Tuck had gone to the protest, arriving at 8 in the morning with coffee for all of his fellow Merry Men. He had planned to be there all day, shouting his fury at the injustice of the system, but he had started waning around eleven. It was so cold, and he still had no body fat to speak of. And he hated to admit it, but he had run out of energy as well. Scarlet, Stutely, Art and Much had crowded around him, trying to keep him warm and upright, but the effort was clearly too much for him. And without stopping for something to eat, he was going to crash hard.
It was Robin who had put his foot down and sent Tuck home. Tuck had been stubbornly trying to push through, despite the worried looks from his compatriots and the occasional 'are you sure you are okay?' Scarlet whispered in his ear. Robin was right though, even if Tuck hated it. He still wasn't well enough for this kind of thing.
He had grumbled the entire way home, but when he had flopped on the sofa with a huge sandwich, he had been silently relieved.
He had even been contemplating a post-sandwich nap when there was a knock at the parsonage door. Wearily, he pulled himself to his feet again and went to answer it. Smiling warmly when he saw it was Marcie, the expression falling when he saw the blood, panicking when she started to cry.
"Oh, god! Marcie!" He pulled her into the parsonage and shut the door behind them, and then he tried to pull her into a hug too. "Jesus Christ, what happened?!"