Warning: There is some swearing in this chapter

April 10, 2009 - Good Friday - Wedding Reception

" This has been an amazing day my love," Rene whispered to Adele, his wife. "I couldn't have asked for anyone better to spend my life with than you."

They were dancing to their song, a cheesy ballad that had played at the restaurant on their first date. He spun her around and dipped her backwards, tenderly kissing her on the lips. Their wedding guests cheered, but the two of them didn't hear a thing. It was if there was a bubble surrounding them and they were the only two people in existence. Time stood still for this moment, the sound faded and there were only him and his bride dancing, twirling and gazing into one another's eyes.

Rene was more in love than he had ever been. When Adele had appeared at the end of the aisle he'd stopped breathing. His heart had ceased pounding and the air in the church had thickened. She was radiant; her gorgeous red hued hair was in soft ringlets framing her face. She wore a delicate pearl tiara with a lengthy veil attached that draped her shoulders. Her dress framed her figure in cream coloured lace and she held a bouquet of yellow daffodils. Rene had not been able to take his eyes off of Adele, his heart swelling at the thought that he might be worthy of marrying this woman.

" This has been the wedding of my dreams my Rene, you have made me so happy," Adele said.

Rene spun Adele around once more as the music changed and the wedding party filed out on to the dance floor. They only managed a couple of chords in the new song, when the maid of honour and best man interrupted their dance.

" May I have this dance, beautiful?" Marsac asked. He held his hand out towards Rene and pulled the groom away from his bride. The made of honour did the same and soon both couples were sashaying all over the dance floor.

" Listen," Marsac began. He spoke loud enough for the bride to hear once they met up on the dance floor again. "I must steal this dashing young man away for an hour max. We have business to attend to. I promise I will bring him back alive and unharmed, but in a much more inebriated condition."

Rene pulled out of the best man's silly embrace, "I am not leaving my wife on her wedding day, Marsac."

" Oh, no Rene, I promise this is worth your time. Besides, I have already cleared this with her. I didn't quite explain how drunk I will get you, but she has her fair maidens to distract her from her loneliness.

Marsac took Rene's arm and began pulling him towards the doors to the main floor of the church. Rene only had time to glance at his wife, seeing her amusement, before being ushered through the door.

" Where are you taking me anyways?" He asked.

" Just down the road, I promise we will be back within the hour." Marsac lets go of Rene once they were outside, and reached into the convertible vehicle that Marsac insisted on driving. He pulled out two glasses and half a bottle of some sort of liquor that Rene couldn't make out in the darkness.

" Really, Marsac?"

" Last drinks to our singles lifestyle… humour me. There is a small lake around here somewhere and I thought we would spend it toasting your new life. Scout's honour, Aramis. I have cleared it with Adele, she does not mind."

"We were never scouts, Marsac."

Marsac pouted, "Humour me, please? I only have your best interests in mind."

Rene grinned and nodded. He took one glass and the bottle of liquor from Marsac's hands and looked towards the convertible. "Are we driving, because that is not a good idea." He shook the bottle of liquor in his hand, sloshing its contents around.

Marsac shook his head and motioned towards the lake. "No there is a little inlet just on this side of the lake. Maybe a 5-minute walk."

"Alright friend, take me to the inlet."

They laughed and walked off into the darkness towards the lake.

March 10, 2016 - Somewhere in France - Aramis

It was only a few hours since Isabelle left and Aramis had already made the most of his time alone. With his fear of enclosed spaces held at bay for the moment, he explored his little prison. His collar and chain prevented him from reaching the front of the cell and if he walked as far as he could to one side, extending his arm he could almost touch the sides of the cell. The only wall within easy reach was the one where a solid iron hook was embedded into the grey brick stones. Aramis assumed it was an exterior underground wall because the stone was damp and cold to the touch. It wasn't quite spring in France and despite the mild winter, it had been on the colder side the last couple of weeks. Aramis was grateful for the blanket Isabelle had left him for his good behaviour as the cell was rather cold.

He then wandered around the cell cleaning up the remaining food and wrapped it into the picnic basket. He tucked the basket under the small cot for later use. He didn't know how often he was going to get fed and decided to ration the remaining food just in case.

After tidying up he looked at the scrubs he had been wearing since yesterday and they looked horrible. The scrubs had barely survived the fire, the abduction, the beating and so on. They were scuffed and ripped in some places and were still damp from his impromptu bath earlier. He changed out of the scrub pants he was wearing to the thick and warm sweatpants Isabelle left for him in the basket. He was unable to get his top off with the collar around his neck and realised he would have to ask one of the guards for help. They slipped in, restraining Aramis' arms behind his back, laughing while they cut the top off of him. Aramis was never more grateful for having put on a long sleeved cotton shirt on underneath his scrubs. He writhed in their arms pulling away before they could cut his cotton shirt off. He backed off towards the cot and wrapped the large red picnic blanket around himself as if it was his armour. They left him be a moment later, still laughing as they locked the cell door.

Afterwards, Aramis sat down and huddled into the blanket for added warmth. He was having a hard time believing how compliant he had become in such a small amount of time. It felt as though he had no fight left in him and weary acceptance of his situation had taken over. There wasn't any way out of the cell without having the collar removed from his neck and Isabelle probably had the key with her at all times. He nestled a little farther into the blanket and frowned. He'd loved Isabelle more than anything in the world once and now he hated her for putting him in this position. He was beginning to despair that his friends would never find him. Was Porthos looking for him? Was d'Artagnan helping them? Was Athos furious? Was Treville trying his best to remain calm... did any of them actually miss him?

Sighing, Aramis rubbed his eyes. He knew all these insecurities were the result of being up most of the night struggling with his captivity. Of course, his friends were looking for him; they would move mountains to find him, just as he would for them.

It had only been a day, and Aramis missed his boyfriend so much. Regrets for the way he broke up with Porthos the previous morning ate away at his mind and he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his arms and beg forgiveness. Even just to see him again and see that smile light up on Porthos' face would suffice. Something told Aramis, though, that he wasn't getting out of this predicament anytime soon. Isabelle had him locked up in a basement, God only knew where, and it would take more than a miracle to find him.

Speaking of miracles, he wondered how far his friends had gotten in their research into his past. Had they figured out he was Rene the victim and not Aramis, the first to respond to the scene of the massacre? Had they managed to unlock the secrets to his past he'd so painstakingly tried to hide? Did they find Adele? About a year ago he realized that he hadn't hidden Adele's past as thorough as his own. It was that discovery that made him decide to tell Porthos, but Porthos had ended things before he had a chance. He'd forgotten about it after that and never did remedy the situation.

Aramis wondered if they watched the surveillance video at the hospital yet. Had the camera had caught his real abductor? Isabelle may be the mastermind behind this, but she wasn't the one who took him from the hospital. In hindsight, he was glad he'd made the mistake of not hiding Adele, it might be the one thing that would help his brothers find him. If Athos and Porthos caught on, they would be able to connect his abductor to Adele. The one thing in all this that Aramis couldn't figure out, was how Isabelle factored into all this. It would have to remain a mystery for now until he could ask her, and that was if she even wanted to tell him.

"You are thinking quite loud, I can almost envision what's tumbling around in that head, Rene."

Aramis snapped out of his thoughts and looked to the owner of the voice addressing him. There was a man standing just at the edge the doorway to the room, dressed all in black. It made him seem more menacing as he hovered in the shadows. The man moved closer to the light and stopped just outside of the cell, near to the door. It was the same man that abducted him from the hospital and Aramis took a moment to glare at him before speaking.

"Victor. I'd love to say it's good to see you again, but there is never a time where it's good to see you," Aramis said.

Victor chuckled and motioned for the guards to open the door of the cell. "And I can't say I've missed that snarky attitude of yours. I don't know what Adele saw in you." He sauntered in once the door had opened and stood just out of Aramis' reach, hands on his hips.

Aramis tossed the blanket he huddled in onto the bed and got up from the cot. "Funny, I know exactly what she saw in you, and it's why you two never lasted."

"Keep it up, Rene. I don't have the time or patience to deal with your attitude, I came here to have a little chat." He waved for the guards to enter the cell and restrain Aramis. They wrapped their arms around his shoulders and pinned his arms behind his back. "It's been a long time since we last saw each other, and if I recall it wasn't a very happy moment. I didn't appreciate being arrested and accused of those horrific things they claimed I did. It's high time you paid me back for all those years I lost in jail, don't you think Rene?"

Aramis smirked, "what are you going to do Victor, lock me up? That's been already accomplished. I doubt that Isabelle will allow you to ruin her plans for me, so what exactly is your agenda? Are you going to hurt me like you hurt Adele? I'm not stupid like you are; I don't need to beat up defenceless woman so I can feel like a man. Is that how you felt when you did it to Adele when she was alive? I would expect nothing else from a useless piece of crap-"

Victor lunged forward and grabbed Aramis by the jaw, squeezing tight. Aramis yelped and jerked his head back trying to loosen Victor's grip, but the man only pushed his fingers in harder. He squeezed his eyes shut as pain rippled through his jaw and up into his head in sharp spiking tendrils.

"No, you are correct; Isabelle wouldn't sanction any kind of harm toward you." Victor growled. He loosened his hold on Aramis' jaw. He ran his other hand through Aramis' hair, stopping at the back of his neck and yanking his head backwards. "I'll just have to explain you antagonized me, but I don't think she'd have any issue if I taught you a lesson or two. Rene, would you like to learn a lesson?"

Aramis, in fact, did not want to learn a lesson. He didn't want to be in the same room as this man. He had fought alongside Adele for months to get Victor put behind bars for what he did to her. Neither of them ever wanted to lay their eyes on this man ever again. There were so many things he wanted to say to Victor, but he refused to and he wasn't surprised when Victor took his silence as obedience. There wasn't anything left to say to this man that hadn't been said all those years ago.

"But... maybe my lesson should be more of a psychological nature," Victor continued. "I do so love hearing bones crack, but breaking hearts can be just as satisfying. Don't you think Rene?"

Victor let go of Aramis' jaw and pulled his head close to his lips, whispering a few words into his ear. Aramis' eyes widened and he shivered as his skin goose pimpled. "You bastard, how could you do that to her! How could you cut her throat like that and leave her to die alone?"

His anger at what Victor whispered in his ear boiled and bubbled over. He struggled out of the guard's grip and yanked his hair from Victor's hand. Aramis lunged for Victor, rage having taken over his movements. He tried to make a grab for the man's neck but stopped short when his neck chain was yanked backwards. Aramis hadn't been expecting it and he flailed for a moment before toppling to the ground.

The guards immediately jumped on top of Aramis to subdue him and pinned him to the ground on his side. He was panting hard, chest heaving in anger. "How you got out of jail before your time is beyond me, but when I get out of here, I'm going to make sure you never see the light of day again." He growled. He lashed out with his unpinned leg, catching Victor on his ankle. Victor lost his footing and with a yelp he fell, landing on his backside.

"Son of a bitch!" Victor yelled. He sat up and took a hold of Aramis' hair, yanking his head upwards and smashing it into the ground. The blow disoriented Aramis and his stomach roiled and he felt nauseated. Victor stood up and backed off for a moment before grabbing Aramis' wrist and pulling it upwards. He squeezed the wrist until Aramis cried out in pain from the grinding of the bones. Any more force and Aramis was sure his wrist was going to snap in two.

"You two," Aramis heard Victor refer to the guards that still held him pinned to the ground. "Let him go, he isn't going to be able to get far in a moment."

The guards immediately released Aramis and stepped back. Victor squeezed and yanked his wrist even higher, forcing Aramis to rise from the floor. Aramis extended his leg and used his other hand to brace himself. His wrist was throbbing so bad he couldn't think straight. His head pounded, his jaw throbbed and blood dripped down the side of his head from the blow a few moments ago. He panted and squeezed his eyes shut trying to hold back the whimper forming in his throat.

"I have to admit Rene; I didn't expect quite this level of defiance from you. I got out of jail on a technicality, a loophole you might say, and I know more influential people than you think I do. This was all swept under the table and you suspected nothing! You should have died alongside Adele that night in Savoy and somehow you slipped through our fingers. It's taken Isabelle and me seven years to find you. Somewhere along the way, she decided you were worth saving and I happen to disagree with that sentiment."

Aramis opened his eyes and glared at Victor. "I made sure that I wouldn't be easy to find after that night so I can't say that I am disappointed that it took you two that long to find me. Do with me what you want, and mark my words, before I die I will destroy you for killing Adele." He expected to see anger in the man's eyes and instead he saw a sparkle of glee. His mind raced to figure out what Victor was planning.

"She didn't even have a chance to scream. Your bride, standing on the steps of the church her neck cut open, bright red blood dripping down her gorgeous long neck, staining her dress red. Oh, it was a beautiful sight."

"You are a sick bastard!" The revelation that Victor had been the one to cut Adele's throat was tearing his heart his heart in two.

"Yes, you've mentioned this. Rene, just so you know, your dear Isabelle isn't the innocent you think she is. While I was murdering your wife, who do you think set the fire? Who barred the doors locking your Mama and Papa inside?"

Aramis' world went silent as memories of that night assaulted him. He could still hear the screams of his family members trapped in the church. He could still hear the sound of the church collapsing in on itself, killing everyone inside that was still alive. He'd lost Marsac that night as well and his friend's death was solely his fault. If he'd just listened to him and ran for the back door instead of racing towards the front for Ninon, Marsac could be alive today. But then, he thought, Ninon would be dead in Marsac's place and things afterwards could have gone very different without her around. He was brought out of his memories a half a second later when Victor pulled his wrist once more.

"Rene, pay attention. I want you lucid for what comes next." Victor waited until he had Aramis' undivided attention. He raised his foot and stomped down hard on Aramis's leg. The leg snapped in two with a loud crack that was drowned out by Aramis' screams.

It was several long moments before Victor finally let go of Aramis' wrist, allowing it to fall limp at his side. His leg was throbbing in pain and he was having a hard time focussing. He felt, rather than actually saw, Victor walk around his prone body laying the floor. He wondered what else this fool wanted from him. Victor had abused his Adele for years before he was finally tossed into jail for it. If he had known back then that Victor was out of jail he would have moved hell and high water to make sure Adele was safe. There was one thought that kept replaying over and over in his mind since Victor revealed his treachery, how had Adele felt in her last moments, lying on the front steps of the church, knowing that she was going to die? That thought would haunt him for the rest of his life, no matter how long or short his life was going to be.

"I thought… you… said you weren't going to break… bones," Aramis said.

"Plans change, and you pissed me off."

Aramis adjusted himself slightly on the floor, trying to turn around to see what Victor was doing behind him and hissed at the pain that ran through his leg, "Awww, did I hurt your last feeling?"

"Keep it up, Rene."

"You've already said that this afternoon, you running out of original material?" Aramis grinned when Victor growled at his comment.

The man strode forward a couple of steps and nudged Aramis' leg with his foot causing Aramis to cry out in pain. He tried to curl in on himself, to contain the pain somehow, but his limb felt heavy and numb. His body began to shake in violent tremors and he felt himself growing cold. The nurse side of Aramis knew that he was going to go into shock sooner rather than later and his heart sped up in panic. He couldn't afford to be senseless while Victor was standing so close to him. He tried to slow his breathing, by taking deep breaths so he wouldn't hyperventilate, but Victor just pressed on his leg again.

"S...stop. P...please!" Aramis sobbed. The edges of his vision were darkening and he squeezed his eyes shut against the tears that were forming in the corner of his eyes. He didn't want to pass out and sent a silent plea to God to please let him stay lucid. "Please."

Victor laughed and nudged his leg one more time, causing him to cry out. Then he knelt down behind Aramis and ran his hand through his hair, "It's been so long since I had this much fun! I don't even care what Isabelle thinks at this moment, this has been so worth waiting seven years for."

"Don...don't touch… me." Aramis stuttered. Nothing was co-operating anymore and he didn't have the strength to pull his hair from Victor's hand.

"Shhh," His captor whispered in his ear. "Just close your eyes, stop fighting. You aren't going anywhere and I look forward to many more nights just like this, me hurting you and then hurting you more."

Aramis opened his mouth to throw back some retort to Victor when a shrill scream interrupted whatever he was going to say.

"VICTOR! What have you done?" Isabelle raced into the room and slid to the ground next to Aramis. "Bloody hell!." Her long blond hair tickled Aramis' neck as she pulled him in close.

"Isabelle. I can explain… he…"

"No, I will deal with you after I take care of him." She glared at Victor causing him to back away slightly at the wrath on her face. "Oh no no my love, please don't close your eyes. I will get you fixed, I promise."

Aramis smiled. He couldn't help himself, he was a tactile person and this was the first real touch he'd had in more than a day. He snuggled further into her arms, relishing the warmth of her body and the tenderness of her touch. His body was rapidly falling into shock now and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"Victor! For the love of God, go and get something to brace this leg or so help me I will break you in far worse places! Get Dr Lemay." Isabelle growled. "Rene? No… Aramis? Is that what you want to be called? I'll call you that if you just keep your eyes open. Please, baby."

"You realize that we'll have to kill the Doc after he helps him right?" Victor said as he slipped out of Aramis' cage.

Isabelle continued shushing Aramis, petting his head, tickling his neck and rocking back and forth. "Then kill him, Victor, I don't know why this is an important issue right now. He's expendable, right now Rene is not and you know that." She diverted her attention back to the man in her arms and whispered to him, "Rene, sweetie, did you hear that? I'm going to make you better I promise."

Aramis didn't answer; he just let himself float until he didn't hear anything anymore.