An Impromptu Rescue

Plan Initiation

Chapter 8: Plan Initiation

A/N: All I can say is sorry. I was meant to post last week but life got in the way. I made this chapter a little longer so I hope that makes up for it.

Enjoy!

"Alright men! We'll set up camp here as out rendezvous point!" Robin announces to the Merry Men. They all then dismount their horses before going through the process of putting up the tents and starting a fire.

Once they've set up the main tent that will serve as an armoury and final planning station, the thief then helps in unloading the few chests from the carts. When their placed near the makeshift armoury, he inspects them to make sure the few weapons they brought haven't been damaged, even though he's sure they're in almost perfect condition. Robin's suspicions are confirmed upon opening each lid.

Satisfied he goes in search of Wilma as he wants to check on her and give her a hand if she needs one – and from what little he knows about her, she probably will.

It doesn't take too long for the thief to find the woman and he suppresses a chuckle upon the sight of her. She's currently crouched on the ground, wrestling with the canvas of the would-be-tent which seems to have managed to have gotten the sticks caught up within it. The brunette continues to struggle for a moment longer before standing up abruptly as she throws the materials to the ground, letting out a frustrated sigh. Robin allows himself a quiet chuckle – because in his opinion she looks nothing but adorable – then deciding to make his presence known he asks, "Need some help?"

Wilma turns to face him and he immediately notices the annoyance swirling within her brown eyes. "I wouldn't need any help if this thing wouldn't fall down all the bloody time!" she snaps as she kicks the canvas at her feet.

The thief can't help the smirk that forms on his lips. "Yes, that does make it rather difficult." he agrees. "So, do you want some help?"

"No." Wilma quickly states, "I don't want or need any help from a thief such as yourself." And with that she turns back around, crouching on the ground as her hands go back to disentangling the sticks from the canvas.

"Alright, suit yourself." Robin concedes as he backs away from the clearly pissed off woman with his hands held up. However, he doesn't go far, instead he decides to watch her from a short distance as he waits for the inevitable to happen.

To her credit the brunette manages to stake two sticks into the ground and seemingly quite firmly, but she forgets to tie the third to each pole. So of course, as soon as the woman struggles to get the canvas over the two wooden poles, the material sags in the middle before proving to be too heavy for the two sticks to hold and causes the structure to collapse in on itself.

The thief struggles to contain his laughter as the brown-eyed woman lets out a groan and her head falls into her hands. "Damn! You almost had it too!" he says, moving back to the spot where he was standing previously.

Wilma glares over her shoulder at him in response and he can't help the chuckle that escapes his lips. "Oh, so this is funny to you is it?" she asks indignantly, gesturing to the pile of canvas and sticks in front of her.

"Incredibly." Robin replies, smirking when her feels her hand slap against his arm.

"You shouldn't find a woman struggling with a tent amusing." the brunette snaps through he can hear the slight amusement in her tone.

"Well, I did offer my services," he states, turning to fully face her and bringing up his hand to show two fingers, "twice."

Wilma rolls her eyes before crouching back down. "Well, maybe putting up a tent isn't as simple as I originally thought." she admits as she picks up a stick and yet again stakes it into the ground, but the thief makes no move to help her. Once the brunette has the second wooden pole in the dirt she faces him and asks, "Are you just going to stand there?"