The Rogue Tribe - Ranger's Apprentice

Epilogue

"Please come in. No, this will be more than a minute, so why don't you take a seat?"

Will entered the Ranger Commandent's office and glanced around warily. He hadn't been there since Crowley had died. He just couldn't bring himself to go in and not see his smiling face or endure his incessant jokes. That was why Will hesitated to sit down. It felt so wrong to be here, meeting with the Ranger Commandent with no Crowley in sight.

He had died a month ago now. The Rangers had just barely managed to recover from the ordeal with the Temujai when he passed suddenly and very unexpectedly. They had only just held the funerals for Trevor and Jonathan before they all had to return to the new Gathering sight for yet another, but this time, for their Commandent. It had been very hard on all of them, especially Halt.Will had never seen him as excited as he was to spend time with him as retired Rangers. He had dreams of evening rides in the woods, advising the King, and not having to travel much anymore. They had been preparing to do more political work, with lots of paperwork, of course, but as Halt had pointed out, they had time for it now. But he would never have his chance, as fate decided.

The funeral had been beautiful. Many Rangers had given small speeches about their favorite memories of Crowley, and Halt's retelling of how he met him stirred everyone in attendance to tears. Even the King and Cassandra had attended. It had been a very fitting service by one who accomplished so much in his life and touched as many hearts as he did. And even now, a month later, the gaping hole left by his passing was still very much felt by everyone in the Corps and by those close to him.

"Will? I know you don't want to be in here, and neither do I, but I really need to discuss something with you that I've had on my mind for a while now. Please, sit down."

Gilan's steady eyes bored holes into Will's, which were locked on the wall in a daze. The memories that this room evoked were enough to make anyone zone out.

Will snapped back to attention. "Sorry, yes, I'll sit." As he pulled out the familiar wicker chair and sat down heavily, he asked, "What's on your mind?"

Gilan sat behind the large desk, and even though he was taller than Crowley had ever been by several inches, he seemed small, buried in piles of paperwork. He hunched over more than usual in his seat, as his ribs were still occasionally sore, his face had a defined gray pallor, and the rings around his eyes were quite dark. But Will wasn't remotely surprised by this. After the last two months, if anyone had the right to look exhausted and stressed, it was Gilan. And perhaps himself. He had been through quite a lot. I wonder if I look like that. I probably do, maybe even worse. I'll have to ask Alyss when I get home.

Gilan suddenly started talking very quickly, a massive avalanche of words spilling from his mouth. "Well, you and I are both some of the most senior members of the Corps now in terms of experience, and of course I'm the new Commandent. That fact is well known at this point. I know that we couldn't ever compare to the partnership that Halt and - " he swallowed before stuttering, "C-crowley had, but I figure that since we both have extensive experience working with the both of them, could we possibly support each other in a similar way? I'm absolutely swamped with work, I now see why Crowley didn't do as many missions when he was Commandent. I don't think I'll be able to handle any for a while, I have too much to do here. But of course there are still plenty, and I mean plenty, of jobs that need doing. I also understand that you have all of Redmont to take care of on your own now since Halt's retired, but I figured that since he still lives there in the castle that he'd be willing to help out sometimes when you're away on longer missions. I'm not sure if that'll work long term, or - "

"Gilan, wait, slow down." Will finally stopped him and ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "Let me answer some of your questions before we continue. Of course I'll support you. There shouldn't have been any doubt about it, you know that. Sure, we can't be Halt and Crowley, but we can be ourselves, and work with each other in a way that works best for us. I'm happy to do any missions you need doing, I know you're busy. And Halt?" He cracked a small smile. "Halt has only been retired for two months and he's already antsy to go do something, anything. I'm fairly sure I could send him on a wild goose chase to catch an invisible thief stealing invisible things and he'd hunt like a dog for it." A faint ghost of a smile flitted across Gilan's haggard face. Will continued, "He will always be happy to help me out if I need it, so don't worry. That'll be enough for now. Let's worry about the next step when that comes."