It was time.

They had played their little game of cat and mouse. He had thrown her against every whim and every obstacle and yet she still managed to stay victorious. Even if it was just by the nick of time or a hairsbreadth away. For a human devoid of any such magical prowess or knightly knowledge....he was engrossed.

Enamored. Simply possessed. His heart the ball and himself the chain dastardly connected to it.

He had been the one to shuffle the maze up. He had been the one to poison the apple. He had been the one to switch the doors when she had guessed right. Because of course she did.

She wasn't the first to be doomed to the Labyrinth. Wasn't the first to chant his name, to summon him, to sneer at him when Jareth did their bidding. She had wanted the child gone, he had done just that. In her subconscious, she thrilled at this adventure. She craved it.

So he gave it to her.

But...there's been a shift. A change of plans. The storybook she was living in, he was growing restless to please. Forget about the baby. He wanted her. Mortals in the past couldn't adjust their minds to the confusion that was the Labyrinth. Some had simply gone mad. And the rest died.

But not her.

So now they stood. The game over. His world collapsing. Chunks of the stone stairs he'd built to trap her now drifted to oblivion. Never to be seen again. And it dawned on Jareth that he'd never see the mystery of her again.

It was all but grey skies now. All but oblivion around them. Which is what she could have if she wanted. No more dreadful woes or problems. Just deep satisfaction blending into a calm nothing. He would settle all her problems onto his shoulders, he'd take her misfortunes and turn them into luck.

This whole game was trying to win her. The ballroom. The dress. Jareth's face had been smug indifference but inside he had been...changed.

Apparently, she was still too hardheaded to acknowledge all the sacrifices he'd endured to ensure her safety. Maybe she wouldn't believe it, but he did. For if he truly wanted the child, he had this unjust world at his fingertips. The laws of physics were nothing compared to the anarchy of Jareth.

But now they stood. Background of crumbling stone and endless sky and Jareth knew no magic, no matter how mystical, could sway this stubborn, beautiful wench. He had given it his all. He was drained of energy.

The goblin king was reduced to a pleading man.

"Everything that you wanted...I have done."

His voice is strained without control. His teeth are set, his head slanted. His heart stuttering.

"You asked the child to be taken...I took him. You cowered before me and I was frightening."

I played evil for you to be good. I played frightening for you to be brave.

He took a step closer.

"I have reordered time." She was late by 1 minute. 1 minute he had wound backwards.

"I have turned the world upside down AND I HAVE DONE IT ALL FOR YOU!" Jareth spreads his arms with his booming voice and gestures to his cracked world. Then suddenly, his arms drop dead to his sides. And his dramatic features slope.

"...I am exhausted. From living up to your expectations." Jareth's voice is quiet. Not the brazen quirk it usually held. His sharp brows dip. "Isn't that generous?" His voice is small.

Jareth had done this all and she still wouldn't succumb. He truly believed if she saw the baby unharmed she would be grateful. But she wasn't. She was the one thing his magic couldn't alter and he wanted her. He had tried with the apple and she had managed to REMEMBER THE FORGOTTEN!

"I ask for so little..." Jareth continued, stepping closer. Closer. Closer. A gloved hand came to grip her chin.

"Just fear me. Love me. Do as I say. And I will be your slave."