A/N: As promised, the early morning update. :)
Captain Treville looked up from his desk as the three of his best men burst into his room. Even though he had been fully expecting it, the ferocity of emotion on their faces startled him, a little. Never had he seen Athos so guilt stricken, Aramis so ashamed and Porthos so adamant.
"Gentlemen, I believe there is a habit we practice. It's called knocking." He stood up, folding his arms, the picture of calm and composed.
Aramis strode forward. "Sire, d'Artagnan is to be whipped!"
"Aye, that oaf Gerard intends to set an example of him. You have to stop him." Porthos, the man who never spoke when Aramis and Athos were present to do the talking, spoke up.
Athos remained quiet and it was at him that Treville looked, eyebrows raised. Athos took a deep breath and closed his eyes for an instance before looking at him. "You knew of this."
Captain Treville nodded as Aramis and Porthos looked at first Athos and then at him, aghast. "What do you mean?" Aramis asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Gerard is perfectly within his rights to punish behavior such as d'Artagnan's and he did formally complain to me first earlier today." He looked at each of them before continuing. "There is nothing I can do about it, the matter is out of my hands."
"But sire!" Aramis exclaimed. "D'Artagnan is not to blame for all that he has been accused of. He did spend the night in the tavern but that was because he was accompanying Athos. And he was late because he had gone to the apothecary to get the salve Porthos needed. And I don't know why he didn't deny it when Gerard accused him of being drunk, because I talked to him earlier and he was most certainly sober."
"His injury." Athos said quietly. Aramis turned towards him, confused. "He got injured in the leg remember? It must have been acting up and causing him to limp."
Porthos grunted in disgust. "Gerard is twisting the facts and presenting him so that d'Artagnan looks like a drunken fool. He did not even give the lad a chance to explain."
"Enough!" The sharply spoken word was enough to silence all three men, and Treville glared at each of them in turn. "Tell me if he not to blame for his actions, then who is?"
The three musketeers looked at the ground, shamefaced. "We are." Athos admitted quietly.
"Precisely." Captain Treville said. "Do you realize the error of your ways? You have been using d'Artagnan with no thought of his other duties. Athos, do you remember how many nights you spent drinking at the tavern when you were only a guard?"
"None."
"And yet is falls up to young d'Artagnan to pull you out of the pub every night." He turned to Aramis. "And I can only imagine why you didn't have enough time to go to the apothecary yourself, and got the lad to go in your stead."
Aramis blushed and did not meet his eyes. "You gentlemen forget that he does not have a noble house backing him up, nor is he responsible for any of you. His loyalty to his friends stop him from denying you anything but you do not think before exploiting your friendship with him."
There was complete silence in the office following the captain's admonishments. Finally, after a long time Athos and Aramis shared a look and both of them nodded. It was Athos who spoke. "Sire, we accept that Aramis and I are to blame for d'Artagnan's actions. Please order us be punished instead of him."
Treville had expected swearing and angry threats and harsh words. He had even prepared himself for things to be thrown around. But the look of utter remorse on Athos's and Aramis's faces shocked him into silence. He considered their request, but then shook his head. "I am afraid I cannot allow that."
He raised up a hand to silence the protest that was sure to follow. "I am glad that you understand the consequences of your behavior towards d'Artagnan but I cannot overrule Gerard's judgment. It would undermine his position and make him appear weak in the eyes of his men. Furthermore it would give the other soldiers the idea that d'Artagnan is shown preference over them and that would not be fair for the young man in question."
"Yes but so what?" Porthos came forward. "If he is shown preference it is because he is twice the man any of those noble twits are!"
"There is nothing you can do?" Aramis was almost begging now, and Treville looked away. He did not like this any more than the three men standing in front of him. D'Artagnan was a fine man who did not deserve this at all.
"No, I am sorry but your only hope is that d'Artagnan has it in his heart to forgive you three."
"How many lashes?" Athos asked quietly.
"Thirty." There was a collective intake of breathe at the answer before Athos nodded and gestured to the other two.
"Come on, we have to go talk to him," he said and nodding at the captain turned and walked out of the office followed by the other two.
One look at their faces had been enough to tell d'Artagnan that they had failed in their talk with the captain. His shoulders sagged and he leaned against the wall in the armory, the reality of his situation hitting him with full force.
"We are very very sorry." Athos said quietly, not meeting his eyes.
The anguish and regret in his voice told d'Artagnan everything he needed to know about what had transpired in the captain's office. He swallowed once, twice and took a deep breathe. His friends were not at fault. He would bear his punishment with whatever remaining dignity it afforded him.
"You are not to blame. It's okay," he said, thanking the heavens that he sounded braver than he felt.
Aramis looked at him startled. "But we are! If not for us you wouldn't be in this predicament right now."
"We tried to get the captain to punish us instead of you, but he said that that would undermine Gerard's position and make it look like he was favoring you." Athos told him.
D'Artagnan nodded, touched that Athos would consider that, though he himself would never have allowed his friends to get punished in his stead. They had far more to lose than him.
He had also expected that there would be a political aspect to the whole thing. He placed a hand on Athos's shoulder and squeezed. "Hey, it's alright. I understand. You did all you could." He managed a small smile. "I'll just look at it as a new experience. What do you keep saying about character building, Aramis?"
Aramis chuckled ruefully and shook his head. "You might not feel so charitable towards us after…" he trailed off.
"Nonsense." D'Artagnan proclaimed. "Now tell me you have some mission to take care of until noon. I don't want to sit around and play at swords with that to look forward to." He shuddered, only half in exaggeration. "And for god's sake stop looking so mournful all of you. I'm going to be whipped, not shot!"
Oh the next chapter is sooo heart breaking. I am sorry in advance.
I'm starting to feel neglected here guys, you don't write, you don't review, don't you love me anymore? :P