Thank you Questfan and Lowenweiss for reviewing.
I apologize in advance for Athos' grumpiness and just for Aramis in general, he didn't want to behave in this chapter so I decided to let him have his fun.
"Athos may very well murder those new recruits" Aramis commented idly "perhaps we should take pity on them and intervene" he quirked an eyebrow at Porthos who was sitting beside him at their usual breakfast spot in the Musketeer garrison.
Porthos shrugged and took another bite of bread before replying "does them no good to go easy, their enemies wouldn't"
"We both know Athos isn't concerned with what their enemies would do, he's venting his own frustration" said Aramis.
"He's worried" Porthos finished the last of his bread and took a swig of water.
"Yes, but d'Artagnan can take care of himself and he is only a couple of days late" Aramis pointed out "Perhaps his horse threw a shoe, or the weather was poor and he had to take shelter"
Porthos snorted "I might believe that if it was anyone but d'Artagnan, that lad can get into more trouble than the three of us combined"
Aramis smiled a bit at that "true, and I'm sure if he isn't back by tonight we will be readying ourselves to go aft…" he trailed off as he noticed the quizzical look on Porthos' face.
"Do you hear that?" Porthos asked.
Aramis cocked his head to the left "hear what?"
"Sort a like an 'eee ooo, eee ooo' sound" Porthos answered.
"All I hear is the sound of a groaning recruit" said Aramis as a particularly loud thwump sounded throughout the garrison. "I think it best I put a stop to this before someone has to tell Treville that his best Musketeer has been arrested for murder….. again"
Porthos nodded absentmindedly as Aramis left him. The noise he'd heard was bothering him, mostly because he wasn't sure what could've made such an odd sound. Rather than sit there and watch Aramis', admittedly ludicrously funny, attempts at distracting Athos, Porthos decided to investigate. The closest place that the noise could've come from was the kitchen so Porthos decided to start there and work his way around the garrison if necessary.
The kitchen was warm and the scent of last night's supper still hung in the air. Serge didn't seem to be around but Porthos' senses were telling him that someone or something was. His hand went to his belt and he pulled a knife, feeling better as he hefted it and walked the length of the room. His eyes missed nothing, nor did they see anything amiss. He was beginning to feel a bit silly when he remembered, there was another room behind the kitchen, but where was the door? He pushed aside the empty bags hanging along one wall and was rewarded with the sight of a door.
"Odd place to have a locked door" he whispered to himself after he tried the knob. Not that a locked door could stop him, he grinned slightly as he pulled out his lock pick set and went to work. The lock clicked but he paused before opening the door, sure that he'd heard a voice.
"Hurry up Martha; I don't see why you want to dress to fit in anyway" a male's voice came through the door and Porthos furrowed his brow in confusion as the words made little sense to him.
He briefly considered getting Aramis or Athos but shook his head as soon as the thought crossed his mind; they were obviously busy as he could hear the sound of Athos' shouting even in his current position.
He roughly pushed the door open and rushed in, only to stop when he saw a big blue… something. It was sitting in the corner of the small unfurnished room with a long lanky man in odd clothing leaning against it; he looked up as Porthos came in and smiled a wide beaming smile that was oddly infectious though Porthos didn't give in to the temptation to grin back at him.
"Well hello! Who are you?" asked the man, he eyed the knife but didn't seem too worried.
"I got a better question for you, who're you?" growled Porthos, the man didn't look all that dangerous but Porthos kept his knife pointed at him.
The man pulled one hand out of his trouser pockets and offered it to Porthos. Still disregarding the knife he said "I'm the Doctor".
The opening of the blue thing meant that Porthos didn't have to decide whether to shake the stranger's hand or not, which he thought was a good thing since he didn't really know what to do. A woman stepped out of the blue thing and Porthos' eyes widened slightly. The woman was lovely, beautiful even, she was wearing a green dress lightly embroidered with white thread and an ivory jacket covered in lace, it was an expensive looking outfit that could've graced any well off woman but it particularly set off this woman's dark skin and wide expressive eyes.
"Porthos, where are you?" came Aramis' voice from outside the kitchen door "Athos promises to behave now, you don't have to hide"
The woman looked at him excitedly "you're Porthos?" she asked.
"What is going on here?" asked Aramis coming up behind Porthos.
"Never you mind" came yet another voice from behind Aramis.
"Captain Treville!" Aramis exclaimed "I promise we've been exceptionally well-behaved in your absence".
Treville didn't grace the obvious lie with a reply, instead he gestured for Aramis and Porthos to leave. Porthos was only too happy to oblige, he felt as though his tongue had stopped working and he didn't like not knowing what to say.
Once outside his eyes followed the odd trio as they exited the kitchen and climbed the stairs to Treville's office.
"How'd they get in there?" he muttered, he hadn't meant Aramis to hear him but his friend nodded his head.
"It's a fair question" acknowledged Aramis "but I'm more curious as to why they were in there and why they are now in Treville's office".
Aramis suddenly swept his hat onto his head and, ignoring Porthos confused expression, swiftly moved towards the entrance to the garrison.
"Oi, what you doing?" Porthos questioned as he stood up to follow.
"If Athos asks, you have no idea where I am" Aramis said flapping his hands at Porthos trying to make him stay put.
"What did you do?" Porthos yelled at Aramis' back but the man didn't turn around and Porthos huffed in annoyance as he sat back down and, ignoring the sight of Athos tearing after Aramis, he turned his eyes once more to Treville's door.
