Gilan groaned as his alarm went off and he rolled out the burrow he'd made in his bed. The early morning sunlight filtered through his green curtains, basking the room in a tinted glow. Yawning, he dressed in simple jeans and a cream knitted sweater, which according to Halt, you could find an identical one in the old lady's home across the street. But Jenny had brought it for him for Christmas when they exchanged secret Santa gifts, so he wore it as much as he could. He looked in the mirror briefly on his way to the kitchen and frowned at his messy hair, then did a double take to run a comb through it.

He walked into the kitchen and stoped in his tracks when he saw a mop of curly brown hair, and the man attached to it, wondering around his flat. He needed coffee. "I made you a cup." Will gestured to the mug on the table.

"Thanks. Do you always come waltzing into my home at seven am?"

"No, I just forgot to buy coffee yesterday." He shrugged and sat down opposite Gilan.

"Why not go to Halt's he lives opposite?"

"Would you want to risk waking Halt up on a Tuesday morning at 7 AM?"

"Fair point." They drank their coffee in silence when Gil looked at the clock. "Come on, if we go now I'll get you a pretzel on the way."

"Okay!" Will jumped out his seat like a puppy and he was reminded of the first time he met Will.

There he was, the infamous Halt O'Carrick, standing right in the middle of the training ground, gun still in his holster, he had the drop on him for sure.

It was a simple exercise designed to help aim and accuracy but Gilan had turned it into a game, a game he could finally win. He would shoot him, splattering paint onto his protective vest, it wouldn't hurt, well not much. Everyone in the squad knew of his and Halt's friendly rivalry thus had formed teams to the dismay of Chief Meryton, or Crowley as everyone called him. His team was blue, his enemy red, if you got hit, your out. Those were the rules negotiated before hand. This drill was for the whole precinct meaning even the younger trainees were taking part, those who weren't ready to become fully fledged police officers but volunteered on weekends or in their free time. He snuck up being careful to hide behind barrels and trees in the area. 30 meters, 20, 10, 5, 2 and… he put the gun against his head in victory. "Hello Halt." He turned around to face him and Gilan took a step back, gesturing for him to put his hands in the air. As far as he knew they were the only two left in the game. "Any last words?"

"Yes actually, you're slipping Gilan, you should've checked your surroundings." He had a dangerous glint in his eye that sent Gilans mind tumbling into doubt. Had he missed something? He swore he-. His thoughts were cut off as a paintball smashed into his vest, he looked confused from his chest to where Halt still had his hands up. Then a small figure jumped from a low branch in the tree nearby. "Gilan meet Will, a trainee and my adopted son." He shook his head in admiration, the kid looked only 15 which was the minimum age for trainees but a shot from that far away? He was good.

"Hey, that shot was wicked, I'm Gilan." He stuck his hand out and studied the boy more carefully. He was shorter than average but he could tell he had an intelligent head on his shoulders and a messy head of curly brown hair and warm brown eyes, tinted with youth.

"I'm Will. Thanks but the way you snuck up on Halt," he grinned, "that was so cool!" Gilan laughed heartily.

"I'll teach you if you like."

"Really? That would be awesome, thank you!"

"Anytime kid, welcome to the family." He ruffled his hair affectionately.

They stopped at the pretzel van on the way to the shop and as promised, Gilan got Will a pretzel covered in chocolate sauce and himself one blanketed in cinnamon. "Mmm, this is so good, thanks Gil!"

"You're welcome," he laughed at the chocolate sauce Will had managed to get on his cheek and passed him a napkin. "You have sauce on you cheek," he wiped it off frowning and shrugged, pocketing the napkin. The finished their pretzels just as the cafe came into sight and tossed the packaging in the bin outside. "Weird Halts not here yet." He began to rummage in his bag for the keys to unlock the door,

"I think he's covering a shift for Berrigan."

"Ohh makes sense." He opened the door and switched on the lights, walking round the back to shop to put on his apron and dump his bag. They turned the radio on and began serving the first customers.

They busied themselves quite easily, keeping up with the ever flowing orders. Gilan was pouring coffee into a takeaway cup when the news came on. "There have been reports of a shooter holding hostages in a bank in the small town of Chichester, London. All officers in the surrounding area have been called to duty with chief Meryton leading the extraction and officer O'Carrick as his deputy. Stay tuned for more information." He dropped the cup and coffee spilled on the floor at his feet, he didn't hear it though, the world was muffled and all he could hear was the reporters words playing over and over in his head. He felt like he was going to throw up.

"Woah Gil, you alright." Will bent down to clear it up but Gilan stoped him,

"There's a shooter and hostage situation at the bank, all officers on duty are to report to help for extraction." He watched the usually lively face go pale with horror. They both knew the risks during an active shooter situation, people could get hurt of worse.

"Halt and Crowley." Wills voice cracked and his eyes teared up, Gilan pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly. They decided to close up the shop and wonder back to Wills apartment, where they would wait for news.