Sarah's and Lizzie's happiness meant to Robert but she also knew how stubborn and narrow-minded he could be. He truly believed that divorce was wrong; even though Linda divorced him it was not something he chose for himself and to watch his daughter chose it for herself tore him apart.

They returned to Sarah's apartment after dinner and being so late, they all prepared for bed, Robert's decision still holding. Sarah tucked Lizzie into bed with a hug and kiss after her grandparents had kissed her goodnight as well.

"Mom, why does grandpa hate Jareth?" Sarah started at her question.

"Oh, Honey, he doesn't hate him. He just doesn't really trust him." She smiled at her daughter trying to lessen the sting.

"But you trust him, right?"

"Of course."

"Why doesn't grandpa?"

"Lizzie, it's just silly grown up stuff. My dad just worries about me like I worry about you." Lizzie considered this for a moment, expression serious.

"I hope grandpa changes his mind soon."

"Me, too, Lizzie."

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"What do you think, Karen?" Robert snuggled up to his wife's back tucking his chin into neck her voice pensive.

"I think that whoever this Jareth Noble is, that he adores Sarah and Lizzie. Did you see how he looks at them? Like his whole world is wrapped up in those two. And Sarah gives him looks that I've never seen her give Eric." Robert could hear the awe and was that a touch of envy in her voice.

"I noticed."

"I don't know how long they've really known each other and I don't know what the situation is between them or the real reason for Sarah wanting a divorce but you know what, Robert. I don't care. I know how much you've always liked Eric and I like Eric, too but I've always known that he wasn't really right for Sarah."

"You have?" He sat up and pulled Karen back to look at him. "Why am I just hearing about this now?"

"I'm sorry I never spoke up about it before but you're always confident that you're right and Sarah was determined to get married. I wanted to be supportive of her decisions any way that I could since she's become an independent adult. I just didn't see any reason to mention it before. Besides Eric is a good man and he's been good for Sarah and Lizzie is a dream; why would a want to ruin that?"

"But you think she never loved him?" Karen sighed refusing to meet her husband's eyes.

"I think Sarah convinced herself that she loved Eric. I think whatever happened to her in that awful hospital made her stop believing that she could ever really fall in love."

"How do you know this?" Robert pressed truly curious since he'd never thought such things about Sarah before.

"I don't really know, Robert. Mostly I'm guessing but Sarah and I have talked over the years and while you may be the lawyer of the family you're not a woman. I notice things about your daughter that you miss; little things that just never seemed to fit with a woman who was supposed to be in love."

Robert flopped on his back next to Karen and stared at the ceiling, unsure what to think. His goal for this weekend trip was still nebulous. What he hoped to accomplish by haunting his daughter's steps for two days still eluded him but to just accept her choices and go home; could he do that? She was an adult and fully capable of handling her affairs whether he agreed with her choices or not.

"Robert, we should enjoy our day tomorrow, wish them well and leave graciously." Karen wisely decided.

"Just like that?" He asked.

She nodded. "Just like that."

"Alright, I guess there's really nothing else I can do and I don't want to alienate her."

"No, you don't. She's had it rough enough without losing her father, too." Robert kissed his wife passionately.

"How'd I get so lucky?"

"Fate, I guess." She smiled returning his kiss with a passion of her own.

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Sunday dawned more pleasantly which surprised Sarah, especially since she had expected her father to be especially grouchy. However, his spirits were high and he made a concerted effort to know Jareth better which surprised both Sarah and Jareth. Lizzie quickly joined her grandpa talking with her new friend overjoyed that they were getting along.

Sarah suggested a trip to The Met for a little fine art exposure since it was just a short walk from her apartment. Everyone readily agreed. Jareth looked forward to seeing another public art display since the gallery trip was cut short due to Ms. Bagby's intense curiosity. They arrived at the museum late in the morning and casually explored its varied displays for hours.

Jareth lost himself to the relaxation of the day gradually finding himself and Sarah walking alone, his arm draped easily over her shoulders, hers wrapped around his waist. No speech was necessary as they enjoyed each other's company pausing every so often to privately admire certain pieces of art. The peace settled over him and he realized that he had rarely felt such lasting contentment as a Fae and never as Goblin King. Only as a human and with Sarah did this contentment sustain. The thought both pleased and unsettled him. He smiled at her and she returned it with a similar look of contentment.

Once Jareth and Sarah fell behind and Lizzie was alone with her grandparents, Robert took the opportunity to ask Lizzie a few questions he'd waited to ask in private.

"Lizzie, it's been great seeing you this weekend. I wish we could spend every weekend with you."

"Me, too grandpa! This has been fun!" Lizzie walked between Robert and Karen holding both their hands and skipping a bit every few steps. Karen smiled at Lizzie and her husband.

"Lizzie, I wanted to ask you something. What do you think of Jareth?" He tried to keep his voice light to avoid upsetting his granddaughter.

"I like him, he's my friend, he's says I'm a princess!"

"Really?"

"Uhhuh...He says that I'm a Princess because mom's a Queen."

"Well, that's sweet. Isn't that romantic, Robert?"

"Sure is."

"Know what else? He says he knows that mom's a Queen because he's a King and I figured out that he's not just a King...he's The Goblin King, isn't that cool?"

"The Goblin King of your mom's paintings? That's because he posed for those, Lizzie." Robert explained.

"Oh, no Grandpa, he's the real Goblin King. He rules the Labyrinth and he has to go back soon with Mom or else everybody there will die. Mom's real sad about it. I told her I want go too, but she told me I probably can't go because it's too dangerous. But she's trying to figure out a way...So maybe I can go after all!" Lizzie stated bluntly as if she were explaining the most obvious thing.

"Oh...I see...Well...That's very interesting, Lizzie. How about we stop at the snack bar for a break and wait for your mom and Jareth to catch up."

"Okay." Robert and Karen exchanged looks mixed with confusion and concern. Unsure of what to think of Lizzie's explanation they chose to keep silent for the time about their granddaughter's innocent confession.

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Robert and Karen left Sunday evening. Their emotions were subdued and stoic which Sarah misinterpreted as them being upset at leaving so soon. The weekend ended better than she expected and her father had seemed to accept Jareth and her decision to divorce Eric; at least he stopped arguing with her about it and spoke with Jareth as a human being. Human being, now that made her laugh.

They gave Lizzie hugs and kisses and Sarah seemed to sense a certain amount of a strange desperation in her father's hugs as he said his farewells but it didn't seem extremely odd so she quickly dismissed it. Even Jareth was given a warm handshake goodbye as Robert left and Karen positively gushed over him with promises of seeing them all again soon.

"Well, that wasn't as painful as I expected." Sarah mentioned to Jareth after her parents left and she shut the door behind them. "Dad actually warmed up to you."

"That surprises you?" He asked his head slightly cock in query.

"From my dad? Yeah...He's sort of a control freak and he's been bossing me around about the divorce ever since I filed. But Karen really liked you."

"Of course." He smirked, his eyes sparkling.

"Please...It's just the accent; she's a sucker for them." Sarah mocked and rolled her eyes at him. Jareth acted offended at her behavior.

"So cruel, Sarah...Not jealous are we?"

"What?"

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Robert waited a several days after they arrived home before calling Eric. During the long car ride home he and Karen discussed what Lizzie said at the museum trying to decide what it could mean and what action, if anything, they should take. Conflicted, he was unsure if he should share this information with his son-in-law. He hated betraying Lizzie's trust and thereby Sarah's as well but if something terrible was to happen to either of them he would never forgive himself.

"Hello?"A tired male voice answered the line.

"Eric, it's Robert." He sounded regretful and sad.

"Robert, hey, what's up?"

"Eric, we visited Sarah and met Jareth and I think there's something you should know."

"Okay."

Robert proceeded to tell Eric what Lizzie explained regarding her mother and the Goblin King and what Sarah apparently believed she needed to do soon. Robert explained how he and Karen were afraid that Sarah's reality was becoming blurred again and how she apparently believed that Jareth was really her imaginary Goblin King, not just the model for her paintings. Worse of all he explained how Lizzie stated that Sarah planned on 'going to the Labyrinth soon' and that Lizzie hoped to go with her.

"My God, Robert, you don't think she'll hurt Lizzie do you?" Eric sounded panicky.

"No, of course not, even when she was at her worst years ago she was never violent; but if her delusions are starting again we can't be sure that she won't become confused and disappear."

"You know she hasn't been taking her medication since she was pregnant with Lizzie."

"I didn't know that. She's not supposed to be off them. Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I didn't think it was that big a deal. She's being doing so well ever since I've known her and those drugs can be bad for the fetus I just figured she was cured or something." Eric said defensively.

"Eric, schizophrenia is incurable! She has to stay on her medication every day. Oh, God, I wish I'd known this before; she's been noncompliant with her meds for years!" Robert almost yelled into the phone.

"Shit, I didn't know, she never told me that. She said her art helped and she always acted okay. Shit, shit, shit."

"Calm down. You get Lizzie next weekend for the whole week right?"

"Yeah." Eric said.

"Okay, let's just wait for now and see what happens. When you get Lizzie next week we can see how she's doing and maybe make some more informed decisions then." He rationally suggested. He didn't want anything to happen to either his daughter or granddaughter by lack of action but neither did he want to overact before he knew more.

"Yeah, okay...I can do that. I'll call you once I know more."

"Alright, take care, Eric, bye." Robert hung up and collapsed in the wing chair behind him. He hoped to hell his gut was wrong and come next week he'd find it was all a misunderstanding due to an overactive imagination of an eight-year-old.
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Last Resort