WHO: Peter Petrelli, Sarah Williams, Hoggle, Ludo, other denizens of the Labyrinth WHERE: the Labyrinth, in Jareth's Kingdom WHEN: Outside regular time. WHAT: For every up, there is a down. RATING: PG-13 STATUS: log; COMPLETED! NOTES: Hoggle written by nopoweroverme; Ludo written by no_savior
Following along with Hoggle's plan, Peter nodded, falling into step with the dwarf. His legs were longer, so his pace slower, which was more than suitable. It gave his mind a chance to settle down after that bit of torture he'd put it through.
And gave him time to work out how to answer Hoggle's inquiry. "Where I'm from, humans are... changing. Evolving. They're starting to gain abilities that people wouldn't normally have. The ability to read minds, to heal their bodies quickly, to fly..." Matt. Claire. Nathan. He never could think of his abilities without also recalling the face or the feeling behind the individual he'd absorbed it from.
"Most of them -- most of us -- have only one ability. Mine was a little different. I could... copy the abilities of others, and use them myself. At first, only when they were nearby, but then someone taught me how to do it on my own. It only really emerged about five years ago, but since then... well, I've met a lot of people since then. That's why I can... do different things."
He stopped there, eyes flickering towards Hoggle, waiting to see what the dwarf's reaction would be. He wouldn't admit to being nervous about it, but that hint of fear never quite went away, fear of what people would think once they found out what he could do. Once they realized how powerful he really was. There was a reason Peter didn't flaunt his ability, and that was part of it.
Though Hoggle just listened as they walked and Peter explained, it wasn't something without non-verbal reaction, the dwarf's eyes widening or narrowing between waves of surprise and the focus to understand what was being explained to him. He wasn't stupid by any means - in some ways, he could be very smart, especially in the common or 'street' smart senses - but this was a new level of understanding. He knew magic and he knew regular humans. He'd heard enough about this 'Los Angeles' place from eavesdropping on Jareth to know it was full of boring humans and people with magic, like 'THE WITCH'. He hadn't heard anything about 'evolved' humans.
And he knew there was no way a regular human would ever be good enough for Sarah. Not just in the sense most would consider, but as a matter of protection. Sarah couldn't fend Jareth off herself - she hadn't even been aware Jareth followed her movements over the years - and Sarah was a rarity among humans, as far as the dwarf was concerned.
Ultimately, what Peter revealed came down to one simplistic idea - could this 'evolved' human be that protection, be in essence good enough for Sarah? He still wasn't sure.
"So these 'different things', they all help you?" he asked. The question might not have been very subtle, but then subtlety wasn't exact something Hoggle strove to use much. "You heal, you fly, you read minds, and such?"
Peter shook his head. "No. I mean, a lot of them effect me directly. But a lot of them help others." He looked down at his hands, frustrated by the suppression of his powers for the first time in hours. "I can move things without touching them. I can make myself invisible with someone else. I can heal others by touching them."
He frowned, and shoved his hands back into his pockets. "I don't use them for myself," he said. "That would be... I'd be worse than Jareth if I did that. I try to help people. I want the world to be a safer place." A smirk touched his lips. "Jareth was scaring Sarah once. In her apartment. I threw a lightning bolt at him." Then he shrugged. "Didn't work out exactly how I planned, but Sarah threw him out after that."
Hoggle zeroed in on the Sarah story, as the beginning had all the elements he really did fear, Jareth scaring Sarah and someday going too far. Though he was pleased to hear she'd thrown Jareth out, he didn't know how long that would last. Jareth was at a breaking point, as evidenced by the fact Peter was in this place.
He still had more questions.
"So it didn't hit him?" he asked, frowning. The kid had started getting abilities back despite what Jareth had apparently believed about his grip of them, but were they enough to be a match against Jareth? Hoggle knew, better than most, that Jareth was never going to give up. He'd been focused too long, too insistent his way was the right way. The solution, in the dwarf's mind, was someone who could make certain that Jareth didn't keep hurting Sarah, even when he never gave up. "Couldn't touch him?"
Peter shook his head. "Nah. Hit 'im. Hit 'im in one of those stupid crystals he likes to spin around. The lightning shot back, going for Sarah, and I threw myself in front of her. Hit me instead. Stopped my heart. Killed me, really."
Hearing that, Hoggle came to two realizations - one, Jareth was scum and the sooner he was put in his place, the better for Sarah. The second was a little harder to stomach, as he'd been far more comfortable with distance and disapproval when it came Peter. But after that revelation - or after he had Sarah confirm it to know for certain - Hoggle faced that 'the kid' was Sarah's best chance, which meant he was the best chance of everyone who cared about her. Hoggle included.
Pausing as they walked along the wall, Hoggle looked up at Peter, brow furrowed for a moment. "Eh, you'll do," he said, then started walking again.
The look from Hoggle was expected. Now he figured he'd get some smark remark about getting killed by his own lightning attack. "Letting myself get killed wasn't exactly the best thing to do," he said. "I just didn't want her in danger when the crystal deflected the bolt."
Then he blinked. "I'll do? Do what?"
Hoggle didn't stop walking, just snorted. "You're smart, you figure it out," he said, paying no attention to Peter as he peered over the wall. Couldn't smell the Bog yet, but looking down there was smart, in case Sarah hadn't stayed put. Hoggle wouldn't have blamed her if she hadn't, but it would make a new mess of things if they'd gone too far off course.
"At least I wasn't dead long," Peter shrugged, and gave up. He looked over the wall as well, seeing a dark forest, with a scattering of firelights. Creatures were in the lights, doing... something.
Then Peter's jaw dropped. "It's them! The ones who throw around their body parts! Oh my god!" Revulsion had made its way back to his expression. "I'm glad we didn't go through the forest."
"Bah." Hoggle waved at that side of the wall, making a face, but one not nearly as clearly repulsed as Peter's. He didn't like the creatures much, but they weren't the worst thing in the place, as long as they didn't get it in their head to tear other people apart. Then things got a little tricky.
"Don't point 'em out to Sarah on the way back, got it?" he said, looking back at Peter briefly before moving on.
And then the smell began to seep into Hoggle's nose and he groaned. "Damned Bog."
Peter nodded, remembering how she'd reacted to them even in the movie. Peter had thought they were creepy Hensonified. They were terrifying real. "Not a word," he agreed.
And then, the smell hit. "Ugh," he grunted. "Is that it?" It was every horrific scent he'd even had the misfortune to experience, and it was rolled into one. He pulled out the earplugs, rewrapped them, and slid them into his nostrils. It helped, but not much. But it would also numb his sense of taste. Which would be another help.
"I hope this is the closest we ever get."
"You should try being down here."
The voice came from below, Sarah standing at the base of the wall right below them. Her expression was a comical mixture of continued suffering over the horrific smell and relieved joy at the voices she could hear above her head.
Dropping to his knees and then laying flat on his stomach, in order to avoid accidentally slipping off the wall, Hoggle stuck his head out over the edge and looked down at her. "Nothing doing," he said, then looked over Sarah and the others. "Everyone all right?"
"We're standing next to the Bog, what do you think?" Sarah said smartly, then turned her attention to the other person on the wall. Peter. Just as she'd believed, they'd found each other again, and though nothing could block out the god-awful smell, suddenly things were looking far more up than they had just a short while ago.
"Having fun?" she asked, tone just as smart as the one she'd used with Hoggle, grin far too wide where it could be seen around her hand, which was still firmly clamped on her nose. Her eyes said what smart remarks and grins didn't, mostly centered around how terribly much she'd missed him.
"Oh," Peter called back, "It's like being at camp. You know? Climbing mountains, exploring tunnels, and then, every once in a while, someone tries to kill you."
He looked over the bog, trying not to think of the fumes coming off of it. Trying instead, to determine just how far down Sarah was, and the best way to get her, the hulking form that had to be Ludo, and the... "Hey, where's Fox Quijote? Err, Didymus?"
Curbing a laugh, as laughing meant exposing herself to more of the Bog smell, Sarah gestured in the direction of the once-bridge, now rock path across the Bog. "He's finding Ambrosius, he'll be along soon," she said.
"And while we're standing around talkin', it still stinks," Hoggle said, making a face at Sarah before disappearing from her sight. Once standing again, he wandered down the wall.
"If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do," Sarah quoted, winking at Peter since Hoggle had wandered away and wouldn't get the movie reference anyhow. The banter was helping for now, as there was still at least twenty feet of wall between them and several unanswered questions that could wait until they were face to face again.
Where the wall turned and went to the left was where Hoggle stopped to inspect their options. The wall was rougher here, which meant easier hand-holds and there was the advantage of a pile of rocks starting several feet from the base of the wall, some of them large enough that the whole pile was half as tall as the wall. Not that the rocks needed to be right there to help them, but it would make the plan easier. Hoggle had figured Ludo would be their best bet at constructing some kind of rough staircase next to the wall.
Ludo was nearby, however, and had watched the interactions between Sarah, Hoggle, and the new man, whose name had not been given. Hoggle looked up and pointed at him. "Sa-rah friend! Friend Pe-ter!"
Peter grinned, and waved. "Hi, Ludo!," he called down. "Nice to meet you! We just need a way to get the rest of you up here to us."
That seemed easy enough for Ludo. The beast looked around, and saw all his friends. He raised his voice, and the stones and boulders began to move, neatly arranging themselves into a crude staircase, that would hold true long enough for everyone to make their way up. There would be stretching involved, as the rocks were not quite enough in number to get them the whole way up, but the topmost rocks were, about seven feet from the top of the wall.
Ludo lumbered over to Sarah. "Sa-rah," he said. "Ludo help. Find Pe-ter." He offered his hand, and pointed at the stairway. "Sa-rah, up?"
Sarah watched the staircase form with a well of pride and no small amount of relief, as she'd lingered here next to the Bog longer than the last time and she felt certain the smell was going to be burned into her nose for eternity after smelling it this long. Grinning at Ludo, though the only signs of this grin were the way her eyes crinkled at the corners, Sarah accepted his hand.
"Yes, let's go introduce you to Peter properly," she said and then moved to the base of the rock pile. Of course climbing meant letting go of her nose. With a small sigh, she yanked the sweatshirt neck back over her nose, bandit-like, and then began to climb. Some levels were easier that others, Sarah scrambling up agilely, but where it wasn't so easy or her sneaker slipped on a too-smooth spot on a rock, Ludo's hands were there to prevent her crashing back down.
"To think, people pay to do this for sport," she called, grasping another rock top to pull herself up with. At least this time, she was making it without anything more than a few brush burns from hands slipping. Even better, she wasn't all that winded - which was a relief, when that meant sucking in more Bog air.
"Remind me to thank my sadist trainer for kicking my backside into shape," she called again, this time teasing. "I think I could easily climbing t-" She paused. Saying something like 'climb twice this height' was just asking for trouble. "I'll finish that thought when I'm not on a rockpile."
At the top, Hoggle hovered nervously at the edge of the wall, one hand firmly grasping the upright part of the wall closest to him, nervous not that Sarah would fall - as Ludo was there - but that his inability to stay back, instead of watch, would send him tumbling - not to inevitable neck-breaking, but into the Bog.
"Less talking, more concentrating," he called down to her, disapproval clear for the remarks floating up to them from below. She wasn't taking this place seriously again, as far as he was concerned, and he didn't like it at all.
"I think your trainer would have a few things to say about the shape of your backside, sadistic or not," Peter called back to her. "First and foremost, that kicking it would be a terrible waste of time better spent in other pursuits." Perhaps it wasn't the best time for a comment like that, but given the number of near-death experiences he'd had by now, and the reunion with Sarah that was moments from physical success, Peter felt no shame at all in expressing himself.
Where Hoggle was waiting against the wall, keeping as far from the ledge as he could, Peter was kneeling at the ledge, ready to reach down and help pull Sarah up onto the wall with them.
Ludo was taking his progress slowly. His weight on the rocks was something they were keeping in check, adjusting their positions to keep as much support under their large friend as they could. When they finally reached the top of the makeshift stairs, Ludo put his hands against Sarah's waist and lifted her, pushing her upwards to the top of the wall.
Where Peter was waiting. He adjusted his stance, laying down on his belly and reaching out with both arms to catch Sarah, to help pull her up. "Come on, baby," he said. "Almost here."
Grateful she wouldn't have to climb the last stretch of wall on her own, given how jagged the stones were, Sarah braced her hands on Ludo's large wrists. Only briefly, however, as it was only until the most welcome pair of hands ever were in reach. She grabbed on tightly, sweatshirt concealing the brief beam of pleasure at the endearment, and braced her feet on the protruding stone to help the process along.
She had barely cleared the top of the wall before she wrapped herself around Peter, arms and legs both for a full body hug, and held on.
Behind them, Hoggle let out a groan and a curse. "Get away from the edge if you're going to do that." Not that he was encouraging this at all, mind you, but if they were going to do it - and given how they'd behaved earlier, he guessed it was inevitable - they could at least do it from the safety of the middle of the wall.
Peter pulled her into his arms, just as happy for the embrace as she was. Hoggle's comment made him laugh, both at the groan and the flustered annoyance, and he allowed a moment for his face to leave the nape of Sarah's neck to say, "Whatever you say, Grumbly."
Arms wrapped around her so the movement he chose wouldn't hurt, Peter rolled towards the wall, he and Sarah twisting over one another, still locked in the tight embrace. When they bumped against the wall, it seemed safe enough. Peter used one hand to push the hair and the fabric away from Sarah's face, and kissed her, kissed her lips, her cheeks, her nose, and her eyes, her chin and her jaw.
While Sarah and her friend were wrestling, Ludo made his way up the last few feet on his own, his height and the strength in his arms making the climb fairly simple. When he got to the top, he moved away from the edge, and waved to Hoggle. Then he looked back at Sarah and Peter, and furrowed his brow, not completely understanding what they were laughing about. He turned back to Hoggle, the confusion clear in his expression.
"Argh, it's Hoggle!" the dwarf growled, but he realized it wasn't a mistake so much as meant on purpose. At least it wasn't 'Grumpy', he'd been called that before, which Sarah had explained later. Still, he wasn't too pleased, especially with watching what continued. The kid might do as Sarah's protector, but they had a Labyrinth to solve.
Though she knew that the rest of the Labyrinth awaited, Sarah permitted herself a few brief moments of not giving a damn so she could trade kiss for kiss and touch for touch with Peter. He was all right - they all were all right, their now-combined party - and she wasn't going to let go again and risk having him drop down another trap door or fall off a wall or any of a hundred things that could separate them again.
Joy and relief, while they didn't fade, at least settled to a more manageable level by the time her forehead came to rest against Peter's, eyes open and locked on his.
"No more vanishing," she said softly, increasing the press of her head against his in a small nudge.
Having moved a few steps closer, originally intending to poke one or both of them and tell them to get up, Hoggle stopped when his gaze landed on the Band-aids decorating Sarah's legs.
"Sarah, what did you do?"
Turning her attention away from Peter for a moment, Sarah gave Hoggle a puzzled look. "What did I do where?" When he pointed toward her leg, she shrugged, lifting the leg to re-examine herself. "Oh, that's not as bad as it looks, just some scratches. The thorn holes actually hurt worse."
She turned her head back and grinned at Peter, then assumed a serious face that failed badly at convincing. "Squishy has some nasty little relatives in the hedges. They tried to make me one of them. Will you still love me when I'm green?"
The combination of 'thorn' and 'hedge' turned Hoggle's face somewhat pale and he let out one distinct whimper. "Oh, no."
"No," Peter said, pressing his own forehead right back against hers. "No more vanishing." He knew they should get moving, but he was content enough to let someone else make that announcement, and cling to this moment as long as possible. Until Hoggle's voice pointed out something wrong.
Peter sat up, shifting Sarah into his lap as he looked at the scratches on her legs, frowning. Her words prompted a chuckle and a light kiss. "Of course. Green is my favorite color." But the whimper from Hoggle murdered the light mood, and Peter looked at the dwarf, his expression hardening into something more fierce than concern.
"What is it, Hoggle?" he asked, his tone suspiciously similar to Nathan's 'no arguments' one.
For a moment, the dwarf didn't seem able to speak, the look of horror on his face all too clear. He counted the Band-aids and then looked to Sarah. "That all of them?" Maybe it was, maybe this wasn't as bad as it could be.
Sarah shook her head slowly and shoved up the arms of the sweatshirt, revealing a few more. "Hoggle, what's wrong?" she asked, reaching for his hand to pull him closer so she didn't have to leave Peter's lap yet. Whatever was going on, he was scared, and it dampened a great deal of the lightheartedness of this reunion.
The dwarf looked away from Sarah then, fixing his gaze on the area near Peter's shoulder. "Them thorns, they- he made it so people would- if you get pricked or scratched-"
She wasn't going to panic. She wasn't. She was going to wait for him to finish.
"What, Hoggle? What happens?" she coaxed gently, squeezing his hand. "Whatever it is, you can tell us. It's not your fault." After all, he'd warned them, he'd wanted to avoid the hedge walls and she hadn't listened to him.
"They're like the peach," Hoggle whispered, raspy, the sound barely carrying. "Only slower. Meant to- meant to make you forget over time, not right away." He looked up then. "You'll forget everything."
"What?" Still not going to panic. No panicking. And in the spirit of not panicking, Sarah turned dismissive. "Of course I won't, I haven't forgotten anything. This is ridiculous. I am fine."
The grip she had on Peter told a different story of her current feelings.
Peter could feel her fear, even without the way she was holding onto him to give him a clue. He could feel it in her, because it was growing in him. With some effort, he quashed the feeling, holding it deep down, and locking it away. Fear wasn't going to help them right now.
"How long, Hoggle?" he asked, the hand not wrapped around Sarah's shoulders running through her hair. His voice was soft, but calm. "Do you know how long it will take?"
Peter leaned against Sarah, holding her close, resting his chin against her forehead. The physical connection made the telepathy easier to bear. I'm going to take care of you. You know that. You're going to be fine, Sarah. No matter what happens, I'll make sure of it.
Closing her eyes, Sarah nodded against Peter's chin. Of course you will. Don't worry so much. It was harder to make it sound dismissive in her head, thoughts far more pure and honest than what she was capable of concealing in word and act.
Hoggle shook his head, as he didn't know, as right now Sarah wasn't behaving as he would have expected. What more, he hated that he didn't know. She might want to dismiss it, but he knew how serious this was.
"It doesn't take much of that stuff, but if you clean it quick, it goes even slower." He eyed Sarah's Band-aids with another unhappy twitch. It was too late to clean them, but she didn't seem too confused yet. Maybe they had time to get her out of here, time enough before Jareth took advantage of it as he had before.
Sarah's eyes popped open, latching on to the small hope with a near single-minded determination. "Oh! Then I'm going to be fine, I cleaned them all," she said, stretching out a hand decorated with three Band-aids and multiple small prick wounds that had already scabbed. "And Claire made fun of me for bring first-aid supplies."
But she hadn't cleaned them all, in an effort to have a hand with Peter's scent on it. But Sarah didn't remember that part.
Hoggle wasn't convinced and it was then he turned to Peter. "Can't you do something for her?" Not that he wanted the kid to get a nosebleed again, but healing others had been one of the things mentioned as an ability.
Peter's gut clenched when he saw the marks on Sarah's hands. How many times had she been pricked by the hedge? His jaw tensed as he swore under his breath. Hoggle didn't know how long the effect would take, but he'd said it was gradual.
"Sarah," he asked softly. "My nephews. What are their names?"
He looked up at Hoggle at the question, eyes uncertain. He had the ability, but how far it was suppressed, he didn't know. Still, for Sarah, he would try.
Peter shifted his hands, moving one against her leg, the other holding her wounded hand. He took a breath and concentrated, burrowing down into his mind and trying to get into that well of abilities. It was like trying to swim through wet cement. Jareth's suppression hadn't been enough to block the abilities completely, but it was damn close.
He concentrated harder, feeling the familiar stab of pain spike in his mind. His hands started to shake with strain. And it was no trickle of blood this time, but a rush, coupled with the slackening of Peter's limbs as his head spun, eyes rolling back, on the verge of unconsciousness.
Opening her mouth to inform Peter that the last people she would be forgetting would be Simon and Monty, Sarah instead diverted her attention to Hoggle. His suggestion didn't please her at all, as she still had no idea how Peter had been able to use telepathy, let alone the rest. More importantly, and far more alarmingly, she couldn't remember why he couldn't, just that he hadn't had use of his abilities.
"No, he isn't going to," she said sharply, then looked down at Peter's hands as they moved into place and let out a frustrated breath. If he had just recently gotten them back, the last thing he needed to be doing was expending the energy to try this so soon. They had time to use this option later if they needed it, it wasn't necessary right now, not even if she was beginning to suspect the thorns were starting to do their job.
When his hands started to shake, Sarah grabbed him, only to cry out when blood gushed from his nose. She should have stopped him, but it was too late for 'should haves' now. Twisting to hold him against her and free an arm, which was difficult as she was in his lap, she yanked the sleeve of her sweatshirt down again to hold it to his nose, trying to stay calm despite the fact he was all but unconscious.
"Why did you do that, you silly fool," she said roughly, then shook him in her arms, gentle but persistent as she was attempting to keep him conscious if she could. "Come on, stay with me, please? Peter, it's going to be okay." She was certain that last reassurance was mostly for herself.
Watching all of this, Hoggle was beside himself, wringing his gnarled hands as he shifted from one foot to the other. He should never have suggested this to the kid, it was a worse nosebleed and he knew Sarah well enough to recognize the edge to her voice that meant this wasn't good, even without the proof. What if something happened?
He retreated, back beside Ludo and then further still, feeling guilty and hating the feeling all at the same time. He should have kept his mouth shut about the idea, shouldn't have encouraged the kid to do what he did so soon.
His head hurt. There was no strength to keep himself sitting up, so Peter was leaning aganst Sarah's hold on him. His eyes were still open, trying to stay focused on her, blinking hard. "Mm 'kay," he muttered, lids fluttering. He could feel the pressure against his nose, starting to pull away from it, and then leaning his weight against it when his head protested against the movement. "Ow."
Ludo saw the panic, and the way that Sarah's friend was trying to fall down. Because of the stench of the Bog, he couldn't smell the blood, but he knew what it meant. Sarah was trying to hold him and help him at the same time, and Ludo wanted to help too, so he moved over to them and put his hand against Peter's back, holding him up while he sat down, providing a comfy and fuzzy lap for Sarah's friend to rest on while Sarah made him better.
Intensely grateful for both Peter's continued consciousness and Ludo's help, Sarah briefly thanked her friend and then slid off Peter's lap entirely to kneel beside him. Both hands free now, she yanked off the sweatshirt to make more effective use of the sleeve to stem the flow of blood, her other hand gently brushing back his hair out of his face.
"You don't need to move, just work on staying awake for me," she coaxed, anxious eyes locked on his. She was frustrated, not knowing the extent to which he'd hurt himself and if he had back any other abilities like the regenerative ability, unable to do much for him beyond what she was. Leaning in, she kissed his forehead, the touch just as gentle and nearly feather-light as her fingers in his hair had been.
"That's it, stay with me, sweetie, focus on me," she continued, checking his nose before brushing her fingers along his temple, a faint and shaky attempt to be soothing. "I know it hurts, but that will pass." It had to eventually, she didn't know what she would do if it didn't.
Hoggle hung back for a time watching this all play out, nearly turning on his heel and leaving at one point, but eventually deciding to stay. Following that decision was the choice to step forward again. He was still wringing his hands, but he moved close enough to peer over Sarah's shoulder at Peter's face.
"Will he make it?" he asked gruffly, brow once again furrowed, obviously worried and not curbing the fact for a moment.
Awake. He could do that. He tried breathing. That was okay. It was good. His eyes were starting to slip shut when Sarah's voice told him to focus. He opened them, blinking, and locked onto her vivid green irises.
"My god, you're beautiful," he said, voice still somewhat dazed.
The throbbing in his head still pulsed, but the bleeding his nose was stopping. Peter's eyes flickered from Sarah, to Hoggle, at the dwarf's question. "He'll be fine," Peter said, trying to nod without moving his head. "'S ok, Hoggle. 'S fine." His eyes were trying to close again.
"Bleeding from the nose and he keeps right on flirting," Sarah murmured, affectionate rather than chastising, relieved by the fact he did keep on talking. She knew talking and hearing couldn't be helping the pain, but the former was what told her he was still actually conscious and the latter was both a way to keep him awake and channel some of her anxiety.
And then his eyelids dipped low again, bringing a fresh wave of anxiety. "No, no closing your eyes, keep them open and on me," she said firmly, stroking his cheek now. "Come on, Peter, stay awake."
Hoggle wasn't buying the reassurance one bit, not with Sarah still clearly distressed and Peter himself looking ready to slip off.
"You heard her," he told Peter almost severely. "Stay awake. We ain't got time for this neither."
Well, it was the truth. Hoggle just didn't know what else to say, or what way else to help, other than to be himself. If the kid responded with a bit of pluck, maybe Sarah wouldn't be so worried.
His eyes opened again, with a sharp intake of breath. "Whaddaya mean?" he said, furrowing his brow at Hoggle. His voice was a bit more even this time, stronger and steadier. "There's always time t' flirt."
The corner of his lips twitched in a quirky smile. Then Peter squeezed his eyes shut, lifting one hand to press the heel of it against his temple. "Guess that didn't work. Can try later." At least he hadn't backslid so much that his healing ability had been stunted again. His nose was no longer bleeding, and some of the agony in his brain was easing off.
He turned his gaze back to Sarah. "Don't," he said, raising a finger to stop her from talking. "Don't say I'm not trying again. Because I am. Just... later." He leaned back against whatever blanket this was they had propped him on. "Do we have any..."
Peter felt his "blanket" shift. Slowly, his head tilted up, eyes widening. "...water?"
Ludo looked down as Peter looked up. The young man was talking again, and even though he seemed hurt, he was moving more. That was good, right? Ludo gave him a smile when their eyes met.
"Pe-ter," he said. "Pe-ter Sa-rah friend. Pe-ter Ludo friend."
"Now that's what I call a safety blanket," Peter murmured. Then he grinned a bit. "Yeah, Ludo. I'm a friend."
Hoggle rolled his eyes, but the act came with relieved annoyance rather than the usual brand of straight annoyance. It looked like the kid would make it after all, or was at least it a bit better shape than when he'd first gone down, which eased a bit of the guilt Hoggle felt at encouraging him.
"Figures you would think so," he grumbled, but this time he backed up, no longer hovering with as much worry as before.
Halted in the midst of what was preparing to be a very firm, though still quiet, assertion that trying again was madness, Sarah pursed her lips. He'd guessed what she would say and was stubbornly intending to do it his own way.
Was she happy he would be trying again? No. Was that likely clear? Oh yes.
Muttering beneath her breath, she looked around them, though water wasn't going to appear out of nowhere - at least, possibly not - then down at herself, surprised to find a water bottle top peeking out of the bag she wore. All right, so she had water. That was good.
Yanking it free, she unscrewed the top and then moved to hold it to Peter's mouth.
Peter's hand closed over hers, not moving to take the bottle, but to direct her when to pour. Small sips, just small ones. After two or three of those, his head was starting to clear. He nodded, pushing back at the bottle, gently. "I'm okay," he said again. "We gotta keep going. Ludo..." He looked up. "Ludo, can I walk with you for a little while? So I don't fall down again?"
Ludo beamed, and nodded, pleased that he could help. "Yes! Ludo help Pe-ter! Ludo walk with Pe-ter!" Carefully, Ludo helped Peter to his feet, making sure that the young man could stand before standing up himself, still keeping one arm to support Peter.
The discomfort was fading. His healing ability was definitely back, but he'd probably did a good job to halt any others for a while. Now on his feet again, he was ready to go. His noseplugs were gone, so Peter reached up to the missing section of his shirt to pull some material off the shoulder.
Giving over her charge to the capable, big arms of her friend, Sarah capped the water bottle and stood. Dusting off her legs, she looked over to make certain Ludo had Peter securely. And froze.
Before, she had been too focused on having Peter back to pay attention to his clothes, then the nosebleed distracted her further. But with him standing and no reunion embraces and nosebleeds holding her attention, she took full stock of his appearance.
"Did someone set you on fire?" she gasped.
Surprisingly, it was Hoggle that offer the explanation first - or perhaps the surprising part was that not only was it motivated by keeping Sarah from being more upset, it was also motivated by having Peter's back, so to speak.
"Just his clothes, Sarah, that's all," he reassured, moving to her side to look up at her. "Them old false alarms, they got modified too, but Peter," here he grinned at Peter, "talked 'em down from using it on us."
That ought to please her, he figured. She seemed to like that about him.
Sarah definitely did like that about Peter. She also appreciated the fact that, if Hoggle was telling the whole truth, Peter hadn't been set on fire and had to heal from that, given how he'd pushed himself just now. But there was one part of it that confused her.
"False alarms?" she questioned, expression puzzled.
A grin was returned to Hoggle. "Hey, man, you saved my butt in the garden. I couldn't have gotten here without you."
At Sarah's question, Peter nodded. "You know, those funny old faces that say you're going the wrong way? They just wanted to say their piece, so I said they could say it all they wanted, and just to make it look good, so no one got in any trouble, they could burn my shirt." He frowned a little. "And my jacket." Then he shrugged. "I just took them off, and put 'em back on when they were done."
Then he chuckled. "One of them asked if I could use a couple of them. Man, I'd love that, to set 'em down at the Hyperion doors?" He chuckled again, leaning against Ludo's arm.
Sarah's confusion increased then, not just because 'funny old faces' weren't something she recognized, but because there was something else in his explanation that was just out of grasp. She could feel it, a vague sense like she had heard the word before, but at the moment it eluded her as to where.
It was as though her mind was turning into swiss cheese, as she could recall minutes and months and years ago, but not all the pieces of those things. Not all the missing pieces where things she was aware of, but she could no longer ignore what she had tried to dismiss.
It was with a great deal of frustration she finally said something.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she admitted quietly. "And what is the Hyperion?"
Hoggle didn't know what a 'Hyperion' was, but the fact that Sarah didn't remember the rock faces told him enough. The memory loss had started. Letting out a low growl, he moved close to the edge of the wall to look down, as now they really needed to get through the Labyrinth. Where was that damned dog and his equally damnable dog-horse?
Peter froze, the cheerful expression caught on his lips, slowly sinking into sorrow. She didn't remember the Hyperion. "That's... that's where we live, Sarah. We live at the Hyperion Hotel. In Los Angeles." He reached out and took her hand in his. The rest of his body tensed with the force he wanted to cling to her with. "Remember your roomie? Charlie?"
He wanted to hear her talk about things, as though talking about them, remembering the words and the phrases now would help reinforce them in her mind. He had to hope it would work.
Sarah frowned. She'd known that, the fact that she lived in a hotel, but it hadn't occurred to her until just now she couldn't name the building. It wasn't all gone. This was just a minor problem and once they were through the Labyrinth, she would be fine.
She could handle this.
"I knew that, I did," she said, chin lifting stubbornly. "Things are just... fuzzy. I didn't forget, I remember Charlie. I remember your family - Simon, Monty, Heidi, Claire. And the vampires and the demons and the superheroes."
What Sarah didn't realize was that she had forgotten Nathan, Angela and the younger Claire in her list of 'his family'. She would be hard-pressed at this point to recall the name of Peter's best friend, though she did remember there were two of them. If she tried now, she might be able to name half the hotel residents, as they would be all the residents to her. Some pieces were gone and some were merely slipping away. What she didn't know was that with the process begun, the gaps would grow larger much faster.
Peter waited. "And my brother?" he said, after a moment. "You remember my brother." Please, she remembered Nathan. Please. Otherwise this was going far too quickly. Far too quickly.
He looked to Hoggle. "Can Sir Didymus track us? From here?" Then to Ludo. "The rocks will stay, and help him, up?"
Ludo nodded. "Rock stay. Rock help Brother. Rock take Brother to Ludo."
Moving back from the edge, Hoggle nodded as well. "He can't smell the Bog, but he can track any smell he's given," he said.
Sarah blinked at him, then dropped her head, eyes closing with the effort to remember. He had a brother. That made sense, as there were nephews and - well, then, that would make Heidi a sister-in-law, but her mind hadn't made the distinction before this. Bits of information - flying, broken toasters, something with law - but they didn't connect to anything solidly. But being told, it helped for the moment to focus the fuzzy feeling. Peter had a brother. That was right.
Despite that aid, she still couldn't have told Peter what his brother's name was if her life depended on it.
"Okay, we have to go now," she said, looking up. Her fingers laced with Peter's and she offered a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "It's time to get out of here."
Before she forgot why.
Any smell he's given. Peter pulled the handkerchief from his pocket that had already left his blood. He used it now to wipe away any remaining on his face, and let it drop to the ground. "He can follow us from that."
His fingers curled into Sarah's as well. "Hoggle? Time to get moving. Sir Didymus can track us when he's ready. You need to lead us."
He looked at Hoggle and quietly, with his mind, sent to the dwarf, She's getting worse.
At the sound of Peter's voice in his head, rather than reaching his ears, Hoggle stepped back abruptly. He hadn't been expecting that. Didn't much like having someone in his head, either. But what Peter said was the worst of all.
He nodded at Peter and then took off at a brisk pace back the way they had just come. They would turn before the garden, but they still needed to head back in that direction.
Sarah eyed Hoggle when he reacted to seemingly nothing, catching on a moment later.
Her gaze swung to Peter and her free hand came up, shaking her finger at him briefly. "Stop. That." Things still concerning Peter were mostly clear and given how recently he'd bled all over her sweatshirt, she could still remember that using abilities on top of hurting himself by doing it was a stupid idea.
Waiting until Ludo and Peter started walking, she fell into step with them, attention half on Hoggle and half on Peter.
"Tell me things. Anything." It was a quiet request, but she couldn't speak much more of it without giving fear its head. She needed to remember and as long as they were only walking, she could focus on doing that. She was afraid to be the one to talk, for fear of revealing to all of them how bad her memory was becoming.
Peter had the sense to look sufficiently humbled when Sarah scolded him. He slid his hand into hers, holding on tightly as they started walking again, Ludo at his other side, watching in case he gave any indication of stumbling. The gentle beast seemed to have already counted Peter as someone else to protect.
Peter had sat in comfortable silence with Sarah before, but the tension over her memory was making this silence strained. It was something of a relief when she broke it with her request.
Glancing first at Hoggle, Peter shrugged, and started to talk. "You know, this sort of thing is starting to become my usual route for making new friends. I can't seem to just... strike up a conversation with someone and get a phone number. Even a coffee date with a stranger ends up as a sojourn to the Mojave Desert. The first time I met my best friend, he'd already known me for five years."
He shrugged. "It's true. I was riding the train with this doctor, a guy named Suresh. And while he's talking, all of a sudden, everything just slows down and stops. Like it's all frozen, except for me. Me, and this guy at the other end of the car." He kept going, telling them about his first meeting with Hiro, and how that led back to Isaac's apartment, to the paintings of the cheerleader and the search for her school. The trip to Odessa, and his first meeting with Claire, and with Sylar. The ending, after his arrest and questioning by the police, seemed a bit lame to end with "Then Nathan came and picked me up, and took me back to New York." But now seemed a poor time to explain that Peter had lost those two weeks of his life to a coma.
With Peter doing the talking, Hoggle explained less about the way they traveled, just offered up the important directions and made certain they were all with him. The garden with the living statues wasn't passed again, as they turned before it, but the area did change from the stone wall to greenery again, the outer edges of the hedge walls where the less dangerous gardens were. Several times the castle came into sight, looking very far away, but the dwarf didn't bother to explain that it wasn't, as by now they should know.
He did, however, listen to all Peter said, an attention paid to it that might not have seemed the case with Hoggle's focus elsewhere and frequent instances of muttering to himself.
"Sounds like you don't have much use for boring," the dwarf finally said, pausing to study three staircases leading up the hill from one grassy area to a paved rock garden above. Tricky things, the multiple staircases.
Sarah walked along in silence as well, save for the appropriate nods and things to say while listen to Peter talk. As he did, she searched her mind for the spark of familiarity. She wasn't certain what to make of what Peter was sharing, however. The coffee date - that she remembered, still with the vividness it deserved, the memory making her smile briefly. The story involving his friend and family and his life before now - she couldn't be certain if she'd ever heard it before or not. And she didn't want to ask, as she didn't want to know.
When Hoggle paused, she turned to look at him. "Why are we stopping?" She looked at the staircases and then back at the dwarf, hoping she shouldn't know it.
"Tricky," Hoggle said, then looked at her. "You never had to do this one before, with the forest and all. Only one staircase goes up. One folds up and slides you back down before you get there. And one drops you into a pit." He turned back to the staircases. "And I don't know which is which. Now where is he?"
The 'he' in question approached the group from behind, moving to Sarah's side with measured steps. Appearing infinitely old, with white hair long and tangled in the multiple layers of fabric he wore, he stopped and squinted at her.
"You, again? Hmm."
Atop his head, the longnecked bird serving as his hat, though appearing more a part of the old goblin, let out several trills that sounded vaguely flirtatious.
"Not so young, but not so bad," it said, clicking its tongue as it bobbed vaguely in her direction.
"I don't have much time for boring," Peter corrected the dwarf. "I wouldn't mind a little more of it injected into my life, sometimes."
He paused at the staircases when the others did, but turned back, brows raising as he saw the old man... and his hat. The curiosity turned into a snicker with the brid's trilling, and Peter set his hands on Sarah's shoulders in what might be considered a casual display of ownership.
Not that he was suggesting ownership.
"Sir," he started, then paused, looking at the hat. The hat was clearly the brains of the operation, he seemed to recall. "And... hat. Do you know which staircase leads..." He glanced to Hoggle for confirmation. "...up?"
"Yes, Yes." The old goblin seemed to think a moment. "I... Hmm. To do what it is-"
"You must do," the hat said, bobbing again.
"Be quiet," the old goblin said, rolling his eyes upward in a lazy glare. "As I... was saying, to do what you must do, you must lure the dragon out of the mountain."
The hat rolled its eyes. "Ah, so helpful, no?"
"Useless, you mean," Hoggle grumbled, moving toward the stairs.
"There are dragons here?" Sarah asked, shooting Peter a puzzled look. If it was something she should know, she wasn't going to bother to hide it this time, as what had just been said made no sense. Her memory wasn't yet that shot that she wouldn't notice there were no mountains around them either. Or maybe it was, as concentrating was becoming harder.
Patting Peter's hand absently, she started off after Hoggle to help him, if she could. At least, that was the intent, until a flash of light caught her eye just before she reached him. She turned her head toward the source, the one flash joined by another, and then a third. By the third flash of light near the shrubs, her surroundings were starting to grow a bit fuzzy. She blinked, reaching out to steady herself as a wave of dizziness gripped her, making the fuzziness worse. The flashing of light continued, and grew nearer, until the only thing somewhat clear in her line of vision were three crystals that floated closer like bubbles.
"That's very strange," she muttered, reaching out for one. It proved to be unnecessary, as her eyes locked on the image inside before it touched her fingertips.
Where Sarah had been, there was now no one.
Peter had started towards the stairs when Sarah did, but he was stopped by the man and his hat.
The man extended one arm in front of Peter, which held a woodenbox, a hole carved in the tip. "Donation, please!" squawked the hat.
Peter looked himself over, patted his pockets, and came up only with two nickels and a penny. With a shrug, he dropped those in the box.
"Gracias, senor!" crooned the hat.
Peter pushed past them in time to see Sarah reaching for... a bubble?
A crystal.
"Sarah!" he shouted, throwing himself towards her. But he never made it. Before the cry had even left his throat, she was gone. Peter's hands moved through the air where she'd last stood, air that, for a fleeting moment, still held the warmth of her body. And then, even that was gone. "Sarah," he said again, though this time it was a whisper. A plea.
One answered by a laugh that he hadn't wanted to hear coming from behind him.