FIC: Under the Folding Branches
Title: Under the Folding Branches
Chapter: 1/1
Words: 2400
Summary: "Djaq came around from the surgery slowly, and found Will asleep. His head had fallen back against her hip-bone, and his cloak was over her. For a moment, the quiet and their proximity made her think they were in the forest before low shouts of pain in the distance and the burning in her stomach told her otherwise."
Vaysey captures Will and Djaq. Will/Djaq, set anytime after 0205 under the AU proviso that Marian is in the forest.
Warning: Mentions of torture and ridiculous fluff. Yep, I wrote me some fluff.
The Sheriff looked between the physician and Gisborne before tilting his head. “Are you telling me that this confused little woman needs medical attention and torture - at the same time?”
Will felt his eyes widen and lunged forward to be caught by Allan before he could reach either Vaysey or the swords guarding him. Allan muttered furiously into his ear, “Leave it, mate! How does you getting skewered like a Much-kebab help Djaq?”
Will pushed off of him with an equally hushed mutter, “I'm not your mate.”
The force of his push made them both stagger, Will's back hitting the bars as the Sheriff rolled his eyes and then brightened with a gleeful grin. “This really is tiresome. Let's move on to the torture now, shall we?”
As much as he tried to deny it, as the physician sat next to a thankfully unconscious Djaq, Will saw muscles ripple along Allan's jaw.
The physician pushed Djaq's shirt up to just below her ribs, exposing the wound. To Will's horror, Djaq stirred at the first insertion of the needle and began to awaken. The Sheriff slapped his wrist with the flat of a sword as he clenched his fists and took an involuntary step towards her. “Come, come. It could be worse,” the Sheriff's eyes glinted as he grinned, “I could skip the medical attention and move straight to the torture. Less efficient,” he made a face Will could only construe as fake sympathy, “but oh so much fun.”
Will looked around the dungeon, sure that someone would stop the physician soon. He was sewing up Djaq's wound with a dull needle in a damp cell. As it was, he exchanged a furious gaze with Allan, who seemed to be struggling to stand where he was, and felt arms pin him to the bars. He wanted to avert his eyes as Djaq attempted to curl up around the wound but could not. He could stand to see it happen, even if he couldn't really stand it, on the off-chance Djaq's eyes met his.
When it was done, Djaq had passed out from the pain. In the small cell, Will fell forward and landed by the bench when the arms holding him unceremoniously let go. He heard a hushed argument and saw Allan be pushed slightly by Gisborne, but Allan's eyes were on Djaq's wound.
Will put his forehead against the wooden bench - Djaq didn't take it all up, small as she was - and let out a sigh. He gently folded down her bloodstained shirt and sat with his back against the bench, her hand falling to his shoulder. He placed his own on top.
X
Djaq came around from the surgery slowly, and found Will asleep. His head had fallen back against her hip-bone, and his cloak was over her. For a moment, the quiet and their proximity made her think they were in the forest before low shouts of pain in the distance and the burning in her stomach told her otherwise.
Will stirred and ran a hand through his hair, turning to meet her eyes. “I wasn't asleep.”
“I am sure,” Djaq answered with a small smile and held out a hand. “Can you help me sit?”
Will took her hand but raised an eyebrow. “No.”
Djaq blinked. “Why?”
“It's not good for you,” Will answered practically.
Pulling back her hand and bracing her palms on the bench, Djaq narrowed her eyes at him. “I am the physician here.”
Will watched her silently as she tried to push herself up into a sitting position and moved with a swift grace when he saw her struggle, helping her to lie back down and ignoring her glare. He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, smiled crookedly and took a step back. “You are stubborn.”
Djaq didn't reply as he sat cross-legged opposite the bench. “Will?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
After a moment of silence, Djaq turned her head to find him staring and blinking.
“Now?”
“Of course,” Djaq retorted. “Did you think I meant in a life before this?”
“Well, it's just that now-” Will gestured around the cell, “Doesn't seem like the best time.”
“Do you love me?” Djaq asked, rolling her eyes.
“Yes, but that wasn't the-” Will turned and sat, one knee pulled to his chest and frowning.
Djaq again braced herself and attempted to sit up. “What is the point, then? That we die in this cell with nothing to keep us company but regrets?”
Will again pointedly helped her lie back down, his hands more gentle than his tone. “I wasn't saying that. I was saying just that -” He broke off, arm still between her shoulder blades, and tilted his head. “Are we arguing about this?”
“Yes, we are,” Djaq replied, crossing her arms in a way that made him laugh considering she was still lying down.
“What is this?” Will found his hand running across her back as he sat on the bench and then found his hand intertwining between hers.
“I love you, you love me, we're still stuck in here,” Djaq summarised with a nod.
Will nodded in return. “That's better. We should be thinking of a plan.”
“You do that,” Djaq murmured. When Will looked down, she was asleep.
X
The others thought of a plan, and Allan even helped.
As they fought their way out, Will wielding an axe in his left hand and supporting Djaq with the other, he found himself next to Allan in the fray.
“We both know black's not my colour!” Allan called to Will as he kicked a guard backwards.
“I don't know,” Will shouted back, “might match your conscience.”
“Watch your-”
Allan cut his warning short as Djaq hit the guard about to run Will through and glared at them both. “Boys, we do the arguing later.”
“Yes, my lady,” Allan retorted cheekily, turning back to the fight. He sent a quick, slightly bashful grin at Will, who found himself returning it.
X
Allan ran to the stables with them and realised that Will and Djaq were falling a little behind. He ran to a mare he knew to be a calm creature and tossed the bare necessities of tack and no more onto her back before calling over to Will. “Over here!”
Will looked at him, and saw Robin watching the encounter in the background.
“Get her on the horse,” Allan said slowly. Will nodded and they both loaded a barely conscious Djaq onto the placid mare. “Your turn, mate.”
Will nodded and got on the horse behind Djaq, watching Allan run for another horse. As they left the stables through the back and made a dash for the forest, he held Djaq against him and murmured in her ear, “He makes my head hurt.”
She smiled, eyes still closed and turned slightly towards him.
X
The mare had lived up to Allan's choice, making the journey as gentle on Djaq's injury as she could, but it still wasn't easy going. After a few minutes through the forest, Will saw a landmark he recognised and dismounted. Djaq grimaced as he supported her on the descent, coming around.
“We'll have to walk from here?”
“Can't risk leaving tracks to the camp,” Will nodded, pursing his lips together. “I'll help you.”
At her sigh and nod, he slapped the horse's backside lightly and sent her along the road back to Nottingham.
“Being a damsel,” Djaq nearly spat the word as they made their way through the forest, “I do not like, Will.”
He grinned and pushed away the mental image of what she would do to him if he tried to pick her up and carry her to the camp, even though his practical self was considering that it would be faster. Instead, he told her she was listening to John too much.
“If it makes any difference, if you were Much I'd still be helping you,” he continued. At her rueful smile, he tilted his head. “Not helping?”
She laughed and tightened her grip around his waist.
X
It was approaching dark when they got near the camp, and Djaq pulled him to a halt, frowning at a patch between two nearby trees where a cloaked figure stood.
Will looked at her and she nodded. He rolled his eyes and met hers, trying not to look too much like pleading before sighing and nodding. Walking behind the figure, he pulled down hood. When he spun to find his attacker, Will levelled a punch in between his eyes.
“Ow!” Allan fell back onto the forest floor. Bracing himself on his elbows, he looked up at Will. “It's me!”
“Oh, I knew that,” Will remarked offhandedly with a shrug.
“I help you escape, I get your horse ready, I -” Will glared as Allan spluttered and made to turn back to help Djaq to the camp, “deserved that.”
“Yes, you did,” Will replied, turning back to his one-time friend.
“What else am I supposed to say?”
“Try 'sorry.'”
“I was and I am! Sorry, I mean!”
The two stood, staring at each other before Will lowered his voice. “Did you ever - ever - put any of us in danger? Not that that really helps.”
Allan's eyes flashed to where Djaq was leaning against a tree. “Never. You know I wouldn't.”
Will nodded and began to walk away.
“Does that mean I'm back?” Allan called, running to catch up.
“It means I'd give you another second chance, but I'm not Robin,” Will retorted shortly, wrapping an arm around Djaq. “Don't screw it up.”
X
Marian, being the other woman of the group, helped Djaq to the river to wash. Marian paused and looked at Djaq curiously. “I didn't think to see you blush.”
Djaq ducked her head and then met her eyes. “I am a private person.”
As Marian helped Djaq lift her shirt over her shoulders, she hissed in sympathy. “That looks familiar.” Djaq nodded as Marian indicated to her own stomach. Marian handed her the breastband by the side and smiled, “Now we are both brave.”
X
Later, Will turned from lying on his side to on his stomach, noting in passing that it brought him a foot closer to Djaq. He brought his head up and stared out at the darkness before noticing he wasn't the only one awake, looking over to see Robin staring up at the canopy.
“I saw you punch him, you know,” Robin said quietly, the tone just loud enough for him to hear but not loud enough to wake any of the others, including Marian, asleep by his side.
“It seemed like the thing to do,” Will answered, voice bland.
Robin grinned in the darkness. “What do you think?”
Will paused. “He saved Djaq, and he would've done it sooner.”
Robin nodded. “He came to the forest while you two were missing. I nearly shot him, but he told us where you were.”
“You know, Gisborne still doesn't know about the Nightwatchman,” Will put in hesitantly a moment later.
“I'm not letting him back in just because he saved the women we love,” Robin muttered, eyes flickering to Marian and then to Djaq, asleep flat on her back to keep her stitches from tearing.
“No, you're letting him back in because he would've done it for any of us, and that's something new,” Will responded with a crooked smile.
“On probation,” Robin asserted sleepily, “And Much gets to punch him once.”
Will shared a glance with Allan, pretending to sleep under a cloak in the corner, and nodded.
X
He heard a hiss of pain and stopped, taking a breath and steadying his hands. Djaq, eyes closed, told him that it would hurt anyway and he should take the stitches out sooner rather than later.
As he cut and removed the last one he leaned forward to put his forehead on the uninjured side of her stomach in relief, feeling her heartbeat slow down beneath him.
X
Three weeks later, and they were collecting firewood for the camp. Will watched Djaq as she lifted a slightly heavier branch and put it in the sling across her back, adjusting the strap as she did. As they made their way back, he took his sling off near a large tree and dumped it unceremoniously.
“What are you doing?” Djaq asked suspiciously.
Will leaned against the tree and pointed through the trees. “Sunset. We're usually running for our lives, so I thought we should enjoy this one.”
“Sitting down and resting as we do?” Djaq, coddled to a ridiculous extent by most of the group due to her near-death, asked.
Will merely shrugged and folded his arms, eyes on the last rays of the sun in the distance. “If that's what you want.”
Djaq smiled sat her own sling down, standing beside him. “You do not need to take care of me - I'm almost healed now.”
Will raised both eyebrows innocently, nodding to the sky. “I like it.”
Djaq grinned and watched. When the orange had turned to slate grey and a chill had begun to thread through the forest, she bent to pick up her sling. At her light hiss of pain, Will's hands found the sling and helped her to get it across her back. He adjusted her collar, since it had gotten tugged out of place in the movement and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder with a “there you go” and shy smile.
As he turned to pick up his own, he stopped and turned back, hand finding hers and his other hand beneath her chin, tilting it up as he kissed her. Djaq's hands found the knot of the sling and untied it, the wood falling to the ground as they stumbled back to against a tree. Djaq, coming up for air, grinned and laughed with Will as he kissed her eyelids and forehead, his hand at her waist deftly avoiding her almost-healed wound.
X
Allan, Little John and Much sat around the fire-pit as it began to turn cold and grey.
Much looked at the pile of cut vegetables, the pot of water, and his hands, all waiting on warmth from a roaring fire.
“That is it,” he exclaimed. “From now on, no couples together on wood-gathering expeditions!”
“I don't think Robin's going to go for that,” Allan put in with a smile, tossing Much a blanket.
“He wouldn't,” Little John grumbled, “He's part of a couple.”
Much, standing by the vegetables and hearing what he would swear to be giggling getting closer, brandished a wooden spoon in the direction of the still-empty fire-pit. “He will if he wants to eat hot food!”
THE END.
Chapter: 1/1
Words: 2400
Summary: "Djaq came around from the surgery slowly, and found Will asleep. His head had fallen back against her hip-bone, and his cloak was over her. For a moment, the quiet and their proximity made her think they were in the forest before low shouts of pain in the distance and the burning in her stomach told her otherwise."
Vaysey captures Will and Djaq. Will/Djaq, set anytime after 0205 under the AU proviso that Marian is in the forest.
Warning: Mentions of torture and ridiculous fluff. Yep, I wrote me some fluff.
The Sheriff looked between the physician and Gisborne before tilting his head. “Are you telling me that this confused little woman needs medical attention and torture - at the same time?”
Will felt his eyes widen and lunged forward to be caught by Allan before he could reach either Vaysey or the swords guarding him. Allan muttered furiously into his ear, “Leave it, mate! How does you getting skewered like a Much-kebab help Djaq?”
Will pushed off of him with an equally hushed mutter, “I'm not your mate.”
The force of his push made them both stagger, Will's back hitting the bars as the Sheriff rolled his eyes and then brightened with a gleeful grin. “This really is tiresome. Let's move on to the torture now, shall we?”
As much as he tried to deny it, as the physician sat next to a thankfully unconscious Djaq, Will saw muscles ripple along Allan's jaw.
The physician pushed Djaq's shirt up to just below her ribs, exposing the wound. To Will's horror, Djaq stirred at the first insertion of the needle and began to awaken. The Sheriff slapped his wrist with the flat of a sword as he clenched his fists and took an involuntary step towards her. “Come, come. It could be worse,” the Sheriff's eyes glinted as he grinned, “I could skip the medical attention and move straight to the torture. Less efficient,” he made a face Will could only construe as fake sympathy, “but oh so much fun.”
Will looked around the dungeon, sure that someone would stop the physician soon. He was sewing up Djaq's wound with a dull needle in a damp cell. As it was, he exchanged a furious gaze with Allan, who seemed to be struggling to stand where he was, and felt arms pin him to the bars. He wanted to avert his eyes as Djaq attempted to curl up around the wound but could not. He could stand to see it happen, even if he couldn't really stand it, on the off-chance Djaq's eyes met his.
When it was done, Djaq had passed out from the pain. In the small cell, Will fell forward and landed by the bench when the arms holding him unceremoniously let go. He heard a hushed argument and saw Allan be pushed slightly by Gisborne, but Allan's eyes were on Djaq's wound.
Will put his forehead against the wooden bench - Djaq didn't take it all up, small as she was - and let out a sigh. He gently folded down her bloodstained shirt and sat with his back against the bench, her hand falling to his shoulder. He placed his own on top.
X
Djaq came around from the surgery slowly, and found Will asleep. His head had fallen back against her hip-bone, and his cloak was over her. For a moment, the quiet and their proximity made her think they were in the forest before low shouts of pain in the distance and the burning in her stomach told her otherwise.
Will stirred and ran a hand through his hair, turning to meet her eyes. “I wasn't asleep.”
“I am sure,” Djaq answered with a small smile and held out a hand. “Can you help me sit?”
Will took her hand but raised an eyebrow. “No.”
Djaq blinked. “Why?”
“It's not good for you,” Will answered practically.
Pulling back her hand and bracing her palms on the bench, Djaq narrowed her eyes at him. “I am the physician here.”
Will watched her silently as she tried to push herself up into a sitting position and moved with a swift grace when he saw her struggle, helping her to lie back down and ignoring her glare. He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, smiled crookedly and took a step back. “You are stubborn.”
Djaq didn't reply as he sat cross-legged opposite the bench. “Will?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
After a moment of silence, Djaq turned her head to find him staring and blinking.
“Now?”
“Of course,” Djaq retorted. “Did you think I meant in a life before this?”
“Well, it's just that now-” Will gestured around the cell, “Doesn't seem like the best time.”
“Do you love me?” Djaq asked, rolling her eyes.
“Yes, but that wasn't the-” Will turned and sat, one knee pulled to his chest and frowning.
Djaq again braced herself and attempted to sit up. “What is the point, then? That we die in this cell with nothing to keep us company but regrets?”
Will again pointedly helped her lie back down, his hands more gentle than his tone. “I wasn't saying that. I was saying just that -” He broke off, arm still between her shoulder blades, and tilted his head. “Are we arguing about this?”
“Yes, we are,” Djaq replied, crossing her arms in a way that made him laugh considering she was still lying down.
“What is this?” Will found his hand running across her back as he sat on the bench and then found his hand intertwining between hers.
“I love you, you love me, we're still stuck in here,” Djaq summarised with a nod.
Will nodded in return. “That's better. We should be thinking of a plan.”
“You do that,” Djaq murmured. When Will looked down, she was asleep.
X
The others thought of a plan, and Allan even helped.
As they fought their way out, Will wielding an axe in his left hand and supporting Djaq with the other, he found himself next to Allan in the fray.
“We both know black's not my colour!” Allan called to Will as he kicked a guard backwards.
“I don't know,” Will shouted back, “might match your conscience.”
“Watch your-”
Allan cut his warning short as Djaq hit the guard about to run Will through and glared at them both. “Boys, we do the arguing later.”
“Yes, my lady,” Allan retorted cheekily, turning back to the fight. He sent a quick, slightly bashful grin at Will, who found himself returning it.
X
Allan ran to the stables with them and realised that Will and Djaq were falling a little behind. He ran to a mare he knew to be a calm creature and tossed the bare necessities of tack and no more onto her back before calling over to Will. “Over here!”
Will looked at him, and saw Robin watching the encounter in the background.
“Get her on the horse,” Allan said slowly. Will nodded and they both loaded a barely conscious Djaq onto the placid mare. “Your turn, mate.”
Will nodded and got on the horse behind Djaq, watching Allan run for another horse. As they left the stables through the back and made a dash for the forest, he held Djaq against him and murmured in her ear, “He makes my head hurt.”
She smiled, eyes still closed and turned slightly towards him.
X
The mare had lived up to Allan's choice, making the journey as gentle on Djaq's injury as she could, but it still wasn't easy going. After a few minutes through the forest, Will saw a landmark he recognised and dismounted. Djaq grimaced as he supported her on the descent, coming around.
“We'll have to walk from here?”
“Can't risk leaving tracks to the camp,” Will nodded, pursing his lips together. “I'll help you.”
At her sigh and nod, he slapped the horse's backside lightly and sent her along the road back to Nottingham.
“Being a damsel,” Djaq nearly spat the word as they made their way through the forest, “I do not like, Will.”
He grinned and pushed away the mental image of what she would do to him if he tried to pick her up and carry her to the camp, even though his practical self was considering that it would be faster. Instead, he told her she was listening to John too much.
“If it makes any difference, if you were Much I'd still be helping you,” he continued. At her rueful smile, he tilted his head. “Not helping?”
She laughed and tightened her grip around his waist.
X
It was approaching dark when they got near the camp, and Djaq pulled him to a halt, frowning at a patch between two nearby trees where a cloaked figure stood.
Will looked at her and she nodded. He rolled his eyes and met hers, trying not to look too much like pleading before sighing and nodding. Walking behind the figure, he pulled down hood. When he spun to find his attacker, Will levelled a punch in between his eyes.
“Ow!” Allan fell back onto the forest floor. Bracing himself on his elbows, he looked up at Will. “It's me!”
“Oh, I knew that,” Will remarked offhandedly with a shrug.
“I help you escape, I get your horse ready, I -” Will glared as Allan spluttered and made to turn back to help Djaq to the camp, “deserved that.”
“Yes, you did,” Will replied, turning back to his one-time friend.
“What else am I supposed to say?”
“Try 'sorry.'”
“I was and I am! Sorry, I mean!”
The two stood, staring at each other before Will lowered his voice. “Did you ever - ever - put any of us in danger? Not that that really helps.”
Allan's eyes flashed to where Djaq was leaning against a tree. “Never. You know I wouldn't.”
Will nodded and began to walk away.
“Does that mean I'm back?” Allan called, running to catch up.
“It means I'd give you another second chance, but I'm not Robin,” Will retorted shortly, wrapping an arm around Djaq. “Don't screw it up.”
X
Marian, being the other woman of the group, helped Djaq to the river to wash. Marian paused and looked at Djaq curiously. “I didn't think to see you blush.”
Djaq ducked her head and then met her eyes. “I am a private person.”
As Marian helped Djaq lift her shirt over her shoulders, she hissed in sympathy. “That looks familiar.” Djaq nodded as Marian indicated to her own stomach. Marian handed her the breastband by the side and smiled, “Now we are both brave.”
X
Later, Will turned from lying on his side to on his stomach, noting in passing that it brought him a foot closer to Djaq. He brought his head up and stared out at the darkness before noticing he wasn't the only one awake, looking over to see Robin staring up at the canopy.
“I saw you punch him, you know,” Robin said quietly, the tone just loud enough for him to hear but not loud enough to wake any of the others, including Marian, asleep by his side.
“It seemed like the thing to do,” Will answered, voice bland.
Robin grinned in the darkness. “What do you think?”
Will paused. “He saved Djaq, and he would've done it sooner.”
Robin nodded. “He came to the forest while you two were missing. I nearly shot him, but he told us where you were.”
“You know, Gisborne still doesn't know about the Nightwatchman,” Will put in hesitantly a moment later.
“I'm not letting him back in just because he saved the women we love,” Robin muttered, eyes flickering to Marian and then to Djaq, asleep flat on her back to keep her stitches from tearing.
“No, you're letting him back in because he would've done it for any of us, and that's something new,” Will responded with a crooked smile.
“On probation,” Robin asserted sleepily, “And Much gets to punch him once.”
Will shared a glance with Allan, pretending to sleep under a cloak in the corner, and nodded.
X
He heard a hiss of pain and stopped, taking a breath and steadying his hands. Djaq, eyes closed, told him that it would hurt anyway and he should take the stitches out sooner rather than later.
As he cut and removed the last one he leaned forward to put his forehead on the uninjured side of her stomach in relief, feeling her heartbeat slow down beneath him.
X
Three weeks later, and they were collecting firewood for the camp. Will watched Djaq as she lifted a slightly heavier branch and put it in the sling across her back, adjusting the strap as she did. As they made their way back, he took his sling off near a large tree and dumped it unceremoniously.
“What are you doing?” Djaq asked suspiciously.
Will leaned against the tree and pointed through the trees. “Sunset. We're usually running for our lives, so I thought we should enjoy this one.”
“Sitting down and resting as we do?” Djaq, coddled to a ridiculous extent by most of the group due to her near-death, asked.
Will merely shrugged and folded his arms, eyes on the last rays of the sun in the distance. “If that's what you want.”
Djaq smiled sat her own sling down, standing beside him. “You do not need to take care of me - I'm almost healed now.”
Will raised both eyebrows innocently, nodding to the sky. “I like it.”
Djaq grinned and watched. When the orange had turned to slate grey and a chill had begun to thread through the forest, she bent to pick up her sling. At her light hiss of pain, Will's hands found the sling and helped her to get it across her back. He adjusted her collar, since it had gotten tugged out of place in the movement and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder with a “there you go” and shy smile.
As he turned to pick up his own, he stopped and turned back, hand finding hers and his other hand beneath her chin, tilting it up as he kissed her. Djaq's hands found the knot of the sling and untied it, the wood falling to the ground as they stumbled back to against a tree. Djaq, coming up for air, grinned and laughed with Will as he kissed her eyelids and forehead, his hand at her waist deftly avoiding her almost-healed wound.
X
Allan, Little John and Much sat around the fire-pit as it began to turn cold and grey.
Much looked at the pile of cut vegetables, the pot of water, and his hands, all waiting on warmth from a roaring fire.
“That is it,” he exclaimed. “From now on, no couples together on wood-gathering expeditions!”
“I don't think Robin's going to go for that,” Allan put in with a smile, tossing Much a blanket.
“He wouldn't,” Little John grumbled, “He's part of a couple.”
Much, standing by the vegetables and hearing what he would swear to be giggling getting closer, brandished a wooden spoon in the direction of the still-empty fire-pit. “He will if he wants to eat hot food!”
THE END.