Authors note: This is a follow up to Retribution, which I wrote a while ago. If you have not read that it involved a man, Robert, seeking revenge after Aramis inadvertently killed his younger brother. Robert kidnapped d'Artagnan with the intention of killing him to deprive Aramis of the closest thing he has to a brother. Obviously, it didn't work, and Robert is still a bit annoyed...

Chapter One

'Captain,' said Porthos as he walked into the garrison yard with purpose.

Treville, who had been coaching a cadet with his sparring, looked across. He indicated for the cadet to carry on before walking towards his Musketeer. Porthos' expression told Treville that the conversation was not going to be a casual one to pass the time of day.

'I've just heard from one of the guards at the Chatelet. Robert has escaped.'

Treville tilted his head, not understanding.

'The man we arrested for the assault on d'Artagnan,' Porthos filled in the gap in Treville's mind.

He nodded his understanding, 'the one who had that vendetta against Aramis for killing his brother.'

'The same,' said Porthos, his expression grim. 'The guard said he killed one of the goalers before switching clothes and slipping away. You'll probably get an official notification soon enough.'

Treville tried to think of all the possible scenarios. The vengeful man might just run, but his was a sentence of death if he was recaptured, he would be conveyed to the scaffold regardless. Robert had nothing to lose. His previous attempt to kill Aramis had failed, but he would probably try again. Treville was sure the man would not simply run.

'Where is Aramis?' asked Porthos who had likely come to the same conclusion.

Treville knew that it would be impractical to watch the threatened man constantly, but the least they could do was warn him he was in danger.

Treville sighed, 'it is almost a replaying of the last time,' he said. 'He and d'Artagnan were on duty at the Palace, they are probably on their way back here now.'

Porthos looked at the garrison gate, 'once they get back, we'll do what we can to keep an eye on Aramis… at least for a few days.'

'Probably all we can do,' said Treville with resignation.

MMMM

Several months earlier...

'I know we were supposed to take Robert alive, Aramis, but it was kill or be killed. Why has this bothered you so much?'

Athos was a little exasperated with his friend's negativity. They had met at the rendezvous a few hours before and were busy making camp for the night before returning the following morning to the house where they would retrieve Robert's body.

He and Porthos were shocked to see the state of their friend when Aramis and d'Artagnan had appeared at the meeting point, a bridge over a wide river, close to where they were now busy with preparations for their meal.

Aramis had bruising on his face and neck and had looked quite haunted. D'Artagnan had not known what to do about Aramis' melancholy mood. The cadet had looked pleased to see him and Porthos.

'I should have been able to fight him off,' Aramis had said, his voice still hoarse from his near throttling.

D'Artagnan explained what had happened, he looked very guilty as he told them how he ended up pinned to the wall unable to help Aramis. Porthos reminded the young man that they were all tired, having been chasing Robert for several days and none of them had really rested in that time. Fatigue eventually led to mistakes being made, d'Artagnan did not need to feel he had let them down.

Porthos forced Aramis to sit in the centre of the clearing and left him in charge of building up the fire while d'Artagnan was despatched to collect water. Athos approved of the move. Both men had been affected by the events and needed to be kept occupied.

'He'll be alright in the morning,' said Porthos quietly to Athos as they pulled food from their saddlebags.

Athos nodded, they had all been affected by some missions more than others. Sometimes the work just got to them. It was true that under normal circumstances Aramis would have easily been able to deal with the fugitive, but d'Artagnan had explained how Aramis had been forced to fight Robert in a room with no time to draw his gun. The sprightly young man had been able to get the better of Aramis for a short time, it had been unfortunate that in trying to shake the man off him, Aramis had accidentally killed him by pushing Robert back onto two hooks in the wall of the room.

'We will collect the body in the morning and get back to Paris. We could all do with a good night's sleep,' said Athos with a glance at Aramis who was staring off into the middle distance, his work on the fire forgotten.

MMMM

Aramis continued to be quiet the following morning, Porthos tried to make light-hearted conversation but even d'Artagnan was not responding to his jokes and tall tales. The cadet led them back to the house where he and Aramis had fought with Robert.

Porthos could see why they had struggled in the small house. It would have been difficult for his friend to draw his gun, let alone his sword without being compromised by his opponent.

They dismounted and left the horses loosely tied to a couple of trees. As they approached the house Aramis dropped to the back of the group allowing d'Artagnan to lead them into the house. The house had clearly been abandoned for some years. Its remote location had meant no one had claimed it for their own. Rot was creeping into the woodwork; rats could be heard scrabbling away as they pushed open the creaking door.

D'Artagnan paused at the bottom of the wooden stairs and pointed at a couple of the steps where the rot was setting into the planks. As he climbed the stairs, he missed out the obviously dangerous steps.

Porthos glanced back at Aramis who was following them up the stairs. His friend was still troubled by the death of the man they had been pursuing. D'Artagnan had said to both Athos and himself that he was not sure if he could have done more to placate Aramis. They had reassured the cadet that he had done all that he could. Robert's death was not what they had wanted, they had been ordered to take the man alive. Aramis had inadvertently gone against the order, but only to save his and d'Artagnan's lives.

'In here,' said d'Artagnan as he paused by the open door at the top of the stairs looking into the room.

Porthos stepped into the room and crouched by the body, reaching out to turn the dead man over. He paused looking at the body intently.

'What?' asked d'Artagnan when he saw Porthos' confused look.

'That ain't him,' said Porthos with a shake of his head.

'What?' said Aramis, the shock evident in his voice.

Neither Athos nor he had thought to mention the previous night that they had been given a further description of Robert. The lead Aramis and d'Artagnan had been following was very reliable, they had been convinced their friends had been on the correct trail.

Porthos looked back at his friend who was stood in the doorway, the colour had drained from his face, his eyes were wide in disbelief.

Athos stepped forward for a closer look, 'he's too young. The basic description is the same but that is not Robert. This man is several years younger.'

Aramis took a couple of steps back out onto the small landing at the top of the stairs, before turning away.

'You weren't to know, Aramis,' said d'Artagnan, 'he was trying to kill you and he would have killed me if he'd had the chance.'

D'Artagnan looked to Porthos and Athos, it was obvious he did not know what to say to placate his friend. Porthos rose from beside the body and crossed the room to Aramis who was taking deep shaky breathes, obviously struggling with the fact that he had killed the wrong man.

'Aramis,' Porthos said firmly, 'this is not your fault. We only got the full description ourselves a couple of days ago. You were following a solid lead. And d'Artagnan's right, from the way the fight has been described it was an accident. He was trying to kill you, you reacted, and he got impaled on those hooks. It. Was. An. Accident.'

Aramis did not look convinced. He blinked a few times before walking from the room. They heard him descend the stairs and leave the derelict building.

'Who is he then?' asked d'Artagnan.

Athos shook his head, 'whoever he is, he fits the basic description we had to start with, he was trying to evade you both, and he fought back when you cornered him. This man was not innocent and might well have been involved in Robert's activities.'

Porthos was stood at the top of the stairs looking down at the front door where his friend had disappeared.

'I guess we have to continue the search,' he said, 'although the trails gone cold, doubt we'll find Robert now.'

MMMM

Now...

Aramis smiled as d'Artagnan talked with enthusiasm about the cadets that had been put under his tutelage. The young Musketeer had not trained any of the new cadets before, he was taking the role very seriously. Aramis wondered how long it would be before he just saw it as another part of his work.

They had enjoyed an uneventful guard duty. The Royal family had spent some time walking in the gardens of the Palace, which meant the two Musketeers had been able to stroll at a discreet distance behind them, ever alert, but at liberty to converse quietly. Something they could not do often when they were guarding the family.

'Are you seeing Constance today?' asked Aramis when d'Artagnan had finally exhausted his talk of cadets and training.

D'Artagnan nodded with a small smile, 'we aim to meet in the market.'

D'Artagnan pointed at the road up ahead of them, that led to one of the larger markets. Aramis guessed his companion would not want company any further.

He was about to bid his friend a good evening when he noticed that d'Artagnan was looking around intently. Instantly alert, Aramis followed d'Artagnan's lead.

'Three men,' said d'Artagnan quietly, 'following us, and two more ahead, just before the turning. I'd noticed the ones behind us, but they weren't too suspicious, that's why I didn't say anything, but the two ahead, they're wearing the same cloaks.'

Aramis nodded, surreptitiously checking his weapons at the same time. He turned to confront the men behind them only to find all three had their guns drawn, pointed squarely at the two of them.

'What is it that you want?' said d'Artagnan.

'You two to come quietly,' said the man in the middle of the three.

'And why would we do that?' asked Aramis.

'We could shoot a few of the locals?' said the man, his dark scruffy hair almost covering his eyes. ''Spect you wouldn't want that… would you?'

The man nodded behind the two Musketeers. D'Artagnan remained still, his concentration on the three men, Aramis turned around and watched as the two men that had been loitering by the junction of the two roads, edged closer to an unsuspecting stallholder, a gun, visible to Aramis, but not the Parisian, aimed at his stomach.

As Aramis turned back, he saw that the three men had moved forward. The scruffy haired man looked at d'Artagnan.

'Turn around,' he said as he pulled a length of rope from under his cloak.

D'Artagnan glanced at Aramis who nodded slowly. They needed the men to get closer if they were going to try to engage them, but the threat to the locals made any move on their part risky. Aramis tried to take a few steps back, to put him closer to the man that was threatening the stallholder.

Another of the men, with a scarred, pockmarked, face shook his head, 'why bother?'

D'Artagnan rolled his eyes and turned his back on the men, putting his hands behind him. Aramis was about to do the same when the scruffy man stepped closer to d'Artagnan and struck him across the back of the head with a short stout stick. Aramis tried to protest but was grabbed and forcefully pushed into the nearest wall.

'What's going on there?' came a voice a few yards away.

Aramis realised it was the stallholder, he hoped the man would stay out of the way.

'Nothin' that concerns you,' was the gruff reply the man received.

Aramis managed to turn his head to look in the direction of the inquisitive stallholder. They made eye contact. The man nodded imperceptibly to him. Aramis wondered if they had an ally.

'Well,' said the man, backing off slightly. 'Just get your business done… before anyone else sees.'

The stallholder moved right out of the way, to the other side of his stall, ushering a couple of women who were watching back a few paces.

Aramis' attention was drawn to one of the other cloaked men, a big, gormless looking brute, who was pulling the limp form of d'Artagnan over his shoulder. At the same time, the scruffy man was busy using the rope to tie Aramis' wrists firmly behind him before forcing a rag into his mouth and pulling him away from the wall. The man pushed Aramis' head down and proceeded to walk him along the road a few paces before forcing him up onto a covered cart. He was pushed down to lie beside the still unconscious d'Artagnan.

All Aramis could do was hope that the look he had exchanged with the stallholder meant that their capture would not go unnoticed for long.

MMMM