Night drew in far too quickly- Athos, who had slept for no more than an hour and had spent the remainder of the time they were supposed to be resting going through plans and actions in his head with his eyes fixed firmly on the door, wondered idly if their Captain, or any of their fellow Musketeers, had noticed they had not come back from their mission.

It surely couldn't have escaped them that they had not returned? Athos looked down at his shirt and sighed when he realised the contract was no longer stowed in his breast pocket.

He supposed that now, on top of everything else that had happened to them, that they would now be blamed for the loss of the contract; a punishment would surely be in order...that is if they survived the night's ordeal. He pushed the troubling thought from his mind with a shake of his head, as if physically trying to rid his head of the fear that had been accumulating there.

The barn was now in total darkness save for a small strip of moonlight that was shining through the barred window.

How long before the man in the red coat would come for them? Minutes? Hours? Athos did not know; all he knew was that they all had to be ready. He slowly straightened out his legs, circling his feet to stop the pins and needles that were ravaging his unused nerves.

He had to make sure the others were prepared- it was ludicrous just thinking about what was about to happen, but they could not afford to not take it seriously. These people were preparing to hunt them down and presumably kill them afterwards; they had to be just as ruthtless now if they even hoped to survive.

He looked up as he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye; Aramis stirred and sat up, rubbing bleary eyes. Athos could see even in this dank light that his friend was pale- there was no witty remark as he saw Athos was awake too; merely a small smile and a slight incline of his head before he sat back against the wall and rested his head against the cool surface.

'Should we wake Porthos and D'artagnan?' he muttered.

Athos nodded, 'we need to make sure we're all ready...' he said with a sigh.

Aramis looked across at him, and Athos was reminded vividly of the young man he had first met many years ago, just after Savoy...his eyes had been filled with fear then, trying to find danger in every corner. 'Do you think Treville is looking for us?' the medic asked, trying to keep his voice even.

'I am sure of it,' Athos reassured him with what he hoped was a calming smile. Aramis nodded slowly, as if satisfied with this answer. He turned to D'artagnan and shot him a low whistle- two short, sharp blasts. It was their code if anything happened in the night on a mission and they needed to prepare to fight.

The Gascon woke at once, eyes wide as they shot to the door- he relaxed a little as he saw no one but themselves were in the room. 'Morning...' he muttered, wiping a hand down his face.

'Not morning,' Aramis corrected him. 'About midnight, I'd wager,'

'Oh.'

'We just wanted to make sure we're all ready for whatever is about to come,'

'Yeah, good idea...' the younger man nodded, before he looked across at Porthos. 'Shall I wake him up?'

'Please,' Athos nodded- they all looked up as they heard heavy footfalls on the gravel path outside. Porthos woke just as the doors slammed open. The man in the red coat was stood in the doorway, his face illuminated by a lantern he held up high- Aramis peered through the gloom and could see many shadowy figures behind him; his flesh crawled at the sight and he sat up straighter as the man walked in further, leading what must have been twenty men into the barn.

'Gents- meet tonight's quarry!' he called above the noise as the men all started muttering as they stopped in a semi-circle around the men on the floor. 'Soldiers- musketeers, no less. Impressive physiques, and unparalleled cunning and logic, I'd wager too!' he chuckled as there was a sudden expression of interest.

'So- shall we bet per man, or as a group?'

'There's four of 'em!' one man shouted- Athos saw he had a gun half cocked on his shoulder, and possessed what he guessed was around four teeth. 'How about we split 'em in 'alf?'

'Two against two?' the man in the red coat thought this over. 'That could be interesting... we only have tonight, so both sets must go at the same time.'

Aramis closed his eyes briefly as a sick feeling enveloped him; these men were seriously talking about this?

'We can't make it too easy for them!' another man yelled, his voice gruff. 'You said they were soldiers! That makes 'em harder to catch!'

'Afraid of a challenge, are we Pierre?' A man standing near him growled, before turning to the front.

'Lets get on it with!'

'Money, gentleman- is to be left in the bucket by the door on your way out,' the man in the red coat ordered, before he turned to the Musketeers on the floor. 'Now, we usually do allow head starts- we don't want to spoil our fun by catching you right away!' there was a cacophony of sniggers from the crowd behind him.

'Since we're doing this the proper way this time- Freddy!' he called. A huge, lumbering man with evil in his eyes walked to the front. D'artagnan looked up, wide eyed, as this man looked at each of them in turn, before finally walking over to Aramis.

The medic internally tensed as the man grabbed hold of the chain that attached him to the wall and wrenched it entirely from the stone wall. He then grasped Aramis by the shoulder and forced him into a standing position. 'This one,' he growled, voice deep and laced with what Athos could only describe as a violent tone.

'Very well.' The man in the red coat nodded. He produced a small revolver from his pocket and walked over to Aramis- each man tensed as he placed the gun to Aramis' temple.

'Put the gun down...' Athos muttered, heart in his mouth.

'Gentleman- go and take your positions. You start when you hear my gun.' Athos watched, wide eyed, as each man duly trooped out- they heard the ominous noises of gun's being cocked, the jingle of ammunition and the sharp sound of blades being unsheathed. Only one man stayed- Freddy, the man who had picked out Aramis. He was stood behind the other man, arms crossed against his massive chest.

'Now...how should we make this more...interesting?' the man in the read coat mused, whistling tunelessly as he looked at each man in turn.

'Well, for starters- Freddy...get the handcuffs.'

Aramis tensed as he heard Freddy trudge over to a room to the side of the barn- now was his chance. He caught Athos' eye, tried to convey what he was about to do- even with a gun to his temple, he knew he had to do something, anything, to stop this madness from happening.'

He waited two or three beats, before twisting suddenly and grasping the gun with both hands, wrenching it away from his face to the barn floor. The other man was caught entirely by surprise and was almost knocked to the floor with the momentum; seconds later, however, he had regained it. He was smaller than Aramis, and quicker than the medic had anticipated; they grappled with each other for the gun, trying to overbalance themselves in the process.

Aramis threw himself forwards and headbutted the man, sending him backwards a few paces as blood spurted from his nose; he quickly followed this up with a foot to the stomach, his hands still tightly grasped the weapon between them.

Each of the men on the floor struggled fruitlessly against their chains- they simply could not wrench them from the wall the way Freddy had done.

D'artagnan suddenly noticed a shadow behind the two fighting men- 'Aramis, look out!' he yelled out in warning as Freddy lumbered towards them.

Seconds later Aramis felt a sickening pain in his shoulder as the man slapped a muscular hand on it, almost crushing his collar bone in the process; he felt the breath leave him as he was then grabbed tight around the middle and hauled off his feet. He struggled for breath as Freddy slowly began to squeeze...

'No! Leave him!' The man in the red coat yelled from the floor-he staunched the bloodflow from his nose with a handkerchief and staggered to his feet. Freddy dropped the musketeer to the floor, where he fell to his knees, coughing and retching.

'Well, we've got a figher!' the man manically laughed as he placed a booted foot on Aramis' side and kicked- the medic fell to the floor with a groan as fought to breathe normally. 'I like the spirit!' he added, before his voice grew serious. 'I know exactly what to do with you...' he muttered, before he motioned to Freddy to go over to the other musketeers.

'I want the biggun and the younger one together...' he instructed. 'Let the other one go with the fighter.'

Porthos looked up, his eyes narrowed in anger as Freddy walked towards him. 'Oh, and don't forget-' the other man muttered, producing his revolver again and pressing it against Aramis' chin. '-I've still got this!

Porthos had never felt so hopless- he could easily take this man down as soon as his chains were released, but knew it would cost Aramis his life if he did so. He had no choice but to comply as his chains were removed and a handcuff was locked on his left wrist.

Seconds later and d'artagnan was placed in the next shackle, tying them both together. 'Stand up,' Freddy growled- they staggered uncomfortably to their feet.

'Excellent...' The man in the red coat beamed. 'Now, will you do the honours, Freddy?'

'With pleasure,' Freddy grinned sadistically. Suddenly, he grasped d'artagnan's left hand- he wrenched the little finger backwards with such force the crack of the bone breaking was loud enough to echo. The Gascon's eyes widened and he made a guttural choking noise as Freddy dropped his hand. 'D'artagnan!' Aramis cried out, before the gun was lodged against his temple- 'one more word and I pull it, understand?' the man holding it growled.

Tears sprung in the medic's eyes as D'artagnan almost buckled to the floor- he clutched at his hand with the one attached to the handcuff, his face bereft of all colour now; seconds later he sucked in a deep breath and stood up straighter than before, a determined look in his eyes as he stared out Freddy, his eyes dark. Pride almost overwhelmed him then; the Gascon was a Musketeer through and through, he thought.

'They're ready.' Freddy muttered, chuckling. 'Now this one?' he pointed to Athos, who was now shaking with anger as he looked across to their youngest member.

The other man nodded, and soon Athos too was wrenched to his feet, and a handcuff encircled his wrist; Freddy turned to the other man, as if asking what to do next.

'Send those two out first,' the man in the red coat instructed. 'Give them two rounds of hunting.'

'Will do.' Freddy nodded, pushing Porthos in the back to get them both to move. Both men looked from Athos to Aramis- Athos nodded, whilst Aramis could only offer a small smile before his eyes, full of fear, betrayed them. He prayed this wouldn't be the last time they looked at each other.

Porthos took one deep breath and allowed himself to be moved onwards. The door slammed behind them-there was a few moments of silence before there was a loud sound of a gunshot; Athos almost retched as heard whoops and yells suddenly permeate the air, and the sound of men moving thundered in their ears.

'Now, you two... lets get you ready, shall we?' the man in the red coat muttered with a sardonic smile.

Athos licked dry lips and tried to quell his shaking legs as he stepped forwards. 'I implore you to reconsider,' he started, trying to remain as calm and as measured as possible as the man stepped back with a chuckle, as if he had been expecting this.

'We are musketeers, as you know- the full regiment will be looking for us, I guarantee it,' Athos continued, still very aware of the revolver lodged under Aramis' chin; their eyes met for a split second as Athos turned to look at the other man. 'If you let us go- if you call off those other people from our friends outside- we will say nothing and just leave.'

'Really?' the man in the red coat muttered, a grin on his face. 'Wow. Usually, when we get to this point, the real nitty gritty...people normally just spend their time crying, pleading, that sort of thing...' he sighed widely and shook his head with a laugh.

'You city people- you understand nothing of tradition. Of culture.'

'This is not culture, this is barbaric!' Aramis hissed from beside him. 'You are nothing but a group of murderous criminals!'

'It has been this way for decades here,' the man chuckled, running a hand through his dirty hair as he sucked in a deep breath. 'The duty passed from my grandfather, to my father and now to me.'

'You can be the one to break that chain!' Athos muttered, hoping they still had a chance. 'To stop this madness!'

'Why?'

'B-because it's wrong!'Athos cried, shaking his head. 'Hunting humans for sport?! It's lunacy!'

'Maybe to you city folk-'

'To all folk, I can assure you!' Aramis growled.

The man laughed darkly and shook his head, before turning slightly as Freddy stepped back inside the barn. 'But you're forgetting one important thing...'

'What's that?' Athos asked, voice dark now.

'We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't like it.'

Athos said nothing; he swallowed hard and looked away. There was no more reasoning to be done now, he could see that plainly.

'Right, Freddy- lets get them ready...' the man in the red coat said, his voice now light and excitable; the tone almost made Aramis retch as he was roughly pushed next to Athos.

'Now, which one shall it be...the fighter, or the talker?'

Freddy siged as he mulled over this seemingly very important choice. 'The talker,' he finally said with a decisive nod of his head.

'No!'Aramis cried immediately as the man in the red coat stepped forwards. 'Whatever you plan to do, do it to me, not him!' he added, stepping bodily in front of Athos.

'How heroic!' the man chuckled. 'But I think not...' he nodded to Freddy as he aimed the gun at Aramis' chest. 'Move back.'

'Please! Please don't do this!'

'Here comes the pleading...' The man chuckled, yet the gun never wavered for a second. 'You have two seconds to move or this ends before it has even begun.'

Aramis shook his head, hardly beleiving his ears, yet he silently, slowly, moved a little way backwards, 'If you hurt him I swear to God I will kill you...' he whispered, voice dripping with hatred.

'We're not going to hurt him...just- make things harder for you both. As you keep saying...you are musketeers after all, right?' the man said, before Freddy stepped forwards. Before either Aramis or Athos could move or even speak, the burly man had lunged for Athos, bringing his arm swiftly up into his stomach. Aramis lurched forwards as Athos' eyes bulged and his hands shot to his abdomen.

'STAY BACK!' the other man yelled, pressing the gun to Aramis' now shaking head as Freddy stepped back with a smile.

Each man looked down at what had happened; a small knife was buried to the hilt in Athos' lower abdomen.

'Very neat!' The man in the red coat congratulated Freddy, who inclined his head with a grin. 'That'll slow him down!

'Won't bleed out for hours, but it's as painful as a gunshot wound...' he muttered, admiring his own handiwork as Athos gripped the blade handle with white fingers. 'I'veleft the blade in. Makes it hurt more, but he won't start bleeding for another few minutes.' he added.

The Musketeers looked at each other- Aramis, eyes wide and mouth gaped open in horror, could not move to help his friend as he still had the gun pressed to his head; he looked across at their captors, eyes filled with hatred.

'Mark my words- we will survive this, and when we do I will come back here and I will kill you both!' he promised, his teeth chattering as adrenaline and anger filled his heart.

'If you survive this,' the man corrected, before clapping his hands. 'Handcuff them together, Freddy, and we can finally begin. Hopefully you're friends are not already dead!' he laughed.

Freddy stepped forwards and pulled Athos' hand away from the knife before tethering him to Aramis. Now Aramis could be of use; Athos immediately leaned a little closer, trying to breath normally.

'Lets go, shall we?' Freddy muttered, roughly pushing them both forwards and out of the door. The forest outside was deathly quiet and bitterly cold-a low hanging fog was filtering slowly through the midnight gloom like a spectre , the air tinged orange from the numerous lanterns hung on branches and walls as the four men stood outside. The only noise was the occasional hooting of an owl in the forest beyond the gravel path and the houses to their side.

'You have two minutes and then I send them after you.' Freddy instructed.

Aramis turned as the two men laughed again. 'You will regret this night.' he said simply, venomously, his eyes alight with fury.

The revolver was once again placed against his forehead. 'You're lucky you're not already dead.' the man in the red coat replied. 'I'd get going if I were you...you're time will soon run out.'

'Lets go, Mis,' Athos muttered, trying to forget the pain flourishing in his stomach. It had to be sorted out, but not yet.

Aramis growled out in frustration and near-hysteria as he nodded and the two of them began running...they headed into the forest, as deep as they could so as to lose their pursuers. They looked left and right as they tore past bushes and trees; Athos tripped on a root and almost fell. He cried out in pain as his stomach jarred.

'We just need to get away from here, then I can help you, I promise...' Aramis whispered, hating himself every second that he couldn't help.

They took a couple of corners and ran through the undergrowth, anything to hide them- where were D'artagnan and Porthos? Had they been captured? If so, what was happening to them? Tears pricked Aramis' eyes once more as he pushed the thought from his mind as they ran.

Seconds later there was a loud, jarring gunshot in the distance behind them. The two men looked at each other, real fear in their eyes as they renewed their running, Athos already putting most of his weight on Aramis as the blade dug into his skin.

Their head start was up- they were coming.

I hope you liked this extra long chapter! Now the set up is all done, the real story begins- don't worry, there is lots more that I plan to do with this ^^

Please review, I'd love to know what you think!

Thanks for reading!