They had gone only a block or so when Porthos came to a halt. Athos and d'Artagnan looked over at him, worry in their expressions. They could hear the the tiny whimpers Aramis had been making since they had found him.

Porthos indicated Aramis lying so still in his arms, saying quietly, "I can feel his body reacting to the cramps running through him. Short little jolts from the pain. And he is shivering so hard. No one.." stopping as d'Artagnan was already removing his cloak.

They wrapped it over the one Athos had put around him. All of them heard when a loud rumbling came from him, his lack of food making his stomach growl. Had he been having those all through his captivity?

They began heading once more for the garrison, Porthos murmuring to Aramis to soothe him.

His head went up to watch where he was going as they rounded a corner, he felt movement on his shirt. Looking down, he discovered that Aramis' hand, still with eyes closed, had somehow grabbed the front of his brother's shirt.

Porthos looked up to tell his brothers, only to find that both of them's eyes were already seeing the same thing, and both had soft smiles on their faces now.

Even unawares, Aramis seemed to seek the reassurance of touch.

When they were within sight of the gates, they heard the gate guard yell, "Captain!"

Coming through the gates with their precious burden, they saw Treville moving rapidly down the wooden flight of stairs from his office, indicating he had been told upon his return from the palace about where three of his Musketeers had gone and why, and had waited up for them.

Reaching his men, his eyes softened when he saw Aramis bundled in the cloaks, and then smiled at the hand still fisted in Porthos' shirt.

His eyes grew stern again as he asked Athos who had been responsible for kidnapping Aramis, where he had been found, and what condition his Musketeer was in.

Athos told him, "Captain, I will give you a full report later, but we need to get Aramis into the infirmary, and send for Lemay. Besides his other treatment, he has been poisoned," seeing Treville stiffen, and his eyes move back to the unconscious Aramis.

"By all means," Treville said. "I will have Lemay sent for. Make him as comfortable as you can in the infirmary." Starting to turn, he looked back saying, "Job well done," before striding away calling a cadet to retrieve Lamay.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They laid Aramis' down gently on a bed towards the back of the infirmary, so he wouldn't be disturbed if men came in or out. Porthos had to disengage his brother's hand from his shirt in order to do so, and a quiet murmur of protest came from Aramis as he did so, causing the big man to smile.

For all Aramis' fierceness as a fighter, and his attraction to every woman he flirted with, when he was sick or injured, he was sometimes very childlike in his mannerisms.

The brothers noticed from his body movements that the fierce cramps seemed finally to be dying down at long last. He was still scrunching up his face, though, which told them that something else they had yet to detect was still causing him pain. They hoped Lemay arrived quickly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The physician arrived two hours later, apologizing that an elderly marquis' painful bout of gout had kept him away from the palace, or the cadet could have given him the message earlier.

Sitting down next to Aramis on the edge of his bed, Lemay asked what had happened, and what Aramis' injuries were.

Athos told him what had happened to their brother, Lemay shaking his head sadly.

"He was poisoned hours before we finally found him," causing Lemay to shake his head at the evil that sometimes found its way into some men's hearts. "It would appear that whoever this man is, he had finally tired if his 'games', and wanted to poison him to death in two stages," relating that the first dose gave Aramis horrendous stomach cramps, which seem to have finally died away and something else that they could tell from Aramis' expressions was still paining him.

Athos continued. "One of the kidnappers became sickened by what was happening, and came to us when Aramis was poisoned telling us that the mman had said he would bring two doses on the morrow. If the single dose caused the incredible pain he was in when we found him, I would hate to see what two would do. Without doubt I believe it would have killed him."

Lemay fell silent after this, thinking.

He finally spoke, saying, "My knowledge of poisons is not fully developed. There are several things that could have been what was used. I believe,from observing him now, that the pain he is still suffering from is a horrendous headache. I have a tincture I propose to try that may reverse the process. It will be no good trying to get him to eat until the poison's effects have been neutralized, as the cramps may very well return."

Reaching down into his bag, he pulled a small brown vial out, asking for a cup of water. D'Artagnan immediately went and retrieved it for him.

Lemay them poured the contents of the vial into the water, then handed it to Athos.

Athos nodded to Porthos, who lifted the still unconscious Aramis. Athos laid the the cup against Aramis' bottom lip. After a moment, the marksman's desperately-thirsty body reacted, swallowing when the cup was tilted, the liquid swallowed as it ran in.

Laying him back down gently Porthos anxiously asked, "How long will it be before we know if it worked?"

"Within the next two to three hours," Lemay responded.

He told them to let him know immediately if any change, good or bad, before leaving to return to the palace.

Aramis' brothers took up positions around the bed, all of them knowing they couldn't sleep, even had they tried. They needed to be there when he woke up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was close to three hours later that they saw any change in their brother. But finally, he began to become restless, his hands twitching slightly. A little later, what they wanted so badly began to happen, the muscles in his eyes causing them to move under the lids.

Leaning forward, all of them were intensely focused now. A moment or so later, his eyes blinked a couple of times before finally slowly opening.

Light in the room had been kept intentionally dim out of deference to the environment he had been forced to endure, as they knew his eyes were going to have to get used to normal light again.

Once his lids opened, he stared straight up for a moment, blinking rapidly, before slowly starting to move to the right and then left.

Seeing that he was confused, Athos leaned forward, saying softly, "Aramis?"

His brother's head turned toward the voice, his eyes widening, fully awake now.

"Ath…,"He struggled to speak, his mouth bone dry from a lack of sufficient fluids.

Without a word, Porthos lifted him, while Athos brought a cup of water to his lips. Aramis gulped the water, trying to drink as much as possible, and making a small sound of protest when it was taken away.

"It would make you sick if you drank too much at once, mon ami," Athos quietly said. Then, he continued. "Yes, Aramis, it is Athos. Porthos and d'Artagnan are here, too," nodding towards his brothers.

"How…"

"Do not be concerned with how you are here right now, Arsmis. We will explain later. You have been very sick. Dr. Lemay gave you a tincture for it, and it is working. You need to rest and let it complete it's work, all right?"

"You came." Those simple words spoke volumes. The relief in his eyes was profound, and it heightened emotions already producing tears in the eyes of them all.

"Of course," Athos responded.

"How did you…"

"We need to introduce you to someone, Aramis," looking over in the corner at Vincent, who was shaking his head no.

Athos persisted, though. "Vincent, please," the softly-spoken request causing Vincent to slowly stand up and hesitantly walk over to the bed.

Giving him a rare smile, Athos continued. "Aramis, if not for this young man, you would not be here now."

Vincent began shaking his head before Athos had finished half his sentence. "I am as guilty..." stopping when Athos held up a hand in a silent command to let him continue.

"It is true that Vincent was one of the men who kidnapped you and held you prisoner, Aramis," causing the marksman's eyes to return to Vincent's face, confusion reflected there now.

"But he began to regret deeply what he had agreed to do. It culminated with his slipping away after you were given poison that made you deathly sick. He was wracked with guilt, and came directly to the garrison to tell us. He even insisted on going in to rescue you after I had told him he could stay outside. He originally made a big mistake, but he ended up saving your life, Aramis. He has stayed here silently since we brought you back to the garrison, waiting for you to wake up."

Aramis continued to keep his gaze upon Vincent's face, not saying anything. Then, he reached out a slightly quivering hand. Vincent, complete surprise and a little shock registering on his face, reached quickly out to grasp it.

Aramis simply said, "Thank you for saving my life, Vincent."

Now, it was Vincent who teared up, having not expected any kindness from the man he had originally treated so badly.

Aramis' eyes started to close despite himself, exhaustion plainly written on his face.

Porthos, seeing this, told him, "Rest, Aramis. When you wake again, we will get you something from Serge to eat. He will probably spoil you rotten like be always does."

Aramis' eyes closed, a hint of a smile lingering.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

About a half hour after he had fallen asleep, Treville came into the infirmary, a question in his eyes.

"Athos told him "He is going to make it, Captain. He awoke and was lucid, and was able to drink some water."

Treville's expression instantly relaxed at these words, giving Aramis a find glance before looking at his other three Musketeers.

"We have been interrogating the other three men since they were taken to the Chatelet. One of them finally broke."

"Did he tell you who committed this horrendous act?" Porthos wanted to know, anger on his face and in his voice. Treville saw the same look on the others' faces too.

"The man who instigated this heinous act is the Vicomte de Chambrun. He thought Aramis had Dishonored his son by refusing to fight a fuel with him. His son fancied himself enamored of a young woman he had his eye on wanting her to be his mistress. She refused, and when he saw her speaking to Aramis a few days later, took it into his head that she preferred a commoner over him, who was an aristocrat. The nobility generally does not challenge commoners to a duel, but the young man was so puffed up in his pride being insulted that he chose to anyway. When Aramis rightly refused him, the furious young man rushed at Aramis, sword unsheathed. Aramis bad no choice but to defend himself, and being far more skilled, would not avoid running him through.

Bis angry and grievng father concocted this mad scheme upon Aramis as revenge for his son's death."

There was complete silence after Treville finished speaking.

Then, a barely audible voice came from behind them, "Pride and passion don't always mix well."

They all turned, not expecting Aramis to have awakened again so soon. His eyes gave away the exhaustion and pain that had not completely left him yet, as he spoke.

His face was sad as he continued, "I never had...relations with her. She was a friend. She was in love with someone else. This young hothead could not accept that."

A long silence followed after he finished speaking.

Then, Porthos said, "You hungry, Mis? Serge told me he has chicken and potato pie cooking. And a cherry tart for dessert."

At Aramis' eager nod, Porthos and d'Artagnan headed for the door.

They could hear Porthos' voice as he closed the door behind him, "Maybe Serge will give us some, too," anticipation in his voice.

Grins were on all of their faces as Aramis said, "Probably not."