hey y'all! I have completed the next chapter! It's short but sweet. Halt finds some friends and there's a sweet Gilan/Crowley fluff moment. Hope y'all enjoy! Leave a review telling me what y'all think!

Halt awoke to someone nudging his side with their foot. He blinked awake, rolling so that his back faced the tree. The man in front of him was familiar, an old friend from Dun Kilty. The young man was about Halt's age and had black hair and dark brown eyes with flecks of gold. Halt recognized him instantly from their long training sessions in the palace gardens, or their conversations after dark in the woods surrounding the walls. His childhood best friend and the husband of his little sister, Charlie O'dair. They had lived together and trained together their whole lives. It killed Halt seeing Charlie here, with his enemies, against him.

"Hey Halt," the soldier sighed, kneeling down next to him, "your head wound is still oozing. Let's get it bandaged up," he reached for his old friend, stopping when Halt flinched away, "Halt," he spoke gently, not moving forward anymore, "we have to keep you alive. If we just leave your wound out in the open, you know it will get infected. Let me bandage it," he reached forward again, noting that Halt didn't move away again.

"Where am I, Charlie," Halt demanded, "what's going on? Why are you with Ferris?"

"Because I don't have a choice," Charlie snapped quietly, "your father is really sick, and Ferris has taken over as Regent until he either recovers or... or dies," he glanced up at Halt's impassive face before directing his attention back to the wound, "about a month ago, a man visited your brother and had a meeting with him. Ferris didn't even allow Caitlyn in with them. Afterwards, your brother sent several men out on confidential missions. They were never allowed to tell anyone where they went, but now I'm suspecting they went to find you," he raised an eyebrow, "and it seems like they were successful," he sighed, "I'm sorry, Halt. There are a good few of us who don't actually want to be here. None of us knew what was going on until we crossed that borders and he told us."

"What is he doing?" Halt growled, wincing as Charlie dripped alcohol onto his injury, "I don't understand what's going on."

Charlie sighed, "your brother is working in league with a man named Morgarath," he raised an eyebrow as Halt sucked in a sharp breath, "you know him?"

Halt nodded, "he's an Arulen war criminal. He tried to take over the kingdom. Ended up causing the death of the king's father. Caused a war and made several hundred children fatherless."

Charlie grimaced, "so a bad guy."

"Yes, Charles," Halt rolled his eyes, "he's a bad guy."

The man smirked, wrapping a bandage around his friend's torso, "well, then I understand why your brother is working with him."

"I'm just wondering how Morgarath knew about him," Halt groaned, shifting under his friend's touch, "and if he knows who I am."

***Line Break***

Crowley watched the young soldier patch up his friend. He frowned as he saw them speaking together quietly, but not hostilely. It baffled him, and he wasn't sure how they knew each other. And it was obvious they knew each other because Halt was letting the man touch his injuries. His frown deepened as another soldier crossed over to them. Halt didn't clam up like Crowley expected him to, instead, he greeted the older man almost cordially. His confusion deepened as the soldier, obviously a higher rank if the patches on his vest were anything to go by, produced a small roll and canteen for Halt. What was their game? More importantly, why was Halt buying it? He was allowing them to help him, to touch him. Crowley shook his head, completely baffled. He crept closer so he could hear what was going on. He slid nearly silently from one tree to the one Halt was tied to. He hid in the lower branches, inching closer until he was able to catch the conversation between the two knights and his friend.

"...Caitlyn?" Halt was finishing a question, clearly asking after someone's welfare.

"She's doing better," the younger soldier replied, "the pregnancy was hard on her, labor even more so, but she's recovering nicely," he hesitated, "at least she was improving when I left. We had a son, Halt. She named him Sean, after your grandfather. He's already showing some personality. Some strong lungs too."

Halt chuckled quietly, "he takes after Caitlyn in that," he glanced at the older man, "and Ary?"

The older man grimaced, reaching around the ranger and untying him for a moment, "old and bitter."

"So not much has changed, there," Halt shook his head, shaking out his swollen limbs and groaning as circulation returned, "you could have told Jason to tie them, looser than that, Drayen."

"No, I couldn't have Halt," the older man admonished, "had Ferris caught you loose he would have all our heads and the where would we be? Dead."

Halt frowned, "that's fair. he's not exactly known to be sane, is he?"

"Going after you was probably mistake number one," the younger soldier shrugged, "well... actually, that's very low n his list of stupid ideas. Number one would probably be trying to kill you in the first place," he sighed, "you would have made a much better king than him."

"Easy Charlie," Halt snapped gently, "he's not king yet, only regent. Dad'll get better, he's about as stubborn as an old mule."

"Emphasis on old, Halt," The older man, Drayen, pointed out, "you need to come back and claim your right as regent."

Crowley felt panic rising quickly in his throat at the thought of Halt leaving. he couldn't do his job without Halt backing him. He couldn't do anything with confidence without Halt backing him. But he needn't have feared. Halt was already shaking his head, not even considering the idea.

"You know the people wouldn't ever trust me," he shrugged philosophically, "I ran off once, what's to stop me from doing it again, and all that crap. Besides, I am quite satisfied where I am, thank you. I think my partner might lose his mind if I ran off and became a regent. he also might think I'd forged a few too many documents."

Crowley nearly snorted at the fair description, he would most definitely lose his mind and he might question the legality of Halt's regentness. he nearly fell out of the tree as he shifted and he froze, holding tightly to the tree branch.

"What was that?" Charlie snapped, grabbing Halt's arm as he looked around.

Halt had to force himself to look anywhere but the tree above him, where he knew Crowley had to be hiding. The stupid klutz was gonna get himself killed.

Crowley grimaced, he could feel Halt berating him silently. He waited until the two Hibernian soldiers looked away before sliding closer to the trunk of the tree. He could stay there until the two soldiers left and then untie Halt, effectively getting him out of this enemy camp. But he'd have to wait for nightfall. He slid out of the tree, ghosting away from the Hibernian camp, and back to his own.

***Line Break***

Gilan hissed in discomfort as 'Halt' redressed his wounds roughly. He clearly didn't know what he was doing and was trying to hide it. He wasn't. Gilan repressed another groan of pain as Halt pressed unnecessarily hard against his wounds. The camp had been eerily quiet since Crowley had left, the impostor not saying a word to Gilan at all. Clearly, this man didn't know Halt at all if he thought Halt was this quiet all the time. The man was quiet, yes, but if Gilan was quiet then something was wrong and Halt would have tried to fill the quiet somehow. Take Gilan's mind off whatever was bothering him. This man didn't, only serving to cement Gilan's belief that this was not Halt, although he didn't really need anymore proof. He watched the man cross the clearing, looking around worriedly, his face creased in concern.

"Everything alright, Halt?" he questioned, the name feeling crude coming out directed at the other man, "you're pacing like a caged tiger."

"I'm fine," the man replied shortly, not even sparing Gilan a glance, "take a nap or something."

Gilan frowned to himself, not wanting to give away what he knew, but also barely being able to stand the impostor posing as his mentor. He rolled over onto his side, curling up in a ball and looking away from the man. He wrapped his arms around his torso, a suddenly desperate desire to see Halt nearly overwhelming him to the point of tears. He forced himself to take a deep breath and steady his breathing, trying to not let the man know something was wrong.

"You okay, Gilan?" Crowley's voice came from next to him, "it's okay to tell me, Halt's brother is gone."

Gilan threw himself up and against Crowley, trying to stifle his tears against the other man. Crowley wrapped his arms around the apprentice, seeking the same level of comfort as the young boy. Gilan tried his best not to cry, but ultimately, his emotions got the better of him.

"It's okay, Gilan," Crowley assured the boy, gently rubbing circles on his back, "Halt is okay. I found they're camp and Halt is being well taken care of. I think he knows two of the men there, from his younger days, and they won't let anything happen to him. He'll be okay."

Gilan nodded, not moving from his spot of comfort and safety in Crowley's shoulder, "I want him back. I can't stand..."

"I know," the thought didn't need to be finished for Crowley to know exactly what Gilan was trying to say, "I know it's hard, buddy, but I need you to hold on for just a little while more, okay?"

Gilan nodded again, resting up against his friend, "I want to end this."

"I know kiddo," Crowley sighed, his own feelings echoing that of the apprentices, "I know."

Okay y'all. I know this chapter is kinda short and I'm sorry, but school has started up again and suddenly my schedule went from absolutely nothing to headlong into the cesspool that is high school life. AKA, my life sucks rn. But, I love y'all and I know you've been waiting for an update so it's short but it's here! Leave a review and tell me what you think. I don't know when I'll next update but it should be soon. Love y'all!

-storyspinner16