Evening (or very early morning) My Lovelies
How are we all? Everyone still got their sanity after who knows how many weeks on lockdown? :D Hope you're all staying safe & healthy x
Notes On Reviews:
beeblegirl: Thanks for the review - Me too :D Our pup is going to need all his brothers as he tries to get passed what he's been through. We've got a fair amount of Athos tonight so we'll be seeing what he's been up to. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Same! :D Originally I was going to have all three red guards be baddies, but I have to say I'm very happy I decided against that and introduced Marin, he's such a sweetie :D We'll be seeing Athos today, so no more waiting on that front :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
pallysd'Artagnan: Thanks for the review - He's definitely mustered some serious stubbornness :D As for the fight between Rochey and Fredrick... we'll be waiting until probably the next chapter before we see fully how that turns out. We'll be seeing what our lovely Athos has gotten up to tonight so no more waiting on that front. Enjoy the new chapter! x
WelshEssex: Thanks for the review - Yeah definitely a lot going on at the moment, feeling a little bad for Tristan though, he's going to have a fair amount on his plate very soon :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading
Love you all!
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter Twenty-Six: Rescue IV
With his ears still ringing from the earlier explosion, Athos stumbled through the corridors of the church, leaning heavily on the walls as his grief threatened to send him to his knees.
As it was the heartbroken lieutenant was sure that the promise of vengeance was all that was keeping him moving as he fought down the all too familiar feeling of failure as he had yet another little brother stolen from him. It didn't help that his mind refused to think of anything but how terrified the Gascon must have been in his final moments, so much so that Athos found himself praying, as much as it sickened him to do so, that the boy had already passed from the lack of air before the explosion occurred.
He didn't want to think of how sure his brother had likely been that they would save him, the boy's belief in them surprising the older trio even after months of knowing the headstrong boy who had somehow wormed his way into all of his hearts.
It was during this thought that Athos, through the veil of grief, slowly became aware of the fact that he was alone in the corridor, that Porthos hadn't followed after him and likely still remained in the graveyard. Guilt shot through the swordsman's heart at this, he had abandoned two brothers now, one to death and one to grief. Part of him wanted nothing more than to turn around and find his brother, to be by his side as they grieved for their youngest together but there was a larger and louder part of him that was screaming for vengeance and it was a part of him that he couldn't ignore, he needed to get justice for the life that had been taken and as much as he would likely never admit it he was grateful there was now no one to stand between him and the revenge he was determined to get.
"I'll make him pay D'Artagnan," he swore solemnly, though his voice broke slightly at the mention of his baby brother's name.
With a renewed sense of determination, Athos pushed off of the wall and straightened his posture, intent on continuing his search for the former red guard Captain when something caught his eyes, his expression quickly morphing into a glare as his anger overpowered his near-crippling grief.
"You!" snarled the swordsman, thoroughly surprising the object of his attention as he stormed forward, grabbing his target by the scruff of the neck before throwing the man into the nearest room, slamming the door behind him as entered behind him.
"Just a little longer," reassured Talbot as he and Glenn continued towards Aramis's room, knowing that Tristan would be there and he and Aramis were the only ones in the facility that he trusted with the barely conscious man slumped in his arms.
Their progress was slow going with Talbot carrying the majority of Glenn's weight considering the man was barely awake due to his injury. Talbot had wanted to stop and wrap the wound but also hadn't wanted to waste any time given how weak his beloved friend already was, especially as he seemed to be growing weaker with every step the pair took and as such he was beginning to seriously fear that he would arrive at the musketeer's room with his friend dead in his arms if he wasted even a moment.
"Just a little longer," he pleaded, tears prickling the corners of his eyes. "Just hang on a little longer… We're almost there… Please, Glenn…"
"What are you doing Athos?" demanded Liam once he recovered from the musketeer's sudden attack to realize who had grabbed him.
"Shut up!" snapped Athos as he slammed the man into a wall, the tip of his dagger pressed just deep enough into the man's throat to be a clear warning without actually drawing blood.
"What's gotten into you?" stammered the Brother, his breathing picking up as fear flickered in his eyes. "Think about what you're doing!"
"If you want any chance of leaving this room with your life I suggest you drop the act and start talking," ordered Athos, his voice taken on a tone as dark as his expression. There was a niggling voice at the back of his mind that worried about the repercussions of his actions should he be proven wrong but he pushed it down as he pressed the dagger as little harder into Liam's skin when the man started to stammer out pleas for Athos to see sense and to let him go.
"How are we looking Tristan?" asked Aramis worriedly as sat by D'Artagnan's side, he had taken hold of the boy's hand the moment Marin had helped him into the chair beside his brother and hadn't released it since, wincing in sympathy as the boy whimpered in pain as the physician's assistant cleaned and treated his head wound.
With a tired sigh, Tristan looked up from his patient, a reassuring, if somewhat strained, smile on his face. "Thankfully the wound on his head is not as serious as I first feared given the amount of blood covering the area. I assume it is how they subdued him to begin with, once I'm sure its fully clean I'll stitch it up, thankfully he'll only need a few there."
"And his hands?" asked Marin hesitantly as he wasn't sure how the two musketeers would take to a red guard asking over the boy's injuries but if he was honest he did feel genuinely concerned, despite not knowing the Gascon personally it simply wasn't in him to be cold in the light of what happened.
At this Tristan let out another sigh and his expression turned a fraction darker even though his eyes remained sympathetic. "He's torn quite a few nails completely from their beds so I'll need to clean and wrap them, they'll be incredibly sensitive until the nails regrow… He's also sporting two broken fingers, I'll split and wrap them as best I can but he won't be holding anything heavier than cutlery for at least a month, if not longer."
Silence fell over the group at this, each of the men knowing just how the unconscious boy before them had come by those injuries, even if the mental image that realization produced made them sick… He had tried to claw his way out.
"Who are you working for?" demanded Athos, still holding Liam flush against the wall with a blade to his throat.
"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about!"
Pulling the Brother away from the wall a few inches Athos, mimicking an earlier move by Fredrick, slammed the Brother back into the wall, hard, eliciting a grunt of pain from the man that was quickly swallowed up when the blade returned to his throat.
"Drop the act," he snarled, "Rochefort couldn't have orchestrated all of this without some help from the inside. There is no way he would have been able to move about without at least one of your men spotting him… Besides, we already know he had the help of at least one of your underlings Audric so drop. The. Act!"
For what seemed like an eternity anyone walking passed the room overlooking the graveyard would have heard the sound of clashing blades from within as the two occupants battled it out. Eventually, though things in the room fell silent and the door to the room slowly swung open as a bloodstained figure stumbled out leaning heavily on the wall for support. The figure managed to get several feet away before their legs gave out from under them and they slid to the ground.