Chapter Text
Gilan woke to a strange sound. Staying quiet and relaxed he peered at Will in the small bed against the opposite wall. The little boy was sleeping soundly, legs and arms flung out wildly with his blankets wrapped around one foot and one hand holding the warm doggie by the worn arm.
With a little smile Gilan listened and not hearing anything else to tell him where the sound came from he quietly pulled his knives and slipped out of bed. Silently moving to the door of the small bedroom Gilan peered out into the main room to see Halt’s shadow near the front door with his own saxe drawn. Halt, seeing Gilan nodded and Gilan nodded back. Gilan was to stay in the doorway of the room in case someone tried to come in through the small window in either room while Halt took the main room.
Waiting silently and patiently they listened. It was a long quiet wait until finally the door began to slowly open. It was opened silently, which meant whoever it was knew about the sagging hinges and had lifted the door slightly to keep it from scraping on the floor.
Halt stood behind where the door swung open, hiding him, waiting until the shadow slipped quietly into the room before grabbing the taller figure around the neck with one strong arm and holding his saxe to the shadow where the figure’s nose would be.
“You want that nose cut off, Crowley? What do you think you are doing sneaking in here in the middle of the night?”
There came a chuckle from the shadow in the cowl of the man held in Halt’s grip. “Just testing my Rangers.”
Halt released Crowley and shoved him away. “It is a good way to get more than your nose cut off.”
“Oh, I knew you were there.”
“Uh huh.” Halt said, unconvinced.
“Coffee, Crowley? Or do you want to go right to sleep?” Gilan asked, stepping away from the door of the room after a quick glance at the still sleeping Will.
“Coffee would be great. I need your help.”
Halt stoked up the fire while Gilan lit the lanterns and got the kettle ready.
Crowley turned to hang up his cloak on the pegs by the door and turned back to find a wild haired little boy flying at him with a cry of “Uncle Crowley!”
Crowley caught up the seven year old in a big hug “Hey Kiddo! You are growing so much.”
Will made a sad face “I am still the smallest.”
“Good, big kids don’t make the best Rangers.”
“But Gilan and Halt are big.”
“What am I? A toadstool?”
“You are big too! I will never be big enough.”
Crowley smiled at Halt and said “At least one person that has met you in the flesh still thinks you are actually ten feet tall.”
Halt just grunted and moved to grab the mugs from the cupboard. Gilan and Crowley exchanged delighted looks behind him as Halt had to get on his tiptoes to reach.
“Are you here for important Ranger business Uncle Crowley?” Will asked.
“I am. I need Halt and Gilan’s help.” Crowley said, putting Will down.
With a sigh Will turned toward his and Gilan’s room “I will pack my bag. Am I going to Gampa Ewan’s tonight?”
Halt looked at Crowley and Crowley shook his head “No, we need to plan then go talk to Arald in the morning.”
“How long will you be gone?” Will asked.
“Pretty long.” Crowley knew anything more than a day was a long time to a kid.
Will nodded his mussed little head sagely and said “I will pack all my clothes to stay at the ward for a long time. May I have a light?” He asked Halt.
Halt grunted and lit another lantern and carried it into the room with Will following him. Crowley noticed Gilan watching them a little sadly.
“You are coming up on graduating here soon.” He remarked to the apprentice.
“Yea,” Gilan said with a little smile “I sure am going to miss them.”
“Even Halt?”
Gilan grinned at Crowley and said “He grows on you.”
“He does that. How do you think Will is going to handle you leaving?”
“We have been trying to get him used to the idea. It helps that Halt has been sending me on smaller missions alone but I don’t think he really understands I won’t be living here anymore.”
“You should get him to write you letters while you are on missions, that way he will have something to continue when you go.”
Gilan smiled, “That is a great idea. Plus Halt is going to hate having to make sure Will doesn’t get ink everywhere. An extra bonus.”
“There is a reason I am the Commandant.”
“Because you know exactly how to drive Halt crazy, even from across the country?”
“Yes.” Came Halt’s grumpy answer from the doorway. “It is hard enough trying to keep up with Will writing letters to Crowley, Berrigan and your parents, it is going to be such a mess with him writing letters to you too. He will want to write to you everyday to tell you about every bug, leaf and rock he found.”
“Sounds perfect! It is a plan then.” Gilan said happily.
Halt just sighed and took the mug Gilan offered him and took a sip and they began talking about the band of mercenaries one of the Baron’s had hired to cause havoc in his rival’s fief.
After a little while Gilan got up to check on a suspiciously quiet Will and found the little boy asleep sitting on the ground, slumped over with his head resting on a pile of clothes clearly ready to be put into the bag Will’s hand rested on. With a fond smile Gilan picked up Will and tucked him into bed, stuffed the pile of clothes into the bag and laid the toy spearman on top, even after almost three years it still looked almost new since Will refused to do much more than look at it.
Blowing out the lantern Gilan returned to the front room to continue planning with Halt and Crowley before they too went to bed for a few hours.