Evening My Lovelies

I had planned for our boys to FINALLY get back to Paris today but I got a little overzealous with other things in the chapter and so didn't have time to write that far so we'll be back in Paris tomorrow instead of today.

! IMPORTANT !

I'm not entirely sure if what happens with Porthos later on in this chapter would actually happen but I'm too tired and lazy to find out, plus this is fiction so anything can happen, so just go with it :D

Notes On Reviews:

Deana: Thanks for the review - Aramis will eventually remember the whole drowning incident as well... I'm thinking maybe having it come to him in another nightmare as the last one was quite a bit of fun to write. Enjoy the new chapter! x

criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - Haha yeah peace isn't lasting long :D Poor Treville is going to be very stressed very soon, I think he needs a holiday now... Somewhere far away from trouble/accident prone musketeers. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Glad you liked it, our pup needed an exuberant moment given the news :D I have a feeling that Aramis and D'Art are a lot less bothered by their almost drowning incidents then the others are. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Tidia: Thanks for the review - The panic attack happened just before D'Art was poisoned and he doesn't have a leg injury but his body's still a bit weak from the poison so he's a bit shaky on his legs. Enjoy the new chapter! x

romirola: Thanks for the review - Glad you liked it :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

AllForOne (Guest): Thanks for the review - Poor Aramis was so clueless at the beginning lol. The bumpy wagon ride is not exactly the best for healing but they'll have to make do. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Katie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Haha Glad you liked it, we've got a bit of a rant going on today so hopefully you'll like that too :D... Damn seems to be my favourite word today it gets said a lot. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Issai: Thanks for the review - Aramis is going to ride with D'Art. I was going to have him ride with Athos but I have the feeling they may bicker too much and I have a scene in mind for tomorrows chapter that will hopefully be extra cute if D'Art's there XD They'll get to Paris... Eventually... It's taking way longer then I had originally planned but I'm having fun so you'll all have to make do with my constant detours lol :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Helensg: Thanks for the review - Now my brains just chuckling over tasty portholes lol XD We're addressing Athos a bit more today but yeah I know I've made it seem like he's suddenly all better (which he's not) I'm working on it I promise! Enjoy the new chapter! x

f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - I think Aramis would have done it had poor D'Art not looked so much like a kicked pup... I was tempted to have him do it anyway but I can't see him being that cruel. I kinda feel like I should write a series of one-shots under the title of "I'm fine" lol It's like the least believed thing any of them could say but they say it anyways. Treville's stress levels are going to be going up after today's. Enjoy the new chapter! x

MicheeO: Thanks for the review - But of course :D *gives cookies* Hmmm asking what else could go wrong just makes my mind go "Challenge Accepted" lol :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - Yay glad you liked D'Art's cute moment :) My mind seems to picture the pup as a small child when I write those sorts of scenes so I then end up worrying if I've over done it. Oooh the temptation was strong to have Aramis pretend to not know who he was but I figured D'Art would be full on puppy-dog-eying the man and no-one can resist them. We've got a bit of banter today but more rants then anything else (gotta love a good rant) I realized that none of them had been told that D'Art had a panic attack so I felt they would overreact at learning about it. I'm quite glad you liked the scene as I love writing protective musky moments (I have one planned for tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to!) Enjoy the new chapter! x

As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading. You my dears, are the best readers/fans a writer could ask for!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Road Home I

"For a man who almost died and then lost his memory you're doing surprisingly well," smiled Moreau as he finished up his examination of the medic.

Unfortunately for Aramis, most of his pain was muscle strain or bruises from fighting the current in the river so there was very little that could be done to help there

His knee was a different issue and Aramis found he couldn't help but glare at the joint responsible for his confinement into the wagon.

Moreau noticed the look and couldn't help but chuckle, "They would have had you in the wagon regardless, you know. This," he said pointing to the swollen joint he was examining, "This just gave them an irrefutable reason to do so."

Aramis open his mouth to retort just when Moreau pressed lightly on the joint, causing the musketeer to clamp his mouth shut in a desperate attempt to hold back his scream.

Moreau sent the musketeer an apologetic look as he finished his examination. "The swelling is worse then I would like but there's little I can do about that now. Considering our proximity to Paris I imagine the Captain is planning on riding continually until we reach the city. This means you're going to need the splints so I can't do anything to try and alleviate the swelling besides having you elevate the leg until we're back at the garrison."

Aramis grunted, having expected as much and did his best to hold back any sounds of pain as the doctor worked to splint and bandage his knee.

"I hear you're sharing with the young man?" Moreau stated, trying to get the musketeer's mind off of the pain he was currently causing him.

Aramis nodded a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, "Athos thinks we'll cancel out each others knack for finding trouble."

"Let's hope so," chuckled Moreau as he gestured for the nearby musketeers to help move the sharpshooter. "You and those brothers of yours are going to be turn me and the Captain prematurely grey."

Knowing he had no comeback for that given recent events Aramis just sent the doctor his most innocent smile and accepted the help with no whining or snarky retorts.

Seeing that the medic was in good hands Moreau turned his attention back to the wagon that currently only had the one occupant.

"So," stated the doctor, a knowing glint in his eyes that had his patient forcing himself not to squirm. "Do you feel like being honest with me yet?"

Athos narrowed his eyes before forcing his face to become as expressionless as he could get it. "I don't know what you mean."

"Please," scoffed Moreau, irritation becoming clearer the more he spoke. "The others might be unable or unwilling to see the pain you're in but monsieur Athos I am a trained physician. You almost died a week ago and before that you were subjected to unimaginable pain due to the torture forced upon you. Anyone who's actually buying your healed act is seriously delusional."

"I never said I was healed," shrugged Athos, barely able to bite back the wince the action produced.

"No you just seem to be content in portraying that for everyone by pushing your body well past its limits!"

"I can handle it."

At this Moreau was right in Athos's face, his usually kind and gentle features twisted into serious annoyance and anger.

"No you can't!" spat the doctor, any handle he had on his anger had now well and truly gone. "I can see the evidence in that in how you hold yourself, in how violently your body trembles the moment you release even a tiny amount of the tension within it. Don't think I haven't noticed you're lack of appetite either."

Eyes widening slightly at the doctor's rant the swordsman tried to open his mouth to respond to the statements only to be cut off before the first word could leave his lips.

"You've not eaten more than a couple of mouthfuls of broth at any one time since your injury, which considering the amount of blood you lost, makes it damn near a miracle that you're even conscious right now!"

"Bet he wishes he wasn't," snickered Aramis just loud enough to be heard by his wagon-mate D'Artagnan who, so surprised by the comment let out a snort of laughter that instantly had the furious doctor's attention on them.

"Don't even get me started on the pair of you!" he snapped, not noticing the smug look on Athos's face at the look of terror on his brothers'. "You!" Moreau exclaimed gesturing wildly at D'Artagnan who was now doing his very best attempt at becoming part of the wagon. "You actually had the gall to sneak out of my infirmary while sporting a fever so high you could practically fry an egg off of your skin!"

Embarrassment had D'Artagnan's cheeks burning red but the ranting doctor wasn't quite done yet.

"Then you not only leave the garrison, which by the way nearly caused that poor stable boy to have a panic attack when he realized what had happened! But you put added pressure on your healing body by coming and getting involved in all this!"

The beetroot red had paled instantly from D'Artagnan's cheeks at the mention of what his abrupt absence had done to Jacques. The Gascon knew that had he been in a clearer state of mind he might not have left exactly as he had but that didn't get him off for nearly causing a panic attack in one of the closest friends he had outside of the three musketeers beside him.

By the time D'Artagnan had pulled himself out of his thoughts he realized that Moreau had clearly moved back onto berating Athos and though he felt slightly guilty for doing so, he was glad, he really didn't want to have to hear all the other things he had done wrong as of late.

"…Oh for the love of… Will you stop trying to move!" snapped Moreau as he glared at Athos who had been in the process of trying to shift and make more room for Favier, who was presently hiding behind Issac and trying not to draw attention to himself.

Technically the musketeer should have been the first one in the wagons, having been the first one checked over, but Favier had protested, wanting to spend as much time out of the wagon as possible.

"I'm not surprised it hurt!" snapped Moreau as he noticed a wince of pain that Athos couldn't hide. "The location of the wound itself would make moving painful, add cauterization to that and the pain magnifies to whole new levels. The skin is still healing, move too sharply or in the wrong way and you could tear it and trust me, you don't want that to happen so stop trying to prove you're some kind of indestructible musketeer and take the damn pain draught you shrugged off earlier."

"I think he's sufficiently chastised now Moreau," chuckled Treville, looking more relaxed then he had in days. Clearly the sight of his stoic lieutenant being scolded like an overzealous child who's constantly injuring itself had done wonders for the Captain's stress levels.

Moreau glared at the Captain for interrupting him but the disruption allowed for his anger to begin to fade and with a huff he stormed off to his horse, muttering curses at the musketeers as he went.

"Moreau's been with the regiment for almost twenty years," remarked Treville, moving to stand between the wagons while also sternly looking at Athos as the man grudgingly downed the pain draught thrusted upon him. "In all that time I think this is truly the first time I've ever seen him lose it."

"Captain…"

"It's fine Athos," nodded Treville, "He'll cool down on the road, lets get settled so we can get moving, with luck we should reach the city later this afternoon."

"Luck aint really been our strong suit so far Captain," remarked Corbett with a teasing grin that quickly faded at the glare being sent his way.

"Favier!" snapped Treville, though it lacked the earlier bite. "Get your ass in the damn wagon so we can get going!"

"What about Porthos?" Aramis asked having not noticed the larger musketeer for some time.

"He's off scouting with Henri, they'll rejoin us on the road, now let's go!"

"Do you reckon they've left yet?" asked Henri as he and Porthos rode through the woods. Both men were on edge though Henri suspected the Captain had other reasons then the ones he stated for sending Porthos who was technically still healing out on this mission.

Porthos snorted, "'Mis and the whelp are probably being difficult, Captain's gonna have to yell at them before they can leave."

"I dunno," shrugged Henri a teasing look in his eyes, "Athos is pretty stubborn too, bet he's…"

Noticing straight away that his friend had stopped talking Porthos whirled his horse around to face him, his heart almost stopping at the look of fear in Henri's eyes.

"Hen-"

Henri was quick to shush his friend, his eyes never leaving the scene before him. He felt more than heard Porthos move next to him though even Porthos couldn't help but swear under his breath at the sight in front of them.

"We need to move," whispered Henri, silently willing his horse to be quiet as they tried to back away from the beast before them.

Unfortunately the wind chose that exact moment to blow towards the sleeping animal, taking the scents of both men and horses with it. Porthos's horse whinnied softly in fear as the beast before them stirred and that was all that was needed for the bear to wake, its eyes instantly locked on the two frozen men before it.

"We need to run, NOW" Henri snapped, fear lacing his voice as his hand slowly moved for his pistol.

"We run, it follows us right back to camp," dismissed Porthos, his hand going for his blade, "Besides the others could be arriving here any moment! We need to end it."

Henri's eyes went wide in both surprise and a bit of fear as Porthos slid off of the horse, the larger man's eyes never leaving the slowly moving bear.

Realizing his friend was right Henri followed suit, though he made sure not to stand too close to the other musketeer so they could attack from different angles.

Thankfully the bear wasn't a fully-grown one and so lacked some strength as within moments of the two musketeer's dismounting the beast charged, swiping at them as it moved.

Henri wasted no time in firing his pistol at the beast, the shot lodging itself into the bear's shoulder and doing little more than enraging the animal further.

The fight went on for some time with each musketeer desperately trying to get the bear's attention while the other worked to quickly reload their pistol.

At one point the bear, clearly close to death and furious, swiped out with its large paw, catching Henri off guard and sending him hurtling into a nearby tree.

"Henri!" exclaimed Porthos, his heart stopping as he saw the bear completely disregarding him in favor of finishing the now unconscious musketeer that lay crumpled at the base of the tree.

"Oh no you don't" growled Porthos as he swiftly changed the grip of his blade before charging at the bear. Just as the bear turned to face him Porthos jumped and plunged his blade straight through it's skull, stopping it just moments before it could gut him.

Sparing himself but a moment to gather his breath Porthos dropped his grip on the blade and ran to Henri's side, a sigh of relief escaping him as the man began to stir.

"Ergh," moaned Henri, his hand slowly coming up to cup his head, the musketeer unaware of the blood trickling down his arm from where the bear's claws made contact. "I'm… beginning to think… the Captain… was on to something," slurred the musketeer as he tried to get his vision to settle and for the two blurry Porthos's in front of him to settle into one clear one.

"In what way?" asked Porthos, his breathing heavy as he tried to calm his heart. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Treville and the others found them and he intended to keep Henri awake and talking until then.

"… We're… definitely cursed."