Title: Quality of Life

Author: josh emmett

Email for feedback: gabriels_girl@hotmail.com

Fandom: Robin of Sherwood

Pairing: none

Rating: PG

Warnings: None

Note: This story is based on an ITV/Showtime presentation...no commercial breaks.

Dedication: For Connie, Brian and Michael for their support and/or inspiration.

Archive: Yes

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction and is not intended to infringe on the copyrights held by Patrick Dromgoole, Paul Knight, Goldcrest Films and Television Production, HTV, Showtime or any other holder of Robin of Sherwood copyrights. No profit is being made from this story.

As always: Feedback craved...

Prologue: The following was written when Robin of Sherwood first aired on Showtime as `Robin Hood', about 1983 or 1984. I disliked waiting for the next episode, so I wrote my own. Also, I felt that not enough mysticism was involved, as we were lead to believe it would be for this reincarnation of Robin Hood. I, always, believed that Herne and Albion had more power over Robin (as did Marion and his band's love and respect), than was presented in the show. This version was edited in 2004.


CUE THEME MUSIC
ROLL OPENING CREDITS
OPENING: ROBIN WALKING THROUGH WOODS

Quality of Life
by josh emmett
+++++

As Robin was walking from town to their latest encampment, he heard a scream. Without thinking, he spun to his left and broke through the trees and brush toward the sound. Too late, he realized it was a trap. The last thing Robin saw, before he lost consciousness, was Guy of Gisburne's nasty smile as he sat on his horse looking down on his bewildered prize.

+++++

Word of Robin's capture spread like wildfire. It was a short span of time between his incarceration at Nottingham Castle and his constant companions finding out about it. They turned to Marion and Will, as they usually did when they sensed danger and Robin was not about.

Marion went from feeling faint, to fear, to sadness, to straightening her backbone and taking charge in a matter of seconds. Her love for her husband must be pushed aside. Emotions never worked in these situations. And thinking of emotions, she immediately put her hand on Scarlet's arm.

Scarlet had a flame in his belly that shot straight into his throat. You would think a trained soldier would know how to keep his emotions in check, but his hard childhood and cruel death of his wife, always seemed to take over at the most inopportune moments. Every fiber of his being was tensed and ready to strike...at ANYONE!

He could barely see, as his vision had blurred and his breathing was hard, his fists clenched as tight as his jaw. Somewhere in the distance, he felt something cool. Something soothing. Something that drew him back to a state of calmness. The dead state of calmness a soldier was taught when he had to face the enemy. He looked down and saw Marion's hand on his arm. "Damn, the woman!" he thought. "She always knows how to get to me...DAMN her!"

+++++

Robin awoke to darkness. He didn't know if his eyes were opened or still closed. His head throbbed and he put his hand up to gingerly feel the knot swelling on the top and felt some leftover stickiness...blood.

"Look, Arthur. Our friend is back. We told you, you would not escape. The only way out is feet first...that is it...feet first."

Robin knew where he was now: The dungeon of Nottingham Castle with the crazy old man and his pet rat, Arthur. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the faint light from the grating above and just as slowly, his memory came back as to how he had gotten there.

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID..." he muttered aloud through his clenched jaw.

"Awake are we?" came a familiar deep voice from above. "Oh, good, we would not want you to miss your party tomorrow. Your HANGING party!" Gisburne laughed as he walked away from the grate and Robin could still hear it floating back like an echo all the way down the hall.

+++++

Marion lifted her hand off of Scarlet's arm as she felt it relax. "They will hang him and they will do it quickly. Most likely tomorrow. AND in public. The Sheriff will want everyone to see it, so there will be no rumors."

Will closed his eyes for a second to get his brain working again. "Too right, Marion, too right. We will need to leave now and make plans on the way."

"I agree about leaving now, Will, but this will be a tricky one. They will be expecting us. For once, you will have to do as Robin does...listen for Herne and act without thinking."

As Marion, Little John, Much, Nazir and Friar Tuck started off, Scarlet asked himself: "ACT WITHOUT THINKING? Whatever is SHE thinking?"
Will Scarlet lived his life that way and Robin usually had to pull him back. Then he fell in behind them.

Marion turned to see a faint smile on Will's lips. "Oh, my..."

+++++

Dawn arrived too soon for Robin, as he hadn't had time to hatch a real plot. The grate was lifted and he was pulled out. Everything was going quickly...too quickly. His head was spinning. The scaffold was already set up and he tripped on the first step. The two soldiers dragged him up to the platform. Everytime he tried to regain his footing, his knees smashed even harder into each stair edge. Thud, thud, thud... His trousers torn, the knees scraped and bleeding.

The Sheriff and Sir Guy were standing there grinning, as Robin was hauled to an upright position. He found it hard to stand and his mind was still swirling.

"Get ON with it!" Robert de Rainault, Sheriff of Nottingham growled. "I am starved and I want my breakfast!" Both he and Gisburne looked about them with satisfaction at such a large crowd that had gathered so early in the morning. Plenty of mouths to spread the word of Robin Hood's actual demise. Just then, two arrows flew through the air hitting their targets: the soldiers on either side of Robin. Robin crumpled. Then, a voice in his head spoke very clearly: "Run, my son, run NOW!"

In the confusion, Robin blindly stood up and ran back down the stairs he had been pulled up only moments before. At the bottom, he just kept running. He couldn't see or hear or feel. He never heard the Sheriff angrily barking orders or the cheers of the people as they parted to let him pass or the touch of their hands brushing their fingertips against his sleeves as pressed forward. He just ran. Then he climbed up stray carts of straw and kindling to get over the wall. He jumped and rolled and stood back up. He fled across the field and into the trees before collapsing face down in the grass. And everything was again...darkness.

+++++

The next time Robin opened his eyes, he was looking at Marion.

"Robin? Robin, my love? Can you hear me? Robin?" Her voice was soft, desperate and teary.

He managed a nod and drifted back off into blackness...

+++++

Robin lay on the pallet looking at the thatched roof. "What do I do now?" he thought. His mind went back over the past few weeks. He had been told that two followers were responsible for the arrows and that Marion and his men had found him lying just within the trees outside of the castle. (Scarlet kept mumbling something about "never even NEEDED a plan...")

Gisburne, of course, was combing the countryside looking for him. When he would come close to finding them, they would quickly move to another village. The people were in even more awe of their hero, Robin of the Hood, and felt it was either an honor or a duty to help him, now. It, also, added some excitement to their dull daily routines and everyone knew storytelling and bragging rights of helping "THE Wolfshead" would get them through the rest of their lives. Although Scarlet had often thought the `take from the rich and give to the poor' policy was stupid, he found that his naysaying was proving false in the face of willing silence and the help of `Robin's people'. Marion was free to fuss over Robin, who in turn assigned tasks to keep the others busy: new arrows, hunting, spying, repair work on buildings in the villages as payment for their help and Friar Tuck's favorite of cooking up a large meal for everyone (and offering up a lot of prayers).

"I seem to know how to keep everyone busy" Robin sighed from his pallet. "I guess I AM a leader..."

"And you always balked at that thought," Marion chided him.

"Hmm..." and Robin fell back into silence and his internal musings.

Marion shook her head slightly with a small frown and thought: "For just a second there..." and left to do some washing, leaving Robin alone with Little John.

The big man squatted next to Robin and stroked his beard. He'd always been good with children and now he launched into another `cute' story and how he hoped to have some of his own one day on a nice farm.

Robin looked at him and thought: "Maybe sooner than you think..." but aloud he interrupted with: "John? Should anything happen to me, would you take Much north with you? I have no worries about the rest. Even Marion can fend for herself. But I do worry about Much."

John Little assured Robin that Much was a brother to him as he was to Robin and didn't know if he was happy or sad to see a faint smile on Robin's face. "What is he thinking?"

+++++

The Sheriff was beside himself with fury. Pacing up and down his largest room, cursing first Robin and then Gisburne and then the gods and, finally, King Richard for being away so much. Almost foaming at the mouth, the veins standing out on his forehead, all his servants and soldiers avoided him. (Which, also, explained why Sir Guy was so busy looking. He was actually avoiding the castle, which was amusing to his men, as they knew how much he hated sleeping outdoors!)

+++++

The band of outlaws and the villagers had managed to keep Robin hidden, but now his time was up. A party of the Sheriff's men was heading this way again. Someone had tipped them off for a pretty pound or two and they, as did most everyone by now, knew the truth that Robin, himself, couldn't face. His knees were broken and he would never walk again.

Robin told Little John to lift him and carry him outside to the field just a short distance from the hut, right after the messenger of the bad tidings had left.

"When I nod, push me up into a standing position and hold me there." Robin said.

"But..."

"No buts...just DO it."

Little John knew that if he did as Robin said, the damage would be complete, no hope left at all. But they had to do SOMETHING and he knew that Robin had a plan to save the village.

+++++

The men rode in on the opposite side of the village and the captain demanded the people turn Robin Hood over to him.

Robin shouted at the top of his lungs: "I AM OVER HERE! COME AND GET ME IF YOU WANT ME!" And he rose out of the long grass, standing on his own two feet, From where they were sitting on their horses, the soldiers could see the scabby, red knees where Robin had quickly removed the bandages. (Little John was holding Robin with both hands on Robin's read end, while lying hidden in the grass.) Their eyes grew wide in their faces and their mouths dropped open! EVERYONE knew Robin couldn't stand, walk or even fight! And here HE was, challenging THEM! They looked at each other in confusion, just as Robin had prayed they would.

"WELL? I AM WAITING!"

"Let us get Gisburne first," one of them said and the others agreed. They looked to the captain, who turned in his saddle to see the fear showing in their eyes. Then they ALL turned their horses.

"IF YOU HARM ONE PERSON OR BUILDING IN THIS VILLAGE, I WILL GET EACH ONE OF YOU…'PERSONALLY'!"

They kicked their horses into a full gallop and were gone.

Robin collapsed on Little John as the villagers cheered. Marion and the others had come out of various huts to witness what had just taken place. They ran over to Robin, his knees bleeding again.

Marion wrapped them, as the rest of the men saddled their horses and got the litter. They needed to leave here...quickly. The villagers brought them some food and waved Robin and his band on their way.

+++++

Awhile later, they stopped in one of their `safe' camps and Marion jumped off her horse.

"Just WHAT did you THINK you were doing?"

"The only thing I could THINK of at the time.."

"Oh, Robin... What AM I going to do with you? What....?" And she shook her head as she walked away, tears in her eyes.

+++++

Dawn had broken as Robin reached one of the circles of stones that dotted the English countryside. He slipped off of the bareback horse and onto his back on the ground. He turned himself over and with his elbows, pulled himself into the circle and to the center.

He turned on his back and raised his head to see the sun shining fully in the sky now and his bloody knees.

"HERNE! WHERE ARE YOU? HERNE!

"CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT I AM NO GOOD TO ANYONE LIKE THIS? NO GOOD AT ALL! WHY DID YOU HEAL ME ENOUGH TO GET AWAY, ONLY TO LEAVE ME LIKE THIS?

"TAKE ME, HERNE! `TAKE'! `ME'!"

Robin fell backwards, tears streaming out of his eyes. They were tightly shut now, from the pain. Not just the physical pain, but also the pain deep in his soul that had given up all hope for a future.

His voice was barely audible as he continued, more to himself, than Herne: "Now, Herne, now. If you ever thought of me as your son, end it now. You can choose another. You can DO that. Just take me from this life...take me...please..." his voice trailed away.

+++++

As Robin lay there, Marion and the rest of his band reached the edge of the circle. They had awakened to find him gone and a voice had told Marion to look for Robin in the nearest standing stones.

They dismounted and froze, watching as a small dark cloud slid over the sun and a lightning bolt shot out of it and into Robin's chest.

He called out in pain and his body convulsed once then lay perfectly still. (The camera pans upward in an overhead shot of Robin's body and the standing stones. He is a small figure in the green grass.)

Clutching Albion, Marion screamed at the same time as Robin and felt a small jolt. Now, they all found their legs could move and they ran to him. Dropping to her knees, Marion took Robin's head into her lap and started to cry. The rest joined her on the ground around his body.

"Robin." It was barely a whisper. "Oh why, Robin, why? Leave me not, my husband. Leave me not. Oh, my love. My Robin..." She bent over and kissed him and let her hair fall around his head.

Marion, Will and Nazir were on one side. Friar Tuck (praying over Robin's lifeless body), Little John and Much were on the other.

Much's hand was on Robin's leg below the knee and he was sobbing openly. Tears filled the eyes of the rest, pouring down their cheeks, except for Will.

"DAMN you, Robin. DAMN you to HELL!"

That seemed to bring Marion out of her haze. Suddenly, she sat up and reached for Albion, which she had dropped above his head. She placed the sword on Robin's body, the hilt on his chest, the tip on his knees.

"Everyone!" She said urgently. "Put one hand on Albion and one hand on Robin!" (They looked at her and then Robin.)

"Well, don't just sit there! DO IT!"

Each of them did as they were told.

Marion looked up at the little cloud that still hung over them, seemingly floating in the middle of the sun, leaving the sky blue and a shadow over Robin (and now them, as well) and cried out in a forceful voice:

"HERNE! WE CALL ON THE POWERS OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS. WE CALL ON THE POWER OF ALBION. YOU SAID IT WOULD PROTECT HIM. YOU SAID HE COULD TRUST IN YOU AS HIS FATHER. ROBIN IN THE HOOD. WOLFSHEAD. THE SON WHO HAD ALWAYS POSSESSED THE POWERS OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS. WE CALL ON YOU TO GIVE HIM BACK TO US!"

Their hands, that were touching Albion, began to tingle. The sensation moved up their arms, across their chests and through their hearts and back down their arms and into the hands touching Robin.

Robin's body jolted, just as it had when the lightning had struck and his eyes flew open!

"Marion?"

The cloud had disappeared and the sun shone full on them.

"Why? Why, Marion? Why did you call me back? I am no good to anyone like this!"

Suddenly, everyone was startled when Much was on his feet in one jump. He was pointing at Robin's legs. His mouth was moving but nothing was coming out. His eyes were huge and round in his pale, wet face. He started jumping up and down and pointing and pointing.

Finally, they all turned their faces from Much to Robin's legs.

The knees were clear and whole. They looked as they had always looked, right down to the little scars on his legs from running through the brush in Sherwood Forest!

ROBIN WAS WHOLE AGAIN! WHOLE AND ALIVE!

They all watched as Robin stood up, gingerly testing his legs. He flexed up and down and then walked a little ways from them. They were all standing, laughing and crying and hugging each other.

As Robin turned back to look at them, he saw them dancing around in circles in a jig. Then he spotted something on the horizon behind them.

Robin picked up Albion and started to run.

"COME ON, EVERYONE! NOW!" He shouted over his shoulder.

They felt the approaching horses hooves. Marion grabbed her skirts in her hands and they all took off running, looking over their shoulders as the Sheriff of Nottingham reached the edge of the circle. The soldiers all sat open-mouthed watching Robin Hood and his Merry Band RUNNING away!

LONG SHOT OF MAIN CAST FROM THE BACK RUNNING...FREEZE FRAME.
CUE MUSIC.
ROLL CLOSING CREDITS.


josh emmett
gabriels_girl@hotmail.com