Move with the Times
By Catherine

Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no money out of writing this fanfiction.

Rating: M just to be on the safe side, could probably get away with a T.

Beta: Betaed by the wonderful CeeChelle Lisa Gisborne-Hardy from . Any remaining errors are entirely my own.

Set in: Modern day Britain

Chapter Twenty: Part Two

Marian gaped at Guy's retreating figure; he knew that she had been snooping around his office and that she had gone through his files and yet he had given no indication of it all afternoon. She spluttered and tried to think of something to say, some way to excuse herself of what she had done but Guy did not seem to want an explanation, he was already driving off.

Was he angry? No, he had not seemed angry. He certainly had not been angry when he had kissed her; she brought her fingers to touch her lips as she smiled at the memory of his caress. No, he could not have been angry. She remembered that Guy had always had quite a tolerance for her schemes as a child and that it had taken a lot for him to lose his temper.

Slowly, Marian turned back to her house and was about to go in when she found her way barred by Robin.

"What are you doing here, Robin?" Marian asked with a sigh as she walked around him and up to her front door.

"I came to see what you found out", Robin said, falling in to step with her.

"How do you know that I looked for anything? How do you know that I didn't just believe Guy?" Marian asked.

"Because I know you", Robin said.

"No, you don't," Marian opened the door but seeing that he was trying to come in as well, put her hand on his chest to stop him.

"Marian, please, just …"

"No, listen to me Robin. I don't know what you think that you are up to but I am not going to spy on Guy for you, you should be grateful to him," she announced.

"Grateful? He steals my house, then he offers to rent it back to me at an extortionate rate after he has and I quote "tidied it up a bit" and you want me to be grateful to him?" Robin looked at her aghast.

"You know full well that he did not steal anything. You abandoned your house like you abandoned me and my father. Your grandmother mounted up debts against your estate and the house had to be sold. I think that it is very kind of Guy to allow you to live there still."

"Yeah, you keep thinking that", Robin groused, not wanting to admit that there was any truth in what she had just said. "But you know, for someone who professes to no longer care for me, you still seem very angry."

"I don't care about you", Marian snapped. They both knew that it was not true but she would not give him the satisfaction of hearing her admit to it.

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much," Robin quipped smugly.

"Damn Shakespeare", Marian groused and Robin felt a moment of elation as he knew that he had got a rise until he remembered that that was what Guy had always said to her.

Deciding to try a different approach, Robin made his sincere face. "Marian, I know that you are angry with me but you have to know that I did what I thought was right. And I know that you have done what you thought was right. You looked for information didn't you?"

"Yes", Marian admitted guiltily.

"And …?"

Marian thought back to the piece of paper with the IRS logo on it. Even if it did also refer to Robin there was no reason why it had to mean what the Sheriff thought it meant. There could be a perfectly logical explanation. Likewise, Guy had fooled the Sheriff before; there was no reason to believe that he would not do so again. Really, she had no proof and she could not believe that Guy was evil, not when he could kiss her so gently. She put her fingers to her lips once more.

She told Robin, "And nothing. There was nothing incriminating or to show that he had done anything other than his duty. You are on a witch hunt."

Robin felt as though she had stabbed him and was now twisting the knife. He had tried to remain calm before when he had seen the kiss, knowing that if he shouted at her again he would never get his answers, but this was too much. Robin sneered, "Good kisser, is he?"

"Yes"

"How long are you going to let the memory of a childish crush keep you from seeing him from what he really is? How long are you going to let him blind you to the truth?" He asked petulantly.

Marian's cheeks flushed with anger. It was not a childish crush, and she wasn't even sure how he had known that she had had a crush on Guy as a child, as she had never told him as much and had always been careful to act with discretion. Thoughts of Guy flooded her mind, what he had been like as a child and what he must have gone through in the last decade. Robin did not compare favourably in that moment.

"How long are you going to keep pretending that you are the victim? You burnt his bloody house to the ground, killed his parents and then brought the land at an unfairly low price and you know it!" Marian snapped.

Robin stared at her in shock. Of all the things he had expected her to say he had never dreamed that she would say that. How long had she felt this way about him? Could she really believe that he would do something like that on purpose? It had to be Guy's doing.

"It was an accident", he said numbly. "I lost my father in that fire, you cannot honestly believe that I would have done it on purpose?"

"I don't, but I know that it was an accident that wouldn't have happened if you had not been showing off in the first place", she said.

Robin was shocked, he had never allowed himself to think such thoughts; he had always buried them. "I tried to put it out. I tried to make it right, I brought Guy's land"

"Yes, but when it came time for the inquest you did not tell the truth. You let them believe that Guy's parents could have started the fire. They were denied the insurance money, they had to be taken out of school, into care, they had a miserable existence not just because of the fire but because you wouldn't tell the truth", Marian accused.

"I was scared", Robin tried to acquit himself but he knew that it was no good.

"And Guy and Isabella paid the price for your fear, didn't they?"

Robin had gathered by now that the Gisborne's lives since their departure had not been as he had always believed them to be, although he could not imagine the true horror which they had experienced. "We thought that they were safe, that they had gone to America. We both did", Robin still tried to clear himself of blame. It was an unfortunate tactic to employ as Marian could not see the doubt and guilt that were seizing control of his innards and twisting them into knots, she could only see the careless, cocky youth before her who would not accept any responsibility.

"Yes, well it turns out they didn't and the thought that I was somehow involved makes me afraid to look at myself in the mirror. I have no idea what your conscience must be doing to you", she hissed.

Robin felt sick but he would not allow himself not to have the last word, "I brought his land. I tried to help".

"You gained a valuable asset for pennies, just like he has". And with that Marian entered her house and did not look back.

Robin sank down to sit on the front step. Marian thought that he was a complete monster.