Aramis woke to find himself in a hospital bed. He didn't remember much from their previous mission. He knew that they were given false intel, that he, Porthos and Athos had been captured and tortured, but that was it. The rest was a blur. He couldn't even remember how they got out. He sat up too quickly and his head started to pound. Aramis slowly got out of the bed and looked for a change of clothes. He found a plain white tee-shirt and a pair of jeans. The marksman put them on assuming they were his. He didn't really know exactly where he was or where he would be going but left the room as quietly as possible. Aramis felt a little dizzy and his vision was a little fuzzy. This would not stop him though, he wanted to leave, and he would do so. He kept his head down as he passed nurses and doctors. He wandered around the floor till he found the elevator. Aramis pressed the button, waited, got in, and pressed a button, hoping it was the one for the lobby. The elevator ride was pretty quick but made his headache much worse. It stopped and he got out. The marksman walked around for a bit before realizing this definitely wasn't the lobby. Suddenly a doctor came up to him. Even with his poor vision, he saw that she was beautiful.
"I'm sorry, visitors are not supposed to be in this area."
"I'm terribly sorry, I've lost my glasses and couldn't tell which button was which." He said, trying to sound as normal as possible.
"Do you need help getting anywhere?" She asked.
"My friend is bringing me my glasses, he told me to meet him in the lobby. If you could please help me with the elevator buttons, that would be great."
The doctor led him to the elevator and pressed the right button. Aramis thanked her. Once he had reached the lobby, Aramis kept a steady passe to the main exit. His head hurt so much, he felt like throwing up. He took a step outside and the sun blinded him, Aramis shuffled to the nearest trash can and hurled. The marksman decided that he would walk with his hand shielding him from the sunlight. He was terribly confused about his whereabouts. He made a guess and walked. Aramis almost got hit twice trying to get out of the parking lot. He tried to think which direction he and Porthos was appartement. North, or was it south? He found himself on a sidewalk, he decided he would follow the man in front of him till he decided which way to go. The marksman followed him for a good twenty minutes till they passed a building he recognized. Aramis stopped and thought. Where am I? What is this building? Why is it so familiar? He decided to go in and find out.
Athos was sitting in his small house, nursing his sprained ankle when he got the call from Porthos.
"He's gone Athos, vanished! They can't find him! Aramis is out somewhere with a concussion and head trauma!" Said the voice on the other end of the line.
"Slow down, Porthos. What do you mean he's vanished?" He asked.
"He's not in his room! I asked them to check the tapes to see where he was and they told me he left the hospital! Athos he's out there alone and in a horrible mental state!"
Athos could hear the panic in his brother's voice.
"Porthos, calm down. Go to the hospital, D'Artagnan and I will meet you there. Will watch the tapes and see if we can figure out where he's going."
Porthos hung up without another word and Athos grabbed his keys, got in his car and called D'Artagnan on the way to his residence.
Porthos was pacing around the lobby when his two brothers arrived. Without a word, he led them to the surveillance room. They only had to watch the tape before knowing which way he had gone.
"Porthos, you and D'Artagnan try to retrace his steps, I'll warn the local law enforcement and see if I can get ahead of him."
The other two nodded and were off.
Aramis walked into the building and immediately regretted his decision. He had just walked into a shooting range. Even though nobody was shooting in the lobby, he could still hear the shots being taken in the other rooms. Each shot opened a wound in his mind. The pain was immense. Aramis covered his ear, and tried to leave, but alas he couldn't find the door. Suddenly his vision became much worse, his mind began playing tricks on him. Past merged with present, he was back in Savoy again. The bodies of his fellow soldiers around him, but something was different was this time. There were strangers walking among the dead. A man he had never seen before approached, he scanned him quickly. He had a pistol tucked into his pants. Aramis sprang, tackling the man. He took his firearm and ran. For some reason, there was a door in the middle of the woods. He walked through it and saw dozens of people walking through the massacre. Where they responsible for the death of his brothers? What were they doing? He shot the pistol into the sky to get their attention. They all began to shriek, this caused him unbearable pain. He tucked himself into a ball and sat in the snow to cope with the pain. Suddenly four men jumped on him simultaneously. One of them took the pistol and pointed it at him while the others pinned him down. The man lips moved, but nothing came out. Aramis, with years of training, easily broke free. Then he felt a sharp pain in his left groin. It was paralyzing. He fell to the grown and started to panic. What is happening? Why are these strangers here? Why am I in pain? He tried to get up, but the men had pinned him down and he had no strength to free himself this time.
Porthos and D'Artagnan watched the horrible scene unfold before them. Aramis walked out of the shooting range with a pistol in hand, looking animal-like. His eyes were not focusing and looked vicious yet confused. They ran, trying to reach him before any harm could come to anyone. Then suddenly he shot, thankfully it was a warning shot. Panic ensued, everyone was running and screaming and Aramis had curled up into a ball, covering his ears. They tried to get through the crowd, but Aramis had caused too much panic. Unfortunately, four policemen made it to him before them, they jump, one taking the weapon, the others pinning him down. The one with the gun warned Aramis to stay down or he would shot. He immediately freed himself from their clutches and as a consequence got a bullet to the left groin. Porthos and D'Artagnan yelled. Finally, they made their way through the crowd. Porthos pushed away the policemen and D'Artagnan got out his badge so the law enforcement would back off. Porthos put pressure on the wound and began talking softly to his younger brother while D'Artagnan called 911.
"'Mis, it's Porthos."
"Porthos? You weren't at Savoy when it happened, where you?"
"No, I wasn't 'Mis."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because this isn't Savoy. Now please stop moving and stay calm, can you do that for me?"
"Of course."
Aramis became quiet for a while and Porthos started to worry.
"'Mis, you still with me?"
"Yeah." His voice was very feeble.
"Porthos, where are we?"
"Just outside the shooting range."
"Oh, I thought we were in Savoy."
"I know 'Mis, but it's okay. Everything is going to be okay."
"Why do you sound worried?"
"I guess it's because I'm scared."
A few more minutes passed before the ambulance reached them. Porthos and D'Artagnan rode in the back with the unconscious Aramis. During the short ride, D'Artagnan called Athos and told him to meet them at the hospital. Porthos said nothing but looked like he was on the verge of tears.
Aramis awoke feeling groggy. He tried to move but stopped when he felt the sharp pain in his groin. He looked around the room. On a chair beside him slept D'Artagnan, on the other side of him Porthos was asleep with his head on the edge of the bed. Then his eyes met Athos's, who was standing, brooding in the door frame.
"What happened?" asked Aramis.
"I was hoping you could tell me."
"I don't understand."
Athos explained to him what happened. Aramis couldn't believe it, had his PTSD really gotten that bad. How could he have let it go that far? Silently he made a vow to himself and God, he would never let it get this far ever again, he would seek treatment and he would take care of himself. He never wanted to disappoint and scare his brothers like this ever again
