Title: The Cat Thief
Author: Prentice (slyprentice)
Category: The Musketeers (BBC)
Genre: Angst, Romance, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting
Ship: Aramis/d'Artagnan
Overall Rating: Mature
Warnings: Unbeta'd so beware.
Author's Note: I have no idea where this came from or even if it's worth continuing but I thought I'd share. Please feel free to let me know what you think!
Also, please be aware that any and all of my language translation come from the dubious and usually laughably wrong google translate so if you speak French I apologize in advance (I also wouldn't mind some friendly corrections). Translation at the bottom.
Edit: With many thanks to Persis for the translation help!
Summary: Falling in love wasn't part of the plan.
Falling in love wasn't part of the plan. Aramis will swear to that until his dying day. He had only ever meant to tease the boy into compliance and he had never planned to get involved.
Getting involved was – messy. Complicated, in a way that he and his brothers could not afford right now, not at this point in the investigation, when so much time had been spent and so many lies had been told; when pressure points had been utilized and long-standing debts had been called in. They couldn't afford it – he couldn't afford it – not when they were so close to catching 'le chat volant'; the notorious jewel thief of Paris.
Just in the last year alone, the man – or woman; none of them were entirely sure at this point – had made a name for himself. Stealing from some of the richest and most influential households in Paris, no one knew how 'Le Chat' did it. It was a mystery, a conundrum to be solved, and it was one that Parisians had embraced into their hearts.
From the seediest of illegal bars to the finest haute cafés, 'Le Chat' and his heists was always a topic to be discussed. Whether being praised or damned, the thief was spoken of in heated whispers that would susurrate onto the city's streets and into the ears of every single Parisian, young and old, and it was their job to stop him. Their job, no one else's, because they were the best – they were 'The Three Musketeers', as some teasingly called them; they were Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, Captain Treville's finest, and they were the ones who would put a stop to this ridiculous burglar once and for all.
Only – it wasn't that simple, was it? Because this thief – this 'Le Chat' – was good. Better, even, than they had expected and that was the problem. They hadn't expected someone so good – hadn't expected someone so well liked.
They had expected a common thief, one who had – admittedly – made a name for himself, but still common. It was their mistake. Their fault and they owned it.
Which was why they had to do this right. Why they had to get this done. By the book, by the numbers.
Not only to save face – Porthos was ever bemoaning the absolute cluster-fuck that had been their first attempt to 'catch themselves a tom' – but because they were good, they were the best, and somehow – somehow – this 'cat' had managed to get the cream right under their noses. It was a matter of principle, now, that they caught him. They all agreed on that.
But – but – they couldn't do it with complications. Unnecessary, if entirely unexpected, complications. Ones with brown hair and dark eyes and a smile that made something ache inside of him in a way that he'd never really felt before.
A way that made him want to – get involved. Involved, God help him. With d'Artagnan. The only man – boy, really – who seemed to know a damn thing about where and when 'Le Chat' would strike next.
Good God, Athos and Porthos were going to kill him for this.
Translations:
le chat volant - the thieving cat
Le Chat - The Cat
If any if these are wrong please let me know! :)