Sorry the updates have been scattered. We've been rather busy, and multitasking can be tricky. But anywho, enjoy! and *cough* review *cough*...ahem... :)

"What do you mean you couldn't help him?"

"I tried my best, but he had been bleeding too long to recover, even if I could repair the damage."

"You're lying. He was fine until this morning!" The old woman's loud cries brought the glances of other villagers.

Djaq shook her head gently. "No. He might have survived if we had come sooner, but it was too late for me to do anything. I am sorry."

"You killed him! I should never have allowed a Saracen to lay a hand on him! You and your sorcery!" The new widow backed away from the three outlaws. "Robin Hood should have nothing to do with you and your witchcraft!"

"It's not sorcery, it's science." Will reasoned quietly. Djaq looked gratefully up at him.

"It's murder, that's what it is!" The women struggled to hold back her sobs.

Much stepped toward her, agitation and concern in the cautious movement. "I know you're upset, but Djaq is one of us. She would never-"

"—Kill? Then why is my husband dead?" She glared at Djaq with tear filled eyes, then, with an angry cry, turned and ran back into her house, shutting the door behind her.

A thick silence fell as the three outlaws stood outside, trying not to hear the widow's sobs through the walls.

"Well," Much said awkwardly, unable to stand the silence. "That could have gone better."

"Much!" Will quietly hissed at him.

"What? It could have!" Much looked over to see the Saracen still staring numbly at the door. Unshed tears shone in her dark eyes as Will put a comforting arm around her, leaning his cheek against her hair.

"Oh, uh, well, I, uh..." Much flustered, trying to find the right words. He extended his arm toward the house. "Well, she obviously overreacted. I mean, just because you couldn't save her husband from...uh, well, she never should have..."

Djaq's face turned to a hard mask, her voice soft as she quietly asserted, "Much."

"What?"

"Shut up."

"Right."

"She didn't mean it." Will spoke softly. "She knows you did everything you could."

Djaq shook her head. "Maybe I could have done something..."

"Don't second guess yourself. You did the best that you could do."

"But it was not good enough."

Silently, the three trudged off toward Sherwood Forest, quickly jogging the last few steps into the trees.

They continued to plunge deeper into the forest, following an invisible path of their own making toward their hidden camp. For a while, they were alone, only light filtering past the trees to create a patchwork of shadows across the ground; soon their trained ears picked up muffled sounds of a conversation, the words steadily becoming clearer.

"…Robin, stop fretting." Marian spoke in a smooth, yet slightly annoyed tone.

"I'm not fretting," Robin repeated the word in mock disgust.

Much spotted the couple between the trees, not surprised to see the intended look of insult on the man's face accompanied by the slightest smirk. Robin sat on a large fallen log, leaning his back against a thick limb that stuck out from the trunk as he watched his wife examine the blade of one of the three daggers she held.

"You are most definitely fretting, or else why would you be here?" Marian calmly brushed a speck of dirt off of the edge of the knife before transferring the other two to her left hand. Holding the single dagger, she seamlessly flipped the blade toward her so she held the metal between her fingers and then slowly extended her arm toward the target tree a few yards away.

Robin turned his palm up in innocent question. "Perhaps I just wanted to watch you practice."

"Watch over me, you mean." Marian kept her eyes straight ahead, following the line down her arm to the tree. She pulled back and with a sudden movement, jerked her arm forward again, flicking her wrist to throw the dagger. The blade struck the tree, making its mark among several other notches in the bark. The edges of her lips curved up, pleased with the knife's position.

Robin smiled briefly, watching her reaction before sliding his eyes over to the target where the blade protruded from the dark edge of a knot in the center of the tree. "I'm not here to tend to you." His gaze flickered back to Marian to see that her head was turned to look at him. She raised her eyebrows infinitesimally. "I'm not! I promised, didn't I? I said I wouldn't be overprotective of you anymore."

"And you intend to keep that promise?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

He gave a cheeky grin. "You have the good word of Robin Hood."

She kept a haughty appearance as she readied her second dagger. "And keeping that in mind, can you truthfully tell me why you have suddenly chosen to accompany me while I practice?" She gave him a side-glance.

Robin gave a slight wince as he pursed his lips.

"Robin!" Marian breathed an exasperated sigh as she raised her eyes to the sky.

He raised his hands defensively. "Alright, alright, I know! Just give me some time; it's a hard habit to break…especially when you're throwing daggers like that."

"What do you mean?" Marian questioned.

Robin shrugged, resting his wrist against his raised knee. "I can't help it, but after past experiences, it just makes me a little nervous whenever there's a blade near your stomach." He nodded toward the knife she was fiddling with at waist level. "Especially now." He added, and his eyes softened as they traced the barely noticeable bulge that pressed against the hem of her shirt.

Marian sighed and threw the last dagger as she finally directed her words to the three who stood at the edge of the clearing. "What have you been up to? I thought you were only going to Locksley."

"We did." Will stated quietly, his mood subdued and immediately cuing both Robin and Marian that something was wrong.

Robin stood, forehead creasing with a hint of worry at the silence of the group. "What happened?"

Much stood quietly as his gaze slipped over towards Djaq.

"Djaq?" Robin looked to the physician for the story.

She swallowed and began to speak past the lump in her throat. "The carpenter in Locksley is dead."

"Dead?" Marian stared at them in alarm.

"He was repairing a roof and the ladder he was using broke. He bled internally for a while before they realized that something was wrong. By then, it was too late." Will filled in.

Robin shook his head sadly as Marian softly asked, "He had a wife, didn't he?"

"She, uh," Much's eyes flickered over to Djaq before returning to the ground. "She didn't take it so well...obviously."

Robin furrowed his brow at Much's quick glance, recognizing that he wasn't telling them everything. But at Djaq's somber look, he decided not to press the conversation further at the moment. "Why don't we head back to camp for the night?" He suggested.

They ambled through the darkening forest to where the rest of the band was waiting. A dense cloud of gloom fogged through the travelers' minds as they wondered what they could have done differently.