A/N: And once again thanks to Emmithar for the beta! A bit longer chapter this time; hope you enjoy! :)

Chapter 9: Night Watch

Will looked out into the night. The castle yard was dark by now, only infrequently illuminated by torches that were carried by. He was watching from Marian's chamber what was going on outside, while Djaq was preparing a new dressing for his wound.

He felt uncomfortable. Here he was, safe from any harm for now, the Saracen preparing to treat his injury, while the other man was still out there in the cold night, unknowing what would happen to him.

Will had almost missed Marian's appearance on the yard, although he had known she would be coming. It was probably a good thing that he had had a hard time picking her out, as it meant that she wasn't easy to recognize. She didn't linger long, didn't approach Robin at all, although Will could only imagine what it cost her to turn away after only moments. But as Djaq had stated as well, it wouldn't help Robin in the long run, if they got themselves caught now. They all would have liked to go down there, they probably might have managed to overcome the guards and free the man, but then the whole castle would have been on alert as to the presence of other outlaws. It was likely being assumed that Will had managed to flee the town, as he had not been caught after escaping the gallows, but the sheriff and his men could have no knowledge about there being more than one man getting ready to save the gang.

Still, it had been on all of their minds to go and free Robin now and have him later lead them to come back for the others. But they feared to seal the fate of John, Much and Allan this way. If Robin was gone, the sheriff might kill the other outlaws in rage or retribution. They figured as long as he still had Robin, he would stick to his preferred ceremony of executing the men in a great spectacle outside, which was what they had to wait for.

Right now they were working off the assumption that it would happen the next morning. It was also what they were hoping for. Djaq had told Will in quiet, yet worried words what would happen if Robin was to be left in his position for very much longer. If he did not die of thirst, the pain in his body would become unbearable, if this was not even already the case. Will and Marian had heard Vaysey talking about hanging the archer, so they were fairly certain he would not want the man to die before that happened.

"It is ready," Djaq said quietly and Will turned away from the window, looking at her work. He sat down on the floor and rolled up the leg of his leggings. Djaq carefully removed the bandage Marian had made in the morning and Will looked at the wound that seemed to be even more bruised than it was earlier that day, but it was beginning to scab as well. "It will be alright," Djaq assured him, as she applied her own dressing. "It will hurt for a few days still, but it is healing."

Will nodded. He was glad that she was here, that they had found her in the town, not only because it meant they were three people now who would try and rescue the others, but also because it had answered his worried question as to what had become of her, when Robin and the lads had been captured. He simply had not been able to be certain that she had fled; there could have been all kinds of reasons for her absence after all, some of them he rather did not want to dwell on.

"We have to go then," he said just as quietly as she was talking, both of them careful to avoid detection. "We wanted to be back before midnight." They still had much to do before the morning, if they hoped to go along with their plan, hoped to rescue all of the gang.

As soon as Djaq was finished with the new bandage, Will moved to his feet, trying to ignore the pain that came from his leg still, reminding himself of the Saracen's assuring words. She would not lie about it, so he could be certain that the leg was healing. He put on the guard's uniform again, while Djaq covered herself with a long cloak. Then they set off into the dark castle.

Marian had described the way and they had no trouble following her instructions. They slipped quietly through the corridors, one of them always listening ahead, the other making sure nobody was following them. Finally they made it to the door that was their destination. Will stepped forward, feeling his way around the hinge. He was unwilling to light a torch before he really had to, so he did his best to work in the dark, the sounds his tool was making enough of an alert in his mind.

"I'm done," he whispered finally, as he had the door unhinged. Djaq hurried from her watch-out point to him and with her help they made it into the room in the course of moments.

The Saracen now lit a small light, trying to shield it from the outside as best as she could with her body. Will looked around in the chamber they had broken into. It contained weapons of different kinds and sizes. They were looking for bows in particular and had also considered taking as many swords as they could carry without incident back to Marian's quarters. As they hoped to free the outlaws, they also had to plan to arm them once that was done, guessing they still would have to fight their way out of the town.

"We take two bows," Will suggested, but Djaq shook her head.

"Three," she whispered. "One for Robin."

Will nodded to that, although he was uncertain as to the likelihood of Robin being able to use a bow tomorrow.

"Here are some arrows," he said, turning to look at the other side of the room. "How many swords?"

"Does Marian need one?"

"Take one, just to be sure. She had a dagger earlier, but I doubt that will do her much good if she needs to fight."

Djaq handed him the weapons one by one out of the room and Will placed them carefully outside. It would have been faster to simply take the weapons and hurry back to Marian's room, but they had decided to take the slower approach and return the door to its earlier state in the hope that the theft would not be noticed quickly. What they could certainly not need was a search of the castle for the stolen weapons. Marian was taking enough of a risk hiding the two outlaws, one of them freshly escaped from the gallows, in her chamber.

As soon as that task was done, Djaq extinguished the light and the two of them picked up the weapons as quietly as possible, sneaking back to where they had come from. With every turn they took, with every clang the weapons made, Will feared they might run into a guard. He was wearing one of their uniforms as well, but he guessed that he would still have a hard time explaining what he and a Saracen pretending to be a servant girl were doing carrying weapons around at night.

Finally they closed the door of Marian's chamber behind themselves. Will only startled slightly when he heard an unexpected voice speak up.

"Has everything gone alright?" Marian asked quietly, moving away from her bed and lighting a candle that's shine flickered in the room.

"We have everything," Djaq confirmed.

"I've got this," the other woman told them, holding up a patch of leather. "Do you want to carve it?" she asked Will.

"Sure." He took the offered material, moving with it to the window again, looking outside.

"Nothing has changed," Marian reported in a quiet voice.

"You were down there..." Will didn't finish the thought.

Marian took some moments before she answered. "I'm not sure he even recognized me. He looked very tired, of course, could barely hold himself up."

Will pressed his lips together, glancing outside again. "I will keep the first watch," he decided. "I'll wake you, if anything happens."

"I'm not sure I can sleep," Marian replied.

Will shook his head. "We won't be of much help if we're just as tired as Robin. I promise you, we will get him and the others out."

Marian nodded and Djaq stepped next to him. "When are you going to leave?"

"Before sunrise."

"You need sleep, too, Will."

He nodded. "I'll wake you in a few hours, so you can take over watch."

"Do not forget it," she warned.

"I won't," he promised her with a thin smile, as she drew back into the darkness of the chamber to find a soft spot to lie down and get some rest.

Will set to work carving the leather Marian had given him, taking from now and then a look outside into the yard. If anything happened down there, if anyone was trying to harm Robin before the morning, he would have to wake Djaq and Marian, and they would have to act earlier than their plan intended. Such a scenario would promise to be fatal for at least someone, whether it was Robin himself, the outlaws conspiring in the castle now, or the ones still down in the dungeons. Will hoped that all would be calm till the morning and that a hanging would be occasioned then that would provide them with the opportunity they needed.

It was completely dark. Complete darkness usually meant it was time to sleep. But Much couldn't sleep. He was still sitting on the floor of the cell, leaning against the wall. The regular sound of breathing next to him told him that at least John had managed to go to sleep. Much was aware of the fact though that Allan was not sleeping either.

He wondered about the man. He appeared to be uncommonly quiet. Much had not paid any attention to it, at first, too upset about Robin. He swallowed still, as he thought of it. The only thing keeping him calm right now was his belief that Robin had somehow managed to escape. There might be no logical reason that should have made him believe that as he had seen how the man had been dragged away by several guards, off to hang. But Much held a conviction in himself that told him that Robin always got away, that Robin would always find a way to do so, no matter which trouble he had managed to get himself into. There had been desperation in Much at first, but now he was calm because that belief was there. But he couldn't stand the quietness.

"Allan?"

"Mmh?"

"You're not sleeping," Much stated, looking into the darkness.

"Now, why would I?" the other man replied and Much could imagine him shrugging.

"Because it's at night." It was the simple fact, but of course Much was not resting either and he expected Allan to point that out, but the man remained silent. It was surprising that he was not speaking a lot. Much did not like it; it gave him a feeling of something being wrong. Well, there were certainly many things wrong right now, but still. For a few minutes Much was quiet as well, but then he spoke again, "Allan?"

"Mmh?"

"How is it, being hanged?" He wondered about himself, asking this question. It went against his conviction that Robin would come and save them. He almost felt guilty about it, as if he was doubting Robin. Allan took his time in answering.

"I haven't tried it yet."

"Well, actually you have. But Robin saved you," Much nodded though the other man would not be able to see the motion.

"Don't remind me of that," Allan said flatly.

"That Robin saved you?"

"No, the hanging."

There was silence once more and Much let his thoughts wander, before he picked up the conversation again.

"I don't want to try it."

Allan didn't answer and Much was confused. Surely, he had expected different of the man. After a while, he spoke again though, but his voice sounded strange to Much's ears.

"Much, do you really think Robin's still alive?"

Much tensed. Of course Robin was still alive. Everything else was impossible. "I'm sure he is," he answered stubbornly, ready to argue the point, but Allan turned the conversation into a different direction.

"You've known him for a long time, haven't you?"

He frowned. "Of course I have. And you know that. And you've known him, too, for a while."

"But you know him better, maybe even better than he knows himself."

Much thought about that. He had often felt that Robin was hiding things even from himself, things that he could not hide from Much though. So maybe Allan was right. He knew Robin well.

"Do you think Robin is a forgiving man?"

"Of course he is," Much said decidedly. "He even gave your brother and his friends another chance after they tried to rob Marian and her father!"

'We've all done wrong, you know," Allan spoke again, his voice strained. "I mean...things we normally wouldn't have done..."

"But they aren't wrong," Much argued. "They're right...what the sheriff does...that's wrong. And anyone that works for him of course."

"Does Robin think so, too?"

"He hates Gisborne."

"Well, for other reasons than just for working for the sheriff, I suppose," Allan answered back.

Much was quiet, wondering what the other man was even talking about. He had no idea why Allan suddenly wanted to talk about Robin in this manner. Much didn't mind talking about Robin. But earlier Allan had not any inclination to even believe the man to still be alive, so why was he asking all these questions about him now?

They sat in silence and darkness and Much fell in somewhat of a slumber, all the wondering still on his mind. It was a sudden stream of light that woke him. The jailer was carrying a torch into the dungeons, coming up to the cell that housed the three outlaws. Much glanced around and saw that John and Allan were alert as well. Now Much wondering too, if John had been awake earlier and had heard all the things Allan had asked. Maybe Much would get a chance later to hear the man's opinion.

"Get up, you lot," the jailer said. "Time to get ready." He smiled.

Much didn't move to his feet and neither did John, but Allan stood up. He moved to the bars of the cell. "Where's Gisborne?" he asked the jailer.

The man laughed. "Sir Guy is not available to you. But he'll surely be around to watch you hang!"

Much had little time to wonder why Allan had asked for Gisborne, but he knew he didn't like the situation at all. Hanging was still not something he was keen to try.

Will's breathing was calm. He felt comfortable and warm. Everything was quiet and no worried thoughts interrupted the peace of his slumber.

"Will," a voice called him then, as someone was shaking him lightly.

"What?"

"It is time," Djaq said quietly and Will opened his eyes, sitting up slowly.

It was still dark outside, only a flickering candle lighting the room. Will could see Marian in the shine of it. She was awake as well. His gaze turned to Djaq and he saw that she was ready to go. It was he who had to leave first though, Marian and Djaq staying behind at the chamber until it was time to act for them. Their plan was dangerous, for each and every one of them, but they had decided that they had to do it and none of them had hesitated.

It was a matter-of-fact for Will. Robin had saved his life and now there was no doubt he would do same for him and his friends. The same applied to Djaq. Marian was a different matter though, at least in Will's mind. Her position wasn't as stable and secure as it had once been, her home gone and her father held captive, but still she had more to lose than Will had.

Will got up and pulled on the guard's uniform once again. It had proven very useful indeed. He would not have dared showing his face in the castle without it. Once he had left the building behind him, he would have to show who he really was though, only so would he be able to do what he needed to.

Once he was done, he picked up one of the swords he and Djaq had stolen during the night. He also took a bow and a quiver of arrows, fixing both on his back. Then he was ready to go. Djaq had helped him, while Marian had taken over the watch of the castle yard. Nothing had happened during Will's and Djaq's watches.

"Good luck," Marian said then and Will nodded towards her.

"Take care," he said, looking at Marian and then at Djaq.

"You too," the Saracen replied and held the door open for him. He moved through it, glancing back into the room for a brief moment, before heading off. The castle lay still in darkness save for the shine of lone torches on the walls. Will strode through the corridors, trying to give the appearance of knowing that he had every right to be there. Still, he took care to avoid unnecessary noise.

His way went quicker than he had thought and soon he stepped outside into the early morning. The sun had not risen yet and Will knew he had still much to do before the first light would appear. He would have to keep watch at the gallows. As soon as preparations were made there, Will would have to be ready, too. He saw Robin in the yard, his eyes closed, and unmoving. Will could see his chest rising and falling though. He dared not to approach the man because of the guards around him, so he set his gaze forward, marching over the yard as if he knew exactly where he was going.

He made his way over to the tavern at the other side of the street. It was still dark and not very much time ago he would have wondered if the establishment was even open at this time, but early morning trips to Nottingham with Allan had shown him that some people started drinking very early in the day. The inn he entered now was notorious for being open to all folks at all times. Before he headed inside, Will cast another glance into the direction of the castle yard, but there everything was still quiet.

The comparative emptiness of the tavern wasn't the only difference to the night. It was all also considerable less smoky in the room than it would be at night, as Will moved inside. As soon as the door fell shut behind him, he removed the helmet of his uniform, unwilling to alarm the guests that had already made their way to the inn and through one or more drinks. Guards went to the pub as well, but Will wanted to make sure nobody thought he was there on official business.

He was sure some people would recognize him. The patron certainly would, as Allan had made too much of a show of himself when he and Will had been there the last time. Will walked over to the bar, leaning on it, his heart beating fast as he thought of what he needed to do. It wasn't in his nature; it was Robin whose nature it was, not his. Still, of the three conspirators he had been the only choice. Nobody would listen to Djaq in the inn and Marian was not the woman of choice for obvious reasons either. She probably would have fared better than he, woman or not, but her secret association with the outlaws demanded that she stayed away from it.

"Will Scarlet," the patron said, coming up to him. "I did not expect to see you in this world," he chuckled.

"I'm alright," Will replied dryly.

"Better than the other lads of your sorts then, aren't you?"

Will knew he was taking a risk with the next thing he said, for he did not know what the host's view of the outlaws was, didn't know if he felt the same hostility as many of his fellow men. He figured the man did not much care about matters such as this, as long as beer was flowing in large streams in his tavern.

"I'm here to get them out," he told the man quietly.

The patron raised his eyebrows. "Now if you're not too late for some of them," he said carefully, glancing slightly to the left and to the right. "You can't really know either if folk's going to be happy about any rescues."

Will nodded. "This is what I am here about. The sheriff is telling lies."

"No news to me, boy," the other man shrugged.

"No, I'm telling you, we ambushed the food delivery, but it was poisoned, so we had to destroy it. We didn't want to, but we couldn't risk anyone eating it and dying from it."

The other man shook his head. "People know what they've seen."

"But they didn't see what they think they did!" Will exclaimed. "The food was poisoned! The sheriff did it, I'm sure of that. I have to save Robin and the others or the sheriff is winning!"

The patron grimaced and motioned with a nod behind Will. The outlaw turned around and came face to face with another man whose eyes were piercing into him.

"What are you saying? You want us to let that thief go? That one who's been burning all our food!?"

"The food was poisoned by the sheriff. We had to destroy it, so that no one would die from it," Will explained in a strained voice.

"You're one of them then?" the other man asked.

Will nodded, hoping he would get a chance to explain it all in detail, convince the people of what the truth was, or at least convince them to let the outlaws flee Nottingham once they were freed.

His hope was dashed when the other man lunged out and hit him squarely in the face. Will fell back, holding his nose and ducked as the man reached back to beat him again. This wasn't going as planned...

"You... you...!" the man yelled. "You dare to show your face in this town and tell us you want to save that guy?" The man coughed. "That stuck-up noble who ran off into the forest when he didn't get his way and who's now running around destroying our food!?"

"We're not like that," Will called. "We're helping. Robin's helping." He ducked to the side again, but the man grabbed his arm, and Will turned around, swinging his own fist into the man's face. He was let go and staggered backwards. Several men were watching the fight. "I follow Robin because he saved me and my brother from the gallows," he started to explain.

"Should've let you hang, my boy," one of the men watching laughed.

Will ignored him and went on. "The sheriff killed my father because he spoke out against the sheriff's lies!" He swallowed. "My mother... she died, starved, because of the way the sheriff treats the people. Do you think I would follow Robin if he was the man you're saying he is, the man the sheriff is saying he is?"

"You've got a point," one of the men admitted.

"If he's telling the truth that is," the man who had hit Will intervened.

"I am," Will insisted. He hated the fact that everyone was looking at him, waiting for him go on, to explain himself, but he forced himself to speak. "We ambushed the delivery of food that was coming to Nottingham because we thought the sheriff would not give any of it to the people, that he would only keep it to feed his army. We found the rats then, dead rats, in the sacks of grain and found out that the food was poisoned. We had to burn it; we didn't like doing it, but we couldn't risk anyone eating of it."

"Unlikely story you're telling there," another man pointed out.

"Hmph," the thug puffed. "Saying it this way, not very likely that the outlaws would go and burn all the food if they could keep it all for themselves."

"Yeah, but you've heard what the sheriff said. They've destroyed it so they can later come and do as if they're trying to help us."

"I don't believe the sheriff," another man brought into the discussion and Will noticed that the inn seemed to become more crowded. He could only hope that no sheriff's man was beyond the guests, at least none who would go and alert the sheriff as to what was happening.

"Neither do I."

A man shook his head. "I don't care who's telling what. I'm just seeing that it's us who is suffering under the games the sheriff and the outlaws are playing."

Will looked at the man with a cold feeling inside of him. He didn't want to believe this was what the town's people generally thought of the outlaws.

"Well, they've helped. Robin and his men."

Will turned to the man who had spoken now, hoping his view would receive support. He noticed that daylight was streaming into the previously dim room now, and knew he had to hurry. If this all led to nothing, he would have to go and hope for the best; if the men let him go that was, now that he had identified himself as one of Robin's men.

"Yeah, they did," one man confirmed, and then all barriers broke in the discussion and men argued every which way with each other.

"They did, but we don't know what happened with the food."

"I think it wasn't right what they did with Robin."

"He deserves it."

"How do you know?"

"The people are starving because of him!"

"Some people live because of him!"

"They can't hang him!"

"He got what he had coming for him!"

"He's a good man."

"What Will here said is true," one man pointed at the outlaw. "He wouldn't follow Robin if he wasn't a good man. He's lost family because of the sheriff and follows him because Robin's the one who's helping against the sheriff."

Will nodded quietly and most of the men fell silent.

"So you want to save his neck?" the man who had originally beaten him asked with raised eyebrows.

"His and the one's of my friends," Will confirmed.

"So what does this have to do with us?" the man asked, sitting down on a bench and Will breathed a sigh of relief as tension seemed to flow out of the situation.

"I need your help," he said earnestly.

"So you want us to risk our necks for the one's who we've thrown rotten eggs at yesterday?"

Will shook his head, surprised and uncomfortable about the open admittance of the man. "We don't want you to risk your lives for us. We just want to pass freely through town. Don't harm us. We won't harm you."

"Fair enough," the other man nodded and there was agreeing murmur. Will didn't know how many of the town's people would get to hear about the agreement in time, but it was a start, it was all he could do now.

"And I need horses," he added quickly.

"Horses?" the patron exclaimed.

"One at the least," the outlaw clarified carefully, counting that Robin would not be able to run from Nottingham. "More preferably," he added. "We're going to send them back once we've reached the forest." He hoped he wasn't trying the people's patience too much with his request.

"You can have one of mine," the patron finally agreed. "And I can tell you that some guard left his horse here last night. Too drunk to ride, I tell you. You can take his, I guess."

Will smiled thinly. "Thank you." Two horses were certainly better than nothing. It would get Robin out of the town and another outlaw who would need it.

Now he only had to go and save Robin. Easier said than done it was certainly.

TBC