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Oh, Now Why the Concern?	By : jinx1764 Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 11163 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth, don't make any money, this is a work of fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 7
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- 9
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Enter Susie Handschmit

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Toby fiddled with his number two pencil while trying to keep his side glances at Susie Handschmit inconspicuous. She sat next to him in class and he loved to stare at her golden pigtails which she always wore tied with bright ribbons. Lime green was the color today and he decided he really, really liked lime green 'cause they made her usually sad eyes happy.
"Toby...," Mr. Norton called his name abruptly making him jump in his seat, "What is the state capital of Texas?" Ugh...geography...what had his teacher been saying?
"Umm...the Texas capital is...umm..."
"Austin," came a low, hissing whisper from his left side. Susie?
"Um...Austin?"
"That's correct, Toby," Mr. Norton replied as he cast a suspicious look at him and continued his lecture. Once Mr. Norton turned away, Toby eyes sidled back to Susie who hazarded her own peek at him and nodded once with a shy smile. Well...wasn't this interesting? Toby's face blazed from embarrassment and something else he couldn't put a name to, but he liked it...a lot. Recess couldn't arrive fast enough.
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The school yard rang with the shouts and yells of Toby's classmates in the mid-morning sun. Most played kickball, but a few clustered about here and there in smaller groups. He, however, searched for a person in particular. Earlier, when they all filed outside, he saw Susie trek off with her girl friends towards the shady trees. The same ones Jareth materialized in days ago. He wanted to talk to her, at least try to since every other time he choked on his words. But now with Jareth's confidence boosting influence and Susie's encouragement, he felt a new yearning to approach her. Surely after her help this morning she would to talk to him. A boy could hope, right?
But what he discovered around the building's corner and beneath the copse of trees caused another urge within his young, male body to boil over. Several classmates, boys and girls, were teasing Susie. Unable to hear the majority of the insults, Toby only caught the less inventive ones regarding her last name—Handschmit being very German and very shudder-inducing for any child to claim.
Toby's eyes narrowed, his teeth ground, and his fists clenched as he heard a Goblin-Kingesque voice echo through the play yard telling those who wished harm upon Susie Handschmit they'd better run if they valued their measly Bog-ridden hides. Tormenters scattered willy-nilly hardly pausing to toss defensive salvos while they retreated from the field of bullying. Apparently, they recognized a conqueror when he arrived, no proof necessary.
It wasn't until Toby helped the dusty and grassed-stained blond angel up from the ground, her hazel eyes gazing up at him with blatant adoration; he realized the voice originated from him. Had he channeled the Goblin King? Awesome!
"You're name's Toby, right?" Susie asked, her eyes still blazing even though her lime green ribbons sat askew and undone on her pigtails.
"Uh-huh," he said, at a loss for words as usual around Susie. Her hand remained in his after he helped her stand, neither seemed willingly to let go just yet. Toby shuffled his feet and looked at the ground, unable to keep her stare. Her eyes were so wide and beautiful!
"Thanks, Toby. They've been bothering me for weeks."
"Really? Why didn't you say anything?" Acutely ashamed of himself, Toby wondered how it escaped his noticed all this time.
Susie shrugged, "Who would I tell? The teachers just say go back and play and my parents told me to stand up for myself." She gave him a lopsided frown, "I tried but they got worse, pushed me down, and ruined my dress."
Feeling intensely protective, Toby scowled at this information, "Well, you hang out with me from now on. No one messes with you anymore!" He squeezed her hand tightly; Susie smiled and Toby saw how her front teeth had a cute little gap.
"Thanks, I—thanks." She smiled broadly and returned his squeeze.
"Hey, um...Susie," he said, suddenly shy again.
"Yeah?"
"You like to bowl?"
"I guess so, why?"
"Well," he said, drawing it out, knowing he hadn't spoken to Sarah about this impulsive idea, but he'd beg 'til he turned blue if necessary, "my birthday is in a few weeks and were having a party at the bowling alley. You know, the Rock-a-Bowl on Friday nights."
"I've never been. Mom says it's too adult."
"Oh, no! It's got lots of stuff for kids and families! And great music all night!" He exclaimed, excited, convincing Susie being paramount to his plan. "You'll love it! We used to go all the time...before...well..."
"Before your parents? I heard..."
"Yeah...before that..." his mood drooped quickly along with his smile.
Susie grabbed his other hand and made him face her, "I'd love to go to your birthday party, Toby. I'm sure I can talk my mom into somehow."
A huge grin split his face, "Awesome! I'll make sure my sister sends you an invitation!"
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"You promised what?"
"Please, Sarah? Pllllleeeeeaaasee!" Toby's hands were clasped together as if in pray in front of his sister. Barely back home from picking him up from Mrs. Bannister's next door, and already he started in on her.
"Toby, I can't believe you promised friends a Rock-a-Bowl birthday party before you even asked me!"
"But Saaarrraah..."
"You know how much that'll cost?" Dropping her coat and purse on the entryway table, Sarah grimaced at the budget, or lack thereof, scrolling through her mind. "I don't even know how many kids you've already invited."
"So far just Susie," he said, blushing, "but I'll have to invite a few more or she'll think I'm a loser."
His sister gave him a 'duh' look, but Toby wasn't sure if it was 'duh' –of course you'll have to invite more- or 'duh'- too late, you already are a loser. Technically his legal guardian, Sarah was still his older sibling and exercised teasing rights whenever possible. Usually he'd retaliate, but begging mode activated, he refrained—didn't want to damage his chances.
"And, of course, we'll invite Jareth," Toby added, earning him an odd look from his sister.
"Speaking of His Annoyness, have you heard from him since Saturday night?" she asked. He noticed she didn't look at him when she asked and sounded casual.
"No, why? I haven't seen him since we watched Lion King."
"Oh, um...no reason," Sarah replied walking to the kitchen to start dinner. Toby watched his sister for a minute, curious. "It's just that since he's been back around, he hasn't left your sight for more than a few hours all week."
Following Sarah, Toby said, "He's probably busy, you know, running the kingdom, bogging goblins, kicking chickens, and all."
"Yeah, probably. So, squirt, how about hamburger, mac and cheese for dinner?"
"We had that last night."
"Well, don't sound so enthusiastic, money's tight, it's leftovers." He glared at her. "What if I add some green beans and jell-o tonight?"
"Meh...What flavor jell-o?"
"Black cherry?"
"Okay, I guess so."
"I'll even let you make it."
"Wowee..." Sarah tossed the box of jell-o she pulled from the pantry, smacking her brother in the head and causing him to yelp like a Chihuahua. They both laughed at his reaction as they prepared dinner, comfortable together. The party issue tabled for the present, Toby knew his odds improved every time she didn't outright refuse him. Patience with Sarah, he learned, was definitely a virtue.
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Toby tucked in bed, Sarah enjoyed a cup of tea before retiring early. She held the cup of hot liquid close to her mouth, blowing to cool it, as she contemplated Toby's birthday request. A party at the bowling alley was not the most expensive celebration under normal circumstances...maybe she might manage it with a great deal of creative accounting paired with a selective guest list. Smiling, she thought of her brother's obvious puppy dog crush. Once he mentioned his new friend, Susie, Sarah understood how much importance he attached to celebrating this year. Moreover, it was good to see him finally happy about a relationship other than the Goblin King.
That reminded her, where was the glittery pest? Nearly forty-eight hours without sight or sound of his Royal pain-in-the-tookus, and Sarah wondered (vaguely she told herself and not at all with any real concern) where he lingered. Surely kingly responsibilities occupied him at some point; she and Toby couldn't be Jareth's primary obligation.
Taking a cautious sip of her English style tea, Sarah considered, without delving too far, the unusual feelings engendered by the fragile truce between Jareth and her. Never did she believe that he might become a...friend? Memory of the kiss continued to burn her skin when she thought about it. This year certainly tossed some unexpected curve balls in her direction. Not all painful it seemed. With Toby asleep, and the living room echoing only with the sounds of the raucous grandfather clock, she found herself relaxing enough to miss (absolutely in the most reluctant manner possible) Jareth and his goblin horde.
"Oh, Sarah, you've got to get out more," she muttered, shaking her head dolefully, and took another sip of her tea. For a moment she mourned the passing of her dear Merlin again. The shaggy goofball would cheer her up right now.
A short, ear-breaking shriek, like fingernails down a chalkboard, startled her and the tea cup slipped from her fingers to splash its steaming contents on the carpet. Heart rate spiking, she felt her vision and hearing become hyper-acute as her adrenalin kicked in.
"Toby..." Her first thought, Sarah sprang from the couch at the second, sharp blast piercing her ears and raced upstairs.
"Toby!" Another higher pitched shriek, louder, as she approached his room followed by a little boy's scream and Toby frantically shouting her name.
"Toby!" Sarah yelled again throwing open his bedroom door and froze at the threshold. Her defenseless, little brother sat upright; his body flattened to his headboard with his blanket clutched shield-like in front of him.
"Sarah!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking in fright, his eyes impossibly wide. Swirling above and around him, several translucent wraiths flew in a circle screaming and lunging.
"Oh my...Wha..."
"Sarah! Help!"
"Get away from my brother!" She shouted, grabbing his baseball bat leaning next to his door, and commenced swinging like an all star. The wraiths twisted and focused on her, their pallid, emaciated faces grinning malevolently, fangs and glowing eyes exposed. Daring to close upon the evil surrounding Toby, Sarah quickly realized their insubstantial state as her bat passed through the nearest without harm. It tossed its quicksilver hair, encased in a tattered robe, back in cackling laughter at her ill fortune. The others continued to circle and taunt her.
"Toby, can you run to me?" she asked without taking her eyes from the phantoms. She heard him respond and saw him scramble off his bed from the corner of one eye. Just before he reached her, the door slammed shut, trapping them. Surprised, Sarah spun, bat at the ready to face another wraith guarding Toby's bedroom door—their escape. Her brother grasped her torso making her jump, but she didn't look away from the female-ish wraith blocking the way.
"They're banshees!" Toby explained, and Sarah nodded slightly.
The one blocking the door gave them a gruesome smirk, lifted a hand and wagged its pointer finger in a 'naughty, naughty' motion. Pure terror shooting through her body, and feeling Toby shivering bodily next to her, Sarah released a full-lunged shout:
"Jareth!"
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Unseen in the gloom of the moonless night, a barn owl flew haphazardly just over a forest ceiling toward a quaint, Victorian style home. The raptor struggled to maintain lift. Its wings flapped frenetically with obvious labor, but ultimately without success as it progressively plunged lower and lower until it clipped the tall, hardwood treetops.
The owl's body snagged the upwards clawing branches, and with a weakened, frustrated screech it fell into the woods with numerous loud snaps and crashes. Landing upon the ground, the owl flopped about for several minutes until it stilled, panting and exhausted. A short while later a glow emanated from the bird and the edges of its form blurred, shifted and grew until a naked, humanoid shape replaced it.
Jareth lifted his head from the forest floor, his face covered in welts and burns. Reaching out with one trembling hand and gritting his teeth against the pain, he attempted to drag his broken, battered body forward, unsuccessfully, until his consciousness wavered.
"Sarah..." he whispered, his head sinking to the grass, "Tobias..." his eyes fluttered shut and his body went lax and motionless.
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- 9
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Oh, Now Why the Concern?