Outlaw Bandit AU

Robin sees Regina for the first time.

Robin's head whipped back at the sound of a twig snapping behind him. His eyes landed on Little John who shrugged at him apologetically. Robin sent him a warning glance. This could be a pretty big score for them and they couldn't afford to get sloppy. The debt collectors would be making their way towards the queen's castle. In their carriage was probably enough gold to feed the whole village for a month. If they were going to pull this off they would need to be at peak performance. It's why he'd insisted on such a small group. Less of a chance for mistakes.

After checking the road to make sure the carriage was not on its way Robin quietly gestured for his men to climb into the trees. If his sources were right the collectors would be traveling by their location just before the sun began to set. Their plan was simple attack from above, knock out the guards, grab the money and leave before they even know what hit them.

It wasn't long before he heard the wheels of the carriage creak down the road. Just like he'd been told there were only two guards, pretty heavily armed but nothing him and his men couldn't handle. As he perched in the hidden branches of a tree he went over the plan again in his head. He had Will placed in the trees on the opposite side of the road. He was nearly as good an archer as Robin was. He'd be able to get one of the guards in the head with a sling shot. Robin would take care of the other. After that it was a matter of swooping in knocking off the lock and getting the gold. There was no reason anything should go wrong.

Robin started to raise his sling shot as the carriage grew near. He saw Will do the same. He narrowed his eyes as began to aim at the guard on the left. His focus was broken when he heard a noise break through the silence.

He looked down at the edge of the road below and saw a hooded figure shaking while having a coughing fit. He quickly gestured for Will to lower his slingshot. The other man gave him a disappointed look. They only had one shot at this but they hadn't planned on witnesses. It was too big of a risk to act now.

Robin watched as the figure continued to shake and cough. As the carriage rolled before them the figure stumbled into the road and fell in its path. Whoever they were they had gone deathly still. The horses were quickly pulled to a stop as the guards looked upon the figure with annoyance. One of the guards quickly stepped down from the carriage and approached the body in the road. Robin felt concern rise up in his chest. The queen's guards weren't the kindest men around and he was sure they wouldn't be gentle with the person no matter how sickly they were.

When the guard went to lean down and shove the person on the ground Robin was shocked to see them reach out and strike the guard in the face. As the guard stumbled back the figure quickly got to their feet. In the swiftness of the motion their hood was pulled back from their face. A woman. Robin's eyes widened in shock. A beautiful woman in fact. She quickly hit the guard over the head with a thick branch she'd hidden under her cloak. The other guard let out a yell as he moved to attack her from behind with his sword. She anticipated his move and quickly dodged his blow. Before he could take another swing at her she blew a bright red powder into his face and he dropped to the ground completely limp. He heard her let out a small breathless giggle before walking over to the previous guard and throwing the powder in his face.

He snuck a look at his men and they all appeared as shocked as he was. They watched the woman with dropped jaws as she searched the guards for keys and headed to the back of the carriage. She didn't appear to be in a hurry. Robin studied her as she unlocked the carriage door and strapped two bags of gold to her belt. Like he'd noticed before she was beautiful. Her skin, though tanned from the sun, was flawless except for the small scar that bisected her upper lip. Her black hair was pulled back into a braid that fell to the middle of her back. It went over her shoulder as she reached into the carriage to grab two more bags of gold. She took another careful look around the area with her big brown eyes before taking off into the forest. Robin waited until her footsteps faded away before gesturing for his men to descend from the trees.

"Who the bloody hell was that?" spat Will as soon as his feet reached the ground. He was clearly put off by the fact that their heist had been derailed.

Robin shook his head as he kneeled next to one the guards. "I don't know," he breathed.

He hesitated before wiping a bit of the red powder off the guards collar. He sniffed at the tips of his fingers and felt himself go a bit dizzy. Poppies.

John stomped over from the back of the carriage with two bags of gold in hand. "There's still plenty in the back of the carriage. She didn't take much."

"She couldn't take much," Will said bitterly. "There was no way she could take all the gold in one sweep by herself. Bet you if she'd had help we'd be going home empty handed."

"You had to admit she was good," complimented John. "Taking out two guards single handed isn't an easy feat. Especially not for a girl her size."

"Woman," corrected Will. "And she was okay at best."

"She was marvelous," said Robin standing up from the guard. "This was not an accidental heist. She knew what the carriage was holding, when it was coming and the best way to get them to stop.

He held up his hand. "She brought poppy dust with her."

"Unfair advantage," muttered Will.

"Those guards will be knocked out for more than hour," elaborated Robin. "That means that she has more than enough time to stow away the bags she has and then return to get the ones she left behind. She was more than good. She was… exceptional."

John smirked at him. "Not used to seeing you so impressed Robin."

"I'm not used to my plans being hijacked," he shot back. "But I'll give credit where credit is due."

He took a look out into the forest. "It won't be long before she's back for her second trip. Let's load up what we can and head back to camp."

"We're not sticking around to greet the mystery woman?" asked Will with a raised eyebrow.

"And waste time fighting over who gets to take home this gold? No," said Robin. He admired the woman's skills but he still had a village to take care of. This gold was capable of too much good to go to one person.

"What do you think her story is?" asked John as he strapped the bags of gold to his belt.

"I don't know," said Robin. "But whoever she is I don't think we've seen the last of her."