(A/N Okay, so this Update is much quicker. Hopefully, the others will be too... Thanks for all the reviews, keep them coming!

Emoras: That's what I was trying to do... I'm glad it worked! I wasn't sure it would, to be honest.I'll try and keep it up.. Argh! The Pressure!

Mizco: Yeah, I know... hopefully in the next few chapters they'll realise... assuming I haven't killed off Will by that point... -evil laugh-

DeanParker: Okay, okay! They're getting there, I promise...

Mira-and-Allan: Thanks! Here's the next one...

RocMySox: Glad you like it... and yeah, I know. I love Will loads... :)

Chapter 3

The Sheriff and Guy stepped forward, eager to be part of this argument. Guy smirked, and the Sheriff looked gleefully happy, but Allan A Dale didn't notice. All he saw was his former friend, Comrade and Brother-In-Arms, Will Scarlett.

"Oh god... Will!" Allan sounded panicked and afraid for the Outlaw. For a moment, Will looked up, green eyes meeting electric blue, but Will wasn't strong enough to lift his head for more than a few seconds.

"What...what do you want?" His voice was hoarse and silent. Allan could barely hear him.

The Sheriff cut in. "Ahh, so you'll tell him? We want to know where the Outlaw's camp is. I heard you built it, is that right?" He turned to Allan, "Isn't that right, A Dale?"

Allan nodded mutely.

"Ingenious... So Robin's pretty-boy does have some uses, after all! And there was me thinking he was just there to charm the ladies into giving him information... intriguing..."

"Carpenter. He's a carpenter, my lord." It felt odd for Allan to be selling out his friend. But he did it anyway. What was it Will had said? "You're Gisbourne's man, now... There's no coming back from there." He had been right, of course. Will Scarlet was always right. Robin preferred him, Djaq had chosen him over Allan. Everyone like the silent-but-strong carpenter better than Allan. And he was sick of it.

"You know what your problem is?! You're too bloody proud to forgive other people's mistakes. The world isn't just black and white, Will. Maybe if you had listened to me, you would have understood. You say you would rather die than betray Robin? That's much easier said than done. You don't know what it was like, and you didn't bother to find out, did you?! Do you know what? You also got Djaq. Yeah, that's right. Will gets everything. Will isn't afraid to die. Well then, Mister Perfect, why don't we put that to the test? You're completely vulnerable. I could kill you right now, and have done with it. How does that make you feel? Answer me!"

"You might be a traitor, Allan, but you're no killer. Not at all"

"How do you know?! It's not like you would spare my life, if this were the other way round!"

Will tried to mask his emotions, and almost succeeded. But his eyes gave it away. Their intense, smouldering green revealed the pain that Allan's words had inflicted upon him, a million times worse than anything Gisbourne could do to him. Allan felt remorse suddenly, for saying what he did...but he couldn't apologise. Not now, and not ever...

XxXxX

Of course! The chimney! Why hadn't she thought of it before?! Marian extinguished the flames with her flagon of water, peering up to where a small square of grey light was visible at the top. The chimney was old and dirty. Many of the bricks were broken or chipped, creating convenient hand-and-footholds. Perfect.

Marian pulled on her Nightwatchman costume. Guy might have burned the original, but you never knew when you needed a spare...

She began to climb. The bricks were still hot, and covered with with black ash and soot. Her cloak and mask were soon perfectly invisible. After a few minutes-- or maybe a few hours, Marian couldn't tell-- of climbing, she reached the top. Coughing to clear the black stuff from her lungs, she pulled herself over the ledge, breathing heavily. As she took her bearings, she was glad to realise quite how close to the wall of the city she was. No-one was looking up. After all, the last thing that the Sheriff expected was the Nightwatchman crawling from a chimney. She leapt effortlessly onto a nearby tall roof, rolling to break her fall. She scanned the area for possible escape routes. There. If she could jump onto that roof, she could surely make it to the wall. She jumped.

For a moment, she was free, flying like a bird. And then the ground came rushing up to meet her-- she had miscalculated the distance.

The Nightwatchman kicked wildly, forcing herself not to cry out and ruin the whole operation. At the last moment, she grabbed the edge of the roof. Her momentum dragged her forward, and her light frame crashed into the stone building. Marian allowed herself a moan of pain, before scrambling up onto the thatched roof. That had been far too close...

From there. She jumped onto the wide stone wall that had been designed to keep Outlaws away. Not that it worked. Luckily, no guards were around-- but it wouldn't be long before one or two turned up-- time to move. A flagpole stood nearby, with a long coil of rope next to it. Marian tore down the flag-- the Vasey coat of Arms-- and tied one end of the rope securely to the pole, throwing the rest over the parapet. It just reached the ground. She grasped the rope with two hands, climbing over the edge. For a moment, her head spun. She did not have a phobia of heights-- but one did not need a fear when one was faced with a forty-foot sheer drop. She planted her feet firmly against the grey stone, walking herself backwards down the wall, hand over hand. She was only about three-quarters of the way down when a helmeted head appeared over the side. Marian and the guard gasped simultaneously, and then both came back to their senses at once. Marian began to climb down faster, almost running. But she wasn't fast enough. The guard, with a vicious smirk-- he had clearly been taking lessons from Guy-- pulled out his sword, and cut the rope in one smooth movement. Marian yelled, and then she fell...

XxXxX

Guy was apparently tired of all this arguing. He picked up his whip again, cracking it menacingly.

"Move aside, A Dale. Let's finish this..."

(A/N So yeah. Super-quick review because I love you all.

Reviews are my crack. Seriously. If I don't get them, I go insane, and would die. And then no more stories... or updates... Just remember that...)