Authors Note: Well, here it is, finally. EXAMS ARE DONE! I am now a woman free of all scholastic commitments, at least until Uni starts, which means that this story will not be nearly so neglected.

Although, and skip to the next paragraph to avoid spoilers here, can I just have my little rant about season two?

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS

Seriously!!!! They've taken my two favourite characters and twisted them so much I can hardly watch bits. Will's all "oooh, I don't care about the poor anymore lets just kill the sheriff!" and Allan, dear wonderful, gorgeous Allan, has been chucked out! COME ON! I mean Allan's actions are kind of in character, but Will's mostly aren't. Especially how he treated Djaq in 2-04. And they seem to be simultaneously setting Djaq up with everyone but Robin and Little John. BAH. Anyway, needed to get that off my chest. Thankyou for listening…

END SPOILERS! END SPOILERS! END SPOILERS!

Ok, back to my story, which is thankfully set in season one. Glorious season one. We are getting closer people! This chapter is the beginning of the comforting, after an enormously disproportionate amount of hurting.

Thankyou again for all your fantastic reviews! I apologise profusely for my horrifically terrible updating record. Things will change now school is done! And thankyou especially to the people who thought the last chapter was funny! I thought it was, but it's always nice to have other people agree, rather than me just laughing at my own jokes.

Also thankyou to my reviewer who asked what Marian was going to do after so obviously allying herself with the outlaws, hadn't thought about that at all, so you reminded me of something else I needed to include.

Stick with it! We are nearing the finish line!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The moment the sheriff went down chaos reigned in Nottingham square. The few soldiers that Gisbourne had left behind after thundering away to Knighton Hall had mainly be left because there was no time to wait for them, as they were those around the battlements. This meant that there was ample time for the outlaws who had marched through the gate to reach their friends hanging in the middle of the square before any of the castle guards could even reach the ground. Djaq, who had begun moving the moment she spotted Marian from the battlements, moved out of the protective circle the other three had formed around the base of the structure and was working at cutting her injured friends down from their bindings, something that was made quite difficult by the tears blurring in her eyes.

They looked so much worse up close that she was having trouble focusing. She knew she needed to switch into physician mode, to be disconnected and passionless, or else none of them stood a chance. But meeting Allan's swollen gaze as she tried to saw through his ropes almost broke her spirit completely.

"I can wait" he muttered, sounding relieved and terribly defeated at the same time, "Please can you help Will?"

There was a choked quality to his voice, a quiet desperation, and though she did not know exactly what had happened in the dungeon she knew instantly that he was feeling guilty about it. She pressed that thought to that back of her mind to deal with later.

"I need you to help me." She said, "I cannot carry him by myself."

His eyes widened, and she realised he had not considered this. That somewhere in the back of his mind he had seen Will walking out of the castle with the rest of them. Then he nodded, and began to gently shake himself out of the bonds Djaq had cut while she moved on to help Will.

She cut his feet free first, waiting for Allan to be ready to catch him as soon as she cut the ropes holding his hands up, because those were the only things holding him up right now. She could not bring herself to look at him closely, she knew she could do nothing here anyway, but had to wait for them to arrive back at the camp, and she would only panic herself at the nature of his injuries.

Allan had moved haltingly into position, the strain of being tied in such an uncomfortable position clear in the way he kept rubbing his shoulders. She gently cut the ropes holding Will upright, and leapt up to take some of the strain as he folded onto Allan. He was certainly much heavier than his light frame suggested, and she had to shift so that he was positioned between them. Once Will was draped as comfortably as he could be between herself and Allan she called out to Robin, who was standing near a rather large number of unconscious soldiers. There were only a couple left who had not been dealt with, although Djaq did not think it would be long before Gisbourne realised that Knighton Hall was completely empty and thundered back to Nottingham.

She was rather in awe of just how well the rescue had gone as Robin, John and Much stepped up onto the platform to surround her and Allan. Robin chanced only a single look over his shoulder at his injured men, but Djaq saw the guilt in his gaze and knew he would not be forgetting this event any time in the near future. He gave orders in a sharp, punctuated tone.

"John, carry Will, it will be quicker. Djaq, you stay with Allan, help him walk. Much, you and I will cover them. Let's move."

The people, who had previously been so shocked when the Sheriff had paraded his prisoners in front of them, cheered as they moved back towards the gate where the horses were tethered. Marian, who had stood out of the fray so as to avoid being skewered by a guard, followed them silently. The role she had played, which was so vital to their success, Robin and her father had both claimed would too easily connect her with the outlaws. Should she had stayed in Knighton Hall she would have been captured by the Sheriff, and after the treatment she had seen Robin's men undergo Marian's usual stubbornness had deserted her, and she had meekly agreed to listen to Robin, and join him and the other outlaws in the forest.

It had helped that her father was still well known and well respected; he had been offered a place to stay at a fellow Lord's house some way further north. There he would be safe, and closer among those who were aspiring to stop the Sheriff. He had left earlier that morning, and Marian was planning to visit him as soon as the outlaw prisoners were well.

They moved quickly to the horses, and Djaq assisted Allan onto her own, noting that as he walked he was decidedly unsteady on his feet. She tried to remain focused on the road, not to look at Will's limp body on John's horse, or feel the shake in the arms that Allan had wrapped around her as they rode away.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Allan had considered himself well and truly done in the moment he was finally fastened to the flogging pole in the middle of the square. He had wondered briefly if the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, the one that trumpeted the help he had so desperately wished for was no coming, had been felt by Tom, when he was led to the noose and no one had come to save him.

When Marian had come flying into the castle screaming he had been completely confused, wondering if she were acting alone, or if the impossible rescue was actually going to take place. When he had seen Gisbourne leave with so many soldiers he almost declared his undying love for Marian right then and there, for moments after they had thundered away Robin and Much stepped through the gate. At his leader's angry bellow Allan had allowed himself to sink with relief.

They were going to get out of it.

He had the utmost respect for Robin's abilities. Once he had seen the man he had trusted that the rest of the plan would work out. When Djaq sprinted up onto the platform he didn't think he'd ever been so pleased the see anyone before in his whole life.

Carrying Will, holding him upright even for those few moments had hurt, and walking had let him know that just because he wasn't unconscious it didn't mean that he was completely ok either. His vision was blurring, and he did not think he would have made it to the horse without Djaq guiding him. He kept his gaze focused on Djaq's back, trying to ignore how nauseous the bumpy ride was making him, and the fact that Will had not so much as stirred since they had gotten him down. He was sure they way he was being held on John's horse was aggravating his injuries, but Djaq had explained tersely as they climbed onto the horse that they needed a quick escape in case Gisbourne returned, and Allan, who would be pleased if he lived the rest of his life without ever seeing Gisbourne again, was perfectly happy to accept that reason as a good one for high tailing it out of Nottingham.

As they rode Djaq informed him that they were heading towards a cave, where they would be perfectly invisible to the Sheriff's men, not matter how many soldiers he poured into the forest, though Allan was too tired and feeling to ill to really take in anything she was saying. He just wanted to get off the horse and sit down, lie down, sleep without it being induced by his head banging into something. He wanted, needed, to know that Will was going to be ok, but noticed that Djaq, despite her rather manic talking, which appeared to be her way of dealing with the situation, was steering well clear of that subject.

They arrived at the cave, and he dismounted gingerly, ignoring Djaq's calls to wait for John to help him off the horse. He wanted to shout at her, to tell her to stop worrying to much about him when Will was injured so much worse, but he never got the chance, because the ride had obviously been too much for him and he drifted into darkness with the exertion of getting off the beast.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Mmmmm, not my best work, but my brain melted after my last exam yesterday, so what can I do. Any update is better than no update, as I so often say to excuse my mediocre chapters. PLEASE REVIEW! See you all soon, with the next chapter! If it isn't here in a week or so that's laziness, and I have no excuse, so pester me. That usually works. Lol. REVIEWS!