A/N: Next chapter, please enjoy and review. I don't own Robin Hood.

HERE'S THE THING: DOMESTIC BLISS…

Chapter Ten: Midnight Meanderings

The dark of midnight found Ava checking the corridor, before sneaking out and leaving Anne to close the door behind her. When she had returned that afternoon they had spent some time thinking through what they knew, which was woefully little, and working out how they could find out more. Anne was overjoyed to find out her father was still alive but was swiftly brought back down by the knowledge she was to be used against him.

Added to which they had the problem of Allan. Ava was no where near as confident about his promise as she had made out, but there was little she could do about it now. Except worry, and that would get them no where.

Expecting they would be discovered as imposters at any moment, they decided that they must act that night, which was why Ava was creeping her way towards the Sheriff's war room in the early hours of the morning. She had the better knowledge of the castle, and of fighting, and refused to listen to any suggestion that they could share the task.

Much to her surprise she managed to reach her destination without meeting any guards at all. Whenever she had been in the castle at night before it had always seemed to be swarming with men, though perhaps they were concentrated on keeping people out rather that monitoring the movements of those that were already inside.

She creaked the heavy wooden door open, so there was just enough space for her to slip through, and hurriedly closed it again. Luck seemed to be on her side as torches still burned in the brackets and lit the Sheriff's map of England spread out on the table. Flags and small model boats dotted over it meant little to her, whichever angle she looked at them, and the sheaf of papers left on the side held nothing of any importance.

She had begun to search the rest of the room when her luck ran out. Footsteps sounded on the balcony above and she hurried to the door and let herself out just as the Sheriff appeared. Weaving her way through the maze of corridors she discovered that the castle was suddenly much more awake. There were sounds of guards moving all around her, feet pounding, orders shouted, and she had to take several detours to avoid parties of them. Soon she was further from Anne's rooms than when she'd started and could hear the ominous sound of dogs barking. Rounding another corner, a posse of guards was almost on top of her when suddenly a hand was clamped over her mouth and she was yanked back into deep shadow.

Ava struggled against her assailant, ready to scream and not caring who it would alert, when he turned to lay a silencing finger against his lips and she saw it was Allan. All the fight left her immediately, more from shock than anything else, and by the time the guards had passed and Allan felt it was safe to remove his hand she'd calmed herself and was ready to demand an explanation.

"What - ?" she began angrily but he cut her off quickly.

"Shush! D'you want everyone to hear?" He'd half raised his hand to hold it over her mouth again but she batted it away and raised her eyebrows in silent question instead. Allan took a quick glance around before stepping out into the corridor and turning to face her. "Follow me."

She hesitated for a second, weighing her options, before she stepped out after him and they strode quickly away. They soon reached their destination and it wasn't before Allan had opened the door, ushered her in and closed it behind them that Ava realized where they were.

"Why are we in your bedroom?"

"Because it's safe. I'm not being funny but we can't just stand out in the corridor having a chat." She was still looking a little suspicious so he raised his hands and smiled. "Strictly business, I promise."

A slight returning smile tugged at her lips, she'd missed him.

"Alright, what's the business?"

"What were you doing?" he answered with a question of his own.

"Moonlit stroll, what do you think?" she moved to sit on his bed, leaning against one of the posts. He hesitated for a moment, eyeing the gap, before going to sit opposite her,

"Find anything interesting?"

"Maybe. Got anything interesting to tell me?"

He couldn't contain a rueful smile at their sparring but Ava merely raised an enquiring eyebrow.

"Well, I dunno Prince John's plan, but the Sheriff's got his own. He knows Anne's Dad's out in the Holy Land and thinks he can use her to get at Robin. Obviously he doesn't Robin's already involved so he reckons on the whole damsel in distress thing. Also, it's always possible Robin knows Anne's Dad, so that'll help."

Ava nodded slowly, thinking it over and confirming Allan's assumptions. To be honest, she'd thought it would have been a bit more complicated than that and wondered if there was something more to it. Though if she wasn't on the inside, they would be frantically planning a nigh impossible rescue attempt by now.

She looked up at Allan to find him staring at her. She smiled slightly.

"I missed you," he said simply, his eyes sad, and she knew he didn't mean just her but all of them.

"I've missed you too," She wished she could have said 'we' instead of 'I' and knew that he had noted it when he turned his head away, nodding in defeated acceptance.

"How's - ?" whoever he was going to ask after was destined to remain unknown as a guard chose that moment to knock heavily on the door. The pair froze, terrified that at any moment someone would come in and discover Allan fraternizing with one of Robin Hood's men. Fortunately the handle didn't turn and all they heard was a gruff voice announcing "Sheriff wants you, sir" and footsteps retreating into the distance. They breathed a sigh of relief and Ava turned to Allan, saying teasingly,

"Sir?"

"Oh yeah, bit of respect. C'mon, we better go."

He stuck his head outside, checking no one was near, before they emerged and hurried off in opposite directions.

A/N: I love Allan more and more…. Please review xx