Not much was said on the trip back to the Garrison; Treville waved the three of them up to his office.
"Are the three of you alright?" was the first thing out of Treville's mouth.
"Yes, Captain; we all were knocked out from the blast, but I believe we're all uninjured," Aramis offered.
"Good. Apparently the structural damage caused by the gun powder was moderate but not significant, but of course that's a preliminary finding. And Vadim was thwarted from accomplishing his goal, which apparently was stealing as many of the crown jewels as he could carry. So all in all, this was a good outcome."
Athos saw red. "D'Artagnan being blown to smithereens is a good outcome?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Did you even know? Vadim taunted us with it- just before the explosion he inferred that the boy would be killed when the dynamite was set off!"
Treville responded, "D'Artagnan is fast asleep across the hall, recovering. It was he that killed Vadim."
Porthos clapped his hands together. "Pay up! Oh wait- neither of you took the bet- DAMN!", he yelled in delight nevertheless.
"What- how-" It seemed as if none of them knew what to ask first.
"D'Artagnan gave me his report about an hour ago. The long and short of it is, he procured a sword and was able to run Vadim through with it. I ordered him to be looked at by Henri in your absence, Aramis. The boy has been through an ordeal, to be sure. Henri ordered first that the boy have a bath- he did stink of, well, prison- and he wanted to treat his wounds clean."
"Wounds?" the three of them seemed to ask at once.
"Nothing life-threatening," Treville was quick to add. "But not to put too fine a point on it- he was tortured."
"Tortured?" Athos gasped.
"Yes, from his report it seems as if they decided to have their fun with him before proceeding with their robbery attempt, which only Vadim was still alive for, given his deceit of his own men.
"In any case, after he was treated, I ordered him to eat something, which he proceeded to do as if his life depended upon it, and is now fast asleep three rooms to the left."
"Does he- his teeth- Vadim implied that- he was…sodimized. He said they- knocked out his teeth so they could…" Aramis could hardly say the words.
Treville smirked. "It goes with the profile we built on Vadim. A chronic, expert liar; apparently you could not believe a word he said. D'Artagnan still has all of his teeth. It sounds as if he was having a bit of fun with you. Believe me when I say that after he gave me his report, I can seriously say without fear of contradiction that while the boy went through a lot, sexual molestation wasn't anything he suffered."
All three of them were intimately familiar with the thorough due diligence that Treville's typically puts his men through while reporting on a mission. Through an expert series of prompts and leading questions, as well as also reading body language, Treville was admired for his keen prowess in this regard. Which is why Athos, Porthos, and Aramis needed no further assurances from their Captain on the matter of D'Artagnan's abuse.
"Can we just peek in on him? We won't wake him, Captain." Porthos asked.
"Of course. But given as he mentioned that he typically slept with one eye open the entire time he was inside, I suggest we let him get some well-deserved rest until tomorrow. So try not to disturb him."
The men went to the room, and suddenly, there he was, fast asleep, albeit a fitful one as he seemed to be jerking about, eyes rolling as if in a bad dream.
His face underlined Treville's account of his mistreatment- split lip, swollen eye, evident even with them being closed, and a bruise on his cheek.
The trio went from feeling relief at the boy's survival, to anger at what he had endured under Vadim's watch.
But he was alive. And whole. And dressed in new clothing that Treville had another Musketeer procure, so that any other bodily wounds were hidden from the men.
"Kid's got nine lives, I tell ya," Porthos whispered.
"Indeed," Athos smiled.
Porthos looked emotional. Aramis went to console him by rubbing his shoulder.
"It's alright, brother; as you can see, he is fine."
"It's not that," Porthos admitted, clearly upset. "The money I could'a made off 'a you two if you had taken that bet…"
Athos gave him the Stare. Aramis rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, D'Artagnan shifted, and in doing so, he exposed his right wrist, red and obviously raw with evidence of where the boy must have needed to do whatever was necessary to shake the bonds of his captivity.
D'Artagnan, still asleep, began to unconsciously scratch at his wrist, the abrasion clearly now itchy to the touch. Aramis grabbed the boy's other hand, preventing him from further aggravating the injury, and also potentially causing it to begin bleeding. He then patted at the wrist, in an effort to ameliorate the itching, but in such a way that would not cause any further irritation. He then made a mental note to get some gauze to cover both wrists.
Suddenly, D'Artagnan's eyes opened up. Seeing the three men, he shot up.
"I-is there something you need?", he asked them, eyes only half-open.
"Nothing. Sorry to disturb you," Athos said.
"Oohhh, I was sleeping…" D'Artagnan moaned, suddenly sounding annoyed. He fell back down, taking the edges of his pillow and wrapping them around his ears, as if to tune out the intruders.
"He he he he…", Porthos couldn't help himself. In order to not further disturb the boy, Aramis and Athos at least had the good sense to simply smile. Usually their presence energized D'Artagnan. If his first response was to go back to sleep, especially this being the first time he'd seen them since he finished his mission, it spoke volumes in terms of how beyond exhausted he must be.
Returning to the Captain's office, Treville filled the curious men in on some details provided by D'Artagnan during his report.
"D'Artagnan explained that just prior to them departing for their mission, Vadim announced that there is a traitor amongst them. He glared at D'Artagnan, and he said that his men then grabbed him and strapped him to a chair. They began beating him, and then Vadim took a knife and began administering cuts all along his torso."
"Son of a bitch," Porthos growled.
"Then, more insidious than that, they took a hot poker, set it in a fire, and began to bore holes with it directly through his shirt, along his chest and belly. After which Vadim told the boy, 'now you die.'
"They beat him unconscious. He said he awoke tied to the top of the gunpowder barrels. Only Vadim was there- he told him he was glad he was awake, because he wanted to flaunt his new invention- fuses jury-rigged to ignite the barrels."
Athos' hands were on his face at this point, in disbelief at what he was hearing- what D'Artagnan had to bear- alone, probably terrified. Certain he would die.
"The boy is very bright- he recognizes that he is alive simply due to Vadim's hubris- he said that if Vadim had paid as much attention to his tying him to the barrels as he did his fuse contraption, he would be dead right now.
"He said he barely got out of there in time- he kept apologizing that he tried to put the fuses out after he got free, but once they went out, they seemed to simply re-ignite again."
"Sneffel fuses." Aramis said.
"Obviously sneffel fuses. Unfortunately of course, D'Artagnan knows nothing of their existence, so who knows how much time he wasted trying to douse what any of you would have known was impossible to put out?
"He said he was thrown several feet when they eventually did ignite, so he was very close, I suspect. In any event, I asked D'Artagnan how he knew where to pursue Vadim after he escaped. He said he had a hunch- in all the time he was inside with him and his men, not once did Vadim mention the plight of the poor and underprivileged, or any gripe against the King. He suspected he was nothing more than a common- if somewhat inventive- thief. A canny observation, one that we of course came to make ourselves once the evidence around him surfaced these last few days. So that made D'Artagnan head directly towards the vault where the crown jewels are kept."
"How the hell did he obtain a sword?"
"I asked him that very question- he said you know how the halls leading to the crown jewels have swords on the walls? He said they may be decorative, but they're real swords. He simply smashed one of the cases and used it."
"Resourceful. How was his state of mind? I mean, he may be in shock-" Aramis asked.
Treville said, "My impression was one of disappointment in himself. More than once when he described providing us with the misinformation that Vadim had wanted him to impart, he apologized profusely. He seemed a bit embarrassed that he wasn't smart enough to know that Vadim had seen right through him. He said Vadim led him around by the nose. I tried to impress upon him that it is the ultimate outcome of the mission that matters, but I believe he simply felt that I was being patronizing."
"We'll reinforce that he did a good job, Captain, rest assured," Aramis said.
Indeed, it was the next morning when the three Inseparables were all around the Garrison dining table that they witnessed D'Artagnan walking down the Garrison steps, looking fit as a fiddle.
As he approached the table, some of the men broke into applause; as word of what D'Artagnan had accomplished had spread, many were impressed.
D'Artagnan wasn't sure how to react, or if the response was even for him. He looked embarrassed, and sat down next to Aramis, Porthos, and Athos.
Porthos smacked him hard on the shoulder; it was all D'Artagnan could do to suppress a groan.
"Well done, pup! The whole Garrison's buzzin' about how you took Vadim down single-handed an' all!"
D'Artagnan smiled shyly. "It was the least I could do given-", he hesitated. It still stung his pride how Vadim had played him for a fool. It didn't help that he was conscious of Athos' glare. He was the only one, after all, not smiling.
"Given what?" Aramis asked.
"Never mind." D'Artagnan avoided looking at anyone in the eyes, directing his attention to the bowl of food that Serge had thrust upon him as soon as he had sat down. He did manage a glance at Athos, and what he saw, whether or not it was there or not, was judgment. And not in a positive way. After all, it was he that refused to help train him for the mission, telling him to his face that he was ill-equipped to pull it off.
Athos, Aramis and Porthos, all being mindful of what Treville had mentioned to them yesterday at the debriefing meeting, all shared glances with one another. This was not how a Musketeer or recruit should be behaving after having successfully completing a mission.
They were about to press the point and get to the bottom of D'Artagnan's mood when Treville approached.
Treville asked, "D'artagnan, did you clean the stables last night?"
D'Artagnan's eyes widened in horror: "Yes, Captain, I swear I did; was it not satisfactory?"
Treville laughed. "Apparently these three (glancing at the Inseparables) did not tell you the rules- if a Musketeers is on, or recovering from, a mission, no need to do menial chores. They can be delegated to someone else. That rule, by the way, applies to recruits."
Porthos asked D'Artagnan, "When the hell did ya clean up the stables?"
D'Artagnan replied, "Last night I awoke late, and remembered I hadn't done so, so I did it then. Everyone was asleep." Then the boy addressed the Captain. "Captain, they may have told me I needn't clean the stables, but I must have forgotten…"...
…to which Aramis, burying his head in his hands, said "Oh God D'Artagnan, don't make it worse by covering for us."
Treville said to D'Artagnan, "Well, Pierre was up and saw you and happened to mention it to me this morning. I believe, then, that Athos, Aramis, and Porthos may have been taking undue advantage of your apprenticeship, making sure to tell you about the menial chores you should perform for them and the entire Garrison, but leaving the part out about when you need not perform them." With that, he threw the three of them a withering, but not entirely mean, glare.
While Athos and Aramis begin to protest, Porthos raised his hand, and smiled, "Well, I may have been taking a little advantage…", and they all laughed at that.
Aramis then told D'Artagnan that he'd appreciate it if he could examine the wounds sustained on the mission. D'Artagnan blanched a bit, but then just said "Alright, but just you." He threw Athos a glance, then looked away.
As the two ascended the Garrison stairs, Athos asked, "What was that about?"
Porthos said, "Those wounds 'a his, to him, are Vadim literally adding injury to insult, and he doesn't want you to see 'em. They're a physical reminder of how he believes he failed you. How Vadim saw right through 'em. Simple as that."
After several minutes, Porthos and Athos went to check how Aramis was faring with D'Artagnan.
It was Porthos' and Athos' first visual evidence of the torture perpetuated on D'Artagnan's body. D'Artagnan saw them and tried to cover himself up, but was reprimanded by Aramis, who was not done tending to him.
Porthos winced; Athos simply seethed, throwing an angry glare at the boy, and then simply walked out. D'Artagnan frowned at Athos' murderous countenance.