"Drink this my friend…..slowly. It will help with the pain."

Will reluctantly took the cup that Azeem held out to him. He sniffed it briefly, a slight look of suspicion on his face.

He sat quietly on a log near the man, his eyes curiously taking in all the various herbs and potions the man had at his disposal. Azeem was crouched on the ground and was calmly mixing some kind of powder near his tent, frowning thoughtfully as he added several items, reaching from cloth bags nearby. Will wondered if this was the "distraction" that he had overheard the others discussing.

Azeem caught Will's action and his face broke into a grin as he paused in his task. He looked askance at Will. "You think I would poison you Young Christian?"

"Don't call me that…..and no…no of course not….at least…at least I hope not" Will finished lamely.

Azeem gestured to a bag of powder near Will and the young man reached over and passed it to him. The man added a pinch of it to his concoction. He looked up at Will thoughtfully.

"You are my friend's brother. Why would I hurt you? Besides…your brother would take the life of anyone that tried to harm you."

Will shrugged. "He has no problem hurting me himself."

Azeem sighed. He paused in his mixing to give the boy his full attention, his eyes too perceptive.

Will immediately regretted the moment of vulnerability. He had no desire to listen to the other man extol Robin's virtues and he felt almost naked having admitted his feelings out loud. To Robin's best friend no less!

In an effort to distract the other man and leave the conversation as quickly as possible, Will turned his attention back to the cup of clear liquid in his hand. Taking a deep breath he gamely downed it in a couple of quick gulps, handing the cup back to the startled man.

Will was congratulating himself on the task and preparing to leave when the foul taste hit him. He bent over, almost choking as he begun coughing harshly.

The older man appeared less than sympathetic to Will's plight, but as Will continued to suffer Azeem finally reached over to give him a half hearted thump on his back. Will almost fell over from this as he continued coughing and gagging.

"It was meant to be taken slowly. You may not like your brother but there is much of him in you. You are both stubborn as mules and terrible at listening."

Will stopped coughing long enough to glare at the man. "What poison did you give me? It is vile!"

Azeem chuckled, unapologetic. "It is meant to kill the pain when given just a small amount. It is a drug that comes from my country. I only gave you a enough to dull the pain…..too much of it would cause you to go to sleep and appear as though dead. Or kill you. People often use it on their enemies where I come from."

"I can see why…..if they don't die from it they may wish they had." Now that the coughing fit had ended Will felt an almost warm feeling on the inside as the medicine took hold. Not quite enough to feel charitable towards the man for comparing him to his brother though. But he had to admit the pain of the stitches felt better. He was amazed at how quickly it worked.

"It..it does feel better….can I go now?" Will kicked himself for sounding like a child asking permission. There was something about the older man that commanded respect in a way no other man in the camp did. Except maybe Robin.

"I will not keep you from your task any longer. There is much to do to prepare for tomorrow. I have enjoyed our chat."

Will turned to leave when the other man stopped him with his hand on his arm. Will inwardly sighed and braced himself.

"The medicine only cures the pain on the outside my friend….not the inside. You are scared to allow your brother to get close to you. Perhaps there are still things about your life that you wish to hide. You could learn to care for each other if you choose to allow it….it is obvious he has already begun to do so. I see that he is trying but you must be willing to meet him."

"He has been my brother all of a few hours Azeem. We barely know each other."

"Yet you have always known of his existence….did you never desire a relationship with him, even as a boy?"

"No…never. He meant nothing to me."

"You lie poorly my friend."

"How is that a lie? My father knew of me and I obviously meant nothing to him. How is my brother any different? There was a time when I was small and did need Robin very badly. He was grown and he left me to die Azeem….they both did. He is only pretending." Will barely managed to choke out the last words, as he felt the sting of tears burn his eyes for the second time that day. He pulled his arm free and backed away from the Moor. He needed to leave.

The older man looked at him with what Will took as a mixture of sadness and confusion.

"Thank you for the medicine."

Anxious to escape he had to force himself not to run as he moved back towards the clearing. The older man's words had winged their way into his consciousness, as if from a father to a son. Will mind flinched at even the slightest meaning of the word father. All these years of being buried and all my family skeletons get dug up in one day.

He scrubbed his face quickly as he walked over to where Bull was leaning against a tree, arms crossed waiting for him.

Not stopping to greet the other man, he strode past him. He forced himself to take in deep gulps of fresh air. Just breathe. The emotional storm on the inside felt overpowering. He could hear Bull jogging behind him in an effort to catch up. Weapons. Gather weapons. That is all I have to do. Then after tomorrow if I manage to survive the day Locksley can go back to his fancy castle and I will disappear for good.

With this new objective in mind he forced himself to focus on the task his brother had ordered him to do. He surveyed the field critically, scanning the dead bodies littered amongst the grass. While their own had been buried, there were still many Celts and soldiers lying dead around them. Weapons forged for Nottingham's army were far superior to theirs. Recalling the horror of the battle, he figured even the Celts had some nasty looking weapons that might come in handy for tomorrow.

He heard Bull finally catch up to him, breathing hard and obviously annoyed. Will was in far better shape physically than the stockier man and on a normal day would have thrown a sarcastic comment or two at the other man just to annoy him. Today he just didn't have it in him. Approaching the nearest soldier Will quickly knelt down and snatched up a sword that lay beside the dead man. He tossed it aside and repeated the action on a nearby body, adding a dagger and a sword to his growing weapon pile.

"Ey! What's your hurry…I called to ya three times."

Will tuned out Bull's obviously annoyed presence as he systematically worked to strip the dead bodies of anything that may be useful in the upcoming battle. The task was just physical enough to give him an outlet for his emotions. He ignored Bull's attempts to engage him in conversation and kept his face turned away.

Realizing that he was not going to get a response out of the younger man, Bull settled for glaring at Will's back and joined him in the gruesome task.

"Rob isn't that bad when you get to know him Will. Any of the men here would be proud to have him as family."

Will finally snapped. "Yes I know…..my brother Saint Robin….enough already Bull. If you love him so much then why don't you grab him those fine arrows over there from that soldier. Maybe he will be so happy to have them that he will choose to be your brother instead and leave me the hell alone."

Suitably chastened Bull lapsed into silence. Will almost immediately regretted his harsh words. Thanks to Robin I am not going to have any friends left at all by this time tomorrow. Well….maybe not all Robin's fault.

Will scrubbed his face again and turned to catch Bull's eye. "I'm really sorry Bull. I am just…just….sorry. Let's just get this done. There is much to do and these will all need to be cleaned and sharpened for tomorrow. Besides…these bodies smell horrible. I don't think any of these Celts have had a bath since I was in nappies."

Bull broke out into a laugh at this last statement, glad to hear Will sound more like his old self. Will grinned at him mischievously.

"Perhaps we should make them dance next." He playfully waggled a soldier's arm at him, the armor catching the sun and jangling around. Bull lost control of himself and broke out laughing at the younger man's playful antics.

Will laughed with him, feeling better for the first time in days.

Caught up in the moment, neither man noticed the figure creep up behind them. Will stiffened in surprise as an arm snaked around him and he felt the cold steel of a blade pressed into his neck.