Authors note: Preposterous cliché's, some dodgy medical stuff and barely any plot. Enjoy!

The Unexpected Enemy Within

Chapter One

The water was cold and choppy. He had seen bigger waves and was grateful it was not as bad as it could be. As he surfaced and was splashed almost immediately by a wave, he tried to get his bearings. The ship was behind him, sinking fast, there was no point trying to swim towards it. He twisted around. As he bobbed up and down, buffeted by the waves, he caught a glimpse of the small boat that had been tied up behind the ship. It must have broken loose as the ship was attacked and was now drifting about a hundred yards from him.

Porthos twisted around again looking for his brothers. He spotted someone, floating face up a few yards away. He kicked his legs and swam towards the still form. He realised as he moved that his left leg must have been injured. He had been vaguely aware of a sword catching his leg during the affray they found themselves in as the ship was attacked.

D'Artagnan was unconscious, a bruise blossoming on his temple, he did not stir when Porthos called his name and rearranged him so that the big musketeer could drag him towards the boat.

Porthos could not search for Athos or Aramis whilst he was pulling d'Artagnan. He hoped they were both in the water, he hoped they had both jumped from the stricken ship. He could only hope that once he reached the small boat, and had got himself and the unconscious man he held on board, he would be able to find his brothers quickly. The choppy waters were not somewhere any of them should remain for long.

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The surface of the water was yards above him. He could see the light of the fire still burning on the sinking ship. He was convinced his lungs would burst, his need for air becoming more than a luxury he craved. As he broke the surface and gasped, Aramis watched the fire extinguish itself as the ship continued to sink. There were shouts from the crew, but all the sailors, the ones that had been able to jump, had done so on the other side of the ship, towards the enemy. There was still enough light for him to make out the enemy ship, its sails full as the wind took it away from the devastation it had caused. The sailors in the water were either going to drown or be picked up by one of the long boats that had been part of the attacker's strategy.

Aramis recalled seeing the ships dinghy come loose and begin to drift astern, if it was still within reach it was a better bet than taking his chances with the enemy on the other side of the ship. Turning in the water he was almost elated to see the boat about fifty yards from him. The thought of the swim towards it was not something he was looking forward to. He had fallen before he was able to jump from the ship. As the ship had listed, he crashed to the side and had almost been crushed by a barrel rolling over him. Had the barrel been full, he doubted he would have survived. As it was he knew he would be covered in bruises and was sure his ankle was either badly sprained or broken.

As he slowly swam towards the drifting boat he saw a figure clinging to its side. Athos. If he could spare the energy he would have shouted out, but all his energy was being spent on the swim towards the boat. He could not work out why Athos was simply hanging onto the side of the boat, and not pulling himself into it. Being out of the cold water would surely be a priority for all of them.

Grabbing the edge of the boat he steadied himself and looked across at Athos who was staring at him, his eyes unfocused, a trickle of blood making its way across his forehead and down his cheek.

'Athos?'

The swordsman did not respond, he just continued to stare.

'We need to get out of the water…are you injured…Athos?'

Aramis moved along the side of the boat, hand over hand until he was next to Athos who just stared at him. He reached up and grabbed his friends shoulder. Athos released one hand from the boat and pushed Aramis away, dunking him under the water in the process. Disorientated, it took Aramis a few seconds to realise what was happening. Athos had one hand on his shoulder keeping him under the waves. Aramis managed to bring his hands up and pushed back at Athos, but he was in the weaker position and could not break free.

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Porthos had managed to glance around a few times as he gradually closed in on the boat. He had seen Athos hanging onto the edge of the boat and wondered why the swordsman did not climb aboard.

When he was within a few feet he was aware of Aramis talking before frantic splashing. As he twisted around he realised Athos was holding Aramis under the water. The marksman was wildly grabbing at Athos' hand trying to free himself.

'Athos!' yelled Porthos, wondering if Athos did not realise it was Aramis he was attacking. His friend looked at him impassively.

Porthos reached down and groped around briefly before his hand closed on the back of Aramis' doublet. He pulled the marksman away from Athos hold. As he broke the surface his friend gasped for air, Porthos grabbed Aramis' arm and guided his hand up to the edge of the boat.

'You OK?'

Aramis looked around and found Porthos who was looking passed him toward Athos.

'Yes,' Aramis panted, 'thanks to you…good timing.'

'What's up with him?'

'Bang on the head, I think…d'Artagnan?' asked Aramis looking at the pale young man held in Porthos' other arm.

'Unconscious.'

'We need to get on the boat.'

'Stating the obvious,' said Porthos with a wry grin, 'Athos?'

Athos looked at Porthos blankly.

'Can you get on the boat? Pull yourself up.'

Athos slowly turned his head and looked at the boat, then hauled himself aboard. Aramis looked at Porthos and smiled.

'You can be in charge of him then…he doesn't appear to like me at the moment.'

Porthos grinned, 'my winning personality…Athos, help me get d'Artagnan on the boat.'

Athos leaned over the edge of the boat and grasped d'Artagnan under the arms and pulled him aboard with Porthos pushing the unconscious musketeer from below. With a thud d'Artagnan landed in the boat.

'You can go next,' said Aramis, 'not sure I want to take my chances with Athos on my own.'

MMMM

Athos' continued stupor was a worry, thought Aramis, he had clearly banged his head and was now unfocused and combative. The combination would not be good at the best of times, but here in the middle of the night in a choppy sea, it could be lethal.

For some reason Athos did not seem to have a problem with Porthos. The big musketeer had persuaded Athos to drag d'Artagnan to the other side of the boat to help balance it whilst he hauled himself up. When Aramis had made his first attempt to pull himself aboard, Athos had leaned forwards and pushed him off. As he scrambled to regain his grip Aramis watched as Porthos firmly moved the injured swordsman as far away as the small boat would allow.

Porthos returned and reached over and helped to pull Aramis up, 'what did you do to upset him?'

'I have no idea, perhaps I scared him when I grabbed him a few minutes ago?'

'How long is he going to be confused for?'

Aramis shrugged his shoulders, 'I don't know.'

Athos was glaring at Aramis from his seat at the bow of the small boat. The cut to his head did not look serious but he doubted the swordsman would let him get close enough to look at it properly. Although in their current situation there was little he could do about it anyway. He looked around the boat, there were two bench seats, a storage locker and little else, oars were stored under the seats.

'No point trying to row anywhere at the moment,' said Porthos who had guessed what Aramis was thinking, 'no stars to guide us by.'

Porthos was correct, there was no sign of any of the other survivors from the wreck which had now disappeared below the waves. The sky was clouded, with no stars or moon to act as a guide they would be picking a direction blind. Their only hope was that when the light returned they would still be able to see the coast. They had been attacked early on in their journey so there was a chance that land would still be visible.

'Are there any supplies?' said Aramis eyeing the storage box next to Athos.

Porthos twisted around and moved to sit opposite the unfocused Musketeer and reached forwards opening the box.

'Water, and blankets…I think someone was planning on an escape.'

MMMM

'Are you injured?' asked Aramis.

'Cut to my leg…I'm blaming the boat moving,' replied Porthos as he moved around to allow Aramis to assess the injury, 'the guy I was fighting was not very good, he got a lucky swipe in.'

'I wonder who they were?' said Aramis as he untied his sash and wrapped it around Porthos' leg, 'we weren't expecting any trouble.'

Porthos managed to suppress a whimper through clenched teeth as Aramis tied the makeshift bandage.

'Not much more I can do than that.'

Aramis was about to shuffle around to look at d'Artagnan, but cried out in pain instead. He crumpled forward, Porthos grabbed him before he could hit the bench seat in front of him, gently lowering him to the floor of the boat. Porthos looked the marksman over trying to work out why his friend was in such pain. Aramis had his eyes screwed shut and was panting, clinging on to Porthos tightly as he worked through the pain.

'Ankle,' he managed to say between panted breathes, 'I'd forgotten…the cold…water must have…numbed the pain.'

Porthos looked down at Aramis' booted feet, 'which one?'

'Right.'

'Best get your boot off then…it's probably gonna hurt a bit.'

'Now whose stating…the obvious?' said Aramis as he managed to get his breathing under control.

It took him a few minutes to ease the leather boot off Aramis' foot, the marksman was clutching at the side of the boat, his knuckles white and eyes screwed shut the whole time. He whimpered in pain several times, but did not pass out, although Porthos thought it might have been better if he had. Aramis' ankle was swollen and dark with bruising.

'Not much we can do about it,' said Aramis when he had controlled his breathing for the second time.

'But we can at least swap our wet jackets for a blanket each? There are four here,' said Porthos who had returned to the storage box.

After persuading Athos to take off his doublet he draped one of the blankets around his shoulders. Athos was staring ahead, he did not appear to be focusing on anything. Between them Porthos and Aramis divested the still unconscious d'Artagnan of his damp doublet and covered him in the second blanket.

Porthos helped Aramis out of his doublet before finally taking his own off, they settled down with the blankets around their shoulders.

'How long before it is light do you think?' asked Aramis looking off into the distance.

'It can't be more than another couple of hours,' replied Porthos.

They settled down to wait.

MMMM

As he slowly opened his eyes he wondered where he was for a few minutes. His head ached a little, but he had experienced worse. He turned his head slightly and saw Athos sat staring ahead. The swordsman had dried blood on his face, he did not seem to be looking at anything in particular.

Looking the other way, he saw Porthos and Aramis. Porthos had a makeshift bandage around his leg and Aramis appeared to have an injured ankle. They were talking quietly. He wondered why they were not including Athos in their conversation.

A movement to his left, had d'Artagnan looking back towards Athos, who had stood up causing the small boat to rock. Both Porthos and Aramis looked over at the same time.

'Athos, sit down,' said Porthos firmly. Athos did as he was told. D'Artagnan wondered what was wrong with the swordsman.

'D'Artagnan?' said Aramis.

'Hello,' replied the musketeer with a slightly pained smile, 'what happened?'

Aramis carefully shuffled over to him, and sat on the bench seat with him, reaching up and feeling his head, d'Artagnan did not stop him. Porthos knelt beside them.

'You were unconscious when I found you,' said Porthos.

Another, sudden movement from Athos, had Porthos twisting around. The boat was too small for any of them to react effectively. Athos grabbed Aramis from behind and dragged him backwards.

Porthos shouted but Athos ignored him. The movement was causing the small boat to rock violently. Aramis was trying to grab at Athos' arms but the action of being pulled back had caused him to knock his injured ankle sending a wave of pain through him. D'Artagnan realised the marksman was close to passing out.

D'Artagnan tried to push himself up to sit, but found the movement made him dizzy. Through hazy vision he watched as Athos twisted his captive around and tipped him over the side of the boat, the movement causing the boat to rock backwards. A splash told d'Artagnan that Aramis was in the water. Porthos grabbed Athos by the shoulder pulling him around to face him and punched him. The swordsman slumped to the floor in a heap.

'Aramis!' yelled Porthos as he tried to steady the violently rocking boat and look for the missing marksman in the choppy water.

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