To Harm a Brother Chapter 2
**Hello again! Sorry this chapter took so long getting up, I had a little family emergency and did not have much time to write. Hope you all enjoy and I hope to get the next chapter up soon! Let me know what you think!**
"Sir…what exactly is goin' on?" Porthos asked to break the silence that seemed to go on forever once Treville declared that they would all dislike the mission. Aramis glanced worriedly between Treville and d'Artagnan, Athos kept his icy gaze transfixed on their captain not an inch of expression displayed, and d'Artagnan continued to fidget next to him.
Treville turned back to his desk and sat, sighed, and once he looked back up to his men he no longer had an air of worried emotion, but one of only business, they were after all soldiers and not all missions were simple ones.
"We received intelligence last night that a man named Dion is planning a plot to kill the King and Queen and overthrow the throne. We do not have any information on how or when this is supposed to happen, all we know is that this man has many followers and needs to be taken extremely seriously".
"Who is this Dion, do we have any information about him?" Aramis asked.
"We do, his full name is Dion Jandreau, we have been trying to apprehend him for many years now…but have never managed to get our hands on him let alone lay eyes on him," Treville took on a grim expression and continued. "He is wanted for a multitude of crimes including thievery, leading raids on villages, arson…but the most severe is taking young boys and forcing them into different situations."
"What kinds of situations?" D'Artagnan finally spoke up in a serious tone causing the older men in the room to glance at him, but he did not break eye contact with his captain.
"He has been known to sell them into slavery, some he forces to fight gladiator style in his sick games in which his guests place bets on the different boys and are sometimes awarded the winner…and others…others he has kept for himself that he admires or he sells them to the highest bidder that has an attraction to young boys."
All four men visibly became uncomfortable and paled slightly at the thought of what this man was putting countless young boys through, Porthos especially wore a deep frown and looked ready to hit something.
"How can this man get away with this, surely there have been numerous missing boys…someone would have reported this or investigated?" Aramis questioned, also looking particularly angered.
Treville sighed then and rubbed his temple with his hand, it was clear he has been struggling with this man for quite some time, "Dion is an extremely smart and cautious man. From what we have gathered his usual targets are boys who are already slaves in a household where he either kidnaps them or pays their masters to get them off their hands, but we also believe he takes those that are in poverty or street bound."
"So he's takin' kids that the world could care less if they die or go missin'." Porthos grumbled dangerously.
"If a noble's slave went missing most would think they either ran away or got murdered which is not uncommon, and those he buys off nobles…well that's easy money, many do not care enough for their servants to worry whom they are selling to if the price is right." Athos concluded a bit too calmly.
"And streets kids are worth less than nothin' to the higher class, if anythin' they are happy for this Dion to take them off the streets", growled Porthos while he clenched and unclenched his fists turning the knuckles white.
Aramis turned compassionate eyes to Porthos and put a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder to help calm him, "Not all think the poor to be a nuisance Porthos, many see the potential in them and who they could become. We will catch and stop this man so that he doesn't take away a potential bright future" Aramis was obviously referring to Porthos himself, once a street kid himself he grew to become one of the best musketeers in the regimen today, Aramis and the others knew this situation was hitting close to home for Porthos. Porthos gave Aramis a small grateful smile and visibly relaxed.
Now that Porthos was no longer a danger to demolishing their captain's office Athos picked the conversation back up, his usual stoic self still not showing an ounce of emotion. "Why would this man want to kill the king and queen? What would he gain from this?"
"Dion's actions and crimes have grown more severe as the years have gone on, it is not surprising he is planning a plot at all. I cannot say what he would gain from removing the king and queen from power, but many of his followers are corrupt nobles and crime lords themselves. All of which could easily be coerced into this plan and who think they could gain from it". Treville replied.
"Do we have the informant? Surly, he would know more information or know of someone that could give us better insight?" Aramis asked calmly.
Treville sighed once again and ran his hand over his mouth before he spoke, "This information was given to me by the cardinal himself. He reported one of his informants wrote him and he received the letter only a day ago by a gentleman who had been hired to deliver the letter. I asked the cardinal if we could bring in the informant to question him…but apparently according to the cardinal the informant died as he was giving the letter to the messenger."
"Yes…because the cardinal is always so honest." Aramis droned out.
"Although the cardinal is not to be trusted, he is loyal to the crown and France. I cannot see him lying about a plot to kill the king." Treville retorted back.
The room became silent then as all men were contemplating what action to take. "So we obviously need to find Dion and his group, arrest them, and bring them in for questioning. It is nothing we haven't done before," D'Artagnan finally spoke up, looking much more comfortable than before.
"And how would be go about catching this man D'Artagnan? We have just been informed that our regimen has been trying to apprehend them for years," Athos bent forward enough to fix his gaze on his protégé. He was proud that the boy was willing to take on such a mission, but also annoyed that he seemed to not be listening to a thing their captain has told them.
D'Artagnan locked eyes with his mentor, his stubborn fiery nature rising up once again, "Yes, the regimen may have been trying for years, but we have never been assigned and there wasn't this kind of urgency before."
Athos glare darkened, "You cannot be so confident in ourselves alone, if the regiment has had trouble there is little more that we would be able to do. Use your head D'Artagnan and think before you speak, being arrogant in your or our skills will only get us all killed in situations like this".
D'Artagnan looked away then and stared at an apparently very interesting floor board, his thoughts immediately going back to the Vadim incident in which he thought he could handle that situation so well and it turned out he was being doped from the start and could have cost the king and queen very much. Every time his friends tried to make him feel better about the incident, something like this moment would bring back his doubts all over again. Why did Athos always have to lay out all his faults for all to see?
Athos had resumed his previous posture before he reprimanded D'Artagnan, on the outside he looked as if nothing just happened, but on the inside he was warring with himself. He knew D'Artagnan was just trying to turn a dark situation into something lighter and was ready to start the mission, but being overly confident could get him killed. He was constantly leading with his heart and never using his head. He knew what he said would have brought up the memories of Vadim for D'Artagnan, and that seed of doubt would start growing within him once more. Although, he knew that D'Artagnan did not fail that mission at all and in fact he was very proud of how he handled the situation…he did hope the boy would learn from it and realize that part of the reason he landed in that position was because of his over confident nature.
Aramis and Porthos glanced at their leader and their youngest, feeling the tension in the air, but Treville quickly drew everyone's attention to him once more. "It is true that we have been trying for years to apprehend Dion Jandreau, every time we get close or discover a base they have already fled. Like I said, he has many followers and it is impossible to tell who is with him and who isn't, therefore he has informants that notify him once we are close." D'Artagnan hung his head after this statement and Porthos and Aramis both groaned knowing this was going to be a difficult mission to tackle. "But D'Artagnan was right about one thing. We never had the urgency to find him before like we do now, we have only ever sent out the bare minimum of musketeers to find Dion as we have always had much more pressing matters to deal with."
"Captain, you said you had a plan already in mind to flush Dion out right?" Aramis asked and Treville hesitantly answered by nodding which put the men on edge once more.
"I do, and like I said none of you…myself included, are going to like it. It was the only plan I could think of that would most likely get us near enough to Dion to arrest him."
"If you have this plan, why have you never used it before?" D'Artagnan asked still not even glancing at his mentor.
Treville locked eyes again with D'Artagnan, seeming to have a battle inside. Soon though it seemed one side won that battle and Treville stood up and placed himself in front of the young Gascon placing one hand on his shoulder. "Because we never had you before D'Artagnan".
D'Artagnan continued to remain eye contact with his captain a pure look of confusion sweeping over his features. His three elder brothers were all staring at the two of them, D'Artagnan's look of confusion mirrored on their faces…all except one. Typically, Athos the strategist, was the first to figure out a situation like this…but today Porthos was fast to understand why their captain was so hesitant in revealing his plan and why he was so focused on their youngest. In a flash Porthos quickly found himself between D'Artagnan and Treville one hand keeping the boy behind him. An almost feral growl came from the giant man, one that all in the room have never once heard against one of their own. "No." He rumbled out while glaring daggers at Treville.
Athos and Aramis were the first to break out of their surprise from Porthos's actions and both moved to Porthos ready to stop him from doing anything he would regret. Treville seemed unfazed by this and almost looked as if he expected this turn of events. D'Artagnan was still protectively placed behind Porthos and looked even more confused than before.
"Porthos be calm my friend," Aramis for the second time this morning tried to calm his friend by placing a hand on his arm. "This is Treville, let him explain what his plan is. I'm sure whatever you are thinking is not correct." Porthos didn't break eye contact with Treville and appeared to not even hear his oldest friend.
"No Aramis, I think Porthos understands exactly what my plan is…save a few details." Treville moved from Porthos and sat back at his desk, not at all fazed by his best brawler's aggressive behavior.
Porthos remained where he was, one hand still grasping onto D'Artagnan upper arm firmly keeping him in place. Aramis looked worriedly between Porthos and Treville, and Athos turned back to his captain trying to keep his emotions in check as a terrible feeling started growing inside him. "Please explain Captain." Athos stated in his no-nonsense voice.
"I told you all that Dion takes a fancy in young boys and that his business with them is his main one at this time," Treville started to explain as D'Artagnan pushed Porthos slightly off him so he could see what was going on. "I have been trying to find a way to get close to Dion…but all our methods in the past have failed. The most obvious is to send someone in undercover, someone we can trust, and someone Dion will definitely not turn away. We cannot take an innocent civilian and put him in this situation for multiple reasons…and we do not have any young men in the regimen that can pass for a boy still." As Treville continued to speak the terrible feeling Athos had continued to grow as he began to understand what Treville had in mind and could now see why Porthos acted as he did. Porthos continued to hold D'Artagnan and glare menacingly at Treville, Aramis looked at their captain with an almost unbelieving look, and D'Artagnan was slowly starting to understand why he was needed so.
"D'Artagnan is our youngest recruit by far, and although he has proven himself many times to be a man worth the honor of being called a musketeer…he is still young enough and has the features to pass for a boy in his late adolescence. He is exactly what Dion would take a fancy in, more so since he is healthy and strong".
Treville paused and looked at all his men who wore different expressions of anger, concern, fear, and confusion. D'Artagnan completely freed himself from his largest brother and stepped forward. "Captain, are you asking me to go under cover as one of Dion's boys in order to get the information we need to find him and arrest him? Is that the plan?"
"Yes, D'Artagnan that is my plan exactly." Treville stated. Porthos gave a low growl, Aramis shifted looking very conflicted, and Athos now looked ready to explode.
D'Artagnan paused and looked down seeming to think hard about this situation, within seconds he looked back at his captain determined. "Alright, so how do we get me inside."
"What?! Absolutely not! Do you know what undercover in this situation means D'Artagnan? Did you not hear anything that the Captain told you this man does to these boys?" Athos now rounded on D'Artagnan a desperate rage emitting from him. He knew exactly what kind of horrors D'Artagnan could be exposed to, and after the Vadim incident where he and his brothers came so close to losing their new brother, he could not fathom placing him in this situation again.
D'Artagnan looked to Athos and his other two brothers, he saw the worry and concern in their features, and knew if the situation were reversed he would feel exactly the same they were. He plastered a calm and confident mask over his features and calmly stated, "I do understand and I heard clearly what Treville said…but the musketeers go undercover all the time and it's not always safe. I don't want to do this, but if this is our only option and the king and queen's lives are at risk then we don't have a choice."
"We have only just heard this situation; we can think of another plan." Athos stated trying to make his voice sound like an order not an idea.
"Athos, the captain has been dealing with this for years and has not been able to come up with a plan that has worked. I know you are a great strategist, but I don't think that if he hasn't found a solution besides this one then we wont either." Stated D'Artagnan who was slowly becoming irritated with his mentor once again but trying to keep his cool all the while cursing his quick Gascon temper.
Athos was about to retort when Treville cleared his throat to get the attention of his now wayward men, "Gentlemen, I understand your concerns. I would not have suggested this plan if I had not thought through all the other options. I do not like this anymore than you do, but we are the king's soldiers and have to act as such even when we do not like what we hear. D'Artagnan, you are not yet a soldier under my command you are still a recruit, I cannot force you to do anything. Just like every mission you have participated in so far the choice is yours if you want to do this or not."
D'Artagnan looked at his friends once more and knew none of them would like his answer, but he also knew if the roles were reversed they would go undercover for their king and queen in a heartbeat. "I accept Captain. I am more than willing to help in protecting their majesties."
Athos stared at some point behind Treville, he knew what D'Artagnan's answer would be well before the question was even asked. Their youngest was extremely loyal and would do anything asked of him if it meant protecting someone in need. Athos was proud of him…but also terrified of losing his new brother. Porthos rage had calmed significantly since Athos and D'Artagnan's argument and now was looking down defeated, and Aramis continued wear an expression of worry.
"Very good D'Artagnan, now take a seat so we can discuss how we are going to put this in motion. We have much to do and very little time." Treville waved at them to pull up a seat from around the room.
D'Artagnan grabbed the nearest to him and sat not looking at his brothers, "Than let's get started."