Kate hadn't been looking long before she found him. Allan A Dale had been gone for hours with no explanation of where he was going, a dangerous thing to do so soon after the death of Robin Hood. He had spent most of his time alone in the few weeks following the battle. She found him now, dripping with sweat and hacking an unsuspecting tree to bits with his swords, cursing with each blow.

"Fucking… worthless piece of… useless… mother of… FUUUUCK."

"I should wash your mouth out, but then I think the rest of your body may be jealous of the clean."

He was panting, hard and she could see he was close to exhaustion. "What are you doin' here? Shouldn't you be helping Much with dinner? My arse is snappin' at the grass I'm so hungry."

"Yea well maybe if you'd do a little less chopping and a little more hunting, you'd be fed. What are you doing anyway?" He slumped down next to the tree and took his shirt off, exposing the wound on his shoulder.

"Look, I've got to learn how to fight through the pain in my shoulder. It's too bad to ignore it, I've got to endure it." He started stripping the bloodied dressing from its place to reveal the painful looking arrow wound he received during the battle.

"You can't do that by yourself, let me help you." Kate went over to him and took a seat facing the nasty wound. "You should've stayed tied up, you'dve been fine now." She washed the wound with fresh water from her canteen and began redressing it, trying painfully hard not to stare at his extremely muscular chest.

"Right, that would've been perfect, eh? Let everyone think I was passing on information to Isabella. I don't think so." He winced lightly as she smacked his arm just below the bandage line.

"At least you'd be in one piece then you stupid man!" She continued wrapping his shoulder while she thought back to his tree antics. "How is it you can fight with two swords, not even Robin could do that."

He looked up to meet her curious gaze, "Impossible, right? That I could do something that not even the mythical Robin Hood could do." He chuckled half-heartedly with spite until he saw a look of genuine apology on her face.

"I didn't mean it like that Allan, I was just wondering."

"Simple really, both my hands are equally as strong. I think Tuck calls me ambidextrous or something. Anyway don't feel too bad; I used to catch Robin trying to do it and all."

She looked frustrated but she was really just jealous that this was the one man who's sword skills may have outdone her own. "I'd advise you to come get some food before it's gone." She got up and stormed off, leaving him to think about the butterflies which made their home in his stomach following her touch.

Kate didn't say a word when she returned to camp but everyone could see that she was in a very different mood than when she left.

"He said something to her, to upset her. He always does this and then good old Much has to swoop in and comfort her." Much and Tuck had just started in to their meal when Kate had come in.

"Come now Much, don't look too excited about the idea." Tuck knew Much's feelings towards Kate; everyone did, particularly now that Robin had passed. He also knew about Kate's feeling towards a certain other outlaw and wondered when she would admit those feelings to herself.

"Take a bit to eat Kate, I've made a good stew, lots of meat." Much held out his own bowl to show her before she pushed it away.

"I'm not hungry, I'll thank you to leave me alone actually." She headed towards her bunk taking a seat on it.

"Ahh Much, what've you done now?" Allan's voice broke the silence from the entrance. He walked over to the occasional resident cook, taking the bowl of stew from him.

"Here, it'll do you good." Allan passed the food to Kate and they sat side-by-side eating in silence, a fact that did not go unnoticed by a now disgruntled Much.

"Of course, she'll eat when he tells her to... I saw her first." He muttered under his breath, taking the seat opposite them on Allan's bed.

They all settled in to sleep under a blanket of stars and soon she could hear the snores that meant they had all fallen asleep. Kate looked over to where Allan was sleeping peacefully, bathed in moonlight. His bare chest again stared her straight in the face, daring her to stare back. Lord help her, she thought, if this were to be in her sights every day for the rest of her life. She got out of bed and inched closer to him, careful not to wake any of the men. Once she was close enough, she tried poking his arm in a vain attempt to wake him.

"Gerrof." Was the muffled reply she got in return. She tried a different tactic, this time shaking the arm that faced her. "Yea, alright. Haven't you ever heard it's rude to wake a sleeping man. Not that you care much I suppose." He whispered lightly.

"Not really."

He turned, with effort, to face her, "What'dya want then?"

"Allan, I had a nightmare… Rufus."

"Fine. What ever happened to special treatment, I wouldn't shove over for John if he had nightmares" The understanding in his eyes betrayed his gentle teases. He shuffled over, giving her room to fit snuggly against him. "Why didn't you go to Much anyway, he would've obliged fully, probably'dve given you the whole bed if you asked nice enough."

She laughed quietly, "You and I both know it wouldn't end there. Now look, I'm cold, could you put your arm around me for a while?"

He got up on one arm to look her in the eyes, "I'm not bein' funny, you just want a little cuddle with me eh?" She gave him a skeptical look back but didn't deny his claim. "Come on then, get snug." She molded in to him effortlessly. They lay facing each other, her top leg fit in between his and his good arm lay under her neck with his injured arm draping gently over the curve above her hip.

He closed his eyes, nowhere close to sleep in this position but more comfortable than he had felt in years. "Allan can I ask you something?"

His endless blue eyes opened slowly and one eyebrow raised, "Don't see I've got much a choice."

She smiled lightly before it left her features and was replaced by a slightly nervous air. "Why do you always sleep with trashy bar maids? I mean surely you could find a nice respectable woman to go gallivanting with." The smile was back but the nervousness didn't leave.

"Oh, look I don't know." He took a deep breath and released it slowly, deciding whether or not to tell her the truth. "They take the sting of bein' out here all the time away, don't they. And as for respectable girls, well my love, I'm afraid they'd rather hang around the legendary Robin Hood than silly old Allan A Dale."

She brought a finger up to his face and lightly traced a line from his forehead to his jaw. "I don't think you're silly Allan A Dale."

He thought seriously about this response, his eyes burning cold blue rivers into her own. "Right well, you were one of his respectable women and all. So, why Robin, why not… Much?"

Something about the look in his eyes told her that they weren't actually talking about Much anymore. "Well, Much… was a bit busy with trashy barmaids wasn't he?"

"You know, I don't think he's ever actually been with a woman before so that was a crap excuse." His stifled laughter was cut short by the tremble of her lip and the flush that made its way to her cheeks. "Ahh, what's the matter now?"

She closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of his thumb as it traced along her cheekbone. "Do you really think I'm plain?"

It was his turn to be nervous. "Now why would I spend any amount of time in bed with a plain girl. Use your head Katie."

"I don't appreciate you calling me that. My name is Kate."

"Yea well, I quite like Katie. It suits you." Once again his thumb made the slow trail across her cheekbone. "Go on then, tell me about your dream."

She closed her eyes and once again fell into the thoughts that haunted her every nightmare. Rufus smiling over Allan's dead body, struggling against the chains and still getting nowhere, Rufus touching her like she wished only one man would. "Same thing every time really. You and I in that room, chained up, he kills you and I get a pain right above my stomach that wakes me up. I have to look over and make sure you're still there before I can think about closing my eyes again."

He looked away from her, shame taking over his body. "Every day I'm sorry I couldn't get you to safety. I gave myself one job that day: keep you safe, and I couldn't even do that properly. If he'd have… I never would've forgiven myself if he'd… anyway it doesn't matter anymore I suppose."

"Allan I don't blame you, I never did. You were all that kept me going in there, chained up. I should have told you that. What if one of us had died and I'd never told you that?" Tears began making silent tracks down her porcelain cheeks and Allan felt the dull stab right above his stomach that Kate had just described. He shifted her underneath him and bore his weight with his good arm. His lips traced the path her tears had left and soon he felt the stream stop, replaced by the movement of her hands over his arms, around his neck and in to his hair. She pulled his lips to meet hers and she released a barely audible moan as their mouths crashed together.

Her lips went in a trail to his neck and she began pulling his shirt up, fingers burning pleasure in to his skin with every move. "Wait, wait… we can't do this Katie. Not right now." She fell back on to his pillow, flustered and confused. "The men… Much. We can't risk them waking to that can we?"

She shoved him off from on top of her, "I just got carried away that's all. Scared from the dream. Goodnight Allan." She rose from his bed and walked the few steps to her own, lying with her back towards him. "AND WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THAT NAME?" She half whispered, half shouted through the darkness.

"Night then… Kate." He slumped back down into his bed, suddenly very cold and very far from sleep.