Escaping Secrets

The Musketeers

d'Artagnan comes home to run his late father's store, he was not expecting to get involved with the very dominate Athos, Porthos and Aramis. He knew moving back home was a bad idea.

Modern and BDSM AU

Main Pairing in this story: Aramis/d'Artagnan

Endgame: Athos/Aramis/d'Artagnan/Porthos

Disclaimer: I do not own BBC's The Musketeers

Chapter Two

"Man I'm exhausted." d'Artagnan yawned as he massaged the crick in his neck. After meeting both Athos and Aramis yesterday and spending all day setting the shop and range up d'Artagnan felt like he could sleep for a week.

He dragged the last of the moving boxes over to the alleyway where the stores garbage and recycling went to be picked up, the setting sun was being blocked by the buildings giving the alleyway the illusion of it being midnight.

"Should be able to open up Monday morning." He muttered to him self as he tossed the boxes up into the dumpster. He dusted his hands off as he headed back towards GG where his flat was located above; the range was out back stretching towards the forest that lined that side of town.

"Hey man." A voice called out, d'Artagnan turned around and yelped as he leapt back to avoid the swing of switchblade, the metal shining in the darkness. The man who held it was built like a wall with tattoos crawling up around the column of his neck and a red bandana tied tightly around his right wrist.

"What the hell is your problem?" d'Artagnan shouted, hand going to his pocket to dial the Musketeers aka the police force of the town.

"Don't move or I'll gut you! I swear I will!" The man stepped forward swinging the blade, d'Artagnan shouted as the tip of the blade caught his bare forearm as the young man had misjudged the distance and d'Artagnan didn't move fast enough.

"What do you want?" d'Artagnan clutched his bleeding his arm.

"You're going to take me into your gun shop and you are going to give me the best you've got." The man jerked the blade towards the direction of GG.

"And if I refuse?" d'Artagnan's gut turned at the mere idea of giving this man one of his guns.

"Then I slit your throat and get the keys from your corpse." The man threatened, closing the distance between the two. The bloodied tip of the blade pressing against D'Artagnan's throat, blood slipping down from the small cut forming there staining his skin and collar of his shirt.

"I'll do it." d'Artagnan agreed before his hand lashed out at the man's throat. The man gagged as he staggered backwards dropping the knife as his hands flew up to hold his throat out of reflex.

d'Artagnan saw his chance and ran out of the mouth of the alleyway. He was reaching for his phone, but he bumped into a large man almost falling back onto the ground. Strong hands latched onto his uppers arms, holding him upright easily.

d'Artagnan couldn't stop the reflex to start struggling against the hold.

"Oi, hey, calm down! My name's Porthos and I am an Officer with the Musketeers! I'm not trying to hurt you."

d'Artagnan stopped struggling instantly surprising even himself. He looked up into dark brown eyes with short black curly hair and a scar cutting through the eyebrow of the ruggedly handsome face.

"I'm d'Artagnan." He gasped out and recognition spread across Porthos' face.

"d'Artagnan. Are you okay?" Porthos' face turned serious as he spotted blood on his arm, throat and hands.

"A man back there." d'Artagnan jerked his head back towards the alleyway. "He had a knife and threatened to kill me if I didn't give him guns from my shop."

"I see, stay here." Porthos nodded, anger in his eyes before he gently pulled his fingers away from d'Artagnan's arms. He left d'Artagnan by a few bags of take out food and crept towards the alleyway, his service weapon drawn. He was obviously off duty as those tight jeans could not be part of the uniform, not that d'Artagnan was complaining, nope not at all.

d'Artagnan shifted nervously as Porthos disappeared from sight into the alleyway. Tense moments passed before the large man re-appeared holding the bloodied knife by the tips of his fingers as not to mess up the fingerprints.

"Looks like the bastard ran for it." He grumbled.

"Must have backed off when I punched him in his throat." d'Artagnan theorized and blinked at the shocked and impressed look Porthos was giving him. "What?"

"Nothing, you're full of surprises huh?" Porthos laughed before he pulled out his cell phone.

"Could you come down to the station to give your statement and maybe a description of your attacker?"

"Of course, just let me lock up." d'Artagnan agreed before he rushed over to GG once he got Porthos' nod of approval, he pulled down the bars and locked the doors tightly.

"My car's this way." Porthos smiled softly at the smaller man when he rejoined him, the knife was now in a plastic bag with a local Chinese restaurant's logo on the side.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I interrupted your dinner." d'Artagnan nodded at the take out bags.

"Don't worry about that, your safety is more important than food. Aramis and Athos will understand and agree with me." Porthos waved it off.

d'Artagnan nodded in understanding as Constance's words about the three being partners in and out of work coming back to him.

"Just over this way." Porthos' voice brought d'Artagnan back to reality when Porthos gently took his wrist; d'Artagnan stumbled behind the larger man. Porthos being a gentleman opened the passenger side door for him to slip inside.

The next hour or two passed in a blur for d'Artagnan, he answered questions, gave a description of the man including his tattoos and having his injuries taken care of. d'Artagnan felt strangely detached from it all, the phantom pressure on his arms from where Porthos had gripped him before was the only thing that kept him from going into shock he suspected.

He soon found himself standing outside the Musketeer station looking at the parking lot feeling a bit lost.

"Oh good, you haven't left yet." Porthos' deep voice rumbled from behind him and out of reflex d'Artagnan straightened and tilted his head to the side just an inch before he caught himself.

"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to spend the night at your place. That could always come back." Porthos gently steered d'Artagnan towards where he parked his car.

"I can call Constance…She might be with Ninon though…" d'Artagnan fumbled for his phone when a strong hand wrapped around his wrist.

"You can stay with me, Aramis and Athos tonight. It's no problem and I really want to keep an eye on you tonight in case you go into shock." Porthos said in a low, no nonsense tone of voice and d'Artagnan felt him self wilt under the tone and the strong hand.

"Okay, thank you Porthos." d'Artagnan nodded as he slid his phone back into his pocket and allowed Porthos to open his door again. He could get used to this door-opening thing it was very nice.

~~/~~

"Here we are, home sweet home." Porthos pulled into a driveway that circled around a statute of a man on a horse with a sword raised high.

"What?" d'Artagnan stared at Porthos then back out at the manor and acres of land that sprawled out around the Victorian style building. It was about 20 minutes out of town, but it was beautiful.

"It's a lot to take in I know, but it all belongs to Athos." Porthos explained as he helped d'Artagnan out of his car that was parked by a red sports car, a large truck, and a few four wheelers, dirt bikes and motorcycles that all were parked under a solid awning to keep the elements away from them.

"To Athos? Oh right, I think Constance mentioned something about him being a Comte…" D'Artagnan trailed off before he shook himself before muttering mainly to himself. "Doesn't matter, he still a person like everyone else."

d'Artagnan didn't see the pleased look Porthos was giving him as they headed towards the front door that was larger than any door d'Artagnan had ever seen before other than at museums. Porthos easily pushed it open and the two walked into the foyer that was elegance but not overwhelming.

"I'm home and I brought a pup." Porthos winked at d'Artagnan who huffed only slightly offended at the puppy comment.

"Oh you shouldn't have." Aramis waltzed into the room wearing a pair of low riding sweat pants that were rolled up at the cuffs so they didn't impair his bare feet. He was wearing a tank top that had the Musketeer's symbol stretched across the front.

"He's so cute too." Aramis winked and d'Artagnan felt his cheeks heat up at the compliment.

"But he's injured, what happened?" Once Aramis spotted the bandages around d'Artagnan's arm and throat he turned serious and with gentle hands cradled d'Artagnan's arm in his hands as he inspected the wrappings.

"Some asshole came at him with a knife, punched the bastard in the throat he did." Porthos sounded proud as he walked towards another room. "Hope you like re-heated Chinese food cuz that's all your getting."

"Impressive." Aramis nodded his approval at d'Artagnan's actions.

"As long as they didn't skimp on the noodles it will be fine Porthos." Athos descended from the stairs wearing a pair of black sweatpants much like Aramis, instead of a tank top he was wearing a long sleeved white Henley and d'Artagnan was starting to think agreeing to spend the night here was a bad idea.

"I am sorry to intrude like this, Porthos insisted but I can still call Constance." d'Artagnan said in a rush, feeling like he was intruding on something that he shouldn't be seeing, the three of them together like this was doing things to him.

"It's no problem d'Artagnan, you are welcome to stay anytime." Athos waved off d'Artagnan's concern as he followed after Porthos to help plate up the take out food.

"Come on d'Artagnan, we should have some spare clean clothes for you to use." Aramis tugged d'Artagnan's wrist slightly towards the grand staircase that Athos had just descended. d'Artagnan went willingly and tried to take everything in the best he could until Aramis brought him into a large closet that was obvious separated for each of the three men that lived there.

"We really need to do laundry, I hope these work." Aramis held out some folded clothing.

"I'm sure they will, thank you Aramis." d'Artagnan smiled brightly at the Musketeer and blinked when Aramis's hand covered his mouth.

"I'll wait outside." Aramis hurried out of the room, shutting the door.

d'Artagnan shook his head at Aramis' odd behavior in favor of stripping out of his clothes so he was just in his boxers. He slid on the black sweatpants and tied the drawstrings tight, but they were still loose and low on his hips and he had to rolled the cuffs up a bit so he wouldn't trip on them. He pulled on the large, soft dark blue sweatshirt and stared as they hung far past the tips of his fingers and no matter how many times he adjusted the shoulders, one still slipped down.

He blew a strand of hair out of his face and padded barefoot out of the walk-in closet to see Aramis leaning against the wall outside. d'Artagnan cleared his throat slightly and blushed under the intense gaze that Aramis was giving him.

"They look good on you, come on the food should be re-heated by now." Aramis beckoned d'Artagnan to follow and he did so, reminding himself of a lost puppy. He huffed to himself remembering what Porthos had called him and maybe he was right?

"Didn't know what you liked, so you got some of everything." Porthos said beaming at the two when they entered the living room, shoving a plate towards d'Artagnan. d'Artagnan shook the large sleeves up to at least get his hands free.

"Thanks Porthos." He took the offered plate, noticing that Porthos had the same look on his face that Aramis had, a quick glance at Athos revealed the same look and d'Artagnan felt even more confused.

"Want to watch a movie?" Athos cleared his throat, walking over a wooden cabinet that when opened revealed rows of movies and television shows.

"Sure." d'Artagnan agreed and allowed Aramis to escort him over the large, comfortable looking couch. d'Artagnan sighed happily as he sunk down into the cushions and blinked when Aramis sat right next to him, their thighs pressed against each other.

"Is there anything you want to watch d'Artagnan?" Athos peered over his shoulder as Porthos settled down in front of d'Artagnan and Aramis' legs leaving the spot on the other side of d'Artagnan empty for Athos.

"Not really." d'Artagnan said between bites of Chinese food. Athos hummed and selected a random action movie that the trio had seen numerous times and slid it into the flat screen before settling next to d'Artagnan, their thighs pressed together as well. d'Artagnan smiled into his food at the heat and safety he could feel coming from the three men surrounding him.

The men didn't talk as the movie played on, too busy eating their food to talk to each other. d'Artagnan finished first and smiled shyly at Aramis when the Musketeer took his empty plate off his lap to place onto the side table. d'Artagnan sank further down into the insanely comfortable couch and couldn't stop the descend of his eyelids as the day's events caught up with him and he slipped into a peaceful slumber.

Athos blinked slightly startled as a weight settled against his shoulder, he glanced down to see d'Artagnan resting his head against his shoulder, eyes closed and mouth opened slightly as he slept easily.

"He's too cute." Aramis commented seeing d'Artagnan asleep on Athos' shoulder and the other man not making any move to dislodge him.

"Athos did say he was pretty." Porthos turned around from his place on the floor to inspect d'Artagnan's sleeping form.

"I'm surprised he didn't go into shock after that attack today." Aramis hummed, having seen people gone into shock from things that were much less traumatic than what d'Artagnan went through.

Athos shifted and let out a strangled noise when d'Artagnan's head slid down his front and his descent ended with his face buried in Athos' crotch.

Porthos choked on a mouthful of noodles and Aramis' jaw dropped while Athos blinked and took a deep breath. Athos gently turned d'Artagnan's face away from his crotch and Aramis helped by swinging d'Artagnan's long legs over his lap and rubbed circles on the exposed skin on his ankle while Athos turned his attention back to the movie and he absently stroked long hair.

The three watched the rest of the movie silently, not wanting to risk waking d'Artagnan, something the three of them had silently agreed upon. As the credit's rolled, Porthos stood up from his place, stretching his body out before he gently slid his arms underneath d'Artagnan's knees and shoulders easily hoisting the sleeping man up into his arms.

Athos stood up, shaking his legs out but watched as Porthos cradled d'Artagnan gently in his arms like he held them before he headed up the stairs to let d'Artagnan sleep in a guest room.

"So that just happened." Aramis cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair.

"Indeed." Athos rubbed his forehead, not sure what had come over him. Normally he would have never allowed someone he barely knew to fall asleep on him, but there was just something about d'Artagnan that bypassed his usual barriers.

"Pup is fast asleep and damnit it 'mis, did you have to give him one of my shirts? I was this close to jumping him then and there." Porthos held up two fingers to show a small gap between them.

"You and me both, I was not expecting him to look like, well like that." Aramis waved his hand towards the stairs.

"He… He reminds me of a sub." Athos said slowly and the other two stared at him.

"He's stubborn as a boar, he's nothing like any sub I've seen. I doubt that he would drop for anyone willingly, if anything he reminds me of a younger you, Athos." Porthos rubbed his beard thoughtfully.

"You're right, but there is something about him." Athos conceded Porthos' point, even if his eyebrow twitched at the comparison.