I concentrated on not allowing my feet to move as the bigger man put his whole body weight into the shove.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the man with the whip retrieving his weapon, Porthos struggling against his chains, and Athos starting to saw through his bindings with one of my black knives.

I couldn't see Aramis since he was directly behind me, but I hoped he was still conscious.

My stomach burned with both the effort of staying upright and not allowed myself to move, and the poison coursing through me.

Aramis had gotten at least two lashes with the poisoned whip that I knew of, so I hoped beyond hope he'd be alright.

"Straighten yourself!" Athos barked as my back began to bend backwards.

I pushed against my opponent again, and when he shifted his weight, my foot slid back.

My speed was the greatest strength I had other than stealth. Right now stealth wouldn't do me any good, and neither would my hidden weapons. Both hands were on the hilt of my sword, so I couldn't throw a dagger unless I wanted to get slashed.

But if I didn't let go of one hand, the man with the whip would hit me again, he was already rearing back to lash at me.

The burned man was approaching with a small dagger on my right, so I was pinned at every angle.

However, Aramis was hidden behind me completely, my cloak shielding him from even Athos. So if he could just hurry….

I knew that if I fell now, all three of them would die. Right now, it was one for all. And if that one fell, all would die.

My foot had already slipped, so my opponent just needed to move a little bit more and he'd have me.

So, I let go with one hand, causing his sword to come dangerously close to my chest, and flicked my wrist at the burned man.

A dagger shot out of my bracer and struck him in the neck, and he went down with a bloody gurgle. Hopefully he'd stay dead this time.

My opponent bellowed in rage, and a whip lashed around my open arm, yanking it towards its master. Which crossed my arms at a painful angle, and sliced my already injured hand open more.

I was going to have to make a choice. Dislocate my shoulder, or allow myself to be skewered.

Fortunately, Aramis saved me yet again.

I felt him kick my ankle once, so I leapt to the side, towards the whip master, causing my opponents sword to slice open my bicep, and gave Aramis easy access.

A shot rang through the air, and smoke curled from behind me as Aramis fired my flintlock into the man with the sword.

The injury began bleeding sluggishly from his forehead, and he was dead before he hit the ground.

I dropped my sword as the whip master yanked me towards him, then pointed my hand at him and flicked my wrist.

Another dagger shot out at him, and hit him dead in the chest. Then a black dagger sailed at him from Athos, and hit him in the neck.

"That was for my protégée." Athos said smugly as the man slumped to the ground.

I quickly unraveled the burning whip from my arm and hand and turned, checking on Aramis.

Aramis was staring at everything in a slight daze, but my black flintlock was clasped protectively in his curled fingers, and my ammunition bag was sitting on his bent knee.

I saw three marks from the whip on his torso, two running down his chest, and one on his stomach, but other than that, he was mostly unharmed. Expect of course, for his obvious concussion.

His wrists were unbound though, and rubbed raw from the harsh rope.

Athos was moving now, trying to get Porthos' manacles unlocked.

I whistled at him to get his attention and threw him my lock pick set. He caught it with a small nod to me, then turned back to Porthos.

I kneeled beside Aramis, gently taking my gun and ammunition from him. I clasped his shoulder gently, "You alright?"

He focused sluggishly at me, before nodding, "I think I will be."

His tunic was ripped because of the whip lashes, and his jacket and cloak were missing. It was freezing in this room, and I didn't mind the cold, so I took of my own jacket and cloak.

I eased him into my leather jacket, which was apparently warm since he immediately burrowed into it, then slung my cloak over his shoulders.

Before I could lift him to his feet, the door burst open, and Aramis had taken my loaded flintlock from my belt and pointed it over my shoulder before I could even move.

"Well, nice to know your reflexes are still good." I muttered sarcastically, turning to see Joshua holding his hands up in surrender. "You can lower the pistol, Aramis. That's the Horseman of War."

Aramis nodded, and slowly put the pistol back into my belt, keeping his suddenly steady eyes on Joshua as he stepped into the room.

Joshua looked at the three dead bodies, looked at me, then looked at Porthos and Athos, who were still trying to get the manacles off.

"Help them please, and stop staring." I asked as I went back to my task of getting Aramis to his feet.

I heard Joshua cross the room with a muttered, "Aye."

I got Aramis to his feet, though he was leaning heavily against me, just as Diego and Eric stepped into the room.

"The rest of the building is clear, but I suggest leaving as soon as possible." Diego started with before he looked around the room. "My word. I suppose you are Death, aren't you?" He noted after kicking the man with the whip lightly.

"Not just me. Athos and Aramis had a crack at them too." I supplied as Aramis stumbled slightly.

Eric crossed the room and kneeled beside the burned man. He twisted his mouth in disgust, "He's dead this time. But Diego, perhaps you best not pray for this one's forgiveness."

Aramis scoffed, "I wasn't going to." He said, "He broke my rosary."

Diego looked up in alarm, "He did? Well, no. He can rot for all I care. Why would he break a rosary? What did the Catholic church ever do to him?"

Aramis and Diego looked at each other for a moment, before trading matching smiles. "I like him." Aramis informed me, turning his head lightly so his breath ghosted over my ear.

I snickered as Porthos finally was able to rise to his feet to stare at Joshua face to face, "Good. I thought you might. I think Joshua and Porthos will get along swimmingly as well."

Both giant bear-men nodded to me, but moved to stand on opposite sides of the room. Eric and Athos nodded to each other, but stayed away.

"Diego wasn't joking around when he said we need to get out of here. Before we managed to kill all of them, they lit a fire. So we need to get out now." Eric commanded, turning on his heel and walking out the door.

Diego and Joshua followed him, then Aramis and I, with Athos and Porthos bringing up the rear. Once we got into the hall, the smell of burning wood assaulted my nose, and smoke danced down it towards us.

We headed back the same way we had come inside, and once we got to the door, I could hear the fire crackling behind us.

I rushed out the door faster than perhaps was necessary, but I did not want to put Aramis near that fire. Not when I could get him out.

Thunderclouds loomed above our heads as we made our way to where our horses were at, and I was reminded of the situation that started this whole mess. The rain had put the fire out then too.

We got to the horses fairly fast, and Porthos helped Aramis sit behind me on my horse.

Diego leapt on behind Joshua, and allowed Porthos and Athos to have his horse. It was certainly big enough for both of them.

Eric spurred his horse away from the now fiery building, and we followed him back to town as people began to flock towards the building with buckets of water from a nearby stream.

M

We rode to Aramis' house, and Joshua offered to take the horses to a nearby stable, Eric going with him.

Athos opened the door, favoring his left side which I'd have to look at soon, and we staggered inside.

I think the only one not injured among the five of us was Diego. Because even Porthos had injuries along his wrists where he had tugged against unforgiving metal.

Constance came bustling down the stairs to see the commotion, and when she saw Porthos first, she scowled and said, "About time you lot came back! I thought I was going to have to tie D'artagnan to the bed to keep him from going after you four!" Then she looked past him and paled. "Oh."

Athos pulled her aside and began to explain what had happened while Porthos helped me get Aramis up the stairs and to his room. As we passed D'artagnan's temporary room, he looked up and saw us hobbling by.

"Guys…? What happened?" He cried, then tried to get to his feet.

I nodded to Porthos and he walked into the room, pushing D'artagnan gently down on the bed and began to explain.

Diego and I got Aramis onto his bed, and once he was settled I vanished into my room to get my med kit, which I knew would have the necessary tools, and threw a new tunic over my head instead of the ripped one.

When I got back, Diego nodded to me as he sped past me saying, "I'll warm up some water. Get him comfortable for now."

I nodded in reply and let him move past me, then walked into Aramis' room.

Diego had gotten his boots off, and my cloak. But other than that, he was still dressed.

I walked over to him and his eyes fluttered open sluggishly as he looked at me. "Hello." He murmured.

I gave him a smile as I set my bag down on his nightstand, "Hey. Let's get you out of that jacket, eh?"

"If you wanted to see me undressed, you just had to ask." He bantered as I pulled my jacket off him.

I snorted, "You wish." I replied lightly.

I lifted the tattered remains of his shirt off of him, having seen him shirtless too many times to be awkward, and winced when I saw the angry whiplashes adorning his chest.

"That bad, huh?" He asked tiredly.

I smirked, "Don't be so dramatic." I chided playfully, though my heart was beginning to fill with worry, I had no idea what kind of poison was on the end of that whip, though I was feeling its affects myself. I didn't know if its only purpose was to cause pain, or kill.

I checked him over for any other injuries, and found nothing but bruises everywhere, besides his torn wrists anyway.

I gently probed the back of his head, and he winced, flinching away from my touch as my fingers hit a bit of dried blood. "Sorry." I murmured gently, probing a bit softer. "Do you have a headache?" Aramis nodded and I continued, "Feeling sick? Blurry vision?"

He nodded again, "Yes and yes. Athos got hit too. You need to check on him."

"I will. But right now, you are my main concern. So be still." I commanded softly.

"How the roles reverse, hmm?" Aramis asked with a light laugh.

I nodded with a smirk, "Yep. But soon enough you can go mother hen on the others."

Diego returned then, with a pot of water and rags.

"Do you have him?" He asked me, taking one look at both of us before looking back at me. After I nodded he smiled grimly, "Alright. I'll take care of the other three."

Before Aramis could start telling Diego what he should do, Diego vanished from the room.

Aramis furrowed his brow and muttered, "That was rude. He didn't even ask for the previous doctor's advice."

"Would you?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow as I cleaned out his wrists.

Aramis hissed and shook his head, "Probably not."

"Then you can't say a word." I teased.

He huffed, then winced again as I spread a cooling paste over his injured wrists. "What is that stuff?" He asked, wrinkling his nose at the over powering sweet smell that almost made me sneeze.

"A concoction I learned a few years ago. It fights of infection, cools the fire of pain, and helps the injury heal faster." I explained.

I wrapped his wrist in clean white bandages, then repeated the action for the other one.

Done with his wrists, I picked up a warm, water soaked, rag and said, "This is the hard part." I held out my free hand to him, and after staring at it for a moment, he took it.

Then I began to clean the whiplashes, digging out any dirt that had gotten in the injuries, as he clutched my hand hard enough to break it. He didn't let a sound of pain cross his lips, but he was biting his lip hard enough to break skin.

I finished as quickly as I could, and once I was done he released the death grip he had on my hand and panted harshly.

I put the dirty rag on the ground, and picked up another jar from my bag. This one was a remedy I had learned in Ireland that had natural herbs in it that killed most types of poison, and numbed the pain with honey. If I mixed it with a concoction that burned, but killed infection and poison, then hopefully it would wipe out whatever had been in the poison. And the pain it was causing.

I spread it as gently as I could over Aramis' injuries, though he had started to bite his lip again, groaning in pain quietly.

When I was finished, Aramis' face was too pale for my liking, and he was breathing heavily. I cleaned off the injury on the back of his head, then leaned back.

"I'll be back with some water for you. Will you be alright?" I asked, standing.

He nodded, "Yeah. Yeah. Just…." A groan as the painful remedy hit him, "Check on everyone first."

I nodded, then walked quickly out the door to steady my breathing. I couldn't tell if my heart was beating so painfully fast because of the poison in my own system, or the ache of knowing I caused Aramis that pain.

Once I steadied my breathing, and gotten the pain under control, I walked through the house.

I peeked in on D'artagnan first, and found Athos slumped in a chair near his bedside, Constance sitting in a chair at the corner knitting, Porthos sitting at the foot of the bed, and D'artagnan sleeping on his stomach, face void of pain in his sleep.

Constance looked up when she heard me and asked quietly, "How's Aramis?"

Athos looked up at this, and Porthos cracked an eye open.

"He'll be fine." I told them, and saw them all relax slightly. "He just needs a lot of sleep, and recovery. But he'll be fine."

"And you?" Athos asked lowly, "We did see you get struck with a whip too."

I shifted slightly, hiding my injured hand behind me subtly, "I'm okay. I'll doctor it once I've gotten Aramis some water. Where'd Diego go?" I asked, changing the subject.

Athos frowned slightly, but replied, "Kitchen."

I nodded, then asked, "And you two? How are you? And how's D'artagnan?"

Porthos shrugged, "We're fine. Pup'll be fine too. Diego put some paste on his back, then gave him some leaves to chew and he was out like a light."

I thought about what that could've been before nodding, "Oh, yeah I could see why he would give him those. They're natural painkillers, and they also act as a sedative. I should probably give some to Aramis too."

Athos nodded, "Can we see him?"

I tilted my head, "Yeah. I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to you. He might still be awake, so go right in."

As Porthos and Athos slightly got to their feet, and continued down the hall to the kitchen.