Greetings!
This is my first fic for the fantastic programme Robin Hood!

(So be nice. Reviews are a good start.)

And I intend to finish it! Unlike those FFX-2 ones that I lost muse for so very quickly. So I thought I'd start off with one of your typical high school fics…or so it seems.
I bring with me a whole new spelling of Djaq's real name.
Enjoy!


I hear the wind call my name
The sound that leads me home again
It sparks up the fire, a flame that still burns
To you, I will always return

"You're joking!" The teen with short, reddish-brown hair burst into a stunned grin.

"I'm not!" His companion insisted, his actions very exaggerated and almost too serious. "He'll be here any moment."

The taller teen laughed and shook his head. "Show me, Much."

Much handed him a phone. The other teen looked at the text on the screen, and laughed. "It's enough with you coming back, and all…this is great!" he certainly seemed pleased.

"Hasn't he called you?" The tall, dark-haired boy standing next to Much asked. His voice was deep, soft and quiet but it held a quality that allowed it to be heard.

"No, has he called you?" The other teen demanded.

"Yeah. Twice."

The other teen swore and shook his head. "He's gone and forgotten me, hasn't he?"

"Allan?"

The trio of boys turned around and their faces broke into immediate grins. Another boy, with a cheeky grin and a glint in his eye, was walking towards them. "Robin Hood!" Allan shook his head in disbelief and walked forward. The two greeted each other with a hearty hug.

"No one's called me that for years!" Robin laughed. "God, that was in Year Seven…and Will…Captain Scarlett!" he sang, with a reminiscent smile. "Good times. Good times."

"What brings you back to this dump then?" Allan grinned.

Robin grimaced. "I'm not being funny mate-"

"Very funny." Allan smirked. People had been imitating his catch phrase for years; he was used to it, but still reprimanded people in jest.

Robin snorted, then continued. "-But that place redefined the meaning of the word 'dump'."

Much nodded eagerly in agreement.

"I've heard it's bad. Youth crime and all that?" Will asked. Robin nodded. "My cousin's friend was stabbed there." Will continued. The rest of the gang gave him shocked looks. Will shrugged. "A couple of years ago. He survived."

A calm moment of silence passed. "I swear I used to be taller than you, Will." Robin commented, referring to the size his lanky friend had grown too. Will grinned sheepishly. "Where's Roy?" Robin asked.

"He's inside." Much said, gesturing at the building they were standing next to. A large neon sign shone out the words 'Dance & Drumkits'. It had always been a strange club; but the teens loved it. "He works here part time now."

"It's a weird name for a club." Robin commented.

"Vaysey says his Dad's stuck in the past." Allan said. "It's his Dad who owns it."

Robin looked shocked. "Seriously?" Allan nodded in reply. Then Robin looked aghast. "His little sidekick Guy isn't still at school, is he?"

The others looked at each other, grimaced, then nodded reluctantly. "He's still as greasy and emo as he always was." Much said.

"When did you see him?"

"He was waiting at the bus stop outside my house once." Much shrugged.

"Is Katen playing tonight?" Will asked nobody in particular.

"Katen?" Robin's brow creased in the effort of trying to remember. "You mean Katen Janssen? The half-Dutch one?"

"My cousin." Will said.

"I'm not being funny mate, but you have a lot of cousins." Allan told his friend. Will shrugged. Allan thought for a moment, then asked, incredulously; "How did you get a half-Dutch cousin anyway?" Again, Will simply shrugged. Allan turned to Robin with an amused gleam in his eye. "Anyway, you won't recognise her."

"Has she grown a lot?" Robin asked.

Allan and Will shared knowing glances.

"Any new kids?" Robin dismissed the mystery of Katen in favour of other things.

"Oh, a couple. Vaysey's sister Davina moved here from Sir Greg's…and that girl, Sarah. Then there's Zebbie…isn't there a new girl coming this term? From the Middle East or something?" Allan asked Will.

"Acre." Will corrected.

"Bad year to come here, isn't it? In the middle of our GCSE's?" Much remarked. "Poor girl will hardly understand a word."

Allan snorted.

"She's fluent." Will interrupted. Everyone else looked at Will for an explanation, but Robin simply laughed. Will looked at him with a confused, almost hurt expression and asked; "What's funny?"

"For the last two years the only conversations I've had with men have been about drugs and girls." Robin laughed. "Here…it's like a tea party."

"And what's wrong with a tea party?" Much stuck out his jaw in his characteristically upset way.

Robin shook his head and laughed some more. "Absolutely nothing." He grinned, looking at the floor, seeming content at last. Then he looked up. "Shall we go in?"


"That's not Katen." Robin said, looking with wide eyes at the stage.

Allan grinned at him. "That's Katen."

Robin looked at him with wide, bewildered eyes. "But…but she's skinny! And a Goth! And pretty!"

Will put his fingers to his lips and whistled sharply. A tall girl with ebony hair and lots of makeup looked at them, and grinned. She made her way over. Her straight, black hair reached below her shoulder blades and her black attire was certainly eye-catching. Her face was smooth and youthful, but shy. "Hi." Katen grinned timidly at everyone, tucking her loose hair behind her ear. Robin stared at her, then burst out laughing, just as he had done outside. Katen looked at him, bewildered, until she recognised him. Then her head whipped from Will then back to Robin with a joyous yet stunned look on her face. Much was simply staring, open-mouthed.

Robin calmed himself down and looked at Katen. "You may look like a totally different person but really, you haven't changed one bit!" he chuckled. See, Katen's dress may have been eye-catching and different but at heart, the Goth was quite shy, quiet and eager to please. He looked at Will. "Is she still an absolute maniac onstage?"

Will nodded, a fond grin on his face. Katen was a totally different person onstage. "You're on tonight, aren't you?" Allan asked her. When Katen nodded, he asked what she was singing.

"More covers." Katen shrugged. "Missing by Evanescence, U + Ur Hand by Pink, Leave Me Alone by Hanna Pakarinen. I've got a big slot tonight, so I might sneak in another song. Any suggestions?"

"You obviously still play music, then." Robin pointed out.

Katen nodded, but Will intervened. "She's amazing." Will smiled. Katen smiled modestly and looked down at the ground.

"Play something that'll shock Robin." Allan suggested. "What's that song...um..." He started to vaguely hum a tune. Katen recognised it, hummed along, and Allan nodded.

"Angels, by Within Temptation."

"That's a good one. Do that one." Allan ordered.

"It will be done." Katen grinned, with a small, mock salute. "I think the guys know that one…" she turned and walked off towards the band.

"Who're your backing singers?" Allan called after her.

"Alice and Marian!" Katen shouted back.

There was a pause. "Marian?" Robin asked, a delighted smile spreading across his face.

"Don't get too excited, mate. She's not a happy bunny." Allan frowned.

"Because of the Internet thing?" Robin asked. At his previous house, the Internet had been faulty for a long time before eventually crashing. Marian had never been told that the Internet was faulty and when it finally went offline for three months, she almost thought he had given up on them before she found out about the Internet problem. It was a small thing, but with Marian, she wanted to be kept up-to-date on things and not telling her was a vital mistake. Since then she had been quite distant. Of course, Robin knew of other reasons why she was so distant, but that was the incident everyone else knew about.

"Yeah."

Robin sighed. Before he could continue, a cheer went up from the crowd as three women walked onstage. One was Katen, and one Robin recognised as Alice, the sixth former who had been going out with a man called John Little before Robin left. "What happened with her and John?" Robin asked.

"Nothing, they're still together." Will replied. Robin raised his eyebrows, only half surprised. The couple were good together, at ease around each other but not too argumentative.

However, it was the third one that caught Robin's eye. A pretty brunette, with beautifully shaped eyebrows, curled hair and prominent cheekbones had taken a microphone and was standing next to Alice. The two were talking with Katen, and an excited, nervous smile decorated the girl's beautiful face. She looked almost like Robin had remembered her; but she was more grown up, more mature in her looks. She certainly wasn't an innocent little girl anymore.

"Marian." Robin breathed, a silly smile coming to his face.

Katen strode to the front of the stage, a striking contrast to the shy girl of earlier. "Evening Drumsticks!" she shouted.

"Evening Biker Boots!" chorused the audience, though a rough Northern accent could be heard loudly proclaiming, "Evenin' Goth Gel!"

Robin looked at Allan. Allan shrugged. "We've been doing that for ages."

Katen looked at a rough-looking, blond man who was sitting next to an amp, dressed in black trousers and a 'Dance & Drumsticks' polo shirt. "He's never going to catch on." Katen told the audience, who laughed. However, Katen's smile had weakened a bit.

"Roy doesn't like Katen being a Goth." Will explained.

"But they used to be so close!" Robin replied.

"He doesn't like change much." Allan said.

"We've got some great songs for you tonight." Katen grinned. "We'll start off with…I think I did it a few weeks ago?" she looked to Marian and Alice for confirmation. "But firstly, we've got a few announcements." Katen grinned cruelly around the room. "Little do you know that there have been some new arrivals around here! Old friends, new friends, they're all here tonight - so you have to be nice. And that includes you, Allan."

Allan laughed out loud.

"You'll be walking around the room and suddenly bump into an old acquaintace, like dear old Much at the back!"

Much grinned at having the attention, and waved vigorously. A couple of people waved back, then turned to chatter excitedly with their friends.

"Anyway, here goes! This is Missing by Evanescence!" A couple of Katen's friends at the front cheered uproariously, and the rest of the crowd laughed with them. It was certainly a friendly club.

"Is that Mira on drums?" Much asked, incredulously, looking at the raven-haired girl on the drum machine.

"Yeah. She turned out to be quite a nifty little drummer." Allan said, with an envious tone.

Roy took his place with some electrical hardware and began his work almost as soon as Marian and Alice started singing. Looping was a big method in this song, and Katen whispered inaudibly over the top of the staccato notes. Then she sang.

Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
Maybe someday you'll look up,
And, barely conscious, you'll say to no one:
"Isn't something missing?"

Robin and Much stared, amazed; the warbling Year Seven had turned into a perfect vocalist!

You won't cry for my absence, I know -
You forgot me long ago.
Am I that unimportant?
Am I so insignificant?
Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?

It wasn't just the notes; it was the heart-wrenching way she sang, the expression in her face, the emotion she put into every syllable. Katen was a performer, at home on the stage. And the crowd loved it.

But of course, it was the backing singer who had Robin's eye. A calmer version of the vocalist in front, her voice had developed into a young woman's and Robin knew for a fact that Katen must have helped Marian – and Alice, for that fact. The three girls had been good friends.

Even though I'm the sacrifice,
You won't try for me, not now.
Though I'd die to know you love me,
I'm all alone.
Isn't someone missing me?

The harmonies and backings fit perfectly together and there was an interlude before Katen came back. Some people in the audience were even singing along.

Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
I know what you do to yourself.
I breathe deep and cry out;
"Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?"

Even though I'm the sacrifice,
You won't try for me, not now.
Though I'd die to know you love me,
I'm all alone.
Isn't someone missing me?

All of a sudden, Marian saw him and for a brief second, her eyes widened and she faltered, but then she stubbornly looked away and kept on singing. Alice – strangely – took her hand.

And if I bleed, I'll bleed,
Knowing you don't care.
And if I sleep just to dream of you
I'll wake without you there,
Isn't something missing?
Isn't something…

Marian finally looked back at him, and Robin understood. Those last lyrics had been for him. But why? Had he said something? Had he made it seem as if he was brushing her away? He was confused, and he didn't like it. He also realised he didn't like being sung too - it was cheesey. Though it did hurt - just a little.

Katen sang alone, with the strings backing her mournfully.

Even though I'm the sacrifice,
You won't try for me, not now.
Though I'd die to know you love me,
I'm all alone.
Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me…?

They died out again to the staccato vocals and the whispering, and Katen bowed her head in acknowledgement of the song in the way Robin remembered she used to. The crowd burst into applause. Katen grinned and held up a hand for silence. "Enough of that." Katen exclaimed. "Who's for some dancing?"

The whole crowd cheered riotously. Allan grinned. "When Katen does a pacey song, everyone gets involved."

Robin grinned. He liked how things had turned out in Nottingham.


Don't worry, gang. We get to school next chapter.