Rose of a Quiver

XII

He slammed the half done kebab down on the stove in front of him, spinning to look fiercely at Tucker. His eyes seemed to blaze like green fire, but Tucker's icy blue ones seemed unconcerned. "Now is when you question my sanity?" he snapped. "Not when I talked you into taking in others like me, convincing you that one day they could be useful when in reality I just didn't want to leave them out there to die. Not when I convinced you it was a better idea to steal from Sherwood because they would be less likely to notice or be smart enough to realize it was someone from Loxley. Hell, you didn't even question my sanity when I admitted to you that I liked girls and guys; at least, not as far as I know."

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous," Tucker interjected, rolling his eyes at the accusation. "Who you care to be with is all you and has nothing to do with your sanity. Don't insult me by saying I would believe otherwise."

"I'm sorry, then," Robin said, raising his hands briefly before dropping his hands back to his sides. "But just like you feel that me saying that is ridiculous, that's how I feel about you questioning my sanity on this. I am the same man who you raised, the same man doing what I believe is right to help others. And yeah, maybe it is a little crazy to try and pull this job off with so many unknown variables and in so little time. Sure, the circumstances aren't the most ideal for the time crunch or even if we had more time. None of that makes me insane for trying; it just makes it all a challenge. Aren't you the one who always says you love a good challenge?"

The corner of Tucker's mouth twitched as though he wanted to smile, but kept it from turning up. He unlocked his fingers and ran one hand through his dark hair, a curling lock falling to the front of his face as he sighed. "I do love a challenge," he said, levelling a look at Robin that left him confused. He was sure that Tucker was disappointed in him and yet something in the way he looked back at him said the complete opposite. "But I also have the sense to know when it is reasonable to draw a line in accepting them. What you're trying to do here, though it's for a good cause, is impossible. There is no way, even if the circumstances of the lockdown or Sherwood looking for us wasn't involved, that you would be able to make this work without a problem. Everything is stacked against you from every direction and you have to understand that that means making a tough decision."

"You mean, quitting."

"It's not necessarily quitting—"

"Yes, it is," Robin said fiercely. Images of Jon heartbroken, crying over Babbs dead body suddenly flooded through his mind. Then, as if to prove that worse could happen, he was suddenly bombarded with images of an alive Babbs, tortured and destroyed under Linc's thumb. He ground his teeth together, hating the images and himself for never taking her in with Jon. Maybe if he had, none of it would've been happening. "You want me to just stop trying to go through with this because it's a challenge—"

"Impossible challenge, actually."

"Impossible," Robin sneered, annoyed on top of everything else. "Because it's impossible; except I don't think so. I just think it's a challenge that could help all of us. If we push ourselves to do this, and come out victorious, then we proved we can do anything. We'll have proved that and Babbs will be okay, so Jon will be too. If the alternative is to give up, not challenge our limits and an innocent, unfortunate girl paying the price for it, then I'm willing to take the challenge as impossible as it may seem. No one deserves to just be left to die because someone else decided to quit on them. If you'd done that, none of us would be alive right now."

Tucker nodded slowly at his words, but Robin could tell he still wasn't entirely in agreement. The set of his sharp jaw was enough to signal that Robin had made valuable points, but he still had more to argue. "You're right, no one deserves that," Tucker spoke. "And your optimism is inspiring. But the truth of the matter is, those aren't the only two options on how this could all end. The main, blaring one that you seem to be missing out on, is the most likely to happen. You could go out there, as determined as you are, and still fail; and that failure will cost you more than you're willing to admit. You're doing this to save Babbs, to keep Jon in that happy little state of his, and that's great. But wouldn't that all just be a moot point if the job goes bad and, somehow, Jon is the one who pays the price for it? How do you think you'd feel about this decision then?"