Author's Notes: Well folks it's been a year since we lost our beloved thief in canon, but I love that the OQ fandom has remained resilient and determined to carry on their spirit. I started this fic as part of my Alternate Universes & Headcanons collection last May, and it's remained with me enough to turn into a full saga of romance, family, and political intrigue.

Special Thanks to my good friends pt159 for her early encouragement, ideas, and clever way of avoiding controversy, and ale_nena for her constant support and cheer-leading. I couldn't have done it without you babes!

Setting: Misthaven non-magical modern AU. The society and political system will be based on a combination of modern countries, with a probable bias toward the American system as I am an American. However, all characters are fictional and resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidence.

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Robin straightened his tie as he got out of the car and nodded to his Flyt driver. He took a deep breath as he glanced up at the house. It was huge, almost more a compound even than a mansion. Brilliant white with columns and concrete fountain right in the middle of the circular drive. Everything about it screamed ostentatious.

Climbing up the steps he reached two large mahogany doors. Instead of a bell, however, they had an electronic keypad with a speaker. He pressed the 'CALL' button. The speaker buzzed before a woman's disembodied voice came over.

"Yes?!"

"Robin Locksley, I'm here to see Cora Mills. I'm the new-"

"Yes!" the voice cut him off, ordering, "Come inside. When you get past the main entry way turn left. There will be an office right in front of you. The door should be open."

With that the speaker buzzed, followed by a click from the door.

Staring at it, Robin tested the doorknob, find that it was now open. The inside of the house was just as opulent as the outside, all white marble and rich mahogany paneling on the walls. Walking to the end of the foyer, he turned left as instructed and found himself in the doorway of a large, immaculately decorated office. Inside a young-ish man with a camera was speaking to an dark-haired older woman in a blue pantsuit.

They turned, noting his presence.

With a friendly expression he stepped forward, "Mrs. Mills?"

"Yes, that's me," she answered.

"I'm-"

"One moment," she stopped him stepping out from behind the desk, walking over to him she offered her hand for him to shake. As he did so, the other man's camera clicked in rapid succession.

Glancing over at him, Robin started to ask, "Um…"

Cora Mills reached up to grip his forearm with her other hand and quietly instructed, "One second."

With that she turned to smile at the camera, as the man took a few more photos.

Looking down at his camera, he nodded in satisfaction, "Looks great, Mrs. Mills. Should play very well."

"Excellent" she answered, dropping Robin's hand.

"I'll go ahead and release it to The Crier and United News. Both assured me they'd have the story online by the end of the day" the man assured her.

"Very good," she answered, "Thank you."

As the man made his way out of the office, she turned back to Robin and said, "Now, what is your name again?"

"Robert Locksley…Robin," he answered.

"Locksley," she repeated, "Welcome aboard. I'm sure you've been informed of your position here?"

"Yes," he nodded, looking after where the man had gone, "What was that?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about," she brushed the question off, walked past him out of the office, "If you'll follow me up to my study, I'll see to it you're acquainted with the house and your new hire materials."

"Ah...yes, Ma'am," he answered, following her out of the office, which was apparently not her study, over to an elevator. An actual elevator inside her home.

The doors dinged open, she stepped inside ahead of him, and pressed the button for the top floor.

He stood next to her in silence, not exactly happy about having been at the middle of an impromptu photo-op, though supposed he should have expected it after having been hired by Cora Mills. The most well known politician in Misthaven hiring a convicted thief to her security team...he hadn't really been under any illusions about the reason for it.

Letting out a breath, he reminded himself that the opportunity to make a decent living, and help some of the people who had helped him, was would be worth one dog and pony show.

When the elevator doors opened again, he hung back allowing Mills off first.

This floor consisted of a large circular main area with several doors leading to smaller rooms on the periphery. In the open area, a middle aged blond man and a dark-haired woman were waiting for them.

"Ah, Blake, Regina. I'm sure you remember our new hire?" Mills commented, turning to him as she introduced the pair, "My daughter, Regina, and my son-in-law, Blake DisPater, both are also on staff here."

The two acknowledged him with polite nods.

"Mother, you have a conference call with Faye Gorman in 10 minutes," Regina Mills said, "I've set everything up your study."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me, Dear," Mills nodded, "I'm sure you can handle filling Mr. Locksley in on how we do things here?"

"Yes, Mother," she nodded.

"Blake, if you wouldn't mind joining me?"

"Of course," the man answered in a smarmy tone. Cora continued on into the study without waiting. The blond followed at her heels for a few steps before stopping to turn back.

"Oh, Regina, did you ever send me a copy of those redistricting changes in the southern provinces?" he asked, "I've asked you for them three times."

Mills' daughter clenched her jaw slightly before calmly answering, "And I've told you three times that I've put in requests, but they haven't responded."

"Well we need to know what the changes will be so that we can assess how they might influence any future plans," the man argued.

"I'm well aware of that!" she shot back, pausing to take a deep breath before answering, "I will put in another request, and make sure some action is taken this time."

"See that you do," DisPater answered before turning away from her, hurrying into the study, and shutting the door behind him.

Robin noticed Regina Mills body flinch slightly as the door slammed closed. He'd mostly been trying to fade into the background during the couple's spat, but now that they were alone he studied his new boss's daughter. She was as perfectly put together as Cora Mills herself. Expensive clothing, flawless make-up, and not a hair of out place. However, he she had an obvious air of sadness around her, which, he supposed shouldn't be surprising if that was how her own husband spoke to her.

To his own surprise, Robin found himself feeling sorry for her.

Drawing herself up, she turned to him, a wall of professionalism instantly going up, "Locksley was it?"

"Yes, Robin Locksley," he nodded, offering her his hand.

"My mother is between assistants right now, so I'm running her schedule for the time being," she explained, swinging a folder into his hand rather than shaking it, "The head of security told me you'd be assigned to her for your first week, so here's your copy of all her appointments this week. Please memorize it. Mother will not be pleased if you're late, I don't have time to be tracking you down."

He took the folder and answered, "Not a problem."

"Good," she said and started walking toward the elevator, clearly expecting him to follow, "I have a moment now, so I'll show you to the staff quarters. The estate manager has set you up in one of the rooms. I believe I have it on my phone somewhere."

She took her cellphone out of the pocket of her dress as after stepping into the elevator and hitting the button for the basement level.

"Thank you," he said.

She didn't respond as she scrolled through her phone.

Tapping the folder against the heel of his hand, he commented, "Your husband seems like a...warm man."

That caught her attention enough that she lifted her eyes to meet his for the first time since they'd been introduced, "My husband? You mean Blake?"

"Yes," Robin answered. She simply stared at him quietly prompting him to elaborate, "I was just saying...he shouldn't speak to you that way."

"I'd get used to it if I were you. He speaks to everyone that way," she scoffed.

"Even his own wife?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," she said snarkily, "But I don't know for certain because he's my sister's husband."

"Oh," Robin commented, wincing internally, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."

Sighing heavily, Regina turned to him, "Listen, I want to make something clear...my mother does everything for a reason, and I think we both know the reason she hired you."

Raising his eyebrows, Robin asked, "You think I'm not qualified for this job?"

She shrugged, "It doesn't require a lot of qualifications other than common sense. Besides, I'm not really concerned about that."

"What are you saying then?" he questioned.

"That I'm not interested in, nor do I have the time for, small talk or flattery," she answered, "All I require is that you show up for work on time and conduct yourself professionally. Anything else is unnecessary. Is that clear?"

Robin felt annoyance rising within him. At least Cora Mills had the tact of a politician, and was coolly civil to him, but her daughter...every word she'd spoken dripped with disdain as if he were something she'd scraped off the bottom of her designer shoes.

"Crystal," he answered, more anger evident in his voice than he'd intended. She didn't comment or react to it, though, so either she didn't have the social skills to notice or just didn't care. Likely, it was the latter.

With that the younger Mills turned her attention back to her phone.

Studying her he couldn't help but wonder why he'd thought what he'd first noticed about her was sadness. All he saw now was a rich kid like any other who couldn't be bothered the presence of other people even when they were standing right in front of her.

The elevator doors slid open with a ding, and she stepped out, again not waiting to see if he would follow.

With a sigh Robin walked through the doors behind her, hoping that as he settled into this new job he wouldn't have to interact with her much.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

After, Regina Mills dropped him off with a woman named Mrs. Lucas, who introduced herself as the estate manager, he was shown to a dormitory that was one of many on a wing of the basement level.

She explained to him that this area was where all the security staff where housed, and then led him around a large gym

"This is the staff gym. It's free to use at any time," she explained, "Pool's through there. Staff is also allowed to use it. The family uses the one at the back wing off the conservatory. Men's locker room is through that door. The showers are at the back of it. I suggest getting a pair of sandals wear when you use them! You never know what some of the men in this house have been rolling around in!"

"Oh, now that's not nice Mrs. Lucas!" a swarthy blond man protested as he stepped off a treadmill.

She snorted, "This is Miguel. One of your colleagues. Don't listen to a word he says, most of it's not worth the breath he uses!"

The young man simply laughed, shoving his earbuds back into his ears and moving on to a weight machine.

"Well that's about it for the staff quarters. The kitchen is on the first floor. There's a small area where you can do your own cooking, but not a lot of refrigerator space for staff, so I'd learn to like our chef's cooking if I were you. And don't tick her off! Any questions?"

"No, Ma'am," Robin shook his head, "Thank you."

"Alright," she nodded, satisfied, "Well I believe the head of security wanted to speak with you once you got settled in. This office is down that corridor. Fourth door on the right."

Thanking her again, followed her directions to a reasonably sized but sparse office. Other than plain metal desk and chairs, the room, including the walls, were completely bare.

Inside a thickly-built older man glanced up from a stack of papers, "You Locksley?"

"Yes Sir," he said, stepping into the office.

Rising from the desk, he shook Robin's hand, "I'm the head of the Mills' private security team. Everyone calls me Drake."

"Robin."

"Pleased to meet you, now" he sat back down, motioning to Robin to do the same, "Are you aware of why you were brought into this position?"

Holding down a sigh at being reminded again, "Yes, I'm aware it was a publicity move."

Raising one eyebrow Drake looked at him, "So you don't expect this job to entail real responsibility? Think it's all just for show?"

"I…" he paused, "no...I didn't-"

"The security team is adding staff because there have been threats recently against the Mills family!" Drake cut him off, "Very specific threats that we take seriously!"

"Of course," Robin nodded.

"There were plenty of other applicants for this job who would also work for that 'publicity move' you mentioned," he ranted, "If you're looking for some bullshit show job where you get to sit on your ass all day, apply to be a mall cop! If you're working for me, though, you're going to actually work, understood?"

"Sir, I was not saying I didn't take this job seriously."

"Yeah, well, I hope not!" he shot back, "Now here's the rules. The security staff rotates duties here between being stationed here at the estate, and escorting each individual member of the family during the course of their daily duties. All of them own at least one car. They are all kept in the lower level garage where they can be regularly inspected. For safety purposes, we also act as drivers. No exceptions, even if they protest! That clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"It shouldn't be too much of a problem," he acknowledged, "They're used to it by now."

"What about public places?"

"We accompany them there as well. Other than scheduled public appearances, Mrs. Mills doesn't usually attend open public areas. There are some places Mr. Mills and his daughter sometimes travel to. Places that are impossible to completely secure. However, most of the threats were against Mrs. Mills herself and we don't anticipate major public risks to the other family members. In that context, the escort is mainly just to protect against accostment by media or protesters. Again, that's a rare possibility, but one we want to protect against."

"Okay," Robin nodded. The idea seemed pretty ridiculous to him, but after the older man's outburst, he wasn't about to share that opinion.

"Now," Drake settled back in his chair, "For your first week you'll be assigned either as Mrs. Mills escort or to camera monitoring duty here at the estate. That should be straightforward I assume?"

"Yes," Robin nodded.

"Very well. You can have tonight to get settled into your room. I was told you were given a copy of Mrs. Mills schedule?" after receiving an affirmative nod, Drake opened his desk drawer and pulled out a thick yellow envelope, "Here's the rest of your hiring materials. It outlines everything associated with your contract salary and benefits, expectations, termination procedures, etc. Mrs. Mills preferred car is the blue sedan. The keys are kept at the desk nearest the garage elevator on this floor."

"Understood."

"Okay," Drake sighed, "Now, we got this fax from your parole officer to confirm your employment. Something about permission to relocate?"

"Yes," Robin confirmed, "My probation is up, but a condition was that I needed to obtain permission from the parole board if I moved out of Sherwood."

"Alright, well the Mills Foundation is your official employing body so you'll need to get Mr. Mills signature on this. His study is on the first floor in the east wing. I believe he's at the Foundation's downtown office today, so I'd wait until after five to ask."

"Understood, thank you."

With that Drake waved him out, signaling that he was dismissed.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

Making his way back around to his room, he found that it was locked, but there was a key on an empty ring in the bottom of the envelope containing all of his hiring information.

He was inside just long enough to turn on the light and hang his blazer up in the wardrobe when there was a knock on the door. It turned out to be one of the housekeeping staff delivering his suitcase.

He'd been instructed to have it shipped to the Mills estate rather than bringing it with him when he arrived. At the time he figured it must have been for security purposes, but now he couldn't help but wonder if it had more to do with Cora Mills not wanting anything to interfere with her photos.

With a sigh, he decided to not bother speculating about that. There was nothing he could do about that sort of thing. It was the world he'd signed up for when he took this job, so he'd just have to try to make the best of it.

As he was unzipping his bag to start unpacking, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Pulling it out, he glanced at the caller ID and swiped to answered, "Hello?"

"Hey!" Killian said enthusiastically, "How was your journey to the center of the universe?"

Robin chuckled, "Oh, it was fine. Though this place is actually a little ways south of Unity City. You know rich people like living in their own little world?"

"Right, right," the other man answered absently, "So how's the job?"

"Oh, both the same, and worse, than I expected."

"Ah, sorry to hear that, mate"

He shrugged as he hung up some clothes, "It's a job."

"Well, there's always a place for you at the Roger," Killian said.

Robin laughed, "Celebrity bullshit or scrubbing your toilets for minimum wage? Some choice."

"Some appreciation!" the other man shot back.

"Sorry," Robin joked, "I just think I'll try out the decent paying job for a while."

"No one can fault you for that," Killian acknowledge ruefully.

"How's the Jolly Roger doing?" Robin asked in a serious tone.

"Well, I'll be able to pay the rent for at least a few more months."

"Look if you need any help-"

"No," Killian cut him off.

"Killian, mate, I'm serious. This job does pay well, if nothing else, and I won't even be paying rent since they have staff quarters-"

"No!" he repeated firmly, "You've done enough for me."

Robin sighed, "Alright, fine, but if you change your mind…"

"I won't but I appreciate the offer."

"Okay," he gave in, glancing over at the clock on the wall and noting that it was nearly 6 o'clock, "Look, it was good hearing from you but I have to go. I still need to get some paperwork taken care of."

"Alright," the other man answered, "Catch you later."

After hanging up the phone, Robin gathered up the form from the Sherwood parole board and walked out the door. He wandered through the corridors until he found the main elevator, which he took up to the first floor.

The main part of the first floor was a sitting area with furniture that looked like it had never once been sat on.

From the foyer, a heavy thump echoed, followed by two sets of footsteps. Glancing over he saw Henry Mills and a tall red-haired woman walking into the house.

Stepping over, he greeted them respectfully, "Mr. Mills?"

The older man looked at him and answered, "Yes?"

"I'm Robin Locksley, I'm a new member of your security team."

"Ah," he nodded, "Well it's pleasure to meet you."

As Robin shook his hand, he motioned to the woman, "My daughter, Zelena."

"Hello," Robin said.

She smiled, though, like her sister, the look on her face was one of pure disdain. Henry Mills, however, at least seemed genuinely friendly.

"Well, Sir, I just need a signature on this one form."

"Oh," he looked surprised but not upset, "Alright, why don't you just wait for me in my office and I'll be right there?"

"Certainly," Robin agreed, heading to the room Henry pointed him to as the other man turned to conclude the conversation with his daughter.

The man's office was as spectacularly decorated as his wife's had been. However, it was, in many ways, very different. While Cora Mills' office was completely immaculate as if it were a movie set, which, he supposed, was how it had been used that morning, Henry Mills' office was filled with shelves of books that were discolored with age and had broken spines, indicating they'd been read. His desk was neatly organized, but also covered in several framed pictures.

Staring boredly around the room, he lifted one of the photos.

In it a younger, thinner Henry Mills leaned over with his arms around two small girls in sundresses, one with red-hair, one with black...obviously the two women he'd met today as children.

Behind him, the office door swung open. Robin set the photo back down as Henry Mills came inside.

"Alright now, Locksley, right?" he asked, walking around behind his desk.

"Yes Sir," Robin nodded.

"What was it you needed me to sign?"

He handed over the form, which Henry accepted. Pausing to take his glasses out of a case in his pocket, he slipped them on and read it over.

"Ah yes, I remember being informed about this," he nodded, picking up a pen and signing at the bottom.

As he did so Robin glanced around the room. He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt self-conscious. Possibly because Henry Mills was the only person he'd met so far, who was aware of his record that had been completely respectful.

"You play?" his voice drew Robin's attention.

"Excuse me?" Robin asked in confusion.

"Do you play chess?" Henry nodded to the board on the other side of the room that he'd been staring at without even realizing it.

"Oh um...a little bit."

"Really?" he asked with sincere interest, "Did you learn in school?"

"No," Robin shook his head, "My father taught me."

"Oh, well that's wonderful! I taught my girls when they were younger, but, of course, now they have better things to do than spend time with their old man," Henry commented wistfully, "What's your father doing now?"

"He died five years ago," Robin answered.

"Oh...I'm sorry," the older man responded.

"Thank you," Robin replied, straightening up to take his form back, "And, thank you again for the opportunity."

"Of course. Welcome to the team," he responded, handing the paper back.

Respectfully wishing the older man a good evening, Robin made his way back to the elevator to ride it down to his dormitory, reminding himself to at least give this situation a chance before making up his mind about whether it'd work out or not.