Him and Her

by AZGirl

Her grace and beauty had been his reason for living when most others would have given up and died. Spoilers for 2.03 The Good Traitor.

Disclaimer: The Musketeers are not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

Spoilers: 2.03 The Good Traitor

A/N: The Rochefort scenes in the beginning of the episode totally creeped me out, so naturally I had to write something about it. A little bit different style than my usual, but I hope you'll still enjoy it! :)

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"In there, you'll find your money and the dress. And a crown."

~~~Rochefort to Prostitute, 2.03 The Good Traitor

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At first, it's easy to pretend they're Her.

He chooses them very carefully. They have to be the right build and have the right hair color. So far, he hasn't found one that sounds like Her, but he finds he can live with that as long as they only say the words he gives them.

With the right words and the right clothes, he can pretend the women are Her, the one he loves most in the world. He would give anything, do anything for Her to love him.

Left to rot in a Spanish prison, tortured within an inch of his life, all he had to keep himself sane were his memories of Her. They were memories of the days he had spent by Her side tutoring her for her marriage, teaching Her about France. She had been his light in the darkness of his prison cell. Her grace and beauty had been his reason for living when most others would have given up and died.

In exchange for his life and his freedom, he had pledged an oath to be loyal to Spain. He had become a traitor so that he could see Her again. He was supposed do all he could to make himself invaluable to the Crown, yet cause as much discord as possible amongst those loyal to the King. And, if he could, he was to drive a wedge between the King and the Queen. If things went as Spain hoped, France would fall but She would live – it was the only one of their promises that he had really cared about.

Now that he was back in France, he saw Her every day and yet She still seemed to be so far out of his reach. They were only friends right now, but he was confident that, in time, She would come to see him as more. He was confident that She would come to love him as much as he loved Her.

When he finds one he thinks will do, he waits for them to be alone before engaging their services; it wouldn't do for a man of his status to be seen with someone like that. Once he explains what he wants, he always has to agree to pay extra money, but it's worth it in order to be with Her, even if it has to be by proxy of a prostitute. If he likes the woman, if she plays her role to perfection, then he makes a regular arrangement with her.

The look. The dress. The crown. The words.

When they are combined, they make a living, breathing replica of Her. It's never an exact copy, never really Her, but it's close enough that he is able to completely lose himself within his fantasy. The prostitute really is Her and he is the one She really loves, admires, and wants to take to her bed. He spends several glorious hours in the arms of the only one he could ever love.

Inevitably, the illusion shatters and She reverts back to the prostitute he'd hired. The woman he loves is gone and he is disgusted by what's left behind. He becomes paranoid that his secret fantasies will become fodder for gossip in the court. He's terrified that She will find out about his proclivities and utterly reject him.

He can't have anyone know about the fantasies that he acts out, because if they knew about them, then they would know exactly how much he cares for Her. They might discover he was a spy and a traitor to France. So, when he becomes unable to forgive them for not being Her, he sets them free from their miserable lives as prostitutes.

It's easy; he just wraps his hands around their lovely necks and squeezes until the light leaves their eyes and they breathe no more.

Once they are released from this life, he pretends that he had tired of the woman and that she is back on the streets selling herself to the highest bidder.

In reality, they are where they truly belong – in a shallow, unmarked grave unable to reveal his secrets.

The next night he goes back out on the hunt for a replacement because he cannot bear to be without Her for long.

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The end.

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A/N: Sorry about the lack of proper character tagging as Rochefort is not yet an option on the list of characters. :/

In case anyone is wondering (or cares), I wrote this about eight hours before I saw 2.04 Emilie.

No beta; many apologies for any lingering errors.

Thanks for reading!