Ivy sprinted through the forest until she came to where Robin and Guy were fighting. Dawn had tinged the sky orange, and she could clearly see blood on both their faces. Without thinking, she ran in between them, placing a hand on each of their chests and forcing them apart for each other. "Stop!" she shouted. "Just stop!"

They both stood panting, glaring at one another. She could feel their frantic hearts under her palms.

"This isn't worth it. I'm not worth it, if this is what this is. This just can't go on." She looked at each of them. "Please," she said. "This has to end."

Robin stepped back, looking defeated. "What do you want, Ivy?" he asked. "This is about you."

"This shouldn't be about me. Nothing should be about me!" Ivy cried out. "I've made my mistakes, and I have to pay, but when did this become about me? There used to be helping people and nothing else."

"I'm not the one who kissed the enemy." Ivy cringed at Robin's tone.

She turned to Guy. "What are you doing?" she asked. He turned his icy blue eyes to her. The faint fluttering in her heart was hardly noticeable. "We had our chance, and you saw what happened. You went and arrested my friends, and I did everything I could to break them out. We're fighting for very different sides. There might be a part of you that disagrees with what the Sheriff does, but that side doesn't come out often enough. You do everything he asks. But that's your job, your position. I have no right to expect you to change. We don't work together. We would never be happy, and the Sheriff would hang us both if he found out we were together."

She backed away from him, turning to Robin. "I can't ever expect you to forgive me for betraying you. I acted childishly and foolishly. I let my impulse take over me and lead me in the wrong direction. I can't help any feelings I might have for Guy, but I have control over whether I act on them or not. I chose the wrong thing. I'm sorry. I hope in time you can forgive me. Until then, I can't stay here."

Her words were met with silence. "What do you mean?" Robin asked after a moment.

"The Sheriff won't rest until I'm dead. You can't keep protecting me – either of you."

"We're all outlaws," Robin told her. "The Sheriff will never stop hunting any of us."

"I can't stay," she said. "This rift that's come between us, it's only going to get bigger, and eventually it's going to swallow up everything else that's important. Until you forgive me," she turned to Robin. "If you forgive me," she added, "I think it's a good idea for me to give you some space." She turned to Guy. "You're going to get yourself outlawed if you keep this up," she said. "Eventually the Sheriff is going to figure it out. He'll know that you saved me a few too many times. He already suspects that there's some chemistry there. It's not fair for me to stay. Not for either of you. There's more of the world that needs help. I'll never forget what you taught me, Robin – putting others before myself. And Guy, you taught me that good and bad isn't always defined in black and white. There are shades of grey as well with a little of both."

"You don't have to leave," Guy told her softly.

"Yes, I do." Robin was silent. Ivy kept her gaze on Guy. "Goodbye," she said. "I'm sorry that I dragged you into this."

"I'm not sorry," he said. He held her gaze for a moment before turning to leave. She watched him go, feeling a stab of sorrow. Maybe in another life, she thought sadly. She turned to Robin.

"You mean so much to me," she said. "But I'm no good for you. I'm volatile and impulsive. You need someone you can trust."

"I did trust you."

"But then I betrayed that trust," Ivy said. "I'm so sorry. I loved what we had."

"I just wish you had told me the truth. You pretended like nothing had happened. As if it wouldn't matter."

"I know."

"I don't want what we had to disappear, but it's already gone."

Ivy took a step toward him, pulling the tag that marked him as part of her gang from around her neck. She held it out for him. "I don't deserve this anymore," she said.

"You've done so much to help us," Robin said softly, closing her hand back around the tag. "Keep it. For when you come back."

Ivy smiled, finding that her vision was now blurred with tears. "That sounds like a promise."

"I hope it is."