Betrayal
D'Artagnan woke from another restless night to find Constance still in a deep sleep beside him. He rolled over to look at his alarm clock. 4:30. He sighed, got up and decided to make breakfast. D'Artagnan had only been working in his special task force for six months and he already felt the strain of the job. He went downstairs and into the kitchen. He looked in the fridge and found ten eggs, some milk, ham, cheese and various peppers. He decided to make omelettes. D'Artagnan began to cook. At 4:50 the fire alarm went off and Constance came downstairs.
"What on earth are you doing?"
"Cooking."
"D'Artagnan, it's not even 5:00 yet. Come back to bed."
"I can't sleep."
"Please."
"Alright."
D'Artagnan through away the burnt disaster and followed his wife back to their bedroom.
He woke again at 7:00 and got ready to go to their base "The Garrison". When he arrived Porthos, Athos and Aramis were already there.
"Morning Pup." said Aramis.
"Please stop calling me that!"
"No can do, it's your code name now." exclaimed Porthos with a big grin.
"What! That's not fair! Athos!"
"Majority rules kid." said Athos.
D'Artagnan sighed, he knew he wouldn't be able to fight it right now. The four of them walked into their superior's office.
"Hello Treville." said Athos.
"Good morning captain, please sit." replied Treville.
They all sat, Aramis beside Porthos, Porthos beside Athos, and Athos beside D'Artagnan.
"You're probably wondering what your new mission is going to be."
"Yes, sir." said Aramis.
"We are sending the four of you to an undisclosed location. You will be rescuing hostages. Our intel tells us that they are being kept in the ruins of a village in a deserted area. You will be given a map and will be able to choose your equipment. You will be leaving immediately."
"Yes, sir." said the four young men in unison.
D'Artagnan chose his preferred weapon, a custom rifle. He grabbed a handful of other necessities and got ready to board the helicopter.
They were dropped off in a desert area in some jungle. The trees were tall, the bushes thick and the air humid.
"Everyone got their earpieces?"
They nodded.
"So why keep the whereabouts of our mission undisclosed?" asked Aramis.
"It doesn't matter, let's get moving." responded the captain.
The helicopter left and the boys started making their way to the ruins. Porthos, who was the best with maps lead the way. They walked for over two hours in the inhabited jungle. D'Artagnan had almost drunk all the water in his cantine and was already fed up with the bugs. Aramis had covered himself with scarves but was complaining about the heat. Porthos and Athos didn't seem to bother by the conditions, but D'Artagnan guessed they were simply hiding their displeasure. Finally, they could see they're target. The ruins of a deserted village. It was situated in a valley.
"Bat, you're going to take the high ground, clear a path for us to get in and path for us to get."
"Yes, Whisky." said Aramis while nodding.
"Pup and Leviathan, you're coming with me." ordered Athos.
Aramis left them to find a good position and D'Artagnan followed the other two. He hoped they could rediscuss his code name later. They stayed hidden within the trees. D'Artagnan could see his enemies guarding every entrance. Athos signalled him to split and attack with stealth instead of head-on. D'Artagnan was tasked with the east entrance, Porthos and Athos would cause a distracting on the west side.
"Bat, do you copy." said Athos through the communication system.
"I copy, Whisky."
"On my command, start shooting the east side of the city, create as much havoc as possible. We need you to clear the way for Pup."
"Yes, sir."
D'Artagnan moved through the trees and positioned himself against a wall the outermost building.
"On Guard!" Athos's voice boomed through his earpiece.
He could hear commotion from the west side of the city, half the guards ran to see what the commotion was. The marksman was doing his job perfectly, the rest of the guards on the eastern entrance where dropping like flies and so much panic arose that D'Artagnan was able to slip by undetected. He moved silently through the city watching for armed men, so far so good. He came across a building heavily guarded.
"Pup to Whisky, Whisky do you copy?"
"Whisky to Pup, I copy."
"Which building where are they being held in again?"
"You've got to be kidding me? It's supposedly the one with blue doors."
"Thanks, Whisky."
D'Artagnan peeked his head around a corner to see if the this was the house he was indeed looking for. It was and he was only two houses down from it.
"Pup to Bat, Bat do you copy?"
He waited for a response. Nothing came.
"Bat do you copy?"
Nothing.
"Pup to Leviathan, Leviathan do you copy?"
Still, he heard nothing through his earpiece.
"Pup to Whisky, Whisky do you copy?"
"RUN!" The captain's voice rung in D'Artagnan's ear.
He took another look at the house and saw Aramis with his hands tied and a gun to his head. He started to panic, then took another look. Porthos and Athos where now with Aramis, they to were bound and were being held at gunpoint. He was really starting to panic now. He had to think fast, what could he do? Then he had an idea. He ran into the nearest house and hid until nightfall. He watched carefully out the window and saw men patrolling. He ducked and pressed his ear against the thin wall trying to listen.
"We have to find the last one."
"Can't we search in the morning."
"No, now let's go."
He suddenly got furious, they must have been given false intel, his three brothers would never have given him up. This wasn't a rescue missing, this was a trap. He didn't sleep at all that night, D'Artagnan was too worried for his brothers. Before the sun rose, he set out. He made his way to the roof. He stayed hidden and when the coast was clear he jumped, making as little noise as possible. Nobody had noticed him, so he prepared to take another great leap. He landed softly on his feet, and crawl through the window. He found himself in an addict. D'Artagnan pressed his ear to the floor and listen. There were about thirty men, all armed he presumed. He continued to listen.
"Damian, take these twenty-five men and find the last agent from the Musketeer unit."
At this command, more than ¾ of the soldiers left. He guessed there where only three left. When he thought that the group was far enough not to hear him, D'Artagnan put a silencer on his rifle and shoot all three men through the floor. He waited to find out if anybody had heard the thumps. Silence. He pushed down the addict latter and found himself on the main floor. D'Artagnan looked around, he found a stairwell. He went downstairs and found his three brothers unconscious, beaten and tied to chairs. He went to Athos first, untying him and trying to wake him.
"Athos!" He hissed.
His captain started to stir. D'Artagnan tried again.
"Athos!"
"Hmm?" Murmured the captain.
"Athos, its D'Artagnan, can you move?"
"D'Artagnan?" Asked Athos.
"Yes it's me, can you get up from me, please? We need to hurry."
"Alright." Said Athos as got up slowly. D'Artagnan check his pupils to see if he was concussed. He seemed alright.
"Take the gun and watch for soldiers, I'll go wake up Aramis."
"No, wake up Porthos, he'll wake up Aramis. You don't know what mental state he's in."
This was an order and not a warning. D'Artagnan went to untie Porthos, who woke up as soon as he touched him.
"Shhhhhh, it's me D'Artagnan."
"Oh, try not to scare me next time." said Porthos while D'Artagnan removed the bindings from his ankles.
Porthos was up pretty quick, though he seemed to be limping.
"Porthos try to wake up Aramis, be very quiet." said the captain. D'Artagnan took up guard with Athos but closely watched Porthos. He never understood how only Porthos could get to Aramis when he was having his traumatic fits. Porthos didn't touch Aramis but whisper so softly that he could not hear what his brother was saying. Aramis opened his eyes quickly, he didn't look like himself. The marksman looked like a wild animal deciding whether to fight or run. D'Artagnan realized that Aramis didn't recognize Porthos. He had just tried to punch Porthos. The bigger man took a step back, wincing, he was clearly injured. D'Artagnan reacted quickly, he grabbed the marksman in a bear hug position. Aramis's eye went crazy, he started to lash out. Porthos grabbed his head and put it against his chest.
"'Mis it's alright, you're alright, it's me. It's Porthos"
"Porthos?"
"Yeah, it's Porthos and D'Artagnan too."
Both Porthos and D'Artagnan released their grip and Aramis almost fell over. D'Artagnan let Aramis lean on him.
"Time to move out, we won't have much time before someone notices that we've escaped." said Athos
Somehow the Musketeers managed to escape, and get through the jungle without getting any more injuries. D'Artagnan was able to contact Treville and a helicopter was able to pick them up. His brothers were grateful to have the young recruit with them.