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Falling --COMPLETED	By : jinx1764 Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 10231 -:- 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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If battle could be called glorious, then Jareth would've deemed this one thusly had he remembered most of it. Outnumbered and outgunned, but not outmatched, he and Sarah cut a swathe through the teeming horde as if they were born battle-mates. Perhaps they were, so much else apparently matched between them, why not this as well? If he had the time to think on it, he might've wondered how it had come to be.

As it was, time did not fight on their side.

Jareth fell into his bloodlust as easily as he pulled his weapon's trigger. Each jolt dragging him farther under until a world of red sound surrounded him with Sarah's single, brilliant presence tingling at its edge. Later, he'd ponder how he remembered to reload with scavenged ammunition, but during the violence it didn't matter. Minor wounds were received, masked by his adrenalin; he'd feel them after the drop. As would she…

She … Sarah…

Jareth blinked, clearing away the murk. She stood in front of him, shouting his name, her arm upraised and poised in anger. His hand flashed out, catching her wrist a split second before the slap impacted his cheek.

"I'd much prefer another kiss," he said in a rusty voice.

"Jareth? Shit, I was worried you'd permanently checked out." He released her wrist, and her arm dropped to her side with thud.

"I'm quite in control of my faculties," he grimaced at a wave of dizziness, "for the most part." He cleared his throat and leaned into her space, eyelids half closed. "Though you are incredibly … distracting."

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and her eyes sparkled, all framed by her grimy face and frazzled hair. "You're not going to attack me again, are you?" she asked, ducking her head, and he swore she acted coquettish.

His residual bloodlust burned anew. "Only if required," he shuffled closer, "but I prefer my partner be equally," he head tilted and lips quirked, "excited."

She snorted, but didn't back away. "I bet."

Jareth raised a hand toward her face, then a muffled scream rent their cozy atmosphere, and they jerked apart. Sarah spun in place, weapon coming up from her side with a metallic clatter. His awareness snapped from Sarah and expanded.

"Where are we?" he asked, noticing they stood in a strange cave corridor strewn with bodies. He scanned the blackness punctuated by dancing flame sconces affixed to the walls. The bloodlust had possessed him so absolutely (for how long?) he hadn't realized that his right foot currently crushed a dead Vulture's hand. Even now, he detected the partially smashed bones grinding together through the hard sole of his boot when he shifted his stance. Bile rose, conflicting with his flare of arousal, and he forcibly blocked both.

"I have no idea where we're at. They herded us here after we fought out of the first cave."

Jareth pivoted and pressed his back to hers, his weapon joining hers to pan the area. "They did?"

"You don't remember?"

Her shoulder blades dug lightly into his back just below his, and her warmth seeped into him. "Did I look like I remembered anything?" he snapped.

"Hmm … good point."

"We couldn't have killed them all … could we?" he asked, vaguely hopeful.

"I doubt it." Her hair tangled with his as she moved her head. "Even though you did a lot of damage, and you all berserker is … was … um…" She coughed and her weapon jangled loudly as she adjusted against him.

Jareth stilled, then partially turned to see the back of her. "I was … what?"

"Nothing."

He swore she squeaked the word. A leisurely, predatory grin decorated his face, and he was acutely grateful her back was to him as they stood in mostly dark. If she happened to see his expression, she'd certainly kill him this time.

"I see," he drawled, wondering if Sarah understood his inflection. Her rear-ended head butt to his skull answered his question. "OW!" He turned completely, rubbing the back of his head. "Why'd you do that?"

She'd turned too and jammed her finger into his chest. "You know why, pervert!"

"Per-vert?" he asked in a come-hither voice, head cocked to one side as he continued to massage his scalp. "You wound me." He smirked. "Literally."

Sarah flushed, and his chest exerted more pressure to the tip of her finger as he inched forward. "Tha-that's not what I meant…"

"The meaning of words still troubling you?"

"Stop it," she said softly.

"Why?"

Her eyes darted. "We don't have time, remember?"

Well of course I remember! He wanted to snap, surrounded as they were by the stench of dead Vultures, but his crazed libido had other plans once exposed to the rich aroma of human blood and death. Fate must have an ironic sense of timing because the muffled scream repeated, slightly louder, and the teasing air between them vanished.

Whatever fleeting lightheartedness they'd snagged in this ghastly place finally dissipated, and Jareth slapped himself back to the serious business awaiting them. They may have killed the first several dozen savages or more, but the time for celebration lie far off.

Funny how hormones and an immediate lack of danger tended to make one forget important details like escaping, he thought, admiring Sarah's gruesome beauty.

"We should find who's making that noise," she said, stepping from him.

"So they can kill or recapture us?" he asked snidely, brow quirked.

"They could be trapped too."

"Or it's a lure."

She hissed over a shoulder. "Or a victim!"

He grabbed her arm, spinning her around. "Are you mad?"

"I have to know!"

"Why?"

"What if…?" She exhaled, then reset her tough expression. "Toby's still here, somewhere."

Jareth loosened his fingers, and his muscles slackened as his shoulders drooped. Of course, the boy… I'd forgotten. How cruel of me.

"I have to know," she repeated, pleading, softer, resigned. Her face shined up in hopeful petition.

"You're quite right." He smiled at her, reassuring, but it felt grim.

She responded by leaping into his arms, cheek smashed to his chest as she burrowed under his chin. She didn't say anything; neither did he. But once they parted a moment later, Jareth swore Sarah stepped livelier, and his boots did seem to weigh less as he worked his way over and around the maze of bodies. Too bad, he reflected later, the buoyancy was not to last.

-o-

Rarely had Jareth seen horror of this magnitude.

He'd fought in and/or led hundreds of battles and skirmishes in the Underground, so he was used to violence. He thrived on it. The difference, however, between fae and human brutality lie not in the bloodshed, but in the cruelty vs. mercy—both being relative things.

While both races were subject to violent natures, Jareth knew humans could control and suppress their bloodlust on occasion. The fae, unfortunately, were genetically prone to be overtaken by theirs, unable to control it. Hence the Underground's constant skirmishes and wars far beyond those of the Aboveground.

The fae, being an ancient race, had learned to focus and constrain their violence to the battlefield, and mercy to a fallen foe was never willingly offered. But any offence given in a time of peace was dealt with swiftly and harshly. Therefore, violent crimes between fae remained low. Bloodlust was only acceptable during battle or self-defense, never for attack.

The humans, he knew, had never needed to control their violence to the same degree. Therefore, both their mercy and cruelty ran the full gambit. And though he knew it existed, and he'd seen depravity on a small scale, he'd never seen it such as this…

"Jareth!" Sarah whispered. "Help me."

He wanted to aid her, but his limbs rigored as he watched Sarah cut at the ropes of the first prisoner? Victim? Words failed him.

"Jareth! Hurry, more Vultures will be here soon!"

They'd swiftly killed the few guarding the entrance to this place where the scream had originated. Now he stood, frozen, calculating their prize.

Two rows of makeshift cots lined the narrow cavern, and more crude sconces lit the walls, giving just enough illumination. He counted perhaps twenty or more victims, each tied to each cot. They hardly moved within the restricted confines of their bonds. Most didn't appear well nourished enough to be energetic anyway.

He tried wetting his heavy tongue. Everything was dry.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sarah asked, her voice barely penetrating the thickening fog.

The moaning, coughing, crying remnants of humanity lie on their backs, wrists and ankles bound to each corner of their beds—spread eagle. Some wore scraps of filthy clothing, but more were naked or nearly so.

His remaining arousal fled in cold shame.

"Where are you going?"

As he walked, numb to all but the horrific sight, Jareth realized not all the victims were women. Some were men, and there were young girls and boys too. Very young in a few cases. Then his senses came back full force, and a tsunami of human stench plowed over him…

…Old and fresh feces and vinegary urine…

...Sickly sweetness of rotten flesh….

…Obsessive musk of fear, stale arousal and the heavy tang of sweat and tears…

"Jareth?" a soft voice asked behind him.

Stumbling forward, he gagged and fell to his knees, palms pressed to the uneven rock floor. His gloves protected him from the worst of the debris and filth, and he curled his fingers inward as his abdominals painfully cramped. Only greenish-yellow bile vomited forth, splashing on the backs of his black leather gloves. It hurt, yet felt oddly relieving, as if his body had purged a poison.

"Bloody well likely," his Da said. "Accursed animals, bah!" His Da made a spitting sound.

Sarah's hand caressed his upper back, hesitant, unsure. "Are you okay?"

He didn't bother to look over his shoulder, and snapped, "Do I bloody well look okay?"

She didn't answer, but her hand stilled, which was just as well. With his soul flayed, he didn't know how to deal with caring Sarah. He didn't know how to deal with anything. His skin felt too sizes too small and crisped by magic overuse; he was turned inside out and wrung to pieces. His arms shuddered, holding up his weight, but he dare not move lest he see more of the Vultures' prizes.

But Sarah, she had to speak. Fill the air with her words. "I think they're Empties. I mean before they were … uh … tortured."

"Wh…?" Against his wishes, Jareth sat up onto his heels, gulping hard while his head spun. He kept his hands flat to his thighs for balance, clenching leather to leather. "How can you…"

"Look." She pointed at one who stared at them. "See that blankness."

"But their hardship…"

"No, it's a different kind of gray, Jareth. It's all consuming. There's no room for pain."

He started to ask how she could know such a thing, but he saw a puzzle resolve in Sarah's countenance. She rushed from bed to bed, and he understood. "Toby," he said.

"He's here, Jareth. He has to be." She scrambled from bed to bed, checking each face.

Jareth struggled to his feet, wavering, and reached out with one hand. "You can't know that. He could be anywhere."

"He's here!" Her wild eyes pinned him from three cots away. "Hurry before more Vultures come back!" She pointed to the opposite row as she moved to the next person, and he knew there'd be no deterring her. They'd killed several Vultures to enter this evil place, and if she believed Toby was here, she'd search every inch and kill every Vulture she found. Reconciled, Jareth moved to the closest victim and held his breath.

Best to be quick about it.

A brush of his hand and the woman's face was revealed beneath her ratty, matted hair. Did he feel relief or disappointment? Hard to know what the thrum of nausea meant. Exhaling, Jareth stepped back and continued to the next cot.

The little girl, younger than Sarah when he had first met her, was listless and unresisting when he examined her. His nausea deepened, becoming sharp. Who would do such things to a child?

"Sarah," he said, not taking his eyes from the little girl.

"Have you found him?" she asked.

"No," he looked up, "have you considered what to do with the rest?" Absentmindedly, his thumb rubbed the girl's forearm just below her restraints.

"Well … I," she glanced around, standing in place, "what can we do?"

"Free them."

"We can't take them with us!"

"We can't leave them here."

"Jareth, I'm only interested in Toby." She moved to his side of the room, expression stern as if she cut herself off from emotion.

"I know." He looked at the child again. "That's part of the problem, Sarah."

"Don't blame this on me!" Her arm sliced the air, pointing at the victims. "I didn't do this!"

"But you can stop it!" He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "We can stop this, all of it!"

"What are you talking about?"

"That's what I'd like to know," a new voice calmly asked.

Jareth and Sarah twisted in place. A Vulture stood at the entrance to the cavern, and he held a hostage in front of him. Shadows moved behind him, hinting at numerous henchmen hovering nearby.

"Toby!" Sarah shouted and leaped. Jareth growled, detaining her with one arm across her chest.

"The both of you have caused me quite a bit of trouble," the Vulture said, his forearm tightening around Toby's neck. Her brother whimpered and struggled, and Jareth could see old bruises and swelling over Toby's face and arms.

"What do you want?" Jareth asked in his best politician's voice, firmly holding Sarah behind him. She strained but didn't break his grip.

"I should think it obvious by now," the Vulture's smile was grim as he nodded in Sarah's direction. "I want her."
-o-
A/N: I meant to have this chapter out about a week ago, but life got in the way. Threw some migraines at me and back pain and various other scheduling conflicts. Speaking of back, I'll be having a minor back procedure tomorrow which is supposed to fix my back and hopefully eliminate my future need to fuse my vertebrae. So I'll be lying flat for the next few days in recovery, probably writing.

For those of you interesting, I've also officially finished my original fiction "Dreams of the Queen" located here and I'm working on a sequel - "Nightmares of the Queen". It's currently in the final editing and rewrite phase and should be ready for epubbing in the next couple months. Yeah! So that's been hogging some of my time as well. I've also got a new back story created for this fic since I'm converting it to an original (which I had decided to do about two chapters after I started writing it) Lots of cool new characters and ideas and over half of it is nothing like this version.

I've also challenged myself to learn photoshop and bought a wacom tablet since I want to design professional looking book covers. I've got decent ones now, but I want to take it up a notch and I hate photoshop. I got the tablet yesterday and I will conquer this program!

As always! Read, Enjoy and Review please!

Jinx
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Falling --COMPLETED