Disclaimer: I do not own BBC or any part thereof, including any characters from "Robin Hood". No profit, only the enjoyment received from writing this story, and from sharing it with others.

Summary: My first fan fiction. A season 3 re-write (spoilers if you haven't seen all three seasons, as some material is borrowed from the show) Characters: Guy, Robin, Marian, Meg, all the gang, Sheriff, OC. The story starts with the season 2 finale that most of us hated! So, what really happened in that town square in Acre? And how did it ultimately affect everyone involved? Tune in to find out!

Author's Note: An update for readers: On the advice of a fellow writer, I have made some minor additions and changes to help the story make more sense. These are in Chapter 2 (The Aftermath), specifically at the beginning in Guy's soliloquy, and also in Chapter 3 (Revenge Gone Wrong) during Robin and Guy's confrontation at the river. I will be posting more chapters as soon as possible. Thank you for reading, and a special thanks to those of you who have reviewed the story-I appreciate it very much!

PRELUDE

"I LOVE ROBIN HOOD…."

1194 A.D. It was midday, in a hot, dusty town square in Acre, in the the Holy Land. A tall, dark-haired man, dressed in black, with an upraised sword in his hand, moved with rapid strides toward another man who lay in the middle of the square, fallen from his horse and wounded by an arrow in his shoulder. A young woman emerged from the shadows of a nearby house, rushed toward him, and placed herself between the two men.

"It's over, Guy!"

"No! Marian, get out of the way, now. Let me do this thing, and then we will be together!"

He tried to move past her, but the woman followed him and blocked his way. She stood firm, unarmed, to hinder him from his goal, to finish off the man who lay moaning and prostrate behind her.

"I've fought all my life for England. Do you think I'm going to let you kill my king?"

Marian. The woman he loved and lived for. She was so spirited, so passionate, so lovely in her flowing white dress that she took his breath away.

He might have admired her courage, too, if she had not been, at this moment, so unyieldingly obstinate. She would not see reason. His anger at her stubborn and foolish determination to stop him grew until it boiled over. He swung his sword and shouted at her.

"Marian, get out of the way!"

"No, Guy. Can't you see? Your plan has failed. This is madness! Stop this now, before it's too late!"

But he would not hear her warning. His mind was on the victory, now so close it was within his grasp.

"If I do this, I will have power, Marian, power beyond reckoning!"

The words surged through him as he said them, and he gloried in the feeling of unconquerable strength that it gave him. He smiled at her, eyes aglow with his own passion, as he invited her to share in his triumph.

"I will have my lands again, my title, wealth. After I do this, I will have everything I want and more. You will be my wife, and we will be together!"

It was a command, not a request. A command at the point of his sword.

She looked back at him. The man she thought she knew, the man she long hoped he would become, was gone. In his place was a stranger she neither knew nor understood, much less loved. The pity she might have felt for him dissolved into contempt for what she clearly saw he now was.

"I would rather die than be with you, Guy of Gisborne!"

He drew back, lowering his sword. She sensed his confusion, his disbelief, and then, his rage. She no longer cared. Only one thing mattered to her now.

"I love Robin Hood," she said softly.

A secret, unbidden joy leapt up in her heart as she said it. Her face became radiant with a smile he would have given anything in life to have been meant for him. But she was no longer looking at him, only past him, through him, as though he were no longer there.

"I'm going to marry him, Guy. I love Robin Hood."

He felt as though someone had struck him a blow in the stomach, and followed it with a dagger through his heart. The world reeled and spun wildly out of control around him. For a moment he was blind, deaf, falling into a chasm without end, black as a moonless night.

Then everything came rushing back on him in a torrent—the groans of the injured king, the distant shouts of Robin and his men as they raced toward the square. Marian, eyes shining with love for another. And his lord, Sheriff Vaisey, who stepped out from the shadows to stand beside him, with a malicious and very satisfied smile on his face as he took in the scene before him.

"I warned you, didn't I? Lepers, women are lepers. And liars. You can't trust them, least of all this one. She's betrayed you yet again, my friend. She's Robin's girl after all, just like you feared. And his traitorous little spy. So, what are you going to do about it? Nothing? I might have guessed. It's up to me, then. You're a gutless coward, Gisborne."

Frozen, rooted to the ground, Guy watched as Vaisey, his own sword drawn, advanced on Marian and ordered her out of the way.

"No, I won't let you kill the king. Never! You'll have to kill me first, Sheriff Vaisey."

Before Guy could stop him, he did.

He saw her sink down, Vaisey's sword in her body. A scarlet blossom spread across the front of her dress. Her eyes turned to him, seeking his face, before they slowly closed in pain and shock.

"Guy, help me…."

But still he could not move. He could only stare at her. His sword dropped from nerveless fingers, though he did not know it. He felt nothing, could do nothing, until the Sheriff's rough grasp on his arm propelled him toward the horses. He saw Robin, he saw other men run toward the fallen king, and Marian. The square was suddenly alive with voices, shouts, cries of horror.

Dragged along by the Sheriff, stumbling on legs gone weak, he somehow mounted his horse and followed Vaisey out of the square and down a narrow street. He looked behind him only once, to see Robin kneeling by Marian's side.

"It's not over yet, Hood!" shouted Vaisey.

They were the last words Guy heard, before the roaring in his ears blocked out everything else.