Evening My Lovelies :)

This chapter was supposed to be a long one with some good old whumpage in it but then I had an idea and so have been forced to split it so the whumpage wont actually start until tomorrow... but hopefully what I have planned will make up for waiting an extra day for it.

Notes On Reviews:

Deana: Thanks for the review - Yeah they're not having a fun time :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

fariedragon: Thanks for the review - I'm really happy you're enjoying it so far :D I have lots of healing/comfort moments planned for our boys so hopefully you wont be disappointed :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - I loved Porthos breaking Ortiz's nose too :D Ortiz is aware of D'Artagnan's failing health but at this point he doesn't really care, he's enjoying causing them all pain too much to really care. Yep Aramis is next but for the idea I had to flow properly it works better for his whumpage to start tomorrow so I'm afraid you'll be waiting a little bit for that. I was tempted to have Lucifer turn on Ortiz but I didn't want to deprive our boys some chance for payback. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Tidia: Thanks for the review - I know but I'm an evil writer :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

pain in the mikta: Thanks for the review - I have SOOOO much more whumpage planned for our boys both emotionally and physically :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Katie (Guest): Thanks for the review - I'm glad you're enjoying it so much so far :) As for D'Art... I have no plans to kill him... yet at least :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Helensg: Thanks for the review - Glad you enjoyed it. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Erza96: Thanks for the review - I know your review wasnt for the last chapter but I'll add it here regardless :) I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope you enjoyed the binge read catch up :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

Issai: Thanks for the review - :D The chances of escape are dwindling every day now... they may be relying on a rescue. No it wasnt a coincidence but I'm glad you noticed :) Yeah Porthos would not have been happy if he heard it. I think D'Artagnan knew as soon as he was captured that there was very little hope of him getting out of there alive so he's had a while to come to terms with it. Enjoy the new chapter! x

watlocked: Thanks for the review - Hahaha :D I LOVED the start of your review :D Worry not I fully intend to fix them it might just take a while. Glad you're liking it all so far. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - I was worried about how well a dog fight would go down with people and then I kept obsessively reading it so I think it gave me a few doubts but it seems to have gone down quite well so I'm happy now :) And really happy that you liked it so much :D I was torn between having Porthos fight or to have him whipped as I wanted the whole slave thing to have a slight impact on Ortiz's decision making. Now I'm quite glad I went for the fight as it seems to be quite well received and I'll admit, fun to write :) I had this whole image for the dog being this huge, menacing looking thing and then there was only one name I could pick. D'Art has unshakable faith in his brothers and it was nice to show that... plus Aramis would never let Porthos live it down if he was defeated by a dog lol :D Aramis is in for some delicious whumpage tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to publishing. D'Art's definitely in bad shape and is only getting worse the longer he's left untreated. BWHAHAHA your comment about D'Art totally made my day :D He's definitely turning into our puppy. Enjoy the new chapter! x

As always many thanks to you lovely people who follow/favourite/review/read this story, love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Eighteen: Unexpected Aid

Left alone in their cell with only an unconscious Athos for company Aramis was beginning to let his fear and panic overwhelm him. The sight of his brothers so injured and being unable to do anything to help was bringing up all kinds of painful memories from the Savoy massacre five years previously.

He cursed his weakness for letting the memories affect him as much as they were. He had been forced to keep one hand on Athos's chest so he could see and feel the rise and fall of his brother's chest. All to remind himself that he had not lost another brother.

In his heart fear was growing that not all of them might make it out of this alive. It had truly sickened him to see the acceptance he had briefly glanced in his younger brother's eyes days earlier.

In all the madness that ensued D'Artagnan's return to their side several days ago he had pushed the confusing look to the back of his mind, but now that he was essentially alone it returned to the forefront of his mind and he was finally able to place what that look meant…

D'Artagnan knew… he knew that without receiving medical attention soon that he would not live to see Paris again. Aramis also assumed that D'Artagnan knew that even if by some miracle Ortiz decided to help him medically that as soon as the crazed Spaniard had finally broken him and gotten the information he was after from him or if D'Artagnan held out long enough to sufficiently bore the man that he would not waste a single second before killing the young Gascon.

The grim acceptance he had seen in D'Artagnan's eyes worried the sharpshooter greatly as he now knew that his brother was no longer concerned about his own life… only about theirs. This would make their typically hotheaded and impulsive younger brother take even more daring risks if they had even the slimmest chance of saving one of them.

Aramis had been trying to push thoughts of both D'Artagnan and Porthos out of his mind ever since his beloved friend was pulled out of the room several hours earlier. He had tried to focus on tending to Athos, but with no supplies there was very little he could do for the man and he found himself becoming distracted when he heard heart-wrenching screams of his brothers.

As much as he wanted to try and escape, as much as every instinct in his body was screaming at him to get out and help his brothers Aramis knew that he had to remain where he was. His knowledge of the healing arts was overruling the terrified part of him and so he refused to do anything that would re-start the bleeding in his arm.

Not for any care of his own life… In his eyes he had been living on extra time since the Savoy massacre all those years ago of which he was now the only living survivor. But he refused to die before he saw his brothers safely out of the hell they had been caught in… He wouldn't let his dead body be the first thing Athos saw when he awoke – because so help him he was going to make sure the man did wake up again – and he refused to let D'Artagnan's efforts to save them be in vain… So against his instincts the marksman gritted his teeth and forced himself to remain sitting.

Several minutes after making this decision his attention was once again pulled from Athos when he heard the familiar sound of his cell door opening. Fearing for Porthos's life as the man hadn't been gone as long as Athos had the day before the marksman slowly moved to sit as defensively in front of his unconscious brother as he could, ready to fight to protect the man to his death, bleeding arm be damned!

He was quite surprised however when instead of seeing Ortiz's smirking mug at the door he was greeted by a terrified young man carrying a small basket under one arm.

"You're awake!" exclaimed the young man, clearly surprised at seeing the musketeer awake. Not that Aramis was surprised; he had lost a worrying amount of blood recently that had made him much more lethargic and tired then normal.

"Evidently" remarked the marksman dryly, taking a leaf out of Athos's book as he raised one eyebrow to stare at the young man. "You're not Spanish," he added after a moments contemplation

The young man shook his head before briefly glancing over his shoulder towards the door, clearly fearing someone was going to come in at any moment. The man then steeled himself and walked over to the pair of musketeers, not missing the way Aramis tried to angle himself so his body covered more of his unconscious friend nor the way his hand automatically went to where his sword would normally be located at his side.

"I have some things that might help" the man offered weakly, placing the basket in front of the suspicious medic.

"I don't want anything from Ortiz" spat Aramis, though he was intrigued that the man would send someone from the village to him instead of one of his own Spanish guards.

"He…" the man mumbled hesitantly, making Aramis raise an eyebrow at him again, "he doesn't know about this"

Now that caught Aramis's attention, without removing his hand from Athos's chest the medic weakly lifted his injured arm, wincing at the pain it caused and pulled the basket closer to him.

Inside he found some basic sowing supplies, for his shoulder he assumed, some foods that helped combat blood loss such as nuts and fruit, a roll of clean bandages and two full water skins.

Aramis's attention immediately went to the needle and thread, knowing he and his brothers would feel a lot better knowing he wasn't in immediate danger of bleeding out. Only to then find that his hands were shaking so badly he was having trouble threading the needle.

"I… I can do that if you want" the man offered. Aramis stared at him for a moment before resigning himself to the fact that he did not have the steadiness in his hands to properly stitch up his wounds… plus he would severely struggle doing the exit wound on his back without help anyway.

"Why are you helping us?" Aramis asked in between mouthfuls of the nuts and fruit as he watched the young man stitch up his shoulder with experienced ease.

"…We're in over our heads" the man admitted after a while and Aramis had the distinct impression that he meant him and the other villagers instead of him and Ortiz and this allowed him to relax a tiny amount around the man.

"…Aramis" the medic offered once the man had finished suturing the wound on his front and was preparing the one on his back.

To the medic's concern and amusement the man appeared genuinely surprised at his cordial tone before he offered up his own name "…Bryce"

Aramis smiled weakly at the young man, his heart pinning for his brothers when he realized the man was around D'Artagnan's age.

After he had finished tending to the medic's arm Bryce looked guiltily over at Athos's sleeping form, "I don't have anything for him" he admitted, "Ortiz or his men would have noticed if I took anything like that"

"I understand" Aramis nodded, though his heart fell a bit at the news but he supposed there was still water and some food left that if he could get the man to eat would help him somewhat.

"I should go" Bryce said suddenly surprising the medic, "They'll notice I'm gone soon enough." Looking straight into the medic's eyes as he stood up he said passionately to the man hoping he would see the sincerity in his words, "I never wanted anyone to get hurt" before he promptly left the slightly stunned musketeer.

"Athos" he called quietly once he was sure that Bryce wasn't going to come back, gently tapping his brother's face he continued to call his name until the man wearily opened his eyes.

"…'Mis?" came a groggy, pain-filled response from the wounded swordsman.

"It's me my friend" smiled Aramis, gently stroking the man's cheek, "here, drink some water it'll help with your throat" he added after a moment, having remembered why he wanted to wake the man in the first place.

Having a long drink seemed to revitalize Athos somewhat and with some help from Aramis he was able to sit up, his eyes immediately narrowing when he noticed a distinct lack of both D'Artagnan and Porthos from the room.

"D'Artagnan was never returned last night and Porthos has been gone several hours now" Aramis answered the silent question.

"We… need to help them," Athos said tiredly before attempting to stand up, though the attempt was quickly aborted when his back reminded him just how much pain he was in.

"We can do nothing" Aramis retorted as he helped get Athos settled again, "Except you can eat" he ordered, passing the bowl that contain the remaining food into the swordsman's hand.

"Were did you get this?" he asked surprised but did as ordered and slowly began eating.

As he ate Aramis filled him in on Bryce and what he had brought, done and said during his short visit.

"Ally?" Athos asked seriously, a small part of him hoping they would have someone on the inside willing to help them escape, though that hope faded when Aramis shook his head sadly

"A guilty conscious" he explained, "most likely too terrified to actually stand up to Ortiz so probably wont be willing to do much else for us unfortunately"

"Then we're on our own," Athos stated solemnly

PARIS – ROYAL PALACE

"Your men are still not back yet?" inquired Cardinal Richelieu as he and Treville stood off to the side as they watched over the royal couple's garden party with the city's nobility.

"No" admitted Treville, his concern for his men momentarily replaced with anger as he saw a slight smug grin form on the Cardinal's face.

"You swore your men were up to the job," reminded the Cardinal, enjoying the knowledge of the musketeers' misfortune even if he was slightly concerned over the missing documents they had been sent to find.

"They are!" growled Treville, angry at the slur against his men's ability. Those four… the 'inseparables' as they had come to be known were the best in his regiment as well as being the most dedicated. Something would have had to go seriously wrong for them to have not even sent word. Though despite voicing this to the Cardinal the man seemed adamant that it was down to the men's lack of skill.

"So what do we do now?" Richelieu asked seriously a few moments later. He might hate the musketeer regiment but France's wellbeing was always his priority.

"Now" sighed Treville, before noticing one of his men appearing around the corner and gesturing for him to go over, sending the man a confused look he glanced back to the Cardinal adding, "I find out what happened to my men" before turning his back on the man and heading towards his soldier.

MUSKETEER GARRISON

"You're sure?" Treville asked for what must have been the tenth time since their departure from the palace.

"Yes sir" the soldier replied, not at all bothered by the continued questioning, understanding it as the whole garrison was tense every day that their brothers remained missing.

"He rode in an hour ago wanting to speak to someone about Athos, Aramis, Porthos and D'Artagnan. I had him wait with Serge looking after them while I came to get you" he explained, pointing the rider out to the Captain as soon as they entered the garrison courtyard.

Dismissing his soldier Treville made his way over to the young man who, upon noticing him, stood up. "Monsieur Fournier? I'm Captain Treville" Treville stated cordially, offering his hand to shake.

"Tristan" the man remarked shaking the Captain's hand.

"You wished to speak about my men?" Once Tristan nodded in response Treville added, "Lets speak in my office"