Chapter Four: Planning a Trap

After Gisbourne had left, Robin came out of the bushes.

"I thought you were probably hiding in there," said Marian.

"Well, now I know why Gisbourne's been so preoccupied lately," said Robin.

"I wonder who he's been dreaming about," said Marian.

Robin shrugged.

"I pity whomever it is," he commented.

"Gisbourne, can you keep your thoughts out of Hood's pants and actually work on catching him?" demanded the Sheriff, irritably.

"I have been," said Gisbourne, "but nothing works!"

"Your incompetence never ceases to amaze me," replied the Sheriff, "its simple! You set up a trap in the forest, wait for Hood to take the bait, and then surround him with your men. And, then, you bring him here, so I can have his pretty little head on a pretty big spike!"

Gisbourne needed a trap for Locksley. He could always wait around for Locksley to trap himself again. His face burned as he remembered that incident. A rather different version of the encounter played in his head.

Locksley was hanging upside down from the tree. The lower half of his torso was exposed. Gisbourne licked his lips as he stared at Locksley's flat stomach. 'Mmm,' he thought.

"Caught in one of your own traps, Locksley?" asked Gisbourne, with a smirk.

"No, I just decided this was a good day to hang from a tree by my ankles," said Locksley, grumpily.

Gisbourne snickered.

"That was brilliant," he said, sarcastically.

"Wasn't it?" Locksley pretended like he thought Gisbourne complimenting him.

"Where are your men?" Gisbourne asked.

"On their way here," said Locksley, unconcerned.

Gisbourne circled the other man slowly. When he was directly behind Locksley, Gisbourne reached out and grabbed one buttock with a quick and firm squeeze. When Gisbourne came around to face Locksley again, he noticed Locksley's frown.

"What was that for?" he asked in obvious confusion.

"What was what for?" asked Gisbourne.

"You just grabbed my rear!" exclaimed Locksley.

"So?" asked Gisbourne, with a slight shrug.

"Well, there must have been a reason for it! Wasn't there?" replied the outlaw.

Gisbourne wasn't listening to Locksley any longer. He was too busy picturing kissing him.

When Locksley noticed Gisbourne wasn't listening to him, he asked, "What are you thinking about, Gisbourne?"

"This," said Gisbourne, right before he kissed Locksley on the mouth.

Locksley tried to fight Gisbourne off, but he was at a disadvantage, bound to the tree as he was.

Waiting for Locksley to capture himself again would take too much time, and the Sheriff wouldn't like that. He'd have to think some more and come up with a new plan.

Much noticed that Robin was slightly...different since they cut him down from that tree the other day. He couldn't figure out why. He decided to ask him. Much found Robin using a tree for target practice. Much thought of how to bring up the subject.

"What is it, Much?" asked Robin, seeing Much standing close by out of the corner of his eye.

"Master, I've noticed that you haven't...been exactly yourself since you got caught in one of the traps," spoke Much, "is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong, Much," replied Robin, setting down his bow to look the other man in the eye.

"Then, what's going on?" asked Much.

Robin said nothing for several seconds, looking down at the arrow he was idly twirling in his hands.

"Master?"

Robin blew out a small puff of air out of his mouth that almost qualified as a sigh.

"Gisbourne. He-did something right before you arrived," he said, still staring at his hands.

Much's brow furrowed.

"What did he do?" he asked, cautiously.

This wasn't sounding good.

"He…kissed me."

"What?" Much thought he must have heard wrong.

"Gisbourne kissed me," said Robin, sounding none too happy.

"Where?"

"Where do you think, Much? On the mouth!"

"Why did he do that?" asked Much, sounding confused.

"That is precisely what I'm trying to figure out," said Robin, "it doesn't make any sense."