**DISCLAIMER **
I own none of the characters from the film, I have merely borrowed them for a time.

Will trailed off as Robin rose and stalked silently away from the fire. Will's stricken gaze settled on Marian before snapping back to stare fixedly at the flames. His hurt was tangible. He had told them something painful and, yes, it was difficult to hear. But he had made himself vulnerable. The boy who trusted no one had confided in them. Marian could sense how much it had cost him to speak those words, to divulge his darkest secret, and Robin… Robin had walked away. She made as if to follow him, but a quiet hand on her arm stopped her. Azeem nodded his head towards Will. The boy was steeling himself.

"I'll check on him," he muttered. Marian smiled encouragingly and quickly crossed the ground between them to pull him into a tight embrace. She was filled with a sudden pride for her young friend. He was trying so hard to forge real bonds between them. He smiled shyly at her as she released him and nodded to the two of them before he shuffled off in the direction Robin had disappeared.

Marian breathed a shuddering sigh. "I don't know what holds him together sometimes, Azeem."

He looked grimly at her. "Indeed, neither do I, my friend. But he is not alone any longer. Young Scarlett has a family now and we will not let him struggle on his own."

Will finally found his brother sitting hunched by the river. The water was the only sound as it gurgled through the fading evening light.

"Rob?" he called softly. Then a little louder, "Robin?"

His brother didn't respond. He just stared wordlessly at the river flowing over the rocks in front of him. Will swallowed. He forced the words past the agony in his chest, his voice barely a whisper.

"I…I'm sorry. Please don't hate me…I didn't mean to kill her…" Will's chest was getting tighter the by the second.

"Robin? Please say something. I feel like I'm losing you and…I…I don't think I could bear it…" he trailed off, the elder Loxley's silence cutting at him like a knife.

He felt like he was suffocating. "Please, Rob?" Still, nothing. Choking back the tears that rose in his throat, Will turned and ran.

Night flickered into being over Sherwood as the last memories of daylight fled into shadow. Will didn't know how far he had run, only that he needed to escape the camp. And his brother. He'd finally come to a stop somewhere far to the east. His breath was coming in sharp gasps. His fringe had been plastered to his head by sweat and the tears that he had finally managed to get under control.

Will couldn't remember the last time he had cried before Robin had come to Sherwood. Maybe when his mother had died? He wasn't sure. Had he even cried then? He had hardened himself to the pain and misfortune he'd suffered and witnessed others enduring. Every misery had cut a little more at his tattered heart, but he had pushed it away. He'd had to. If he let it overwhelm him, he'd be broken. He'd be dead.

But since he'd told Robin the truth…it seemed like he hadn't stopped crying! What was wrong with him? Something had given way inside him and he couldn't seem to dam it back up. It just hurt. Everything hurt.

Marian had found him Robin in the darkness beside the river. She quietly seated herself on the ground beside him, taking his arm.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently. Robin didn't respond. "Did Will tell you anything else about what happened? Did he understand it wasn't his fault?"

Robin's blank stare finally wavered and he looked questioningly at his partner. Her stomach dropped. Will hadn't come back into the camp since he had followed Robin. She'd assumed that they'd been together, that the brothers had needed some space to talk things through. But Will wasn't here.

"Robin, where is he…?

"I don't know," he muttered. "I couldn't…he…he left…"

"Robin, where is he? He didn't come back".

"He just needs some time," Robin mumbled. "He'll be back when he's brooded for a bit."

"No, Robin, he needs to talk about these things. Can't you see how all of the secrets he's been holding inside have been destroying him? Where do think all that anger comes from? He can't bear all of those burdens on his own anymore. He was asking us to help him shoulder the load."

Her voice softened slightly as she saw the turmoil in his eyes.

"Love, his face when you walked away….it was like I could feel a part of him break." Robin flinched and closed his eyes. "And then he picked himself up and came after you. He knew you were struggling and he came to check on you, despite how you made him feel. Robin….what did you do…?"

He was shaking his head, hands covering his eyes. He didn't want to hear this.

"Robin, something really terrible happened to him that day. I think he needed us to know. He needed you to know. He needed you to listen. I don't think he's ever told these things to anyone."

Robin's head shot up. "I can't!" he snapped. "Don't you understand that? I can't. I can't hear all the horrible things that he's endured because of me. I can't sit there and listen to every heartache that I could have prevented. The past that I can't change. We don't need to keep dredging up every little thing that we've both been through. We just need to move forward. Be brothers now."

She snapped.

"Robin of Locksley, get your head out of your own backside and think about what your brother needs right now! You may want to forget about everything that has happened to Will in the years you've been apart, but he cannot. You have not been the cause of every horrible thing that boy has experienced. Yes, there are things you won't want to hear. There are parts of his story that will be painful to listen to. There are things in your past that will hurt him to hear too. But there's a chasm of mysteries between the two of you and Will is trying to heal that rift. Don't you think it cost him to tell us what he did? He was letting us in. He was asking for help."

Marian paused and swallowed. Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"And you said 'no'."

A look of horror slowly dawned on his face. She was right. What had he done? He had to find Will.

Now.