Disclaimer: I do not own Robin Hood, the BBC does.

A/N: The proposal thing in the last chapter came completely out of the blue and I had had no intentions of getting Much and Ava engaged. But then as I was writing their argument, it just came natural.

Hope you liked it :)

Chapter 22

' What? ' Ava gasped, staring down at her suitor, who was still on one knee, ' No! You just called me stupid! ' she cried.

Will snorted and muttered to John, ' And here we have our contender for least romantic proposal ever. '

Much shook his head, inwardly cursing himself for saying such a thing to her, ' I didn't mean it. I love you! '

Ava smiled happily - she hadn't really been angry at him for calling her stupid - and dabbed at the corner of her eye, which was growing wet from the tears Much had provoked.

Much continued to speak, ' I hadn't meant to do it like this. We were going to go for a walk in the woods. I got the ring yesterday from the market and I was going to ask your father for permission first, but since I really don't have a chance now...and I just came out with it..and...'

' For heaven's sake Ava - just answer him already! ' Will smirked.

' Yes! ' she exclaimed, with great joy.

Her new fiance got to his feet and pick her up and spun her around. When he set her on the ground, he planted a firm kiss on her lips.

Once they broke apart, Ava looked down at the beautiful golden ring - with a sapphire in the centre - that had been slid on to the fourth finger of her left hand, and let out a sqeaul.

' I'm getting married! ' she beamed, as Will enveloped her in to a congradulatory his, and Much did the same to Djaq. John clapped Much's shoulder and also offered his congradulations.

When the period of hugging and congraduating was over, the five of them sat around the camp fire.

' So when are you going to have the wedding? ' Djaq asked, a smile up on her face,as she was truly happy for the couple.

Ava shrugged, ' I suppose it will be when the King returns, won't it? After all, we're outlaws, we can 'ardly wander in to the church and say 'Oi! Marry us!' '

' Hey, ' Will pointed out,' when all this is over, when the King is back, and all that, you're going to be a noble.'

Ava screwed her nose up,' What? I am? '

Much nodded enthusiastically, ' I have been promised Bonchurch, remember? '

Ava gasped, ' Oh of course you have, I'd rather forgotten about that. Lady Ava Bonchurch. Oh! I do like the sound of that! '

John grinned at her - her happiness made quite an amusing thing to watch, ' Just don't forget about us poor people when you're living in your manor house with your servants and all your finery. '

' As if we would ever forget about you,' Much cut in, ' why, I would let you live on our estate. '

' Maybe we'd rather live at Locksley, when Robin has it. ' Djaq teased.

' And Marian, ' Much added, ' surely they'll marry once all this is over. '

' Oh this is all so perfect! ' Ava grinned, feeling as if nothing could dampen the brilliant mood the engagement had put her in, ' Much and I shall have Bonchurch, Robin and Marian will be in Locksley. John, you can return to your wife and son. Will, we'll find you a nice wife and you can have a nice little cottage. And Djaq, we'll get you a good husband and everything will be perfect. '

Djaq and Will exchanged amused looks at their friend's happiness, and remained silent so as not to dampen it, rather than protesting against the idea of marriage that she had brought up.

Soon after, Robin entered the camp in rather a hurry.

Ava grinned,' Oh Robin! ' she cried, throwing her self in to his arms.

Robin grinned as he returned the embrace, ' Much asked you then? ' he confirmed.

Breaking away, the teenager asked, ' You knew he was going to ? '

' Where do you think he got the money for the ring? ' Robin challenged.

Ava threw a glance at her new fiance, ' Much! ' she cried, as he looked sheepish, ' don't tell me you used the money for the poor.'

Much shrugged,' They won't miss what they never had, will they? '

Robin grinned briefly and then became serious, ' Right, we've got work to do. At the castle. '

' Why? ' Will asked from his position of whittling down a small piece of wood.

' Why? To save England, Marian and her father. The Sheriff is hosting a celebration for the King's birthday, except, it's really a celebration for the Black Knights signing the pact. Will, you need to find us a way of getting in to this party. '

' I've already done it, ' Will - ever the genius - replied quietly.

' How? ' Robin enquired.

' The castle announced this party weeks ago. The were askingfor players,' Will announced,' it gave me an idea and I've ben busy - it's a harp, ' he said holding up something he had been working on ealier.

Robin took it form his and was delighted to find that it was also a bow.

' Djaq - a flute, ' Will continued, handing Djaq a flute which was also a small sword.

' What's this do? ' Much asked, raising a pipe to his lips.

' Much! Dont't play that!' Will cried, only to be too late, and for Much t oblow in to it and shoot out a dart, which narrowly missed John's neck.

' Sorry, ' he said with a small smirk.

As Will handed around a few other instruments that were aso weapons, Robin praised his man.

' Will - you're a genius, and a magician. ' he grinned.

' You're brilliant! ' Ava added, inspecting her instrument, which was similar to Djaq's, because her strongest weapon was a sword, although all of the outlaws could use a bow too.

'You crafty craftsman, ' Much agreed.

' What about me? ' asked John, who had not been given any thing.

' Ah, ' Will reached behind him and pulled something else out, ' these are for you. ' he declared, tossing them over.

' Bells? ' John asked, clearly not impressed, ' what do they do. '

' Oh, they're just bells,' Will told him, as if the larger man should not have expected any different.

John nodded, and tried not be annoyed, ' Thanks, then. '

--

It was not long before the six of them were at Nottingham Castle.

They had managed to rake together some constumes that disguised their appearance enough so that they would not be found out as the outlaws. Of course, no one would pay too much attention to the band anyway, so they thought.

The guards at the castle gate stopped them and inspected their belongings as a simple security measure and did not seem to be picking up on the concealed weapons.

John was lokng at the surroundings and caught sight of someone familiar.

' Will, Much, ' the large man hissed, ' it's Allan.'

As the guards continued to inspect their belongings, the outlaws whipped around to see Allan sat astride a magestic brown horse, wearing the black leather that they had seen before on other men in Nottingham and Locksley.

' I am Sir Guy's man. Will you let me past ? ' he asked.

' In you go,' the main guard admitted him.

As Allan trotted past, Much laid in a comforting hand on Ava's back, pulling her a little closer to him, though Allan had not seen him.

' What's he doin here? ' Djaq whispered.

Robin sighed, ' He's being "Sir Guy's man" '

' Unbelivable,' Much muttered.

' Did you see what he was wearing? ' Will scoffed.

' Unbelieveable, ' Much repeated.

' Who's is this? ' the guard suddenly asked, holding up Much's guitar, the handle of which concealed a sword.

The six outlaws looked at each other in panic as the guard repeated, ' I said, whose it this? '

' It's mine, ' Will lied.

' The...uh... strap's come off, I'm sorry,' the guard said sheepishly.

Will, relieved, took it from his with a hearty smile, ' That's OK, I'm good with wood,' he said as they were let in.

Once they were down in the depths othe the castle Robin began to order his band of followers what to do, ' You know what to do, I'm off to see Winchester, wait here. '

After a few moments of hanging around, a servant came to them and told them what the Sheriff had told him to tell the band.

The man led them down a corridor and said,' Go in there and get yourselves ready.'

Much, who was at the front of the group, nodded, ' Right - well, we'll go in there and... tune up. '

Much lifted back the corner of the sheet that acted as the door to the room, and quickly closed it again.

' We can't possibly go in there,' he said firmly and then muttered to John, ' Allan, ' as he had seen Allna in the room.

' Why not? ' demanded the servant, his voice showing that he ws annoyed.

' We never share dressing rooms, ' Much supplied.

' You are already dressed,' pointed out to servant.

' It's the principle, ' Much said haughtily, ' we're artists . ' Then with a nod towards John who looked very intimitading, added, ' he's the drummer. '

John simply glanced down at the large staff he carried and back at the servant, who sighed and led them elsewhere.

In the new room, they had been there all of 8 seconds when Ava glanced at the door and mumbled something about going to find a bathroom.

' No you're not, ' Much said sternly, grabbing her forearm and steering her away from the door.

' Much! ' she cried, ' but I - '

He cut her off with, ' I know perfectly well where you were planning on going and I won't allow it. You are not going wandering off to see your father, when we should all be together. '

Ava sighed and glared at Will, as she thought of the conversation she hand he had ha dthat same morning, ' But Will said I ought to confront my father and find out the answers to all these questions I have. Much, he's my father...you can't stop me talking to him. '

Will cleared his throat and intervened, ' Actually, I don't think you should go wandering off in the castle...it's too much of a risk with all these guards around. And if Allan is really one of Gisbourne's men, Gisbourne could catch you, and then where would you be? '

Ava sighed again, and seemed unconvinced.

Much, who had sat down during Will's attemps to convince Ava not to go anywhere, reached up and took his betrothed by her waist. He pulled her down to sit on his knee, and nuzzled in to her neck.

Being so close to the man she loved had an effect on the young female outlaw, and caused her to stop complaining and to be happy with now.

Robin returned a while later.

'Come on! ' he called, entered the room swiftly,' we have to go and warn Marian, now come on. '

' Marian? ' quizzed Much as they followed him out.

The lot of them bolted to Marian's bedroom, under Robin's orders, and burst through the door.

' She's not here, ' John said, pointing out the obvious.

' What's the problem, anyway? ' asked Ava.

For a while now, she hd been getting closer to marian, until she now considered her one of her best friends. Whenever Marian had the chance to come to the camp - which had been fairly often until the was put under house arrest - it had been the four of them together. She and Much, and Robin and Marian, who would be together.

' I wanted to talk to her before...' Robin moaned, as he sunk in to a chair in distress.

' Before what? ' Will urged.

' What is it? What do we have to warn her about? ' prompted Much.

Robin ignord them and took a piece of parchment from the writing desk, and began leaving a message.

' Give this note to Marian, ' he told Ava.

' What for? ' she asked him, eyes wide with concern.

' There's been a change of plan. I want you to wait here for her.,' he informed his whole gang.

' Aren't we supposed to help you and Winchester escape? ' countered Much.

' I'll deal with Winchester. You lot should use the distrations to go down to the dungeons to release Sir Edward.' Robin told them grimly, ' then take him and Marian to the forest and I'll meet you there.'

' How are you and Winchester going to escape? If the castle guards find you - ' Djaq began only for Robin to interrupt.

' Just do as I say. PleaseI want you to give me your word ,' he pleaded.

Djaq nodded, and slowly the others did too. Even Ava, who was the one Robin was most worried about. His inflence rubbing on to her, she was more likely to follow him to try and help than doas he told her, and he could not have that. But she also gave her word. Robin knew his gang would never break their word to him.

Robin nodded his approval and made towards the door, where he stopped to look at them all, ' I thank you, my friends,'

Once he was gone, Much was pacing angrily around the room, whilst the others sat down on the chairs, or the bed, looking suitably bored.

' I don't like this - I hate this,' Much felt compelled to let them all know, ' If Marian needs to know things, we should be looking for her! Robin is up to something! '

With that he reached for the letter that Robin had bound together with a small ribbon.

' No, Much! ' Djaq reprimanded, ' you cannot open people's private letters. '

Much threw a questioning look at Will, who in turn looked at John.

' John? ' he asked hopefully.

' Read it, ' John decided.

Much unrolled it and examined it only to remember that he couldn't read. After all, he had lived as a servant, so was not given a proper education. He looked helplessly at the others.

John shook his head to show that, being from a poor family, he too could not read. Nor could Will or Ava.

As children, only the nobles were givien an education. Peasants were not. The boys would be taught to work like their fathers and the girls would learn to cook, clean and sew.

Djaq took the note from him, as originally, she had come from a well off family in the Holy Land.

' My dearest Marian, I fear we may not meet again in this life, ' Djaq said, eyes widening in confusion.

' What? ' Much asked sharply.

' We are about to be betrayed by Winchester and I cannot allow it. All the Black Knights will be gathered together...Winchester, Durham, Rotherham and the rest of the Sheriff's traitorous gang. I may never have the chance again, and I cannot allow this opportunity to pass...I must kill them. I only hope you remember me well, and forgive the brutality of what I am going to do...if England is to live, they must die, and so - If fear - must I. Go to the woods to fight again...go with my lads, and I will see you in heaven .'

' Oh, that idiot! ' Ava exclaimed, ' if he was going toget himself killed, he could have at least waited until after my wedding! '

Giving her amused looks the lot of them decided they had to go after him.

They were only half way there when a guard stopped them.

' Been looking for you, ' he told them.

' Oh? Why? ' Much asked.

' Sheriff wants musicians outside, now ,' the burly guard told them, ' they've captured Robin Hood, '

When the outlaws/musicians went outside, they saw a huge cauldron of sorts, which was also called a vat.

There was a plank of wood laid across the vat, on which two men were stood, facing a gathered audience - Robin...and Allan.

Ava's hand flew to her mouth in shock, as she looked up at the two men. She was at the back of the group of outlaws, next to Will.

Will took hold of her hand, trying to be comforting. Of course, Much would surely have done the same, had he not been a the front of the group, and too far away.

Allan, noting this, tried to meet his daughter's eyes, only to be unsuccessful. Instead he settled for looking at his former best friend, and hoping the younger man would allow his a few second's eye contact.

Allan mouthed the words, ' Look after her, ' with a nod to Ava.

Will glanced at the teenager, and back to Allan, with a single nod.

Then, as the outlaws moved to the side, a majectic fanfare played, as the Sheriff and Gisbourne appeared.

' Behold! ' the Sheriff called out for all to hear, ' the outlaw..the invincible, the legendary Robin Hood...and his friend Allan A Dale. How fitting then that these two very people, these two enemies of the law - which makes them enemies of the good King Richard - should provide us with entertainment on this day of the King's birthday.' he sneered, ' thank you, legendary Robin Hood. Now the game is very simple -fight or fry! And of course, the winner gets his freedom! Enjoy! '

With that Allan and Robin were handed long sticks with large bunches on the end. Apparently, the intent was for them to hit each other with the given weapons, where the loser would fall in to the pit of boiling tar. '

The crowd - including Robin's gang - watched as Allan took a hefty swing for Robin, and Robin retaliated.

Whilst watching the pair of them swing for each other, Ava tightened her grip on Will's hand, her breath hitching inside her throat.

Inside, she felt fear. Either her father or her friend, who had taught her so much, was going to do at the hand of the other. She knew her father had done bad things and she despised him for his recent actions, but after her morning conversation with Will, she had begun to think about how he was still her father, her only family, and someone she loved. But, of course, she didn't want Robin to die either.

During the fierce battle, Robin was distracted as he caught sight of Winchester attempting to seduce Marian.

Taking the chance of catching the other man unawares, Allan managed to knock Robin's weapon out if his hand and in to the boiling tar, meaning that Robin was now defenceless.

One of the Sheriff's guards stood behind Alan, poking his with his sword, in an attempt to make him to forward and finish Robin off.

' Music! ' the Sheriff called.

' I'll give him music, ' Much smirked, raising the shooting thing he had almost taken out John with earlier.

' Where did you get that - I thought we left that one behind? ' Will asked, sounding both amused and curious.

Much shrugged,' Well, couldn't resist, could I? '

He raised it to his lips and shot at the guard who was probing Allan.

The Sheriff realised that he had been duped and realised who the musicians actually were and cried out in anger,' Get them! '

Te outlaws drew their weapons from their cleverly designed hiding places and charged at the guards, engaging them in various duels.

With said guards occupied, both Robin and Allan had the chance to jump down to the ground.

' Stop him! ' the Sheriff roared, pointing at Robin, who on recieving a sword from Djaq had also begun to fight.

During the battle, Ava spied her father not so far off, about to be run through be one of the castle guards.

Rolling her eyes, she decided that she could not possibly allow him to be killed - or even maimed in front of her, so hurried over and knocked the guard out for him with the hilt of her sword.

' Ava, thanks,' Allan said gratefully.

Something inside of her snapped and she ended up punching him right in his nose, and because he was not expecting it, flooring him.

' Traitor! ' she shouted angrily before she heard Robin's cries of 'This way' and knew she had to leave. She followed her comrades away, without so much as a second glance at her father.

Later on, when they were all back at camp, Much threw down the ladel he had been stirring tonight's stew with, loudly.

'What? ' John asked exasperatedly.

' I'm trying to think of the good bit ,' Much told them, ' Even on a bad day, there's always somehting good...it's what my mother used to say. But today - Winchester's betrayed us, the pact's been signed, Allan is Gisbourne's man, Marian's galloped off with Gisbourne...I mean help me out here, because I'm struggling! '

The others, who had been watching his speech in a mixture of amusement and annoyance, sighed.

' You got engaged today! ' Ava snapped in annoyance at him overlooking this fact, ' does that not mean enough to you? Or did you just forget that?! '

Much sighed and put one arm around her waist, kissing her cheek, ' Of course that means a lot to me...but besides that...'

' Much, shut up! ' Djaq said firmly.

' Robin's alive - that's a good thing, ' Much said, ignoring Djaq, ' that's a very good thing, because for a minute there, it was looking -'

' Shut up Much! ' both Will and Robin demanded.

Much tried again, ' If I may- '

' Much shut up! ' John snapped

' I can't just sit in silence, ' Much protested.

' Much shut up! ' Ava cried.

' But I really must ' -

No one was having this and admist the shouts of ' Shut up ' were various things being thrown at Much.