Evening My Lovelies!
Okay so I'm loving your responses to Moreau's first appearance :D Each review totally made me smile so thanks for that!
I'm not 100% sure about tonight's chapter, I struggled with writers block with it and I'm a bit worried it shows. We're kinda flicking through several people tonight so hopefully it doesn't get too confusing.
Notes On Reviews:
Katie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Haha I'm glad you liked it, it was one of my favourite lines to write in that chapter and I really liked D'Art having the courage to say it because he's just a little terrified of Moreau. You'll be finding out who the other man was tonight :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
pallysdeeks: Thanks for the review - BWHAHAHA! Oh I just love that name for him XD Oh your review was the perfect thing to wake up to this morning, always great to start the day with a bit of a laugh :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - YES! I was totally going for him channeling Porthos so I think I literally fist pumped when I read your comment on it :D Moreau does have a bit of a beef with musketeers which we'll be going into in later chapters but that beef is not going to make things easy for our captured muskys. Enjoy the new chapter! x
FierGascon: Thanks for the review - Enjoy the new chapter! x
criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - It would be a good guess :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
SpiritFeather19524: Thanks for the review - Yes! That was exactly the sort of reaction I was hoping for :D Don't worry our boys wont let him win I promise :D If you have anything in particular you want to see happen to him let me know and I'll see what I can do :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
GoGirl212: Thanks for the review - Well I figured after waiting 20 chapters for him to finally appear he'll have to make it a damn good entrance :) I'm glad you liked it :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - Yay I'm glad you liked it, now I'm just hoping I can keep it up during the rest of his appearances, he's quite ruthless and cruel so I'm really looking forward to writing that (I always have a lot of fun writing the baddies) One thing I'm now super mega excited to write is the reunion between D'Art and our boys given that he currently thinks they're dead... its got to be super emotional so I'm really looking forward to the challenge... we have a little bit until we get to that point though. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Issai: Thanks for the reviews - (chapter19) We'll be learning Alain's fate today so you wont be wondering long. Yeah I think they all figured he'd be too injured to do anything... don't think anyone thought about how stubborn he is. Aramis is pretty bad but Gerald's looking after him, it's mainly blood loss and infection risks they have to worry about right now. (chapter20) Ha, that's one way of looking at I suppose... Moreau's ruthless and cruel so I'm looking forward to writing that :) Treville is pretty pissed at the moment but he doesn't yet know about D'Art. Enjoy the new chapter! x
WelshEssex (Guest): Thanks for the review - All D'Art kinda wants to do right now is collapse in a ball and cry as he thinks his brothers are dead but he's also determined enough not to want Moreau to win and to want to get his brothers justice, even at the cost of his health. The fact that Moreau always knew he was a musketeer only makes his current situation worse. I was tempted to have the whole undercover thing happen as it would be interesting to write the dynamic between the two but I figured this way is a lot more dramatic and... lets face it D'Art wasn't just going to sit in a hospital bed after hearing that explosion, no matter how injured he was. Enjoy the new chapter! x
MicheeO: Thanks for the reviews - (chapter19) Well its me so... probably not :D (chapter20) omg your review totally had me bursting out laughing XD Though I would like to point out that barring one story where some muskys died the only people I ever actually kill off are the baddies... don't know if that changes anything.. Anyways I'm pretty sure I could bribe my way in with the offer of making teas or something lol :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - Yay I'm really glad you liked it! :D I'm a little worried at keeping up the intensity when Moreau's involved but I'll do my best :) All poor little D'Art wants to do right now is curl up and cry but he can't, thankfully our puppy is determined to get justice for the brothers he thinks are dead so while he'll have his depressed and morose moments he's still got a bit of the fire we all know and love :) I loved add that joke/threat bit in so I'm glad you liked it. Blaise is a bit out of it right now but I'm really looking forward to when he wakes up and learns the truth, he's going to be sooo pissed :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading
Love you all!
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter Twenty-One: Growing Problems
"Any sign?" asked Issac worriedly from his place in the wagon, his hand weakly grasping the side as he fought against the pain to remain seated upright, not wanting to lay down and ease his pain when one of his brothers was still missing.
Mathéo shook his head sadly, "Favier insisted on doing one final sweep of the place before we head back and get you four checked out, Treville went with him as he was looking a bit shaky but so far there's been no sign of Alain."
"This is all my fault."
Mathéo raised an eyebrow, "I wasn't aware you knew how to build a big enough explosive to practically take down a building Issac… You've been holding out on us."
Issac scowled, the expression losing some of its effectiveness thanks to the near pitiful condition of the musketeer face. The man had two black eyes, one nearly completely swollen shut, a busted lip and his chin was covered in blood from his broken nose. "This is no time for jokes."
Shrugging Mathéo's expression remained stoic, "I'm serious… The only person who is at fault for this is the man who planted the explosives and attacked our brothers. None of the fault lies with you, had you the barest hint of danger you would not have taken them in… I know that, they know that and they do not blame you, the only person blaming you is you."
Issac blinked, slightly stunned by the conviction in his brother's words and he found himself eagerly welcoming the comfort they brought him, despite a part of him believing himself unworthy of receiving such comfort.
"Athos told us to stick together," mumbled the musketeer, not quite willing to completely free himself of the guilt yet, "We all should have gone, if we had…"
"Then you might have been blown out of the window along with Blaise," remarked Mathéo, his voice completely deadpan as he stared down his friend and brother. "Only then you might have landed on him, finishing what the fall started."
Issac shivered at the implications of his brother's words, the mental image alone enough to make him cringe.
"The way I see it," remarked Mathéo, ignoring the other musketeer's response to his earlier words. "You can either wallow in your imagined guilt or…"
Issac's eyebrow rose, "Or?"
"You can be a good little patient for the doc and get out there to get the one who's actually responsible for all this."
"ISSAC!"
The call of his name silenced any retort the man was going to make as the musketeer could do nothing but stare wide-eyed at the source of the shout.
"Corbett?" blinked Issac, more than a little surprised to see his injured friend limping towards him with a look of immense concentration and determination. "Why aren't you back at the garrison?"
"Really?" snorted the injured man as he leaned against the side of the wagon, his eyes scanning over his friend, taking not of each and every injury he could see. "An explosion happens right where you were and you honestly think I'd stay back?"
Touched by his friend's concern Issac could do little more than smile softly at the man before his attention was pulled to the destroyed door of the workhouse where Treville and a very exhausted and grim looking Favier exited, both men shaking their heads to answer the unspoken question silently voiced by the stares of the rest of the men.
Only for each of the men to gasp in surprise as Favier suddenly collapsed.
Back at the garrison it was a rush of activity as the wagon containing a barely conscious Aramis and completely unconscious Blaise rushed into the courtyard.
"What do we have?" demanded Gerald as he rushed to meet the wagon as it pulled to a stop. The musketeer driving was quick to give the physician as much information as he could as the doctor moved to get a better look at his patients.
"Hey doc," mumbled Aramis weakly, his eyelids fluttering as he fought to stay awake, the pain and exhaustion was making it hard but the medic part of him was screaming at him that he couldn't sleep yet.
"Aramis," nodded Gerald softly, moving to the side so the men could move Blaise into the infirmary. "How are you feeling?"
With a groan the musketeer shifted, eager to try anything that might ease the pain in his back. "Peachy," winced the man before it seemed to register in his pain-filled mind that they were back at the garrison.
"D'Art?" he breathed, wanting… needing his brother to be okay, knowing how the sound of the explosion and the chaos that followed would have seemed to the man and how helpless and worried he must have been given his inability to follow them.
Gerald shook his head, once again moving so the men could load the injured musketeer onto a stretcher, when they began to head inside the physician fell in step with them, his eyes focused on his patient as they continued to speak, the doctor hoping it would help keep the man awake until he had a chance to examine him better.
"I returned shortly before your arrival and have been prepping for the arrival of yourselves and the others who are no doubt injured. I haven't had a chance to check on the boy yet but as soon as I'm done here I'll see to him personally, no doubt he'll rest better knowing you're all okay."
Aramis frowned at his words but nodded in acceptance, knowing that, with the majority of the regiment handling the explosion there would be few who would have the time to check on his little brother. Unease settled within him at this thought but Aramis fought it down, reminding himself that they had not left D'Artagnan alone and that Corbett would see to his care until such a time that they could see him again.
Any further thoughts were cut short by a cry of pain as Gerald gently removed the bandages around his wound, the action pulling on the already oversensitive and tender skin.
"My assistant Tristan went to help your friends at the explosion site so I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave the cleaning of your wound to Etienne," explained the doctor as he nodded to the newly arrived musketeer, quickly explaining to the man what he needed him to do before moving to the next bed to assess Blaise.
Frowning at what he found Gerald worked quickly to cut off the dust and glass covered clothing the musketeer wore, having decided that doing so would be more efficient than trying to save the fabric. When they were removed the doctor's frown deepened and he wasted no time in ordering the few men who had remained at the garrison to help him.
"I'm going to need you to hold him down, he's got glass and wood in him and the longer they remain there the longer the risk of infection, something his body would struggle to fight off given his current condition."
Needing no further instruction the men moved to pin their fallen brother to the bed, each hating themselves for doing so when the man began screaming as glass and wood shards began being extracted from his numerous wounds.
For the next several hours the only sounds in the infirmary were the screams of patients and the orders of Gerald, who's typical grandfather-like nature had long since evaporated as he worked to save the lives of the men in his infirmary.
"How is it going Etienne?" asked the doctor, his eyes never leaving Blaise as he methodically worked to remove shards, clean and stitch wounds, his carefully constructed mask hiding the worry he felt for how silent the man had become over the last few minutes and how much blood he had lost.
"Whatever he got impaled on left a lot of fragments in the wound," explained Etienne, his eyes critically evaluating the wound on his friend's back. "I've got them all but I'd feel better if you could check before I close the wound."
"FAVIER!" screamed Issac, his eyes wide with fear and panic as he struggled against Corbett's hold as he tried to get to his fallen brother.
"TRISTAN!" bellowed Treville as he lowered the now unconscious man to the floor, doing his best to ignore the panicked calls of the musketeer's name coming from the wagon behind them.
"What happened?" snapped the assistant as he dropped to his knees by the fallen musketeer's side, his chest heaving slightly as he recovered from rushing over from where he had been tending to Athos's ankle only moments before.
"He just collapsed, he was fine a moment ago."
"FAVIER!" screamed Issac once more but both Tristan and Treville ignored him as they worked on the fallen man.
However it seemed like Favier heard the panic in his brother's voice as the musketeer began to stir, groaning weakly in pain as he began to come to.
"Favier," prompted Tristan, his hand coming to lightly pat the man's face in an effect to speed things along. "Open those eyes of yours musketeer, your brother is quite worried."
"…Is," murmured Favier weakly, his eyelids fluttering open as confusion filled his expression.
"You passed out monsieur," informed Tristan as he placed a finger in front of the man's eyes, "Follow my finger but don't move your head."
"He's okay Issac," soothed Corbett as he tightened his grip on his friend, hating the panic and fear that had entered his eyes at the sight of Favier's collapse. "He'll feel guilty if you worsen your injuries because of him so relax and let Tristan and the Captain work."
It took a moment but eventually Issac relented, nodding his head weakly as he forced his painfully tense body to relax, a hiss of pain escaping him as he did so, all the while his eyes never left Favier, who, despite looking more aware, was still quite confused and dazed.
"Can he be moved?" asked Treville quietly, not wanting to be overheard if the prognosis was bad, "Alain is still missing and as the last person to see him I need to talk to Blaise."
In their cell D'Artagnan could only watch in baited breath as Moreau taunted him some more before leaving the two battered men alone for the first time in what felt like an age.
"Bout time he left," grunted his companion quietly, the pain barely hidden from his voice as he spoke, surprising the musketeer who thought him to be unconscious.
Relief filled D'Artagnan as he watched his friend awkwardly move to sit up, his chained arms moving to wrap themselves around his torso as he moved, his face pinched in pain that he didn't bother tying to hide.
Unable to help himself he found the name slipping, almost silently, from his lips before he could stop it.
"…Alain."