Title: Smile
Author: SongBirdBlues (A.K.A dollysgirl04)
Word Count: 885
Couple: Will/Allan
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Set: Season 2 after 2 .09
Note: Anyone else think Allan looked a little sad during season 2?
OoOoO
He wakes with the sun in his eyes, warily blinking the new day into view. He doesn't get up for another few hours, he doesn't have a reason too, Gisborne and the Sheriff won't need him for a while yet.
So he lies in his bed unblinking and unmoving watching the sunlight move across the room.
Eventually he gets up and splashes water on his face and washes for the day, when he spies his reflection he doesn't recognise the person he sees.
He dresses in his black uniform and ignores reflective surfaces, he doesn't need the unnecessary bitter reminder.
OoOoO
Gisborne is interrogating a prisoner, Allan doesn't go down there with him, he stands guard at the door and pretends he can't hear the screaming, pretends it doesn't remind him.
Gisborne comes back up after an hour, after the screaming has dwindled to a low pathetic moaning, he takes off his blood soaked gloves and hands them to Allan. "Have these cleaned." He growls as he walks past and Allan mutely follows, ignoring the feeling of the cooling blood congealing on his hands, blocking the image of his bloodied hands out of his mind.
OoOoO
He falls to sleep leaning against a castle wall, it's a bad habit he knows, letting his guard slip and dozing off where ever he happens to be. It's born from the days when he couldn't sleep at night, too tormented by nightmares every time he closed his eyes, ever since he started betraying the gang and working for Gisborne.
He still dozes anywhere but he doesn't have nightmares anymore. He doesn't dream at all.
OoOoO
When Robin and the gang rescue the prisoner the man's wife is waiting at the edge of the crowd for him. He's stumbling, half dead, being half dragged half walked out of the castle but when she sees him her eyes light up, shining with hope.
Allan doesn't hope, he doesn't believe in hoping, life is cruel, hoping it will change is pointless. He almost feels sorry for her, he doesn't dream, he doesn't hope, it's better that way.
The Sheriff and Gisborne are screaming at the guards as the man throws himself into his wife's arms, she's crying with joy and he's about to pass out but she looks like all of her dreams just came true.
As they make their escape with a smirking Robin and an ecstatic gang, the hope in her eyes shining twice as brightly as it did before, Allan thinks that maybe it's her who should feel sorry for him after all.
OoOoO
"Hood got away again and where were you? Standing there doing nothing! Useless!" Gisborne, griping him by the collar and cutting off his air supply, yells at him at about the same volume the Sheriff yelled at Gisborne.
He can see the punch coming before it hits, unable to move out of the way because of Guy's grip on his neck he simply closes his eyes and waits for the inevitable.
"Sorry Giz, it won't happen again." He says when the pain passes and Gisborne loosens his grip enough for Allan to speak again, breathe again.
He's still reeling from the first hit when the second one connects with his jaw. He's bitten his lip during the impact and he can taste the metallic tang of blood as Gisborne throws him to the floor.
"It better not." Gisborne says, walking away down the corridor. Allan wipes the blood that's running from his nose on his sleeve, he's lucky it's not broken. He rubs his sore jaw and let's his head fall back against the stone castle wall.
The last time he remembers feeling this lost things hadn't ended well.
OoOoO
He deals with the guards, ordering them to line up, listens to the Sheriff's reprimand of the whole group. The Sheriff is angry, the address is not pretty and he's fairly sure that the Sheriff's wrath will be inflicted on both himself and Gisborne over the coming days.
When it's finally over he finds an empty room, shuts the door behind him and sinks to the floor.
He feels the cold hard wood against his back and tries to focus on the solid presence alone, pretends not to exist for a while, for a moment it helps... only for a moment.
OoOoO
The sun has sunken low in the sky as he makes his way out of the castle and into the forest. He weaves through the trees, following a path only he and one other person knows.
The birds of Sherwood chirp as they settle down for the night in the fading sun.
A dark haired figure comes into view, sitting with their back against a large tree, waiting.
A leaf crunches under Allan's boot and Will turns to face him, a wide smile lighting up his face as he does.
He walks straight up to Will without stopping, claiming the carpenter's lips with his own.
When they break apart Allan's smiling for the first time in what feels like forever. Staring into Will's eyes the last day might as well not have even happened.
He can see the love in Will's smile and feels it burning itself into his heart.
When Allan looks at Will for the first time he hopes.