Evening My Lovelies

First off I'd like to apologize for a lack of update yesterday, I did manage to get something written but after reading it through I thoroughly hated it (I'm blaming the fact that I was about 30+ without any sleep at that point lol) so after a complete rewrite today we are left with this, and I have to say... I absolutely freaking love it! My ideas for the coming chapters just keep growing the more I get into this story arc so I can't wait to hear what you all think!

Notes On Reviews:

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Oh the plans I have for D'Art once he knows the truth :D We'll be seeing a bit with Vernier today. Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysAramisRios: Thanks for the review - The author does have a plan in mind but we'll have to see if our boys can stop it before it starts :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading

Love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Sixty-Four: To Catch A Rat IV

With the possible traitor's name still echoing in his head, Aramis's walk back to his brothers was a bit of a daze so he was quite surprised to find Treville sat by D'Artagnan's side, the two apparently having a personal conversation while Athos and Porthos stood chatting a few feet away, though not by Athos's choice if his constant glances towards their youngest were any indication.

"Honestly you're a bigger mother hen than 'Mis," teased Porthos with a small laugh that only grew when Athos shot him a small glare in retaliation.

"Careful Porthos," interrupted Aramis, grinning as he walked over, wincing only a little as his injuries began to ache once more. With the numerous supplies, Treville and the rest of their regiment had brought they had managed to make a substantial supply of pain draughts meaning the marksman was able to move around with only minimal pain now, something he was eternally grateful for. "What's all that about?" he asked curiously as he glanced over his shoulder to his Captain and younger brother.

Porthos shrugged, "Captain wanted to talk to the kid, been at it for a few minutes."

Concern flashed across the marksman's face, "Do you think he's telling him…"

Athos was quick to shake his head, "The Captain knows of our decision," with a grimace he added, "He doesn't approve but reasons as the ones closest to D'Artagnan that we'll know best how he'll react so he is, begrudgingly, willing to support us."

Guilt flooded the eyes of the older inseparables, none liked hiding things from their youngest all knowing full well how hurt and angry the boy would likely be once he inevitably found out, they just hoped that by the time that happened the situation with their traitor would be solved.

"You seemed to be having quite the chat 'Mis," commented Porthos with a small cough, wanting to move past the guilt churning in his stomach. "Find something out?"

That one question vanished all earlier traces of levity and instead replaced it with tension as all eyes turned to the medic, who reluctantly crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded slowly.

"Corneau says Vernier's been acting strange," stated the marksman, a spark of anger igniting inside him at the mention of the possible traitor's name. "Apparently he's been staying out late and has become increasingly secretive about the increasing number of letters he's been receiving over the last few months."

"He's been absorbed in his writing since we arrived," commented Athos, discretely glancing over Aramis's shoulder to once more watch the oblivious Vernier.

"Matches with what I heard from Pruitt," added Porthos quietly, though he was tempted to he managed to resist the urge to glance at the suspected traitor. "Apparently the assumption is that he's got a new girl, some of the men think she must be married because Vernier's adamantly refused to answer anyone's questions on the subject."

Aramis's eyes hardened as he looked towards Athos, "How do we handle this?"

Athos was quiet for a few minutes as he considered their options. The honour bound musketeer in him wanted to bring this information to the immediate attention of Treville, an instinct made worse by the man's current proximity to them. However, that very instinct was overshadowed the moment he got the smallest glimpse of the many bandages still covering a great deal of Aramis's body. It was then that his overprotective brother side came out to play, his mind whirling with ideas as his eyes narrowed.

"If we all approach it could spook him and alert the men that something is up."

Porthos nodded in both agreement and understanding, "You could get him to follow you," he stated looking towards the lieutenant, "There's a river not too far from here, we could meet you there?"

"What about D'Artagnan?" voiced Aramis with a concerned glance over to their youngest, who to his surprise was chuckling lightly at whatever Treville had just said to him, though his amusement quickly turned to a small coughing fit moments later, which the Captain was quick to tend to, moving quickly to lift a small canteen to the coughing boy's lips.

Athos's eyes mirrored his brother's concern but he forced them to harden as he shook his head, "Once we leave the Captain will know what's up, he'll stay by his side."

With that, they had a plan in place and mere minutes later Porthos and Aramis left the camp, making it obvious where they were going by grabbing some of the empty canteens on the way. Resisting the urge to follow them immediately Athos forced himself to wait a few minutes more before approaching Vernier, resisting the urge to narrow his eyes in suspicion when the musketeer scrambled to hide his writings when the swordsman stood before him. It only took a few quietly ordered words to get the suspected traitor to follow him, curiosity and confusion flashing across the musketeer's face as he did so.

That confusion and curiosity only grew, along with his unease, when he and Athos arrived at the river to find Porthos and Aramis already there, their weapons drawn but hanging at their sides.

"What's going on?" Vernier asked, his own hand was itching to move to his sword but he had a feeling that doing so would not end well for him.

"What's going on," spoke Athos, his voice was cold and hard, surprising Vernier who was used to hearing at least a smidgen of warmth in it whenever the man addressed on of their regiment. "Is that we are going to give you one chance to come clean and admit what you've done before -"

"Wait! What?" stammered Vernier, his heart pounding in his chest. "Come clean and admit what?!"

"You know exactly what!" hissed Aramis as he took a step forward, his grip on his sword tightening as he fought the urge to push against Porthos arm, which had shot out to stop him moving forward, a silent reminder that they needed answers. They would get their revenge, the traitor would pay in blood for every ounce of pain he made them endure but they needed answers first.

A sinking realization settled in Vernier's gut though he was quick to ignore it, his pride not allowing him to give in to the urge to beg the men in front of him.

"Who sent you after me?" he asked coolly as he slowly crossed his arms in front of his chest, largely to hide the faint tremor in his hands. He had served alongside the inseparables for years, he knew just how strong they were and how much of a power trio they were to face in a fight, to be on their opposing side was not a pleasant place to be. "Marcellus I assume?"

The name caused looks of confusion to cross the faces of the inseparables, although missed by Vernier who had mustered up his pride and courage to continue now, wanting to at least say his peace before the inevitable.

"I know he threatened to have me killed if I continued but I honestly didn't expect him to look into my own regiment to have it done!"

Confusion was now fully displayed on each of the inseparable's faces, though it was Porthos who with a nauseating mixture of emotions brewing in his gut, spoke up, "Vernier -"

"Honestly," glared the musketeer, apparently still not reading the looks on the men's faces even though he was now looking the larger of the trio right in the eye. "I thought the three of you above things like this. I can remember several instances of the two of you stepping in to defend Aramis from an irate father or husband so what is it about my relationship with Madeleine that bothers you so much!"

"Wait what?" cut off Porthos as realization slowly came to the three men.

"You actually do have a new girl?" exclaimed Aramis, the honestly surprised look on his face pulling Vernier out of his rant, leaving the sense of confusion to settle over the group.

"I… Have a feeling we're on different pages," spoke Vernier hesitantly as he looked towards the men. Porthos and Aramis now looked ashamed and guilty while Athos was emotionless, though there were occasional flashes of emotions in his eyes that passed too quickly for him to read.

"Do you have proof of your relationship with this woman?" spoke Athos firmly, though his voice was noticeably less cold than before, however, his question once more raised Vernier's hackles.

"Why? Is Marcellus that desperate to get rid of every trace of me in Madeleine's life?"

With a frustrated sigh, Athos took a step forward, ignoring the spike of guilt that hit him when Vernier took an instinctual step back. "I do not know who this Marcellus is, we were sent by Treville."

This stopped Vernier in his tracks, his head tilting to one side, pure and honest confusion lining his face. "What business is it of the Captain who I am courting?"

"The proof first," instructed Athos, his voice demanding obedience as he watched the musketeer before him slowly uncross his arms to reach inside the bag at his side, pulling out a small bundle of letters which he, with obvious reluctance, then handed over to Athos, who moved to the side to begin reading them, the same look of guilt and shame slowly growing on his face the more he read.

"My apologies Vernier," he said quietly a few minutes later as he gently handed the bundle back to its owner, not missing the way the musketeer lightly stroked the top one with obvious fondness before gently placing them back in his bag.

With his curiosity getting the better of him Aramis, who had sheathed his sword in the time Athos was reading took a step forward, "So," he mused, a teasing glint in his eyes even as his face radiated with his curiosity. "Who's Marcellus?"

Completely thrown off by the change in atmosphere Vernier responded to the question automatically. "He's Madeleine's father."

Unable to stop himself Porthos stepped up next to his brother, his own curiosity prompting him to ask, "And he wants you dead? What the hell did you do?"

Affronted Vernier snapped out of his daze and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Nothing!" he defended before sighing, reasoning he had already started speaking so he might as well continue explaining. "He's a merchant… A really well to do one who sees his daughter as his chance to move up in the world. He was in talks about marrying her off to some nobleman when she confessed to him about me."

Understanding and sympathy filled the marksman as he asked, "I'm assuming he didn't approve."

Unable to stop himself Vernier snorted, "That's an understatement, did you miss the part about him wanting me dead? To him, Madeleine is just another product to be traded. There's no benefit to him to allow her to marry someone he sees as beneath them such as a musketeer. After she confessed our relationship to him he paid some of the guards to bring me to him where he first tried to buy me off, when I refused he had those same guards beat me up as a warning, stating he would do far worse to me if I continued my pursuit of his daughter." Vernier finished his explanation by raising his shirt, displaying the now healing but still clearly visible bruises on his torso for them to see, holding it up for a few moments before lowering it with a small but determined scowl on his face, "Now what were you talking about?"

Thankfully it didn't take long for the trio to explain the situation to Vernier, now trusting that he had nothing to do with the author and feeling extremely guilty that they had suspected him in the first place, even though they knew they were to be suspicious of everyone until proven otherwise.

Vernier had reacted much as they did at the news of a traitor in their ranks, though he did reluctantly agree to keep the information of it to himself until said traitor was caught.

With the suspicion now cleared up and the situation explained Vernier left to return to the camp, leaving the inseparables alone once more.

"What now?" sighed Porthos as he sunk down to sit on a nearby boulder. He was relieved they had managed to clear one of their regiment but that meant that the traitor was still amongst them, likely already plotting his next move.

All eyes turned to Athos, who was the strategist in their quartet, the swordsman himself was silent and the two other men were content to give him a chance to think, only to jump up in alarm when they saw a horrified look cross onto their brother's face.

"Athos!" "'Thos!" cried Aramis and Porthos simultaneously, both moving towards the swordsman as they silently implored him to speak.

"A test," he breathed, his words making the two musketeers stop in their tracks as they looked at him. "What if all this was a test… To see if we suspected musketeer involvement?"

Cursing in Spanish Aramis nodded, "Drop us hints of something suspicious and see how we react to it."

"The moment Vernier left with you they would know, we know," cursed Porthos as he struggled against the urge to hit something, feeling immensely stupid that they hadn't considered this possibility before.

"Who told you of Vernier's involvement?" Athos demanded, knowing that the men who offered up the musketeer were now his top suspects.

Porthos scowled, "Pruitt, though the rest of the group were all too eager to talk about Vernier's now frequent habit of disappearing for hours on end."

Unease crossed Aramis's face as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Corneau, I really don't want to believe it to be him though, he's been my friend for years, even before Savoy."

"We need to get back," ordered Athos, though he did send the marksman a small sympathetic look. "The Captain needs to be informed and if we delay any longer the rest of the men will start to question our disappearance.

The men remained silent on the walk back, all trying to ignore their minds which seemed determined to come up with ideas on what might be the fallout if their fears of this being a test which they had failed came true.

Upon reaching the musketeer camp Athos's eyes immediately sought out D'Artagnan, knowing that was where the Captain would likely be, only to freeze, a look of horror growing on his face as he took in just who was sat beside his sick, unconscious baby brother.