Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Ranger's Apprentice.

Crowley sighed contentedly as he took another sip of coffee. The Ranger Gathering had just started. Tents were still being pitched, several with coffee made in them, including his, of course. He glared at the pile of paperwork on his desk. Even though it was the Gathering, he still had to do it.

He looked at the paperwork, looked outside his tent, looked at the paperwork, looked outside his tent and saw Halt, and walked outside. "Halt!" Crowley said cheerfully. Halt grunted and peered suspiciously inside of Crowley's cabin.

"Don't talk to me unless you have coffee."

Crowley grinned. "Actually, I just finished my only cup of it."

Halt glared at Crowley, who hastily ran back into his tent for safety. After he was sure Halt had left, he headed back out. "Crowley!" Gilan was waving him over from several yards away. Will was with him. Crowley hesitated, then saw the steaming pot of what was most likely coffee and came over.

Wordlessly, Gilan poured him a cup. Crowley gave his thanks. He frowned as he saw Gilan and Will add a generous amount of honey to their coffee. Will saw the expression and smirked. It was well known amongst the Rangers that Halt and his apprentices put honey in their coffee.

"So, Crowley," Will said. "Gilan and I are-"

"Are what?" Halt interrupted, his threatening gaze daring anyone to continue.

Gilan quickly took over. "Are making coffee!"

Halt raised an eyebrow, and Gilan realized that there was a pot of coffee right in front of him, and they all had a cup in their hand. "I mean, drinking coffee."

Ignoring Gilan, Halt sat down between Crowley and Will. "Will, pour me some coffee."

Will grinned and complied. "So, Halt," he began in a casual tone. "Any plans for this Gathering?"

The older Ranger frowned. His apprentices were not to be trusted during Gatherings. Ever.

"Scaring apprentices again, probably," Crowley joked. Halt had a reputation for terrifying apprentices during Gatherings.

"Maybe, if they make bad decisions." Will and Gilan exchanged a look. Halt noticed. "Planning something?"

The two Rangers made innocent expressions. "I would never think of such a thing, Halt," Gilan responded, already thinking of ways to annoy Halt.

Will suppressed a smirk. "Neither would I."

Halt glared at them both, making a mental note to stay alert. Crowley stayed silent, knowing that Halt was still annoyed at him from his comment earlier.

...

Gilan and Will snuck out of the tent at midnight. "Don't come back," Halt's muffled voice sounded from inside the tent, causing both Gilan and Will to jump.

"I thought he was asleep," Will whispered to himself.

"I heard that," Halt said.

"Go away," Will whined. He headed towards Crowley's tent, Gilan right behind him. The time had been arranged during dinner, when Halt was sitting alone because he "needed to be around people with more common sense, or better, nobody." Crowley waited expectantly inside.

Gilan and Will sat comfortably next to Crowley. "As we were saying before we were rudely interrupted by Halt, we have an idea."

Crowley grinned. "What kind of plan?" Although he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"We annoy Halt as much as possible during the Gathering. And, well...suffer the consequences." All three Rangers winced. They had seen Halt when he was angry before. Of course, that wouldn't stop them.

"Is this a competition?" Crowley asked.

Gilan shrugged. "Not really, unless you mean a competition between the three of us and Halt. There are a few rules. You can't do something that will make Halt kill you, you can't team up, and you can't tell Halt that we thought of this together.

Will and Crowley nodded, and Gilan smiled, his smile uncannily similar to Halt's wolf-smile. "I'll go first."