Evening My Lovelies

We're doing a bit of a time skip today, which will hopefully make sense once you get reading. We've got a fair amount of stuff happening today so I'm hoping I haven't rushed passed anything.

Notes On Reviews:

Deana: Thanks for the review - I'm glad you're looking forward to the next story as I'm really looking forward to starting work on it. I'm not sure how long it'll take before I start publishing it but I'm also going to put up some oneshots in between finishing this one and publishing the next one. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Oh I very much want to read it but I know if I do I have to make sure I have plenty of time because I'll no doubt end up rereading a bunch of your other stuff as well :D (they're just too addictive to stop reading at one!) Haha yeah you'd think they'd have more brains then that but clearly not :) Comforting Athos is always a great thing to write, lots of fun :D So I'm really glad you enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it. Enjoy the new chapter! x

criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - I dunno... I bet Athos has his wise/insightful moments whilst drunk off his face as well :D ... maybe just not about any serious topics lol. Yeah D'Art's gonna be fine :D ... well until my next story comes out and I whump the hell out of him again :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysdeeks: Thanks for the review - I'm seriously loving the names you come up with for the "baddies" in this story, hopefully you'll continue to do so if you read my next story too, they're awesome! x I was going to have something different for the nightmare but that idea hit me at the last minute and worked so much better. Our boys were not impressed with him trying to move that's for sure :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

Katie (Guest): Thanks for the review - I KNOW! I seriously can't believe this story is as long as it is, I mean we're at over 300k words now as well! D'Art may be stubborn but his stubborn moments tend to lead to cute scenes so hopefully we can let him off lol. Enjoy the new chapter! x

f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - Don't worry Talbot and Gerald have to deal with dirty dishes and pots like servants for a bit now. Worry not our stubborn boy's nightmares are beginning to get better now. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - I was wondering when I'd hear from you again, thank you so much for taking time out of your holiday (which you're enjoying I hope?) to review my chapter :D Don't worry I wont keep you waiting too long for new stories once this one is over. I'm planning to have the first oneshot out... hopefully by tuesday/wednesday night as this story will be over very very soon :( I then have quite a tempting list of oneshot ideas to keep me busy while I work on the new story so I'm thinking I could probably get a one shot out a week while the longer story's being worked on. I'm not sure when the longer one will begin showing on here but I have a lot good feelings for this next one so it'll be worth the wait! (... i hope) Two of my oneshot ideas definitely don't include D'Art but I'll whump our other boys enough to make up for it and D'Arts in for a rough ride in my next long story so he could probably do with the break :) Treville's definitely relieved that the men are well on their way to recovery now, it's a huge weight from his shoulders that's for sure. I kinda figured that if anyone's stubborn enough to push their body well beyond it's injured limits to visit a friend... it would be our pup :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - Haha yeah good thing no one did hold me to that as chapter 40 was just as D'Art was being poisoned... god that was AGES ago! Yay I'm really glad you liked that chapter as I was quite proud of it... I dont think this one is as good but hopefully you'll enjoy it all the same. I so wanted Porthos or one of the inseparables to do something... hurtful to Talbot and Gerald but stupid Treville had to appear like the bloody responsible man he is and ruin it lol :D Though I am pleased you liked the grabbing throat bit :) I needed a brotherly Athos moment... it was calling me I couldn't resist! I'll admit I had the image of D'Art being cradled in Athos's arms that we had happen in a previous chapter in my head here when I wrote the Porthos bit but it was cute and flowed well so I went with it. I'm so happy you liked the cute moments we had as much as you seem to, they were easily my favourite part of the chapter to write so it makes my day to hear people liked them :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

watlocked: Thanks for the review - Bwhaha Yeah that action definitely fits our lovely pup :D Glad you thought the nightmare bit made sense, I originally had something different in mind but that idea came to me as I was writing and it seemed to fit more (but i was a little worried) D'Art's definitely doing better, he still has ways to go but he's definitely getting there :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

MicheeO: Thanks for the review - Hmmm is it evil of me to mention that while you were enjoying your virtual wine I was finishing off some actual wine? :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

Issai: Thanks for the review - Hopefully all the problems you seem to be having with the site will end now but thanks for taking the time to review even with them :D Unfortunately for our pup, our boys are amping up their protectiveness over him after that fall. I'm glad the change in his nightmare made sense and didn't seem completely bizarre like I worried it might :) While Talbot and Gerald weren't physically hurt in their confrontation with the inseparables theres nothing saying the other members of the regiment might... accidentally... knock into them while walking or accidentally trip them up or something :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

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

Love you all!

xxx

Chapter One Hundred and One: The Weeks That Followed

After his actions that led to him passing out, Aramis and the others were extremely strict as to exactly how much D'Artagnan was allowed to push himself and his healing before one of them stepped in and forced pain draughts on him and forced him to rest.

Unfortunately for the frustrated Gascon, this meant that he was unable to leave the bed, let alone the room, to check on both Corbett, who he continued to worry over despite numerous reassurances, and Jacques, who was his closest friend outside of the inseparables.

One good thing that did come about however was that the inseparables refused to leave his side unless they had no other choice and their constant reassuring presence and essence of safety they brought ended up doing wonders for D'Artagnan's nightmares. They were only a few weeks into the Gascon's long recovery and they had yet to disappear completely, but they had calmed enough that the young man was now suffering only one or two a night instead of whenever he closed his eyes.

This then led to the executive decision, made two weeks after Jacques woke up, that D'Artagnan was well enough to return to Constance's home and resume lodging there under her supervision.

Before he returned to the Bonacieux residence however, D'Artagnan had insisted on being able to see the two injured men he had spent so much time worrying about…

FLASH BACK

"I'm going," stated D'Artagnan determinedly as he tried to subtly disguise how much support he was taking from the wall to keep him upright. Aramis had only let him out of bed a few days previously and things like standing and moving still put an agonizing amount of strain on his healing body.

"We know," nodded Aramis as he fussed over the boy, his hands twitching like he wanted nothing more than to push the young man back into the bed to rest some more.

D'Artagnan raised an eyebrow and gritted his teeth as he pushed himself off the wall to stand straighter, clearly having seen the medic's twitch and understood his un-acted upon intentions.

"Alone."

"We're coming with you," argued Athos, quickly backed up by a nod from both other musketeers.

"I'm talking to them alone," stated the Gascon, though it came out with a slight hiss as he spoke through gritted teeth, the pain beginning to get to him.

Aramis was about to insist the boy rest, they all knew how excited he was to speak to the injured men and even more so to return to Constance's home, but he couldn't push the worry from his mind.

"We're just making sure you don't break your neck falling down the stairs whelp," reassured Porthos teasingly, "We've checked in on them both already so we'll leave you to talk alone."

D'Artagnan looked liked he was going to protest, having endured more than enough mothering from all three men to last a lifetime, but seemed to realize that he wasn't going to win any arguments right now so accepted Porthos's words with a resigned huff before the quartet headed out.

It took some time to get to the infirmary and more then once D'Artagnan had been convinced the stairs were trying to kill him but he did get there and true to their words the inseparables merely pointed out the rooms he needed to visit before leaving him to it.

D'Artagnan knew he really needed to talk to Corbett but he couldn't push away the worry he had had for Jacques and before he knew it he was standing outside the young stable-hand's room.

"You're aware I can read myself right?" said Jacques, his voice slightly weak as he attempted to smirk at the musketeer in the room with him.

"Hey," cried the musketeer, a slightly affronted look on his face as he put down the book he had been reading aloud from.

"… I think I liked you better when you were sleeping," huffed the man. The two of them bursting out laughing moments later.

"D'Artagnan!" exclaimed Beaufort, having been the first one of the pair to notice the barely standing Gascon in the doorway. "Christ lad you look ready to fall over, come sit down."

In far too much pain to complain D'Artagnan weakly smiled and accepted the offered chair, nodding his thanks when the musketeer stated he would leave the two to talk for a bit.

"It's really good to see you awake Jacques," breathed D'Artagnan, his voice cracking slightly as he remembered how deathly pale his friend had been only weeks before. "How are you feeling?"

Jacques shrugged, a weak smile tugging at his lips as he reached for one of D'Artagnan's hands, something the Gascon gave both eagerly and willingly. "Tired and sore but the doctor assures me that's normal and I'm healing well though from what I've heard that question could also be asked of you."

"We're quite a pair aren't we?" D'Artagnan chuckled weakly and Jacques shared in the laughter despite the pain it brought to both of them to jostle their injuries.

For the next few minutes the pair decided to ignore the fact that they were both injured and simply spoke of things like gossip they had heard last time they had been in town or had learnt since waking up. Jacques had released a particularly hearty laugh at the vivid description D'Artagnan gave of Talbot and Gerald being wacked by Serge's stirring spoon for not doing an acceptable job on the washing up.

"I'm sorry," whispered D'Artagnan after a few minutes into their chat when he couldn't hold back from saying it any longer. Jacques looked a mixture of exhausted and confused so the Gascon wasted no time beating around the bush and launched into the speech he had spent the last week or so preparing.

"I didn't… I really didn't mean to worry you or get you in any trouble when I left to follow Aramis and the Captain but I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. I didn't think of how it would affect anyone but myself but I know it did and I'm really sorry."

Jacques smiled and used what little strength he had to squeeze his friend's hand. "Word is you saved Porthos when you found him, I say that makes any worry I felt worth it. Just… a little warning next time, please?"

D'Artagnan practically sagged in relief at being forgiven and the pair returned to their earlier, lighthearted conversation for a few minutes more before Jacques began to doze off, at which point D'Artagnan decided it was time to visit Corbett.

Unlike his visit with Jacques, Corbett seemed to be expecting him as he was staring at the open doorway with nerves clear on his face while sitting alone in his room.

"Corbett," nodded D'Artagnan with a small smile as he approached the chair by the man's bedside, letting out a relieved sigh as he sat down, the pain of his injuries dulling to a more manageable level when he wasn't on his feet.

Corbett noticed the sigh and couldn't stop the guilt that surged up inside him as his eyes took in the numerous bandages poking out from underneath the Gascon's clothing.

"D-D'Artagnan," breathed the musketeer, cursing himself for his nerves as he spoke.

"You're okay right?" asked D'Artagnan, effectively silencing whatever the musketeer had been about to say whilst simultaneously surprising him with the amount of concern in the young man's voice. "They told me you were find but… You are okay aren't you?"

"Yeah kid," grinned Corbett, feeling warmth spreading through him at the boy's concern for his health. "Wont be returning to duty for a few more weeks but I've got my life thanks to you so I'll take the bed rest like a good boy."

D'Artagnan blushed at the comment regarding his actions, though it did little to alleviate the guilt he felt. "I… I didn't really do anything, you still got hurt."

"D'Art I was hurt the second they jumped me in that alley. Out of the three of us I was the expendable one and they knew it. The only reason they didn't kill me that day in the cell was because of you. You got tortured for my sake, almost died for my sake and what did I do?" spat Corbett, his words filling with self-deprecating anger the more he spoke. "I passed out! It was my job to protect you and I failed. You almost died because I wasn't strong enough to protect either of us, so if anyone needs to apologize for anything it's me."

D'Artagnan blinked in surprise, Porthos and the others had warned him of what Corbett might want to say, but he hadn't honestly thought the man's self-imposed guilt was affecting him as much as it seemed to be.

"I don't blame you," stated the Gascon with more energy and strength then he was currently feeling. His words making Corbett stop his rant and turn to him with a completely shocked expression. "I'm alive, you're alive and I think we should just put the rest behind us, anything else and they win."

"You… You'd forgive me?" asked Corbett, his voice thick with disbelief, "Just like that?"

D'Artagnan shrugged, instantly regretting it when it pulled at his injuries. "I can if you can forgive me."

For a moment D'Artagnan was convinced Corbett was going to cry but before anything else could happen Moreau entered and ordered him to leave and get some rest, not missing the identical smiles the two men shared as D'Artagnan limped out of the room.

END FLASH BACK

Since that day D'Artagnan had returned to the Bonacieux residence, spending a great deal of time alone, not that he mentioned this to his friends however; as Monsieur Bonacieux had to depart Paris for business and insisted his wife accompany him mere days after D'Artagnan returned to their residence.

Athos and the others shared worried looks whenever they were able to visit but with Aramis and Porthos back on light duty and Athos forbidden from leaving the garrison without someone there to accompany him with his leg still healing, the group's visits were not as frequent as they had liked.

That was why, a week after D'Artagnan left the garrison and three weeks after the collapse in Athos's rooms, the three musketeers were especially surprised to hear the familiar voice of their friend approaching the garrison.

"It was hardly their fault!" exclaimed the Gascon as he hurried as fast as he was able after the furious redheaded woman that was in the process of storming into the garrison.

"Ho ho," smirked Porthos as he watched the scene unfold, "trouble in paradise for our pup?"

"Must be," mused Aramis with a small, slightly strained smile. "I don't think our boy would be traipsing through Paris without a shirt or his bandages if everything was okay."

This caught the remainder of the trio's attention and none of them could stop the worry from building within them. Even when Aramis had been changing the Gascon's bandages D'Artagnan had refused to look at his healing wounds, the memory far too raw for him to handle without breaking down. So for him to be out in public with his healing scars on clear display for everyone to see, and they were drawing quite a bit of attention from the men in the garrison who had stopped to watch what was going on, something bad or serious must have happened.

"…Anyone else getting the feeling we're in trouble?" asked the medic with a tense smile as he noticed that Constance, in all her fury, was storming towards their table.

"CONSTANCE!" yelled D'Artagnan in exasperation, clearly whatever was happening had been going on for some time and the young Gascon had failed to stop it.

Constance, ignoring D'Artagnan's yells and attempts to catch up with her, stormed right up to the inseparables, who had all stood as she approached.

"My Lady," said Aramis, smiling his typical charming smile that the redhead was having none of.

Without saying a single word Constance slapped the now sufficiently stunned musketeer hard across the face.

"HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME HOW BADLY HE WAS HURT!" screamed Constance as she glared at the three men. "He gets hurt and all anyone tells me is that he's healing and then I come home to find him riddled with scars and wounds!"

Both Porthos and Aramis smirked at her words, hearing what wasn't being said but only Porthos had the confidence to voice it.

"She walked in on you changing whelp?" grinned the larger man, bursting out laughing at the deep flush that grew on the Gascon's cheeks.

While Constance went off on a woefully unprepared Aramis, Athos and Porthos helped their now exhausted and hurting friend over to the table, passing him a bottle of wine once he was settled.

"He's FINE Constance!" exclaimed Aramis, finally getting a word in and momentarily silencing the furious woman's rant. Without missing a beat he lent to the side, gesturing wildly at the heavily breathing woman as he stared at D'Artagnan. "Tell her you're fine will you!"

"I've tried," sighed D'Artagnan, slouching slightly so his head rested on Athos's shoulder. The Bonacieux residence wasn't far from the garrison but as D'Artagnan was still healing and had been trying to move as quickly as possible to intercept Constance before she reached the garrison, he was now thoroughly exhausted and in quite a bit of pain.

His eyes were just drooping closed when a small vial entered his diminishing field of vision. Blinking away the exhaustion D'Artagnan saw a worried Aramis kneeling in front of him, clearly having noticed the pain on his face.

"It's supposed to be for Athos's leg but we all know he wont take it anyway so drink," instructed the medic as he passed the vial to his friend, ignoring the mock offended scowl being sent his way by Athos.

"… He's really fine?" asked Constance, her voice small and full of worry as she watched her lodger close his eyes, lean back into Athos's side, something she noticed the typically morose swordsman didn't seem to mind, and sigh in relief as the pain draught started to take effect.

"He's still got a long way to go to be completely healed but given the severity of his wounds he's doing very well," informed Aramis with a smile. The expression growing fonder as he watched Athos shift slightly so that D'Artagnan, who was leaning heavily against him, wouldn't fall off the bench should he actually fall asleep.

"And if you need more reassurances, ask the whelp," grinned Porthos as he nodded to the apparently dozing boy.

"…Thought you didn't believe me when I said I'm fine though?" teased D'Artagnan lightly, his words slurring ever so slightly in his exhaustion.

"If you didn't insist on hiding injuries from us or downplaying the ones you clearly have we would believe you," stated Athos with a smirk as he noticed the overly dramatic pout on his protégé's lips.

"D'Artagnan?" asked Constance hesitantly, she had rushed out without even listening to him earlier when she had spotted the numerous scars marring his skin, having accidently caught him in the middle of changing when she entered his room that morning to check in on him.

Keeping his eyes closed D'Artagnan offered up a small smile, "I slept over six hours without a nightmare last night and managed to rush all the way here without collapsing in the middle of the street. Oh and I can finally hold my sword again, so yeah, I'd say I'm good."