Evening (or Early Morning) My Lovelies

Well... It's been about a month since my last update but I've finally managed to drag myself over the finish line and bring this story to a close *wipes brow*

I was struggling to write interim chapters between the last one and this one so I've decided to just cover that stuff here so apologies if it comes across as rushed/choppy but considering the writer's block and laziness I've had with this story I felt it better just to get it done. I have plans for the next story so hopefully, it won't be so slow with the updates when I get that up.

Notes On Reviews:

FierGascon: Thanks for the review - (Chaper78) Haha glad you had fun binging. Sorry, there was a long wait for this. Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysAramisRios: Thanks for the reviews - (Chapter77) Hope you enjoyed catching up :) I have plans for Issac in my next story don't worry :) (Chapter78) I'm really hoping D'Art's thought process makes some sense, it does to me but I'm not sure if that's just because I know what I've got planned. Enjoy the new chapter! x

WelshEssex: Thanks for the reviews - (Chapter78) Definitely right to be worried about Issac but I have plans to make things right so don't worry TOO much :) The thought process I have for D'Art makes complete sense to me but I'm thinking it might only be the case because I know the end game for it all so I'm hoping it is, at least, somewhat believable. (Chapter79) Yeah, unfortunately, it's not going to be easy for D'Art to forgive our boys, he'll get there eventually though. Enjoy the new chapter! x

beeblegirl - Thanks for the review - (Chapter78) The King's decision is definitely going to be a problem for the regiment :) I have plans to make it right though so don't worry too much. Ergh yeah I know the problem you were talking about it was frustrating, to say the least. Hopefully, you were able to read chapter 79 when things corrected themselves if not there's that to read too :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - No worries I think a lot of people did as it went up when the site was having issues with updated chapters of stories. Yay, I'm glad you liked where I took D'Art in that chapter, I was worried it would annoy people but I have plans for it and oh yeah :) he's definitely not going to make things easy for the rest of the group. Enjoy the new chapter! x

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

And for sticking with me even when I became extremely unreliable with updates - I won't be like that with the next story I promise!

Love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Eighty: Epilogue

2 Months Later…

"Is he here yet?" asked Porthos anxiously as he settled himself down on the bench beside his brothers, his eyes immediately drifting to the garrison gates, desperate to see one specific form walk through them.

"Not yet," sighed Aramis wearily as he allowed his eyes to drift from their own watch of the garrison gates to his other brother, who was silently mirroring their watch of the gates.

Athos, in the last two months since being all but banished from their youngest side, had quickly fallen back into the worrying habits the man had engaged in before the Gascon's arrival despite his and Porthos's every attempt to prevent it and it killed Aramis's heart to see.

Two months ago when they made the decision to keep the knowledge that the author was likely one of their own to themselves none of them had truly anticipated the amount of hurt it would cause their youngest and the matter was only made worse when the situation was unknowingly explained by Corbett instead of one of them.

D'Artagnan hadn't taken the lack of information well, believing it to be due to a lack of trust on their part, which couldn't have been further from the truth. The Gascon had lashed out at them with surprising ferocity given his condition, demanding that they leave him alone and flat out refused to listen to their attempts at apologies and explanations.

Gerald had interrupted after a few minutes of the standoff, the stern medic ordering the three senior inseparables out of the infirmary, stating they were upsetting his patient and that D'Artagnan had enough to worry about in the coming days without adding the apparent stress of their presence to it.

Neither he nor his brothers had been willing to leave, settling instead for staying outside their brother's room, leaving only when Treville was called to order them out, the Captain even having to resort to slight physical methods to get Athos to move.

They had hoped that after a night or two to cool off that the younger musketeer would allow them to speak their peace and so, despite how much it hurt them to do, they gave the boy his space, although they never strayed too far from the infirmary and were all too eager to beg for information whenever any of the physicians exited the building.

Unfortunately for them, their attempts to give their brother the space he asked for only served to give him the opportunity to reach out to both Treville and Constance, the latter opening up her home to him without hesitation whilst the former reluctantly allowed his departure to said home after a long debate with the ill Gascon.

Whilst Constance had not been made privy, at least as far as they were aware, to the reason behind their separation the young red-head was fearsomely protective of the Gascon and was willing to bar entry to her home to anyone the musketeer did not wish to see… Which as it turned out seemed to be exclusively them.

Thankfully the young woman had not been so cold to always ignore their pleas to check in on the young man and was willing to allow them a few minutes with him when she was sure D'Artagnan was sleeping, ordering them to leave the moment the Gascon showed any sign of waking, not wishing to be seen breaking her word to the younger man.

Today was the first day since recovering from his pneumonia and poisoning that D'Artagnan would be returning to the garrison and the three inseparables were desperate to see him awake, each man hoping and praying that Constance and the others who had been permitted to visit him would have convinced the boy enough to at least hear them out as a lot had changed since their split and they longed to return to the way things were before Corneau snapped.

"Any news of Issac?" asked Porthos after a few moments, wanting to break up the tension that had settled over the trio as they anxiously awaited their fourth.

With a frown on his face Aramis shook his head, "Favier was allowed to visit him again yesterday and said he's keeping his spirits up, which is something I suppose but the other men learned he was a musketeer… They did not take the news well."

"There's no 'was' about it," grumbled Porthos as he tried to push down the anger he felt, "Issac's one of us no matter what the King says."

That statement caused another wave of silence to roll over them as they thought back to the explosive argument that had erupted between Favier and the Captain when it became known that Treville's efforts to clear Issac's name had been in vain and that all he had managed to do was to have made the King show the grieving man some mercy.

Issac was to serve a decade in prison and lose his commission and place in their regiment as punishment for torturing and killing an unarmed man, despite said unarmed man being responsible for a lot of death and pain himself.

The King had made it clear to Treville that had Issac been any other man and hadn't served the crown loyally for many years then he would have called for his life as he had everyone else who had been part of Corneau's schemes and that it was only in his sympathy for the musketeer's pain and grief that pushed him to offer some leniency and mercy.

Favier hadn't seen it as a mercy though and had to be put on a few weeks suspension after punching Treville in the face during their argument, the musketeer having barely spoken to anyone since returning to service and going out of his way to avoid the Captain at any cost, despite Issac scolding him for his actions whenever he was able to get permission to visit.

"...How bad?" asked Athos quietly, surprising his table companions as it was the first time he had spoke in several days.

Aramis wanted to smile at the glimmer of his true brother showing through with the concern he was expressing, but the news he had prevented him from doing so. "Prison medic's had to be called according to Favier," he explained carefully, seeing the worry and tension building in his two brothers. "Favier says he will recover but the other inmates did a number on him… Several broken ribs, broken nose, more bruises than they can count and…"

Athos's eyes narrowed, "and?"

Aramis sighed, "Apparently one of the other inmates stomped on his sword-hand," both Athos and Porthos hissed in sympathy and alarm at this, "Shattered it…"

Clenching his hands into tight fist Porthos had to remind himself that he couldn't get revenge for the pain his friend had been forced to endure, "Will he hold a blade again?" he asked stoically, knowing many of the regiment were more than willing to get on their knees and beg the King for the return of Issac's commission when he was released, even if the chances of it being granted were extremely slim.

With another sigh, Aramis shrugged, "Favier said the medics weren't sure, its too soon to say but they are hopeful he'll regain use of it once it's healed… They're moving him into solitary to keep him safe."

Neither musketeer were happy with that but they didn't have a chance to respond as the person they had been waiting for had chosen that moment to walk through the garrison gates.

D'Artagnan held his head high as he walked through the gates, the familiar sight of the garrison was one he found he had dearly missed in the two months it had been since he had last seen them. As he made his way towards the Captain's office several men stopped him briefly to offer their congratulations on his recovery and to express how happy they were to see him back among them. Their words brought joy to the tense Gascon's heart and he accepted them with a bright, if slightly strained smile, taking a few moments to talk to them before excusing himself to continue towards his target… all the while doing his best to ignore the three sets of eyes he could feel burning a hole into him from a nearby table.

Seeing their little brother back where he belonged and looking healthier than he had in weeks was a great balm to the three inseparables hearts, though it didn't take a genius to see that the young man was going out of his way to avoid looking towards their table so eventually, the waiting became too much and they called out to him, their hearts collectively pounding in their chests as they saw the young man freeze in place as their voices reached him.

"You need to talk to us sometime kid," pleaded Porthos as he and his brothers rose from their table, distantly noting how the others in the courtyard had begun to step away to give them some sense of privacy.

"Please," begged Aramis, his heart clenching when D'Artagnan didn't move a muscle, not even to turn around to face them. "We just want to explain, all we're asking is for you to hear us out."

All three men noticed how D'Artagnan tensed at the last part of Aramis's plea but still, the boy refused to turn.

"D'Artagnan!" snapped Athos, having had enough of his baby brother and protege ignoring him. The voice he used was one he frequently used when training the boy and it had the added effect of unconsciously getting the younger man to turn to face him, something he seemed displeased about once he realized.

Not willing to let this chance go to waste Athos forced himself to ignore the desire to scan his brother over now he was close enough to do so and instead straightened, "You've shut us out for long enough, stop with the stubbornness and let us explain."

"I don't have time for this," growled D'Artagnan as he began to turn away from them once more, only to be stopped when Athos reached out and grabbed his wrist pulling the boy into a tight embrace, which he only tightened the more the Gascon struggled to get out.

"Forgive us D'Artagnan," he pleaded, his voice quiet enough that only the struggling boy could hear it, though Athos wasn't sure if he was even listening. "You're our brother, we never meant to hurt you."

"Let. Me. Go!" growled the Gascon as he fought against his mentor's hold, all the while cursing the part of him that had spent the last two months crying out for the trio's company, especially when the effects of the poison had gotten truly bad.

Knowing it wouldn't be long before the boy got free Athos decided to try one last thing. "If you can't forgive us then at least forgive them," he spoke quietly, a glimmer of hope growing in his heart when he felt his brother pause his attempts to escape for just a moment. It was a sign, a sign that the boy was listening and it wasn't a chance Athos was going to waste. "They were following my orders D'Artagnan," he spoke, knowing both Aramis and Porthos would fiercely deny and protest this if they could hear him. "I didn't give them a choice. The fault and the pain it caused you rests solely on my shoulders so please," he begged, pulling away just enough to look his youngest brother in the eye, "Forgive them."

D'Artagnan was torn, Athos could see that in the younger man's eyes as he relinquished his hold on the Gascon, taking a single step back to give the man space to process what he had said. He could see the longing in the boy's eyes, the longing to return to them but as much as he desperately wanted the boy to give in to it and to return to them he could just as easily see the pain and hurt they had caused him slowly start to overpower that desire as the walls he had built regarding them quickly came right back up.

"I need to see the Captain," snapped D'Artagnan after several long moments of silence before he turned on his heels and stormed off, leaving three despondent brothers behind.

"Are you sure about this D'Artagnan?" asked Treville tiredly as he stared at the young musketeer standing before him. Even as he asked it, he could see the younger man's mind was made up and there likely wouldn't be any changing it.

"Yes sir," nodded the Gascon as he ignored the small part of him that was screaming at him not to do this. "Alain mentioned it to me and said he would be willing to give up his place on the mission if you allowed me to go."

Treville sighed, "Athos and the other's won't be happy with this," he stated, not missing the slight flinch at the mention of the other inseparables, he let out a sigh, "You've had two months D'Artagnan," he spoke softly, sympathy filling him as he took in the emotionally hurt young man before him. "If you haven't come to a decision regarding them during that time what makes you think a few more weeks will help?"

"I spent most of that time trying not to claw off my own skin as even the slightest brush of anything on it caused me immense pain," stated the Gascon flatly, not missing the emotion that flashed across his Captain's face. "There wasn't a whole lot of time to think of much else… apart from being consumed with thoughts that they didn't trust me because I'm not worthy of it."

The shock caused Treville's eyebrows to shoot up as his eyes widened, "You must know that's not the case D'Artagnan," he stammered, his heart breaking a little when he saw, for the first time that meeting, the vulnerability in the younger man's face.

"I want to," admitted the Gascon, possibly for the first time since learning the truth. "It's why I want to go," he continued, shuffling awkwardly on his feet as he fought internally to get himself back under control. "I want to prove to both myself and them that I am a good musketeer, that I'm not what the voice in my head and this whole situation is trying to make me think and I can't do that on a mission with them."

Treville looked hesitant to agree but eventually, he sighed, knowing he couldn't in good conscience deny the request when the boy had presented not only a good argument but had also gotten approval from the man he would be replacing to switch with him.

"The retinue leaves in a few hours, I suggest you get your things together before meeting them at the palace."

D'Artagnan's expression lit up at his Captain's acceptance of his request and the younger man nodded quickly before moving to head to the door, pausing only when Treville called his name.

"I may be letting you go but you will be the one to tell Athos and the others."

This caused the Gascon's expression to morph into one of grim acceptance as he nodded once before continuing out of the office, ignoring the looks and calls from his brothers as he made his way through the garrison to gather his supplies, stopping only once he had reached the stables, thankful for Alain who had offered to make sure his horse was saddled and ready for him once he saw him leave the Captain's office.

"D'Artagnan!" his three brothers… or former brothers called in alarm, their concern for their youngest had only continued to grow as they watched him pack up supplies as he continued to ignore them.

With a reluctant sigh, the Gascon turned to face them as a stable hand brought out his saddled horse. "Treville gave me a mission," he said flatly, once again ignoring the part of him that wanted to run to them and accept the comfort they could give. Mounting up he paused for a moment before looking back at his brothers who looked mere seconds away from either grabbing their own mounts to follow him or moving to pull him off of his horse to prevent him from leaving.

"I'm leaving now," he stated before softening his expression a fraction when he noticed the expressions on the faces of the three me he loved like family, "I'll be back in a few weeks," and with that he urged his horse to move, ignoring the sound of his brother's calling out to him even as it hurt his heart to do so.