Robin skipped down the path that leads to Alice's hut, letter tucked safely in her pocket and the brightest smile plastered on her face. She knew when she woke that it was going to be a good day, but after her conversation with Alice's Father, nothing could ruin her mood….well almost nothing. The piercing sound of screams filled the air, as she neared Alice's hut. Thinking that her love was hurt, Robin sprinted towards the small home. Turning the corner, the brunette ran into something hard, sending both her and the mysterious object falling backward.

"Robin?" The object asked, forcing Robin to look up come face to face with her love.

"Oh Alice, I'm so glad that you are okay…I heard screaming and I thought that you had been hurt." Robin stuttered as she lifted her and Alice off the hard floor.

"No I'm fine, I heard the screams too." Alice smiled brightly as she moved her cloak to reveal a small dagger. "Rumple got it for me." She smiled at the thought of the man who was like a second Papa to her.

"Cool," Robin mumbled as she reached over to admire the gold handle.

"Robin, what are doing here? Not that I'm not really happy to see you, cause I am…it's just that I wasn't prepared…I don't even hav-" Alice was cut off by the archer's lips as she snaked her arms around the blonde's waist. Alice gladly melted into the kiss, forgetting the fact that she hadn't even brushed her hair, or cleaned her face before leaving the house.

"I've missed you," Robin whispered against the blonde's lips, as she gave her waist a small squeeze.

"Don't look at me, I'm a mess." Alice hugged tighter, keeping the brunette pinned against her.

"Don't be ridiculous." Robin used her strength against Alice, as she pulled out of her arms. Holding her at arm's length, Robin had the opportunity to give her a quick once-over. "You're gorgeous, like always," Robin smirked before pecking the girl's lips once again.

"You're only saying that because you have to," Alice argued her face beet red.

"Nope…I mean every single word, you Alice Jones are the most beautiful girl I have ever met."

"I think you're quite beau-"

"Help us!" The horrific screams cut through the conversation, forcing the girls apart.

"I thought this land was abandoned apart from your house," Robin questioned as she picked up her bow, gripping it tightly.

"That's what Rumple said when he gave me the house…Robin, whoever they are, they're hurt. We needed to find them." Alice grabbed the taller woman's hand, dragging them both off in the direction of the voice.

The two girls clung to each other as they entered the reportedly deserted forest. Robin could feel Alice's racing pulse against her, matching closely with her.

"Alice love, I need my other arm in case I need to use my bow," Robin whispered as the forest engulfed them in a thick darkness.

"I don't think I like it here…" Alice mumbled as she begrudgingly let go of the archer, silently agreeing with Robin.

"It's okay, I'm here Alice…" Robin whispered, her fingers brushing lightly against the blondes. "I'm always going to be here."

"No! She'll turn on you the second she sees who you really are…" A familiar voice echoed through the forest.

"What was that?!" Alice shouted, making the stealthy archer jump and draw an arrow, aiming around them as she squinted her eyes to get a better view through the blinding darkness.

"I don't see it...where was it?" Robin questioned as they stopped in the middle of the spookiest forest she had ever found herself in.

"That voice...you didn't hear it?" Alice asked as she hugged herself tight.

"I didn't, you sure it wasn't just the wind love?" Robin asked as she lowered her bow and reached her hand out to touch the trembling blonde.

"Yeah…you're probably right." Alice was quick to shake her head, trying to rid it of the frightening thoughts traveling through them. 'What if it wasn't the wind? What if I've gone mad? Where the voice's telling the truth? Would Robin leave at the first sign of trouble?'

"Ready to keep going?" Robin's voice cut through the internal war going on in her head.

"Lead the way…" Alice tried her best to sound as cheery as usual, but she just couldn't shake the horrible feeling creeping up on her…and that voice, it seemed so familiar, but she just couldn't place it.

The forest seemed to run on for miles, each step Alice grew more and more fearful. The voices didn't stop, filling her head with her worst fear regarding her relationship with Robin. But what scared her most, was voicing these fears to the brunette, admitting that she was hearing voices...she knew that it would surely send Robin running for the hills.

"I think I see some smoke in the distance...come on Tower Girl!" Robin quickly grabbed the shorter girls hand, pulling her out of her trance and towards the smoke.

"Robin…" Alice started, finally ready to speak about the voice that plagued her mind since they entered this godforsaken forest.

"Don't be a fool girl! She'd never want you, nobody will ever want you…" The voice screeching, sending Alice to her knees in pain.

"Alice?!" Robin gasped as she bent down to face the girl.

"I just want it to stop! Why won't it stop!" Alice screamed as she hit herself hard in the head.

"Hey...hey, it's okay…" Robin grabbed the blonde's hands, pulling her into her arms. "What is happening love? What is it you want to stop?" Robin asked sweetly as she stroked her hand through messy blonde hair. But Alice didn't respond, she couldn't. The voices had taken over to the point where she couldn't comprehend anything else around her.

"I don't believe you…she'd never...she's wants me!" Alice burst out of the archers hold, sending Robin flying backward and hitting her arm on a nearby rock. The sound of her wincing lover was enough for Alice to fight back the voice and come back to herself. "Robin?!" The blonde screamed as she ran over to her whimpering girlfriend.

"I'm fine...are you?" Robin put on a brave face as she swallowed the pain radiating from her shoulder.

"I don't know what's happening...I keep hearing these voices and they're telling me some horrible things...I never wanted to hurt you." Alice began to tear up as she saw past Robin's tough girl act.

"It's just a bruised shoulder, I'll be right as rain in a few hours.." Robin hissed under her breath as she pulled herself off the ground, with a little bit of assistance from Alice.

"Here...let me take this." Alice reached over and placed her hand where Robin's rested on her bow.

"I'm fine really, and you don't even know how to shoot," Robin argued as she tried and failed to pull the bow out of Alice's reach.

"I don't plan on shooting anything, I just don't think that you should be carrying it, no matter how fine you are!" Alice scolded, as Robin finally released her grip on the bow. The two walked in silence for a moment, both unsure of what to say next. Alice was afraid that she had freaked Robin out, while Robin was trying to think of the best way to ask Alice about the voices, without hurting her feelings or making her feel like she was somehow judging her.

"I really am sorry…" Alice mumbled, catching the brunette's attention and forcing them to stop once more.

"Don't be, you weren't yourself...I know that My Alice would never want to hurt me or anyone for that matter." Robin smiled sweetly before leaning over to place a small kiss on the corner of Alice's lips, wincing only slightly as she moved.

"It's getting worse…." Alice mumbled, but Robin could tell that she wasn't talking about her shoulder.

"The voices? Alice, what are they saying?" Robin took the girls free hand in hers, rubbing her thumb around in circles as she tried to soothe the panicking blonde.

"I can't-I can't make it out...it's like they're fading…" Without warning, the blonde gilt ran. Jumping tree trunks and puddles, ducking through overgrown trees and slipping past thorny bushes, until she stopped...they stopped. There was quiet again, just for a few moments, until she heard the panting of her girlfriend close by.

"A little warning next time would be nice." Robin breathed heavily as she doubled over, her shoulder now in even more pain than before.

"Sorry Nobin...I just had to see if I was right." Blonde smiled apologetically, as she rubbed her hand up and down the archer's good arm.

"Right about what?" Robin questioned, utterly confused about what had been happening since she arrived at Alice's hut hours ago.

"The voices, they've stopped! I think they had something to do with the forest and I had to prove it so I could prove to you that I'm not crazy! I'm not!" Alice's eyes bulged as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"I didn't for one second think that...and I never will. You're Alice, My Alice and I...I want you to stay just the way you are because who you are is perfect." Alice couldn't help but smile brightly at the brunette who always had a way of making her feel like the most important person in all the realms. She loved the brunette with all her heart, she had even told her Papa about it in the last letter...all she had to do was pluck up the courage to tell the archer.

"Robin...I…" Alice was interrupted by an arrow flying past her face, missing her by only a few inches. In a flash, Robin grabbed the bow from her hand, pushed her behind her and quickly drew an arrow, ignoring the pain shooting through her body.

"Who goes there?" A man called out as he moved closer to the girls, in a similar stance to Robin.

"What's it to you?" Robin spat back, as her eyes hardened.

"This is my village, you are the trespassers here!" The man inched closer before his face softened as he recognized the bow in Robin's hands. "How did you get that bow?" He questioned as he lowered his out of respect.

"It was my Fathers, what's it to you?" Robin kept her held high, aimed directly for his face.

"You're Father was a good man...Little Robin." The man winked, before smiling brightly, forcing Robin to now lower her bow.

"How do you know who I am?" Robin questioned.

"I know all about you Kid, about your Mother and your Aunt...about how your Father died trying to save all three of you." The man motioned for Robin to follow, as he began to walk to the path that leads to the small village.

"Who are you?" Alice asked as Robin tried to process the information the man had already offered up. Neither her Mom or Aunt spoke of her Father's death, all they would say was that he died a hero.

"Names John, but most people call me Little John." Little John spoke, making Robin gasp in realization.

"You were my Dad's best friend? You took my brother in after he died…" Robin spoke softly.

"That I did...he's moved on from here now. Got himself a nice wife and a bunch of kids, never wanted to take up the mantle that your Father left behind, but it seems that you did." Little John smiled proudly at the young girl, "From what I hear, your Father would have been mighty proud of you."

"You think so?" Robin asked hoping that he wasn't just saying what he thought she wanted to hear.

"You have my word Kid." The tall man stopped at the clearing of his village, looking out at what used to be a thriving little place and saddened by the almost ruins that it was now. "You've come at a bad time, my village was attacked days ago…they took everything we had." Little John explained teary-eyed.

"Who?" Robin asked as she felt the need to comfort the tall man. Gently she raised her hand to touch his arm, before smiling what everyone claimed to be her Father's smile.

"Monsters…"

"Monsters?!" Alice gasped as her stomach dropped, quickly she reached her hand out to hold onto her love's arm, forgetting that it was, in fact, her bad arm, and mumbling an apology as she was forced to let go.

"They wore these cloaks, hid their faces…they had these claws, that could rip a man in two…and their scream…" Little John was cut off by a piercing scream shaking the lands. "There back…quickly, we must hide!" Little John reached out to grab Robin, but she quickly pulled away.

"No! I won't let your village be terrorized by some bullies!" Robin stood her ground, determined that she was going to be the Robin Hood that his village needed, the Robin Hood that he had fought alongside for years.

"Are you crazy? Those monsters would eat you alive and then come looking yer pretty friend for dessert!" Little John warned, even though he knew that it was useless. Robin and Roland had been exactly the same once they got an idea into their heads, he just hoped and prayed that he could get through to the female archer.

"What would my Father have done? Honestly…" Robin asked with raised eyebrows, the man couldn't answer, not wanting to be the one that tells her to go after the monsters. "That's what I thought…I am Robin Hood now, and it's my job to protect those who need it."

"There's no talking her out of this…is there?" The tall man looked to Alice, who stood uncharacteristically quiet.

"Are they really as dangerous as you say?" Alice asked biting her lip as she waited for a reply.

"Aye, half my men are injured and the other half…they didn't make it."

"Robin, are you sure you want to do this? I'm all for new adventures…but can we really go up against monsters like this?" The blonde turned to face the brunette, before leaning in closer, whispering so that only they could hear. "You're already injured…and I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you."

"I need to do this…these people, they are my Father's people, I have to at least see what I'm up against," Robin whispered back, before reaching out and giving Alice's hand a quick squeeze.

"And if it's too much? Promise me, that we turn back?" Alice spoke normally this time to let Robin know that she was serious.

"I promise love." Robin smiled brightly, forgetting for a second that Little John was standing watching their interaction. "What way did the monster's head?" The archer asked, standing tall.

"They headed for the East Woods…you have nothing to prove here Robin…"

"Thank you, Little John…I'm happy that I finally got to meet you." Robin nodded at the man, who smiled worriedly at her.

"As am I little one…" Little John spoke in a hushed whisper as he pulled the brunette archer into his arms, saying a silent prayer that it wouldn't be the last time he saw her, as the two girls ran into the East Woods, where a certain doom most likely awaited them. Little John refused to move from that spot as he watched them duck into the thick tree's and disappear from sight. Content that they made it in, the tall man went to make his leave only to be startled by the horrifying screams of the monsters, matched with those of the screams of two scared girls...