A/N Well, I'm back. I do no own BBC Robin Hood, its characters, and its plots. Regular updates again. I have everything figured out for this season and I am so excited. Once school is out I probably will update more, but I will be going on a two week vacation and I will try to update sometime then. Now to reviews. Mademosielle Nathalie I am writing up to Season 2 and 3 and the finally will be epic. carter is not going to die, but I have not decided on Marian. At that point though, Alex and her are going to be very connected which is beyond their foil status currently. But Alex sadly did not pay attention to her history classes or Finn for that matter and has no idea what will happen other than that Prince John becomes the king eventually. LadyViolette1 Yes Alex is back and for good as she thinks, but of course she will not be happy being there once Allan's betrayal is revealed. But for now everything is happy. anitacm yep I'm back. Yay!
Follow?favorite/review everyone! Enjoy!
Chapter 18 Booby and the Beast or Wanna Be Indiana Jones
Life was busy for the outlaws and their stolen goods were piling up. Robin had insisted that not a single penny get to the Sheriff and his treasonous gang of the Black Knights. When the Sheriff's men had come to collect taxes, Little John and Will had disguised themselves and took the taxes with no questions asked. Djaq had used her feminine looks to distract guards as Much robbed them while they were distracted like typically pigs were. Allan would pickpocket lords throughout the town and Alex would pickpocket any rich nobleman in a tavern. Allan disapproved of this.
As the gang admired their treasure, Alex added another pouch of coins to the pile. "I'm not bein' funny but, you are only robbing these men because you are the prettiest girl in the country." Allan told her as she arrived.
"I'm not sure if I was that was criticism or flirtation." Alex said with a smirk. Allan was right though. Alex was not the best pickpocket and her new look provided her with distraction of sorts for the worst of men. She began dressing herself in tight brown trousers and a white, but always dirtied due to the forest, short blouse with a brown corset over. She kept on her short brown boots with its small heel from her time on and she of course assecorized with her necklace form Allan and her outlaw tag and her belt that contained her sword and a dagger. She currently had her hair half up, her fringe in her face as always, but her triple pierced ears (well the right had a cartiledge pierced now) were visible. She was the perfect combination of her time and this one. Allan couldn't believe how lucky he was.
"Think of it as an invitation to work a bit more on your thieving skills." Allan said with his smirk. The two had hardly had any time to go back to their old ways. The protective and hidden nature of their camp made the stars invisible from their bunks, which were now side by side. The gang had been too busy robbing people for Alex and Allan to so their exchange of lessons. They had no need for further instruction on the skills they lack and everyone else wanted to spend time with Alex, so they had no valid excuse to run off together. Alex was now one of the best swordsman, or woman, in the gang and Allan could read and write without a hitch.
Much rolled his eyes at their flirting. He was finding the fact that they were together much more annoying than when they were dodging around their feelings and each other. He would rather be back in the middle of the Crusade in the Holy Land than in the middle of these two when they made eyes at each other.
"I am better than you." Allan added, setting down two purses jingling with coins. He raised an eyebrow at his love who returned with a fake scowl.
"Yay!" Djaq exlaimed at their amassing wealth.
"Come on, we are really winning." Robin said. Allan pulled out another purse from his bag and Alex rolled her eyes and shoved him. "But there's one more prize… if we really want to beat the Sheriff." Robin smirked at his companions.
In a matter of an hour, probably less, Robin was reading his gang down a corridor in the castle, holding up a torch and looking for a particular door. He gripped his curved sword and the rest of the gang also were armed and ready to fight. Robin peered around corner and Much asked him, "How do we even know there is a strong room?"
"A wild guess." Robin replied, focusing on finding the door to this alleged strong room.
"What do you two think?" Much asked Alex and Allan with a slight bitterness in his tone."
"A little bird told him." Allan said with a childlike smile.
"A little Marian bird." Alex added, rolling her eyes. She still wasn't her biggest fan. Now that she was back where she belonged and Marian was aware of that, they returned to their propensity of hate, though Marian was still trying to find a way to make up Buckingham for her.
"Hm." Much said with a different tone of disgust. Robin stepped cautiously to the door and Much stood on the other side, flanking his best friend.
"Djaq?" Robin asked. The Saracen woman took his torch as the rest of the gang gathered around. Robin sheathed his scimitar, expecting no serious threat at this point.
"This? It's just a door. No handle, no lock…" Much observed. Robin stepped forward, a stone inking under his weight. An arrow then flew across the corridor right behind them.
"Robin!" Will shouted, pulling his friend out of harm's way. Allan ducked down, pulling Alex protectively down with him. The arrow landed only a foot away from them, right where Robin's head would have been.
"I do not like this." Dakar said apprehensively.
Alex stood up quickly, not noticing Allan's genuine and serious concern for her, and smiled, "Is this what I think it is?" She recalled her favorite movie with a man, his trusty hat, whip, and fear of snakes. Djaq looked at her, very confused at er excitement.
"Will?" Robin asked his savior. He stepped back, allowing Will to inspect the door. He carefully stepped around the sunken stone and examined the stone block near the door. Much meanwhile, bent down and saw a string suspended a few inches above the floor. He asked Will what is was, pulling back his finger and hitting the string by accident. Alex and Will yelled for him to stop at the same time, both knowing what was going on with the strong room. Everyone gasped and Much stood up scared.
"Why do I do it?' he whined. A horn then sounded and dogs began barking.
"Right, I'll go and check it out." Allan said, giving Alex's hand a small squeeze and heading off in the direction of the chaos. Alex joined Will as he found a loose stone.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Little John said panicked.
"Look!" Alex said once she got a good look at Will's discovery. He revealed a small wheel with pegs going around its side.
"Turn it! Turn it!" Robin yelled in a panic.
Will did and the mechanisms began to whir as the sound of dogs became louder. Alex looked back, worried about Allan. Dogs rounded the corner as the door opened and Robin liked inside at the chest of gold.
"What is this?" Little John asked.
"The Sheriff's war chest," he said with his eyes wide and face stunned. "And that is our poor chest, lads." Robin took another step inside but an iron gate equipped with spikes prevented him from going any further. Djaq gasped and Alex's eyes went wide, in fear or excitement, she didn't know. The dogs barking grew louder and Robin continued staring at the chest through the bars.
"I'm not equipped for this." Will said, worry prominent in his statement.
Allan came back to the gang, out of breathe and his face full of concern. "Robin, dogs!"
"Why does it always have to be dogs?" Alex said, amused at her reference, though no one understood it or even noticed it, and genuinely scared at the fact she would have to face these animals. She did not get along with any sort of canine.
Robin kept staring, unconcerned and with a smile of anticipation. "I know, but we will come back." he said. The gang all were annoyed with him and began running back, Much forced to tug his master's shirt. Alex also assisted in removing Robin from the room. Allan waited so that he and Alex were the last. The two smirked at each other and ran like everything was right and good between them. They thought so after all.
Later after Robin had gathered some intel from Marian, they gang were walking towards the cottage of someone Will used to know before he had become an outlaw.
"We need to break into the strong room. Stephan was the first person I thought of." Will explained.
"Is he a friend of your father's?" Robin asked, thinking fondly of the old man that he knew so well in his childhood.
"No, a teacher, a legend in his day. He doesn't work any more, but he used to be famous. He worked in the Orient. They were his apprentices Gisbourne's lot killed this morning." Will replied.
They entered the cottage, the man knowing how many people there and their height, gender, and weight from his acute hearing. Despite his blindness, his hearing had only improved. Will approached him and he placed his hand on his face, trying to identify the outlaw. "Will," he concluded, "Still passionate, angry."
"Lots to be angry about." he only responded.
"True. And your skills. You're using them… not wasting them?"
"I'm with Robin Hood."
"Good. That's not a waste." Stephan said, looking towards Robin. Every gave him confused glare. How did he know where exactly to look? Robin just smiled in response as Djaq looked around the room. She picked up small and heavily decorated box. The man quickly raised his staff, blocking her from it. "Do not touch that please."
"I have seen this type of work before. It is Persian, no?" Djaq asked.
"It was my wife's." he replied. Everyone then understood his attachment to the box. Djaq set it down carefully and joined the gang in their mass. Alex reached up for her necklace from Allan as he looked at her. The two made eye contact and gave each other a small smile, knowing that they were together at last.
"The men who died had families, wives and children. I want them taken care of." Stephan continued.
"They will be. You have my word. If there's any information you can give us, anything they told you…" Robin responded.
Allan then stepped forward, slightly in front of Alex. "Look, I'm not bein' funny. We've seen this death trap in action, right? And now we're gonna take advice from a blind man?" In respone, Stephan quickly used his staff to take out Allan's feet, knocking him to the ground.
Alex kneeled down to help him and make sure he was fine. "When a man looses his sight, he finds compensation in the sense that remain." Stephan offered a hand to Allan, who accepted it and was pulled back up to his feet. Alex stood up as well and before she could reach out to comfort Allan and his wounded pride, he was pushing past Robin and Will and out of the cottage. The gang all had wide grins at their friend's embarrassment, but Alex glared at them with a small grin of her own. She quickly walked outside the cottage and found Allan storming off.
"Allan." she said, running to catch up with him. "Where are you going?"
"No where." he replied.
"Hey, come one." she got in front of him nd held out her hands making him stop. "What's the matter. It's harmless fun."
"I know, but I really am not feelin' the best right now. I just need to go on a walk."
"Let me come with you then. Something is bothering you, ya know, and I just want to help."
"No!" Allan said a little too quickly and a little too loudly and a little too fearfully. "I'm fine and the gang needs your help. You are the best at these things. Figurin' out traps and such. You are like the fellow with the hat you told us about."
Alex furrowed her brows and looked at him curiously, but resumed her king demeanor. "Indiana Jones. And ya know, you are right. Shoplifting from a Tesco is harder than this. But be careful and smart though. I can't be rescuing you all the time now."
"When 'ave you ever rescued me?"
"Ya know, there's always that cliche where the girl makes the liar and thief a better man because he loved her so much. I rescue you a lot. You are a much better man than when I first met you." Alex smirked. Allan smiled back, hiding his guilt of his real plans for his "walk" and kissed her and left. Alex smiled as he walked off and joined the gang back in the cottage.
Allan meanwhile, had found himself by The Trip Inn and looking around, worried he might be seen, he wrote a symbol on the post in some chalk and walked inside.
He waited in the back room for while, maybe even an hour, cautiously looking over his shoulder. "Come on. come on." He muttered to himself. He turned around, prepared to leave, but found Guy in a rich cloak with his hood on walking into him.
"Leaving so soon?" he asked harshly. He pushed Allan back inside and he romped his hood. "Got your message. What have you got for me?" he asked, golding up a pouch of coins.
Allan glanced through the windows, unsure if this was the right choice. But it was for Alex. His intentions were good, so what did he have to fear? "Robin wants to have another go at your strong room."
Guy lowered the purse and cocked his head to the side. "Obviously. And?"
"Well, that's it. It'll be in the next few days, though, so you'd better be ready." Allan concluded.
"Don't waste my time. I don't pay for obvious. You'll have to better than that."
"Like what?" Allan asked, unsure if he should be even asking.
"Who told Robin Hood about the strong room?"
Allan stared for a moment in shock. He was not going to betray Marian, despite her and Alex's dislike for each other. "Dunno." Guy shoved him against the wall. "I don't." Allan continued in a panic, holding his head high. Lying was so easy for him. "Honest."
"It's the early days in our relationship. But come to me again with nothing, and I will be very disappointed, understand?"
"Yep. Got it."
"Don't make me wait too long." Guy said, pulling out one coin and dropping it on the ground. With that, he left.
Meanwhile, Alex was finally figuring out a challenge worthy for her and her clever mind. The gang was walking through the forest. Alex and Will walked by Stephan, with him placing an arm on Will so he would not fall. Robin was close behind them, but he knew that Alex wanted to take the lead on this one.
"The designs were not meant for the Sheriff. They were a commission." Stephan explained.
"Ya know, I don't think God meant for the Sheriff to happen. But who commission you?" Alex asked.
"A Persian general. I did not complete the work, but I kept the plan with me always. Then not long ago, my apprentice sold them to the Sheriff. His family was starving. I don't blame him. He died for it."
They quickly arrived at the outlaw's camp and they had constructed a model of the strong room out of twigs and scraps of wood.
"This is the door, the only entrance or exit. There are no windows." Will explained.
"The room itself is twenty feet long by twenty feet wide. Both walls are honeycombed with blow holes, each loaded with arrows primed to strike a specific spot."
"You step on the wrong stone and…" Will then used his twig that he was using as a pointer and lifted it to demonstrate his point. Robin rubbed his head, trying to figure out how to beat it. Much sighed and Djaq stared in wonder. Alex just simply stared at twitch a litgh smirking playing on her face, already ideas forming on how to beat it.
"Which stones?" Robin sighed.
"My great innovation. It changes." Stephan said. The gang all groan in dismay with the exception of Alex.
Robin however chuckled, thinking it was a joke, but quickly realized by Stephan's expression that it wasn't. "Well, that's not possible, is it?"
Will set down the model and turned it to show how the stones switched.
"A weighted wheel beneath the floor rotates regularly. Each turn define a new route, changing the order of the sprung stones."
The outlaws looked at each in astonishment, but Alex continued her debonair expressions. "So any stone can be a trigger."
"I did not say it would be easy." Stephan replied.
"Not easy, but manageable." Alex responded.
"Manageable!" Much questioned Alex.
"This I do not like." Little John said to himself.
"You'll be against time. Opening the door turns an hour glass set beside the base of the plinth. When the sand runs through, a final fail safe is triggered."
"I shouldn't ask, but what exactly?" Much said with a grimace.
"There is a vault behind the back wall, containing a vat of molten lead. It is kept at a constant heat by the fires of the kitchen. When the hour glass is empty, the vat is turned, the liquid flows into a series of gutters."
"The pipe in the walls." Djaq said, realizing their purpose.
"Burning liquid sprays out, covering the entire room. Any one inside would not stand a chance."
"And yet the coins remain intact because they are harder than soft lead." Djaq added.
Alex stood there, leaning against a tree behind Stephan, her smile gone, but her mind still working. Allan then appeared beside her, but she did not notice him. Allan didn't want her too. He felt too guilty at the moment.
"Well, all I am hearing is arrows, lead, certain death. Encouraging."
"How long until the hourglass runs out though?" Robin asked, tapping the model in thought.
"A slow count of eight score and ten." Stephan answered.
Allan finally stepped forward. "In a count of 170, you've got to get the money and get it out."
"Nice of you to join us, Allan." Robin responded sarcastically. Alex gave Robin a look and stood up and walked up to Allan and smiled at him. He avoided her eye contact, but smiled back.
"Well, I still think you are mad, but if you want some more help then…" Allan continued.
"We are mad!" Much yelled. "We should stick to robbing merchants in the forest."
"That we are good at." Little John added.
"Ya know, we can do this. I have five ideas on how to get the money and get out." Alex replied. Everyone looked at her, even Stephan, shocked at how she could have several ideas. "What? This is nothing compared to the vaults where I am from. Security cameras, lasers, motion detectors, heat detectors, and alarm systems with a highly trained team of men ready to respond that are armed and dangerous."
Robin then walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder in agreement. "We'll meet at the barn, near Clun."
"What for?" Much asked.
"To practise. We are going to build this strong room over there." Then the majority of the gang grimaced and a few smiled.
"Good!" Stephan said, glad his apprentices were finally going to get justice.
The gang was their instructor headed out to this barn in Clun, which was certainly run down and abandoned. They set up and simulated the strong room and Robin attempted to get through, listening to Alex's instructions and it was all failing miserably.
"The hourglass turns…" Stephan said as Robin began another trial. "Now!"
The fearless leader stepped forward and ducked as Much threw out an arrow. Stephan continued counting as Robin stepped forward for the next obstacle. Little John then turned and hit Robin square in the stomach with his staff. Robin put his hands on his knees and went over, trying to catch his breath.
"John." Alex whined. Wil lowered his "arrow" and Stephen continued his count.
"I am stone!" John explained.
"Not there, John, no!" Will responded aggravated.
"Well then, where?" John asked.
"There!" Djaq said holding out her hands to a specific area.
"Hang on!" Much said pointing at his large friend with his arrow, "Stone? I thought he was the pit?"
"No, I am pit!" Djaq responded. Everyone erupted into argument and Alex and Robin just looked at each other with knowing looks.
"Stop it, please." Robin said, but everyone continued arguing. Alex rolled her eyes and placed her fingers in her mouth to make a high pitched and loud whistle. The gang stopped their fighting and turned to her and Robin. Robin gave her a nod and took deep breath.
"Lives depend on this: the wives and families of the dead, not to mention what will happen to England if the Sheriff starts to give out that money." The gang hung their heads in shame. "If we're going to defeat the strong the strong room, then we have to work as a team. And the means discipline."
They tried a few more times to get past their makeshift strong room, each taking a try to get past. Much couldn't get past the first arrow, Will got halfway, John managed to get to the stone, Djaq used her small size to her advantage and got to the pit, and Allan didn't even try with his guilt eating him alive. Alex tried as well and as she tried to do a cartwheel past the stone, she was accidentally and hit in the stomach by Much who was the acting stone and tumbled to the ground.
"Alex!" Allan yelled, instantly running to her side.
"I'm fine, Rooster. Ya know, I just got the wind knocked out of me." Alex said sitting up and wincing. "Don't be so worried. It's not like I got shot and was dying again."
Allan chuckled and helped her up. "It seems like you just have a bad habit of gettin' hurt and gettin' in trouble."
"You're right. I'm cursed, Especially with cartwheels and flips and tumbling. I broke my arm doing a cartwheel as a kid, ya know."
"Why did you bloody try it now?!" Allan replied, half desperately worried out of love and half amused out of love as well.
"I thought it would be cool." Alex shrugged with a slight smile.
"He's right. You shouldn't try that again without proper training." Robin said, approaching his friend and inspecting her for injuries himself. "We should take a break anyway."
Everyone nodded in response and went to go cool off. Allan offered to get some water for Alex from a well not far off and Alex gladly took him up on that offer. That hit and fall did really hurt. Alex laid up against the hay stack and as she focused on anything other than the pain, Stephen sat next to her.
"That Allan boy is very concerned about you, isn't he?" he said with a smile.
Alex turned to him, eyebrows raised out of surprise. "Ya he is. Ya know, I almost died in his arms a while back. I would be angry with him if he wasn't always concerned with my well being."
"You two love each other very much."
"And how can you know that? Love surely cannot cure blindness." Alex said with heavy sarcasm.
"I was like that once with my wife. I would have done anything for her and I'm sure your Allan would do anything for you. It's a rare kind of love." Stephen sighed as he recalled his past. "You also would do anything for him. You already have. You aren't from here are you?"
"And how can you tell that? I have a perfect English accent." Alex asked.
"When your friends talk of King and country, your voice is never there." Stephen smirked now. "Even the absence of silence is more obvious with the loss of sight."
Alex looked at the old man curiously. "Ya I did. And I would leave my home and family and life for him again in a heart beat." Alex looked up and saw Allan with her water. "I must be off. I'm sure you should also tell Robin of your profound observations on love too. He is a very troubled man." Alex then stood up and walked over to Allan, ignoring the pain and kissed him on the cheek.
"You 'right?" he asked. "You better have not broken your ribs again."
"I promise I haven't. I am not sitting down in camp all alone again writing down stories. That certainly got me in trouble and advanced my friends career." she replied, mumbling the last half of her response.
"What?" Allan asked confused.
"Oh nothing. It doesn't matter. I'm here with you now." She looked up at him and smiled. "Ya know, I wouldn't change that for the world."
"I know, Songbird." Allan looked down at her, looking down at her pretty face and at the pendant he gave her. He kissed her for a moment, both of them daring not having a makeout session in front of all their friends. They would never hear the end of it.
"Now that I am better acquainted with your Sheriff, I'm beginning to understand why you have such admiration for this outlaw." the Count told Marian. Marian was still getting over the shock that this gambling fool she was supposed to trick and manipulate was actually the one tricking and manipulating everyone else. She was also shocked that he was willing to help her. She could surely rub this into Hunter's face.
"It's not just me." she replied.
"I didn't mean just you. I think I would like to take to the woods and fight tin justice just like your Robin Hood." Marian laughed at the idea. "What do you think?"
"Why does a potential freedom fighter waste his life gambling?"
"I am a count. My life was been managed since the day that I was born. Tradition, etiquette- it's all so safe. I crave danger. You wouldn't understand."
Marian scoffed. "Don't be so sure." The two continued to ride deeper into the outlaw inhabited forest and then Marian suddenly stopped. She then released a whistle and waited.
"Are you sure you know how to find these friends of yours?" the count asked.
"I"m hoping they're going to find us." she replied. Robin then came out of the tree as if on cue.
"They already have!" he shouted with his childlike grin. The rest of the gang appeared and Alex rolled her eyes at the sight of Marian, who was dismounting. She practically almost died for Marian, on top of almost being killed by her. She was going to take advantage of this opportunity to annoy her while she had the chance.
"Who's the new boyfriend?" Alex asked with a smirk on her face and her hand on the hilt of her sword with her hips slightly cocked, making her entire appearance more sassy than threatening.
Robin also looked the stranger up and down, inspecting him and trying to surmise who he was and what he wanted form his observations.
"Count Friedrich Berthold Otto von Wittersburg from the Germany Duchy of Bavaria…" the count responded. Alex just rolled her eyes once more and held up her sword to his throat. The whole calling rank, or really title, was really annoying to her. Especially since her uncle always did it to her and her father. "… and your friend." the count continued.
Robin jerked his head to indicate to Marian he wanted to talk to her alone. She joined him as they walked a few paces away and Much joined Alex and the count.
"This is the Sheriff's guest?" Robin asked his love.
"Yes"
"And you trust him enough to bring him here to meet me?"
"He wants to help us"
"Oh." Robin said, doubting this entire scenario that was playing out.
"It seems like we have a common desire, Robin Hood." the count added in. Robin waked back over to him and Much stepped out of the way to give him room for the confrontation. "I mean we both wish to see the Sheriff broken and humiliated. Marian and I discov-"
"On first name terms?" Robin interrupted, his jealousy flaring.
"Jealous?" Marian asked, cocking her hip to the side.
"Of him?" Robin sniggered.
"If you really insist, I will cease any flirtations between us, though she started it. The creature in front of me is just as lovely, perhaps even more." the count said, referring to Alex who still had her sword drawn.
"Oi! Robin might be too 'igh and mighty to fight you, but I'm not." Allan said, coming to Alex's side and protectively standing in front of her.
"Is every beautiful woman taken in this country? Anyway, Marian has a proposition for you." the count continued, not worried at all about the fiercely protective Allan.
"If you want to rob the strong room, you'll have to do it tonight." she explained.
Robin just shook his head slightly at the idea.
"Not possible. We're not ready." Will said.
"Well then don't bother at all. The Sheriff will divide the money between the Black Knights and they are coming tomorrow." Marian responded. Robin looked panicked and Allan And Alex turned to each other worried. "After that, the strong room will be empty."
Robin thought for a moment, biting his thumb and then turned to Much with a small smile. "I don't like that look. That look means trouble." Much complained.
"Robin, it's certain death." Allan said, instinctively reaching his arm around Alex's waist at the mention of death.
"Well, if that money's going to be used to finance weapons and men to kill the King, we are dead already." Robin said, clicking his tongue.
Marian and the Count headed back to the castling the gang made a plan and began putting it into place. Alex and Djaq walked down the Grand Hall wearing low cut, yellow dresses with flowers in their hair along with other servants similarly dressed. As they walked along, Gisbourne passed them and yelled for Alex and the rest of the girls to stop.
Alex stopped and tensed as the leather clad man approached her, worried that she was discovered and was going to be thrown in jail. The last time in the cells was not something she wanted to recreate and Buckingham still had a price for her head.
"I want the Count's goblet filed at all times, you understand?" was what Gisbourne said instead. Alex just nodded in response and Guy continued on his way, ordering the girls to go on. Alex and Djaq passed him, smirking at each other. This was going to be much easier than they thought.
Now it was time for phase two of their part. Alex laid on the steps, emphasizing her attractive shape of her body with her skirt hiked up on one leg as two soldiers approached her.
"Help, I was running towards the Great Hall and I tripped and fell on my ankle. I think I broke it. Can you look?" she said, batting her thick eyelashes and making an innocent pout.
As the soldiers approached her and began to bend down, Djaq appeared behind them and knocked one out with a club and Alex revealed her own and also rendered the other solider unconscious.
"Men are so obvious." Djaq said. Alex laughed in reply and stood up. The went over to the garbage dump where the gang were waiting below for them. Together the girls helped Little John up and then Much.
"Oh, I didn't recognize you two." Much said, caught off guard and flustered by their voluptuous outfits. The two girls giggled to themselves and Much went over to stand guard with his sword drawn. Next, Little John puled Will up and once her was up, he looked Djaq up and down, shocked at her transformance.
"What?" Djaq asked puzzled. Alex tried everything not to laugh at the clueless two.
"Nothing." Will replied too quickly. Alex covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh out loud.
Will left and Djaq just scowled at him and ten turned to Alex and she glared at her friend. Alex just shrugged with her wide grin as Allan was the next to appear. He stared at his love with wide eyes and his childlike smile.
"You wanna dress like a girl more often." he told Alex.
"You wanna have a punch in the face again." Alex sweetly told him back. Despite her harsh words, she just smiled at him with a blush on her cheeks. Allan just smiled back, knowingly that he was the luckiest man in the world, now and forever, and that everything was worth it for her.
"It's just a thought, Songbird." he replied.
"Mine wasn't." Alex said with a smirk and walked off.
As everyone was up and in the castle, the gang went down below to the strong room. Robin cautiously kneel down before the door as Much did the same and pointed towards the strong he triggered before.
"No dogs this time." he told himself. He stood up and Little jOhn held the torch over so Robin could identify the trap stones. Allan pulled Alex back as everyone waited for the arrow to shoot out at them. Robin looked up and nodded at his friends as he hit the stone, but nothing happened.
"Where's the arrow?" Much asked.
"I don't know." Robin replied tensely. Will stepped forward and removed the stone, but suddenly a dart shot out from his right and pierced his cloak, narrowingly missing him. He jumped, wide eyed and terrified, and inspected the dart. Alex went up and took the dart out to inspect it. Will took the dart from her and sniffed it. "Poison," he observed, "That wasn't there before."
"Oh crap," Alex said, "The stones must have changed already." Robin stood up, gripping his bow angrily.
"Well then, we can't go." Much said.
"Tonight's our only chance." Robin replied.
"If the sequence has changed, our practising has been for nothing." Much responded.
"If we do not try, then all the money in there will be given to the Black Knights, and England will be lost." Robin replied.
"Yes, and if you're dead, then that's my England lost." Much whined.
A moment of silence filled the hallway. Little John interrupted it with the words, "We go."
Robin looked at his friend and companion and raised his eyebrows, asking him to agree. Much just grumbled a yes in response. "And if we die, don't come running to me."
"Oh don't worry Much. The dead walk." Alex joked. Only Allan found it funny and laughed out loud; everyone was too focused on the task at hand to laugh.
Robin nodded for Will to go ahead. Will did and turned the secret door handle. Robin told John it was his turn and he jumped forward after robin kicked pen the door, lodging his staff in-between the closing spikes. Everyone could see the hourglass begin to turn. "Djaq, tell Marian we are in." Djaq ran off in a heart beat. "Allan, John keep watch." The two stepped back and Robin took his position. Alex stood next to him ready to coach him through this. "Much?" he asked. Much handed him a torch and Robin looked into the room and at the slowly filling hourglass. "Do not take your eyes off that hourglass" he ordered. Much nodded and used two fingers to point at his eyes and then at the sand filled glass. Robin got his bow and began.
"Great." Alex said with sarcasm as Robin laid on the ground. Both of them knew there was one way to the chest: across the trapped floor. Robin looked at his coach and Alex nodded of him to go on. He slowly began slithering across the floor, testing the stones and Alex shouting where to go to avoid the obviously trapped stones. AS he goes to test the next one, Alex shouted at him and a dart flew by him, barely missing him.
"You sure you don't want to do this?" Robin asked Alex.
"There's no one you or Allan would let me." she smirked in response as the sand continued pouring.
Robin, crawling across the floor, heard a rumbling sound to his left. He glanced back to Alex as the sound grew louder. Alex shouted at him to move so he rolled onto his back just as the floor beside him fell away into a deep, fiery pit. Much covered his face with his hands. Will watched nervously, and Alex just furrowed her brows and hoped that the would outsmart this. Robin looked down into the pit, then glances at Much, who uncovered his face. Robin let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the chest before he rolled over and continues forward.
Robin stood triumphantly at the end of the room. "You see," he said, "it's easy once you know how." Alex then quickly told him to step back. A mechanism released and Robin did so as a large axe swung by his head. Keeping his eyes on the blade, he turned his back to the chest and stepped backwards before the axe swung back in front of him. He looked over his shoulder at the chest.
"Hang on. What's this?" Robin asked.
Much nervously replied,eyeing the hourglass, "Master, please get out of there. There's no time!"
"Oh, Sheriff." Robin chuckled as he put his hands on either side of a large pane of glass set into a narrow, close-fitting trough engraved in the top of the stone plinth. He inspected the glass and informed everyone, "It's another trick. It's an illusion... an image thrown onto a sheet of glass!" He pulled out the sheet of glass and behind it was a small etched and painted piece of glass in a frame, illuminated by a candle behind it. Robin set the large sheet aside and looked behind the stone where the glass was sitting. The money was not there. Much, Will, and Alex exchanged glances.
"Master, get out of there." Much shouted.
Robin shushed him as he leaned over the plinth and listened, hearing coins jingling. He followed the sound down the wall and heard the coins landing near him. Much, Will, and Alex looked up, hearing jingling coins as well. Robin smiled, looking at the plinth in front of him. He pushed the top of the plinth back with all his strength.
"What are you doing? Just leave it!" Much shouted.
"Come on. Ya know, it's not worth your life." Alex added.
"Well, we've come this far!" Robin replied. The stone top slid off, revealing a large collection of coins and more spilling into it. Allan came and stopped behind Alex. "What's he doing?" he asked her.
Will raised his hand. "Wait!"
"The money is here." he chuckled to his gang. "The bags, quickly!" Much sighed at Robin's obstinacy and struggled to unbuckle his shoulder strap as more sand pours out.
"Go on, Much." Will encouraged as he saw Much struggling to get the bag open. Impatiently, he grabbed Much's bag. "Give me that!"
"All right! All right!" Much quickly unbuckled the strap and tossed the bag to Robin. Robin caught it, opened it and started taking out sacks as the hourglass relentlessly and inevitably spills sand. Will banged impatiently on the gate as Robin started scooping up the coins.
Robin tossed full money bags to Much and Alex. After three bags, Much looked up at the hourglass. "The hourglass!" he shouted.
Robin glanced at the nearly empty glass. Much complained as he caught the bags. "Why ... do we leave... everything... to the last... second?!"
"Well…" Robin said. The hourglass spilled its last grains of sand. "I find it's more fun that way." The weight of the full hourglass tripped the stone on which it's sitting and a bell starts to toll. "Come on! Go!" Much turned from the gate as Robin dashed across the room with the last money bag. Darts fly behind him. He stood in the shelter of the doorway and watched as the molten lead begins to flow from stone-carved hawk-head spouts on the walls. Robin smiled and picked up his bow and runs.
Meanwhile, Gisbourne and the Sheriff heard the bells indicating the strong room had been breached.
"No." The Sheriff said in disbelief.
"The strong room?" Guy asked.
Instead of confirming with Gisbourne, the Sheriff shouted of this guards as the two ran from the strong room.
The Count walked out of casino main doors and called out to the guards. "Help! You men! Quickly! The Sheriff is under attack!" The guards posted then ran off as the Coutn entered his carriage. There, the gang had dressed in his servants uniforms. Djaq waited by the castle doors. Allan and Alex resumed tossing the money bags to Will standing by the coach. Will, in turn, tossed them inside to Much. Robin was waiting outside the coach with the Count.
Marian came up and stood behind Djaq, waiting for all the guards to run inside. After the last one passed, they pulled the doors to the castle closed and placed a bar through the rings. Robin jumped out of the coach and was about to hop onto the back as a footman when he saw Marian coming down the stairs with Djaq. he winked at Marian. "Look at you!" he said as he jumped up onto the back of the coach.
Marian smiled broadly, flattered. She walked up to the Count standing by the coach door.
"You must be careful. If I can see the friendship between you, so may others." the Count told her. Robin leaned down to listen in to the conversation, his jealousy had not completely worn off.
"Don't worry. I crave the danger." she replied.
"If you are ever in Bavaria, I remain, my lady, your servant, your booby… " He kisses her hand, "and your friend."
Marian laughed as the Count joined Much into the coach. Robin stood up and took his place, satisfied she had no interest in the Count. "You're funny."she said.
"You are beautiful." the Count replied. "As you are too my dear," he said to Alex who was approaching the carriage. She rolled her eyes and Allan glared at the German.
Marian closed the coach's half-door. "You are leaving." Marian stepped back from the coach and watched it go. Will, Allan, Alex and Djaq hung onto the sides as Robin and Little John waved from the back and ducked under the overhanging portcullis. Marian lingered a moment, then hurried up the steps towards the east corridor.
Inside the strong room, the Sheriff and Guy looked inside at the damage Hood's gang had done.
"My war chest and booby's money." the Sheriff cursed. He grabbed Guy by his leather. "But they can't have done. No, No!"
Gisbourne tried to loosen the stick wedging the gate open. He inspected the rest of the strong room's safeguards in the doorway as the Sheriff displayed his rage. "No." he shouted, kicking a soldier in the knees. "No!" He shouted, grabbing the soldier by the shoulders. "No!" he yelled, throwing him into another on the opposite side of the door. "No!" he yelled, punching a third in the face. "No!" he yelled, starting to punch a fourth, but stopped, shaking his fist instead. "No!" The Sheriff gently slapped the fourth one's face with the back of his hand and left. Gisborne stepped after him, sneering while showing his temper, and follows.
After they escaped, Much and Little john began to load the Count's share of the stolen goods into a truck. Alex and Allan watched as they leaned against a tree, wrapped in each others arms. Will and Robin said goodbye and thanked Stephen as Djaq spoke with the Count, who was also glancing at Alex, making Allan hold her slightly tighter and scowl at him. Alex only laughed.
"Jealous much?" she joked.
"Jealous of Much? Nah. I'm much funnier." he replied with a smirk. The two erupted into laughter as the gang continued their work.
"This is your money." Robin said to the Count as Little John placed the trunk on his coach. "And thank you. England is forever in your debt."
"Take it. Keep it." The Count responded.
"What?" Robin asked confused.
"England's debt is to Lady Marian, not me. Spend it wisely, Robin Hood." he explained.
"About Marian…" Robin said, filled with jealousy.
"One gamble I would have given anything to win. You're a lucky man, Robin Hood." The Count turned to Alex and Allan and their laughter. "As are you, my friend." Allan resumed his glaring. The Count climbed into is carriage and bid a farewell and was gone forever.
Alex sighed and said, "I wonder what it would be like to be a Countess and live in Bavaria."
Allan scowled at her. "You would have to be with 'im though. Would it really be worth it?"
"Oh come on, I will always be in love with you, no matter how annoying you are. I don't need a castle and wealth. Just you." she said. Allan though to himself, 'But that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve it.' His insecurities set in and he thought about what he was doing behind her back. It was for the greater good of them though. No one was getting hurt. "Now come on," she continued, "We have to go and help the poor."
The gang made their deliveries nd watched and waited for the villagers to discover their gifts. Robin stared as he chewed on a piece of straw.
"I'm not bein' funny, the poor have it easy." Allan said.
"I don't think so, Allan." Little John replied.
"This is what we do, lads." Robin said. Alex looked at him with raised eyebrow, "… and ladies. We've turned war chests, not poor chests." Robin looked at Allan. "Well, come on. We have four more villages before sundown."
The gang down into the village and through it, each with a sack over their shoulder and Allan and Alex walked hand in hand.
"I've bee thinking. We've never been to Germany." Much said.
"I have. Ya know, it's pretty amazing. But, that's in my time. Not yours." Alex replied.
"If, er, things don't work out here, then, er maybe the Count would have us over there." Much said. Allan mumbled something about over my dead body, making Alex chuckle.
"Ah, Much, Count of Scheswig-Holstein." Robin said. The entire gang laughed.
"What's so funny?" Much asked. He held his head up proudly. "I could be Count Shessly… or whatever."
"t's hard to be a count of a place you can't pronounce." Will responded.
"Not necessarily." Much replied.
Allan clapped Much on the back."Nah. Sovereign of Sherwood, mate. That's you."
"Well that's us lads and ladies. Sovereigns of Sherwood."
And they were.