The lit torches attached to the dank stone walls threw black shadows across the corridor as D'Artagnan made his way down the damp steps into the bowels of the dungeon, peering into each cell as he passed. It was nearing midnight, and his nose crinkled as he saw the rats begin making their own ways along the corridors in their search for food; one scuttled over his foot and darted into a large hole in the stonework, disappearing with a high-pitched squeak.

Moonlight shone from a barred window high on his left, the light filtering against the wall as the Gascon continued his search. Night time seemed to awaken the 'guests' of the dungeon, human and animal alike. Screams and shouts began echoing through the wall; the pitiful wails making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end- the portion of the dungeon he was in had only a few occupants, so many of the cells were eerily empty and quiet as he tried to remember the way to the one he was looking for.

As he passed another cell his eyes met briefly with a man who had his face pressed up against the bars, his hands clinging onto the rusted metal with white knuckles as his wide eyes followed the Musketeer before he turned a corner, finally spotting the cell he was looking for.

Constance looked up as he stood at the threshold, staring into the scene before him- Emilie was slumped on the hard bed in the corner, her arms curled around herself as she slept fitfully; her eyes moved under the lids in troubled sleep, and her legs were tucked under her, visible under her thin blanket, making the Gascon think of a small child in the midst of a nightmare.

'How is she?' he asked Constance, giving the woman a small smile as she nodded, leaning back against the damp wall.

'She'll live.' She answered, sighing as she pulled a thin blanket of her own across her legs. 'There was a lot of that drug to get out of her system. Athos seems to think she is out of the worst of it, but she still has a long way to go.'

D'Artagnan looked around, noticing for the first time that his friend was not there. 'Where is Athos?' he asked, voice reverberating on the walls.

'Gone for a drink, I think.' Constance replied, looking up at him. 'After he had to restrain her to stop her hurting herself as the drug left her he said he needed some air.' Both of them looked across to Emilie as she stirred, before she simply turned over with a sigh, facing the wall.

'He seemed a little...troubled, actually.' She continued, eyes on the young woman's back, mind flicking back to a few hours ago as she watched Athos desperately trying to placate and protect Emilie as she fought against her demons, his arms wrapped around her as she kicked and screamed. 'He didn't say anything, but I could tell by his eyes...like his mind was elsewhere, remembering something bad.'

'Oh?' D'Artagnan muttered, crossing his arms against his chest. 'Did he say where he was going?'

Constance looked to him and smiled. 'The first tavern he could get to, I'm sure.' D'Artagnan nodded, before stepping forwards and putting a hand on her shoulder.

'Are you going to be alright here?'

Constance smiled, nodding as she stretched and got into a different position. 'I'll be fine- she'll be asleep for a while yet, and the Queen has said I can spend as long as I please tending to Emilie as she recovers.'

The Gascon nodded and made his way from the room, his boots echoing along the stone corridor as he went. Constance sighed and leant back again on the cold wall, before continuing her vigil at Emilie's side.

Athos was not in the first tavern he came to, nor in the second or third- he was just starting to get worried when a fellow Musketeer mentioned that he had seen their leader, bottle in hand, staggering in the direction of the Garrison.

Puzzled, d'Artagnan made a slow walk through the cobbled streets of Paris in the direction of the Garrison- by the way Constance was talking about him being troubled, he wasn't sure if Athos really wanted company, but he had to try. He knew the others would do the same for him if he had seemed effected by something, after all.

He poked his head around the wooden door, trying to spot the swordsman in the darkness- none of the lanterns had been lit, so it was easy to spot the lone area of flickering orange light in the armoury. The Gascon took a deep breath as he made his way over, eyes slowly adjusting to the scant light.

The door was ajar, and as he gingerly stepped over the threshold D'artagnan could just about make out Athos in the darkness, staring into an unlit fire with a bottle of wine in his hands. He gently rapped against the wooden door frame with his knuckles, making the older man startle out of his reverie.

'Knock knock?' he muttered as he stepped fully inside, shutting the door behind him. 'What are you doing sitting here in the dark?'

Athos, seeing there was no imminent threat in the darkness, settled back in his wooden chair and resumed staring into the empty grate. 'Thinking.' he answered curtly.

'And do you have to think in the dark and cold?' D'artagnan asked innocently, coming to a stop by his friend's side. 'You must be freezing.'

'I have wine,' Athos replied, showing him the bottle, 'it keeps me warm enough.'

'What, one bottle?' D'artagnan asked- he looked across and chuckled as Athos revealed two more full bottles next to him. 'Ah.' he nodded, before shivering and looking around. 'Well, three bottles is not going to sufficiently warm both of us- I'll get this fire going.'

'Do as you please.' Athos muttered, taking another swig of his bottle and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before resuming his silence as D'artagnan set about lighting a small fire in the grate. When he was done he pulled an old box from the corner of the room and set it next to Athos, who looked at him with a quirked eyebrow.

'Did I invite you to stay?' he asked.

'No, I invitied myself.' The Gascon replied, to which Athos snorted and took another draught of wine.

'I see.' he nodded, before warming his hands on the fire the was now crackling in front of the two of them. 'And why am I suddenly important enough to waste a night over?'

'I went to see Emilie,' D'artagnan started, watching Athos carefully as he continued. 'She seems to be getting over the worst of that drug.'

'Yes, she is...' Athos nodded, taking another gulp of wine.

'Constance mentioned you had to go and get a drink after restraining her, when she was struggling and screaming?'

'I...had to get some air. I hate dungeons at night, anyway.' Athos sidestepped.

'Constance said you seemed troubled before you left,' D'artagnan pressed, 'like you were remembering a bad time from the past'.

Athos looked across at him, a warning look in his eyes. 'I'm fine. I just needed to get some air, is all.'

'And before we all left Aramis said you had some experience in the area of helping people out of situations like Emilie was in,' the Gascon said, noting Athos' eyes now positively flashing with warning, but he continued nevertheless- he knew if he did not press, Athos would not tell him anything. 'What did he mean?'

'Its nothing to do with you,' Athos growled, emptying his bottle in one gulp before reaching down and picking up another and uncorking it. 'Stop asking so many questions.'

'I just want to help,' D'artagnan muttered, shrugging. 'You do seem troubled, like you have a great weight on your mind- why else would you want to be alone in the dark with your thoughts?'

'I just did not want to be around people tonight.'

'Exactly- why not? Why do you have such experience with people who had been drugged?'

'D'artagnan I'm warning you- back off.' Athos growled, sitting back in his chair. 'You said it yourself- I wanted to be alone.' he added, emphasising the last word in particular.

D'artagnan sat back on his box, his stubbornness kicking in- he wanted to know what was wrong with his friend, and by his reaction he knew it was something bad. 'I'm not leaving until you tell me- talking about it can really help.'

'I don't want to talk about it.' Athos muttered. 'It's in the past.'

'Well obviously its not, as you're still thinking about it- please, just talk to me.'

The two men stared at each other, the flickering light of the fire the only light, before Athos finally sighed and wiped a hand down his face.

'I had pushed it to the back of my mind since it happened,' he started, voice barely more than a whisper. 'Tried not to think about it,even when it threatened to come back to the surface...but tonight...tonight I couldn't stop going back there, to that horrible time.' He looked back to the fire, and d'Artagnan could see that even now his friend's mind was replaying a memory that was troubling to him.

'What happened?'

'I just couldn't stop thinking about what happened to him, and the events after that day...'

'Athos, what happened?' D'artagnan prompted softly, eyes narrowing in concern as Athos shivered despite the heat from the fire and took another swig of wine. 'Why don't you start at the beginning?'

'I have never told the whole story, except toTreville when he had to write a report for the king...and even then I omitted some details that were too painful for me to recount...' Athos muttered, before taking a deep breath and looking across at D'artagnan.

'It happened about two years before you joined us...' he started, voice low. 'Aramis, Porthos and myself had been tasked with returning some signed papers from the King to a Comte about eighty miles outside the city. It should have been easy, and indeed the mission itself went off without incident. It was on the way back that...that it happened.'he faltered into silence as his mind whirred back to that fateful day.

'Athos, its alright,' D'artagnan smiled, nodding at him to continue. Athos stooped and picked up a wine goblet from the floor he was intending to use himself before deciding to just drink from the bottle, and handed it to the younger man.

As he filled the glass he took another great, steadying breath- he knew he had to tell someone, especially now his demons had surfaced with a vengeance. He cleared his throat and sat back, before he began to tell his tale of the worst month he had ever experienced as a Musketeer, and as a friend.

Hope you enjoyed that!

This is the set up chapter- the next chapter will into detail of what happened those years ago...

So, just to warn there will be lots of Aramis whump, as well as some whump and lots of angst for Athos and Porthos, and lots of brotherly protection and love, as usual!

Thanks for reading- please review, I'd love to know what you thought of this opening chapter!

Next chapter up soon!

X