Evening My Lovelies
Well it seems my self-doubt moment yesterday was largely uncalled for judging by the lovely reviews I got from you all so thank you for that :D
Can you believe how close we are now to 1000 reviews! We only need 27 more!
Notes On Reviews:
Deana: Thanks for the review - I think that review pretty much sums up the entire story lol :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
SunnyFreckles: Thanks for the reviews - That's good timing on your part :D Glad you appear to have had a good old binge :D Haha loved the comment about D'Art though I think the same could be said about all of our boys, it's like as soon as anything appears to be going well for them my evil mind comes out and injures/hurts them in some way lol :D I'm sure he'd welcome the hug... though Constance might get a bit jealous ;) I will promise that I don't have anything more whumpage mind planned for our lovely pup save for the pain of having his wounds treated/healed and the side effects from the infection he's developed (that still sounds bad though opps) As for Athos he's taking a more central role in the next few chapters so hopefully you'll like it :) I'm planning a conversation between him and the Captain in a later chapter that should be good providing I can get it to translate properly from my mind to screen. Thank you so much for your lovely comments they really made me smile :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - Hmmm it's probably a bit late for rabid dogs at this point, plus rabid dogs could just as well attack our boys. I'll find a way to include them (probably not rabid though) in my next story though... there'll actually be several good opportunities to put them into. Haha yeah any tiny steps he might have made to redemption completely went away with that... but its also what spurred him to make those steps... not that its going to save him at all but still. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Yeah I've been pretty horrid to our poor little puppy :D He's going to have a long recovery but think of all the snuggly opportunities it'll bring with it XD Corbett was interesting to write in that chapter and I'm really please with how he turned out and that people seemed to have liked him. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Tidia: Thanks for the review - Aramis is definitely pushing himself so who knows, we might see another passing out moment once this is all over. D'Art's in a bad way but his brothers will take care of him :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
watlocked: Thanks for the review - Yay, glad I've been redeemed :) I was tempted to have the chains hit Treville, or clip him or something but I figured they're heavy enough to do some serious damage even if all they did was clip him so we ignored that idea. Unfortunately for our lovely pup Louis's a douche so he wont be commissioning him after all this :( Though I do feel a bit bad as my evil mind really went to town on him. Glad the dialogue was all in character and don't worry you wont be waiting long. Marcel'll be meeting his end in the next couple of chapters. Enjoy the new chapter! x
FierGascon: Thanks for the review - Oh don't look at me like that *shakes head and passes over chapter* Enjoy the new chapter! x
pallysdeeks: Thanks for the review - D'Art's got a long recovery a head of him but he's brothers will be there with lots of snuggly brotherly moments to help him along :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Issai: Thanks for the review - Corbett's going to continue to blame himself until D'Art's well enough to knock some sense into him unfortunately... though I do have a cute conversation/scene planned for the two of them so that should be good. It's definitely been a bad idea to send the guards away so now the question is can they get back in time before something bad happens to our injured boys. Corbett was quite interesting to write in that chapter so I'm glad he seems to be well received :) Aramis has some comments to make on Porthos's aim, though that'll wait until they're not in imminent danger. As for my worries, I think I just had such a clear idea of what I wanted to have happened to him that I gave into a bit of self-doubt over whether I'd been able to accurately show that... Doubt that seems completely unwarranted given comments from lovely people such as yourself :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - D'Art's in a really bad way right now, he'll be needing a lot of TLC until he's better that's for sure. Oh Aramis and Athos are all for repaying Marcel in kind, their own injuries be damned. Marcel'll be meeting his end in the next couple of chapters so stay tuned! Enjoy the new chapter! x
Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - Yay! I had a feeling you'd like it :D D'Art and Porthos will both be awake at the same time today (briefly) so our boys will all be together and awake for a little bit. Glad you liked the ending, i was a little worried about it so it's a relief to know you liked it :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
MicheeO: Thanks for the review - As long as you enjoyed reading thats all that matters :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - We're getting a bit more emotion today, Athos's anger is coming back into play a little bit though thankfully he hasn't attacked Treville again... yet. Yeah seeing that the door opening brought a rescue instead of more pain definitely had Porthos's body instantly relaxing with relief, causing him to pass out... plus he's in quite a bit of pain himself at the moment as well. Corbett was a lot of fun to write in that chapter, he needed to be able to do something and telling what D'Art had done for him was all he could do. Thankfully for poor Corbett he passed out before too long so didn't see everything that happened to D'Art, only the beginning but I think not knowing what else had happened was almost worse then actually knowing what happened. Haha Glad I could deliver the line you've been waiting for :D I'm really glad you liked the ending, I was a little concerned it might have been too much or too cheesy so I'm really glad you liked it. Enjoy the new chapter! x
As Always Much Love And Many Thanks For Following/Favouriting/Reviewing/Reading. Love You All!
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter Eighty-Two: Painful Reunion
"Here," said Treville softly as he passed a key over to Athos, elaborating when he noticed the musketeer's confused expression. "One of the keys we took off of Marcel's man. Seems to work on the chains."
Athos nodded, a silent thank you in his eyes as he gently cradled his brother's hands in his lap and undid the chains.
The sight of his brother's wrists brought the anger Athos had been consciously pushing down right back up to the surface. The skin around the shackles was completely shredded and coated in blood both dry and wet. Deep almost black bruises were peaking out under the blood and brought the painful memory of being locked in Daviau's torture chair back up for the swordsman, causing him to momentarily freeze as he fought to push down the memory.
In the end it was another soft groan from his brother that gave him the last push he needed to stop the feeling the phantom pain now flaring up in his body.
"Porthos?" he called gently, leaning closer to his brother as he lightly squeezed the man's hand.
Unfortunately for the lieutenant, Porthos's wakening was not a pleasant one as the man's pain-filled mind and body both reacted badly to feeling unknown hands on him as he returned to consciousness.
This negative reaction caused Porthos's body to shoot up into a sitting position, his head knocking hard against Athos's own, which had been close to his own as he searched for signs of wakening. The blow was hard enough to pull a surprised shout of pain from the swordsman as well as knocking him backwards slightly. Before either he or anyone could react to the blow Porthos had followed it up, unknowingly, by flailing his arms, one of which caught the swordsman right in the jaw.
"ATHOS!" exclaimed both Treville and Aramis as they watched their friend fall back with a groan of pain.
Fortunately though the call was enough to snap Porthos back into the present moment and the man's eyes widened both in surprise and guilt as he took in the sight of his brother before him.
"Shit 'Thos I'm sorry!" exclaimed Porthos breathlessly as he tried to push through the pain to reach his brother who was now pushing himself back into the position he had been in before Porthos's attack.
"Stop," ordered Athos as he saw his brother trying to move. The hurt look that crossed Porthos's face made the musketeer instantly regret the harsh tone his voice had taken on but worry for the man's health had sharpened Athos's tongue and so he quickly continued before Porthos could think that he blamed him for his reaction.
"You're only going to hurt yourself worse," he added, his voice much softer than before. "I've had worse, don't worry."
His words did little to remove the guilt in his brother's eyes but he was simply glad the man had listened to him and stopped moving.
"H-How are you here?" Porthos asked weakly as Athos returned to his side and began his task of checking over the man once again.
Athos's jaw tensed and Porthos, even in his exhausted state could see the pain in his beloved friend's features. "We… We were invited."
Porthos was silent for a moment as his pain-dulled mind processed what had been said but before too long understanding and sympathy flooded his face. "Pauldron."
Athos nodded sharply, his grip on Porthos's arm tightening slightly as he recalled the sight of his brother's pauldrons and his protégé's jacket all covered in blood. He snapped out of the memory as Porthos hissed in pain. Releasing his grip the swordsman sent his friend an apologetic look that Porthos simply shrugged at.
For the next few moments' silence filled the room as the focus remained on treating the more severely wounded men but then Porthos's eyes widened and filled with fear.
"What?" Athos asked, his voice practically a growl as it promised pain to whatever had brought such fear to his brother's face.
"…The whelp," breathed Porthos, the pain in his body flaring up to new proportions as he tried to move to where he was sure the boy had been. "…Corbett."
"Is safe in the Captain's hands," explained Athos softly as he nodded towards the pair, Treville turning slightly as he heard himself being mentioned.
"I gave him something for the pain," explained Treville as he noticed Porthos's worried eyes on the now sleeping musketeer's face. "It's strong stuff and knocked him right out. There are some injuries that could do with Aramis's trained eyes on them but he's alive."
The word 'alive' was a balm to Porthos's frayed nerves and the musketeer practically sagged in relief as he let out a long sigh. Moment later however the tenseness had returned, doing little to help with the pain in the man's body. "The whelp?"
Athos fought to keep his anger at what the boy had suffered from showing on his face as he nodded towards his protégé, grateful that Aramis, who didn't seem to have even noticed his brother was awake as he was so focused on the unconscious patient before him, blocked Porthos's view of him.
"Aramis has him," reassured Athos as he saw the worry and guilt flood Porthos's features.
"How bad?" Porthos asked, his voice dry and hoarse as his eyes pleaded at Athos for information.
For a moment Athos considered hiding the true extent of the boy's injuries from his brother, the last thing Porthos needed right now was to be worried about someone who wasn't himself but he also knew that the man would never forgive him if D'Artagnan passed from his injuries and he hadn't been given time to prepare himself and say goodbye because Athos had been kept the truth from him.
So with eyes blazing with fury at what had been forced upon their young friend Athos began explaining to his brother all the injuries and damage on the Gascon that he was aware of. Porthos was practically shaking with rage by the end of the explanation but Athos was able to distract him from his anger by starting work on treating the larger musketeer's wounds.
"What hurts worse?" Athos asked as he removed Porthos's shirt, biting back another growl at what he saw.
The man's chest was an assortment of different coloured bruises both new and old. Like Athos and Aramis had suspected their friend was sporting multiple stab wounds over his torso and thighs. Athos almost sagged in relief himself when he realized that Porthos hadn't been subjected to the same torture that D'Artagnan had… He didn't know if he could have handled knowing both of his friends had endured that pain while he had been warm in his bed, completely none the wiser.
Porthos huffed a laugh, though it was bitter and empty of mirth. "Right now? Pretty much everything," he admitted quietly, his eyes screwing shut in pain as Athos's hand ghosted across his dislocated shoulder.
"When was this done?" Athos asked as he gauged if he could reset the joint with the swelling like it currently way. The cold in the room might have been enough to help stop the swelling from getting too bad but unfortunately all of Porthos's frantic pulling on his chains had only added to the shoulder injury and now Athos wasn't sure he could get the joint back into place without decreasing the swelling a bit first.
Porthos attempted a shrug but aborted when the pain flared up again, "Not long after we were brought 'ere," he answered, confusion flickering across his face as he asked, "How long 'ave we been 'ere anyway?"
The dark look that settled on Athos's face at that innocent question confused Porthos greatly, but not nearly as much as his response did.
"Just over a day since myself and Aramis learnt of your disappearance."
Porthos frowned but just as he opened his mouth to ask for clarification Treville spoke up, exasperation and guilt thick in his voice.
"Athos," sighed the Captain, moving from his spot by Corbett to sit on Porthos's other side opposite his lieutenant. "We've discussed this."
Athos ignored Treville's words, something that shocked Porthos enough that he could do nothing but blink at the man, though it seemed Athos was more than happy to explain the situation to his friend.
"We were not informed of your disappearance," Athos explained, fury sharpening his tone as he refused to even look at the Captain. "The only reason we did find out was because we overheard them discussing it and they had no option but to explain."
"I would have told you come morning," stated Treville, his words taking a slight pleading tone as his gaze flickered between the two men. "Neither of you were in any condition to be out roaming the streets!"
Porthos watched as Athos continued to ignore the Captain in favor of tending to his injuries and while the larger man disagreed with the borderline childish reaction Athos was displaying, he also couldn't deny he wouldn't be acting in exactly the same way if he had been in Athos's shoes.
"Anything broken?" Athos asked, diverting the tense conversation back onto the topic of Porthos's injuries without sparing the Captain a single glance.
Porthos was silent for a moment as he debated trying to force his brother to talk to the Captain but eventually he sighed and answered the question. "…Don't think so, but as I said, everything hurts, could be wrong."
Athos looked like he didn't know whether to be furious at the pain suffered by his brothers or exasperated at Porthos's blasé attitude to his own wounds. Eventually it looked like he settled on exasperated as he gently pushed on the larger man's wrists, refusing to flinch when Porthos let out a cry of pain.
"Don't feel broken," stated Athos as he unrolled some bandages in preparation of wrapping the wounds. Both wrists wound need monitoring for signs of infection but both also appeared clear at the moment so he was happy to wrap them. "Cracked probably judging by your reaction, we'll get Aramis or Moreau to check when we're out of here to be sure."
Porthos wanted to glare at his brother for his actions but then he noticed the dark look had faded from his expression. With a quiet sigh the larger musketeer reasoned that if checking him over, no matter how painfully, helped his brother handle everything then he would let him do it with only minimal complaining.
Aramis was aware of the conversations going on behind him but his complete focus was on the alarmingly pale boy in front of him. He had done his best to drain the worst infected wounds, his heart breaking at each pained whimper the treatment drew from his unconscious friend in the process.
As it was the musketeer was now trying to stitch the many, many wounds closed, all while trying to ensure there would be minimal scarring. He was not about to fool himself by hoping that the boy would be left mark free at the end of this, but he'd be damned if he was going to be responsible for the Gascon being forced to wear horrific scars that would remind him of the torture he'd endured for the rest of his life.
Because of his determination the stitching process was a long slow one. The medic usually prided himself on the neatness of his needlework but now, with exhaustion, pain and grief drawing his focus away he found himself having to work even harder to get back to his normal standard.
He had just finished on one of the smaller cuts, one spanning from the back of the boy's shoulder to the front, when he noticed that D'Artagnan appeared to be stirring.
Sending up a quick thankful comment for having the boy hold off from waking until after the needle was out of his skin Aramis leant forward, suturing supplies forgotten as he used both hands to cup the Gascon's face, his thumbs drawing small circles on his face in an effort to encourage the boy to wake.
With a small groan of pain D'Artagnan head instinctively leant into Aramis's touch as his eyes flickered open.
"D'Artagnan!" exclaimed the medic joyfully as tears began to well up behind his eyes at the sight of his friend awake.
His call, the first sound he had made in some time, instantly caught the attention of everyone else in the room and without even being asked they all began to move towards the boy, although Porthos was shot down with a harsh glare from Athos.
Both Captain and Lieutenant were just about to step away from their charges when another voice had them freezing in place.
"Hello boys."