Rescued: Part One

Marian woke with a start to find herself in her own bed in the castle. For a long, sweet moment, she closed her eyes, breathed in the scent of the pillow and thought that her father was still alive. It had all been a dream – a terrible dream. Maybe he wasn't even in the dungeon, maybe she hadn't stepped in when Robin was trying to drown Guy, maybe Guy was dead. She moved to disentangle herself from the bedclothes and froze when her bare left foot touched the scrape on her right leg – the result of her tangled moment of wrestled kisses with Robin.

It wasn't a dream after all. Her father really was…. She choked back a sob and then nearly jumped out of the bed when a dark figure appeared at her side.

"Sir Guy!"

His dark eyes revealed nothing of his intentions as he perched on the edge of her bed and leaned over her, examining the bump on her head.

"The doctor says you'll be fine." He reported softly.

She shook her head - which hurt - and looked around, only to find that she wasn't in the castle – but at Locksley. "What's going on?" He reached out quickly to soothe her, but she pulled away. "No, no what's going on?" Her vision swam with the sudden movement but she forced herself to sit up.

"I rescued you from the outlaws, Marian. Do you not remember? You did hit your head but the doctor thought it was not serious. Are you dizzy? Are you in pain?" His concern seemed genuine, and yet she was frightened, confused. Perhaps she had hit her head harder than she thought. Perhaps she was really unconscious – and this wasn't happening. The whole world seemed uncertain and hazy.

"Sir Guy." She whispered, collapsing back against the pillows to cover her aching eyes. He pulled his leather gloves off and tossed them to the foot of the bed before leaning over her again to lay a warm, careful hand on her forehead. Marian jerked away. His touch felt good - too good. It bothered her. The electricity she felt with Robin was never there with Guy, and yet…the way his arms felt when he'd wrapped them around her the day her father died…she had not felt so completely protected in a long, long time.

Guy misinterpreted her response. "No, it's alright Marian. I'm not angry with you for leaving the castle. You had to leave for a while to keep yourself safe. You are safe here, Marian, I'm here to protect you." He reached out again to touch her face very gently, and she resigned herself to it, no longer strong enough to fight. "That's it, my girl, be still. It's alright. I'm here, and I'm going to protect you."

In the hallway Allan listened with a trace of disgust. Marian didn't love Guy the way he loved her. The man was more pathetic than Robin himself when it came to his feelings about the woman. Didn't they both know she was leaps and abounds above any of them?

Robin.

Allan stepped back from the door. It had broken his heart when Robin had found out about his betrayal. With each secret he sold to the sheriff it seemed to break him down more. He stepped back again, turned, and crept down the stairs. Taking great pains to make sure he was not being followed he traced a nearly invisible path into Sherwood Forest. Once the trees closed in around him he took off running, and wished he was running home.

"How long has she been gone?" Robin demanded of Much. Like the rest of the gang, the ex-slave-turned-cook didn't know, and shook his head apologetically.

"There was little sign, Robin." Djaq reminded him. Marian was gone when the gang had returned from the castle. Robin had been in an uproar since. Twice he'd gone to look for her and come back alone. John and Will had gone as well, and were in the village now asking for help from some of their more loyal friends.

The alarm sounded, alerting them that someone was in the camp. Robin, Djaq and Much vaulted toward the trap only to stop short at the sight of Allan, who was already cutting himself down. As soon as he landed he threw his arms up in the air and announced, "I'm here as a friend!"

"Friend!" Much spat at him. "How dare you-"

Robin, uncharacteristically calm for being so close to the man who'd betrayed him, held out his arm toward Much – a silent command to hold back. Much folded his arms over his chest with a huff and glared at the traitor.

"I know you'll think this is a trap, but Marion is with Gisborne. He thinks she was being held here against her will and that he's rescued her."

"You're right, I do think this is a trap." Much said with a snort, dodging a firm look from his leader.

"How did he come across her?" Robin asked.

"I'm not sure." Allan said, cutting off the rest of the harness from the rope snare. He struggled for a moment to disentangle himself from it. "But she's hurt, she's hit her head and she seems confused or something. I couldn't tell much from the hallway, I was listening at the door. I have to get back soon before he realizes I'm gone – he might have already." He turned in the direction of Locksley and started off at a run, but Djaq's voice stopped him.

"Why come and tell us?" She asked, eyes brimming with hope. She had never given up believing he could be better than he was. Allan was a good man wrapped in the bitter twist of a harsh world, and most days he seemed to be losing that battle. The rest of the gang had long-since given up on him, yet despite the many times he had betrayed them, Djaq couldn't quite bring herself to do so.

"Well I don't want her to be hurt or anythin'. I'm not being funny but she's not like the rest of us, is she?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Robin, regarding Allan with close scrutiny.

"Well she's cleaner-like, more…I don't know…like she's still…good. Guy wants her for himself. He's hard enough to deal with now." He met Djaq's gaze for a moment, confused by the small smile he found there, and then scampered off, leaving Much and Robin to shake their heads fondly at her and run for their bows.