Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, made possible by the Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. I have only borrowed his creation and I make no money. For this story I have used several other Rangers from the books, though I've also added my own. I do this only in the hope to entertain….

Author's Note: No harm shall come to the characters that can't be fixed with enough coffee…..

Chapter 4

Over the course of the next few days of the gathering Will tried to keep his feelings to himself, though he wasn't certain if Gilan didn't sense something. He was certain Halt didn't notice anything, but then he had most of his attention on Gilan the whole time. Given that that was the reason why Will was starting to feel a bit annoyed, it was perhaps not so strange that his mentor did not notice.

Given that Gilan was a very intelligent man with a keen sense and very strongly attuned to his surroundings, it was probably not so strange that he noticed.

Halt had been fussing about him, really fussing, this time. It wasn't just Will's own insecurity that allowed him to imagine it so. Crowley had asked if Gilan could assess the third year apprentices in unseen movement, and Halt had made to answer for him. Of course, Gilan had quickly put an end to that, that time. He had told Halt it was his job to asses them, and he would do it. With Crowley backing him up, there hadn't been much Halt could say about it, but he clearly had not liked it.

That had really been a bit odd Will felt, he was certain Halt would never have been so concerned about one of the others. He was beginning to wonder if Halt would even be so concerned about him, and he didn't particularly care for the fact that he was beginning to feel that way. He did not want to be pitiful and envious, and yet he was beginning to resent some of the attention that Gilan was getting.

It didn't help that Gilan seemed to have noticed, and was in some strange way trying to make it up to Will. He'd wink at him when Halt was fussing, shake his head and give Will a conspirator smile when he gave in to Halt's fussing. He also seemed to pay Will more attention, as if that was what he wanted.

Instead, Will found himself even keeping away from them, and an ugly little part of him he didn't want to acknowledge wondered if they even noticed or cared.

Halt had sanded the crutch Crowley had carved. Will had indeed slept soundly, and when he crawled out of his tent that morning to the smell of coffee, he found Halt sitting by the fire. At first, his mouth had watered at the smell of coffee and the thought of what Halt was making them for breakfast. Then he had realized he was using handfuls of sand to rub the crutch smooth.

When Gilan had crawled out of his own tent, Halt had pretended to be gruff. Yet he had not allowed Gilan to even have coffee before his inspected his ankle, and so he did every morning.

If it had been Crowley, Will would have felt better about it. He and Halt had been friends since before the dawn of time, or so it seemed. Given Halt's salt and pepper beard he certainly seemed almost old enough for that. Will had however not needed Gilan's warning to avoid making that comment. The time Halt had caught him singing 'Greybeard Halt' had been all the indication he needed.

If it had been Crowley, it would have made sense to have Halt act like a mother hen. They really were close friends even if they were so different in their personalities.

However, a Ranger was supposed to be impartial to his apprentices. He wasn't supposed to care more about one of them then the other.

Then there was that voice that Will was really beginning to hate, that said if he did, it should be Will and not Gilan…

Gilan had his father, and mother, he had a family when Will only had Halt…

Coming back after having helped one of the other Rangers he was shocked to hear what sounded like an argument between Halt and Gilan. They stopped as soon as he came near, but Halt looked more than a little annoyed and was rather short tempered.

Gilan treated Will no different, but he did not say much to Halt, and Will didn't ask what it was about. Instead he excused himself and made his way over to the side of the camp where Crowley's command tent was.

The commandant looked at him, and frowned, then leaned back in the canvas chair. "Gilan finally had enough of Halt's mothering him?" he asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and Will frowned. He hadn't thought anyone but him had noticed it, but if Crowley had, then something was going on for certain.

"They argued, I've never seen them argue before," he shrugged.

"It's a very rare thing," Crowley gave a shrug as he put down the papers he had been perusing. "But Gilan is a Ranger in his own right, and he's one of our best. Sometimes, Halt's finding it a bit difficult to remember that. He's more inclined to think about the scrawny little runt that he trained."

"I can't believe Gilan was ever a runt," Will snorted. "He's too tall, he's annoyingly tall."

"He is a bit, isn't he?" Crowley chuckled. "Thin as a reed though, used to look like a strong wind could bowl him over. Never has filled out either, I thought he would, but he just keeps getting lankier. Halt didn't tell me that when he told me he was taking him for an apprentice…"

"Told you?" Will frowned. "I thought we had to ask, and you had to approve."

"You do," Crowley confirmed. "But we're talking about Halt here, he told me…"

"I suppose that makes sense," Will mused.

"He told me he was taking Gilan, the same way he told me he was taking you," Crowley confirmed. "You were about Halt's own size when I saw you, fitting. Gilan however, was not as tall as he is now, but well on the way, and so thin you thought he could hide behind a single straw of hay with room to spare," he frowned, tapping his chin with a rolled up piece of paper. "You know, that might be why we never can spot him…"

"Somehow, I don't think so," Will shrugged. He wasn't quite in the mood to hear he would never be as good as Gilan at unseen movements.

"Maybe not," Crowley shrugged. "But I did wonder if we wouldn't have to tie him down when the wind was on. I did suggest to Halt he got some good lead weights to make him carry with him. Sow them into his clothes or put them into his pockets…. He never did it though." He sounded almost surprised as he said it, as if he really had thought Halt would stuff Gilan's clothes full of lead weights. Even though he wasn't exactly in a good mood, the mental picture of Gilan dragging along a set of merchants weights was an amusing one and Will found himself grinning.

"The point is, Will, the only thing Halt has ever been more certain of than taking Gilan, was taking you," unrolling the paper he had been fiddling with Crowley scanned it. "You don't have to compete with Gilan, you really don't…"

Will was on the verge of objecting he wasn't, when he paused, because there was no point in trying to fool the older Ranger.

"Now," Crowley sighed as he took in the rest of the stack of the paper. "If you're not going to help me with this, is it too much to ask you fetch your poor old commandant some coffee?"

"Sure," Will shrugged, he figured it was the least he owed Crowley. He was a good friend and a very good commandant. He really was as good at his job as he would claim to be. He'd get some for himself as well, and Crowley couldn't very well turn him away.

At least he hoped he wouldn't, because if Halt and Gilan had argued, he really didn't want to be where he risked getting caught between the two of them.

He really couldn't picture something worse than that, because no matter how jealous he might be feeling at the time, and he still didn't like that he was, they were still two of his closest friends and painfully small family…

TBC

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