Returning Home
Summary: (Set soon after 3x13) Will and Djaq return from the Holy Land a year after Marian's death, but they don't know anything about what has happened or about the new members of the gang. They find life now very different to the one they remember, and with a new threat in Nottingham choices have to be made.
Disclaimer: I do not own Robin Hood
Chapter 1
She breathed deeply. She had missed the wild scent of the forest, the autumn leaves crackling underfoot and the quiet noise of busy animals in the trees. Everything was so familiar; it made her heart beat rapidly with excitement. Only a little further, she thought as she hurried impatiently through the forest.
She slid down the slope and violently pulled the lever. A gust of wind brushed past her face as the door swung open, revealing Robin Hood's secret camp. She stepped inside, her hands stroking the smooth wood of the supports. A fire burned gently in the centre of the room. Various bits of clutter covered the floor. On a hook beside one of the bunks hung a bundle of tags, she touched the tiny bow and arrow on them, each one craved by the careful hands of Will Scarlett.
Djaq smiled. She was home.
Something cold and sharp suddenly touched her neck. She froze and turned slowly. Her smiled faded, she had expected Robin or one of the gang but instead a dark-haired man was glaring at her, his blade pressed softly at her throat. He couldn't hide the shock on his face.
"Saracen!" He exclaimed before quickly composing himself. "How did you find this place?" He added sharply. Djaq stared defiantly at him. "Well, I have other ways of making you talk, Saracen! Are you a spy? Who do you work for?"
Djaq spat at him outraged. This made him even angrier. "You are going to pay for that!" He shouted before collapsing backwards.
"She's with me." Will Scarlett stood over the man axe raised above the place where it had hit the man's head. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Djaq.
"Why did you go running off like that?" He murmured into her hair. Djaq pushed him back to face her, smiling at the concerned frown on his face.
"We were racing, remember? Anyway, you are the one who thought he knew the quickest way back here."
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Djaq reached up and kissed the worry from Will's face.
"No, you saved me."
"Who is he? What is he doing here?" Djaq shuddered, a thousand possibilities were running through her head, none of them good.
"I don't know but I don't like it." Suddenly Djaq felt Will stiffened.
"What?" She whispered, then she heard it too, someone was quietly creeping up behind them. She looked at Will.
"Ready?" He breathed. She nodded slightly.
"One… Two… Three!" He shouted the last word as they spun around startling the large man. He tripped backwards falling over. Will hit him over the head with the handle of his axe as the man tried to unsheathe his sword. The man lay still, unconscious. Will had time to register the monk's habit he was wearing before he was knocked over, dirt filling his mouth.
Djaq was fighting furiously with a tall, blonde woman who had followed the large man into the camp. She was more skilled but the woman was quicker and more violent. The blonde pushed Djaq back before swiftly running towards Will and sweeping his legs out from under him. Djaq jumped at her, holding her down. The blonde viciously tried to break free from Djaq's grasp but the little Saracen twisted her arms up behind her back.
"Will!" She shouted. "Pass me that rope." He did, Djaq skillfully tied the girl's hands behind her back.
"Better tie them up too." She instructed Will as the dark haired man groaned, slowly regaining his consciousness. When all three were securely bond she turned to Will but her questions died on her lips as she saw how worried he looked.
"What are we going to do with them?" He said in Arabic. She shrugged; there were more important things on her mind.
"Where is Robin and the others?" She replied, the language slipping beautifully from her tongue. Will took her hand and gently squeezed it. They stood for a minute lost in their own little world, silently understanding each other's thoughts. Then the dark haired man cleared his throat…
