Thank you everyone for your patience, life got a little busy but I promise you I won't abandon this story. Things start to unravel and we finally get a glimpse into Aramis' past and I swear I haven't forgotten about D'Artagnan.

Chapter 3: Give

Athos, as it turns out, was almost an entirely different person than Olivier. No longer did he flinch at his own name and he didn't cower from them when they stepped close to him. He did however maintain a physical distance between himself and anyone else, despite having allowed Aramis to hug him occasionally.

They never spoke about the change or the fact that both Aramis and Athos seemed to sleep better when there was someone else close. More often than not, Porthos would now find both boys sprawled asleep in the bed in the morning. It was nearly unbelievable how much Athos had changed in just a week and he wondered if it was as noticeable to others as it was to him and Aramis. He supposed he was about to find out.

"Hello again Olivier." Dr. de Larroque greeted them warmly.

Porthos saw the way the boy's shoulders instantly tensed at the sound of his first name. "Actually Dr., he goes by Athos instead." Instinctively he placed his hands on the small shoulders giving them a light squeeze of comfort.

Ninon took notice of the small gesture and the way it instantly calmed the younger boy. "Athos, such a nice name. Then it is nice you again Athos." She straightened from her crouched position and addressed Porthos. "I will have to ask you to wait in the reception room Mr. du Vallon."

He had talked about this with Athos on the way over, knowing the youth would need the advance warning to prevent any panic attacks. Despite that, he could feel the tension return to the small shoulder, and when the small face turned he could see the fear in his eyes as he looked up towards the older man.

"Hey, hey it's alright, we talked about this." He did his best to prevent the surly building panic attack. "I'll just be outside waiting." He crouching down to be at eye level, noticing that none of his words seemed to be sinking in. He needed to redirect Athos`attention to something else and fast. "Here." Porthos fished his car keys from his pocket and handed them to Athos. "Now I'll want them back when you're done talking with the Dr., okay?"

Athos stared at the keys in his hands then up to Porthos, a small smile sweeping across his features as he nodded. Closing his fist around the keys, he turned towards Ninon and the two headed inside the office, the door silently closing behind them. Porthos sauntered back across the reception and took a seat closest to the door.

Once the door closed behind him, Athos had a moment where he wasn't sure what to do. The large room opened up before him, but the click of the latch behind him resounded loudly in his ears. He knew Porthos wouldn't just leave him, he had always made sure to tell him so. But part of him had learned to not trust other people and when he was alone, that fear would creep back in.

"Athos, Porthos would never leave you behind." Once again she waited for the small boy to look up towards her. She watched has he processed what she had said, then stare at the keys held tightly in his fist. Eventually when he came to the conclusion that Porthos would in fact not leave him, he headed towards the table of to the side where he and Thérèse had sat during their first visit.

Ninon mentally noted his choice of the round table off to the side compared to the large formal desk with its chairs near the middle. Taking the chair next to him, she was aware of Athos watching her every move. She had resolved to allow him the first step and so she simply sat there allowing his searching gaze to trace over her face.

In all her years of experience, she had never come across a child like the one sitting beside her now. On paper, you would assume Athos to be a quivering ball of nerves, malnourished, undeveloped social skills as well as being behind academically. But when you met him, you didn't see any of those things. His gaze was critical, analysing and you could practically see his mind racking over thousands of scenarios at once. He stood tall, though always at a protective distance, and he seemed to be always taking in everything around him. Nothing seemed to escape his notice.

Finally, after deciding Ninon was not a threat, Athos pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over to her.

"Thank you." She smiled as she took the paper from his hand. Slowly she unfolded it and laid it flat on the table in front of them, using her hand to straighten out the creases. Athos had drawn the picture she had asked him to, and he had drawn a row of people all smiling. "This is very lovely." She praised as she took in the details.

"This must be Porthos." She first pointed to the drawing of a large man with broad shoulders and dark sking. Athos nodded inching closer on his chair to better see the drawing. "And I guess this must be…. Aramis?" Again he nodded as she indicated the other person. He wasn't as tall or big, but he had a head of what looked like unruly curls. Then she turned her attention to a woman with brown hair who was drawn up in the clouds, with what looked like a baby drawn beside her. "Is this your mother?"

It took an extra second for him to nod this time and she could see the flash of sadness cross his features before quickly disappearing. "She looks like a very nice person. Why don't you draw yourself now beside Porthos and Aramis. I think that's the only thing missing here." She handed him the box of crayons she kept on the table and watched as he added himself next to the two other people.

Ninon found it fascinating how such a task as drawing himself next to Portho and Aramis seemed to lighten his mood exponentially. Perhaps letting Athos live with them may not be a bad idea after all, although she had not met Aramis yet. Porthos seemed to really care about the small boy and the two seemed to have reached a deep level of trust despite Athos' issues. However, she got the impression that things would not be so simple with the teenager. She had seen the look that crossed his face when she had mentioned that she wanted to meet him as well, though Porthos had done well to hide it from Athos.

Having finished with his addition, Athos held the paper out towards her again. As she studied the smaller person that had been added on Porthos' other side, she couldn't help but ponder its significance. It would seem that to Athos, Porthos had not only saved him by taking him in but had done the same for the teen. It would seem she had research to do before their next visit.

Porthos had to fight the urge to spring to his feet the second he saw the door handle turning. He had been sitting in the reception area leafing through the magazines and doing his best not to worry about how Athos was doing. But as the minutes clicked by and the noise of the keyboard as the receptionist typed away filled the silence, his own anxiety began to mount.

He smiled in relief as Athos stepped out holding a piece of paper in one hand and the car keys in the other. Dr. de Larroque smiled as she followed behind, no doubt having notice the other's relief at seeing Athos was alright.

"Porthos, I would love the chance to meet Aramis as well, perhaps our next meeting?" Though her tone was light Porthos caught the underlining meaning; she wanted Aramis to come at the next meeting.

Helping Athos pull his coat over the cast, Porthos nodded his understanding pausing only for a fraction. "Sure, not a problem. I think he's always looking for excuses to miss class anyway." He easily joked, trying to match her hidden meaning. One look at Athos though told him they hadn't really succeeded. "I'll talk to him but not sure how he's going to feel about it. The social worker is coming later this week to do their routine assessment so we'll see how that goes."

Athos watched the exchange, taking in every word. He wasn't quite sure why Porthos thought Aramis wouldn't want to me Ninon, she was very nice. Not to mention this was the first time he had heard about the social workers visit.

"I see. Please tell child services that I would like a copy of the report to go in my files. Have them sent it to my office directly." Her tone took on a softer note as she pondered over what Porthos had said about the teen. "I think you have best to involve him in Athos' recovery. It could be good for him as well."

Pulling the zipper on Athos' coat up towards the boys chin, he could see from his peripheral that Athos was staring at him, his piercing blue eyes studying his face. Standing to his full height, he met Ninon's gaze.

"I'll talk to him."

"Good, then I hope to see you all next week."

Damn.

Porthos spend the rest of the day trying to work out how he was going to bring it up with the teen.

There was no easy to do this and Aramis was not going to handle this well. He had not found a way to bring up the social worker's visit with Aramis and now he had to bring up a child psychiatrist. The teen was going to bolt for sure.

Fortunately the older man had more time to mull it over as Aramis was currently out with some friends. Deciding he had delayed this for far too long already, Porthos settle into the couch ready to wait for Aramis to return home.

It was well past midnight when the front door opened quietly and Aramis snuck in. Athos had been asleep for hours now but he wasn't sure if Porthos had gone to bed as well or if the older man was still awake.

"Hey Mis, fun night?" Porthos steeled his nerves for what he knew would be a very difficult topic.

"Now, now, you can't expect me to divulge all my adventures." Aramis grinned mockingly as he pulled off his shoes. Shrugging off his coat, he tossed it into the closet before dumping his keys on the countertop on his way to the fridge. "What kind of gentleman would I be?"

Porthos snorted in response. Aramis was notorious for his charm and his ability to woo any girl he pleased, although he would never take advantage of anyone. He always claimed he was just befriending the fairer sex and it was them who through themselves at him. He could hardly refuse a ladies request, or atleast that's what he always told the older man.

"Umm, 'Mis .." This wasn't getting any easier and so he decided to just be straightforward. "Thursday someone from child service is coming for a visit to check things out." He watched from his seat on the couch as Aramis stopped, a frown creasing his brow.

The teen straightened and closed the fridge door he had been holding open. "What?"

"Aramis it's a standard visit for any child in foster care." This was starting just as he assumed it would.

"It's always just a visit then they take you away, ship you off somewhere." Aramis' voice rose steadily, his fist clenching at his side.

To his credit, Porthos kept his own voice calm. Aramis had always been the most passionate of either of them and despite their easy comradery, the two would often argue. In most cases, a quick heated exchange would be easily forgiven in a few hours' time.

The older man, however, also knew Aramis enough to know that this wasn't about the social worker or Athos.

"Aramis, the social worker is coming to talk to him, just making sure he's adjusting well. He's not going anywhere." When he had taken in the teenager, a social worker had come for a similar visit; dotting the I's and crossing the T's as far as legal was concerned.

Still fuming, Aramis closed the distance between the two. "And when they find out he's still not talking to anyone other than you or me. What do you think they'll do to him then? They'll lock him up somewhere just like they did to …." Aramis broke off mid-sentence, his eyes wide.

It took a second for Porthos' mind to register what had just been said. "Mis' what are you talking about?" The fear in Aramis' eyes all but shocked the older man but in a flash, it was gone, replaced by that distant stare the teen often regarded the world with. "Who's going to lock who up?"

As if realizing he had said more than he wanted to, Aramis turned on his heels and stormed down the hallway towards the front door, snagging his keys from the counter on his way.

"Oi! Where are you going?" Porthos leaped up from the couch, not ready to let this topic drop. He knew he had hit a nerve and felt slightly guilty for pushing but Aramis rarely opened up about anything regarding his life before meeting Porthos and this discussion seemed to have just ripped away part of the teen's protective shield. "Don't walk away from this."

"You're not my father!" Aramis spat as he spun around, his chest heaving as his fist closed tight around the keys clutched in his hand.

The older man stared back in shock, his stride frozen mid-step. Where did that come from?

Truth be told, he had expected something like this in the early years of their friendship, for any orphan this was a trump card for all arguments and he himself had once spat that exact phrase at someone else.

But this was different. This wasn't just an attempt to end the argument or scare someone away, this was more and Porthos was well aware that he and Aramis weren't having the same discussion. Everything about the boy's stance, from his tense shoulders to his shaking hands told him as much.

"No. I'm not your father." Porthos answered back trying hard to keep his voice even while he kept eye contact with the teen. "But do you know who I am?" Porthos took a step forward keeping Aramis' full attention. "I'm the total strange who took you into his home when you were freezing your ass off out on the sidewalk. Gave you food, clothes and a warm bed to sleep in. I'm the guy who stays up with you when your nightmares keep you up at night and I'm the guy who never asked about that long scar on the side of your head or about those migraines. So no, I'm not your father."

Posthos took another small step towards Aramis, tough this time the teen did step back. Letting out a long breath to calm himself, Porthos continued. " 'Mis, you know I care about you, and Athos. And I would never let anything happen to either one of you. What is this really about? Whatever it was that happened to you before, I want to help, but you've gotta give me somethin' here. Trust me."

Aramis eyes dropped to the floor as tears made his vision blur. His knees buckled and he sank to the floor, his back pressed against the door as all the fight left him in one breathe. Porthos watched as a shacky hand reached out to trace the thin scar on the side of his head.

Early on Porthos had learned that when Aramis was stressed or nervous, his fingers would subconsciously comb through his tuffs of curls, eventually stopping to trace the long scar in his hairline just above his right ear. In those moments, Aramis always looked like he was trapped in some unknown memory, his eyes locked on something only he could see, and it pained Porthos to see him like that and not be able to help.

"I'm sorry Porthos." It was barely a whisper but the sound carried to the older man. "I just….. sometimes I just…." His right hand continued to trace the thin scar as his shoulders shivered slightly.

Crouching down to sit next to him, Porthos wrapped an arm around the smaller frame, hoping to offer some comfort. "It's okay, 'Mis. Don't worry about it." When the shaking started to worsen, Porthos pulled him in closer, wrapping both arms around him as Aramis buried his face in the older man's shoulder. Slowly, Porthos pulled Aramis' hand aways from its absentminded task.

He held Aramis as the younger man sobbed into his shoulder. They had done this many times before, usually when Aramis woke from nightmares or when the migraines got too bad. Never once had Aramis shared what haunted him and Porthos had never asked. Some months were better than others and Porthos had started to notice the winter season seemed to be the worst of them.

"D'Herblay." Aramis eventually mumbled into Porthos' shirt. Sensing the older man's confusion, he pulled back wiping his face on his sleeve as he leaned back against the door. "My real name's D'Herblay. René D'Herblay."

Porthos grinned, his heart lightening enormously at the small gesture of trust. "Well I can see why you changed it. Isn't that a girl's name?" He was rewarded as the tension visibly left the younger man's shoulders and Aramis couldn't help the chuckled that escaped his lips as his grin widened to match his friends.

"Shut up."

Getting to his feet, Porthos reached a hand down to help Aramis. "Come on, we should go make sure Athos' alright; probably got scared." Once on his feet, Aramis nodded sheepishly. He had completely forgotten about their youngest brother and knew that he surely would have heard the heated exchange. Clasping the younger man's shoulder, he steered them back towards the kitchen "Why don't you go get him while I make us some hot chocolate, yeah?" Aramis simply nodded. "Oh and 'Mis," he waited till he turned to face him before continuing, "Aramis du Vallon is just as good a name as any. It suits you better." The smile he received in return was one of the most genuine smiles he had ever seen from the teen.

Aramis wiped the remaining tears on his sleeve as he headed towards Athos' room.

As Porthos watched the teen head down the hall he finally let out the giant breath he'd been holding. The mask that Aramis kept so well guarded had cracked and he had seen part of what haunted the teen at night. Porthos gripped the counters edge to steady himself as tears ran down his cheek.

Thank you everyone. Any mistakes are my own.