Random guest; Don't worry, Robin isn't going to die anytime soon.

Greenveilbride; it won't be Robin Hood without a bit of humour in it ;)

Dreamer in the shadows; Thank you, it seems like your hopes haven't been dashed.

Mister Charlie Chaplin; As of this chapter, they will be working together.

Chapter 15; Unfinished business, part 2

Robin and Guy sat there, the silence and tension overwhelming them, waiting for Grandpa to tell his story. "There is bad blood between you." He began.

"Well maybe there's reasons for that bad blood. What do you know anyway?" Guy snarled.

"There's more to it than that. I know the truth now."

"The truth about what?" Robin asked, also getting impatient.

"About how your parents really died."

The statement brought silence to them all. It was the last thing Guy and Robin ever wanted to talk about.

"So? You were there at the night of the fire. And you told him, didn't you? You told Jasper." Guy spat.

"It was never really a secret. Everyone knew what happened that day." Robin added.

"Look, he gave me no choice." Grandpa shouted, all traces of the feebleness gone, sounding like he did on his younger days. But it was only for a brief moment, till the order was restored.

Listen to me, the pair of you, there's more to it, now quiet. I wasn't the flames that killed your mother Guy, it was Malcolm Locksley." Grandpa blurted out. In a flash Guy was on top of Robin, his hands crushing his throat.

"You!" Guy roared, Robin's body flopping like a fish on a line beneath him. Panicking, Grandpa looked for the nearest non-lethal item. He immediately dashed over to a cabinet, took out a small pouch of salt and emptied it into a bucket of water. Next, he tipped the bucket over Guys back. Immediately, he was on the floor, shrieking in agony as the salt ran into his wounds.

"You idiot!" Guy snarled. "Well what was I suppose to do?" Grandpa puzzled. "Anything... but that." Gisborne continued to hiss.

"How?" Robin coughed, regaining his breath, shock written across his face.

"Well, your mother, Guy and your father, Robin, they were deeply in love-"

"My father only loved one person, and that was my mother!" Robin erupted.

"Huh. You were always were always protected from the truth, always shielded from reality by your precious father." Guy snarled, getting up from the floor. Robin glared at him, his hand twitching towards his sword, but Grandpa stepped in first- "gentlemen, if you will please listen to what I have to say first, you can quarrel later." With a sigh, Robin crossed his arms reluctantly.

"Now, it was around the time of Roger's return from the Holy Land, May or April, I think."

"May. The fire wheel." Guy confirmed. Robin turned his head to Guy. "I am truly sorry for what happened that night. But it made me into the man I am today." Guy looked away, unable to meet Robin's gaze. He was hating every moment of reliving the pain he felt that day, the pain he that took him years to bury in the darkest region of his heart, all undone, washed away like leaves in the Autumn breeze. He wanted to leave, he needed to leave, his crossbow be damned, yet somehow, he not summon the strength to move his legs.

"Anyway, Ghislaine was pregnant-" Grandpa began.

"What?" Robin and Guy gasped at the same time.

"There was a child. Malcolms and Ghislaines child. A boy. Called Archer. It was a week before the fire. Ghislaine had the baby and she and Malcolm took it away to an Abbey. It was the last time they ever saw their child."

Another period of silence followed, allowing the newly received knowledge to sink in. "And?" Guy snarled, tired of this and wanting nothing but to sink his head into a soft pillow.

"Well, Bailiff Longthrone found out that Ghislaine was pregnant and went to Nottingham to claim the land. So, the two of them were going to be married and them the claims would be worthless."

"They only ever planned to." Guy finished. The words slipped out by accident as he recalled his sheer hatred for that particular Bailiff. "You knew?" Robin asked, bewildered and confused, mixed in with a sprinkle of anger. "I found out." He confessed. Realizing that Robin and Grandpa wanted to hear his side of the story, Guy continued;

"I saw my mother head out into the woods by herself, carrying a basket of food. I followed. She was there, with my father. She still loved him. I was so angry that day. She told me to forget about him, yet there she was, denying my father. I confronted her later that day, and she told me their plans. But she promised me not to speak of it till it was done. And them she collapsed to the ground. I never ran so fast in my life."

"She was in labour." Grandpa answered.

Guy spared a glance to Robin, who met him with a cold hard gaze. He turned away. "I see that now."

Robin gave no answer, continuing his hard stare into space, his mind swirling with the new information acquired. Suddenly, everything seemed different, as if someone had shone a light on their past, and it revealed things they never dreamed of.

'Why now?' Robin asked himself.

Why now, did they have to learn the truth of things? Had they learnt this both, things would have been different from the start. Marian might have been alive. Robin dismissed that thought and focused on the present. There was the child, his half-brother. And the fire. For some reason, Robin felt that there was no way he'd escape without a glimpse of that night.

"He was early, the child was. They called him archer, because there's a birth mark shaped like an arrow-head on his rib cage."

"I still don't understand," Guy said, "how does this links in with the fire?"

Grandpa sighed deeply, recalling the dark night, and then continuing with his story; "Your father returned to the manor the following day, to meet with Ghislaine, and then-"

"Malcolm showed up." Guy added, answering not with the voice that growled and shouted at others, but one of a man who had was recalling a moment of pure sadness and terror. At that moment, Robin saw a different side to him; not the cruel henchmen of the sheriff, ready to kill and torture at a moment's notice, something lurking under his dark surface that was unknown to him. But Robin knew that whatever it was, they were just two sides of the same coin. It didn't redeem from his sins. It never will.

"They both fought, and just as Malcolm was about to finish Roger off, Ghislaine grabbed his hand, but Malcolm elbowed her backwards. And she died. Cracked her skull as she hit the ground."

"So, I didn't kill her?" Guy asked as though it was a daring question.

"Nope." Grandpa answered.

"All these years, I thought I killed her. She died because of the fire I started. I lived with that guilt everyday. EVERYDAY!" Guy roared, advancing on the poor man like a thunder storm. "Where is he?" Guy hissed, centimetres away from him. "I don't know who you're talking about." Grandpa whimpered. "You know exactly who-"

"But the child-" Grandpa choked.

"Guy, leave him." Robin commanded. Guy froze. Was he about to take orders from Hood? Yet he didn't fancy interrogating an old man. A wheezing cough from the other room broke the silence. Guy found what he was scratching for. He immediately leaped across the room and flung the door open, followed closely by Robin.

"I'm sorry, Robin." Malcolm Locksley sat on the bed, his face twisted and gnarled by the flames. What once was a mane of brown hair was now a few strands.

"No... no, this cannot be." Robin denied, tears welling up in his eyes.

"How can I be your father," he croaked through a voice that wasn't his, "after what I've done. After all I taught you about honour. I couldn't bear to see the shame in your eyes."

"You. You killed her." Guy pointed, then lowered his hand when he realised it was shaking. Guy cursed himself for leaving his sword in the other room, but continued to advance on him. "You killed her!" Gisborne screamed again, shaking him by the shoulders. "Get off him." Robin yelled as he tried to pull the outlaw away from him.

"Can't you see he deserves this? He's betrayed both of us." Guy argued.

"Kill me then. Death would be a release. There's been many times that I've been tempted to do the job myself." Malcolm croaked, using a voice that wasn't his.

"And you expect us to feel sorry for you?" Robin snapped.

"Of course not-"

"So then why now? Why wait all this time to tell us?" He continued to quiz.

"Because of your brother. You must forgive each other, so that you can unite."

"This again." Guy complained.

"Everything you have heard tonight is the truth. I have told you, so that you won't kill each other, like your father's did." Then his blue eyes fell to Robin. "Son..."

"No. You have lost the right to call me son when you left me alone in the world." Robin snapped.

"Maybe, but didn't it make you the man you are today?"

Robin paused for a moment, remembering the day when he drove Longthorne out of Locksley.

"Both of your lives could've been so different, if it weren't for the mistakes your parents made." Malcolm stated.

"Well, we can't change that, but I can never forgive Guy."

"Why not?" His father asked.

"Because he showed no remorse for what he did to Marian." Robin shouted, anger building up inside of him, tangled with grief.

"You know nothing." Guy scoffed, recalling the dark times when he'd thought then demons would push him to insanity and beyond.

"You worked and killed for the sheriff for years."

"And you'd still be living under his power if it weren't for me. I tried to kill the sheriff both in Nottingham castle, Locksley and at my execution. The only reason I failed was because I was still weak from the lashes and you showed up in Locksley." Guy finished.

"You mean it was you, all this time?" Robin gasped.

"Yes, it was the only way, I didn't have much of a choice-"

"Everything is a choice!"

"Well, then you must've had the best options." Guy countered. Then he met Robin's eye. "I intend to kill the new sheriff." He added. "First you must join to save your brother." The old man whezzed.

"You know where he is?" Robin asked.

"Finally, after years of searching. I thought that if I could find him, tell him the truth about who he was. It seemed the right thing to do. For Ghislaine. It wasn't easy, he doesn't stay on the same place for long. But now he has no choice.

"Where is he?" Guy asked.

"York jail. He is to hang." The old man's eyes fell to Robin. "I'm too sick to help. I'm dying Robin. You both are my last chance, together, I know you can both do the birth mark, shaped like an arrow head. Do this for me."

"I won't let him die father." Robin confirmed, embracing him.

"I wish I could see you two together at least. I'm sorry." He apologized again. "Save him, and save yourselves."

Grandpa walked in, holding Guy's crossbow. Neither did them realized he left.

"Goodbye father." Robin said, walking into the other room and grabbing him weapons. Guy took his crossbow and sword, then left wordlessly. Robin followed him, standing on the porch next to him. "Gisborne-" Robin began.

"Enough talk." Guy ordered.

"Then what do you think we should-"

"I need to assemble my men. I'll meet you on the road to York."

Guy hurried down the empty path, the pre-dawn light guiding him, determined to find where his outlaws had spent the night. The only logical place he could've thought of was a barn. No one in their right mind would host a bunch of outlaws, unless it was Hood of course. He came to the edge of the village, where the barn was, and without hesitation, he opened the doors.

His logic proved true.

Asleep, on the hay, were the four outlaws. It seemed almost sinful to wake them. Yet time was against him.

"Get up!" He yelled.

"Giz... what the hell are you doing?" Pen moaned.

"Get up!" Guy repeated. Slowly, and forcefully, the outlaws managed to sit up and open their weary eyes.

"What's the news, you got that look on your face again." Nazeem asked. "What look?" Guy snapped. "That look." He answered.

"I- listen, I'm going to York with Robin-" Guy began.

"Robin? Who's Robin? You and Robin Hood?" Gwyneth scoffed.

"Yes-"

"Who's going to York?" Little Arthur asked.

"Will you all shut up and listen?" Guy shouted. He only continued when there was absolute silence. "Robin Hood and I, are going to York, to rescue our recently discovered half-starved, who is due to hang anytime soon. Are you with me?"

The silence he sought hard for overstayed its welcome. It wasn't a hard question. Follow him to York or stay here? With Robin and Guys outlaws behind him, the odds weren't looking too bad. Yet time was ticking away, and Guy knew that they needed the time he didn't have to think about this before making a decision. So he made the choice for them;

"I need to go. If you chance your mind, follow me to York."

Short chapter, I know but I feel this needed to happen for then to have a strong enough reason to unite. Thanks.