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 20

As they neared a small clearing, a faint trace of smoke rising from the chimney of a small Ranger cabin Crowley shifted in his seat, Cropper coming to a stop.

Beside him, Halt drew rein and Abelard paused beside his friend. Halt eyed the other man, knowing he had something on his mind.

"What?" he demanded. Given the smoke, Harcourt was sure to be in the cabin, which mean Halt was only a few minutes from getting some of his questions answered.

"You got a bit of a temper sometimes," Crowley started softly. "Particularly if it involves Will or Gilan…"

"You think I'm going to lose my temper?" Halt growled though he knew Crowley spoke the truth.

"Yes, I do," Crowley stated bluntly. "If he's done anything that put Will and Gilan at risk, if what happened is in any way due to something he did, you will, and you know it.

Reluctantly, and grinding his teeth Halt nodded.

"I need your word you won't do anything, if something has to be done, I will handle it," Crowley stated firmly.

"If he got Gillan killed with his stupidity…"

"I will handle it!" Crowley cut him off, he was speaking as the commandant now and Halt knew it. "Regardless of anything else, he is a Ranger, and that means we have to do this properly, I don't care if he so gift wrapped Gilan and handed him over himself. You don't touch him, because if he did anything, we're going to take him back to King Duncan and let him deal with it. If you can't do that, then you stay here, and I go in alone."

"You think you could make me?" Halt growled.

"Yes," the statement was given easily and confidently, and Halt knew it was the truth. Crowley might not have wanted the position as commandant, but he took it seriously, and if Halt went against him, it would not only mean his anger, it would more than likely cost him his friendship with Crowley.

"If this is his fault, if I lost Gilan because of him…." he let it hang in the air, but Crowley nodded slowly. Nudging Cropper onwards towards the cabin.

They stopped in front of the cabin, both of them losing the girth but leaving their horses saddled. There was no reason for the horses to be uncomfortable, but they did not expect to stay long.

Crowley knocked on the cabin door, a frown on his face. One that was mirrored by Halt, they had both heard Harcourt's pony nicker a greeting from the stable, and yet there was no movement.

Then the door opened to reveal Harcourt, looking slightly unkept, and Crowley's first thought was he was still not over the shock of losing his fellow Ranger. When he saw Halt, he paled, a tremor running through his hand. Not really that surprising, Crowley mused. Halt had a reputation for being very protective of his apprentices. Everyone knew that.

"We just have a few more questions about what happened," Crowley told him softly as they moved in, noting the unwashed pot on the stove, the used plate on the table.

"I understand," Harcourt nodded hurriedly. "Can I get you something? I can make some tea?"

"Do you have any coffee?" Crowley asked hopefully and he shook his head. "No thank you then. I guess you can understand that Halt wants to know a few more details?" he went on as they moved to the table, pushing the plate aside. "The report was a bit vague on a few points, understandable, but with the death of a Ranger, we have to be thorough."

"Yes, I understand," Harcourt nodded, looking somewhat uneasy, he grabbed the plate and dumped it on the counter by the stove instead.

"What happened, from Will was captured?" Crowley urged. "If you think of anything else that wasn't in the report, tell us. I know it can be hard to think of everything right after something like that."

"I didn't know where Gilan was, he was supposed to scout out the camp," Harcourt began, sitting down opposite Halt. "I had just stepped away to attend an, uh, a call of nature, when they moved in on Will. So I followed them. There was nothing I could do right then, there were too many of them."

"Following them was the right thing to do," Crowley agreed.

"I still didn't know where Gilan was, then he came out of nowhere, he always did that, you know?" Harcourt gave Crowley a pleading look. "I had no idea where he was coming from, I couldn't find him, but he's always been like that."

"He was the Corp's foremost expert on unseen movement," Crowley smiled softly. "I'm not sure I would have been able to see him. Beside him, Halt's eyes narrowed, Harcourt seemed nervous, very nervous, and Crowley had noticed it to. However, he was hoping that by acting calm and reasonable, he could get the man to spit out whatever it was.

"No, he just came out of nowhere," Harcourt breathed. "He took out so many of them, they never stood a chance, he was so fast, but then they over powered him."

"What where you doing then?" Halt demanded. "Were you trying to help him?"

"I was too far away, and I did not have my bow," Harcourt swallowed and Crowley mentally glared at his friend. "I, I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything, so I watched, hoped for a chance to maybe get close enough to free Will, then they overpowered Gilan, and, and well, if Gilan couldn't handle it, then what chance did I have?"

"So what did you do?" Crowley asked.

"I tried to move closer, thinking maybe I'd get a chance, but they caught me before I even got close," he sighed. "They had Gilan on the ground, and Will was unconscious, I, I did the only thing I could do…." his tone desperate, pleading, he turned to Halt. "At least you still got Will. It was all I could do, I wasn't able to save Gilan and I'm sorry. I tried, but I'm just not good enough, I'm not like you, not good enough. They, they only let me take Will… but at least you still got him. I knew it was what you would have wanted me to do. Everyone knows that's what you would have wanted me to do…"

Halt nearly exploded into action then, not fully believing what he heard, but suddenly Crowley's hand was like a vice on his wrist. The grip hard enough to be painful, and he remembered his promise, even if he seethed at it.

"What do you mean they only let you take Will?" Crowley's voice was suddenly hard, not so very understanding at all, and it shocked Harcourt. He seemed unable to get his wits about him.

"They, I mean, the leader, he said he had a score to settle with Halt, an old one, and that killing one of his apprentices would do it."

"How did he know Gilan was my apprentice?" Halt growled.

"I uh, well, he asked who trained him, I, they had me then, and they had a sword to Gilan, I had to answer," Harcourt stammered.

"And after you told them this?" Crowley demanded. He had a cold fury to him that really could unsettle people, and make Halt proud to be his friend. As much as he raged inside, he felt this was a good thing. He could force himself to remain calm a moment longer, barley, because he could see Harcourt trembling.

"He said it would hurt Halt worse if he only got to keep one, and know he lost the other, I, I didn't want to, but it was the only way I could save Will, I knew I had to. I hated to lose Gilan, he's a good Ranger, but I knew you'd want me to save Will. Everyone knows he's your best apprentice, that he's your favourite…That's why I picked Will when he made me chose who to save. Because I know it's what you would have wanted me to do..." Harcourt stammered, Halt barely registering the words for the roaring in his ears.

"Did you stand there and watch Gilan be killed?" Crowley demanded. "After you made the choice?"

"No, uh no," he shook his head, desperately. "We never saw it happen, I, I got Will out of there. But they were going to kill him, they said they were…."

"So you did not know for a fact he was dead?" Crowley's voice was ice cold fury now, and Harcourt looked ready to faint.

"He's gone, they said they'd kill him, it was the only way I could save Will, the way you'd want me to…"

He got no further, Halt was unable to hold back his rage anymore and rose to punch him squarely in the face. The unconscious man falling to the ground as Crowley shrugged.

"I'm not apologizing for doing that," Halt growled, turned to his old friend.

"If you hadn't, I would have," Crowley shrugged. "We'll take him to the Baron, he can make sure he's transported to Castle Araluen, to answer to King Duncan. And we can get some more supplies before we go after that gang."

"He left Gilan there, he left him to be killed…" Halt felt numb, unable to comprehend that someone would think so, that he could so easily pick Will over Gilan.

"They might have, there is no guarantee we'll find him alive," Crowley put a hand on his shoulder. "But we're going to find them and we're going to find out one way or another…"

TBC Please review, the caffeine addicted Cricket is hungry…