Disclaimer: I do not own Robin Hood, nor do I profit from this writing.

SUMMARY: Allan lost his pride and friends by agreeing to Guy's deal. At the lowest point in his life, he surprisingly finds that working with Guy brings unexpected love. For Eleanor, she had sworn never to marry because men could not be trusted. It took a traitor to teach her how to trust, stealing her heart in the process. It will eventually include a Much/OC pairing and Guy/OC (although we won't see this until my version of season 3).

This follows season 2 of BBC's Robin Hood. This follows Allan's descent into working with Guy and will continue on with my version of Season 3 (I live in America and have no access to the episodes when they air). For all my readers of Masquerading in Sherwood Eleanor is NOT Lilith! I wanted to write a different kind of person for Allan since this is a whole new scenario. We will see a Lilith-like character much later, though ^_^

Chapter 1: First Impressions

"How was her majesty's first night?" Eleanor grinned when she saw her friend Gretchen return to the kitchen.

Gretchen rolled her amber eyes as she re-tucked a loose strand of her brown hair. "The mattress had too many lumps, the hay was moldy, 'don't we use real feathers in our pillows?' she asks" Gretchen mimicked as she grabbed a pot to remake Davina's tea.

Eleanor gave her friend a look of pity. She was certainly glad to have been passed over the duty to the Sheriff's sister. She had arrived yesterday afternoon and had been nothing but a pain in the arse since. "Wish me luck," Gretchen said carrying the tray back up the three flights of stairs as quick as she could.

Eleanor waved, her hand then brushing back a lock of her own brown hair back behind her ear as she turned back to her own task of setting the breakfast trays together.

By noon she was exhausted but, like every day, thankful for her life and work in the castle—even if at times if felt as if she had simply left one hell for another.

The afternoon found the two friends preparing the fixings for the evening meal when an uproar from the courtyard could be heard. "What's the commotion?" Gretchen asked as they turned from the bread they were kneading to rush out with everyone else to see what was happening in the courtyard.

"Robin Hood!" Several people shouted. "The sheriff captured the outlaw!"

"Do you think they really have captured him?" Gretchen asked.

"I know not. The sheriff will certainly be in a happier mood if he has," Eleanor added.

"Happy enough to actually pay us our wages on time?" Gretchen laughed. "I can't believe that they have caught Robin Hood. And even if they have, he always escapes."

"True," Eleanor grinned as they returned to finishing the meal preparations. Eleanor guessed a gathering was happening of some sort judging on the large meal the kitchen staff was preparing.

She had learned long ago not to ask questions, to keep her head down and observe. Survival—hers—depended on it.

It was several hours later as the castle was in an uproar over the death of the sheriff's sister that Sir Guy had commanded her to follow. It was worrying considering the disorder of the last several hours. Commotion had broken out as the Sheriff's guests returned to their rooms and servants were scurrying about attending to their needs. News of the Sheriff's sister's death had caused timidity amongst the staff—no one wanted to be around the sheriff due to the recent events.

Gretchen gave her a concerned look while Guy's back was turned. She followed Guy down to the dungeon. "Wait here," Guy commanded. She waited, wondering, in the shadows trying to blend into the wall. She saw a man tied to a post in the center of the room, clearly having just been tortured.

Images, memories, floated into her mind of beatings, fear, and starlight; she had to push them back. Breath, Eleanor, breath. It is over… She had to fight back the urge to purge.

As she tried to focus on her breathing and calm herself, part of their conversation floated over to her. "I won't help you kill him."

Kill? That certainly got her attention.

"Think of it as an exchange, information," Guy said, a cross between menacing and aloofness. He had all the cards here, all three of them knew it. "If I need more guards, or to reroute a caravan. I don't get robbed and Robin doesn't get killed."

Eleanor thought she might be holding her breath as she tried to blend into the wall. Being a witness—especially to something treacherous—was always a dangerous thing to be.

"Clean him up, when you are done give him this," Guy said tossing her a bag of coins.

"Yes, my lord," Eleanor bowed her head as he walked past.

Grabbing the bucket of water, her medicines, and some clean rags, she walked up and knelt beside the man who had just turned traitor to Robin Hood. She started to gently clean off the blood first on his face, around his eyes and his lips.

It was surprisingly hard not to notice how fair of face the man was when she was so close to him.

"Did he lie?"

Eleanor raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"Robin. Was Robin here?"

She wrung out the rag. "Yes," she said finally. "From what I have heard, he has caused quite a commotion—again." Pandemonium ensued wherever Hood went, it seemed. "The sheriff's sister was killed."

"He was right here in the bloody castle," Allan repeated. She started to clean one of the deeper cuts on his chest when he flinched.

"This will help," she said as she took some of her medicines to make a paste. "Can't have them learn of your new secret now, can we," she drawled.

"You don't like what I am doing."

"You are betraying your friends," she commented. But it wasn't that simple, she thought, as she cleaned his wounds so that he wouldn't look as if he was just tortured.

"You don't have to help me," Allan pointed out. He couldn't figure her out. Most would have simply handed him the bucket and rags, or perhaps he could have sweet talked them into cleaning up at least his face. But this, actually tending to his wounds, was the first act of genuine kindness towards him he could remember.

He saw her start to smile. "Yes, I could just defy Guy," she grinned. "That would be a quick way to loose my place here in the castle."

"But you don't have to do all this," Allan gestured, not dropping the point. Wondering about her gave his mind something else to think about besides what he had just agreed to with Guy.

"I detest seeing another person beaten and tortured, like an animal. Worse than," she admitted. Allan figured there was more there to that statement than what she actually said, but his own mind and heart were too clouded to interpret.

"Guy wanted to give you this," she said as she stood and handed him the pouch. "Now you just look as if you got in a tavern fight."

"Perfect," Allan sighed darkly.

She didn't say anything, but she thought the fact he was showing signs of regret was good. "You had to know it wasn't going to be easy," she said. Then she walked out leaving him.

"Not even going to tell me your name?" Allan asked.

"What use would my name be to you, Allan?" She smiled as she walked out.

Definitely can not figure her out, Allan decided.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gretchen asked that night. Eleanor had been melancholic the rest of the evening, ever since Guy's errand. It worried Gretchen—she hadn't seen Eleanor this withdrawn since she arrived at the castle 2 seasons ago. (a/n: roughly 6 months)

"They beat and tortured a man," Eleanor finally whispered, glad all the other girls in their room had fallen asleep and it was just her and Gretchen.

Gretchen waited for her to say more but the silence lingered on. "It reminded you of bad memories?" She only knew bits and pieces about Eleanor's past.

"There isn't always someone there afterwards to clean you up," Eleanor thought. "I … deplore seeing a person treat their fellow man like that," she said, her voice slightly faltering.

"It is over, Eleanor," Gretchen said kindly.

"I hope so," she whispered as she tried to command herself to fall asleep. Like so many nights, she knew it would only be partially successful since old habits died hard.

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