Ok. Well, this is the last chapter of the story but...I didnt completely round off Will and Djaq which is what you are all waiting for so..there may be an epilogue on its way. Don't hold your breath. I'm not great at endings so I may just skip all the difficult bits where they declare undying love like in that crap scene last series which was an absolute cheesefest and move onto the fluffy, they're together part and Djaq's recovered physically if not completely mentally.
"So, you didn't?" Djaq stared at Will, slightly disbelieving. She was experiencing an odd cocktail of feelings. At first it was relief at the thought that Will hadn't taken the life of someone even if it was for her sake, then confusion as to why, when Will looked so set on his mission, he had not carried the murder through and finally was disappointment. It shamed her to think that she wanted a man dead and someone else to commit the crime for her, especially a friend, when she wouldn't dare look for him herself.
"No, someone stopped me."
"But who?" Much frowned, his brow knitting in confusion.
"Well, he knew about us, I remember that much. He knew my name and Robin's." The carpenter supplied. "I can't remember exactly what he said though."
"Strange," Robin muttered under his breath.
"I think we should stop thinking about whoever this hooded stranger was and be thankful he stopped Will," John cut in with a firm expression. "Both Djaq and Will have been through a lot. They need a rest."
The group nodded in agreement and both the carpenter and the medic were put to bed despite a lot of protests from both. Djaq claiming she wasn't sleepy nor ill and it was Will they should be more concerned about rather than her considering the serious blow he sustained to his skull.
"Will's as tough as nails. He'll be fine," Much shrugged off Djaq's comment and resumed his ushering of the Saracen into bed.
"And so am I! I am not going to be able to survive if you treat me like I should be wrapped up in wool."
"Djaq, you can't expect us to go back to being completely normal this soon," Robin, always the diplomat and the leader moved into the conversation, "It doesn't mean we think any less of you but you have to understand we are all feeling incredibly guilty for letting you get hurt. We're going to be a bit over-protective for the next few weeks."
Djaq looked at the two men who were standing over her and couldn't help but feel the reasons she had initially not told them about her attack were unfounded. They cared about her even more than her own family ever had. Despite loving her brother and father deeply they had kept their distance because of religion and she never felt such a close, unrestricted bond as she had with these English rebels. They respected her skills and views and didn't treat her as a woman but an equal.
However, she also felt that although she liked being one of the guys, this shift in the balance might be a welcome change and it couldn't harm her having several men doting and caring for her for a couple of weeks.
Whilst the Saracen had fallen into a deep sleep along with both Much and Little John Robin remained wide awake. He wasn't the only one however as the carpenter still remained unsleeping on his bunk. His mind was too awhirl with thoughts and feelings to close down enough for him to drift off. On the one hand he was glad that whoever the stranger was had stopped him from committing murder but most of him still wished he'd finished Adomar off whilst he had the chance. He knew the others wouldn't let him out of their sight for a while now.
Suddenly he was aware of movement over by the entrance of the camp and he leaned over to see what was going on. Robin was leaving, in his hand he had his bow and in his quiver several arrows. Will frowned in confusion, wondering where he was going at this hour.
"Robin," he hissed causing the outlaw leader to spin on the spot, an arrow already notched. "Where are you going?"
"To finish what you started," Robin answered with an intense expression in his blue eyes.
"But you said…"
"I'm not going to kill him. I'm just going to make sure he pays for what he did." With that Robin vanished into the lightening forest just as the sun was rising over the canopy.
Adomar Fibbs groaned pitifully to his wife who gave him a sour look in return. She wasn't taking any of his crap this time. It was enough that he went out and got pissed every other night at the inn but getting stabbed in a bloody brawl was too much. Especially as he was making such a fuss over the cut as she took the time to stitch it in between the laundry and the cooking of the breakfast.
Little Poppy was helping with getting the fire bigger by stocking it with pieces of wood that were too big for her skinny frame. It should be her father's job to chop the logs and feed the flames but he was barely ever out of bed in time to do the chore.
"Mama," a toddler stumbled into the woman's knee clamouring for attention.
"Not now, Harry." She swiped her son away with an irritated look.
"Rachel, can you not keep those damn children under control?" Adomar growled menacingly giving the child a nasty glare causing him to stumble backwards in fear and fall onto his bottom.
"Adomar, don't scare, Harry," Rachel told her husband.
"I'll do what I want, woman, as they are of my blood and you are my wife. I'll give you a beating if you don't sew this cut up now." At this threat both the woman and her son fell silent.
Robin entered the village of Locksley as many of the residents were rising to go about the morning work. Women were hanging up washing and men were heading out to go and work in the fields. Children were also up early collecting water for cooking and washing.
He headed straight through all the peasant's houses and strode confidently up to the Manor House. There wasn't much action going on there but Robin knew exactly where he was going and what he needed to do. At this point he avoided the guards around the house by pulling up his hood and slipping through with several milking maids towards the granary.
Having passed the guards, Robin entered the warm musty space that was the barn where a lot of wheat and corn was stored. These bags of grain were what he had came for and he hefted a couple onto his shoulders.
"Need a hand with that?" An amused voice sounded from the rafters of the building and Robin jumped, startled, dropping the bags and immediately reaching for his weapon. He looked around and spotted a hooded figure dropping down in front of him from the ceiling space.
"Who are you? Declare yourself!" Robin ordered with his usual boldness.
"I will if you tell me what on earth you are doing nicking Giz's supplies. I'm not being funny but wouldn't it be more fruitful to take his money?"
"Allan?!" The voice had sounded familiar and it suddenly clicked in Robin's mind.
The cloaked form removed his hood to reveal the smiling face of Allan 'a' Dale formerly of Robin's band of outlaws but outcast as a traitor.
"The very same," Allan chuckled.
"What are you doing here?" Robin hissed this man was definitely not high in his favour. "If you do not leave now I may have to shoot you."
"Hey, cool it," Allan held his hands in the air, "What is it with you guys recently? Immediately thinking violence solves everything. I'm here because I was visiting Giz and saw a certain someone making their way very sneakily into the granary. So, being the good little right hand man I am, I came to investigate.
"Good is not a word I would associate with you, Allan," Robin stated coldly.
"I know. And before you ask I'm not going to call the guards. I just want to know what's going on in the gang."
"Why?" the outlaw asked suspiciously.
"Because they're my bloody friends and last night I caught Will trying to run some drunk bloke through with a dagger."
"You…what?"
"Last night. Will nearly killed someone and if I hadn't stopped him he would've."
"You're the hooded stranger."
"Uh…yeah? I just wear this so people don't know who I am and Giz doesn't find out. Its come in pretty useful I'll tell you." Allan plucked at the garment hanging round his neck. "Now are you going to tell me what's up with Will?"
Robin eyed his former friend up, scrutinising every detail of him before coming to a verdict on whether or not to trust him with what had gone on at the camp. He had betrayed them before and despite stopping Will from committing such a terrible crime Allan may still tell Gisborne about Djaq. However, as he said, they were his friends and he did care about them at some point.
"Alright, not that it's any of your business, but the man Will tried to murder was Adomar Fibbs and he raped Djaq," Robin watched the other man closely, gauging his reaction. At first Allan looked disbelieving but when he saw how stony Robin's posture and gaze were he knew that what he had said was true.
"He…what? And I stopped Will from killing the bastard?!" For a moment Allan looked disgusted at himself, his unnaturally blue eyes filled with anger and repulsion.
"And the entire gang thanks you for that," Robin announced begrudgingly. "If you hadn't stopped him Will would be a standing a murderer."
"But…we can't just let him get away with it."
"I'm not. That's what I'm here for before you interrupted me." The outlaw accused, his voice icy.
"Let me help," Allan immediately responded.
"No."
"She's my friend too and I can help you."
Gareth Jacobs jumped, startled out of his daydreaming as a figure streaked by him in a long flowing brown cloak. He was supposed to be on guard duty and he was certain he'd never seen that bloke before. A cloak was never a good sign. That along with the two huge bags of grain hung over his bony shoulders.
"Hey, come back! Thief! Someone catch him!" The armour-clad guard sped after the running man, clunking and clanking in a very ungainly fashion. He was seriously hindered by the metal but whoever was the thief must be struggling under the weight of the bags for he was running very slowly too.
By this time he'd been joined by his fellow guard, Harold, and the two of them ran at full speed after the criminal. They followed him down into Locksley village, weaving in and out of the peasant-folk who were going about their daily business, rather shocked by the two guards sprinting into their paths. Eventually they saw the fellow slope off to one side and they followed him quickly into a small low house.
Outside this cottage a small boy gazed up at them in open mouthed astonishment, dropping the worm he had been about to eat. The soldiers ignored him and rammed through the wooden door to find a dark haired woman scrubbing at a big cooking pot.
"Where is he?" Gareth asked breathlessly.
"Who?" she asked, nonplussed by the fact an armoured guard was in her household.
"The fella who lives here."
"Oh, my husband is out the back." The woman supplied them with a shrug.
The couple barrelled through the door on the other side of the tiny cottage and were met with the sight of a man dressed in a brown cloak similar to the one the thief had been wearing and holding a bag of grain in his arms - a stunned expression on his face.
"There you are! You're in for a spell in Nottingham Castle's torture chamber after a display like that, peasant. Maybe even a hanging if the Sheriff's feeling bored."
"Wh-what?!" Adomar Fibbs stared at the guards, gob-smacked. A moment a go a young man had charged into him and thrown a cloak over his shoulders and this bag of grain into his grip and now he was being arrested for thievery. It was all too much at once. "I didn't. This man. Someone else did it. They framed me."
"That's what they all say," Harold shook his head, unconvinced and grabbed the peasant roughly.
Just at that moment there was the sound of hoof beats and a large, well bred chestnut horse came into view. On its back was the tall, upright figure of Gisborne's right hand man, dressed in black.
"I heard Sir Guy had a thief in his barn. Is this the culprit?" Allan asked, staring coldly at Adomar.
"Yes, sir," Harold replied as Allan jumped off his horse and came over.
"Well done."
"But I didn't do it! Don't you dimwits get it?!" Adomar was practically shrieking now but quietened as Allan leant towards him and whispered very softly in his ear.
"I think what you don't get is divine justice, my friend. And just because there is no law against rape doesn't mean I can't arrest you for something else." As the man said this Adomar's jaw dropped and he remained silent as he was led away.
Rachel Fibbs watched with a feeling of smug satisfaction as her husband was dragged away by Gisborne's men. She was glad that he was gone as he was scum and only made her life a misery. Now she could have the house to herself and allow her children to grow up not being hurt by their abusive father.
She couldn't help but feel happy, that when that hooded stranger had walked up to her and asked her whether she would miss he husband should he suddenly vanish, she had said no. It seemed like fate that on the same day he should be taken away to be dealt with at Nottingham Castle. She felt no sympathy for him whatsoever.
I just wanted to make sure you guys knew that Robin did think about the family Adomar would be leaving behind without just charging ahead. Thanks for the support. Stay tuned for the Epilogue. REVIEW!