Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the song.
Song: Lullaby by Nickelback
Summary: Halt has to comfort Will of the horrors he been through, sequel to Will's Roulette.
oOo
Well, I know the feeling
Of finding yourself stuck out on the ledge
And there ain't no healing
From cutting yourself with the jagged edge
Halt scrubbed at his face, as he looked over at both his apprentices curled against each other by the fire. He knew he would find no sleep tonight, it had been far too close for comfort, and he had failed Will once he would not do it again. He knew the life of a ranger was harder than anything anyone could understand, unless you were a fellow ranger.
They had chance with their own lives on many occasions, and other people for the sake of their king and country. Apprentices were to be taught to be a ranger and how to live a ranger's life, but they should never have to go through what Will had. But he is a ranger, apprentice or not, it is in your blood.
I'm telling you that, it's never that bad
Take it from someone who's been where you're at
Laid out on the floor
And you're not sure you can take this anymore
He wishes he knew what was going through Will's head at the moment, okay so he wished that quite a few times, but this was different. He wanted to help save his apprentice and god damnit…he was more like a son. How could he possibly just stand by and watch it happen? He couldn't he was a man of action. He promised, he promised Daniel and he had promised Will.
It took a while longer for Will to fall asleep, reassurance form Gilan who laid next to him and the steady presence of Halt before he allowed his heavy eye lids to close. Gilan had managed a watery smile at Halt, before he too succumbed to sleep himself. Halt stayed awake all night, a silent nightly angel overlooking them.
If you can hear me now
I'm reaching out
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell
The next morning, Halt herded one gangly tall ranger and still extremely tired apprentice up to Redmont castle at dawn. During the night, Halt knew he could not help Will all by himself, even with Gilan there with them. The others: the baron; Alyss; Hoarce; and the other wards Will had known would help ease some of his pain and help Will open up in a way Halt couldn't.
So while the ever cheerful Gilan shepherd Will off to get something to eat, Halt made his way to an old friend that he trusted entirely with the situation and sound advice. Lady Pauline; helped Halt with his fears concerning Will and gave him advice on how to deal with it. To be honest, Halt didn't really need to say much, Pauline could read him like an open book after all these years.
"Give him hope, something that would give him more strength to go on. You know better than anyone what he is going through Halt, he needs to know that."
Please let me take you
Out of the darkness and into the light
'Cause I have faith in you
That you're gonna make it through another night
Another night, another nightmare. It was becoming a sort of a night ritual, to watch the sun rise on the porch with a warm mug of coffee to ease the coldness that lingered. Some night were okay, there were some force back tears and quiet sobs, Halt could handle just fine. He settled easy after some soothing words and stories of what Halt had been through…large details unsaid of course. Then there were nights that made Halt want to go on a killing rampage, the nights when Will would curl up silently and stare blankly, like he was far away somewhere else and not in the warmth of his hut.
Halt found those nights the hardest, when all he could do was watch his apprentice battle with his inner demons, and will the sunrise to come quicker. Pauline was right about giving Will the strength and hope to live for the next day, even if he felt he didn't need it, but she forgot about giving Halt the hope that his apprentice would make it through the day as well.
It was one of those nights, the silent ones, when Halt felt his hope fading like the stars above them, dragging them quite unwilling into the darkest hour. He stared at Will, trying to see what he could, when words unseemly slipped passed his lips.
"Stop thinking about the easy way out
There's no need to go and blow the candle out
Because you're not done
You're far too young
And the best is yet to come."
That's when Halt truly saw Will, saw him more than the apprentice, more than the ranger he was becoming. But the small boy, eager to know his fate, determines to prove himself to be more. Sacred; alone; friendless. He knew what it was like, he knew those feeling well. Leaving home and coming here to be no one, having no one. But he found somewhere to belong, he found friends, he found something to believe in. He didn't find the rangers, the rangers found him. They saved him, and together they would save Will too.
Well, everybody's hit the bottom
Everybody's been forgotten
When everybody's tired of being alone
Yeah, everybody's been abandoned
And left a little empty handed
So if you're out there barely hanging on...
Will was more than a little confused about the sudden need to go to the gathering ground, as it was still months away, and he had missed another year. He wasn't complaining, it would nice to be around the others again, he was just curious and wanted to ask questions. But Halt was giving him the look, oh you know, that look.
He managed to go half a day with asking questions, until at breaking for lunch, he gave in to temptation. He rattled of all his questions and theories as to why they needed to go there, Halt sat there and listened to all his ideas and sat for a while considering them, which made Will twist with anticipation.
"Hmm, well Will. You're an apprentice, you're not supposed to think." It was the first true smile Halt had seen in months, and it was all worth it.
In the end, Halt had manage to conjured up about 30 rangers to meet at the gathering grounds, and together they manage to piece back together a bright smiling apprentice, who thought he was training. Stories were exchanged and told over campfires with coffee flowing freely, and the elder rangers were just happy they were saving one of their own. After everything Will had done for them and in their name, it was only fair they should give him something to be proud of, other than being a ranger. From that night on Will was refer to as Will Treaty, by official order of the king, who was crept in by Crowley. (Apparently he had official business in a castle nearby, and just step outside for an evening ride.) It was what Will needed, something to live for people to have faith in him…more than he had in himself.
When they made it home and week and a half later, Will kept the stories told to him near his heart, and remember that no matter what he goes through there were at least 50 people he could turn to help him through his hard times. He had Crowley, Gilan and most importantly Halt. After all, the rangers were a tight knit group and not everyone understands them.
Just give it one more try to a lullaby
And turn this up on the radio
If you can hear me now
I'm reaching out
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell
'Cause I can't get you on the telephone
So just close your eyes
Oh, honey here comes a lullaby
Your very own lullaby
Oh, honey here comes a lullaby
Your very own lullaby
oOo
Author's note: I totally blame the conversation I was having with Bralt for this, I felt that Will's Roulette needed a happy ending, and though it started with Halt…Well Will got a happy ending =)