Evening (or should I say very early morning) My Lovelies :)

Soooo sorry this is later than usual, I decided to take a nap when I got in from work and ended up sleeping a lot later than originally intended. Hopefully this chapter is worth the wait though :)

Notes On Reviews:

Deana: Thanks for the review - I'm definitely not making things easy for our boys. Enjoy the new chapter! x

watlocked: Thanks for the review - Glad you're not going to shake him. Athos is making a start on lecturing today but you can most certainly join in and he definitely needs a head slap at some point. I'm being evil again today but I enjoy doing so, so I'm not apologizing lol :D Viv's kinda alternating between being strong and almost completely losing it which is an interesting thing to write. Glad you liked the engraving bit :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Considering what's happening today he definitely should have stayed in bed :) Glad you liked the memory of their early days, i needed to write something cute. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Tidia: Thanks for the review - There's another one today :D I think our boys are now cursing D'Arts stubbornness. Enjoy the new chapter! x

criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - Bwahah Voice Of Doom... I like it :D Worry not voice of doom is going to be learning you dont piss of Treville and you most certainly dont threaten Aramis in front of him when he's in papa bear mode :D We're finding out who's approaching them today. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Issai: Thanks for the review - D'Art's far from being in any condition to ride, something that's going to get him in trouble. We'll be seeing who's approaching today. I'm glad you liked that they found the ambush site, I wanted some heart-breaking moments for our boys and it seemed the most appropriate setting to have one in, though they did get some comfort in knowing their friends escaped. Treville's going to be showing why he's Captain in tomorrows chapter, which I'm kinda nervous about as I also get when I write fight scenes. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Helensg: Thanks for the review - It'll be happening in 2-3 chapters time I should imagine, unless I end up stretching things out further but regardless it will happen at some point. Enjoy the new chapter! x

f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - Definitely one of the worst ideas our beloved pup has had, something he's going to regret when our boys get into lecture mode. Oh Aramis would definitely be as dumb as D'Art in that sense though that wont be happening until tomorrow :) When can our boys ever escape trouble? :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - Glad you liked how I portrayed the beginning of their relationships. I just had it in my head that Aramis and Porthos would be more noticeably welcoming whereas Athos would be more subtle in how he welcomed him, more reserved until he worked out what to think of the boy. Haha nice working of the chapter title :) But yeah love's proving to be quite the motivator in this story, particularly for D'Art... not that Athos is going to see it that way until he's processed his worry over the pup's condition. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what's going on with Aramis and the Captain. Oh and I know I kinda promised a brotherly moment today... the moment kinda turned out more harsh and less fluffy than i was anticipating but hopefully you still like it. Enjoy the new chapter! x

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

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Surprise Arrival

Athos doubted their injured trio looked overly intimidating but judging by what he could hear there was only one approaching rider, if it was a hostile they should be okay even with their injuries.

"And here I thought I was going to miss out on all the action when the boss sent me here," smirked the new arrival. At a guess Athos estimated that the man was a few years older than D'Artagnan, something that sent a pang of worry and sadness through his heart at the thought of the young man he had come to consider brother.

"Who the hell are you?" growled Porthos, moving slightly in front of his brother and Vivienne, he may have been down one arm but he sure as hell wasn't about to let one man hurt his family while he could do something about it.

"I'm the one who's going to kill you," spat the man, his anger growing when he noticed the men in front of him looked more amused than worried. His angry glare turn to a sultry smirk though when his eyes landed on Vivienne.

"Don't you worry sugar, I have much more entertaining things in mind for you."

The disgusted growls that came from both Porthos and Athos were loud enough to hide the terrified whimper that escaped Vivienne as the woman, having seen the promise in the newcomer's eyes, shifted so she was standing slightly behind Athos, the swordsman using his good hand to help push her behind him.

Noticing this the newcomer couldn't resist another smirk, "Protective of your bitch aren't you."

"I think your boss sent you here to get away from that mouth of yours," grumbled Porthos just loud enough for the man to hear.

Anger rushed through the newcomer and within moments he had his pistol out, primed and aimed at Porthos's chest.

"Want to say that again scum?"

Porthos froze; he could see the conviction in the man's eyes and knew he was fully intending to shoot. Things had escalated quicker than he had anticipated and the musketeer knew that if they all managed to get out of here then he would be due a lecture from Athos about the dangers of riling up enemies.

Resigning himself to his fate Porthos subtly moved even more in front of Vivienne and Athos, determined not to let them get hurt by the shot, but before he could really process what was going on a shot pierced the air.

For several moments after the shot was fired the entire area was still and silent. Porthos stood frozen, his eyes wide open as he watched confusion war with pain on the man's face before his wound became too much and the man collapsed dead at their feet.

"W-What?" breathed Athos, willing his heart to return to a calm pace having felt it sped up at the sight of a pistol aimed at his brother's chest.

Hearing Athos's voice pulled Porthos from his frozen stupor and the musketeer's eyes instantly sought out where the shot had come from, his breath catching as he spotted a familiar looking horse coming towards them.

"…'Thos," he whispered, his eyes never leaving the approaching rider.

At the sound of his name Athos stopped his inspection of a very shaken Vivienne to turn to see what had garnered his brother's attention and despite the agonizing pain of his injuries the swordsman felt a grin pulling at his lips at the sight of the approaching rider.

"D'Artagnan," he breathed in relief having worried about the boy more than he would ever admit, though as the Gascon drew closer it became immediately obvious that something was wrong. During the short time they had all known the Gascon they had learned that the boy was a very capable rider. So to see him now on a saddleless horse, barely staying mounted sent an instant wave of worry through them, even more so when they saw the boy's attempts to stay mounted finally fail and him fall of the side of his horse.

"D'ARTAGNAN!" they screamed, immediately moving as quickly as they could to get to his side, thankfully their friend had gotten fairly close while they were frozen in place so they didn't have to go far.

Rolling the Gascon onto his front Porthos couldn't reframe from hissing at the heat coming off of the boy's alarmingly pale skin.

"That wouldn't have helped his ribs, is he okay?" asked Athos, trying desperately to keep the full amount of his worry out of his voice as he braced himself on Porthos's shoulder.

Remembering about the boy's broken ribs had Porthos swearing as he moved to check. As soon as his hand brushed against the boy's chest however D'Artagnan squirmed slightly and groaned in pain.

"Come on whelp," pleaded the larger musketeer, "open those eyes for us…"

"Here," offered Vivienne as she handed Porthos a damp piece of cloth having moved to the stream while the two musketeers tended to their friend. After a few moments of blinking at said piece of fabric in surprise Porthos thanked her and dabbed the cool cloth against D'Artagnan's forehead, gaining instant response from the boy.

"D'Artagnan?" called Athos, knowing from past experience that the young man had an amusing habit of waking up if you called for him in a commanding tone.

True to expectations D'Artagnan's eyelids flickered open and despite the glassy quality of the young man's eyes the musketeers were immensely relieved to see them open.

"Hey there whelp," grinned Porthos softly as he watched the boy's mind try to catch up with what was going on.

"…P'thos," murmured D'Artagnan weakly, his eyes struggling to stay awake.

It took a few seconds but D'Artagnan's mind eventually caught up with the fact that his friends were actually in front of him.

"Porthos!" he exclaimed with renewed vigor as he tried to push himself up, the excitement of seeing his friends alive pushing aside all side-effects of the infection currently ravaging his body.

"And Athos," grinned the larger man as he struggled to bite back a laugh at the boy's actions.

D'Artagnan's eyes immediately latched onto his mentor and a wave of relief washed over the Gascon's face that had Athos's lips quirking upwards despite how much the pain of his injuries made him want to frown and grimace.

"Easy whelp," soothed Porthos as the boy once again tried to get up. As happy as he was to see the boy he could tell that his young friend was in a bad way and the last thing he wanted was for the boy to push himself too far.

"You're both okay," beamed D'Artagnan as he ignored both Porthos and his own body to push himself up into a sitting position.

"We've been better," admitted Athos, watching as D'Artagnan's fever-filled eyes locked onto his broken ankle, paling slightly as they did so. "But then so have you from the look of you."

There was a silent question in Athos's words that normally D'Artagnan would ignore as a matter of pride, not wanting the men in front of him to worry, but he could tell his friends were injured and he really didn't want to push his luck with them when they were that stressed.

"…Infection," admitted the Gascon weakly as his unbroken hand subconsciously moved to cover his bandaged wound.

Athos's eyes narrowed, "and you considered it a smart move to ride across country to find us?"

D'Artagnan blinked, slightly surprised at the anger in Athos's words, "…Was worried," he said quietly, his eyes down as he refused to look at his fuming mentor, "…'Mis was gone … couldn't do nothing…"

"What do you mean 'Mis is gone?" interrupted Porthos, worry filling him as he thought of the worst-case scenario regarding the word gone.

D'Artagnan's eyes widened as he realized how his friend had taken his words, "With... Captain," he explained, his hand coming to rest against his head as he fought against a wave of nauseating dizziness. "…Convinced him to let him help with the search…"

"We'll deal with Aramis's rash action when we find him," stated Athos in a firm voice, "we're dealing with your stupidity at the moment."

"I wanted to help!" protested D'Artagnan, shakily rising to his feet and instantly having to brace himself against his mare as his legs threatened to give out from under him.

Noticing this Athos's eyes narrowed into a glare, "you can't even stand up! What were you thinking coming out here? What if you were attacked?"

Feeling too sick to really notice the concern underlying Athos's words D'Artagnan allowed anger to fill him as he returned his mentor's glare with equal measure. "You can't stand either!" he shouted, ignoring the fact that Athos hadn't really had a choice to be out here as he continued to rant. "I saved you from an attack remember! I… I just wanted to help!"

"It was reckless foolishness," spat Athos and Porthos's eyes filled with sympathy as the Gascon looked like he had been slapped at Athos's words.

"…It was needed," breathed D'Artagnan quietly, his words almost going unheard by his friends.

"Does someone know you came after us?" Porthos asked curiously, "or did you run away?"

"…I left a note," admitted the Gascon quietly, his eyes on the floor.

"Of course you did," scoffed Athos, "Like the note you left for us when you and Aramis disappeared to begin with? It took us ages to find that. How do you think everyone's going to react when they find you gone?"

D'Artagnan turned his head to the side, keeping his eyes down, as he remained silent. In truth he had felt bad about how he had left, he knew Jacques would blame himself when they realized he was gone and that was something he hadn't wanted to put on the teenager.

Wanting pull the focus of the conversation away from D'Artagnan's actions as he knew the roundabout argument was helping no-one Porthos decided to try to settle some of his own fears.

"…'Mis," he stated after a few moments of silence, successfully getting the Gascon to raise his eyes from the floor to look at him. "How badly is he hurt?"

D'Artagnan seemed to pale as he remembered the injury, something that only heightened the worry of his friends, but he knew they needed to know. "Shot," he admitted pointing to the spot on his chest where Aramis had been hit.

"He's fine," D'Artagnan added quickly when he saw the alarm in his friend's eyes. "Treville wouldn't have let him go otherwise."

"Because he knows when people need rest to recover," stated Athos coldly, something D'Artagnan chose to ignore as he focused on Porthos.

"I... It bled lots," he explained, his breathing coming in short sharp bursts that should have been worrying him if he wasn't completely focused on explaining the situation to his friends. "I…I got us out… H-He explained… How to treat… Took a while… Doc said it saved his life…"

By this point any relief they'd felt at knowing their dear friend was okay had left them as they noticed the trouble D'Artagnan seemed to be having breathing as well as how hard the boy was shaking.

"D'Artagnan?" Athos said softly, all traces of his earlier coldness gone from his voice and replacing them was a large amount of fear and worry.

Hearing the different emotion in his mentor's voice D'Artagnan tried to turn to face him, only for his legs to chose that moment to give out and for the whole world to spin as darkness engulfed him.