When Athos heard part of his name spoken, he thought he had never heard a sweeter sound. Aramis' eyes moved under his lids, and Athos softly said, "We are here, Aramis. Would you open your eyes again for us?"

The chocolate brown eyes slowly opened, gazing up at Athos. "Ath...," he tried again, the word barely understandable.

"I am here, Aramis," Athos told him, smiling down into his beloved brother's face.

"Wh...," Aramis began, before his brows knit together in confusion.

"You are doing fine, Aramis," Athos told him. "Give it time. Your voice will come back. Meanwhile, just rest and do not try to figure things out. Dr. Lemay should be here soon with more medicine for you. I am sorry the other bottle broke, and you had to experience the pain again."

This was obviously too much for Aramis to comprehend, and his eyes closed once again. They had just figured he had gone back to sleep, when they heard, "Porth...?"

Porthos' whole face lit up in a smile, as he responded, "I am right here, Aramis. Just rest now, all right?"

But it wasn't meant to be, as he had barely said this than Aramis gasped as a violent spasm shot through his body and he tried unstinctively to curl up against the pain. Athos and Porthos hurriedly stopped him, Porthos gathering his brother into his arms to hold him.

Athos muttered, "Please bring the good doctor quickly."

They soothed him as best they could, and when he finally went still, they thought he had finally been able to fall asleep.

Porthos looked up at Athos, saying, "If I ever get my hands on the scum who did this, I will teach them a lesson they ...", stopping when Aramis suddenly went rigid.

A moment later, Aramis tried to back away, his body beginnning to tremble violently, his face filled with fear.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

FLASHBACK

The darkness in the pitch-black cellar was all-encompassing. As he lay there unable to move, he tried hard not to give in to the despair that threatened to overwhelm him. He had seen no one but his captors since he had been taken. He had no idea where he was, what day or time it was, or how long he had been down here. He didn't know why he had been taken, or why they wanted so much to hurt him.

He froze as he heard the cellar door creaking open. Please, not again, he thought. But the booted feet still came tramping down the stairs and across the cellar. The unaccustomed light from their lanterns caused him to squeeze his eyes shut.

Reaching him, gloved hands grabbed hold of his arms and hauled him upright, slamming him against the post in the middle of the cellar and pulling his arms above his head, tying them to an iron ring set high up on the post.

The big, stocky man with the angry black-winged brows, who he had come to realize was their leader, got right in his face as he always did. It seemed the man only had one emotion, and that was anger. What was he supposed to have done, or who had he been mistaken for?

The man spoke, saying, "Time for your next lesson. When we are through with you, you will wish you were dead-just before we grant you your wish." He then nodded to the middle-aged man with the stooped back, whe walked forward carrying a wicked-looking dagger.

Aramis was helpless to protect himself, and again closed his eyes to shut out the sight. But the leader pulled his head up by the hair and said, "You still have learned nothing. You do not have the right to shut us out. You will keep your eyes open, or it will be even worse for you."

Aramis, unable to reply, silently turned to his only source of solace and began to pray again, pleading for his brothers to find him soon.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Athos and Porthos gently but firmly laid him back down, trying once more to soothe their tormented brother. But he was too much in fear of something he could see, or hear, in his mind.

"No...", he mumbled.

"Aramis, it is all right. It is just us, Athos and Porthos," Athos whispered to him.

"Less...", Aramis cried, his body still full of the tremors. They continued to try to calm him, Athos ruffling his hair, and Porthos' hand on his shoulder tracing soft circles.

At first, they were at a loss to understand what he was saying. Less what?

Then, Athos' head shot up, looking at Porthos. "Less," he said. What were you just saying before this happened?"

Porthos frowned as he tried to remember, then he slowly said, "I was talking about giving the men who did this a ...," stopping when he realized the word that had triggered Aramis' fear.

Athos mouthed the word, Porthos nodding in reply. He said, "Do you suppose it's possible his captors called their torments a form of ...," stopping as Porthos had before he spoke the word that they now believed had caused his panic.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aramis had finally fallen asleep, although it wasn't a trouble-free rest, as evidenced by the tremors that continued to wrack his emaciated body. Porthos had lain down with him, with Aramis tucked against his chest to let him know he wasn't alone and wasn't with violent men any more.

It was another two hours before the door suddenly opened and d'Artagnan hurried in, with Dr. Lemay practically following his footsteps.

As he looked down at the sleeping form of Aramis, he could see that the Musketeer wasn't sleeping soundly. He could see the tremors.

"What happened?" he asked Athos, who told him about the events that had happened previously.

"He needs the pain meds combined with the sleeping draught, but we need to wait until he awakens to give them to him. I will stay until that happens," Dr. Lemay promised.

"We have discovered more information also," Athos began.

Lemay said, "Tell me."

Athos told him about the episode from earlier in the day, including the reaction to what they believed was the word 'lesson', and why they thought Aramis might have reacted to it in that way.

The mild-mannered Lemay shocked them with what he said next. "I would personally like to see these men hung for what they have done. It is totally unconscionable, the worst cruelty I have ever seen coming from the heart of a man, or rather coming from the lack of it."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aramis finally awakened an hour later, probably having had another bad dream, as evidenced by the look in his eyes when they opened.

Athos leaned down and spoke softly to him so he wouldn't startle him. "Aramis, Dr. Lemay is here. Would you let him give you your pain medicine now?"

Looking over at Dr. Lemay, Aramis shocked the physician by trying to say yes, with only "Ye..." coming out.

Without registering his surprise that his patient was now speaking, Dr. Lemay said, "How would you like to have some soup and bread? Are you hungry?", smiling when Aramis gave a slight nod. "It should be ready as soon as it heats up. We will put your meds in for you."

He took Athos aside to speak to him while Porthos stayed at the bedside. He asked Athos, "When did he begin to get his voice back?", smiling as he said it.

"Several hours ago. He got most of my name out, and I must say it was the answer to a prayer," the admittedly non-practicing Athos told him.

"This is excellent progress," Lemay told him. "Let him go at his own speed. Don't push him to speak or remember anything, but it is all right to encourage him if he does. Now, for his medicine."

D'Artagnan had brought up some more soup and bread earlier, so they would have it when Aramis woke up, and had begun heating it over the fireplace.

When it was ready, they remembered to give it to him in a cup, not even wanting to think of his previous reaction to the spoon. He ate most of the soup and several bites of the bread, by which time the meds had kicked in and he nearly fell asleep before he was finished.

Porthos said, "Not so fast, Aramis. We know you want to sleep, but you need some more water in your body first," lifting him as he spoke. When they had coaxed him to finish most of a cup of water, they let him down where he fell asleep almost immediately, his face relaxed and peaceful at last.

"Doctor, we are beginning to realize the meds help him to sleep and take away most of the pain, but they do not seem to keep the nightmares at bay."

Lemay told them, "I had hopes that they would, as in many patients they do, but it seems in Aramis' case it doesn't work every time. I know I do not need to remind you, but one of you should stay at his bedside at all times. It gives him a sense of security when he awakens, and one of you needs to be with him if he has any troubles, either from the dreams or the pain. I am leaving a bottle of the pain meds for each of you, plus one for you to give to Captain Treville, so that this situation will not happen again. Please do not hesitate to call me, night or day, if you need me." With that, he left them.

Athos took first watch, as Porthos and d'Artagnan got a little much-needed sleep.

Athos took Aramis' hand in his, saying, "Sleep, Aramis." And to Aramis' God, he asked, "Heal him for us. He is our heart, and without him, we are lost."