I hope you are all enjoying 2018 so far and I hope this brings a smile to your faces.

Summary: After breaking his arm on a mission D'artagnan finds himself thinking back to his life before the Musketeers.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Recollection
by Rosa241

D'artagnan POV Throughout:

Sighing heavily I couldn't help the depressive feeling washing over me as Aramis finished wrapping up my arm. Of all the things to happen today this was not what I had expected. Our mission was meant to be a rather simple one, a basic delivery, a reward of sorts for all our hard work of late. Having finally gotten one over on the Cardinal who was no doubt being kept securely in his box by the queen, gotten rid of Milady not to mention finally having broken Athos out of his self-established guilt Treville had been giving us the simpler of missions these last few weeks. Of course after being shot they'd all insisted that I remain on bed rest for a while until I was ready to go back out.

Things were finally looking up. I was off bed rest, Athos was finally smiling and we were finally able to relax. With the exception of Constance, who was firmly being kept to the back of my mind, things were perfect. Now there was this.

"Don't look so down it'll heal in a few weeks and you'll be right as rain, 'sides it's your own fault anyway." Scowling at him didn't do much good since he merely laughed at me instead.

"How is this my fault?" Despite my protests the three of them merely shared a smile before Athos shook his head.

"If you had been paying attention to where you were going then you wouldn't be in this situation." It's hardly my fault that there was a giant hole in the middle of the forest. It's not like I put it there. Athos of course didn't agree and simply insisted that I should have been paying attention.

"Oh come on cheer up." Porthos declared the next day after he returned from training. The three of them had been out all morning training some potential new recruits at Treville's beckoning. Whilst Aramis maintained that they were being punished for getting D'artagnan injured, even though Athos insisted it was my own fault, Porthos had simply sighed.

"I was finally off bed rest and now I'm stuck in the Garrison for the next few weeks." No matter what Aramis said I most certainly was not sulking. Not sulking one bit. Okay…so maybe I was sulking just a little. Mind you I suppose it could be worse.

"How could it be worse?" Porthos questioned as he seated himself by the fire. It took me a moment before I realised that I had in fact said that last thought out loud.

"Well it could be like the first time I broke a bone, managed to break my leg in two places my father was furious." At the mention of my father I could feel a pang in my heart. It may have been many months now since his passing but the thought of him still caused pain to race through me. He should still be here. Shaking my head I force those thoughts from my mind. Whilst his passing is getting easier to deal with the pain has yet to lessen within my heart.

"How on earth did you manage that?" Aramis said as he took a seat beside Porthos.

"Well I may or may not have been climbing a tree." The three of them manage to laugh at the statement and I can feel myself cringing even now. "I can still hear my mother shouting at me."

"She shouted at you for falling out of a tree?" Well she shouted after she learned that I was going to be okay. Lord above did she shout.

"My mother didn't shout often but when she did it was enough to raise the dead." Thinking of her brings another pain shooting through me, thankfully Athos speaks and brings me out of my head before I can sink too far down that particular road.

"Were you by any chance told not to climb the trees D'artagnan?" Well now that he mentions it…

"Father might have mentioned that once or…well several times. He always said that I shouldn't climb the trees because he was worried that I might get hurt. I don't know what gave him that impression." Even Athos manages a smile at the sarcasm in my voice.

"Something tells me your father might have spent a lot of time warning you against doing things. I have the distinct impression that your youth was spent climbing trees, getting into fights and causing general mayhem." Whilst Aramis smiles and Porthos laughs Athos mutters something along the lines of 'I wonder what gave you that idea' and rolls his eyes. I can't help smiling as I think back.

"So you climbed the tree because your father said not to." Well not exactly.

"Actually I climbed the tree because my cousin bet that I wouldn't be able to reach the top which I'll have you know that I managed just fine." At Athos' raised eyebrow I can feel the blush tinging my cheeks. "It was getting down that the problems occurred. I was doing just fine until I overestimated how strong the branch was and it snapped."

I can still remember the pain that ran through me when I fell, just as I can still hear my parents worried voices when Sophia ran to get them. Life on the farm seems like it was a lifetime ago when in reality it was a little over a year ago since I was there and I had no qualms about my life. I'd have happily spent the rest of my life on that farm with my father. If things had been different…

"What happened to her? Your mother." Athos' question has me stopping and I can feel myself being rushed back to that day. We knew it was coming but that didn't make it any easier. In fact if anything I think it made everything worse, waiting day after day for the inevitable to happen.

"She passed away when I was 14." For a moment I consider saying nothing more but something inside me feels the need to continue talking. "She'd been ill for a while and…she just didn't get any better. At first we thought that she would but then the cold weather set in and she took a turn for the worst."

For a while none of them say anything. I know that they've all lost their parents as well so they all feel the same pain that is currently running through my heart. Porthos' father is a mystery whilst his mother died when he was five. He spent his life on the streets and in the court until he joined the army. Aramis' parents both passed away sometime before he came to Paris, he's never spoken about what happened but from the look on his face I don't think he wants to. Something happened between them that's for certain. As for Athos well he's never mentioned that his parents were dead but given the state of that house I doubt anyone has lived in it for years.

It still hurts even now when I think about my parents. They should both still be here telling me off and fussing over me far too much. Instead they're both dead and I find myself alone. Well…I suppose I'm not alone. After my mother died I still had father, it was just the two of us but that didn't matter. We still had each other and I knew he would always be around.

"I wish I could have met your father. From what you've told us he sounds like an interesting man." He was the best. When I lost him I thought my world was over, I thought that was it. Then of course I met these three and things have been crazy even since. Of course I wish every day that my father was still here but having these three men, these three brothers, I can live happily. When father died I thought I'd lost my family but I seem to have found it again.

"Ay! You think that was bad. Take a look." With that Porthos rolls up his sleeve and points out a lengthy scar running from wrist to elbow. "Now that is a story."

As he regales us with the tale of his scar, with Aramis' helpful chipping in and Athos reminding the man of the actual events of the day instead of his embellished version, I can feel my heart lighten.

I think my father would have liked them.

Scrap that.

My father would have loved them.

Okay so that didn't turn out the way that I thought that it would but I like it. I think that sometimes the show glossed over D'artagnan losing his father, beyond the first episode it wasn't really mentioned all that much.

P.S. Forgive me if Athos has in fact mentioned his parents on the show I have no idea if he has or not. I don't believe that they are still alive but I may have missed that information since it's been a while since I've watched it. I need to rewatch the series sometime.

Spoilers – Next fic will be called – Little Blue Line Part 4 (WARNING: CONTAINS SLASH AND MRPEG!)