A is for Attitude….

The bar was dim and dank; reeking of spilt alcohol, stale sweat and tobacco smoke- Aramis wrinkled his nose and began breathing through his mouth as soon as he stepped over the threshold. 'Nice place...' He commented drily, quirking an eyebrow to Porthos, who snorted and gave a short nod in agreement, 'I grew up in dives like this,' he told him jokily, pretending to take offence, 'so watch your mouth, city boy.'

'City boy?' Aramis repeated, mock insulted. 'Ouch.'

'Please don't forget why we're here, gentlemen.' Athos muttered from behind them as he pulled off his hat- he took a sniff of air as Aramis chuckled. 'Could do with a window being opened, though,' He conceded.

They stepped further into the room, the midday sun outside all but forgotten as a smoky shade pressed in on them. 'Keep a sharp eye out,' Athos told them, his eyes flitting over the revellers as they sat around drinking the day away. 'He's here somewhere...'

For the last three days they had been tasked with finding a turncoat from the Army- a man privy to the King's private information thanks to his sister's occupation as a scullery maid at the Palace. Once the two had realised they'd been found out they had absconded; presumably to England or to Spain they had thought. That morning, however, they'd received word from a reliable source that he at least was still in Paris.

Now they had been tasked with his retrieval, with orders from Treville that the King hardly cared what state he was in when they had found him. Athos, however, liked to do a proper job, and that meant keeping him alive.

'We should split up, there's a dozen of these taverns on this street...' Porthos suggested, palm itching for the goblet of wine on the bar.

'No need.' Athos muttered, shaking his head and pointing to a stooped, shawled figure bent over the fire. 'There he is.' He rolled his eyes at the stupidity of it. They were just about to go over when they heard some muttering outside.

'Oh, here we go...' Aramis sighed, shaking his head as the door banged open behind them, heralding the arrival of two Red Guards. 'Just like rats...' He added.

'Thought this was our gig?' Porthos muttered, but they were all surprised as they merely walked to the bar.

'Afternoon, gents!' Aramis beamed, fixing them with a killer smile. 'Lovely time for a spot of drinking, wouldn't you say?' He added as two large tankards were placed by their hands. They each regarded him with contempt- as usual- as one flicked a couple of coins at the barman.

'I'd go steady on the old ale,' Aramis suggested lightly, patting his stomach, 'a tad fattening?'

The men glared at him, their mutual hatred of each other clear to see.

'Not the time..' Athos growled, hand lacing onto his blade as he stepped closer to their man.

'You better watch yourself!' One of them spat back, eyeing him with a glare.

'Oh really?' Aramis replied cooly, well aware that nothing untoward would happen whilst the public was watching. 'And why is that?'

'Because-' the man was interrupted by his friend, who sniggered and tossed his head towards Athos, who had his hand out ready to clamp onto the turncoat's shoulder.

'What are three musketeers doing around these parts anyway?' He asked loudly, grinning as Aramis winced- turning around he saw the turncoat stiffen, before he abruptly stood, hands for his side.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' Athos growled, musket out and pointed to his chest in seconds, 'my superiors want you dead- but I like to deliver fresh meat, not cadavers.' He added, eyes boring into the other man's.

Aramis shot the Red Guard a disgusted look before joining them, blade out. 'Better to come quietly than not at all.' He suggested, shrugging, 'it would make an awful mess of this fine establishment if we decorate it with your blood, hmmm?'

The man's eyes were wide- Porthos could almost see the cogs whirring in his mind as he worked things out- 'my sister...'

'Is with our Captain.' Porthos bluffed, eyes dark. 'She will come to no harm if you cooperate with us.' The man nodded, before putting shaky hands up.

'Excellent choice.' Athos muttered drily, clasping onto the man's shoulders and turning him- Porthos stepped back as he pushed him forwards. He raised his eyes to Aramis, who smiled at a job well done.

As Athos shoved the man out of the door to the waiting Musketeers on the other side, he turned back to the Red Guards, who were looking on with smiles on their faces.

'Classic work,' he spat, eyeing the patrons as they started to fall silent, eyes fixed on them, 'you always know how to muck things up!' He pointed to the door.' What a stupid, idiotic thing to do! You could have jeopardised our whole mission!'

'Va te faire foutre, Musketeer- get back to poncing around in your swishy cloaks, arresting people for show- let us do the proper work, yeah?'

'Proper work?' Aramis echoed, growling as Porthos held his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze- he looked at where he has tossed his head; he swallowed his anger in a second as he saw twenty pairs of eyes staring avidly at them.

'Look, we've just become top news for the day!' He muttered tersely, before glaring at the two guards. 'Outside. Now.' He ordered, adrenaline beginning to fizz as well as irritation as the guards stood, malicious smiles on their faces.

'Looks like we've just gone off duty- lead on.' One of them growled, cracking his knuckles.

Aramis breathed out a laugh, while Porthos snorted beside him- they eyed each other, giving minute shrugs to one another as they walked out of the silence of the tavern to the bustling street outside- they always did like to put on a show.

The matter was deadly serious, however- they could have scuppered the entire mission.

'You deliberately sabotaged that in the hopes of catching us out!' He growled as soon as they were alone.

'Relax, you got him!' The guard rolled his eyes.

'I will not relax!' Aramis muttered, eyes flashing. 'Your boss will hear how you almost cost us our man!' This seemed to rile them- one of them licked his lips, before giving Aramis a very nasty looking smile.

'He wouldn't have needed to have been caught at all if you hadn't of let him out of your sights, first!' He spat.

'Really? The blame game?' Aramis rolled his eyes, snorting. 'I'd expect better from you!'

'Well it's hardly like you do a proper job, do you- you're just glorified servants!'

'As opposed to fat, unfit, balding wastes of money?' Aramis growled, 'spending day after day trawling bars pretending to work- you're all just slobs who like to work as little as possible!'

Porthos chuckled beside him, nodding his head in agreement- this seemed to make them angrier. They spluttered for an answer, making Aramis laugh harder. 'So inept they can't even come up with a decent comeback!' He provoked, shaking his head. 'Pathetic.' He stepped backwards, giving them a sarcastic little wave as he made to turn around and walk up the street.

The blow to his temple hardly registered- the pain only erupted in his ear as Porthos swung him around, out of the way of another punch.

'Oh you're going to regret that!' He dimly heard his friend spit as his ear stung; a ringing sound encapsulated him for a couple of seconds, coupled with a sudden throbbing pain.

The thudding sound of more blows suddenly filled the air- he span around, blinking hard as he felt blood run down his face; upon closer look at the man who was trying to overcome Porthos, he saw that he had three interconnected brass rings on his right hand, and that was what he had hit him with.

He clasped a hand to his face as pain still radiated- a cry of pain from one guard, coupled with a thud as Porthos got him to the ground, heralded the end of the 'fight'...if it ever was one.

'I'll see you hang for this!' One of them said- Aramis saw he sported a bloody nose.

'Oh yeah, for what?' Porthos challenged, eyes wild. 'Self-defence?' He pointed to the gaggle of onlookers that had gathered in the last few minutes. 'And I've got plenty of witnesses to prove it!'

The man glared at him, wiping blood from his face- his mate clapped a hand on his shoulder and pulled, a bruise blooming on his cheek.

'Off you go- run away!' Aramis muttered, wincing as he moved his head.

Porthos turned back to him, shaking his head at him. 'Less of that now, yeah?' He muttered, reigning him in as the men walked off, muttering obscenities at them.

'They deserved it!' Aramis pointed out, before touching the blood trickling onto his cloak. 'What the hell did he hit me with?'

'We call 'em knuckle dusters, but that's probably not the proper name for 'em..' Porthos shrugged, looking at his wound. 'Could've been a lot worse.' He added, relieved. 'I've seen a man punched only once and he died!'

'Really?' Aramis gulped, grateful all he had was a headache.

'Yeah, nasty things, they are.' Porthos nodded, eyes narrowed, 'never thought I'd see 'em outside of the Court.' He growled, before ducking his head as they heard boot falls echoing.

'So I was just arresting our turncloak, the one we were supposed to find?' Athos muttered as he walked closer before stopping in front of them, as if just making polite conversation. 'I pull him up to Treville, handing him over...I was just about to turn and say how well the mission went when I saw I was two men down!' He glared across to them both.

His eyes softened considerably as he saw Aramis' head. 'What in god's name happened to you?'

'Red guards, and- what were those things?' Aramis looked across to Porthos.

'Knuckle dusters.'

'-Red Guards and knuckle dusters!' Aramis smiled, shrugging. 'Sounds like the name of a troupe, doesn't it?'

'If you say so...' Athos muttered, frowning and looking closer, shaking his head. 'You need that seeing to.' He commented, sighing at them both. 'Where are the guards?'

'Scarpered with their tails firmly between their legs.' Porthos chuckled.

'Porthos had to remind them of certain etiquette.' Aramis nodded, before squeezing his eyes shut and groaning as pain shot through his head. 'Hurts quite a bit, actually.' He said quietly, shaking his head a little.

'Come on- it's the matron for you, and then we can go and speak to the King; tell him the good news.' Athos nodded, before walking up beside him and putting an arm around him. 'Can you walk?'

'You're not picking me up!'

'I was thinking more of getting a horse for you, but you know- whatever you want.' Athos chuckled.

Aramis snorted, before shaking his head. 'I'm fine, really- just got myself to blame.' He said, before the three of them started the slow walk back to the Palace to look after their new 'guest.'...

1 down, 25 more to go…although there will be more than that, as I've been thinking up way too many ideas!

If you have an idea for a chapter, please don't hesitate to tell me!

Thanks for reading, and please review!