Aramis' brothers approached him very slowly, knowing he wasn't seeing them at the moment, his frenzy and panic totally focused on what only he could see in front of him. They didn't want to raise his heartrate any further if they could help it.

"Aramis," Athos called softly. Aramis showed no signs of having heard him.

Athos looked over at his brothers. Porthos nodded, waited a short time, and called in a quiet voice, "Aramis, mon ami, you know us."

Again, nothing.

When d'Artagnan's attempt also went unheard, they stopped for a bit, but didn't back away. They stayed quiet and unmoving, hoping against hope that he would gradually become aware of his presence.

It worked, but not in the way they had hoped for.

After a few minutes, his eyes flickered towards them, but his eyes widened and he tried desperately to move back further. The wall prevented that. A low, keening sound came from him then, as he felt hemmed in and trapped by what he mistakenly believed were now all three wolves.

That did it for Porthos. Seeing that what they were doing was not working and worried sick about his friend, he came around from behind and put both arms around Aramis' chest. Aramis' reaction was instant, struggling frantically to get loose from what he in all probability believed were the ropes that had bound him during the wolf attack. Porthos swiftly eased his way behind Aramis on the bed, never loosening his hold of his brother, murmuring to him, "Aramis, you are all right. The wolves are gone. We killed them," several times, never speaking above a whisper to his traumatized brother.

Just when they had begun to believe nothing was going to work, Aramis' whole body shivered and he collapsed back against Porthos' shoulder, turning his head towards the direction of Porthos' voice with a small whimper.

They hadn't even realized they had been holding their breath as Porthos tried to get through to their brother. A collective sigh came now, as they saw that he had come out of the nightmare.

A moment later, Aramis sagged in Porthos' arms, falling asleep from exhaustion. Porthos gently lifted him into his arms and laid him on the bed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

His brothers just stood there looking at one another with identical expressions of sadness at what was happening to their Aramis. They were gently interrupted by a distinct clearing of a throat, and looked around in surprise to see the Captain standing just inside the door.

"How long has he been like this?" Treville asked them.

"Since he woke up, Captain," Athos answered for all of them, "maybe..." looking out the window to see the sun had risen higher in the sky, and continued, "about an hour. I had lost track of the time until now."

"It is no wonder that you would," Treville replied sadly. "I came with news, but you will not like what I have to tell you," he said cryptically.

"What happened?" d'Artagnan asked for all of them.

"We have discovered who has been doing this ," Treville continued.

"What?" Three voices answered loudly in unison. "Who?"

"We almost had him. I had taken several men with me to arrest him, but he had taken off already. He obviously heard something, although I am not sure how he would have done that unless he was listening at my door."

"Who?" the asked insistently a second time.

"Bernard."

"What?!" They kept responding in unison, which would have been humorous under different circumstances. "The stable man?"

"How did you arrive at that conclusion?" Athos asked him.

"The two men I have had canvassing the area had a witness come to them today. They recognized who the man was describing right away. Then, two Red Guards also volunteered the information that someone had seen a man hanging around not far away from their weapons room."

"Red Guards?" Porthos scoffed. "Can we believe them?" with a look on his face that told them he didn't.

"Porthos, I think they have in their minds that if someone can attack a Musketeer, what is to stop him from turning on the Red Guards, too. Or it may be that these two had an attack of conscience, strange as that would be. But their description was almost identical to the other man who has come forward, so I would assume they are telling the truth."

"So Bernard is still on the loose," Athos said, glancing over at their brother, who for the moment was still and looked peaceful.

"We have half the garrison out combing the streets," Trevill said, looking into the eyes of each of his men. "We will find him. Meanwhile, I want you to make sure there are at least two of you here with Aramis at all times. We do not know where Bernard is yet or why he has been attacking Aramis."

With a last look at his sleeping soldier, Treville left the room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At the edge of the palace grounds, a solitary figure stood looking into the distance, his mind busy with his thoughts. He didn't notice someone approaching him until the man stook almost in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "I cannot be seen in public with the likes of you."

Bernard answered, "We are in this together, my lord. I have been discovered after our latest attempt."

Philippe's reaction was to back up, saying, "And you are leading them here? How dare you?!"

Bernard, unimpressed with the haughty nobleman's comments, replied, "You are in this with me whether you like it or not. And just remember, you came to me about our mutual endeavor."

"This cannot lead back to me. You need to find a place to keep out of sight until the hunt dies down," Philippe told him.

"I have one," Bernard said, looking at Philippe, and enjoying the nobleman's nervousness. It wasn't often, he thought, when an aristocrat could be made uncomfortable by a commoner. 'Coming down in the world to my level, aren't we,' he silently thought.

"Why are you bothering me then? You should already be out of sight."

"But you are my hiding place, my lord," Bernard slowly and confidently said.

Philippe's mouth almost dropped, before he recovered himself to say, "What are you talking about? Have you gone mad now, too?"

"You, my high and mighty lord, are going to provide me a hiding place. It will never even occur to them to think of looking inside the palace for me. Your rooms are the safest haven I could have," Bernard replied, immensely enjoying Philippe's discomfiture.

"You are mad," Philippe replied.

"No, actually I just use the cunning I was born with," Bernard replied.

"There is no way you are staying in my rooms," Philippe said.

Bernard started to walk away, saying back over his shoulder, "The Musketeer Captain might very much enjoy getting an anonymous note from a concerned citizen, wishing to aide the Musketeers in the apprehension of the heinous villain who has been attacking his soldier. Maybe I can also arrange to be given an anonymous reward, too," smiling as he heard the nobleman almost hiss in his fury and disbelief at a commoner's threat to him.

Philippe stalled, hoping Bernard would turn back and rescind his threat. When he showed no signs of doing so, Philippe reluctantly said, "Only for a few days. And you stay out of sight of my father and friends. They would have no hesitation in bringing you to justice, no matter what I would say to them. Do you understand?"

Bernard turned back then, a smile on his face from ear to ear as he said, "Whatever you say, my lord," knowing full well he now held the upper hand. Whistling, he followed Philippe, who dragged his feet leading him back to the palace.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aramis slept for a couple of hours, the most he had slept since being poisoned. His brothers began to hope that the poison had done its work and was leaving his body. But it wasn't to be.

The next two days were a mixture of alternating fever and chills, with anything they tried to get him to eat coming right back up, tremors, and the same recurring nightmare over and over again. Aramis hadn't been conscious at all, only at times semi-conscious, but with no recognition of his brothers, who continued to alternate being with him at his bedside.

It was early evening when Aramis' nightmares began once again. Their first sign was restlessness, his head tossing back and forth on the pillow.

Porthos was sitting beside him, Aramis' hand firmly held in his own. "Aramis?" he said quietly, so he wouldn't startle him. But Aramis' tossing continued.

Then, without any warning, he shot out of the bed, yanking his hand out of Porthos' hold. Clad only in his braies, he took off barefooted at a stumbling pace across the room, just as Athos came in the door and d'Artagnan awoke on the cot he had been sleeping on.

"Get a...away. Got to...get...away," talking to himself, Aramis veered to the left, away from the form he saw in front of him. But there was nowhere else to go, the room not that large.

He stopped, vaguely aware of moving forms, but whatever he might be under the influence of was telling him the wolves had come back.

He turned haltingly, but there was another form. His panic was growing worse, his breath coming in gasps. The fever was still with him, as they could see his face and upper body covered with a sheen of sweat. He didn't seem to know where else he could go to get away.

Athos stayed where he was, speaking softly. "Aramis, you are safe. The wolves are gone, brother."

Aramis shook his head vehemently. "No, they're here. See?" pointing with a shaking hand at a spot near the wall.

Athos decided at that moment on a different approach to try. Nothing else had brought him out of the nightmares for more than a little while. Maybe, just maybe he could try this.

Ever since the cluster of nightmares about the wolves had begun, Athos had doubted whether it was really the poison causing them. They didn't know what kind of poison he had in his system, so it was possible that these bad dreams and the poison were unrelated. Aramis had a history of bad dreams when he was badly injured or ill. Then, he had remembered also that the dog attack had brought on the first of them, and that had been before the poisoning. So he wanted to try something to find out. If it was the poison, what he was going to do wouldn't make a difference, but if it wasn't...

Making eye contact with Porthos and d'Artagnan, he let them know to take a step back. When they had done so, he spoke.

"Aramis, you know me." Aramis began to shake his head.

"Remember how you saved my life, Aramis?" Aramis cocked his head, the movement telling the others that he had heard what was said. Aramis was trembling now, weak from both the injuries from the explosion and from having been bedridden for so long. He didn't say anything, but they could tell he was still listening.

Aramis' head was now turned in Athos' direction.

But of what good, Aramis," he continued, his voice becoming softer still, "what good is it to have my life if I lose my brother's? You are my brother, Aramis. I love you. I do not wish to think of my life spent with your loss, mon ami. Come back to us."

Athos wasn't sure, the angle wasn't good, but he could swear he saw moisture at the edge of Aramis' eye. But his brother remained silent and still shaky on his feet.

Porthos began to speak then, taking his cue from Athos and speaking not much above a whisper.

"Aramis, it's me, Porthos. Don't be afraid of us. We won't hurt you. We killed those wolves. They're gone. Aramis, listen to me, please. You've saved all our lives so many times, how fierce you were taking care of me when we went to Athos' home? You are always there for each of us. You put your lives before your own.

But, if we don't have you, what do we have? You are my best friend, Aramis. Like Athos said, I don't want to think about living in this world without you. We've always had each other's back, and that's because we love each other. You've got to pull through this for us. Can you do that?"

Again silence. But he was definitely still listening to them.

D'Artagnan spoke up then, and softly as his brothers had.

"Aramis, in a way, you helped to save me, too. Remember how angry I was when you first met me? How vengeful? And you could have been angry right back. After all, I wanted very badly to kill Athos, your friend. But what did you do? After Athos was arrested, you came to me and asked me to work with you to find the real culprit! In a way, you refocused my life, Aramis. I would not be here now except for that turning point, focusing me on helping others. And you take the time to tell me how I should do things to be a good Musketeer.

I don't want to lose my friend. We just want you to fight this, Aramis. Don't let anyone take your life from you. Don't let this man with the vendetta win. Fight, please!"

They let Aramis digest what each of them had said for a few moments. At least, they hoped that was what he was doing. None of them knew for sure what was happening in his mind.

Athos spoke softly once more. "We are brothers, Aramis, in everything but blood. We love each other. We feel your pain, your anguish. We are in pain as well, because of it. Come back to us. You can do it. Will you?"

Aramis stood still, body still trembling, his eyes now looking down for the longest time. They just didn't know if they had reached him or not.

Athos thought 'if I'm wrong and the nightmares are not the same kind that he gets sometimes when he is seriously ill or injured, and are instead indeed from the poison, this will not work.'

They were so afraid of losing him. The poison could have already done too much damage, even if the nightmares weren't part of it. They had no way of knowing. But, at least, if hey could pull him through the nightmares, and could talk to him when he was lucid, they could tell more of what he was going through on the inside.

It was then as they watched, that his head slowly lifted, tears streaming down his face as he looked at them.