A/N: alright this chapter needs a little explanation. I wanted Will to gradually get better with of course some ups and downs. However when I read the chapter again that Will and Halt were convincing the slaves to help fight the Temujai, I was just so confused. In what world would Will feel okay at seeing the slave yard again. So yeah, this chapter is going to be a bit dramatic, but I'm still on the path of Will's happy end!

Chapter 8

Not long after Halt's statement about convincing the slaves, the ranger was proven right. Most of the slaves had no intention in fighting for the men that had claimed ownership on their lives. However suddenly the two rangers were surprised by a sudden turn.

"I owe Will my life and if he agrees to fight, I will fight as well" came a voice from the group, and was immediately followed by others who were willing to join the former slave. Especially after Halt's explanation about the Temujai not taking prisoners, more were willing to follow.

As Will looked into the mass, he recognized the man that had shouted at first. It had been in the beginning of his time as a slave when Will encountered Ian.

Ian hadn't been able to complete his tasks for that day due to his leg injury. His back had been already full of barely healed whipping marks, yet somehow the Committee thought it to be useful to use the whip once again.

The man couldn't afford to lose any more blood, that was for certain. And despite the fact that Will had already endured the consequences of going against the Committee, he had stepped in and spoken up.

Later that day when Ian was safely in the shed, Will received ten lashes of the whip, breaking his skin. He had braced himself against the pole his hands were tied to. He didn't scream, no Halt wouldn't want him to make such noise, silent tears had dripped of his face blending with the blood on the ground.

They had taken him back to the shed only for him to work harder the next day. He had almost been broken by the pain and the cold that day, but seeing Ian getting better felt like the pain had been worth it. Later his kindness had been repaid when Ian stepped in for Will himself. It went on for days like that, Will taking the brunt for Ian when needed and vice versa.

Tears stung in his eyes as Will recalled the events. He could still feel the unimaginable pain from the whipping, and the everlasting fear of evoking the wrath of the Committee by the simplest of actions. Being back in the middle of this forsaken place was his worst nightmare coming back to life.

It came to no surprise that he couldn't find Ulrich between all those faces, the last boy he had helped before they had sentenced him to the paddles. Of course the young boy hadn't survived the harsh winter, similarly to so many others. Now looking at the group, Will noticed that he didn't recognize almost any of them. One winter was all it took to get rid of so many healthy young men.

Will forced a smile on his face as he looked towards Ian and muttered, "Thanks." As he turned around trying not to choke in fear and disgust.

Fortunately Halt's hand was already on his shoulder leading him away from the yard. The steady guiding hand, that Will had missed so much. He tried to focus on the warm hand but the fear and misery overwhelmed his body.

"You alright?" Halt asked concerned by the sudden stiffness of his apprentice.

Will nodded, as he didn't trust his voice for the moment, but was abruptly grabbed from behind. Will turned around like he had been stung by a bee and looked right into the eyes of Egon.

"I knew I remembered that face. But when that idiot called your name I realized you're my runaway puppet." A disgusting smile formed on his lips as he studied Will and his new companion. Egon was broadly built and he certainly underestimated the older ranger in his quick examination.

"I suggest you come back with me slave, I'm sure there is some room left for you in the shed. If you're lucky I'll get you some leaves." He sneered and tried to pull Will towards him, without luck as Will was much stronger than a few months ago and he released himself from the grip with ease.

Halt took a step forward, rage burning in his chest. He hadn't beaten Erak for taking Will, only because the man had shown sympathy that had saved the boy's life. But this man wasn't even worthy of being called human, someone enjoying torturing people was just a beast.

But before Halt could do anything, Will also took a step forward and almost growled at the man, "I'm not your slave anymore, your power over me ceased the day I left this wretched place."

Again the older ranger was immensely proud of how Will handled the situation. It couldn't be easy to confront his torturer while the man knew exactly how to push his buttons.

Alas Egon was, foolishly, not scared of the two man in front of him and his mouth quirked, "We'll see who's in charge here," he said and his hand went down to his belt.

Will knew exactly what Egon was grasping for, he could feel every scar burning on his back all over again. Stumbling over his own feet Will staggered back, away from the monster.

That was the moment Halt decided to step in, he had hoped Will's answer would have ended the conversation but instead the situation had only escalated.

Without giving it a second thought Halt stepped between his apprentice and the brute who was still reaching for his whip. With the strength of all those years of training and all the anger built up inside him, Halt balled his fist and landed it on the side Egon's head.

"Should have done that the second he showed his face." He growled while looking in disgust at the man who was now unconscious on the ground.

Halt turned around to find his apprentice trembling at his spot, eyes unfocused darting around. In a split second Halt decided that this place would not help in calming Will down so he gently took him by the arm and led him back to their room.

None of them said a word on the way back, Will still in shock of what happened and Halt in a loss of words. Now Halt had finally seen the place where Will had almost met his end, he felt his stomach twist in ways he did not know was possible.

Once in the room Halt realized how badly the situation actually was. Will immediately sped towards the fire and sat down, holding his knees and rocking himself back and forth.

"Will, talk to me. You're safe here, I'm not letting them take you away ever again." Halt spoke softly like he was afraid the sound of his voice would break his boy. But no reaction came, even a touch to the shoulder invoked no reaction at all.

This was it, Halt realized, the numbness and lack of reaction the princess had spoken about. And without losing any more time he stood up and informed one of the slaves that Evanlyn was needed.

Luckily not long after that she stormed into the room with a bowl of hot soup.

"Oh Will…" she sighed as she saw her friend sitting in front of the fire.

Halt tried to hide his fear as he looked at the princess, "I don't know what to do." He admitted to her and felt terrible as he looked back to his son.

Evanlyn nodded and crouched down next to Will. He didn't look at her, still fascinated by the dancing flames in front of him. Gentle and yet convincingly, Evanlyn took his chin and turned his face towards her. She noticed some curious spark in the brown eyes and at that moment she knew enough.

"Will, do you know my name?" she asked and slowly Will nodded. Evanlyn waited, in times of his addiction his reaction was always nodding, yet he never knew what was really asked.

Then Will realized she was waiting for an answer, "Ev...lyn…" he mumbled sluggishly. For Halt watching from the sideline, it was already a big relief that Will hadn't sunk that deep into his trauma.

Evanlyn continued unfazed, "And who is behind me Will?"

It took some time for Will to shift his gaze towards the man behind her. The fog in his mind slowly disappearing as he took in the surroundings.

"Halt?" he asked unsure whether he was seeing it correctly.

Halt crouched down next to Evanlyn, "Yes Will, I'm here." He said with a thick Hibernian accent revealing his emotions running over.

Suddenly as if a curtain was ripped down, Will's eyes became his own again. He started to shiver immensely despite the fact that they were sitting in front of the fire, which was making Halt and Evanlyn sweat.

Evanlyn smiled at the change, she knew they had broken through to him. She took the bowl of soup and held it in front of Will, "here take this, it will warm you up."

When she had heard of an emergency from Halt, she had decided to take something that could resemble the warmth of the weed a little bit. She knew Will's body still craved it at times, and that there was a pouch far too close to her liking.

A moment of concern washed over Will's face again and he hesitated.

"It's just soup Will, nothing more." Evanlyn assured with a smile when she realized how much this resembled the first time he had taken warmweed.

Will nodded and too the bowl slowly with trembling hands.

As soon as the bowl was empty, Will noticed how tired he actually was. He leaned to the side against Halt and dropped his head on his mentor's chest. Normally Halt wasn't that much of a hugger but now he sat back relaxed, holding Will firmly and gently stroking small circles on his back.

"Why does it keep happening?" Will whispered after some time, while tears started welling up in his eyes.

"You're recovering, you can't expect everything to be back to normal suddenly after all that happened." Halt answered calmly.

This time Will couldn't let it go so easily. He hated feeling weak. "Why not? I know I'm safe, so why do these things still trigger me?"

"Just because you know something, doesn't make it easy to do it. From your first day with me, you knew your arrow had to hit the target. Still it took quite some time to actually do it, all because your body and mind needed practice in how to shoot. Your body and mind now need practice in knowing when you're safe." The explanation came without thinking, and it surprised Halt himself that he came up with such logical reasoning.

Putting it like that it seemed to make more sense to Will too and even though he hated the fact that he needed practice in gaining control of his emotions back, he was glad that Halt clearly didn't mind it.

"So practice, again?" Will mumbled as he felt his eyelids getting heavier.

Halt smiled as he still held his apprentice against him, protecting him from any harm in the world. "I thought you were used to that golden rule by now," he spoke while ruffling softly into the brown curls.

A few moments later Will fell asleep from pure exhaustion. Halt turned to Evanlyn and whispered, "Thank you"

Even though she had clearly been the one able to break through Will's breakdown, she didn't seem satisfied at all. "I wish there was more I could do for him." She said quietly and left the room.


That night Will and Halt were dining together, after a few hours rest Will had recovered completely and was again full of energy. Horace had been practicing with the Skandian warriors and would join them later, as for Evanlyn no one had seen her since she had left Will and Halt in the room.

Halt had insisted on someone being with Will at every eating opportunity, because they knew if he was left alone he wouldn't eat a single bite. However, now the roles were reversed as Will was attacking the food and Halt was just pushing his fish around.

"I'm sorry, Will." He blurted out after a while.

Will looked up confused, he had noticed Halt had been silent since the incident but an apology was the last thing he expected. "For what? You didn't do anything."

"Exactly, that is the whole point. I should have strangled the bastard immediately."

Will grinned, he had heard that Egon was still at the infirmary due to a bad concussion and a fracture in his skull. "I think you already taught him a good enough lesson. And besides it was just the whole situation, being back at that yard, seeing Ian, mentions of warmweed and then his intentions to hurt me. Well, let's just say I'm glad it took that much to take me down."

Now he had had some time to think about it, Will really felt more confident about the whole situation. Yes, it frightened him that there were still things that could trigger him into such a state, but with Halt around he also knew everything would just turn out fine.

"Are you sure you're up to it to teach those slaves?" Halt asked kindly, without giving any signs of being uncertain himself.

Will thought about it seriously, he knew it was important that he slaves would trust him in the face of imminent danger. A former slave with sudden relapses wouldn't be much of a leader. However he reminded himself of the words Halt had said earlier. If Halt trusted him, why wouldn't he trust himself.

"Yes I'm up for it. Besides, I need to practice, right?" he added the joke to keep the conversation light hearted.

"You sure do. I can't deliver you back to Crowley in anything less than decent shape. Speaking of which, make sure you eat those vegetables. You'll be training full time tomorrow, no lazy resting in the afternoons." Halt commented. He knew Will had been eager to train like old times, and he knew with the war coming closer each day that training was necessary to survive.

Will could jump up in the air, finally he was able to train like he used to. Granted, he was feeling much better after eating whole plates again. And the salve was doing wonders for his back, making it far easier to use his bow.

After shoving the last crumbs from his plate into his mouth the two rangers stood up and walked back to their room. But before Will could take even a few steps, Halt grabbed him into a hug.

"I'm proud of you son. Never forget that." He spoke so soft that Will even wondered whether he heard it right.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter, I can't make promises for when the next one will come. It's going to be a busy week, but I'll do my best for you guys!