Evening My Lovelies :)

You may hate me today as I gave you a glimpse of D'Art yesterday and now I'm going to make you wait to see him again :D But on the other hand we're getting to see a couple of people we haven't seen yet so that might make up for it slightly :)

Notes On Reviews:

Deana: Thanks for the review - Hmm I hope that was a good wow and not a "wow that was rubbish" kind of wow :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

Tidia: Thanks for the review - I want to say that Louis being unreasonable was because of his grief but I think we all know he's just a bit of a jerk naturally. Treville may be regretting following the King's orders when he finds out what happened :) I loved writing the D'Art bit and it's going to come back into the story at some point as well. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - I was originally going to have Mathis just be like a grandfathery figure but I quite like the idea of him being the one to teach him the sword... plus it's inspired a conversation between Athos and D'Art that's going to be happening at some point later on in the story, should be an emotional one if I can write it properly :) Haha very true, definitely wouldn't be D'Art if he wasn't hurt. Enjoy the new chapter! x

watlocked: Thanks for the review - :D Oh I've missed reviews that start all in caps lock :D We unfortunately wont be seeing D'Art again until chapter 9 I'm afraid, although he will be mentioned and things will be learned before that point so it should hopefully keep you going until we can see him again. Enjoy the new chapter! x

GoGirl212: Thanks for the review - Haha dork works :) I loved writing Jacques. I was going to have him try to persuade them to let him come too but then I decided that he would know they wouldn't agree to it and it would only waste precious time, which he wouldn't want happening so I settled on him doing what he did instead. Oh D'Art's gotten himself in more trouble then even he's aware of at the moment :D It's only going to get worse for our boy unfortunately but his brothers will be there soon to help him. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Issai: Thanks for the review - Adrenaline and grief definitely made it hard for him to realize he was injured... all I will say is that he's injured badly :D I'm going to keep you in the dark about Corinne as well I'm afraid but we will be seeing her before we see D'Art so you wont be waiting too much longer. It was tempting to have Louis order them to stay in Paris... I kinda wanted Athos to go off on one but I figured he wouldn't do that to the King and Louis is too wrapped up in his grief to worry about his musketeers after the mandatory mourning period ends. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - Unfortunately for our boys the trip to D'Art's side isn't going to be a simple one, hence why we wont be seeing our lovely (injured) pup until chapter 9. The delays and trouble they have during their trip to find him is only going to make their worries grow and the mood even more tense and anxious. Louis was being a jerk as usual but it's kinda fun having a character that I can write just like that aside from my baddies. Enjoy the new chapter! x

criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - Unfortunately you'll have to wait a tiny bit longer to see what's waiting for them in Gascony and all I can say is that it's nothing good :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysdeeks: Thanks for the review - Haha that's one thing to call him! :D I'm pretty sure our boys are with you on the whole throttling thing. The death of Mathis is something that's going to haunt our poor pup for a while during this story, especially the fact he died in his arms. I'm really enjoying writing the Corinne/D'Art relationship (not romantic) at the moment... D'Art's in pretty bad shape which is hindering a lot of what I want to write for the two of them at the moment but I have some things planned, which, if I can write them well should be a really good emotional read :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

MicheeO: Thanks for the reviews - You'll get to see D'Art again at chapter 9 and what I have planned will hopefully be worth the wait I promise! Enjoy the new chapter! x

WelshEssex (Guest): Thanks for the review - Poor Jacques knew there was no way of persuading the inseparables to let him come and help too so getting their horses ready was all he could do to help. Our boys have quite the journey a head of them to reach the pup but they'll get there eventually :) Oh I'm loving the comfort moment's I've already written (I have several later chapters already written) and I have some adorable ones in the works as well so there'll be plenty of cute brotherly moments to make up for the horrid whumpage I have planned :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - I'm think Louis and D'Art might need to have a conversation when all this is over... maybe the King will even realize he should have let his men leave earlier... maybe... I think by this point D'Art had seen the King's mood change so dramatically and flippantly that he's learned not to rely on being in Louis's good graces. Jacques is such a sweet character and he's going to be devastated for his friend when he learns what's happened but his and Serge's help gave our boys a bit of extra time and every little helps :) Bwhaha! that's definitely my mentality whenever I create a new character that's linked to one of our boys lol XD The death of Mathis is going to haunt D'Art for a while in this story but it will also lead to a cute bonding moment between D'Art and Athos later on which should be good :D I'm afraid I'm being an evil evil author again as you wont be seeing just how badly our pup is hurt until chapter 9 so you have a few day's to wait. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Cookies, Cream Cakes and Other Yummy Goodies for you awesome people who follow/favourite/review/read

Love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Six: Old Friends

The sun was high in the sky when three equally exhausted and worried musketeers pulled their horses to a stop. None of the men truly wished to stop and would willingly have raced a head, despite the pain it would have left them in, but they could not put their horses at risk. To push them too far could cost their mounts their lives and delay their reaching D'Artagnan by days.

So with heavy hearts the men allowed their horses to take a break by a small stream while they themselves stretched their own aching muscles and filled their empty bellies, each trying to ignore the thoughts darkening their minds.

"He's gonna be fine," stated Porthos firmly when he noticed Aramis in silent prayer. He knew the action gave the man comfort and hope but part of him hated that he felt he needed it.

"Can't hurt," shrugged Aramis before returning to finish his prayers, understanding in his eyes for why his brother was acting like he was. The medic completely understood. For someone like Porthos who had spent a great deal of life on the streets, having to fight tooth and nail just to simply survive, the idea of a God, specifically one who had a benevolent side, was something that didn't sit well with him.

"Whelp handled Vadim, Milady and the Cardinal… He aint hard to take down," said Porthos as he tried to comfort not only his brothers but himself as well.

"He was not alone then," whispered Athos, his eyes never leaving the fire they had created to warm their food.

When his brothers' responded with nothing but worried looks Athos continued, elaborating on his statement.

"Milady and the Cardinal? We had a plan. He might have been alone for a portion of time but we were there to have his back, the same with Vadim. Now? Now he's completely alone and we have no idea what he's got himself into."

Silence followed Athos's words until Aramis; unable to stand the atmosphere, clamped a hand down on the swordsman shoulder. "Ah your optimistic side reappears mon ami, how we've missed it!"

Porthos and Aramis burst out laughing as Athos grumbled a few curse words under his breath before pushing the laughing medic off of him.

"Come," said the swordsman as he rose to his feet, "We should head back on the road, the weather looks ready to turn at any minute and we should get as close as we can before it gets worse."

Unfortunately for the musketeers it seemed that Athos's words were almost prophetic as not even an hour back into their journey the heavens opened upon them, forcing them to stop much sooner then expected when they came upon a town.

"You couldn't 'ave prayed for good weather?" grumbled Porthos as the three drenched musketeers entered the stables of the towns inn, their conversation drawing amused grins from the two young stable hands who stepped up to take their horses.

"So now you think it would have helped?" grouched Aramis, the medic's mood having turned irritable after being caught in the downpour

"Couldn't hurt," mocked Porthos, using the medic's earlier words against him. Though it seemed the larger man had noted the medic's testy mood as he had lightened the tone of his own words and sent his friend a teasing smile that the man couldn't help but return.

It was during this exchange that Athos, who had grown accustom to ignoring his brothers' banter, overheard the whispered conversation going on between the two apprentice stable hands.

"They're musketeers!" exclaimed one of the boys, his voice loud in his excitement, though he quickly hushed when his friend sent him a look.

Athos's lips quirked upwards at the two boy's obvious excitement at seeing musketeers, their excitement reminding him of another young man who was enamored with everything musketeer related, the thought quickly sending a stab of pain through his heart.

The swordsman pushed aside his thoughts however when he caught the tail end of the hushed conversation going on between the boys.

" – us stories like the others?"

"Others?" enquired Athos as he moved towards the two, now startled, boys. His actions didn't go missed by his brothers who quickly moved to his side, confusion and curiosity lining their faces.

"Sorry sir," apologized the elder of the two boys, both bowing before the men, their faces flushed with embarrassment at being called out.

Athos's expression softened as he knelt down to the boys' level. "Are there other musketeers here or has one simply passed through?" he asked gently, willing himself not to get his hopes up that maybe the musketeer they spoke of was their missing brother.

The elder boy nodded, the younger seemingly content to stare in awe at the men before him. "There's two of 'em sir," confirmed the elder boy, not noticing the slight slump of the musketeer's shoulders, something only his brother's noticed. "Arrived this morning sir. They were talking about heading back to Paris…"

"They told us stories of their adventures!" exclaimed the younger boy happily, his bright grin melting the heart of the medic who knelt to join Athos, ruffling the young boy's hair as he did.

"Exciting tales I bet but none can hold a candle to the adventures myself and my brothers have shared," grinned the sharpshooter, quickly delving into an edited version of the whole Vadim affair, making sure to emphasize certain dramatic points in the story to further impress his enraptured audience.

"They wont leave 'im alone now," smirked Porthos as he watched his brother with the two stable hands, slightly in awe at how quickly he had their complete attention.

"A loss felt only by the inn's barmaids I'm sure," deadpanned Athos, causing his brother to snort with laughter.

"We assuming the musketeers the lad's mentioned to be Issac and Favier?" asked Porthos quietly once he had calmed down.

Athos nodded, "It makes sense and apart from ourselves and D'Artagnan they are the only ones currently out of the city. I assume they've either finished their mission or have seen Treville's order to return in the wake of the Cardinal's death."

Porthos nodded, "Wanna seek them out? I'll get us a room, with the rain the way it is I don't see us leaving anytime soon, be nice to get out of these wet clothes."

Agreeing with the plan Athos left the stables in search of their comrades while Porthos stopped to inform Aramis, who was lost within his own story, before following, the desire to be in dry clothes growing with every movement.

"Athos?" called a familiar voice, instantly gaining the senior musketeer's attention as he turned and moved towards the source. Nodding in greeting to the two slightly surprised musketeers, who looked more than a little worse for wear.

"Are you okay?" asked Athos worriedly as he took in their conditions.

Issac was nursing an impressive black eye that had caused the socket to swell most of the way shut, along with a split lip.

Favier appeared no better as his left wrist was tightly wrapped and, if the way he was holding himself was any indication, he had several broken or badly bruised ribs.

Issac shrugged as he brought his drink up to his lips, hissing slightly when the alcohol touched the cut. "Ran into some trouble on our mission. We're more sore than anything don't worry."

When Favier grumbled something unintelligible Issac smiled sympathetically at his friend before returning his attention to Athos to elaborate. "And slightly put out to be having to return to the city before finishing our task."

Athos was about to ask why they were returning if they hadn't finished their mission when it clicked. "You found the Captain's orders?"

Issac blinked in surprise but nodded, "Yeah, what's that about anyway? All it said was to return to the city as soon as we read it."

"Which means we gave up the most promising lead we've had so far to turn tail and head back to Paris," grumbled Favier, clearly bitter about the whole situation.

Athos nodded in greeting to Porthos who appeared at the table before turning back to the two expectant faces. "The Cardinal died."

Both musketeers snorted, "bout bloody time," grunted Favier as he wrapped an arm around his injured ribs. "Why are we being forced back for that?"

Internally Athos winced, knowing what he was about to say would really annoy the already fed up men before him. "The King issued an mandatory grieving period and forced Treville to order all musketeers back to the city to pay their respects."

"Then why?" asked Issac, the question of their appearance at the inn being the obvious one.

Athos sighed before continuing. "The period ended first thing this morning. We ourselves our riding out after D'Artagnan but the Captain did say to let you know that his earlier orders had been revoked if we saw you, though he did say he was sending word a head to your checkpoint as well."

Contrary to what he was expecting the men before him didn't get angry but instead somewhat ecstatic by the news.

"If we head out first thing we can pick up the trail," mused Favier, his mood instantly improved with the news as he spoke with Issac who nodded.

"We'd have to ride hard but hopefully the lead will still be good by the time we arrive."

For the next several minutes the two were completely focused on their travel plans, forgetting entirely that they had guests and not even registering when Aramis appeared, the medic smirking at the two when he realized this.

"Still after this Quentin fellow then?" mused Porthos, nodding in thanks to the barmaid who brought over bowls of stew for them.

Issac blinked, his face flushing in embarrassment as he realized they had completely forgotten the other men at the table.

"He's a real piece of work," said Issac as he started on his food. "Likes to focus on the outlying villages that are too far away for word to reach Paris about. Usually sticks to the border and has no qualms in how his men handle themselves when they go on a raid, absolutely everything is fair game – homes, livestock, goods, even people. Men, women and even children, so long as the objective's met he couldn't care less what happens." Glaring down at the table, his fists turning white as he clenched them tightly into fists he added. "In our search we already found two small farming hamlets that had been completely destroyed by Quentin and his men… the things he let his men do to those poor villagers…"

Seeing their friends clearly distressed spurred Aramis into reaching over and placing a gentle hand on the man's shoulder, his eyes full of sympathy for the horrors the two men had seen.

"So how'd you get hurt?" asked Porthos, food no longer appetizing for him as he pictured the horrific scenes his friends had been describing.

Noting that his brother was wrapped up in the memory of what they had seen Favier took over, placing his hand on Issac's still clenched fist as he spoke. "Bit of luck there actually."

That made Issac snap out of his memory driven haze to snort at his friend's words. "If you call you breaking a rib and spraining you're wrist and me being used as a punching bag a bit of luck."

"Hush you," smirked Favier before turning back to the inseparables. "We heard whispers of Quentin's location and headed to this village. Quentin was there but we decided to hold of on trying to apprehend him when we noticed he was meeting someone."

Athos scowled, not liking the idea of someone like Quentin working with someone. "Who was he meeting?"

Favier shrugged. "No idea, heard the name Antoine mentioned more than once but no clue on his last name. We thought he might be involved in this slavery deal Treville's heard whispers about so we stuck around to try and listen in."

"Was he?"

Favier frowned, "Possibly. He seemed really nervous and worried the first few meetings but after that he seemed to almost grow smug and confident. From what we could tell the two were making some kind of deal. We figured staying around any longer was increasing the risk of him leaving so we planned to try and apprehend him that night, only…"

Aramis raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Only?"

"He caught on to our presence," frowned Issac, his hand coming up to lightly touch his swollen eye. "Started a massive bar brawl as soon as he saw us enter the tavern… Bastard slipped out in all the commotion."

"Tell me you got some good hits in?" asked Porthos, understanding the frustration in his friend's voice, a smirk tugging at his lips when the two men nodded smugly.

"Managed to knock out a couple of his men actually. We took two of them before the commotion died down and got a lead on where Quentin may be heading… Unfortunately they were fairly new to his band and so we're not sure how reliable this information is."

Issac took over the conversation then, curiosity burning in his eyes as he looked at the men.

"So why are you three here anyways? Athos mentioned riding out after D'Artagnan, last I heard the pup was still being paraded around at the Kings parties."

Noticing the worried expressions that flooded to all three men's faces the two remaining musketeers couldn't help but feel worried themselves, especially as Aramis filled them in on the situation regarding the regiments youngest soldier.

"We'd accompany you if we could Athos," said Issac softly, fully understanding and sympathizing with the immense worry the three men were currently feeling for their missing brother, as it was something he had experienced himself with Favier whenever their missions took a turn for the worst. "But Quentin…"

"We understand," nodded Athos, not wanting to stop or delay the hunt for the man even if it meant extra eyes for the search for D'Artagnan. "Quentin needs to be stopped, D'Artagnan wouldn't want you putting that at risk to search for him, we'll be fine."

Favier and Issac shared an uneasy look, neither happy with being unable to help their friends, especially as they owed all four of them for coming to their aid during a mission that went south a month ago, which almost ended very badly for the two men.

"We can ride part of the way," suggested Issac, wanting desperately to do something. "Our path takes us near the Gascony border."

The inseparables agreed, thankful for the help even if it was only for part of the journey and the five men settled into discussing their own plans for the remainder of the day while they waited for the rain to stop enough for them to continue on.