Chapter 30

A/N: This chapter takes place during Treasure of the Nation. However, since the whole story went AU after Lardner's Ring due to the events that happened in this story, everything else will also play out differently. The events of Walkabout are not addressed in this fic, though you can imagine the episode still happening if you like, but you would need to change the fact that Allan would not be working for Guy at the time and therefore would not be able to deliver the message. Many of the events in Treasure of the Nation are also changed. Allan is obviously no longer working with Guy and Guy has already realized that the cloak belonged to Marian (which means he's had time to think about this, unlike in the show, so I've changed his reaction). Some of the conversations in this chapter are taken from conversations that happened in the show with changes made to them to reflect the fact that the story has now changed. Some dialogue is kept word for word, other parts have been altered, and some of it is completely my own invention.

One Month Later

With all of the changes that happened both in the forest and at the castle and with all of the terrible mistakes leading to damaged relationships that needed to be repaired, Marian had completely forgotten about the plans of the sheriff that she'd originally sought out Allan to uncover on that fateful, life-altering night of spying. Today she finally received her answer when she rode into Locksley village to find the people being torn from their homes and mercenaries taking over the village in their place. She looked around in horror as she saw mothers trying to calm their frightened, crying children and husbands shouting their grievances at the guards because everything they'd worked so hard for was being ripped out from under them. She wondered briefly about whether or not Allan had known about this and neglected to inform Robin in an effort to protect his former employer and friend when she saw the man in question herself.

"Guy!" She shouted in anger as she stomped over to the lord of the village, the one who was supposed to be protecting his people, not tossing them out into the street. "What is going on here? What's the meaning of this?"

"Marian, you should not be here." Guy groaned out irritably.

"Why has the entire village been cleared?"

"The village has been requisitioned for military purposes."

"By the sheriff?" She waited for an answer but he refused to acknowledge her, choosing instead to stalk away toward a barn that kept the food stores for the soldiers. She would not allow him to avoid her interrogation about something this important and pressed on after him anyway. "And you allowed this?"

"Marian, it is not as if I had a choice."

"Are these mercenaries? What does the sheriff have planned requiring so many mercenaries that he would evict an entire village?" The king, she realized with rapidly increasing panic. It has to be the king.

"It is not your concern what he needs the men for, you need to go back to the castle. This is no place for you."

"Why, because I am a woman? What about the women and the children being forced out of their homes?"

"There is nothing I can do for them, Marian. The sheriff requires a place to house his mercenaries."

"You are their lord. You are the one that should be protecting them!"

"The sheriff has ordered it." He turned on her furiously. "No arguments!" He knew it would never be that simple to stop the woman from meddling.

"You have gone against the sheriff's orders before." She reminded him gently.

"That was different."

"Yes, it was." Marian said sadly. "I thought I saw a different side to you then, Guy. Kind, brave...perhaps I was mistaken."

The two of them stood in silence as they faced each other in the barn. Marian had truly believed in the goodness of Guy's heart after he risked himself to save Allan's life. She'd put her faith in him, defended him against Robin, and he hadn't let her down. She'd honestly believed that he was changing, that what she'd witnessed was the beginning of some sort of transformation within him, but now she was wondering if she'd only seen what she'd wanted to see.

Guy said nothing to defend himself, he was too lost in his own thoughts about her. He knew that he'd learned of a different side to her that day, that he'd been mistaken about her all along, he just hadn't revealed it yet. Now she had the audacity to throw the accusation back at him as if he were the one keeping secrets. Before he even had a chance to address her, she turned around in disgust and marched back out of the barn.

Guy kept replaying the scene in his mind for the rest of the day until evening fell over his newly evacuated village turned military garrison when he saw something that pulled him out of his thoughts: a cloaked figure slipping through the shadows and silently creeping into the barn unnoticed by the rest of his men. He got up to follow the figure immediately.

When he opened the door to the barn, the figure spun around to face him. He saw exactly what he expected to see, the same thing he'd seen a year earlier before his failed wedding to Marian. A black cloak, hood drawn up over the head, a mask that covered the vigilante's face, but now he saw something new that he never noticed before. He noticed the curves of the person under the cloak, the size of their chest, the pretty shade of blue in their eyes...familiar eyes that he'd looked into many times before. Now those eyes were wide with fear and staring him down in a panic as the figure stood frozen before him.

"So it is you." He whispered. "I didn't want to believe it."

There was no response from the masked hero. He hadn't expected there to be. She was probably still praying that he hadn't figured it out and was staying silent for believable deniability later. He scoffed, a bitter laugh at her cowardice at finally being caught.

"Marian...for once I beg you, do not take me for a fool. Show me that much respect at least. Take off your mask."

A few more painfully long moments of silence passed between them before she finally realized that there was no escape, no explanation, and no excuse that could save her this time. She was finally beaten.

"How long have you known it was me?" Her voice trembled and tears filled her eyes as she slowly took off the mask despite her best efforts to keep her fear hidden.

"You were the one who helped Allan escape, weren't you?" He countered her question with one of his own. "Did he know all along? Was everything the two of you told me a lie?"

"No," she said seriously. "It was all true...or nearly all true."

"Really?" He snarled sarcastically. "I have heard rumors that the Saracen was spotted with Hood in the villages. Am I to believe that she returned to follow a man who beat her?"

"She did." Marian answered cautiously. "That part was true. The only part that wasn't was the reason why he beat her."

"And why was that?" He asked in disbelief of her claim.

"Because of me." She answered with as much bravery as she could muster. If I'm already caught, if he already knows, then this is the end anyway. It's over. I refuse to die being too afraid to speak the truth. "Because I told Robin that I'd seen her with Allan. I thought that she was Anne."

It was the last thing he ever wanted to hear. On some level, he'd known it. He realized that he had suspected it all along. She'd known to ask him about the rumors that he'd tried to kill the king. How would she have known if she hadn't spoken to Robin? Hadn't she left him at the altar after one of Hood's men interrupted the ceremony to say that her heart belonged to another? He'd hoped that maybe the cloak was something she'd only used as a ruse, that maybe she really only used it to help Allan and that it didn't truly belong to the Nightwatchman, that it wasn't really her along, but as soon as he saw that it was her under the mask, he knew. It was too much of a coincidence that Robin had shown up at his house after the Nightwatchman came to steal from him, too much of a coincidence that the Nightwatchman attacked when Robin was captured in the castle, there had always been far too many coincidences. The only thing that made sense was that none of it was a coincidence at all.

"You've been working with Hood this whole time?" He fought to hold back tears as he asked the question. Everything was a lie.

"No." She stood a bit taller and forced herself to speak evenly and with conviction. "I have worked alone. For years, long before Robin came home from the war, I have done what I can to help the people. I could not simply stand by while the sheriff…"

"You worked with Hood." He interrupted her, forcing himself to keep from shouting. "It wasn't a question, Marian. I know you have. You may have started on your own, but you ended up working with him. You just admitted that you spoke to him and I realize now that that was far from the first time you helped him." His voice was trembling as much as hers now. He could feel the earth shatter around him, every hope and dream he'd ever had just crumbling to pieces and crashing down on his heart.

"On occasion, yes." She admitted bravely. "Robin and his gang were the only other people willing to stand up to the sheriff, the only ones willing to help the people. How could I let them be captured or killed when I thought they were England's last hope?"

Guy started pacing furiously around the barn as he thought through all the different outcomes for the decision he would have to make now. He could arrest her, probably should arrest her, but the sheriff would surely see her hang. Could he live with himself knowing that he had gotten the woman he loved killed? Was what she had done truly deserving of death? Had he not just defied the sheriff to help Allan avoid execution? What he had done that day would be viewed as enough of a betrayal to earn a hanging too if the sheriff had known about it. Had it been for nothing?

"Was Allan ever truly loyal to me?"

"Yes, he was." Marian answered honestly. "He considered you a friend."

"Were you ever truly loyal to me?"

"I thought you were my friend too. Nothing I have done was meant to hurt you."

"That's not an answer."

"My loyalties have always been to England. My loyalty has always been to my king, my country, and the people. But Guy, that does not mean that I have not still cared for you too. I have."

"And Robin?" He asked bitterly. "Have you cared for him too? You were once betrothed and I believed it to be over between you, but it wasn't, was it?"

"It is over," she lied. "All we have in common now is a desire to protect the people from the sheriff and to help them when we can."

"How can I ever believe that now? You've been lying to me the whole time I've known you." That realization hurt him more than anything. He'd been so in love with someone who may have never even existed. Did I ever truly know her?

"No, I haven't!" She sobbed out, finally letting the tears of fear and frustration that were building up within her spill out. "I've told you the truth! I've shown you the truth about me over and over but you refused to see it."

"What truth?" He asked bitterly.

"Every time I stood up to the sheriff, every time I encouraged you to stand up to the sheriff, and every time I helped the people against his orders, I was showing you the truth about me. I have made my opinions and desires for this country well known to you. This is me. I have never hidden my true nature from you."

"But you hid how far you were willing to go."

"Yes, I did. I did because I had to. We both know what you would have done to me. It is probably the same thing you are planning to do to me now."

"You believe I came in here to arrest you?"

"Didn't you?" She asked. He could detect a tiny sliver of hope in her voice.

"I came to confirm my suspicions."

"And now that you have?" Her voice shook as she asked the question. She was nearly trembling at this point, knowing that her fate depended upon his answer.

It was a valid question. He hadn't thought that far ahead. All he knew was that he had spied the Nightwatchman breaking into the barn to steal back the food for the evicted villagers and it was the first time he had seen or heard of the Nightwatchman's activities since the day he discovered the cloak had belonged to Marian. He needed to know for sure whether or not it was really her. He hadn't decided what he would do if it were confirmed to be true. He had still been too concerned with hoping that it wasn't.

Guy was angry, hurt, confused, and entirely unsure of who he could trust, but he knew one thing for certain. I cannot let her die. If he turned her in now, it was over. He knew that. The sheriff would never let her live. Guy couldn't stand by and watch as the woman he loved hanged no matter what she'd done.

"Now that I have…" Guy sighed. "I am letting you go." Marian was nearly in shock. Letting me go? "Give me the cloak and mask." She took them off and handed them over without a word. "I will not arrest you."

"Guy, thank you." She was still in shock, still unsure of what was happening.

"I would not see you executed for charitable actions and good intentions no matter how misguided, but Marian...there can be no more of this. No more conspiring with outlaws, no more thieving, no more Nightwatchman. Promise me. If it had been the sheriff who discovered you instead of me..."

"I know."

"I don't want to lose you. I cannot lose you."

"You have my word." Marian promised him. "The Nightwatchman has retired."

"Good. Then we will not speak of this again."

"And you will not lose me, Guy." Marian approached him cautiously. "I know you're displeased with me right now, but I'm proud of you. You've done the right thing again. You saved me today just as you saved Allan and Anne before. I like this side of you, the part that acts on your conscience rather than the sheriff's orders."

"Is it acting on my conscience?" He let out a breath of laughter. "Am I doing the right thing or am I being made to look like a fool?"

"You are not a fool for showing compassion to your friends. The sheriff has made you believe that humanity is weakness. It isn't."

She gently stroked up and down his arm with her fingertips. For a moment he melted into her touch and wanted desperately to pretend that nothing else mattered before he finally realized that he couldn't and carefully lifted her hand away from him.

"My weakness is you, Marian. You've always known that. That is why I fear you making a fool of me."

"I do not wish to make a fool of you, Guy. I wish to make an ally of you."

"An ally?" He asked with growing curiosity.

"Yes. I would have never had any need to resort to such drastic measures to help the people if I had an ally in you. Help me."

"Help you with what? I will not help you flaunt the law. I will not help you end up with a noose around your neck."

"Help me to help them. Use your position to do something good, to protect your own people."

"Marian, I cannot go against the sheriff's orders publicly. If I were to do that, I would not have my position."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm just saying that perhaps, since the Nightwatchman is retired now, the lord of Locksley can take from these provisions to help his own people?" She suggested while silently praying that she wouldn't be pushing him too far. "If you want the people to love you as they love Robin, that is how to do it."

Guy considered this for a moment. For someone who so despised the sheriff, he realized that Marian and the sheriff thought very much alike. Had he not recently said the same thing? Guy had foolishly believed that the people might turn on Hood after Allan's woman made her speech, but the sheriff knew they wouldn't. "They'll what? Turn him in? Hungry people want food and he's the one giving it to them. They won't care what he does unless he turns on them." They were both right. If he ever wanted the love or respect of his own people, he would have to be the one providing for them.

He didn't much care whether the people loved him or not. As far as he was concerned, they were a lost cause. They stopped loving him when he was still little more than a child, long before he had ever done anything to earn their hatred of him. They viewed him as nothing more than the son of a leper and of a foreign woman who didn't know her place. They viewed him as the boy who started fires, the boy who killed his own parents. They would never love him the way they loved Robin. They would never know the truth of who Robin really was and they refused to listen to anyone who tried to tell them. He knew all along but no one would listen to him. Even after the Saracen's speech the people still loved him. Even the Saracen herself seemed to still love him after being beaten by him, but Guy would never forget Robin's true nature and he would never forgive it. No, if they would choose Robin over him every time then he could not bring himself to care whether or not he had their love. The only person whose love he truly wanted was standing right in front of him.

Marian wanted the love of the people. Of course she did, they'd never turned on her. She had always been viewed as a trueborn noblewoman, wholly English, with a father who was revered as one of the greatest sheriffs in living memory. And she was compassionate, always treating the people with respect and sincerity, no matter how low their birth. He realized now that he would never be able to win her heart unless he looked after them too. He could agree to her terms. Not for the love of the people, but for his love of her.

"I suppose…" He started as Marian looked at him hopefully with a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. That look of happiness and pride coming from the woman he loved was all he needed to be sure of his decision. "That the lord of Locksley could be convinced to share some of these provisions. I cannot give them their homes back, not yet anyway, and the mercenaries still need enough to eat, but I can give them a portion of it." It wasn't much of an offer, but it was all he could guarantee given the circumstances. Despite how small the gesture was, she was beaming anyway.

"Thank you," she told him as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

"I am your ally, Marian. I always have been."

"And I would much rather work with you as an ally than against you as the Nightwatchman." Marian explained. "I have never liked being dishonest with you."

"Then don't be." He brushed his fingers through her hair. "Go back to the castle. I will see to it that the people eat. If anyone asks where you were, tell them you came to visit me."

She nodded at him with a smile before leaving the barn and exhaled a breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. This night could have gone so differently. It could have ended with her in a cell or worse, on the scaffold. The old Guy might have done exactly that, but Marian had noticed something changing within him for some time now. She had hoped it wasn't just wishful thinking, she had hoped that there really was a good man beneath the surface, and now she knew she had been correct. He had changed. The man he was becoming now was well on his way to being a hero.

Sometimes people can surprise you, she realized. The heroes do not always act heroic and even the worst of villains can have a change of heart. The Nightwatchman may have been forced to retire, but she could still act as a spy for Robin and his recently reconstituted gang and now she had an ally in the castle who could help the people far more than the Nightwatchman ever could if he kept to his word. For her, that was enough. Being the Nightwatchman was never about the daring heroics or adventure and it certainly wasn't about the glory, as she had always had to be anonymous, but simply about helping the people. She could keep helping the people as she always had and now she had one new friend to help her do it.

Marian took off on her horse on her way back to the castle, cutting through the forest so she could stop to see her other friends on the way. She arrived at the camp to the sound of five voices chanting "Big Bear" and watched as the oldest and largest of Robin's men ducked his head bashfully while the others laughed loudly. The gang had seemed to have nearly completely reignited their old bond with each other, even after multiple betrayals and strife, and she was relieved to know that the false accusations she had laid on one of them hadn't destroyed the gang or her friendship with them. They were all still Robin Hood.