Just a little extra scene to insert in episode 11 of series 2. Sorry for those who haven't seen it yet, but if you don't mind spoilers, it should still make sense to read.

Marian was going to die and Robin didn't know. She might have slipped away unnoticed while he scurried about the forest on a scavenger hunt imposed on him by a cryptic message from the King. His last words to her would have been a warning against the very thing she did. She went alone into Locksley and she was caught. Even pleading to Allan for help, she knew it was over. Gisborne would never forgive her. He was prepared not to believe she was really the Nightwatchman if it weren't for the scar. The scar she carried quietly under her clothes, a warning, but clearly not strong enough of one for her to stop seeking out danger in the service of the poor. She pursued adventure until it led her to an absolute dead end. No plying of Guy's heartstrings could get him to let her off the hook. And Robin had no idea that the end of the rope for Marian was hanging in the castle courtyard. She was alone.

Yet, her pleas had not fallen on deaf ears. Though Allan had everything and more to lose if he crossed Gisborne and the Sheriff, he could not see Marian, Robin's Marian, the gang's Marian, put to death and not do anything to stop it. He wished there had been more time to protect her when he first found her trying to rob the store in Locksley, he wished he had been brave enough to escort her past armed guards into the safety of the forest. Those opportunities had passed, however, and it frustrated him to be in a position of such difficult choices. All the choices he had made in the past year were guided, almost forced, by circumstances. He couldn't have money for himself because that wasn't the gang's way. He betrayed Robin so he wouldn't be killed by torture. He joined Gisborne because he saw no other path before him. But here was a chance to choose the course of action that would have been impossible. He thought of that toast the gang was giving when he first returned to the camp after squaring things with Gisborne, a neat pouch of money tied to his belt. "We are Robin Hood." Even though he told Marian it was too late for him to go back to them, he still felt that he had never really left. And if he was Robin Hood, then the impossible was merely a term for the especially difficult, but certainly attainable.

So with resolve, Allan approached Gisborne. He had to step carefully around Guy's emotions. He was passionate in unexpected ways and Allan had to be sure he played him the right way.

"So, Marian's going to hang, eh?" he started casually.

"Yes," Guy growled.

"It seems a shame. I mean, besides the fact that she's a pretty creature and all and nice to have around the castle. But, she just likes people too much. You know, it's hard to see someone condemned just 'cause they care."

"She collaborated with Hood. She betrayed me. She violated law and order. She's already dead to me."

"Yeah, but, how do you know she had anything to do with Hood? I'm not bein' funny, but I never saw her around the camp. And you'd think if she was part of the gang, she'd come to the forest, but I'm telling you, the only times I've seen her is here in Nottingham."

"What are you saying?"

"Well, I'm just saying, I think this whole Nightwatchman or whatever was just her way of letting out some frustration. Any association with Hood seems pretty accidental. Not that Robin doesn't still like her or anything, because he does. I heard him talk about her. But if she really liked him, she could go to the forest, right? So, why'd she stick around the castle?"

Guy's face started to soften.

"It doesn't matter, she's going to hang."

"Yeah, I guess so," Allan was almost out of tricks. "But, you know, if you didn't want her too. I mean, if you wanted to give her another chance—to prove her feelings for you, which, let's face it, I've seen the way she looks at you, I mean, she doesn't hate you, Guy. So, if you maybe didn't want to kill her, I have an idea."

"Just leave."

Allan fully expected to have failed to persuade Gisborne, so when he called for him after dinner, Allan went to meet him without a thought of Marian in his mind.

"This idea," Gisborne spoke barely louder than a whisper. He paused. "This idea, what would it be?"

"All right, Gis—well, see, the Sheriff thinks we're hanging the Nightwatchman, right? But he doesn't know it's her. So, someone can dress up like him and shoot a few arrows and run away, and then everybody'll think he's still out there."

Guy stared off at the wall, deep in thought. Conflict spread itself across his face and his eyes looked troubled. He clenched his fist, breathed, and ordered:

"Go, dress up then."

"Wait, me? Oh, I mean, I just meant someone—"

"Go!"

Allan scrambled out of the room.

When it was all over and the three of them were standing there in Marian's chamber, Allan felt the force of friendship for the first time since leaving the gang. It was an unexpected group of friends. The cruel and lovesick Sheriff's deputy who still remembered how to care, the traitor and liar who had taken it upon himself to protect that which was most precious to the man who never wished to see him again, and the maiden with more spirit and daring than any man who had very almost met her end. They were thankful and smiling there in castle, surprised, impressed, and encouraged by what they had all done.

And somewhere in Sherwood, Robin knew nothing of it.