Through a glass darkly

by leggomygreggo2

"The game must be played until the end" He says and before I could say anything else, he swiftly turns his musket towards Constance, his finger pulling back the trigger, and as if in slow motion the bullet neared Constance. PLEASE READ THE STORY IS BETTER THAN SUMMARY, PROMISE :D

Hello all :D So this is my first Musketeers fanfic :D so please be nice, and every review is appreciated :D So this is a Hurt!d'Artagnan fic, with D'art/Constance romance and the brotherly relationship between D'Art, Aramis, Athos and Porthos :D This is my version on how episode 6: through a glass darkly, should have ended :D
So enjoy (hopefully :P)
Onwards!...

D'Artagnan POV:

"Then take me then, my life for hers, you wanted a life, take mine" I exclaim tears collecting in my eyes ready to leak down my cheeks, the thought of loosing Constance too much for me to cope. My heart breaks as I catch her tear filled orbs glance at me, in the corner of my eye.
"No D'artagnan" She pleads her voice shaking as pure emotion threatens to take over her usual confident voice.
"You think I can just stand here and watch you die, I won't do it, I can't do it!" I tell her as our eyes meet, her gorgeous blue eyes meet my dark ones, the tears swimming in her eyes, pleading for me not to give my life for her's.

"Let us test your resolve, Untie him" Marmion commands the men who held me back his voice cold and hard.
"Your free to go, yes I offer you your release, you can live the rest of your life in careless freedom, and she dies" He says his voice calm, his hand steady, as he held the gun, facing me, ready to shoot as if it was something you do daily.
"Please, D'artagnan go get help" she desperately beg's.
"Not a chance" I answer sternly there was no chance I would be leaving her.
"There is not need for your sacrifice you can live" Marmion comments.
"I have made my offer" I tell him my voice one of calmness and command, not wanting to take the risk of Constance dying.
"You would die for her, why"
"Because I love her" was the truthful answer that came from my mouth, content on dying for her. "Promise me, you will let her go" I add almost pleading, wanting the woman I loved out of the clutches of the evil that stood in front of me.
"One life for another, why not, the girl lives, you die" He answers and I sigh, revealed she was going to live, as I cast her a look my eyes telling her of the love I felt for her, and I hope to god she under stood.
"Please, Brother don't do this, please" Marmion's brother pleads, and I feel sorry for the man, he didn't want any deaths unlike his hateful Brother.
I actually thought for a minute that Marmion would let us go, the flicker of hesitation and uncertainness that crossed his face giving me hope, which soon was demolished as his face return's to its black, cold domineer, an evil smirk making its way across his face.
"The game must be played until the end" He says and before I could say anything else, he swiftly turns his musket towards Constance, his finger pulling back the trigger, and as if in slow motion the bullet neared Constance.
My protectiveness over her suddenly kicks in and before the ugly brute behind me could stop me I lunge,soaring through the air, diving in a last attempt to protect her.
The bullet was travelling at speed towards it target, ready to impale Constance's pale skin, but its course was soon stopped as it nestled its way into soft flesh.
My flesh...

I hear the distant scream come from Constance, as I collided into the hard floor bellow, my body screaming in pain as I feel the bullet sink deeper into my tender flesh, the sound of my wrist snapping as it is wedged between the floor and my body, the sound sure to keep me up at night, that was if I ever survived this.
I feel sticky thick liquid, seeping out of the gaping hole in my abdomen, leaking, soaking my shirt, I look down as I place my hand on the laceration, lifting it up my hand covered in the precious crimson, that should never have left my pain filled body.
"No!" A voice says, emotion obvious in its angel like tone and I know it her, I roll over onto my back breathing hard, wheezing, gasping for air, trying to catch a glimpse of my Angel.
The halo of red locks framed her Gorgeous face, her alluring blue eyes leaking tears of grief, as she struggles against the men who held her back, making anger rise inside me at the thought of those brutes holding back my Angel.
The adrenaline that all of a sudden pumped through my veins aided me as I struggled to my feet, wincing, groaning in pain as I clutch my side trying to stagger over to Constance, my path soon blocked by the devil himself.
"Le..t her..go!" I demand weakly, the pain taking its toll on my exhausted body, but my stubbornness not giving in, and I stubble forwards again, my confused brain acting in stupidity.
"D'Artagnan!" Constance shouts as she struggles with the thugs behind her again, thrashing her arms, attempting to loosen their grubby hands from their tight grasp. "D'Artagnan, leave!" she begs tears streaming down her cheeks, as her beautiful eyes stares into mine.
"I ca..n't leav..e you.." I murmur my voice barely over a whisper, a pathetic croak of my former robustness. I stagger another step, desperate to get to my lovers aid, but a forceful push sent me sprawling to the cold floor, as Marmion signalled one of his thugs to me.
"Stay down boy!" the thug commands as he kicks my ribs and I groan in pain, just as another came at me again, his foot smashing into my broken body, and I nearly let a whimper slip from my mouth from all the sudden pain.
"Stop! Please!" I hear Constance sob, and the voice of the King himself demands them to stop, also sounding as though he was in tears. It was then as his foot connects with my now, surely broken ribs for the third time and I moan in agony, sounds of muskets being shot broke through the fog of haziness of unconsciousness that attempted to lure me into slumber.
I hear the distant shouts, moans of pain, grief filled sobs as a man looses his brother, but when I hear the Angel's voice shout for me, all else is forgotten as I fight the darkness off, lifting my tired head to were the voice shouted from.
A man, large and broad, had her pinned to a wall his fat fingers wrapped around her small neck, blocking her air way, slowly killing my lover.
I feel my body react as I swiftly look around for anything to save her. My dark eyes darting around, and there it was, laying in a thugs hand was a dagger, I crawl as fast as I could to the dead man leaving a trail of red as I went, Until I got to his side gasping for breath as my lungs protested against the movement. I grab the dagger from the man's, cold, stiff hands, finding myself staggering to my feet, striding awkwardly to the man who's hands were still wrapped around Consance's neck, her face bright red, as she kicked her feet at the man's stomach, not affecting him in the slightest. I pull my arm back and with as much force as I could and plunged it into the bear like man's back, once, twice, thrice before he swayed dangerously, releasing Constance from his death grip, but what I didn't expect is for him to topple backwards, knocking me off my feet his whole body landing on my left side, the familiar sound of braking bone travelling to my ears as my leg snaps under the pressure, and I cant help it as I shout out, my voice hoarse afterwards. I gasp for much needed oxygen, the weight of the brute limiting my breathing to near nothing, as pain travels in massive waves through my weak body, and I whimper, the feeling of a rogue tear travell down my cheeks as blood seeps down my stomach.
"Porthos! Aamis! Athos! Quick!" I hear her croaky voice gasp, her voice somewhat loud. "Charles?" her voice ask's closer now, as I feel a smile tug at the corners of my mouth at my name, but it was soon demolished as the next round of pain hit me making me groan. I feel her small hands slip into mine as her other hand brushes through my hair, making me sigh as the sound of feet pound towards me. Then I feel the excruciatingly heavy body lift off mine.
"th..at ma..n need..ed to loos..e som..e we..ight" I gasp and I hear a small, deep chuckle come from Porthos. Then I feel hands on my torso, removing my jacket , making me moan in pain "Sto..p...hurts" I manage to utter
"I know it does, D'art. I need to see the extent of damage before we move you" Aramis tells me as his hands go back to my torso, lifting up mu blood covered shirt, and I clench my eyes shut, the small movement of my shirt being lifted creating pain to heighten again and I groan quietly.
"Oh god, we need to get him back to the garrison. Quickly!" I hear Aramis say his voice fading slightly, my eyes fluttering slightly, drowsy, heavy, as if two miniature people were pulling them closed.
"No...D'Artang...have to stay awake...don't...yourself...asleep" A voice says through a cloud of mist that seemed to over run my drained brain.
"Please...Don't...lea..me...I..lov...yo.." The Angel says again her words confusing to my distressed brain to make sense of, But it was too late, I was already gone, my brain letting in as it slipped into the arms of darkness, the light of hope becoming dim as I slip into deep oblivion, never knowing if I would wake again, if I would ever see my Angel again.

Constance POV: (10 mins before)

I gasp for breath, the man's beefy fingers wrapped tightly around my neck, and I hope to God that D'Artagnan heard my call. I struggle against the man's hold kicking his stomach with all the force and energy I could, but it seemed it had no effect on the bastard, except for the tightening of his hands. I stare into the thugs dark, evil eyes pleading for him to stop but it only fuelled him to tighten his grip again. My eyes flicker to a movement behind the man's back, an arm was raised and it soon struck, impaling a dagger into the man's back, but he ceased to let go of his grip. I spot the dark hair and I knew. It was D'Artagnan.
The dagger is brought down twice more before the man staggered on his feet, letting his relenting grip go and I crumble to the floor gasping for air, hungrily taking in as much as my lungs would let me. Then I hear it the unmistakable snapping of a bone and the shout of pain. I look up nearly sobbing at the site of my lover, He was sprawled on the hard floor gasping for breath, his leg bend abnormally, blood covering his once brown shirt , seeping through the leather of his jacket, his left wrist swollen and bent of of place.
"Porthos! Aamis! Athos! Quick!" I gasp loudly crawling to his side, taking his larger hand in mine hoping to comfort him, sliding my hand through his hair stroking his cheeks, wiping away the lone tear than trailed down his cheek. I feel tears starting to well up in my eyes as he whimpers, a sound like a puppy being kicked, the sound clenching my heart. I look up when I hear feet run to our side, Aramis, Athos and Porthos reaching my side, gasping at the sight of their fallen brother. They soon came to their senses and Porthos and Athos grabbed the brutes body and hauls him off D'Artagnan's smaller body, shoving him to the side.
"th..at ma..n need..ed to loos..e som..e we..ight" D'Artagnan manages to say making a smile grace my face for a second as Porthos chuckles deeply, from behind me, as Aramis crouches next to D'Artagnan, placing his skilled hands on his stomach, removing his jacket carefully but yet it seemed it caused him a world of pain and he moans. " "Sto..p...hurts"
"I know it does, D'art. I need to see the extent of damage before we move you" Aramis answers as he places his hands back on his stomach, lifting his shirt. I let out a small gasp at the state of his body, his left side was purple, a gaping wound drained a river of blood covering his tanned, muscled stomach in crimson.
"Oh god, we need to get him back to the garrison. Quickly!" Aramis exclaims pressing his removed cloak onto D'Artagnan's wound, in a bid to stop the spillage of more blood.
"No,D'Artangnan you have to stay 't let yourself fall asleep" Aramis commands but it was as if D'Artagnan didn't hear as his eyes had fluttered closed, as if his life was slipping away from him, his soul ready to leave his body.
"Please,Don't leave me I love you" I sob tears now falling down my cheeks in a river of grief.
"Constance, he is not dead. He has passed out, tis all" Aramis tells me his voice smooth and calm reassuring me, although he properly felt the same as I, after all the three men around me viewed my lover as a younger brother. "But if we don't move fast he might perish, we must go." He tells me as I feel hand on my shoulder, I turn to its owner, Athos looked as grief filled as I, his eyes were overrun by un shed tears. I slowly get up my legs quivering and a sway slightly, falling forwards but the steadying hands of Athos pulled me to him, and I bury my head into his shoulder, unashamed of the tears that soaked his shoulder. I hear D'Artagnan moan from behind me as Porthos lifted him into his strong arms, keeping him as close as he would dare without causing any more pain for my lover, his eyes meet mine and he nods once before he strides out of the large room Aramis swiftly following behind.
"Come, Constance he will be safe soon" He comforts as Treville made his way over, his face one of concern as he watched D'Artagnan being carried away, limp in Porthos's arm's, the King follow's behind him concern also on his face.
"D'Artagnan?" Treville ask's
"We do not know of the true extent of his injuries as of yet, we need to get to the Garrison, Quickly" Athos says as he lead's me away, letting my lean on him for support.
"Is the Queen and the Dauphin, well?" I ask
"They are fit and well, Madame" Athos answers leading me up the hill, supporting my tired body. As soon as we got to the horses, Athos lifts me onto my horse, Jumps onto his and canters off, my horse's feet eating up the dirt bellow as he followed, the world around me a blur as the horses stride widen further, galloping at its full speed. It didn't take long until we slowed to a trot, ambling through the people of Paris, desperate to get to D'Artagnan's side.
Finally, the Garrison comes into sight, I jump off my horse as soon as it stopped, new found energy and the shout of pain making me stride towards Aramis's chamber. I swing open the door, Athos right behind me. I gasp at the sight of my lover, he is draped on a table, his torso naked, as Aramis dug out the bullet from his wound, he lets out a moan of pain once more and I run to his side taking his hand in mine stroking his cheek as tears fall down his youthful face. He must have at some point reclaimed conciousness as his dark eyes flutter open at my touch and he groans out my name.
"Shh...lay still, I am here, and I a not leaving your side again" I tell him as his eyes start to flutter closed again, unconsciousness taking him away again.
"Do not worry, Constance. It is properly best he is not awake for this. I have to set his leg, and wrist, stitch his bullet wound closed and wrap his ribs. Let him rest, he is not dying on my watch" He says as he finally retrieves the musket ball from his stomach.
"He is very lucky, the ball missed all vital organs" Aramis comments as he places the ball in a bowl along with the metal object he used to dig out the ball, and reached into his bag, pulling out a needle as stitches.
He sterilizes the needle in alcohol before taking a sip of the liquid, and threads the stitching into the needle. I turn my head to the side as he digs the needle into D'Artagnan's side, as D'art whimpers in his slumber.
"Shhh" I soothe and to my surprise he stops squirming and settle's back down into restless sleep. Merely 10 minutes later Aramis lifts his head, a proud look on his face at his work, but he soon moved on gently taking D'Art's broken wrist in hand, inspecting the broken bone. He then wrapped a bandage tightly around his wrist.
"Luckily his wrist is only slightly fractured, the bone has only moved slightly and should take 4 weeks at the most to heal." He tells us as he moves onto his leg "Ah, this on the other hand needs to be set in a cast, the impact of the man landing on his leg has snapped his bone, this will take some time to heal, and will need rehabilitation afterwards." he says digging through his bag until he found some sort of herb, he places a large amount on a bowl, adding water before grinding it together until it formed a sludge, he cuts off the rouser leg before gently placing the sludge on his broken leg, covering it in the stuff. He then moves on to his ribs, prodding them with careful hands.
"Porthos, lift him to a sitting position I need to wrap his ribs, two of them are broken but it seems luck is on his side today as his lungs have not been punctured" He says as Porthos grunts in reply before lifting D'Artagnan carefully up. It takes Aramis less than 5 minutes before he has finished wrapping D'Art's ribs.
"He should be fine now." Aramis finally says and we all breathe a sigh of relief. " we should move him to somewhere more comfortable, bring him to my bed Porthos" He tells Porthos as he leads him to his bed chambers. I follow closely behind, intent on keeping to what I said, I was not leaving him.

Soon all was quiet and only the deep sound of D'Artagnan breathing could be heard, the three; Aramis, Athos and Porthos had left an hour ago, to attend to the King, leaving me alone with the man I loved.
I was sat on a hard chair, my thumb drawing random patterns on his rough, palm, lazily leaning my head on his uninjured arm, my eyes fluttering closed tiredly, the events of the day finally catching me up, and exhaustion takes over my body, as I join my lover in slumber.

D'Artagnan POV: A few hours later.

"No...Please.." A voice says, a distant buzzing noise, reaching my confused brain.
"Don't...I beg.." The voice said again clearer than before, I could hear the fear and pain through its feminine tone.
"Don't hurt him..." It says again now clear as day, the buzzing gone as my eyes struggle to open.
"Take me!..." The beautiful voice says gain and my eyes snap open, light hitting my face making me instantly close them again.
"NO!" The voice whimpers, and I make my eyes open, darting them around the room for the distressed owner of the voice. I try to move but a weight held me down, Red hair was spanned across my chest, a head resting half on my arm half on my chest.
"Constance" I attempt my voice a hoarse whisper, I clear my throat and try again:
"Constance" It was louder this time, but not enough as she started to whimper in her sleep, the sound breaking my heart, I feel her tears treacle down my arm's as she wept in her sleep.
"Constance. Wake up. I'm here" I say my voice crackly and gruff, but she did not rouse from her sleep.
"Athos! Aramis! Porthos!" I shout as loud as I could with my croaky voice, hoping they would hear, because Contance sure didn't, as her breathing started to increase as if she was gasping for air. I move my left hand, pain shooting through it but I ignore it and attempt to comfort her.
"No...Please...stop" she cries, just as the door flies open.
"D'art-" Athos starts as he strode through the doorway but he was cut off as Constance lets out a scream, and Aramis and Porthos ran into the room, panic obvious in their faces.
"She's having a Nightmare" I exclaim as she cries out again, and Athos strides to my side. He shakes her shoulders, attempting to wake her, as she shouts my name and her gorgeous blue eyes snap open, fear flashing through them as they shoot around the room as if she was trying to find something or someone. Then our eyes meet and before Athos could stop her she lunged at me her arms wrapping tightly around my neck, her body pressed onto mine, laying on me, as she sobbed into my shoulder. I let out a gasp of pain as her body pressed against my wounds and I spot Athos rushing forwards, ready to pull her off, but I hold up my uninjured arm telling him it was okay, for I would live through the pain if it meant lessening hers. I watch as the three men slip out of the door unnoticed, and I bring my arms around her back, moving them up and down, soothing her trembling form, having her in my arms again, finally.
"Its okay" I tell her as her shoulders stop shaking and the tears that covered my shoulder stopped, eased away as she calms in my arms. "I got you. Your safe now" I tell her as he breathing started to even out, tiredness already luring her back in. "I love you" I say as my eyes also started to close and I move her body to my right side, were bruises did not cover my skin, and she curled into my side pressing a kiss to my chest before murmuring "I love you, too" and with that she fell into slumber, her body half on mine, the perfect fit as if she was made for me and I her. With those thoughts in mind I place a kiss into the top of her head, and I too fell into a peaceful sleep, knowing she was at my side.

Normal POV:

And that was how the three men found their brother, his love at his side at last, his face peaceful in sleep, making him look much younger, as they realise, his youthful face was barely out of boyhood, but yet he was braver than most men, his compassion and selflessness radiating off him, his kindness towards all others giving them hope, hope that not all of man was evil and hope for a brighter future.

Little did the three know, standing, watching guard over their brother and their surrogate sister, that the man that slept in front of them would become the story of a legend among men, a story which would live for hundreds of years, the five of them, together, a hope for all.

Whew, I think that was the longest one-shot I have written! lol.
So I hope you enjoyed this story. If you did give it a little review or a favourite, it would be much appreciated :D
Thanks for reading x
-Leggomygreggo2 :) xx