Hi, and here is another chapter. Please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer-Nothing here is mine just this chapter and the characters.

Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.

The Growing Good Of The World

Chapter 6-Bring Em' Back Alive

Kate and Allan get captured by a rent-collector forcing Kate into a decision that she thinks she has always known will come. Erin contemplates the future as she and Marian try to get to the bottom of what is making Marian so sick (a clue—Djaq already knows)

"Let's not tell Erin or Much" Will suggested.

It had been John who had seen it happen…well John who had been there. John had quite a good relationship with most of the members of the village—a better one than Robin most of the time simply because he had been there for so long. Even when he had been outlawed there had been much made of his circumstances and a great deal of muttering that the person who had reported him had been in it for himself. So much so that Will (granted he had only been small at the time) was sure that the person had been exiled from the village—or maybe that had been something to do with a wedding? Funny what childhood memories brought you back to sometimes.

"At some point their going to find out" John said quietly. "It's all around the village, this Rufus he's already outed Kate. She's an outlaw now Robin. I left Rebecca in a right state now she's found out. She's not your biggest fan"

"Kate's not stupid" Luke said from where he was watching silently. "She knows that this has been coming for a while. She's been preparing for it. The second she got on that horse and came with us to the Holy Lands she knew her life as she knew it was over. It was a choice she made, her choice and she's been prepared for the consequences ever since. She's not stupid. She knows what the cost is"

And wasn't that the worse truth? The fact that the men and woman who followed him, who chose to help him were branded and marked for life as common criminals, traitors to the crown. Nottingham was different than most shires he knew because they simply banded together against a Sherriff who was evil. Other shires with other Sherriff's…then it might have been a different story.

Then again with other Sherriff's and other shires he might not have been an outlaw at all. He and Marian would have been married in their local parish church. His men and woman would have had good lives to live. Clean…good…noble lives.

Instead of this.

"We should tell Much and Erin at any rate" Luke continued. "At some point they are going to find out and It should be from us. We can better launch a rescue mission for them if we have a plan. We need to be able to think clearly. Getting Allan and Kate out will be easy Robin if we can distract Rufus. His son especially doesn't seem the same as his father"

"Fathers and sons" Will muttered. There was a look shared between brothers that Robin didn't want to think about. Now more than ever for reasons beyond his comprehension he was thinking more and more about his own father. It had been a long time since he had thought about the man who had died when he was twelve year old boy.

Fathers and sons indeed.

But that meant that they had to tell Erin that her husband had been captured, he had to tell Much that the woman he was slowly falling in love with had been captured and there was nothing that he could do to redeem that.

Kate had after a pause leaned her head on Allan's shoulder. Covered in dirt, blood and bruises (some of which she had gotten from defending him) and also a good combination of flour and straw she had rested her head on her shoulder. Allan had let her. They were in dire circumstances after all.

"Certain death" he said into the room at large. "Great. I fucking get the happy ending and it comes down to this"

"No offense Allan" Kate said finally. "But doesn't it always come down to this?"

Allan opened his mouth and then shut it because to be honest she did have a point. They were outlaws. It came with the territory nowadays. Death. Dishonour.

No happy ending.

"Besides" Kate said carrying on speaking and pulling Allan out of his thoughts. "Robin will save us. He will always save us." She nodded her head a little on his shoulder as if this settled the matter.

That was either the rational of the very brave or the very stupid, Allan wasn't sure which.

"Kate" he said carefully. "You know what happens now don't you?"

"Yes" Kate said quietly. "I know…I've known for a while Allan. I've knew when I took Luke's hand and went with him to the Holy Lands…I knew how it was going to end. And I chose this life, it didn't choose me."

It was different for him he supposed. Even before Robin he had always had one foot over the line and one foot in it. Living that hard edge between poverty and desperation—clinging to the norms of the day to day life but the fact of the matter was he had been dabbling in crime since before he could talk. His father and his father's father before him. Tom…Tom was just a sacrifice to that environment.

"Allan?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"My brother"

"You had a brother?"

Shit. He had not intended to be so honest with her.

"Yes" he said decided that if he was going down the hellhole that was Tom he was going to have to do it thoughally. After all, Kate had just lost her brother. Perhaps she might understand the complex emotion that was grief pulsating away like an open wound. Never healing, never going away.

Always there.

"The Sherriff…he hung him. It was just after I became one of Robin's men. He was…he was stupid he took the badges and the Sherriff caught them and crowed that he had one of Robin Hoods men. Well…three actually two of his friends were hung with him"

Kate said nothing for a second.

And then.

"Oh" she said softly. "Allan—"

"Don't" he warned her. "You know what it's like. You think about the people you lose your dead yourself. You've been in battle Kate. You know what it means"

Kate said nothing for a second. She looked as if she wanted to but the second she did suddenly she couldn't speak the words, instead she bit her lip and looked away and Allan was thankful because it gave him enough time to get his own emotions under control.

"Is that how you met Erin?"

"How much do you know about Erin?"

"What everyone else does. That she was…I don't know what the word for it is but that she was crudely handled by men in league with the Sherriff. That she was hurt in ways…that she was raped…that you and her found happiness together despite it all"

Allan nodded his heart warming a little as it did always when he thought of his wife. His wife…his wonderful, wonderful wife who loved him regardless. Unconditionally. Never ending.

God had a man ever loved a woman so?

Had a woman ever loved a man so?

"Then you heard correctly" was all he said. "Erin…she doesn't remember too well life before the Black Knights. She took her revenge and got it with that one eyed man—she was trained under the Woman in Red herself and she took down Gisbourne. But she…she does not believe she can have children…the damage you see…it was too much"

Kate said nothing for which Allan was exceptionally grateful for. He thought his heart might break if she tried to be nice about it. In truth he had not lied to Erin when he had said that it didn't matter to him about children. It didn't. He didn't see it as a deal breaker…he didn't see it as something that they had to have. Besides (and he had never even thought to tell his wife this for fear of what her reaction would be) if they did help get King Richard back on his throne then maybe they could go and visit a local monastery or nunnery and find an orphan or two…just because they didn't have the option now didn't mean they didn't have it in the future…besides…there were always children in this world who needed a loving home.

And Allan was sure that he and Erin weather in the forest or within the castle itself could make a loving home for a child.

He was sure of this.

Kate said nothing to this though but her hand crawled into his and he took the comfort willingly.

"You know" she said finally. "I think you'd be a wonderful father, and I reckon Erin would be a wonderful mother"

Allan said nothing to that. That being said what could he say?

"I don't mind" he said finally. "I have her. And that's enough. That's more than enough. More than what I deserve anyway."

Kate said nothing for a second.

"I think that Much and I might be in trouble" she said cautiously. "I don't think that he has forgiven me for turning him away in the village that one time"

"Yeah cause what were you supposed to do? Throw your arms around your heretic lover and damn your own soul to hell? Jesus Kate he understands believe me. Much has been following Robin around since he can walk. There's never gonna be a moment where he doesn't understand pressure to stand by your family regardless of what you think is right and wrong. To be honest he's just worried about you, about your brother. I think he thinks that it wouldn't have happened if you'd have met him"

"It would have done" Kate said conviction in every syllable. "I would have gone in to save Matthew regardless of weather or not I knew Much was watching my back. He was my brother"

And that made Allan think of Tom and he had to look away again.

If Kate realised that his eyes were wet she didn't say anything. Instead the two of them just sat there waiting for Robin to come and get them.

Because he would. Of that they were extremely confident.

"Erin your pacing is making me dizzy" Marian said from where she was lying down on the forest floor.

"Well get up then"

"I can't everytime I move I feel dizzy and sick. This is the most comfortable place for me."

It was part distraction—Robin had assured her that Allan was unharmed and that it was almost easy to get him out—apparently the Sherriff was too busy trying to save face with the clergy and the nobility to hunt them down anymore and wasn't that the oddest thing that anyone had ever heard.

"Marian how long have you been sick?"

"Since the Holy Lands" Marian said finally. "I thought it was the food, no offence Djaq but the spice over there just doesn't agree with me. Then I thought it was the ship and now I just…I don't know. I don't know what it is"

"I do" Djaq said into the silence. Much had gone off to help in the rescue and the three of them had offered to stay behind simply because the camp was going to need some changing around if there was a chance in hell they would ever fit Kate in here.

"Oh?"

"Marian" Djaq said flashing her a smile that did meet her eyes this time. "What condition often affects healthy young married woman who are having lots of sex?"

For a moment the two woman stared at the third and then suddenly Marian pushed herself up off her back wincing at the dizziness to fix Djaq a glare.

"Are you saying—"

"Yes"

"Your pregnant" Erin said smiling though she imagined there to be a sharp twist in her stomach at the thought. "Your pregnant Marian—your going to have a baby"

Marian's eyes dropped down to her still flat belly clothed in her old green and pink gown and she stared. For a moment that was all she did as if she could see the baby in her stomach forming and then her eyes overfilled with tears. She smiled and then she let out a shaky little laugh and then she was up on her feet and the three woman were hugging and dancing and laughing just as Robin, Allan and a very disbelieved Kate whose eyes were bright with a different kind of emotion came over the hill.

"Robin" Marian said turning around so sharply her brown hair nearly fell into Erin's face.

"Robin I'm pregnant"

Robin fell over.

Literally he fell over a rock and slid down the hill so he landed with a bump at Marian's feet. Allan followed managing to stop the tide just as he landed. Robin stood up looked around as if expecting it to be a joke and then let out a laugh swinging his wife up into his arms.

And suddenly for reasons she could not describe Erin wanted to cry. Allan's hand came around her back and she turned and hugged him.

"Hey…" he said perhaps misinterpreting the reason she wanted to hide her face. "Hey It's alright, not a scratch on me"

She smiled into the leather of his jacket.

"Just hold me" she said as the celebration carried on around them. She felt his lips press into her hair and she wiped her eyes leaning her head on his shoulder. This was Marian and Robin's happy time. Besides…she had so much. There was no practical sense in being greedy about wanting what you couldn't have.

"Always" Allan said into her hair and Erin knew that to be true. And that was enough.

She told herself that that was enough.

And she knew at some point it would be.

And there you go, I hope that you enjoy this chapter and I will do my best to bring you the next one sooner rather than later.

Next Chapter-Djaq and Will have a heart to heart about their marriage, Gisella and the past and the future as the rest of the gang try to find Little John who has been split from the group by the arrival of Prince John's elite guards. Mostly Djaq and Will centric chapter.