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Sherif Got Your Tongue? Part I

"'Scuse me," One outlaw called. "This is our forest." Men and their stupid controlling disorders. The people came down from on top of the cliffs and disarmed us roughly. They took my swords away and then moved to the knives shoved up my sleeves. The dark haired, short man that was disarming me patted down my arms and then moved to my chest, giving my a cocky grin. That sick bastard. I smiled sweetly at him and reached up, pulling out the small knife that was hidden there.

"This what you where looking for." I asked as he looked shocked. Allan started laughing and the guy glared at him, snatching the small knife from my hand.

"Ah." He dropped the knife, grabbing his hand.

"Careful. It's sharp." I advised grinning without looking at him, feeling his glare on my face. I took off my boots and put all my weapons in a pile. "There." The men stared at me for a moment before the giant one who seemed to be their leader spoke up.

"Alright," I looked up at the leader lazily. "Take your clothes off," My eyes widened slightly and my eyebrows lifted in disbelief.

"Pardon?"

"You heard me. Take off your clothes, the lota ya." He said, turning to the others who were being held. I didn't move, but instead looked down at the ground and tried to figure out the best way of getting out of this. "Take off your clothes." He was more intimidating this time and looked at one of his men and jerked his head towards me. I froze, seizing them up, my mind already calculating ways to take them down.

"Clara." My eyes met Robin's and I gave a sigh of defeat.

"Alright. Alright." I ripped myself out of the man's grasp. Two bows were aimed at me as I slowly undid my belt and slid off my pants. Next was the corset around my stomach. I pulled my shirt over my head and placed it on the ground by the corset and the pants. I became highly aware of two things then. One, I was standing in front of eleven men in nothing but my tight undershirt that I pulled down to hide part of my upper thigh. I looked up to see most of the men save for Robin and Much staring at me.

"Stop staring at me and show a little respect." I snapped, folding my arms and glaring at them each in turn. My eyes landed on Allan who was looking me up and down and making me feel even more naked than I already was. He met my eyes and I cocked an eyebrow and he just grinned and shrugged.

"Tie 'em up." I was tied to a tree with my shoulder squashed against Allan's bare one. I tried not to think about how awkward this position was and focus on getting out. Unfortunately, the tree was smaller than the others and I was facing away from the bandits.

"What's happening?" I whispered to Allan. From the sounds I was hearing I'd say I was ninety percent sure they were robbing us.

"Their stealing our stuff, the bloody thieves." Allan whispered back. Great.

"You are making a mistake." Much tried to reason with the men.

"What? You gonna send an army to hunt us down, tear us limb from limb? Do you think we're frightened of the sheriff? Are we frightened?" The ginger asked the giant man.

"No." Said the tall leader. He looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. I shifted slightly, trying to get my hands up to my hair or to shake my hair clips loose. They had been a present from my mother. The hair clips that were really knives. I shook my head once as if I was trying to get rid of a fly. Once is understandable, maybe even twice, but any more and there would be questions. Even these men weren't that thick not to notice.

"No! We are also against the sheriff!" Much tried.

"Well, what do you want, a medal?" Ginger asked.

"A medal would be nice so I could smack them upside the head with it." I muttered under my breath. I could tell everyone else in the clearing was as annoyed with them as I was.

"No, we should be on the same side. We should!" Much said. "Master, tell him." He added hopefully. I rolled my eyes at Much. I lowered my head so my hair hung down by my arm. A little lower and I would have it. I heard Allan hiss in pain just as I grabbed the hair clip and straightened.

"I'm not being funny but you're killing my back." Allan told me through ground teeth.

"Sorry." I apologized to him through a slightly strained voice. I couldn't cut the rope without having it fall the second it was cut and then we would be badly outnumbered and tied up again. I took Allan's hand gently.

"What the-" He stopped short as I pressed the knife into his hand.

"Don't flatter yourself." I hissed softly as he started working on the rope. I grabbed both ends of the rope and winced as my wrist scraped painfully against the tree. Allan's hand faltered for a second.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" I whispered to him, as he relaxed again and began cutting.

"Will. He's come back and he's hiding behind a couple of trees." Allan whispered back after a moment of silence. I looked at Robin to see him glance at me and then at the woods. I winked to show him I was almost free and he grinned but shook his head, leaning his head back against the tree. I gave a small smile when I saw him using the tree to saw away his bindings. That was Robin, always had a way out.

"When it's done, don't do anything. Wait for Robin's signal if he wants to attack." I told Allan softly.

"Oh, will you just shut up." Allan said loudly in exasperation, interrupting the last bit of my sentence.

"Excuse me?" I barely remembered to keep my voice down.

"Not you, Much. Robin's signal. Got it." He said easily as everyone continued their conversation or rather Much continued talking. It was a bit hard to tell what they were saying seeing as I was faced the opposite direction.

"Yes." I heard Robin answer to some question and I tried to twist my head to get a better look at Robin and Much and maybe Will but all I got was another painful grunt from Allan. "Sorry, I'm probably cutting up your back pretty good." I said turning my head gently so my cheek was against the trunk.

"Nah. I'm alright." Allan's voice was slightly strained, causing me to smile. I opened my mouth to say something else when Allan hurriedly pressed the blade back into my hand. I closed my fist around it and hoped that the man searching Allan's boots didn't notice the tip poking out between my fingers.

"Got eight in here, John." The man said tossing what sounded like a small bag of money to John.

"You keep money in your boots?" I asked incredulously.

"I'm not being funny, but you're talking to me about keeping things in my boots?" I heard Robin give a laugh and I joined him.

"Fair enough." I conceded.

"What about you, darling. You got any money on you?" The outlaw asked moving on to me. I looked down worriedly to see Allan twisting his hand so it covered the half sawed through rope.

"Oi, get off of her." Allan exclaimed as I pressed myself against the tree. The outlaw glanced at Allan and then back at me before going back to the others. I let out a breath of relief that quickly turned into anger.

"I'm going to kill him." I threatened to no one in particular, pressing the blade back into Allan's hand and he continued sawing.

"Don't mention it." He grumbled back sarcastically.

"Do you care who you steal from? My friend here has but a ha'penny. What you take from him might be all he has." I listened to Robin try to convince the men to give Allan his money back.

"Yea, it's all I 'ave." Allan added his piece.

"Who'd you take the ha'penny from?" I asked Allan in jest.

"Nicked it off a guard while I was going to the gallows." I laughed quietly.

"You're serious?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"As serious as I can be tied to a tree." I laughed again.

"Wait!" One of the outlaws called. "Look at this!" I heard the rustling of clothes and then the swish and clinking of my coin bag. I groaned softly and leaned my head against the tree.

"There's forty-five pounds in here!" I heard the outlaw exclaim. I heard a jingling noise as the money switched hands.

"Who's is this?" The leader asked gruffly.

"It was in her stuff." The outlaw said hurriedly.

"It's mine." Robin told them. I held my breath, praying they'd believe him. How'd they even find that money? I'd almost forgot about it; after all, it had been given to me almost two weeks ago in payment for a job. I'd used up almost half the money. It had been a rather dangerous job. "I'd given it to her as a gift."

"Yeah, a gift for what? She to be your wife or something?" At that moment the rope gave and all that was holding it together was me. I needed the outlaws to leave if we weren't attacking them.

"My mom… she just-" I made my voice crack and faked a sob. There was a moment of silence before I heard footsteps coming toward us. There was a whistle and the footsteps froze, then retreated back the way they'd came. I breathed out a sigh of relief as the outlaws left the camp.

"Well those were horrible men." I heard Much say as I dropped the rope from around me and Allan. "They could have left us here to die for all they care! If they had not takin' our weapons I'd say we should go after them and give them a hiding. A hiding to remember." I turned and held my hand out to Allan who returned my hair clip.

"But…" I looked up to find Much looking around at us all standing there. "You…and you two" He said turning from me and Allan to Robin. Allan and I gave him half smiles and I waved. "You let me think…if you had freed yourself why did you not fight?"

"Oh, I thought it best to wait." I turned to see Much looking at me incredulously.

"Hey, don't look at me, I was just following Robin's lead. And anyways, I wasn't doing much fighting like this." Much gave me a look which I ignored.

"Why?"

"Because, Much, you were right. We should teach them a lesson." I felt a slow smile starting to form on my face. "Gentlemen," Robin continued, throwing Allan a stick and Will a stick and then handing mine. "Clara," I smiled at his half bow as he through Much one too.

"Oh, no, Master, surely." Much trailed off, gesturing down at himself. I half agreed with him, but I still followed everyone as we went stomping through the woods.

"This is our forest too!" Much called down to them as we stood on a small cliff overlooking them. "I think you'll find."

"Take your clothes off!" Robin exclaimed and I glanced at him.

"Or leave them on." I suggested, everyone glanced at me. "Just a thought." I defended myself and Allan laughed quietly and I smacked his shoulder.

We tied them up and Robin pinned the tall leader to the ground while he bellowed. I got dressed quickly to stop all the men from staring at me.

"You are revolting." Much said. "My master and I fought for five years in the Holy Land, and Clara fought too-"

"Much," I started trying to get him to leave me out of it.

"For what?" Much plowed on, ignoring me and I tried to ignore the strange looks I was getting from Allan and Will. "Well, so that people like you could run a-muck with your lawlessness and your disgusting camp." Much blabbered. "And you're snide, you're…snide." Much ran out of things to say.

"You're snide, you're snide…" The ginger repeated shrugging.

"Dance." I said, saving what was about to be a very flustered Much.

"You what?" Ginger asked as everyone looked at me questioningly. I shared a grin with Robin.

"I believe the Lady said dance." Robin said.

"No way." Ginger said. I picked up my bow and arrows, snapping the bow out to it's full length but Robin beat me to it. He shot it in-between the ginger's feet, nicking him.

"Ow." The ginger said, but all the outlaws started dancing badly. I shot an arrow and Robin shot two more until they were really going. Allan and I sniggered as we watched them.

"Very good, like dancing bears."

"How does it feel? You treat your fellow man like an animal." Robin shouted and I quickly descended the small hill in case he got angrier. Instead, he just circled the outlaws. "How does it feel? You take from those worse off than yourselves and then you leave them to die."

"Alright, alright. You've made your point." The short, dark haired one said.

"You're not englishman." Robin continued, ignoring the man. "You are not the england we fought for. Men who think it is a boast to be dead. What do you think you're doing robbing him and her when the sheriff there is robbing us all twenty times over. Skulking in the woods while he steals spirits and livelihoods."

"Why are you skulking in the woods, what are you going to do about it?" the ginger one asked.

"Stop them." Robin said as if just now realizing it. My gaze snapped to him. What? Who said anything about stopping them? "I'm going to stop him." The outlaws scoffed at Robin.

"Well you can't stop the sheriff." Much said slowly as if trying to understand. "Only the crown can withdraw his license."

"When the King returns he will have his cumuppets until then, we will stop his sadistic punishments. We will stop his insane taxes and give them back to the poor where they belong!"

"Sure." The ginger said sarcastically and I had to agree with him.

"We will rob him."

"What?" I tried to interject. I heard a twig snap in the distance and looked up around us.

"And if you dead men have spines in your backs, that's what you would have been doing for the last five years now." Robin said.

"Good luck."

"Yea, see ya." Robin pulled back his bow and hesitated for a second.

"Ah, that would be a mistake, I think you'll find." I looked around and mentally swore. We were surrounded. Will, Allan, and I dropped our weapons, having seen the outlaws.

"You are in no position to argue, dunderhead." Much sneered, but stopped when he heard Robin drop his bow. "Oh." He said as he saw the outlaws.

"Look, you've tied us up. We've tied you up. We could call it quits."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I like that plan, let's go with that. We could all be on our way."

"Him, I do not like." The leader said.

"Well, it's mutual." Robin answered as an outlaw whispered something into the leader's ear.

"Are you Robin of Locksley?" he asked. "Robin, earl of huntington?" He asked stepping closer. I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach that was heightened when the leader continued coming closer.

"Robin-" I started warningly, but it was too late. The fist contacted Robin's face, sending him sprawling to the ground. An annoyed scoffing sound left my lips as I leaned my head back. Robin was knocked out on the ground and was quickly bound by the outlaws. I sat between Allan and Will with my hands bound and linked to Allan, Will, and Much.

"At least have the courtesy to untie him." Much said as a flask of water was dumped on Robin's face.

"Locksley?" Robin asked in surprise. I rolled my eyes at his ignorance. There was only one reason they'd bring us to Locksley all tied up. "You've brought us home."

"There's a reward, Robin. There's always a reward." I muttered under my breath and then out loud, "What is it with men and money?"

"What is it with women and jewelry?" Allan countered and I glared at him, squinting a bit due to the sun. I opened my mouth to reply when I realized my hand had subconsciously reached up to play with the pendant that hung around my neck.

"Shut up." He laughed along with Will while Much just looked at us indignantly.

"Twenty pounds." One outlaw laughed while the red haired one gave orders.

"You, take him down. See if you can get some for this rebel too."

"Me? I'm supposed to be dead."

"Yea, me too. They won't recognize you." The outlaws started bickering.

"Well, if they do I'll be hanged." The outlaw argued. "John?"

"John can't go, can he? They gonna recognize anyone it's gonna be John!"

"We all go." John broke up the arguing, dragging Robin to his feet. We were dragged unceremoniously to the town and pulled to a stop behind an old cottage. I saw a woman getting pulled through the crowd whilst she kicked and fought weakly. John stopped dragging us and stared at her with horror.

"Help!" She screamed. The other townspeople made no move to aid her in even the slightest way.

"No, no!" John whispered desperately as a pair of giant scissors came into view. Two soldiers restrained the woman while the scissors were brought out.

"That's nasty." Much said in disgust. "And that is brutish." He continued looking at the rest of us as if for confirmation.

"That is Alice!" John spoke.

"Alice?" I asked, suddenly making the connection. I glanced between them once more. "Oh, dear God." I felt the others look at me questioningly.

"My wife." John ignored me completely.

"Your Alice's John," Will made the connection as well. "She thought you were dead." I saw John's face begin to darken and I felt another sinking feeling in my stomach. I'd seen that look too many times in the Holy Land as well as on the road. That look meant trouble.

"It's you they want! We go now!" John growled, hoisting Robin onto his shoulders.

"Wait!" I tried to reason while Robin tried as well.

"I can save your wife." Robin promised finally. "Put me down."

"He's her best chance." I spoke up and Robin was put down. "Robin just think about this for a moment-"

"Untie me, my bow quickly. I'm good with a bow."

"You saw him shoot your feet." Much reminded them.

"Trust me." Robin pleaded and John untied him hurriedly, handing him his bow. Robin's shot was impeccable and shot the scissors clean in half.

"He's here, find him." The sheriff ordered and the soldiers dispersed.

"Robin-" I tried again.

"Godspeed." He told us. I closed my eyes in defeat.

"What?" Much said, ever the naïve one.

"You have served me well, my friend, and I have led you to this." He told Much, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Apologies."

"No." Much said softly.

"Robin just stop for a moment and think about this." I tried one last time and his gaze fell on me. The gaze of a man saying goodbye. He smiled softly at me.

"Sometimes we don't have a moment, Clara. You of all people should know that. I will find a way through this." He promised me.

"The sheriff will hang you." Much argued, finally coming out of his shocked stupor.

"If he does, at least I will not die a dead man." Robin said, grabbing his bow and running off.

"Godspeed, Sheriff!" Robin yelled, jumping over the fence. "Now, I wonder if I tell you where I am, can I claim the twenty pounds? That would be a pound or so for each family here. Could feed a whole winter, that."

"Amusing, put down your weapon." The sheriff said without a trace of humor. I watched as he was tied up to Guy's horse. He was smacked across the face by the guard and I started forward angrily only to be stopped by Will's hand on my shoulder. I glared at him and he just shook his head.

"I liked him." Will told me almost apologetically.

"I did not." John said and I glared and opened my mouth to reply.

"He saved your wife." Much took the words out of my mouth. "Liked? He's not dead." John and the others got us to our feet and we went off. They untied us as we walked back into their camp.

"Ah, filthy rich?" The outlaw asked eagerly upon our silent arrival. "What's the matter?" He asked, finally realizing something was wrong.

"Saw his wife." Allan answered for John.

"No reward?" The outlaw asked, disappointed.

"My master gave himself in." Much told him.

"To the sherif?" He asked disbelievingly.

"The sherif was cutting out tongues." The outlaw shrugged looking a little disturbed. "Well, he could hardly stand by and watch people loose their tongues." The outlaw started laughing.

"That would be funny wouldn't it? If, instead of cat got your tongue they said sherif got your tongue." I looked up at him with a cold expression.

"God help me not to kill him." I whispered angrily.

"If someone was a bit, y'know, quiet," He continued, either not hearing me or choosing to ignore me. "You'd go 'what's the matter, sherif got your tongue?'" He finished chuckling. Will looked like he was ready to kill him as well.

"Look, we cannot just sit here! We've got to do something! We've got to go to Nottingham and we've got to get him out!" Much said with watery eyes. Robin's departure was hitting him hard and I couldn't say I wasn't a little bit sympathetic.

"How?" Will asked, glancing at me.

"No point anyway." Allan said nonchalantly. I hated him for saying it but I understood where he was coming from.

"No point?!" Much asked angrily. "You would be dead if Robin had not-"

"No, Clara would've gotten me out." He said, shrugging.

"Actually, we would've been outnumbered and overwhelmed without Robin and Much so you do owe him." I cut in, frowning at Allan.

"That's true."

"You would be dead."

"Mind you, I wasn't supposed to hang in the first place. So that was just a confusion." Allan told us and I rolled my eyes.

"You're own lie is what got you into that mess, not Robin." I told him.

"Look, you can't just let him die!" Much exclaimed. "Will?" He asked hopefully. Will looked at me and Allan. I met his gaze and his eyes said it all. He was afraid. Fear is what was driving him away. It was what was driving me away from helping Robin. I was terrified of dying so was Will, so was Allan, and so was John. Save yourself above anything else. That was the first rule of traveling on your own. "Clara?" He asked, a note of desperation in his voice. I dropped my gaze to study my boots. "Very well, I shall go alone." Much said with determination but it was the tinge of disappointment that hurt me the most. I didn't let any of the guilt I was feeling show through. Robin had saved my life countless times in the Holy Land and what good was I if I couldn't even return a simple favor?

"Hey! Hold it! No horses." The man, who's name was Roy, said. I heard the leaves crunch as Much stalked off.

"Wrong way, Much." I called and heard sniggering from the outlaws and Allan as he changed directions. Only Will remained in a solemn silence with me.

"In which heist is my wife? I will fetch her." I barely heard John as I continued to study my boots, thinking about Robin and Much.

"Fetch her where?" Will asked beside me.

"Here. Alice can live in the forest same as us."

"Alice can't live in the forest."

"Why not? She can." I knew he was indicating me but I suddenly didn't have the energy to even acknowledge them.

"Ah, there's something you don't know." Will began. After telling him about his son, John left the camp without another word. It was beginning to get dark and I had yet to move. The guilt grew heavier with each passing second. I shouldn't be feeling like that; I was trained, after all. I had killed people before so why was leaving Robin condemned so difficult?

"Do you want something to eat?" I didn't make a response. I felt a bowl pushed at me and my hand reluctantly wrapped around the smooth wood. I finally looked up, surprised to see Allan's face hovering above me instead of Will's.

"Thanks." I said softly. Pressing my hands against the warm wood for warmth, realizing how cold the night was getting. I bent my stiff legs and stretched them gingerly. I felt Allan take a seat next to me.

"You okay?" He asked me quietly.

"Honestly? No. I'm a horrible person and now, Robin's going to die because I didn't do anything." I told him with a humorless laugh. "But hey, at least I'm alive, right?"

"You're not a horrible person." I looked at Allan quizzically. "Look, you saved me."

"That was different. I promised."

"How was that different? From where I was hanging, it looked like you risked your life to save Will and me." I let out a small chuckle. "And besides, I'm sure Much will get it all sorted." I laughed outright at the sarcastic tone of voice he used. "Come on. You should go sit by the fire, you're cold." I followed him and we sat across from the outlaws slowly starting on my soup, but the knot in my stomach tightened.

"Think the whiny one'll make it?" One asked.

"What's he gonna do, stroll into Nottingham and say 'excuse me, can you let my friend lavender boy go free'?" I glanced up and saw Allan looking at Will and I caught their gazes. "He'll slaughter both of them." I tensed in anger at his lack of faith.

"Could've given them the horse." Allan said.

"Then we loose a horse too, think about it." I was glared daggers into my soup.

"If Robin dies the people of Locksley will become like you." Will spoke up, not looking at us.

"What do ya mean, like us?"

"They'll have nothing left to live for. They'll be dead men." He said, finally looking at us.

"Well, you go and save him then. See ya. We don't do town, we're outlaws. We're on the run." Roy said getting up and walking around to come face to face with Will.

"And what happens to the love ones you leave behind." I got up at Will's argument, making a decision.

"Town is dead."

"Have you seen what happens to a family when there is only one bridwinick cause I have." I reached them and pulled Will back from Roy.

"I''m going." I whispered. "Oi! I'm going!" Everyone stopped and stared at me, but I was too angry at their meaningless banter to care anymore. "And I'm taking a horse." I added fixing Roy with a glare that obviously wasn't received.

"Are you deaf? We don't go to Nottingham!" He shouted at me. I opened my mouth to say something I'd probably regret when I saw a big shape behind Roy. I stopped and looked at John questioningly.

"We go to Nottingham."