Secrets Revealed

Disclaimer: Young Blades Characters/Concepts belong to Insight Entertainment. Highlander Characters/Concepts belong to Panzer/Davis. I'm just borrowing them for the time being.

Rating: 3 Swords/R (for violence and some sexual content in later chapters)

Synopsis: AU. The end of "Secrets" reveals more to the young musketeers than they could have ever imagined.

A/N: Just so no one gets confused, I've taken a bit of artistic license with the last half of the final episode (excluding the Dumas subplot, which, far as I'm concerned, never really happened). Hence the 'AU' descriptor in the synopsis. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Siroc rode alone through the forest, headed in the direction of the old Roget house. D'Artagnan and Ramon were behind him somewhere, but at the moment, he neither knew nor cared exactly where. As soon as the Legend's son told him of "Jacques'" injury, he'd rushed ahead, knowing that he had to reach that cabin first. Upon finally arriving at his destination, Siroc cautiously pushed the front door open, not quite sure what to expect. What he found was Death. Bernard was slumped against the wall, the front of his shirt stained with blood. A second guard lay nearby, just as dead as his captain. Gerard Roget was sprawled on the floor, LePonte collapsed on top of his body. Siroc immediately rushed over to check on his friends. Gerard was long gone, his body already starting to grow cold. Jacques still had a pulse, but it was steadily growing weaker. He put his hand on the spot where D'Artagnan claimed Jacques had been wounded and when he pulled it away, it was covered in blood, which he quickly wiped clean on Gerard's dark trousers.

"Jacques!" he called out, gently shaking his comrade's shoulders. No response. He leaned in a bit closer. "Jacqueline!" No more point in pretending. He'd known Jacques' true identity for some time now. It had not taken very long to deduce, especially after Liana's spell, but he had kept quiet for the sake of preserving their friendship. Shaking his head to get rid of wandering thoughts, he looked down at her. As she slowly lifted her head to look at him, he looked into her eyes and realized that consciousness was already starting to fade. He did not have much time.

"D…D'Artagnan?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid it's just me, Siroc."

"Wh…where's D'Artagnan?"

"He'll be here soon. He and Ramon were right behind me. I swear it."

Jacqueline smiled, then started coughing. When the fit subsided, Siroc noticed flecks of blood on her sleeve and on Gerard's shirt. He frowned. Her coughing up blood could only mean that the blade had pierced some part of her lung…and that meant they had even less time then he thought. "It…it's bad, isn't it?"

"You want the truth?" She nodded, and Siroc sighed. "Yes, it's bad. The blade that did this most likely pierced your lung, which would explain why you're coughing up blood. And unfortunately, that sort of wound is beyond my ability to repair."

"So…so I'm going to die?"

"Well…there is one way I know of that can help. It's rather…unconventional…but at this point it may be your only option."

Jacqueline nodded, coughing up a bit more blood. "Wha…whatever it is…do it."

"Do you trust me?"

"W…with…my life."

"Alright then." Quickly, Siroc went over to the front door of the cabin and locked it, then helped Jacqueline back into the bed.

"So…so tired," she muttered, visibly fighting to stay awake. Siroc sat down on the hard mattress and drew her head onto his lap, gently brushing the hair out of her face.

"It's okay, Jacqueline. You go ahead and get some rest. By the time you wake up, you'll be as good as new. I promise."

"Th…thank…you." With that, her eyes closed, her breathing slowed, and her body soon relaxed. Immediately, Siroc laid a hand on her neck and checked for a pulse. It was still there, but continued to grow weaker. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the task at hand.

"I wish there was another way to do this, Jacqueline, but I'm afraid we're out of options." Sighing heavily, he placed one hand under her jaw and the other behind her head. "Gods forgive me if I'm wrong…" Siroc closed his own eyes and, with one swift and well-practiced motion, snapped her neck. The body twitched for a moment and then grew still, the mortal life of Jacqueline Roget at an end. Carefully, the inventor slid off the mattress and stood up. There was one more problem that needed to be taken care of. He reached under his musketeer-issue jacket and withdrew an ancient but well-maintained gladius, turning towards the wall where Bernard had fallen only to find it bare once again. A quick glance around the room revealed that the other guard had disappeared as well. Swearing under his breath, Siroc searched the cabin for Bernard's escape route and soon came across a rear entrance that was wide open. "Damn!" He stood there for a minute, trying to get a sense as to where the cardinal's captain had gone, but came up empty. The sun was already well on its way down, and pursuit would be impossible in the dark. He launched into a string of particularly vile oaths, shifting into ancient Greek and Latin when the modern languages no longer sufficed. Before he could start on Egyptian, his tirade was interrupted by a loud knock at the front entrance. Quickly, he hid the gladius and moved to answer, opening the door to reveal D'Artagnan and Ramon. "Took you two long enough. What kept you?"

Ramon looked at D'Artagnan. "It's not our fault you decided to turn it into a race, amigo."

The Legend's son nodded. "Yeah Siroc, would it have killed you to slow down a bit?"

Siroc glared. "No, but it might've killed our comrade. I'm lucky I got here when I did."

D'Artagnan and Ramon's annoyance quickly turned to concern as they stared at the blonde inventor.

D'Artagnan looked at the wounded musketeer. "How is…er…Jacques? He alright?"

"She will be just fine." Ramon looked a bit confused, but the Legend's son merely sighed in relief. A thought crossed Siroc's mind. 'Well, that explains why those two are so close.'

"May I see her?" Without waiting for an answer, D'Artagnan tried to go inside. Siroc quickly pushed him back.

"Not yet. She's resting right now."

"Well, could I at least speak to Gerard?"

Siroc shook his head. "I'm afraid that would be impossible."

"Why?"

"He's dead. Bernard managed to free himself and stabbed him. Jacqueline was able to wound Bernard, but he still escaped. And I have a sinking feeling that he knows who she really is." There were several moments of deafening silence as the younger musketeers allowed this new information to sink in.

The Spaniard walked over to water trough. "What do we do, compadres? We can't allow Mazarin to destroy our comrade, no matter what he thinks he…er…she…has done."

"No, we can't," D'Artagnan chimed in. "I say we find Bernard and finish him off before he can tell Mazarin what he knows."

"Good idea, amigo. Let's go." They both drew their swords and were about to head off into the woods when Siroc grabbed their collars.

"Not so fast. You two won't do anyone any good by running off half-cocked and getting yourselves killed."

"And what would you suggest, Oh wise one?" D'Artagnan mocked as he and the Spaniard sheathed their swords.

"Si, Siroc, tell us. Do you have a better plan?"

The blonde looked at the two. "As a matter of fact, Ramon, I do."

D'Artagnan snickered. "And what exactly would that be?"

Siroc looked at the house. "We kill Jacqueline Roget." It grew quiet for a few moments, both men staring at him as if he'd grown a second head.

D'Artagnan stepped between Siroc and the house. "Whoa, wait a second…could you repeat that? I'm not sure I heard you right."

Siroc stared into D'Artagnan's eyes, and it was plain to see that the Legend's son was teetering dangerously on the edge. He sighed. "I said that we should kill Jacqueline Roget. Not literally, of course, but I think that the best way to get Mazarin off her back would be to convince everyone that she's dead and that Jacques LePonte is really her twin brother."

D'Artagnan went eerily silent, sitting down on a nearby stump. Ramon, meanwhile, started to laugh. "That has got to be the stupidest plan I've ever heard of, amigo. It'll never work."

Siroc arched an eyebrow. "Really? Tell me, Ramon. If I hadn't said anything, would you have ever even remotely considered the possibility that Jacques was a woman?"

"Not really…"

"Exactly. So I see no reason why we can't simply kill off the identity that Mazarin's searching for and continue to fool everyone into believing that Jacques LePonte truly exists."

"Well." As D'Artagnan stood up, he startled both of his comrades. "As brilliant as that plan sounds, I really think we should leave it up to Jacqueline. After all, it is her life we're talking about."

Siroc nodded. "Good point, D'Artagnan. I completely agree. So let's get Gerard taken care of for now, and when Jacqueline wakes up, we'll ask her what she wants to do." The other two nodded, and then looked at Siroc expectantly. "Alright, I need the two of you to get started on the digging. There should be some shovels and lanterns in the barn. In the meantime, I'm going to go check on Jacqueline, and then I'll see if I can put together some sort of coffin for Gerard."

"Where do you want us to dig, compadré?"

Siroc opened his mouth to answer, but D'Artagnan beat him to it.

"We should try and find a spot in the family plot. Gerard should be with his parents."

"Of course." With that, the Gascon and the Spaniard made their way to the barn and Siroc headed back inside the house. He went over to the bed and immediately felt Jacqueline's wrist for a pulse, but there was none yet to be found. A little worried, he pushed up her shirt and checked underneath the bandages, breathing a sigh of relief when he found the wound significantly smaller then it had been when he had first arrived.

"Not much longer now." Gently, he brushed back a few stray hairs along her forehead before getting up and heading out to the barn. The other two were already hard at work digging, so Siroc quickly located tools and wood and began the grim task of constructing Gerard's coffin.