J is for Jump…..

'This was your stupid idea.'

'I don't believe I forced your arm... You could have refused to come along!

'And let you do this alone?'

'The Captain insisted we find out by any means necessary!'

'Yes but that doesn't mean climb into the Red Guard's rooms and sift through the cardinal's private papers, Aramis!' Athos hissed, rolling his eyes. He and Aramis were stood in the fading darkness in the accounts room of the Red Guard's garrison- he had watched the orange sun disappear behind a blank of clouds some minutes ago whilst Aramis was sorting through papers.

Treville had been suspicious of the increasingly finer garb that the Cardinal's men were dressing in the past few days, and was convinced that the man in question was pilfering money from the loans and funds given to both them and the Musketeer regiment just for his men. Of course, he couldn't prove it- and that's where Aramis and Athos came in.

And so they were now standing in the accounts room of the Guards, with Athos keeping watch while Aramis peered through recent accounts, scanning the papers for damning evidence.

'The Cardinal isn't a stupid man- he won't have written it down!' Athos hissed after a while, as Aramis sighed and began a new pile.

'The Captain just wants us to see what's what...' His friend whispered back, but even he had to admit that there didn't seem to be anything fishy going on. 'Maybe the Red Guards merely decided to wash their clothes?' He mused as he stood back, rolling his aching neck. 'That would explain why their clothes look new.'

'Perhaps.' Athos muttered, voice low. 'Come on, let's g-' his voice was cut off as they both heard footsteps coming up the stairs. 'Perfect...' He growled, walking into the middle of the room and giving Aramis a look. 'This is your fault.'

'Me?' Aramis replied as he hastily put the papers in order and put them back in the drawers he hoped they belonged, shaking his head ruefully as they backed themselves into a corner, looking for a good hiding spot. 'You can't blame this on me!'

'I can and I will!' Athos hissed, before he flung an arm across Aramis' chest to tell him to get down.

The door opened slowly, creaking with age- two Red Guards, obviously on duty that night, stepped into the room, looking round.

'I'm sure I heard sumfing!' One said, looking round with a hand on his blade.

'I told you it was your imagination!' The other berated, his heavy boot falls setting Athos on edge as he and Aramis watched them take in the room.

'No, no I heard footsteps- and talking!'

'Rubbish.'

'No, I did!' The man suddenly took in a sharp breath. 'It could be a ghost!' He whispered. Aramis withheld a snort.

'Really? A ghost?' His partner repeated, and Athos could hear the disdain in a voice. 'You've been drinking too much ale!'

'No, it could haunted! This is an old building...could be a lost soul, wandering here for evermore-'

'Well if it is a ghost, could it kindly shut up and leave us to do our jobs!' The man growled and the two of them stood in silence for a while...Aramis wondered whether they were giving time for the 'ghost' to answer them.

'There. Now come on, let's go back down- it's freezing up here!' The man muttered, before his footsteps moved back out of the room,leaving the other man stood alone; Aramis could see his legs from the spot where he was crouched in the shadows.

The man peered around, eyes roving the dark corners of the room. Perhaps it was a ghost- perhaps it was trying to communicate with the living to relay an ancient message? He was just about to open his mouth to ask a question when there was a noise that chilled him to the very bone...

'Ooooooh...'

The man stood stock still as the noise echoed a little, his face set in a scared expression as he backed away. 'H-hello?' He asked, voice high pitched.

'Get...out...now...'

The man nodded dopily into the darkness of the room, his back hitting the doorframe as he shuddered. 'Who is this?' He asked, eyes wide. 'Do you have a message before I go?'

'Yes...' The voice breathed, filled with malice. 'Your shirt...is disgusting...get rid of them...' The man nodded at that, eyes wide. 'I will! Don't hurt me!' He begged, before turning and rushing from the room.

As the noise of the guard's footfalls lessened, the noise of Aramis' chuckling and muffled laughing got louder. 'What a stupid man!' He grinned, before looking across at Athos. 'What?' He muttered as they stood, noting his glare. 'Come on, it was funny!'

'If you get us killed over a fake ghost-' Athos growled, rolling his eyes again. 'Lets get out of here.'

They carefully walked into the middle of the room, trying to work out the best way to escape without being noticed- 'we're not far from the ground, we could jump?' Aramis muttered, noting a large hay bale right underneath the window.

'Let's try something that won't result in one or the both of us breaking our necks, shall we?' Athos replied in a hurried whisper, before going to the door and peering into the darkness.

'It looks clear...' He muttered, before he cursed as two shadows once again appeared on the wall as they came back up the stairs again. 'No, not clear...' He confirmed a second later, stepping back into the room- he quirked an eyebrow as Aramis held up a large sheet that had been placed over an old desk.

'If you're going to suggest what I think you're going to suggest-' he whispered, but Aramis cut him off.

'Trust me!' Aramis smiled, before giving him a wink.

Athos rolled his eyes, realising he was out of options when he heard the voices of the guards coming up the corridor in the direction of the room. He ducked under the sheet-making sure their legs and feet were properly covered- just as the two guards came back into the room.

'I heard it! I did!'

'You're imagining things!'

'I'm not! I promise I'm not!

The other man sighed heavily, beating his foot on the wooden surface impatiently. 'Come on then, let's go and search out this "ghost" shall we?' He growled, and the two of them began a search of the room.

Athos shuffled backwards a little as the men began to snoop around- he squinted through the white material of the sheet and saw that the window only consisted of wooden slats; perfect.

Hoping that Aramis was right when he had said they weren't that far from the ground, he nudged him in the side and nodded that they should get out of here- Aramis nodded, a smile playing on his lips despite the danger (not to mention the huge level of trouble that they'd be in should the guards catch them). They slowly walked around to the window as the men searched the other side of the room- suddenly the man Aramis had aggravated before suddenly let out a small alarmed shriek, and Athos could see him waving his arms to get the attention of his partner.

'THERE! THERE IT IS!' He yelped as the other man wheeled around. 'I TOLD YOU!'

They began running for the window at this stage, just as the two of them barrelled after them...Aramis closed his eyes at the impact of the wood, and the two of them clutched each other's shoulders to ensure safety and an easy landing.

The hay broke their fall quite well, but Athos let out a groan as his leg missed the hay entirely- Aramis scrambled up as they heard the men shout from above.

'You alright?' He whispered as they moved to the side, out of the eyeline of the guards.

'I'll be fine...' Athos winced, face locked in a grimace- he could almost feel the bruise blooming; he moved it around a little, relieved when he could move it easily and without excruciating pain. Not broken then.

'Come on, let's get out of here...' Aramis said, taking hold of Athos' arm and flinging it over his shoulder and helping his friend hobble along the road, hoping that the guards wouldn't catch up soon.

As they hurried along Aramis tore the white sheet off their shoulders as it dragged along the road- with a grin and a smug chuckle, he balled it up and dumped it over a low wall on their way back to the garrison.

A/N- Well I have now been posting these chapters near-on every day for the past 10..updates will be a tad slower from here on in, owing to the fact I need to concentrate a bit more on my uni work ^^ This is much more fun though...

Don't worry, updates WILL be coming soon, just not every day :) probably every 1 or 2 ^^

Thanks for reading, and please review!

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