Evening My Lovelies

I'm sooooooo excited for you all to read this chapter, I love it! Please let me know what you think of it, it was one of my favourite chapters so far to write (as well as the easiest) :D

Notes On Reviews:

Deana: Thanks for the review - Glad you're excited. Enjoy the new chapter! x

FierGascon: Thanks for the review - *Howls back*... Oooh you may want to have the hate-o-meter on hand for today's chapter :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Aww now that's a cute image :D We're getting more of Aramis's protective side coming into play today, hopefully you'll like it too. Our boys definitely need to get back asap but we wont be back with them until tomorrow :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - We get to see a bit as to why dear old scarface is after D'Art today, hopefully it should clear up some questions but we will go more into it in later chapters. Haha I like the way you think :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysdeeks: Thanks for the review - I think I can manage that ;) *passes drinks* Athos will be out for blood very very soon, that I can promise. Hmm I'm afraid Aramis is going to need more than a hug after today's chapter :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

watlocked: Thanks for the review - If you like their protective sides you will enjoy the next few chapters :D It seems great minds think alike as I too thought of that scene when I wrote that line... I blame the LOTR fanfic I had been reading before I started work on that chapter lol. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - It's becoming a new favourite pastime of mine I'll admit :D I'm afraid this chapter will do very little to stop you from eating your nails as I'm beginning to amp up the drama (at least I hope I am) You're definitely right to be worried about D'Art, he's not in the best of ways right now, but luckily he's not completely alone :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - Haha, yeah you'd have thought they'd have learnt their lesson on that by now :) Aramis's protective side is coming out even more today so I hope you enjoy it. Corinne and Maria are scared and worried otherwise they're fine :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

WelshEssex (Guest): Thanks for the review - Our medic is still in protective mode today, which I really enjoyed writing and am hoping you really enjoy reading. We wont be checking in with Porthos and Athos until tomorrow so you'll have to hang on a bit for them. Hmmm answers and not more trouble? I don't know if my evil mind will allow that lol Enjoy the new chapter! x

MicheeO: Thanks for the review - Yeah but your idea will be showing up at some point. I'm actually a bit annoyed I hadn't thought of it... Guess my evilness is rubbing off on you :D Besides, I quite like how this plot idea is running at the moment and I wouldn't have been able to do that if I had done your idea. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - Yay I'm SOOOOO glad you enjoyed it, though it does give me high hopes for you enjoying this chapter just as much if not more. Personally I think this one is better than yesterdays but I'll eagerly await to see what you think. Protective Aramis is coming out in full force today and I had so much fun writing him. We're getting a bit more of our proper baddie today, as well as actually identifying him... though I'm pretty sure most of you have figured it out already. I couldn't resist leaving you with that mid chapter cliffy :D I'm glad the tension remained with Athos's group... even if I ended up feeling a little bad for the bandits, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they challenged our lovely Athos :D Glad you're excited, so am I! Enjoy the new chapter! x

As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading

Love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Fourteen: Protective Instincts II

Aramis woke to the very painful and panic-inducing feeling of air being knocked out of his lungs courtesy of a hard kick to his abdomen. His eyes shot open wide as he gasped for air and tried to ignore his body's instinctive urge to curl into itself.

"Time to wake up princess," mocked the man who had kicked him and Aramis recognized him as the leader of the small group of bandits who had cornered him and D'Artagnan in the cave. "Boss will be here soon, not good to be napping when he arrives."

Aramis only barely caught the latter half of what was being said to him as his mind had begun to panic over D'Artagnan whereabouts. The bandits who had cornered them had been looking, specifically, for the Gascon and yet the boy was not near him when he woke.

"Where. Is. He," growled Aramis, his voice taking on a darkness rarely heard in the typically lighthearted medic.

When the bandit refused to answer Aramis forced his aching body to stand, a somewhat difficult task given his hands were tied together as were his feet.

"Don't play dumb with me," spat the medic, the dark part of his mind devising the best way he could overpower the man before him before he could alert anyone else of what was going on. "You came looking for him specifically, you wouldn't have left him behind. Now, where is he?"

The bandit looked pleased with the medic's observation but quickly schooled his expression into one of faint curiosity. "Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself? The brat's going to die," Aramis practically growled at this but it largely went ignored by the bandit who merely continued to talk. "Either from the wounds or from what the boss has planned. Either way, why waste your worry on a man who's definitely going to die rather than yourself."

If looks could kill the bandit would be long dead with the glare Aramis was sending his way. The musketeer's fists were stark white from where he had clenched them tightly in anger at the man's blasé attitude to his little brother's condition.

"He's my brother," snarled the sharpshooter, before he let out a long breath and forced his hands to relax having felt his nails break the skin of his palms in his anger. "I can save him, now where is he!"

The man looked more amused then fearful at the anger radiating off of the marksman but eventually he nodded and turned on his heel.

"This way," he said, nodding towards the flap of the tent the pair was currently standing in.

Not wanting to question it Aramis followed as quickly as he could, grateful that there was a bit of slack in the ropes tying his ankles together so he could take actual steps rather than being forced to shuffle, though he would have willingly put up with that humiliation if it meant he got to see D'Artagnan.

The first thing Aramis noticed when they exited the tent was the abundance of cages scattered around the makeshift camp. The second was the sickening fact that nearly all of those cages were full of people, tired, scared looking people.

"That's why there wasn't more dead in the village," breathed the musketeer as it clicked in his mind. His stomach churned at the knowledge of what awaited these people.

Athos had mentioned the possibility of something like this being the reason they didn't find as many dead as they had expected. Only Aramis was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to have heard that murmured thought from his brother. The medic had shrugged it off at the time, his only true concern being the safety and wellbeing of his little brother as harsh as that thought was. Now though, now Aramis realized that Athos had clearly long suspected there was more going on then they were aware of and had clear intentions of finding out the truth.

The medic suspected the reason Athos hadn't made either him or Porthos aware of his suspicions was because of the three people they currently had under their care. Both Corinne and Maria, despite how hard they tried to hide it, were barely keeping themselves together after what happened and to find out that this was the reason behind the attack could very well do more harm than good.

With D'Artagnan though Aramis reasoned that it was an act of kindness on Athos's part not to mention his suspicions to the barely alive boy. D'Artagnan had fought as hard as his body had allowed to save as many people as he could, had potentially sacrificed his career if not his life for them to be safe and to learn that all he had done was delay their capture and forced entry into servitude would break his now undoubtedly fragile mind.

As much as Aramis wanted to berate his older brother for not mentioning his suspicions to them at the very least, he was beyond grateful that he never mentioned it to their youngest. The medic could very easily see this attack becoming for D'Artagnan what Savoy was for him and the knowledge that his people were taken not killed would only amplify the nightmares he was already suffering from.

The Gascon's health was worrying and despite the confidence he had shown the bandit there was a small traitorous part of him that feared his skills wouldn't be enough and that he would be forced to watch his brother slowly die from his wounds. If this were to be the case then the least they could do for him would be to let him go thinking he had saved those he could.

Aramis was pulled from his thoughts when he spotted the unconscious form of his brother lying in the middle of the campsite. Without even thinking he pushed passed the bandit and raced as fast as his restrained limbs would allow to the boy's side.

"D'Art," he called softly as he lightly tapped the scorching skin of the boy's cheek. "Come on D'Art," he pleaded, not caring who could hear him. "I need you to wake up, show me those eyes of yours, just for a moment… Please."

For several agonizing moments it looked like the boy would remain unconscious and oblivious to his brother's call. But then, to Aramis's great relief a small groan and whimper escaped his brother's mouth.

"D'Art," he called again, repeating his action of lightly tapping the boy's face.

"…'Mis?" croaked D'Artagnan weakly as he fought to open his eyes.

Aramis couldn't help the sigh of relief that exited him, his body shaking as he fought to contain the tears that wanted to flow from his eyes. Taking a deep breath he turned back to his brother, alarm bells going off in his head for how dull and glazed those brown orbs looked.

"It's me brother, how are you feeling?"

D'Artagnan appeared confused by the question so it took a moment for him to both comprehend what was being asked of him and to gather the energy to speak but Aramis was too overjoyed that he was even awake to mind the extra seconds it took to get the words out, especially when the words he worked himself up to say were his usual, "I'm fine."

At that Aramis actually burst out laughing, why he wasn't too sure but he couldn't stop himself for a good few moments.

When he had control of himself again Aramis looked back at his brother who was staring at him in confusion. Sighing sadly the medic took the Gascon's least damage hand in his own. "You're in a bad way D'Art," he admitted quietly, not wanting to give the boy false hope, though he was sure the Gascon had an idea of just how bad his own injuries were.

For a moment D'Artagnan said nothing, content to let Aramis work on checking him over and seeing what damage had been done during their transport.

Part of his mind registered the immense pain of his injuries that only grew as Aramis continued his examination but he was too tired and sluggish to do anything more than let out the occasional moan of pain.

Eventually, in a rare moment of mental clarity D'Artagnan noticed something and weakly tapped Aramis's leg with his fingers to get his attention, a stab of guilt flooding through him when Aramis all but pounced on him with questions on what was wrong and was something else hurting.

"…'Thos?" wheezed the younger musketeer weakly, not missing the flash of worry that flickered briefly in Aramis's eyes. "…P'thos?"

Knowing that he didn't want D'Artagnan to know where they actually were, mainly because it would lead to questions about why there were there and could eventually lead to discovering what Athos had suspected and kept hidden from them all.

At the same time though he really didn't want potentially one of the last things he could say to his brother to be a lie, so instead he settled for a half-truth.

"They took the girls back to home to see if there was anything they could salvage, they'll be back soon."

D'Artagnan seemed content with this answer and fell back asleep mere moment's later, leaving Aramis to breath out a sigh of relief.

His words hadn't been false, Lupiac was where their brothers had gone and the marksman had no doubt that they would find them before too long. The man who had captured Aramis had only sent two men out after his brothers and the marksman had complete and unshakable faith that his brothers, even while guarding the two women, could handle to two bandits with ease. This meant all he needed to do was to keep both himself and D'Artagnan alive long enough for their brothers to find them.

Smiling internally at finally having a plan the medic settled back into his work. The journey had caused nearly all of D'Artagnan's stitches to rip, reopening the wound much to the musketeer's anger and worry.

"I need supplies," stated the medic as he turned to the bandit who was hovering over him. There were other men around the camp but Aramis paid them little attention, focusing only on the man in front of him and D'Artagnan.

"You said you could save him," smirked the bandit, his smug grin setting Aramis's teeth on edge. "You said nothing about needing supplies to do it."

"Please," begged Aramis, the humiliation and shame he felt for being forced to beg his captor vanished instantly when D'Artagnan let out another whimper of pain. His brothers were everything to him; if begging would save his youngest brother's life then he would beg until his voice was hoarse and gone.

The bandit's smirk only grew at the plea but seemed to take pity on the pair as he leaned over the back of the bench he was sitting on and tossed over a familiar bag.

Aramis barely stop the relieved sigh from escaping his lips when he picked up his medical bag from the spot on the floor near him where it had landed.

After a quick look through the remaining contents of the bag the medic set to work, ignoring anything and everything that wasn't related to the health of his patient.

"Well, well, who do we have here?" growled a voice, startling Aramis slightly, not that he outwardly showed it. The medic had just finished tying a bandage around the newly re-stitched wound on his brother's side when the man had spoken up.

"He was with the boy boss," answered the bandit that had taken them. "We weren't getting the younger one without him, figured two's better than one."

Something sparked in the older man's eyes as the bandit spoke and it had Aramis shifting instinctively to try and protect his brother from this scarred man.

The man looked at the pauldron resting on Aramis's shoulder and his expression turned into one of glee. Or at least that's what Aramis assumed it was supposed to be, the scarring on the man's face did affect his expression after all.

"Another musketeer," mused the man as he strode closer making Aramis's tighten his grip on his brother. "Yes you'll do nicely."

Aramis really didn't want to know what he'd "do nicely" for but before he could retort the man seemed to notice D'Artagnan for the first time since arriving and if the furious expression on his face was anything to go by he was not pleased with his condition.

"What the hell happened!?" roared the man, his glare flickering between the bandit and the musketeer.

"YOU HAPPENED!" screamed Aramis, his fury at the man overwhelming his better judgment. "Did you honestly think that he would sit by and let you and your disgusting excuses for men attack a village of innocent people!"

Clearly the scarred man didn't take well to Aramis verbally attacking him as within moments he had backhanded the musketeer so hard he fell to the ground.

"Restrain him," ordered the man, watching with a dark, smug smile as one of his men pulled the slightly dazed musketeer away from the injured one, holding him in place so he couldn't move, despite his attempts to.

For a few moments the camp was completely quiet as the leader of the group inspected D'Artagnan. Aramis's protective instincts rose to all new heights at the mere sight of that man so close to his brother and it had him fighting against the hold the bandit had on him.

"I was promised a musketeer," growled the scarred man as he rose to his feet, anger brewing brightly in his eyes. Turning to one of his other men he snapped, "Find our rat. Tell him our arrangement was only valid if the boy was useful. I have no use for a broken, dying musketeer. I want him here, in front of me. I will get what I am owed one way or another and should he fail to once again produce adequate payment he will meet the same fate as this musketeer here."

Aramis's eyes widened in horror, both from the fact that it appeared someone had deliberately sold his brother out but also from the fact that the scarred man was unsheathing a dagger from his belt.

Without even thinking Aramis forced his elbow back as hard as he could into the bandit holding him stomach, barely sparing a moment to enjoy the grunt of pain from his captor before he launched himself at his brother.

"NO!" roared the medic as he flung himself over his brother's prone form just as the scarred man brought the blade down, intent on ending his brother's life.

Instead a scream of pain tore its way from Aramis's throat as the blade dug deep into the back of his shoulder, scrapping against the bone as it went.

"You've got guts musketeer I'll give you that," sneered the scarred man as he stepped back from the now two injured musketeers, not bothering to remove his blade from were it was impaled in the elder musketeer's shoulder.

"Intentarlo de nuevo y te voy a matar!" (Try that again and I'll kill you!) Snarled Aramis as he glared daggers at the scarred man.

"Tend to your boy if you want," chuckled the scarred man as he ignored the dark looks being sent his way. "Whether he dies now or later matters little to me."

As the man began to walk away Aramis couldn't resist. "Who the hell are you!?"

At this the man turned on his heel back to face them, a dark, sadistic smile curving his lips.

"Quentin Beaulne, at your service," smirked the man with a mock bow before he turned back the way he had been going, calling over one of his men, leaving a shocked musketeer behind.