Evening My Lovelies

So, this chapter was originally going to be something completely different but I had this idea just as I was about to start writing and decided to go with it, hopefully you all like it :)

Notes On Reviews:

Deana: Thanks for the review - He's going to be bleeding a bit more today :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysdeeks: Thanks for the review - As much as I would love for that to happen I don't think he's in any real condition to do so right now :( Enjoy the new chapter! x

watlocked: Thanks for the review - I'm hoping the idea of a booby-trapped house isn't too bizarre and the trap ideas actually make sense as I'm relying on my tired brain to try and decide what to have happen. Couldn't resist having Issac hurt... Just think of how angsty Favier will be when they get back to the garrison and he learns his friend has been so badly injured. D'Art's in a really bad way at the moment but Aramis and the others are sooo close. Enjoy the new chapter! x

f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - Nope, definitely not doing himself any favors but I couldn't see him sitting there and doing nothing. I wasn't going to have D'Art wake up until Aramis and the others arrived but figured that would be a little nice to Porthos by having him wake up briefly :) I quite like the trap idea so I'm hoping its actually working as a story idea. We're seeing another of his traps today so expect a bit of whumpage :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Your stories are well deserving of compliments :D I havent read any of your stuff in a little while since you mentioned you've started work on a new one I've been tempted to go back and re-read some of the finished ones you have :D Poor Porthos is in a fair bit of pain that's for sure. Even D'Art's stubbornness couldn't keep him awake but he did try :) Haha that's true, definitely can't be giving our boys an easy time. Enjoy the new chapter! x

criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - Haha I know, they're sooo very very close but I keep throwing obstacles in their way :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - Hmm I did think it was probably you :) Glad to know you're sticking around, your reviews are always great to read and always make me smile so thank you for that :) Athos is more protective than angry today but his anger is going to return in full force when they eventually get to our missing men and see the condition they're in :D Right now I think what D'Art needs (aside from medical attention) is a nice puppy pile with his brothers, he needs the comfort and safety they provide so I'm thinking we'll probably be seeing one of them very soon as well :) I was planning for them to reach our missing men today but then I had this idea and it's unfortunately pushed the reunion back a chapter, hopefully the whumpage in this will make up for that though :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Issai: Thanks for the review - Ask and ye shall receive my friend :) I think even Treville knew he had no hope in hell of getting Athos and Aramis to stay behind in the wagon so he had to bring them. Porthos isn't quite free yet, almost but not quite. D'Art's in a bad way and in serious need of a medic (much like the others) and our boys are soo close too. We're seeing another trap today which I hope you like. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - Yay I'm really glad you liked that scene. Having D'Art so helpless and vulnerable was something I really enjoyed writing so I love hearing you enjoyed reading it just a much as I enjoyed writing it :D I'm thinking our boys need to have a puppy-pile very soon, D'Art's in need of the safety and comfort his brothers provide and the other boys need to reassure themselves that everyone's alive so I'm thinking we'll be seeing a puppy-pile in a coming chapter :D Mwhaha my evil side is having quite a bit of fun with these traps right now (we're getting another one today) so who knows what'll happen next :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

MicheeO: Thanks for the review - Haha probably, I think I've hurt every character in this story at least once by now (and we're getting another injury today) Enjoy the new chapter! x

As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading. Love you all, you guys are awesome!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Rescue II

Aramis was getting frustrated, their brothers were here, he could feel it but he just couldn't find them. The medic had been growing increasingly worried with every second that the men remained missing. The sight of blood staining his friend's clothes, clothes they wouldn't have given up willingly… It had spurred his mind on to creating a string of worst-case scenario's, which was making it difficult for the man to focus and think clearly.

As such he paid little attention to where he was walking, his eyes too busy searching for any signs of their missing friend's to even realize something was wrong until it was too late…

They were walking down yet another deserted corridor, their anxiety growing with the lack of confrontation they had encountered so far. Aramis was storming a little bit a head, leading the group while Treville helped along a silent Athos behind him with a couple of other men bringing up the rear.

The medic had been drifting, his mind fighting to push back his grief-induced dark thoughts. After losing Vivienne his grief spent every second trying to overwhelm him once again. As such he couldn't stop the dark, violent images that flashed in his head.

He was so focused on trying to rid himself of the images his mind was creating that he didn't realize he had stepped on a weak board until he felt it splinter and give way under his weight, sending him crumpling to the floor with a shout of pain.

"ARAMIS!" roared Athos as he pushed himself from Treville's side, limping as fast as his battered, exhausted body could manage to reach his friend's side.

Aramis had his eyes screwed shut as pain radiated through him, he could fell the blood trickling down his leg even though he couldn't see the limb itself.

"Aramis!" called Athos again, though softer this time, full more of concern then the fearful panic it had contained earlier. "Talk to me my friend," he pleaded, his hand coming to rest lightly on the medic's shoulder, offering the marksman a grounding squeeze.

"…'Thos," whimpered Aramis with ragged breaths, his eyes were still tightly shut though the hand closest to the swordsman shot up to grip the hand on his shoulder.

"Is it safe to move you?" Athos asked quietly as he glared at the splintered floorboard currently trapping his brother's leg.

Aramis was quick to shake his head, Spanish curses slipping from his lips in breathless whispers as he tried to push the pain down enough to explain.

"…Digging in," he grunted, squeezing Athos's hand as another wave of pain shot through him. "Need… to… remove… the board… first."

Athos nodded firmly despite the fact that Aramis's eyes were still closed and so he couldn't see it. He turned slightly, never releasing the contact with his brother, to look at Treville who, without needing to be asked, began to move to Aramis's other side, only to freeze when a voice caught their attention.

"And they said it wouldn't work," mused a voice, smugness clear in it's tone.

The second the voice spoke up Athos moved so he was in front of his injured brother. He had already lost friends to Marcel and his men, he wasn't about to risk Aramis as well, especially not when the man was completely unable to fight back and protect himself.

"This is your doing monsieur?" growled Treville as he moved from Aramis's side to stand in front of his downed musketeer, fury alight in his face as he glared so fiercely at the man Athos was surprised that he didn't just flee in fear from that alone.

The man raised an eyebrow, "Well lookie here, Captain Treville of the musketeers in the flesh… Marcel will be pleased to know you got our invite."

Treville bristled at both the comment and the reminder, "Where are my men?"

The sadistic gleam that entered the man's eyes did nothing for the ever-growing worry in Treville's mind, though he refused to let it show.

"You need to train your men better Captain," sneered the man as he returned Treville's glare with one of his own. "The mouths they have on them are going to get them into a lot of trouble," he paused briefly, the sadistic gleam returning even brighter in his eyes as he added, "… Well more than it already has."

Athos growled at what the man in front of them was insinuating but even as he wanted nothing more than to beat the smug look off of the man's face, he refused to move from his place in front of Aramis.

Treville on the other hand had nothing holding him as he stalked closer to the man. "What did you do to my men?!"

The man smirked, drawing his blade out from its sheath. "Beat me and find out!"

With Treville keeping the attention of the man on him Athos and the other musketeers in their group wasted no time in helping Aramis.

Athos kept his grounding grip on his trembling friend while the other worked to free the weak, splintered floorboard. Athos found his own eyes screwing shut at the sounds of pain escaping his friend as the men worked but through it all he refused to relinquish his grip.

Sooner then it seemed a large chunk of the board was pulled free from where it had been pinning Aramis's leg, the extraction of it pulled a loud scream of pain from the medic but with it gone they could lift the man's leg free and assess the damage.

Athos's eyes went wide at the blood soaked limb of his brother but he didn't allow the shock of it to keep him from helping. Without waiting for instruction or permission he used his dagger to cut open the fabric of his breeches, exposing the wound for all to see.

Aramis's leg was covered with large, deep gashes from where the splintered wood had impacted against his skin, fragments of the wood could be seen in the wounds and Athos knew they would need to be removed before anything else.

"I need tweezers," he instructed, his eyes never leaving the wounds he was trying to clean with water, the other musketeers moving instantly to search through their supply bags for the required item.

"…H-How bad?" grunted Aramis, his breathing ragged as he tried to hide how much pain he was in. He briefly tried to sit up so he was leaning on his elbows, which would have given him a view of his leg, but his body was to weak to hold him up so he was left with only Athos's explanations and descriptions.

"You'll need stitches."

Aramis groaned, this was exactly the last thing they needed right now. Cleaning the wounds themselves would waste valuable time their missing friends might not have but he knew, simply by the tension in Athos's body, that there would be no convincing him of leaving it until later.

Before he could comment further Athos began work clearing out the small slivers of wood from his wounds, the pain instantly silencing and overriding any coherent comment he might have been planning.

A string of explicit Spanish curses flew from Aramis's mouth as the two remaining musketeers fought to hold him down as Athos worked. The swordsman himself seemed to not even notice the insults and curses being flung his way as he worked, his entire focus set on Aramis's leg.

While this was going on Treville was desperately trying to ignore the cries of pain coming from his soldier as he fought with the man responsible for his pain.

The man, whilst clearly lacking any professional training, had a surprising amount skill that kept the musketeer Captain on his toes.

The man seemed to pick up quickly on the fact that Treville was already injured as within minutes of their fight his attacks became focused on the location of his injury.

Treville ignored it as best he could, powering through the pain to meet each swing of the blade with a parry or block of his own. His main advantage coming from the man's lack of professional training as it meant there were several obvious holes in his guard that he could exploit.

After a particularly painful scream from Aramis tore through the air Treville hardened his resolve. He bided his time for the next few minutes, focusing more of blocking and dodging rather than counterattacks as he waited for the perfect opportunity.

As he had suspected it hadn't taken long for the man to see Treville's change in approach as a sign that he himself was getting the upper hand against the Captain. Thanks to this the man's arrogance and cockiness grew, making him increasingly sloppier as they did so.

Before too long the perfect moment presented itself and Treville wasted no time in ensuring he got the best out of it. With a sharp punch to his stomach with the pommel of Treville's sword the man collapsed onto a knee, gasping in a desperate attempt to get air back into his lungs. Not wanting to give the man a chance to recover, Treville kicked him hard in the shin, causing him to fall back onto his backside. He followed this up with by pushing his blade so hard into the man's shoulder that the force of it pushed him onto his back, crying out in pain as he crumpled.

"Now," growled Treville as he dug the blade in just enough to pull another scream from the man. "Where are you keeping my men?"

"…B-Basement," rasped the man, fear now clear in his eyes as all of his earlier bravado and confidence quickly fled from him.

"And how do we get there?"

In too much pain to respond verbally the man chose instead to raise a shaking hand and point towards where the needed to go.

Treville nodded, saving that information in his mind before pulling his blade from the man's shoulder, only to follow that up by quickly thrusting it straight into his heart instead.

Normally he would recoil against such an act but he knew the man had taken pleasure in the torture of his men was well and felt certain the man would have taken any chance presented to him as a chance for revenge if he had been allowed to live. Because he knew this Treville felt his heart less conflicted and less weighed down with guilt then he had original anticipated.

Once he was sure the man was definitely dead he pulled his sword from his skin, quickly wiping the blood off of the blade by using the now deceased man's clothes before sheathing it and rushing to Aramis's side.

"Athos?" he asked, his hand coming to rest on Aramis's trembling shoulder.

"Multiple deep gashes, all with splinters of wood in them," explained Athos bluntly, his eyes never once deviating from the task in front of them. "Thankfully there wasn't a lot of splinters in them, I'm finishing up with this gash now then it just needs stitching and wrapping."

Treville nodded, grateful that the swordsman's anger towards him hadn't extended to keeping his men's health status from him.

"The man?" asked Athos as he worked to thread the needle he was about to use to stich up Aramis's leg. His eyes had never moved from the task at hand, never once did he move to look at Aramis, who was fighting against the call of unconsciousness to remain as alert and coherent as possible.

"Dead," informed Treville as he threaded a needle of his own, knowing that the tasks would go a lot quicker if they tackled it as a pair. "He says the others are in the basement and that there's an entrance that way," he explained pointing to where the now deceased man had been pointing before turning to face the other musketeers. "Go check it out. Don't go down there without back up but see if it leads to where he told us it did and keep your eyes open for any signs of other traps as you move."

"Sir," nodded the men as they rushed off to complete the orders given to them.

Turning back to the marksman Treville sent the man a fond, yet clearly concerned smile. "Stay with us Aramis," he instructed softly, "This'll be over soon."