A/N: I apologise for the long wait, see my profile for the entire sorry story. This chapter is the longest and it is a teensy bit gory on one occasion.

Chapter Ten

Unity

It was with a slight distaste for the heat and a large sense of anticipation that the Sheriff of Nottingham stepped off the boat from England into the bustling port of Acre. It seemed different to how it had been the first time he'd seen it: livelier, happier almost. The Sheriff didn't stop to question it. He was finally going to bring Shah Maht to a close. He was finally going to kill the King. He'd be rewarded richly when he returned; there was no doubt of that. All the Black Knights talked of killing the King and placing his brother on the throne, after all, that was what their brotherhood had been founded for, but none of them actually had the resource and sheer bravado to go through with it. None of them except him.

A black cloth fluttered in the breeze from one of the market stalls and the Sheriff pondered for a moment the fate of his lieutenant. He had long since given up expecting to see Gisborne return to the castle, tail between his legs and searching for a second chance. He wondered lightly if Gisborne had even survived this long out here in the heat.

Lovesick puppy. He's probably thrown himself in the sea out of grief.

It wasn't as if the Sheriff missed Gisborne very much, it was more that his absence irked him somewhat. He no longer had someone he could really trust with his deeds of destruction, or someone to order about, knowing he'd comply with his every request. In short, he no longer had someone whom he could control. He liked being able to control Guy. It made him feel powerful and secure.

The Sheriff felt restless. He wanted to get on with things, but he appreciated that it would be foolish to simply charge into the King's camp with no back up plan and no escape route. He would not only be hopelessly outnumbered but also cut to pieces on the spot. His assault on the King required careful planning, something he didn't particularly like. He much preferred action, especially when he didn't have to get his hands dirty and could be a snug spectator. Not this time though. He was going to get well and truly bloody by the end of this, but it was going to be well worth it. The thought of the prize that awaited him on his triumphant return to England kept the Sheriff smiling as he strode purposefully towards the house of his contact in Acre. Nazim had been an invaluable ally over the last few months, and it was almost a shame that he would have to be silenced once the mission was complete. After all, he would have outlived his usefulness somewhat by the end, and the Sheriff couldn't trust him not to talk if the meddling Hood came interfering in the aftermath of the catastrophe. Then again, once Prince John had become King, the Sheriff would make it his priority to rid himself of Hood once and for all. He had arrived at Nazim's house before he had finished thinking of all the things he was going to do with Hood once he found him…

He knocked on the door twice, and several long moments of still silence followed before the door eventually opened.

"You took your time," snapped the Sheriff as he entered the gloomy building. "It doesn't pay for me to be kept waiting you know."

"I know."

The Sheriff turned at the all too familiar voice. The person who had opened the door and now stood unravelling the scarf from round his neck was not Nazim, but Robin Hood.

"You…" hissed the Sheriff.

"Me," agreed Robin. "And all my men."

The Sheriff didn't want to turn round, as he knew that he was going to see the other outlaws emerging from the various doorways of the house, but he felt compelled to do so in an almost dreamlike manner. Sure enough, they were all there, even…

"You're dead!" exclaimed the Sheriff upon seeing Marian.

"Sorry," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "No such luck."

"Damn you! Damn the lot of you! Where's Nazim?"

"Oh, we've got someone special looking after him," said Robin with a smirk. Scuffling sounds came form along the corridor and Nazim was thrust roughly into the circle of outlaws to the Sheriff's feet.

"My Lord…" he began, stumbling over his words. "I was betrayed… a friend of a friend… he told Saladin's official pigeon handler…" The Sheriff could not articulate words to express his anger, instead taking out his knife and advancing towards Nazim, who clutched his throat and scrambled backwards.

"Now now," came another awfully familiar voice, the owner of which had followed Nazim into the entrance hall and presently pulled the other man back to safety. "There are ladies present." The voice added something in a whisper to Nazim, who wasted no time in wriggling free and running from the hall. The Sheriff looked up to see his former lieutenant among his ambushers.

"Gisborne," he began, a little surprised and indeed shocked at this revelation.

Guy nodded.

"I bet you never thought you'd see me again," he said.

"Tell me you're not working with them," said the Sheriff in a slightly strangled voice.

"Sorry," said Guy flippantly.

"But after everything I've done? I was like a father to you Gisborne and now you're betraying me? You've been reliant on me since your pathetic family lost their land in shame and now this?" The Sheriff's voice was rising with every word and he made towards Guy with the knife, but he was easily overpowered by Guy's height and sheer rage at the slur on his late father. "Almost your whole life, you've been dependent on me!" hissed the Sheriff as he picked himself off the ground where Guy had bodily thrown him.

"I have a new life, my Lord," Guy spat. "And you are no longer a part of it." He curved his arm around Marian, his hand coming to rest on her stomach where their child grew safely beneath.

It was such an ironic role reversal; all the gathered party could see that. In England, it had always been the Sheriff with the emotional and mental control, teasing, taunting, and keeping Guy under the thumb with his inherent dependency. Now that relationship had been turned on its head, with Guy the only thing that stood between the Sheriff and the outlaws. For a few moments, nothing was said; fallen lord and freed lieutenant regarding each other in the same way Guy and Robin had done on that fateful morning at the armoury, the atmosphere silent and yet screaming with the unexpressed wrath that was so apparent in their eyes, anger at betrayal and anger at belittling meeting and clashing fiercely in the air.

"Kill me," said the Sheriff, looking around the group and eying the vast variety of weapons to hand.

"No," said Robin softly.

"How could I forget?" sneered the Sheriff. "Hood, ever the humanitarian." He laughed cruelly.

"No," repeated Robin, although this time his voice was forceful. "We're taking you back to Nottingham where you can die like a traitor should, along with the rest of the Black Knights."

"Hung, drawn and quartered," added Much vehemently.

They had all expected what happened after. They all knew the Sheriff too well to believe that he would truly give in so easily. As Guy had said, he was fond of deception. He had been edging back towards the knife that Guy had thrown away from him, and presently he picked it up, yanking Marian out of Guy's arms and bringing the blade to her throat.

"Seems your new life's over before it's begun, Gisborne," he snarled, and pressed the cold steel against Marian's throat for a few seconds before moving it to her abdomen. "Or perhaps I should reserve such a description for your child?"

"Hostage taking already?" taunted Robin, seemingly unperturbed by Marian's precarious position. "You haven't even asked us why we're here and not on a boat rushing to protect the King from you in England."

"The thought had crossed my mind," he snapped.

"Well, unfortunately for your plan, the King actually has made peace…"

It didn't take much of her unforgotten skill for Marian to free herself from the clutches of the dazed Sheriff. As she pushed him to the ground, hitting his head and sending him slowly drifting into unconsciousness, he realised that the outlaws had bested him for the final time.

"I don't think we need to say anymore."

He heard Robin's words and the outlaws starting to make preparations to leave. Through the thick mist of enforced sleep, he could make out Guy's voice talking to him.

"They say that the last thing a traitor to the Crown sees is the final beat of his own heart as it gets drawn out. It seems you're going to be the one to prove them right or wrong, not me."

The Sheriff recognised the words. He'd threatened Guy with them before, as a warning should his assassination attempts be traced. His once-trustworthy Master at Arms had truly turned against him…

XXX

Guy and Marian felt an odd sense of homecoming as the boat came into sight of the green land they hadn't beheld for almost a year. As far as they could see, it hadn't changed much, but then looks could be deceiving. How much had they changed in themselves during that time, and what difference had it made to their outward appearance save the fact that one could no longer deny that Marian was with child?

"Home sweet home," she breathed. "It's good to be back, but I shall miss the friends we made in Acre. Bassam and Saira, and everyone else who helped us."

Guy kissed her cheek briefly, for they both knew that they were being watched. Robin had been remarkably tactful during the trip in leaving them alone together, but now he couldn't help but stand in the shadows, wondering what his life would be like if he held Guy's position.

"We're about to dock," said John, coming up onto the deck and standing beside Robin, breathing in the fresh sea air. He followed the younger man's eye to the couple. "Please let's move. I've got Will and Djaq at the other end of the boat unable to take their eyes off each other." Robin laughed, perhaps the first genuine and hearty laugh that he had experienced in a long time. His life was coming together again.

They felt the boat bump against the dockside and went below to collect their belongings and be met by royalty…

XXX

"Robin," said King Richard, greeting his ex-soldier and twice-saviour warmly. Robin bowed in reply.

"Your Majesty."

"Please, Robin, it is I who should be bowing to you after all that you have done for me."

The other outlaws, then Guy and Marian followed Robin in leaving the ship and paying their respects to their monarch.

"I believe that thanks are all in order," said Richard. "But words, however courteous, are of no practical use to anyone. Honour and glory will not buy bread." He looked at the outlaws. "You will all receive full pardons and a certain…financial reward. Except Much…" (Here Much looked outraged but knew better than to say anything.) "… to whom I remember bequeathing the seat at Bonchurch. It shall be yours. Djaq, Safiyah, whichever name you now choose to go by, you shall gain the rights of any English woman and you may enter or leave this land as you please. I have never really had the chance to thank you for your medical attention when I was attacked in Acre all that time ago."

"Thank you, your Majesty," said Djaq, sounding quite taken aback. "I am most grateful."

Richard turned to Marian.

"Lady Marian… Lady Gisborne," he corrected himself. "You are no outlaw and you already have fortune, yet you have also played your part in my rescue. If you want something that is within my power to give, I shall promise it to you. Is there anything I can offer?"

"There is only one thing I shall request of you, your Majesty, and that is your lenience with Guy."

"I was coming to him next…"

A soft moan escaped Guy's lips. He had not been looking forward to this conversation at all.

"To speak plainly, Gisborne, I don't know whether to thank you or throw in the dungeons to rot with Vaizey. However, it appears that all your Lady wishes is for you to remain in tact by her side, and I must keep my promise to give her what she wishes if it is in my power. Your past crimes shall be... forgotten, however reluctantly. I am correct in thinking that you have no land to your name?"

"Yes. My father was dispossessed..." Guy tailed off, not wanting to travel that particular road. "I had been occupying Locksley but it belongs by rights to Robin."

"You shall keep Locksley," said Richard eventually. "Consider it a wedding present to you both."

Guy's thanks were lost in the unimaginable uproar from Robin and the outlaws at this decision. No full sentences could be heard, only vague words and snippets expressing their pure anger and disbelief at Robin's mistreatment in the matter.

"Silence!" roared Richard. "This is no way to behave in front of your king! Besides, I don't believe I have finished. Robin, it may seem an injustice but I have another planned path for you. It appears that I shall be requiring a new Sheriff of Nottingham..."

Even Much was speechless.

"If you wish to decline the post, you may of course do so and naturally further arrangements will be made."

"N-n-no, I accept," Robin managed eventually. "Thank you, your Majesty."

"I'm not being funny or anything," said Allan, after a few moments of awkward silence had passed, "but shouldn't we toast the occasion? The freedom and the pardons and the new Sheriff and everything? I mean, we haven't got any ale or wine but…"

"Don't worry," laughed Will, patting his friend on the shoulder. "We understand."

Will began their 'toast' and everyone followed, the echo rumbling around the Portsmouth dockside.

"Long live King Richard, and long live Robin, Sheriff of Nottingham."

A/N: As always, Nazim is just a random fella.

Come on, I couldn't not have a happy ending, not when everyone was nicely friends again! There is still an epilogue to come.

Feedback would be most appreciated, especially on the point of Marian's pregancy. I introduced it last chapter but I fear the hint was too subtle and it was a bit of a sudden revelation this chapter.

I think that's it. I'll stop gabbling and leave you to get on with reviewing. (Hint.)