Evening My Lovelies
Sorry this is up a little later than usual, I fell asleep after getting in from work and only just woke up.
D'Arts back! I know I've teased you all with this chapter for a little while now and I'm really hoping it's worth the wait. Personally I quite like it but hopefully that's not just bias on my part :)
Also... Over 100 reviews! That's freaking amazing! We're not even in double figures chapter-wise yet!
I'm hoping I've been able to respond to all your reviews. They aren't showing up properly and I know of a few reviewers who's reviews never come through to my email so if you have reviewed and I haven't commented back I'm really sorry!
Notes On Reviews:
criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - Yep definitely not good. Our Gascon has gotten himself in to quite the spot of trouble right now. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Guest: Thanks for the review - Glad you're excited. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Helensg: Thanks for the review - Well he just wouldn't be D'Art if it wasn't him :D Haha glad you liked the insect bit :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
The dreamer (Guest): Thanks for the review - Yay :D I'm really glad you're excited, I'm quite a fan of this chapter so hopefully it's worth the wait and you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for the comment about my writing, that made me smile :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Glad you liked it. I wasn't sure if its even possible to recognize someone's work by the way they tie bandages but I wanted there to be some evidence of D'Art's intervention. Mwhahaha I know I'm soo evil :D I wont say much as I don't want to spoil the chapter for you but D'Art's in really bad shape. Enjoy the new chapter! x
f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - Mwhaha Of course I couldn't have D'Art sustain a simple, minor wound. Wouldn't be me if I did that :D and you're right they'll all be hurt at some point. I have something planned for both Aramis and Athos at the moment, just trying to decide what will happen to Porthos :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
GoGirl212: Thanks for the review - :D I'm glad you liked it. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - Are you ready my friend? We're FINALLY at chapter 9 so that mean's our favourite person to whump is back :D Haha Yeah no mercy from me for characters and readers alike :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Issai: Thanks for the reviews - (chapter7) I don't think any of them would have been able to leave without attempting to find any survivors so I'm glad you like that they looked. Issac and Favier will be back before too long as our boys will need them for back up :) I'm really enjoying writing moments like the one with Aramis and Athos so I'm glad you liked it. (chapter8) All I will say is that Athos's worry is VERY warranted :D I have some evil thoughts planned for D'Art and this chapter is just the start of them hopefully you'll enjoy what's to come :D Ummm, dying guy was there for a while... I didn't really think that bit through...Enjoy the new chapter! x
WelshEssex (Guest): Thanks for the review - Hope this chapter is worth the wait. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - Thank you :D I'm surprised this has reached 100 as quickly as it did but then again I do have lovely reviewers like yourself who very kindly review each chapter :D I'm with you on the review front *sigh* I have no idea why it does this but its very annoying. Usually I respond to the reviews that come through my emails but there are a couple of people who's reviews dont come through to my email for some reason and now I'm a little worried they've reviewed and it just looks like I'm ignoring them :( ... Haha I do like to taunt you all with the fact that something seriously bad has happened to our pup :D The man who died in front of our boy was not Mathis, just some random villager. Mathis died in D'Art's arms... something that is going to haunt him for some time now :D At the moment D'Art's got more important things to worry about than figuring out how he's going to cope but when things begin to calm a bit we'll be seeing how messed up this attack has made him. I'm sooooo hoping this chapter was worth the wait and that I haven't just been taunting you guys with it for nothing... Enjoy the new chapter! x
Cookies, Cakes and other yummy goodies to everyone who follows/favourites/reviews/reads this story... You guys are awesome!
Love you all!
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter Nine: Reunited
Unlike the musketeers who seemed momentarily frozen at the state of their young brother, the woman wasted no time in snatching the bucket of water from Porthos's hands and moving to the injured man's side.
"…R-Rin…" breathed D'Artagnan weakly as he fought to keep his eyes open and on the young woman before him. Even with his injuries it was clear the younger man had been deeply worried for the young woman.
"He's been asking after you," said the other occupant of the cave, an older woman who ensured her voice was quiet enough so only the younger woman could hear it.
Corinne's serious expression melted into a much softer smile as she gently stroked D'Artagnan's cheek.
"Y…You left," said D'Artagnan, attempting to make his voice firm and hard despite the obvious weakness in it.
"Your fever got worse," explained Corinne softly as she placed a damp cloth on D'Artagnan's forehead, smiling sadly when the man sighed in relief at the cool compress.
"…N-Not safe," scolded the musketeer before a harsh coughing fit cut off his reprimand
"Easy my boy," soothed the older woman whose lap D'Artagnan's head was resting on. She gently ran her hands through his damp hair as she spoke. "You can scold her later… Maybe once she tells us who she brought with her?" she added expectantly, her gaze drifting to the three musketeers who were still slightly frozen in shock, horror and pain clear on their faces.
Aramis was the first to free himself from his stunned stupor and he wasted no time in rushing to his brother's side, cupping his cheeks in his hands, internally wincing at the heat he could feel coming from his skin.
D'Artagnan blinked sluggishly as he tried to focus on the new hands touching him, they were familiar, almost heart-breakingly so… callused too, not like the soft feminine hands his fever-dulled mind was now used to. Willing his mind to put aside the pain and focus on the soothing touch recognition shone in his eyes as he blinked away some of the pain and fever driven haze clouding him.
"…'Mis?" he whispered softly, the hope in his voice breaking the medic's heart and prompting his brothers to race to their friend's side.
"We're here whelp," said Porthos softly as he gently took D'Artagnan's hand in his own, cursing when he noticed the blistered skin.
"'Mis," he called softly, leaving D'Artagnan to be pleasantly distracted by the appearance of his mentor while the larger man showed the blistered skin to the medic, who like him, cursed under his breath, sympathy filling him as he took in the damage.
"…So-Sorry 'Thos," wheezed D'Artagnan weakly as he finished listening to his mentor lightly scold him for worrying them so. Any further comments from the younger musketeer were quickly cut off by a pained scream as Aramis began his examination of the numerous wounds.
"Easy D'Artagnan," soothed Athos as he placed a hand on the boy's cheek, drawing small soothing circles with his thumb.
"Is this the worst?" asked Aramis quietly as he turned to the younger woman who had led them to D'Artagnan. He felt sick looking at the clearly infected stab wound in his little brother's side. The wound itself was deep and jagged but seemed to have missed anything that would be fatal, providing the got the bleeding and infection under control.
Corinne nodded, "His arm's in bad shape too," she explained, nodding to the limb resting near Athos, "But we can't get that to stop bleeding. Every time we manage it something happens that starts it up again."
Aramis, completely focused on his work, simply nodded to acknowledge he had heard her before he began working on clearing the wound, doing his best to ignore the pained screams coming from his brother as he worked,
After a few moments the pain, coupled with the effects of his injuries, became too much for the wounded musketeer to handle and he promptly passed out.
"Oh my boy," sighed the older woman softly as her eyes filled with tears for the pain D'Artagnan was being forced to endure.
Athos found himself quite curious by the two women who had been caring for his brother, especially as one had clamed D'Artagnan was her brother yet the musketeer had never mentioned anything of the sort to them before. Unfortunately for the curious part of his mind the protective part of him was in control at that point in time as he found himself unable to take his eyes off of the unconscious boy he had come to deeply care for, his thumb continued to draw small circles on D'Artagnan's cheek in the hopes it provided some form of comfort for the young injured man.
Fortunately though Porthos was more than willing to enquire as to the identities of the two women, though it was the older woman who answered as the younger seemed determined to help Aramis as much as she could, something that warmed the larger man's heart to see as he found himself unwilling to release the grip he had on his brother's hand and wrist, especially as he could feel the soft throbbing of D'Artagnan's pulse which confirmed the boy was still alive.
"My name is Maria monsieur's," smiled the older woman softly, though her exhaustion and grief were written plainly on her face, as was the obvious love and affection she held for her young charge, something that warmed the musketeer's hearts despite their current situation. Nodding to the woman kneeling beside Aramis she added, "That's Corinne."
Porthos nodded, watching the younger woman out of the corner of his eye, remembering how she had referred to herself as D'Artagnan's sister. To his surprise however the older woman, Maria, chuckled at him when he asked about this.
"She might as well be," smiled Maria softly as she continued to gently stroke D'Artagnan's hair. "Corinne and Charles are cousins," she explained quietly, not wanting to distract from the work going on to save the boy she thought of as a grandchild.
"Corinne's father travels for work a lot and her mother passed from an illness when the girl was still in pigtails. Alexandre, Charles's father, welcomed the young girl into his home, looking after her whenever her own father couldn't. The two of them grew up close as anything; it was a rare sight to see one without the other when they were tykes. As such they've always considered themselves siblings more than cousins."
Both Porthos and Athos smiled fondly at the explanation, soaking up any and all information they were given about their little brother's childhood, the younger man not having divulged much during their time together.
"And yourself?" asked Athos, his voice raspy and thick with emotion as he forced his eyes away from D'Artagnan's too pale face to address the older woman.
"Ahh," sighed Maria fondly, her eyes alight with pride and love, as she looked at the two youngest. "They're my pride and joy," she said softly, tears welling up in her eyes. "We were never blessed with children of our own, Mathis and I but Alexandre… Alexandre asked us to watch his hyperactive toddler and niece one day when he was busy with the farm, shortly after he lost his wife, and they've been part of our family ever since."
Despite feeling he was going to regret asking, Porthos couldn't help himself. "Mathis?"
The mere mention of his name broke the emotional dam Maria had been struggling to contain and tears streamed down her face, landing on D'Artagnan's cheeks as she curled over him as her grief hit her.
Both Athos and Porthos shared a look, guilt burning bright in Porthos's eyes as he saw what his, seemingly innocent, question had done to the kind woman. Before either of them could offer any words of comfort a soft, weak voice beat them too it.
"…'m sorry mémé," whispered D'Artagnan breathlessly as he tried desperately to comfort the woman who had cared for him his entire life. The pain of his injuries had brought him back into consciousness just in time to hear Porthos mention his old mentor's name and for the guilt to hit him harder then any of his injuries had.
"…'m sorry mémé," he whispered again, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, his pained gazed never leaving the older woman's face.
"Charles," sighed Maria softly, her hand moving from the boy's hair to gently wipe away the few stray tears trailing down his cheeks. "It wasn't your fault."
"I… should 'ave been… quicker," said D'Artagnan weakly, ignoring, or oblivious, to the fact he had gained the complete attention of everyone in the small cave. "Sh-Should 'ave… found … you sooner."
"Hush you silly boy," scolded Maria lightly as she pushed back her grief, not willing to let it show if it ignited such guilt from her young charge. He was in no condition to be dealing with that right now and so she resolved to push it down and deal with it later when he wasn't in such dire straights.
"You and I both know Mathis would have preferred you save Corinne and the others before even searching for him," added Maria, though the catch of her breath as she spoke her deceased husband's name did not go unmissed.
When she noticed that D'Artagnan looked ready to protest again she sighed. The very last thing her boy needed was to be stressing himself out or fighting the call of unconsciousness just to argue with her. She knew just what to say to get him to back down but she hesitated when she realized just how much he too was grieving. Mathis had been a part of the younger man's life since he was a toddler, much like herself, the young musketeer owed his current job and family to Mathis's training and belief in him. For her to say what she was about to would hurt the boy and that was the last thing she ever wanted to see happen, let alone be apart of.
However when a small whimper of pain escaped the younger Gascon's tightly clenched mouth Maria knew she had to do it.
"What did he always tell you?" she said softly, her hands returning to run through D'Artagnan's damp hair. Ignoring the confused and curious expressions of the other musketeers she focused on the barely conscious boy resting on her lap. "A soldier's job is to…"
Tears pricked at the corners D'Artagnan's eyes as he fought back a scream of pain to get the words out, "…to… to protect those… wh-who can't… protect themselves…"
Maria nodded, tears of her own prickling the corners of her eyes. "Mathis may have been rusty but his body never forgot the weight of his sword. The people of our village needed your help more then he did Charles and to think otherwise is insulting to his memory, now stop with the stubbornness and be a good patient for your friend."
Despite the pain in his body and his heart D'Artagnan couldn't stop the faint smile that tugged at his lips, love and amusement briefly pushing aside the grief burning in his eyes.
Unfortunately for the Gascon, his eyes didn't remain open for long as Aramis had chosen that exact moment to pour a healthy helping of alcohol on the recently cleansed wound, the sudden pain proving too much for the barely conscious boy as he passed out mere moments later.
The musketeers turned to Aramis then, the medic's face contorted in guilt at causing his young friend more pain, though he quickly noticed the looks and the silent question behind them. Pausing briefly to instruct Corinne to prepare a needle and thread for suturing he then turned back to his brothers.
"The wound's infected and he's lost a lot of blood, that he was lucid enough to recognize and talk to us is a very good sign. I've cleaned and drained the wound but we're going to need to watch it very carefully. D'Artagnan's incredibly weak right now and should it worsen it could prove disastrous for our boy."
"It's my fault," murmured Maria softly, tears now freely flowing down her cheeks as she gazed down at the unconscious boy.
Aramis's head tilted to one side, a frown tugging at his lips. He hated to see any woman upset, even more so if the woman was important to some he cared about. The medic had been largely focused on the Gascon so had missed most of the conversation that had taken place between his brothers and the elder woman, but still he had recognized the importance of the woman in his little brother's life and to see her so troubled did not sit well with him.
"How so my lady?" he asked gently, not wanting to cause her more pain but equally wanting to know how his brother had come by such a wound, especially as he knew the boy's skills first hand.
"H-He was aiming at me," she breathed out shakily, not noticing how her comment caused the men to tense. "The bandit" she added for clarification "He had already downed Mathis and was moving on to me… I-I screamed when Mathis fell… Charles was close by, he heard me, came rushing in without hesitation when he saw the bandit raise his blade to me… If I hadn't have froze… maybe he wouldn't be so injured…"
"Nah," said Porthos softly, a reassuring smile curling his lips as he placed a gentle hand on the woman's shoulder, absently noticing that Aramis had now moved to start stitching their brother's wound and so would likely be too consumed by that to join their conversation further. "Our pup attracts trouble like bees to honey, he would've injured 'imself somehow I'm sure."
"… He's always had a recklessness when it comes to protecting those he cares about," added Athos quietly, his mind replaying another instance of the boy's recklessness that involved him charging headfirst into a burning building to save someone he had only known a few months.
Maria chuckled fondly, wiping away the tears from her face, "we had hoped he'd grow out of that."
Porthos let out a small laugh before diving into a story of one of their missions where D'Artagnan had proven that hope to be false.
Athos watched fondly as Porthos began his tale, grateful for the larger man's attempts to not only cheer up the grieving woman but also distract her from the condition of her charge.
For the next hour the only sounds in the cave came from Porthos and Maria as they shared stories about their younger companion. Aramis was completely focused on D'Artagnan's wound, Corinne enraptured in watching and helping wherever she could whilst Athos kept watch over the unconscious boy, occasionally replacing the cloth on his forehead with a cooler one in hopes of helping him fight the scorching fever he was running.
"That's all I can do for that," announced Aramis sometime later, grimacing in pain slightly as he forced his cramped muscles to stretch out before turning back to Corinne, a smile of thanks lighting up his face for the help she had given him, though it faded back into his serious medic expression when he remembered her mentioning another wound.
"You mentioned something about his arm?"
Aramis's concern for the unconscious Gascon skyrocketed when he saw Corinne's face fill with worry as she nodded towards the arm nearest Athos's feet.
"I… I had no idea what to do and with his other wound bleeding out I tried to focus on that…"
Forcing himself to bury the near overwhelming worry filling him Aramis moved to the injured limb, bracing himself for whatever he was about to see, though that didn't stop the string of Spanish curses from slipping from his mouth as he saw the damage Corinne had been worried about.