It's just a little one-shot that came to my mind while making calculations of my chimney... Anyway, just a thought. And angsty Athos.
Enjoy :)
Another option
Everything was over now. Milady was gone, Constance was safe, though she had left him... And yet d'Artagnan could find no peace in the tavern, could not join the other musketeers, who were celebrating the wonderful plan and Athos' resurrection. Some parts of the plan remained secret, but the whole regiment knew that the funeral thing was set up.
Athos himself was sitting in the corner, he had joined the rest at first, but he had long since occupied his usual place. He was sipping wine from his glass, though he didn't look like he was going to get drunk.
D'Artagnan joined him after a moment of hesitation. He sat without asking for permission, knowing that Athos wouldn't mind his company. Though the young musketeer guessed he would mind the topic he was going to bring.
"Athos..." Started d'Artagnan unsurely, and Athos looked up from his glass to glance at him questioningly.
"Something's troubling you," noticed the older musketeer. "And it doesn't seem to be about madame Bonacieux, does it?"
"No... It's about Milady," replied d'Artagnan, he still couldn't call her any other way.
"What about her?" snapped Athos sharply. He might have made peace with his wife, but still it wasn't something he was willing to discuss more than necessary.
"When she was trying to convince me to kill you yesterday morning... She told me her life story," explained the young man. "She told me about Thomas," he added after a moment of silence.
"And what did she tell you?"
"That he was trying to force on her. And she killed him in self defense," replied d'Artagnan, not sure why did he want to tell this Athos. "I guess she was lying, she was trying to make me hate you," he added quickly, seeing the darkness that appeared in Athos' eyes.
"Yes, she probably was..." agreed Athos, but he didn't sound convinced. "Anyway, it's no longer our problem. She's gone, and she won't mess with either of us ever again," he managed to smile at the boy, who smiled back and went to join Aramis and Porthos, as they called him.
The smile on Athos' face faded as soon as the boy wasn't looking. The musketeer poured himself another glass and drank it. Unintentionally, d'Artagnan had just pointed him one more explanation of his wife's actions, the one he had never even tried to think of. Athos thought this part of his life was over now, but if what d'Artagnan had said was truth, then he was guilty trying to kill his wife. And he was responsible for all she had done.
One glass came after another, no one seeming to pay attention to the musketeer in the corner.
It's been long time since he drunk this much.