Athos sat stood in the doorway of the private hospital room. His shoulders tense, and his head pounding. Every now and then he'd step aside for a nurse to come in and check on Elle. He turned, just for a moment to look at her.

She was pale. Her eyes were closed but he knew she was only resting. Morphine will do that to you, or so he'd heard. He'd never had a wound so serious that a few bottles of alcohol couldn't cure.

"How is she?" Aramis's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Recovering. She's going to be fine...in a few days or more,"

"What happened?"

Athos sighed, and raked a hand through his already tousled hair. "Some kind of toxin. Similar to spider venom, but there's no bite. We are waiting on more tests."

"Had she been acting ill?" Aramis asked as he stepped inside the room and came to Elle's bedside.

"No. The opposite, really,"

Aramis looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Athos crossed his arms defensively over his chest, "She...spent the night at the house last night."

Aramis's smile spread across his face.

"It's not like that at all," Athos defended.

"Of course it isn't. This girl is way too good for you," Aramis teased.

Athos agreed and gingerly reached out to stroke Elle's hand. "They're keeping her sedated because of the pain. We're waiting on more tests."

"What did Rebecca say? You said on the phone she's the one who found her."

"She said she heard Elle fall and that's when she found her unconscious in the office."

Aramis looked troubled.

"What is it?" Athos demanded slowly.

"Probably just a coincidence, but Porthos called you this morning to tell you we were planning on dropping the case. If anyone ever was after Rebecca it's obvious they aren't now."

"What is going on?" Athos ground out through clenched teeth.

Aramis gave a sort of shrug, "No idea, but Athos...watch your back."

Looking down at Elle's pale face he realized it was probably much too late for that.

"Why don't you go get some coffee, and something to eat. You look terrible," Aramis told him.

"No. I don't want to leave her alone. Just in case."

"I'll stay with her. Bring me something back."

Athos didn't want to be away from her, but he knew Aramis was right. After a few moments of deliberation he turned and disappeared into the hallway.

Half an hour later when he returned Aramis met him at the door. There were doctors and nurses in the room looking over Elle's body vigilantly.

"What's going on?" Athos demanded.

Aramis pulled him into the hallway. "Athos, her tests came back. She was poisoned with spider venom. Black Widow."

"A black widow bite doesn't cause this kind of reaction. Not like she has, and there was no bite!"

He tried to step around Aramis and barge his way into the room.

"Athos, listen to me! She wasn't bitten. She was poisoned."

"What are you saying?"

"She was injected with the venom,"

"Injected?"

It didn't make any sense. Even if she had been poisoned, who would have done it? Rebecca? What reason did she have to hurt Elle? None legitimately that he could think of. But, he realized it must have been her. There was no one else...

"Treville, Porthos, and D'Artangan are on their way to your ranch right now."

Athos braced his hand against the wall, "I knew something wasn't right about all this."

"Maybe she was after Elle all along," Aramis mused.

"Why didn't she just kill her then?"

Aramis shrugged, "Maybe she meant to,"

"No. I don't know. When you first brought Rebecca to the ranch I thought she looked familiar, and I had an odd feeling."

"Do you think you know her?"

"No. At least not that I can remember."

Aramis's phone rang. "It's Porthos," he said as he put the phone to his ear. "Okay, got it." He slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Well?"

"She's gone. No trace."

Athos slammed his hand against the wall. "I should have never let you talk me into this!"

"Stop it. We both know I couldn't make you do anything if I tried. You're just angry."

Athos hung his head, "And worried."

Athos looked into the room and watched the doctors inspect Elle's body. For a long time he'd thought of Elle as under his protection. Then this happens...in his own home. The place where he was supposed to be safe, and in turn...a place he thought was safe for her. How could he have been so wrong?

Standing there braced against the wall Aramis reached out and wrapped his arm around Athos's shoulders. He had no more words of comfort or explanation. All he could do was be there. And that was enough.

The next morning Elle's weary eyes opened. Everything was blurry, and her body felt extremely heavy. Her chest felt like it was on fire. She squinted and looked around the room. There was a man sitting in a chair in the corner. His head was leaned back, and Elle immediately recognized the imposing figure.

"Porthos," she tried to speak, but her voice was raspy and quiet.

She cleared her throat and tried again.

His head shot up, and he moved to his feet. "You're awake,"

She wanted to ask what happened, but she couldn't seem to find the strength to form the words. A figure appeared in the doorway pulling Elle's focus. It seemed as if he moved magically from the door to her bedside in an instant.

Athos.

The look on his face scared her. His eyes were weary and his features were strained. He touched her cheek and she closed her eyes. She tried to focus and remember what happened, but it seemed impossible. All she knew was she was safe, for now at least, with Athos.

Rebecca sat down on the couch in her apartment. Hopefully this diversion with Elle would buy them some time. There was no way they could do what needed to be done with Athos's nosy housekeeper lurking around. She'd almost caught Rebecca out at least once already.

When she agreed to do this she wasn't aware there were going to be two people in the house. She imagined this whole thing would be a lot simpler. Instead, she'd been forced to use the spider venom to get Elle out of the way. She wouldn't be able to get any more.

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke out from the darkness, "This wasn't the plan,"

She turned and looked at the man emerging from the shadows of her hallway, "I know, but I think I know how we can salvage this whole thing."

"I've waited a long time for this, you better hope you haven't ruined my chance."