Upon arriving at the garrison gates they were greeted by the Captain and a handful of others who moved swiftly to carry the injured men to the infirmary. It seemed Pinchon had sent another man ahead to inform the Captain not only of their victory but also the injuries that had been sustained. As a result, two beds with clean sheets were waiting, along with stacks of fresh bandages, water, and a needle and thread. As Treville followed the men inside, he placed two bottles of brandy on the table next to the supplies, offering a small smile as he indicated to them, "For medicinal purposes."

Aramis looked at his Captain with appreciation, recognizing the expensive brandy as one that Treville favored. He opened a bottle, holding it up as if to ask, "Are you sure?" to which he received a short nod. Aramis gave the Captain a toast as he tipped the bottle back, taking a healthy swallow before replacing it on the table.

"Is there anything else you need?" the Captain questioned.

Casting a critical eye over the items that were laid out for him, he shook his head and pulled a sharp knife from his belt, slicing d'Artagnan's pant leg to reveal the cut that split the skin of his upper thigh. The Gascon's shirt received the same treatment as Porthos moved to stand beside him, bringing chairs for both of them, which were placed on either side of the young man's bed. Aramis nodded his thanks and pointed to the wound on the boy's upper arm. "I'll start here; can you clean the other two?"

Porthos dipped a cloth into the waiting bowl of water and proceeded to thoroughly clean the cuts to the boy's side and thigh. "How 'bout his ribs?" he asked as he worked.

"Still broken, but luckily no worse," Aramis sighed. He reached for the bottle of brandy, preparing to pour it over the freshly cleaned wounds. Porthos automatically moved into position at the boy's head, placing a hand on either shoulder to hold him down if he awoke. The contact of the fiery liquid with d'Artagnan's arm caused him to whimper and toss his head weakly, but he remained thankfully unconscious. Aramis moved next to the cut on the boy's side, which pulled a gasp from the man as his eyes snapped open, immediately looking for the source of the pain. Porthos' reaction was immediate as he moved forward into the young man's line of sight, whispering words of comfort and at the same time pushing harder on the boy's shoulders to keep him still. Aramis moved to the head of the bed and placed a hand on the Gascon's cheek, trying to get his attention. He turned into the touch and Aramis found himself looking into a pair of pain-dulled brown eyes.

'd'Artagnan, can you hear me?" Aramis asked.

d'Artagnan swallowed with difficulty before nodding.

Aramis smiled at having received a response. "You're in the infirmary." His words caused the boy's eyes to look around, confirming the familiarity of his surroundings. "I need to clean the cut on your leg and then I need to stitch up your arm, side and thigh." d'Artagnan responded with another nod.

As he moved away, the Gascon looked up at Porthos who still held his shoulders. His look to Porthos was filled with anguish as he breathed out a word, "Athos?"

Porthos frowned and Aramis stilled as he waited for the larger man to reply, understanding that the young man's last memory of his mentor was of him lying deathly still on the ground. Porthos eased his grip on one shoulder so the young man could feel the reassuring squeeze he gave instead. "He'll be fine. Took a blow to the head but you kept him from that bastard, Andre."

d'Artagnan nodded weakly and watched as Porthos released his shoulders and took the bottle of brandy from Aramis. Raising the Gascon's head, Porthos tipped the bottle to the boy's lips allowing him to take several large swallows to help with the pain that was to come. When he removed the bottle, the young man closed his eyes and Porthos moved to hold his leg steady so that Aramis could pour a healthy amount of brandy on his thigh. d'Artagnan flinched but remained silent, allowing his brothers to do what needed to be done. He managed to stay awake until half-way through his second set of stitches at which point the pain overcame him and he fell unconscious again. As they watched him go limp, Porthos shook his head fondly, "Bout time, stubborn bugger."

When Aramis had finished, d'Artagnan sported bandages on his arm, side and leg and was propped up on several pillows to help his breathing. Porthos looked across the Gascon at Aramis, motioning to their friend in the other bed. "What do we do with Athos?"

"Time heals all wounds and we must pray that is the case with Athos," Aramis said. He'd already confirmed that the blow to the head had caused nothing worse than the sizable lump at Athos' temple and a concussion, as was evidenced by the unequal size of his pupils. They both knew that there was nothing more to be done except to wait until the man decided to wake up, but that didn't mean that they had to like it.

Porthos pointed to a third bed. "Why don't you get some rest while I sit with them," he suggested. Aramis hesitated as he considered the larger man's offer, torn between keeping watch over his friends and his body's need for sleep. "If anything changes, I'll wake you…promise."

Aramis clasped the other man's arm in thanks and tumbled into bed, falling asleep almost immediately. Porthos placed his chair between his two friends' beds, leaning back with his feet on the end of the Gascon's bed as he settled in to wait for one of them to awaken.

It turned out that Athos could no more do anything easily than his young protégé could, and his return to wakefulness was abrupt and painful, prompting a bout of nausea that had him turning his stomach inside out. Even once he'd emptied his belly, it persisted, causing painful heaving that only made his head hurt worse, creating a vicious cycle where the pain of one caused the pain of the other. By the time he'd managed to drift off again into an uneasy sleep it was early morning and both Porthos and Aramis were exhausted from their efforts in helping their friend as he struggled through the consequences of his injury.

Aramis had taken Porthos' place at Athos' side, since he'd at least managed a couple hours sleep before Athos had woken, and he worked diligently to ease his friend's pain by wetting and rewetting a cool cloth to place on the man's head. He looked over at the other bed where d'Artagnan slept and was pleased to see that the young man seemed to be resting peacefully. When he'd last checked, the wounds he'd stitched showed only the customary redness from his needlework but no signs of infection.

Aramis removed the cloth from Athos' forehead again and was surprised to see two blue eyes watching him through heavy lids. He'd doused all but one candle earlier to ease his friend's pain, and from the look on Athos' face, his actions were appreciated. Replacing the freshly wetted cloth, he asked softly, "Can you manage some water?"

After a moment's thought, he heard Athos' whispered reply, "Please."

Gently raising the man's head just enough so that he wouldn't choke, he poured a bit of water into his friend's mouth. He could hear Athos softly exhale another word and replied, "You're welcome." Knowing that Athos would be concerned about the mission and his friends, Aramis decided to pre-empt any of his questions by providing the information he'd want to know. "Everyone is safe and the mission was a success; Andre will not be robbing any more carriages, or doing much of anything else, really. Also, Treville sent men after Marchand when we returned and he's currently enjoying the fine hospitality of the Chatelet. Six of our men were injured including yourself and," he hesitated, debating with himself for a moment before continuing, "and d'Artagnan. He's fine and in the bed next to yours," he stated hurriedly, placing a warm hand on the man's chest in case he attempted to rise. "He saved you from another bandit and then again from Andre after you'd been knocked unconscious."

Aramis watched as Athos fought to stay awake to hear more. "That's enough for now. You need to rest and you'll have plenty of time with the boy later, while you're both recovering." Athos' eyelids made one last effort to stay open until Aramis whispered to him again, "Rest brother."

In the days after Athos and d'Artagnan did indeed have plenty of time together. Athos continued to suffer from frequent bouts of dizziness and sudden weakness, leaving him restricted first to bed and then the garrison for many weeks. d'Artagnan was surprised to find that he didn't recover as quickly as he normally would and Aramis had explained that this was due to the persistent trauma his body had experienced over the last several months, during which time the young man had never fully healed from one injury before sustaining the next.

Porthos and Aramis had taken bets on how long it would take for the two men to kill each other, suffering from boredom or annoyance with one another, or both, but they were pleasantly surprised when neither of their predications came to fruition. It was true that the two men were bored during their convalescence, but they struck a balance with each other that was deeper than the friendship they'd previously enjoyed. d'Artagnan would tease, bully and cajole Athos into resting when his body demanded it and, incredibly, Athos allowed the young man to help during those times when his concussion literally brought him to his knees. Athos, for his part, was determined to show d'Artagnan his true worth to his three brothers and would gently scold him, as only a big brother could, when he was over-exerting himself.

And so it continued in this fashion as the two men practically lived at Athos' apartments until they were well enough to go outside. Then they spent their days together, watching Aramis and Porthos spar, and sharing meals with them when they returned from the short missions that Treville was favoring them with while the other two recovered. Nearly four weeks later, Aramis finally declared both men fit and they presented themselves at the garrison courtyard, pauldrons gleaming and cloaks lifting in the breeze. None of them knew what adventures the day would hold, but they all knew they would face them together.

End.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, follow, favorite and review this story. I had a wonderful time writing it and hope you enjoyed. Till next time...