Evening My Lovelies :)
Well I asked (begged) and you guys certainly delivered :D 14 reviews for the last chapter! Thank you sooo much.
Today's is a fair bit shorter then yesterday but that's mainly down to me wanting to prolong your worry for D'Art a bit longer... that and I only had like an hour and a half to write this - which actually turned out surprisingly well in my opinion given the time I had to do it.
Notes On Reviews:
Deana: Thanks for the review - Well I've got to keep you on you're toes somehow :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
Tidia: Thanks for the review - :D Glad you liked the idea. D'Art crying at his father's headstone was too cute an image not to include after everything the boy's endured lately. I know :) that cliffy was an evil one even for me I think :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
Katie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Hahaha I know I'm an evil, evil person :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - :) Glad you liked it, after you mentioned the Gascony bit I was a bit worried that the explanation I gave for why he had a place in Paris to visit wouldn't make much sense :) I loved writing all the brotherly moments in the last chapter, it made me melt at the cuteness so I'm really happy you enjoyed them too :D I was tempted to have Athos kill Ortiz after he injured D'Art but decided that after what he did to our pup that our muskys are all going to want to be in on the revenge :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
pain in the mikta: Thanks for the review - Hahahaha I did warn you :) *helps off the floor so can read the new chapter* Enjoy the new chapter! x
Ebm36: Thanks for the review - I'm so happy you're enjoying the story so far and that you liked the chapter :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
fariedragon: Thanks for the review - I know :) It was quite evil even for me :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
rusticautumn: Thanks for the review - That you took the time to say anything is awesome for me so thank you :) I'm sooo happy you're enjoying the story so far and that you liked the chapter :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
ZoeBreaky: Thanks for the review - In my defense I really can't help it :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
watlocked: Thanks for the review - Yay *happy dances* I'm SOOO happy you loved the puppy-pile bit :D It was an idea that practically made me melt with how cute it was and I was worried I wouldnt be able to do it justice. Thank you so much for giving me the idea I absolutely adored writing it XD. Thank you sooo much for the kind words. This story is probably my favourite one that I've written so for you to say that you think it's my best one totally made my day :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Helensg: Thanks for the review - Oh dont worry Ortiz will get what's coming to him before too long, I just have to decide how it's all going to go down. I'll admit I forgot about saying Athos would get some whumpage so sorry for that, worry not though I have a plan to ensure that he gets some possibly in tomorrows or the day after. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Issai: Thanks for the review - Your welcome :) He's grown on me too much to kill him now, he'll be showing up again in tomorrows chapter most likely. Ortiz is quite the crafty, sneaky snake and D'Art's paying the price for that. I'll be keeping you all in suspense for his fate until tomorrow (D'Art not Ortiz) but hopefully this will tide you over until then. Enjoy the new chapter! x
A reader (Guest): Thanks for the review - I know :D You all thought I was mean before with my cliffhangers then I put that one on you :D I agree fully that Ortiz's death needs to be a painful one so if you have any preference as to how you want it to go down just let me know :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - *Squeals like a child on Christmas morning* Thank you soooooooooo much for such kind words I'm grinning like a loon reading your review so I'm quite glad I'm alone at the moment lol. The brotherly moments in the last chapter made me melt with their cuteness and I completely adored writing them so I'm ecstatic that you enjoyed reading them just as much :D I do think the puppy pile was one of my favourite moments though, the image of it was just *sighs contentedly* Ortiz is such an enjoyable baddie for me to write and the cliffy just got hooked in my mind and I couldnt not write the story to bring it to life... even if it was slightly evil even for me :D Athos is going to be quite determined to find and kill Ortiz after what he's done but for the moment D'Artagnan obviously has his full attention.
Cant thank you all enough for your continued support and for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading this but I'll say it anyways :) Thank you!
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter Forty-One: "What Happened?"
"Still alive then?" Grinned Aramis, panting slightly as he watched Porthos approaching, his eyes narrowing as he saw his friend cradling his injured wrist.
Sighing he raised one eyebrow at the man, "Please tell me you haven't injured it again?"
Chuckling at his friend's attempt to look intimidating whilst leaning on his crutches Porthos shook his head, "Nah 'Mis, just aches is all."
"I'll be the judge of that," stated the medic, waving his friend over and holding out his hand, "Hand it over."
Sighing at his friend's stubbornness Porthos reached his arm out for Aramis to check, he knew there was nothing wrong but that until Aramis had confirmed it for himself he would be relentless.
"Where's 'Thos and the whelp?" Porthos asked, hissing as Aramis pressed lightly on his injured wrist.
"D'Artagnan went chasing after Ortiz and Athos followed for back up." Stated Etienne as he finished checking that the downed opponents were actually dead, "Probably on their way back by now so I doubt they'll be long."
Porthos nodded, peeved that his brothers went off alone but knowing that D'Artagnan needed to see Ortiz dead and that there would be no way Athos was letting him go it alone with no-one to watch his back. "So," grinned the larger musketeer as he turned back to Aramis, "what's the verdict doc?"
"You've not shifted the bones and the splint seems to be doing its job." Aramis informed, grinning at the 'I told you so' look on Porthos's face.
"ARAMIS!"
At the sound of his name being called the sharpshooter quickly turned to find the source. His eyes widening at the sight of a bloody Treville waving him over.
Wasting no time the medic moved over to the Captain, his eyes roving over the man, as he got close enough to do so.
"Your skills are needed," Treville stated, sounding slightly exasperated which intrigued the medic as he nodded behind him where there was a very pale and slightly bloody King ranting about the whole situation.
"What happened Your Majesty?" Aramis asked kindly as he, with help from Porthos, sat down in front of the King.
"What Happened!?" screeched the King, "I was attacked! That's what happened!"
"One of the men's swords caught his shoulder," Treville informed, pointing to the torn piece of the King's shirt, which was now covered in blood.
"Are you sure you're trained for this?" Remarked Louis with slight panic in his voice as Aramis cut away part of his shirt so he could see the wound easier.
"Aramis is a trained medic Your Majesty," Treville reassured, though by the tone of his voice it wasn't his first time doing so, "We can leave it until we get you back to the palace if you'd prefer your doctor?"
Both Aramis and Porthos had to fight back snorts of laughter at the knowing tone in Treville's voice as well as the overly dramatic look of fear on Louis face.
"N-No" stammered the King, "Just don't leave me with a hideous scar musketeer."
"Of course Your Majesty," reassured Aramis as he started work cleaning and stitching the wound.
The wound wasn't overly deep and nor was it very long so Aramis had to resist the urge to call the King a baby about panicking so much about such a wound when he had already spotted a worse wound on Treville's leg that the Captain was in the middle of treating with help of Galen and Leroy.
Aramis had just put away his suturing kit, something he now obsessed with having on him at all times, and was about to start wrapping the wound with the makeshift bandages Treville had given him, they weren't much but it would do until they got the King back to the palace where the royal physician could take a look and re-wrap it when he heard it.
"ARAMIS!"
The pain, fear and heartbreak he could hear in the faint voice calling his name froze Aramis on the spot, his wide fearful eyes instantly seeking out Porthos's, only to then notice that his matched his own.
"'Thos…" Porthos whispered brokenly as he moved from where he had been talking to Treville to Aramis's side, holding out his good arm to help the man to his feet.
"Why have you stopped!?" snapped Louis as he glared at the musketeer before him
"Etienne!" exclaimed Aramis, ignoring the King's words as he gathered up the makeshift bandages.
"Here," he said, thrusting the cloth into Etienne's waiting arms, "It just needs bandaging and I – "
"Go," Etienne nodded, his eyes showing a small sliver of fear as he had heard the emotion in Athos's faint voice as well and knew only something terrible could cause that in the typically stoic lieutenant.
"What!" snapped Louis, eyes widening in disbelief as Porthos gestured for the medic to climb on his back so they could move quicker, "You're leaving!?"
"You're fine," reassured Aramis, slightly distracted as he awkwardly clambered onto Porthos's back
"Leave me and I'll have both your commissions!" screeched the King. A smug smile coming to his face as both men froze, only for it to then fade at their next words.
"Do as you will," glared the medic darkly before whispering something in Porthos's ear, who nodded and took of in as much of a run as he could manage without jostling his friend or his wrist too much.
"ARAMIS!"
The sharpshooter felt tears gather in his eyes at the pain he heard in his brother's voice.
"ATHOS!" He screamed, desperate to let his brother know that they were on their way.
Despite preparing themselves for the something bad when they heard Athos's cry, neither Aramis nor Porthos were expecting to see the sight that greeted them.
No word were exchanged between the pair but at the sight of an openly crying Athos as he was desperately trying to stop the young man they loved as a brother from losing anymore blood was enough to spur Porthos to practically sprinting to their brother's aid.
"What happened?" Aramis snapped, fear making his words sharp, as he ripped open what remained of the youngster's blood-sodden shirt. The sight of the long gash that stretched from the top of his right shoulder to his left hip almost made the medic want to puke. Swallowing the rage he felt burning in his stomach at the wound Aramis forced himself to try to assess if there was anything he could do.
"O-Ortiz," Stammered Athos weakly, his hands never relinquishing his grip on the Gascon's arm, "We-We were fighting and he was about to kill me when-when D'Artagnan, h-he jumped in front of the blow." Athos informed them, stammering his words as he spoke.
Slightly surprised that Ortiz had managed to get the better of a master swordsman like Athos, Porthos's eyes narrowed, "Are you alright 'Thos?" he asked, subtly checking over the man for injuries. Only to then silently curse as he noticed the swordsman was covered in a lot of D'Artagnan's blood and that it was obscuring any potential wounds his brother had.
"I'm fine," Athos replied absently, his tear filled eyes never leaving D'Artagnan's face.
"Are you sure?" Porthos asked, forcing himself not to look at the blood that was pooling on the floor by his little brother. "'Mis can't be distracted by you if you're hurt too and D'Art… D'Art wont be happy when he wakes if he finds you ignored an injury on his behalf." Porthos stressed, his voice faltering slightly at the mention of D'Artagnan's name.
Athos remained silent and Porthos huffed in annoyance before kneeling next to Aramis who was working rapidly to try and stop the bleeding.
"What do you need?" He asked, wanting… no needing to do something to help his brother.
"It wont stop," muttered the medic as he put more pressure on the bleeding wound. "I don't have enough to suture a wound as big as this and it doesn't stop soon we'll either have to cauterize it or lose him." Aramis stated brokenly.
"Here," Porthos said, his voice full of determinedly as he handed over his cloak. "I'll see about getting us a wagon back to the garrison, you keep him from bleeding out and he'll get through this." He added before turning on his heel and sprinting back to where Treville and the others were dealing with the aftermath of the fight.
"Porthos," smiled Treville, the smile falling instantly as he saw the blood now on the musketeer's clothes that wasn't there before. "What happened?" growled the Captain, his voice dark and hard.
"D'Art…" panted Porthos, leaning forward with his hands on his thighs as he tried to catch his breath, his ribs that had been broken with the ordeal with Ortiz in Lupiac were still healing and all the running was making it difficult for the man to breathe. "H-hurt … bad… need… wagon… back… garrison."
Treville's eyes widened at the information before turning to his men, who were equally as shocked and worried, ordering them to hurry to the shop down the road that Treville knew used wagons with their deliveries and obtain the wagon. Not needing any other words the men rushed to get what was needed.
"Galen!" Treville called, stopping the man who was about to leave.
"Captain?"
"Head back to the garrison with Leroy," at the shocked looks that graced both musketeer's faces Treville quickly elaborated, "D'Artagnan's going to need to be seen to as soon as possible so I need you two to have everything ready for when we return."
Understanding flooded into the eyes of the musketeers before they nodded and rushed to their horses, directing the animals towards the garrison.
"How bad?" Treville asked as he watched Porthos as he gathered up some stray cloaks from the men who had attacked them.
Porthos said nothing in response but that and the pain in his eyes was enough for Treville who immediately took half the pile from the musketeer's arms, "Lead the way."
Treville didn't allow himself the luxury of faltering when he saw the bloodied form of D'Artagnan lying on the cold ground as both Aramis and Athos worked to try to stop the bleeding.
Instead he knelt down by Aramis's side and began tearing the cloaks to make some makeshift bandages.
"Etienne and the others are getting a wagon and Galen and Leroy are heading back to the garrison to prepare everything for when we get him back," Treville informed, eyeing the medic with concerned eyes. "We need to get him ready to be moved."
"We need to wrap him as tights a possible, the wound keeps bleeding," Aramis informed, his voice void of emotion as he was well into what his brothers affectionately referred to as 'medic-mode'. "We're going to need to move very quickly when he's on the wagon, he's lost a lot of blood and his breathing's gotten shallow… He's fighting but even D'Artagnan's stubbornness can't last forever."
Treville and the other two inseparable members felt their hearts stop at Aramis's grim information, fierce determination lighting their eyes as they looked at each other, "Let's get to work."