Regina groaned and moved a hand to rub over her face, the ground was hard and smelt like mud. She sat up slowly before blinking her eyes open, once she had they widened as she took in her surroundings, where on earth was she? She could have sworn that she'd been in the museum only seconds ago, now it seemed she was in the middle of the god damn woods sat on the ground in the dirt.

With shaky legs she stood up and looked around her, every way she looked she was surrounded by thick woodland and the trees towered above her, dominating the skyline. "What the hell?" she grumbled. She thought that maybe it was a dream, but she'd never had a dream that felt so real, never in her life had she been able to feel things and smell things in a dream, she'd never been in control of her actions like she was. Yet, if she wasn't dreaming, then what was going on?

How could she just have been moved to the middle of the woods without even knowing that it had happened? She remembered the strong wind that gripped her, but other than that there was nothing, no evidence as to why she was in a forest with no clue how to get out.

Taking a deep breath, she attempted to assess the situation and mull over her options. She could hardly just stay where she was and yet she had no clue how to get out, maybe if she just picked a direction and went with it she would find her way back to civilisation. Without much further thought she picked the track that looked the most warn and began walking that way.

She was still dressed in her silly costume so she couldn't have just had memory loss from going out with friends on Christmas Eve and drinking so much that she totally forgot what she'd done. If that were the case, she certainly wouldn't be dressed up as bloody Maid Marian. She was completely puzzled as to what was going on and the sooner she got home, the better. She was really trying hard not to completely lose her shit and freak out.

After walking for more than ten minutes she realised that her surroundings look no different to how they had when she first awoke. The forest was obviously dense and highly populated with trees and she had no clue how far it actually spanned for, for all she knew it could be miles.

She stopped for a moment to try and take stock, however as soon as she was stationary, a noise in the distance caught her attention. People were talking and she could swear that there were also horse noises, she quickly moved just off the beaten track to hide behind a wide oak tree. She didn't know who the people were and until she saw them, she didn't know if she wanted to take the risk of being on the path. She couldn't put her finger on what it was that pushed her to hide instead of seeking their help, but she just had a feeling that they wouldn't help her and she hadn't even caught sight of them yet.

When the people in question finally came into view her heart started beating quicker than it had before and her breath caught in her throat. They were dressed in historical clothing and from what she could tell when referencing back to her studies they were men belonging to the Sheriff of Nottingham. The coat of arms they wore on their armour told her as much. Maybe this was a re-enactment and she just hadn't realised it, the men were obviously actors dressed up.

She laughed at her silly thoughts, as if they could actually be real knights, it was absurd. Regina moved out from her position from behind the tree and started walking in their direction, she knew that the men would be able to tell her where she should go in order to get out of the predicament that she'd somehow managed to get herself into.

"Who goes there?!" one of the men yelled as they approached her, pulling their horses to a standstill.

"Hi, I don't want to get in the way of your re-enactment or anything, but I really need to get out of these woods and go home, so if you could point me in the right direction that would be wonderful," she breathed. The man was looking at her curiously almost as though he didn't know what she was talking about.

"What might a noble maiden such as yourself be doing in the middle of Sherwood Forest?" he asked, sliding off his horse and taking a step closer to her, his eyes taking in her form as the rest of his men also dismounted until the whole group of them were surrounding her.

She swallowed down her nerves and held her head up high, "so that is where we are, Sherwood Forest?"

"Why of course, however, I still haven't heard from you what your purpose is being so deep into the woods. No sane woman would venture here alone, so you must have some kind of ulterior motive." Before Regina could even think about her answer, the man pushed her backwards until she was pressed against a tall tree, her eyes widened in shock as she stared up at him. This wasn't funny anymore, she knew that re-enactors took their roles seriously, but this was really taking the piss.

"Okay drop the act, this is ridiculous," she pushed at his shoulder but his hold on her increased and she realised that there was no way she was moving from where she was trapped between the man and the tree. "Let me go or so help me god," she seethed, "I will be having words with the leader of the re-enactment society about your behaviour."

"I have no idea who this leader of re-enactment is, but you will be quiet wench and tell us what it is we wish to find out."

"Who on earth do you think you're calling a wench?" Regina gasped, her mouth gaping at the audacity of this complete stranger, he was even worse than the rude actor playing the role of Robin Hood in her museum. "If you don't want to help me, just let me go, I don't want to be part of your stupid club and I certainly don't want to play your silly little games, they are childish and quite frankly ridiculous."

The man pushed her shoulder hard against the tree and she cried out in pain, what was happening? This wasn't right, something about the situation felt totally wrong, not that it had ever seemed right in the first place. This man though, he seemed totally oblivious to what she was speaking about.

"You will shut your mouth whore and answer questions when we ask them! Why are you in the woods alone?"

"I don't know okay! You're hurting me, let go," she seethed her eyes locked onto where the man's hand was gripping her shoulder much tighter than necessary.

"You don't know?"

"No, I don't know! One minute I was reading a book in the museum and the next I'm waking up on the forest floor with absolutely no recollection of how I got there." Fear was beginning to seep in as she realised that these men were being one hundred percent serious, this wasn't a game and she had a horrible feeling that they weren't re-enactors either.

What was happening wasn't possible, it couldn't be, maybe her mind was just playing tricks on her, leading her to believe that she was actually in the middle of the woods when really, she had just drifted off and was in an extremely lifelike dream where she could even feel pain. Deep down she knew this wasn't a dream, she wasn't asleep, in fact, she was very much awake and in a whole world of trouble.

"Well, I think that you do know, I think you are lying to me because you know that what you're doing makes you a treasonous traitor and you're scared that you'll be strung up for it."

"A traitor? What makes you believe that? Why is it so hard to believe that I became lost in the woods as I told you?" she knew she was playing a dangerous game, they clearly thought that she had been working in cahoots with Robin Hood and his gang, either that or maybe another band of outlaws that resided in the forest.

The knight's eyes wracked over her figure as he took her in and took a step closer, "it would be a shame for your pretty little neck to be snapped," he breathed, running a finger across her cheek, making her flinch away and fix him with a hard glare.

"Touch me again and you'll lose a finger," she hissed, she wouldn't hesitate to bite him, not only that but she had taken self-defence classes in case she should ever need them, maybe now was the time that she would.

"We got a feisty one on our hands here fellers," he laughed, triggering the chuckles of his other men.

Regina's heart was in her mouth, not only was she facing the fact that she could quite possibly have somehow ended up in 13th century Nottingham, but she had to face a bunch of misogynistic men whose motives were unknown to her. "I don't know what it is that you want me to confess, but I will not tell you something that is untrue simply to appease you. I'm afraid I have no useful information to bestow on you, so you may as well let me go, or better yet offer me safe passage to the nearest town." She hoped that she had at least sounded somewhat assertive and that her voice didn't wobble too much because of the fear running through her veins.

The man looked at her with a serious expression on his face before shaking his head at her, "you aren't going anywhere little lady. You see, I think you know exactly what you're doing in the woods. I think you're one of Hood's whores. Well if you're going to act like one, maybe you should be treated as such, no real lady would be out here alone now, would she?"

"And no real man would demean a lady in such a way as to call her a whore." He placed his hands either side of her and moved to take another step closer, however, he stopped still as an arrow sliced through the air and straight through his shoulder. The knight screamed out in pain, his hands going to the arrow which was now protruding from his body, sticking out of both sides.

"Degrading women again I see, the sheriff's men never change, do they?" a voice tutted. Regina turned her head in an attempt to see where it was coming from and catch a glimpse of her rescuer. There was no sign of him which meant that he must be hiding somewhere, camouflaged in the trees.

"Show yourself!" the injured knight ordered, looking around frantically. Whilst he was distracted Regina took her chance, she slipped away, running as quickly as she could in the uncomfortable shoes that were on her feet. She weaved in and out of the trees, heading off the beaten track, she didn't want to take the chance of the same men finding her again and doing something to her, she wouldn't allow that to happen and she didn't want to meet the Sheriff of Nottingham, she'd learnt enough about him to know that he wasn't a nice man.

She knew that maybe she should have stayed to thank the man who provided her with the chance to escape, but she just wasn't thinking clearly. Her brain was a mess and she still couldn't believe what she was seeing, or where she was, she didn't know how it was possible for her to have actually gone back in time. She was running to god knows where, and only stopped when she didn't think she could keep on going, the shoes she had on had rubbed her heels and they were sore.

She leant against one of the trees and closed her eyes as she tried to regain her breath, who was it that had ambushed them? She knew there were outlaws other than Robin Hood who used Sherwood Forest as a base, but there was a part of her that was really hoping that it had been Robin Hood, maybe that way she would actually be able to speak to him.

If this all turned out to be a scam and an elaborate hoax, then she would most certainly be suing someone.

Taking a deep breath, she finally gained the courage to open her eyes again, when she did, she was met with the sight of a man standing directly in front of her. Without even thinking she screamed and cowered backwards in shock, she hadn't expected anyone to be there and she certainly hadn't heard him which meant that he must have been extra sneaky.

A smirk formed on his lips as he chuckled at her and shook his head, "nice to meet you too milady," he quipped, adjusting his hood before taking a step closer to her, "Robin Hood, at your service." He extended his hand to her and she just stared at him in shock, this man was Robin Hood? The legendary thief that stole from the rich and gave to the poor, the thought had arisen in her mind that it might have been him but she couldn't come to terms with him actually standing there in front of her. "Do you not speak? Or has that scream broken your voice?"

"I do speak," she scoffed, clearing her throat as she looked at him awkwardly, glancing at the hand he was offering her, she wanted to shake it but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to reach out and actually touch him.

"Good," he grinned, "well milady, I hope that you'll accept my offer of assistance and I would be happy to lead you anywhere you wish to go."

"That is kind of you Mr Hood."

"Please, call me Robin, Hood isn't even my real last name."

"I see," she already knew that but she was just struggling with how to act around him. He was nothing like she had been expecting, he had sandy coloured hair and matching stubble. There were dimples pressed into his cheeks that showed every time he flashed her that cheeky smile and his eyes, god, his eyes were the deepest shade of blue and they were just mesmerising. "I thought you'd be dirtier," she stated, clasping a hand over her mouth when she realised that she'd said it out loud.

"Why thank you, I'll choose to take that as a compliment," he laughed shaking his head at her, she was glad that he'd taken it well and not been offended by her comment, she was really going to have to watch what she said around him, if she really had gone back in time her doing so could potentially cause a whole world of problems if she changed things the future might not be the same. "Well, you know my name, but I'm afraid I didn't catch yours. I can hardly go on calling you milady now can I."

"My name is Regina, Regina Mills."

"Okay then Regina, Regina Mills, how on earth did you manage to find yourself in the middle of Sherwood Forest? Those men seemed to think that you were with me, but obviously I know otherwise, so what are you actually here for?"

She didn't know what to tell him, she'd tried to tell those other men the truth but they hadn't seemed to listen, maybe if she lied to him and made up a story it would be more believable. The truth was insane and if she were hearing that story from someone else, she would never believe it, hell she would probably get committed for being delusional. "I fell from my horse," she stated and was filled with instant regret, she hadn't ridden in over ten years and should he suggest for her to ride, she wasn't sure if she would still remember how to, not to mention she had no injuries that were consistent with falling from a steed.

"Really? Where did the animal go?"

"She ran, I lost my hold on her and she disappeared," Regina shrugged.

"Why were you this far into the woods?"

"What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?"

"The Spanish Inquisition? I don't quite follow."

Regina frowned and went over the dates in her head, of course he didn't follow, the Spanish Inquisition wouldn't be established for another couple of centuries or so years. "Never mind, that is just a saying where I come from meaning that you ask a lot of questions," she stated.

"Well? Are you going to answer?"

What could she say, how could she really explain it to him, what well to do lady would be out in the middle of the woods, not to mention the fact that said woods spanned over 100,000 acres, without the roads and developments that had been made over time, Sherwood Forest was humongous. "I was actually looking for you, I wanted to pledge myself to the cause." That was the best she could come up with when being put on the spot. "Before you get any smart idea's I'm not well to do."

"How do you explain the dress then?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I stole it," Regina quipped confidently, now she had come up with a solid back story she was running with it. He was a thief and he would understand, "I saw it hanging on someone's washing line and thought that it looked rather nice."

"You do realise that my men and I don't keep the things we steal?"

"I know," she nodded, "I hadn't planned on keeping this dress but I lost all my other clothes." She didn't know why she had bothered with this part of the story, she should have just kept her mouth shut and let him come to his own conclusions.

"I can tell that you're lying, but I won't question you any more for now," Robin sighed, "follow me, nightfall is nearing and this forest is no place for a woman such as yourself. I shall provide you with some shelter overnight until I can escort you back to your village in the morning."

She simply stared at him with her eyes narrowed, she thought that her story had been convincing and that she had done a good job of making it up, but apparently not, seemingly he saw straight through her. Before she could even speak up again to defend herself, he was heading off through the forest, beckoning her to follow him which she did, just slowly because her feet were now extremely sore. She cursed herself for not wearing her trainers underneath the costume as she had originally planned to.

"Are you struggling to walk?" he asked coming to a stop and turning to look at her, Regina shook her head but he took her by surprise and lifted her up, hoisting her over his shoulder.

"Put me down this instant!" she squealed, slamming her fists against his back, "what do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm carrying you, I know that you are hurt and you were going to tell me yet another lie," he scoffed adjusting his hold on her in a way that made her think that maybe he was about to spank her ass. She shook her head and expelled such thoughts from her mind, it was totally inappropriate of her to think like that, this was Robin Hood and he was destined to be with Marian, not her.

The journey to Robin's camp was one filled with awkward silence, but after around twenty minutes of walking, Robin lowered her to the ground and instructed her to turn around. She stared at him, trying to read the expression on his face, she didn't know what he was going to do but turned around anyway. As soon as she had done so she felt something wrap around her eyes and tie behind her head. "What are you doing?"

"Can't risk you knowing where the camp is, especially if you're to return to the village tomorrow. I don't know you, for all I know you could be working for the Sheriff."

"Really?" she scoffed, "do you really think that I look like the type of person would work for the sheriff? That man is despicable and I wouldn't help him even if he threatened to torture me."

"Those are the kinds of comments we like to hear, but they are also the sort of things that someone working for him would say, you'd obviously feel the need to cover your tracks and overcompensate with the hate spewed towards the sheriff. Until I know more about you and feel I can trust you, you will wear a blindfold into and out of our camp."

She could see where he was coming from with that, he was just protecting himself, he didn't want anyone to know where his camp was and if she was allowed to know, she was a risk to not only his safety but that of his men. It was strange having one of her senses removed, it heightened all of her others, every little sound would become magnified. He carefully lifted her back up again and she ended up with her face buried against his shirt, that was the moment where she came to the conclusion that he smelt like forest, but not in a bad way, it was just trees and fresh air mixed with a little dirt.

She didn't know how long they'd been walking for before he stopped again, she could hear other people talking and smelt smoke which she presumed was coming from a fire somewhere nearby. Without warning he plonked her down on something and pulled off the blindfold, "welcome to our humble abode," he grinned.

Regina took a moment to look around and take it all in, there were a variety of different shelters, some were made from wood combined with straw and others were simply clothe tents. There were men everywhere with no women in sight, each of them was holding a weapon of some sort and it was quite similar to how she had imagined it to be. "This is impressive."

"We like to think so."

"How do you manage to hide here though? Isn't the fire a bit of a giveaway?" she asked, gesturing to the fire that was burning in the centre of the camp.

"We manage it well, we've been here for a few months without any suspicion so for now we'll stay put. We have people on lookout, scouts, we're all ready to just pick up sticks and leave if we need to. That's why we have many different places to store all the goods we steal, we don't leave it all in one place."

"Robin!"

"Little John."

"Glad you made it back, I see you found the woman. Why did you bring her back here though?"

"What else was I supposed to do with her? What did you do with Nottingham's men?"

"Ah," the tall man laughed as he shook his head, "taught em a lesson they won't be forgetting any time soon Robin."

"Good."

He turned back to look at her and she found herself moving her gaze to the ground awkwardly, she didn't really know what to say or do, but it was clear that Little John didn't like her being there and it made her feel uncomfortable.

"So, what are you gonna do with the lass then Robin?"

At the large man's comment Regina lifted her head once again, she wasn't sure what his response would be, but she was pretty sure that she needed his assistance, otherwise she might not survive. She had no money and no idea what to do with herself in this time, she felt completely out of place here.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out. Are all the preparations for the Yule festivities in order?"

"Everything is going according to plan. Well, I'll leave you to deal with that one."

Once little John had walked off Robin smiled down at her before shaking his head, "Okay, so do you want the royal tour?"

"Yes please," Regina agreed, she couldn't wait to get a good look around the actual camp that belonged to Robin Hood, she wanted to memorise it and take it all in. She was way more excited about it than she knew she should be, she should probably be freaking out but for now she was going to just enjoy it, the freaking out could come later.

Later on, when the sky had grown dark and the sun had disappeared below the trees the camp turned into a different place. The Merry Men, of which there were many, all sat around the massive fire singing songs, telling tales and swigging what little ale they could get their hands on.

Regina found herself perched on a log beside Robin, he'd started telling a story of one of their ventures and she listened with rapt attention and enthusiasm. Her chin rested in her hands as she stared at him, soaking up every word. She hadn't realised how chilly she was feeling until a shudder ran through her, it was really cold outside now the sun had fallen and the night's frost was beginning to settle. It was December so she really wasn't surprised that it was freezing out, the fire in the clearing was the only proper heat source but it wasn't allowed to flourish and the flames couldn't grow too high in case they were detected.

"I thought for sure that I was a dead man, the sheriff had me by my collar as we duelled, that was when I simply dove out of the window."

Regina gasped and her eyes widened in shock as she stared at him, she didn't know if he were exaggerating the story to make it seem more entertaining but she was certainly impressed by the tale. "Then what?"

"I expected to meet my maker but death didn't come. It just so happened that I fell in the hay bales they stored for the horses. That was how I managed to escape and it was my latest encounter with the beloved sheriff, though I fear we'll be meeting again soon."

"Why is that?" Regina asked furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at him.

"I feel we may have been punishing our look recently and the sheriff will be becoming all the more eager to reel me in, reel the whole group of us in."

"Yeah but he won't succeed, you're Robin Hood, the sheriff isn't any match for you," she tried to reassure, her hand lying on his as she touched him gently. She could see that he was trying to be light-hearted, but the worry was clear on his face, she could see past the mask somehow even though she knew he was trying to stop her from doing so.

"We'll see," he murmured turning his hand around in hers and squeezing gently, his eyes flicking up to meet hers, mesmerising her yet again with those soulful pools of blue.

She cleared her throat and shyly tucked her hair behind her ear, the men around the campfire had gone quiet now and she had a feeling that she'd been partly responsible for that by pushing Robin to confess what it was that he was worried about. "It's getting late," she whispered.

"Yes of course, you must be tired, let me show you to your accommodation, I'm afraid we have little space, but hopefully it will be alright for the night."

"Oh, I'm sure it will be absolutely fine, thank you," she smiled, standing from the log and turning to glance at the other men, "good evening," she nodded before following robin out towards where the clothe tents were erected.

"I made sure that there were extra clothes and blankets should you need them, the amenities aren't much, there's a river over yonder where you can clean up. This is your tent, right next to mine."

"Why's that then? So, you can check up on me?"

"Of course not, I just thought that you might feel safer knowing that I was nearby. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable here."

"I'm simply teasing you," she chuckled, shaking her head as she moved inside the tent, taking in the little features that were present inside. The accommodation consisted of a pallet for sleeping on and not much else, due to the small size she was surprised they had even managed to fit that inside. "Thank you for helping me Robin, it is most kind of you to do so."

"Well, I suppose I'll bid you goodnight milady. Until morning."

"Good night," she murmured glancing at her tent before watching him walk back to the men who were surrounding the fire. With a sigh she pushed the flap open and moved inside, she noticed that Robin had left her some fresh clothes and it would be rather nice to change out of what she was wearing, hopefully, what he provided her with would be more comfortable. She fastened the entryway to the tent and worked on removing her dress, she was glad for the modern zipper which had been concealed within the dress otherwise she had a feeling that it would have taken her all night just to take it off.

The cream fabric pooled on the floor and she bent down to pick it up, she quickly folded it and placed it on the bed, hoping to use it as some sort of pillow. She looked over the clothes Robin had left for her and found a very sorry looking outfit, it wasn't a dress as she had been previously wearing, instead the items consisted of a pair of tan coloured trousers, a shirt, tunic and shaggy woollen waistcoat, last but not least was the massive belt which she wasn't sure would even fit her. Some of them were evidently men's clothes, but she couldn't complain at his kindness, he didn't have to help her, he could quite easily have left her to roam the woods alone.

With a sigh she pulled the white shirt over her head, as soon as she had the scent of its previous owner met her nose and she realised that not only were they men's clothes, they were Robin's own clothes. His shirt still smelt like him, the pine scent strong and forestry in a way that she appreciated. She hadn't ever expected to like the way that Robin Hood smelt, in fact, she had come to the conclusion that most people in this time probably smelt quite pungent, but Robin obviously appreciated cleanliness and soap, something she was entirely grateful for, especially when she was going to have to wear his clothes.

Regina shivered as she climbed into the makeshift bed, she couldn't say that it was the comfiest bed she had ever slept in, but she was too tired to even think about the scratchy blanket and the uneven surface of the straw-built mattress. Her eyes fluttered shut as she tried to filter out the noises of the men who were still around the campfire enjoying themselves. Not even bothering to hold back her yawn, she buried her face into the soft dress she was using as a pillow and tried to force herself to sleep.