Athos pushed her into a quiet corner that was hidden from the eyes of the other men, that were going about their daily routines and duties at the barracks. His grip on her arm had gotten tighter; Gabriel doing her best not to wince, sure that she would be able to see the bruises from his fingertips on her skin when the day finally ended.

"What happened last night...........?" Athos growled demandingly, after making sure that it was just the two of them. His eyes dark, threatening; with a slight air of worry behind them. The young Fontin pulling her arm away from Athos' and doing her best to glare back, as she stood up to her full height and crossed her arms over her chest.

A part of her wanted to tell him that he had kissed her; to confess that she had kissed him back. To admit that she was in fact a girl and hope that he would kiss her again, now that he was a little more sober. Another part, that he had kissed her and watch him squirm as she explained that he had pushed his tongue into her mouth, while letting him still believe that she was a young man. But the bigger part of her knew that she had to deny everything; that she had to let him think, that if he had remembered something from last night, it was just some kind of drunken dream on his part; more for her own sake, than for his.

Why did things have to be so complicated when it came to Athos; why did her emotions, her feelings for him, have to be so mixed? She knew where she was with the others; Aramis, Porthos, and d'Artagnan, were all good men; men that had been nothing but kind to her since she had helped them with the Spanish, nothing but supportive. They were all handsome and she had to admit that she had found herself, at one point or another, wondering what it would be like to kiss all of them, to be held by them, but she would quickly dismiss the notions; they were like the brothers that she had never had, and she would not change that. But then there was Athos; moody, gruff Athos. Athos had never been good to her, never been kind; he had never been supportive or made her feel like she could be one of them. He had been nothing but dismissive of her, of her desire to be a Musketeer. Treating her as if she were nothing, and even injuring her in their training duel. Yet still, when she caught him smiling, laughing with one of the others, she would find her heart beating so fast, that she thought it might burst; and when she thought about him, her anger, her annoyance at how he would treat her, would be mixed with the desire to know him better; to love him and try and fix the broken heart, his wife had left behind. To show him that not only could she be a Musketeer as a woman, but she could care for him, too. But she knew nothing like that could ever be, that what she had to do was get over these foolish notions of being loved by the man in front of her, and get back to what truly mattered, being a Musketeer and protecting the king, queen and France.

"What are you talking about..........?" Gabriel countered, her brows furrowing in confusion. Harshly pushing his hand away, as he once more tried to grab her arm.

"I want you to tell me what happened last night........" Athos continued. His voice coming out slightly softer this time, yet no less demanding. It obvious to Gabriel now, that he could recall the kiss that they had shared; or at least thought he could.

"Last night? You want to know about last night? You dragged me away from what I was doing; pulled me away from d'Artagnan like I was some misbehaving child, embarrassing me in front of the others, because you wanted to ask me about last night? What I should do, is turn and walk away from whatever foolishness this is. But if you insist on knowing, then I will tell you..........Once more, you had drunk yourself into unconsciousness and poor Monsieur Lefebre had no idea what to do with your drunken, stinking carcass, other than bring you to my room, where I, once again, was nice enough to let you have my bed. And after that.......after that, you snored like a pig, all night, and I didn't get a wink of sleep. So, the next time that you drink so much that you pass out, I will just have Monsieur Lefebre throw you out into the gutter with the rats; see if they like being kept awake by your grunts and snores.........." Gabriel bit back. Her thoughts filled with his insults, with his dismissive looks and his degrading tone. Her tone coming out so convincingly, that even a part of her was coming to believe that the kiss did not happen. That she might have been imagining it, herself.

"So.......so nothing else.......nothing happened between us..........?"

"What.......? What are you talking about? No, nothing else happened, other than me wanting to smoother you with a pillow, to shut you up. And I never even spoke to you last night, you were unconscious and being carried. Monsieur Lefebre just dropped you onto my bed and I moved to the floor. I don't know what all this is about, Athos, and I don't care; but what I will say, is that I will not be so kind to you again. I am done with you treating me like I am nothing; with being made to feel as though you view me as less than a bug that you wish to tread on with your boot. I know you don't like me, in fact, I get the feeling that you hate me; but whether you like it or not, Athos, I am a Musketeer, now; and I have absolutely no intention of giving up on my dreams, because you, for some reason, cannot get over whatever disdain you feel towards me. I have accepted that you and I will never be friends; that you will never see me as you do Aramis, Porthos and d'Artagnan. But that said, and no matter what, I swear that I will stand by your side when it comes time to fight. I stand by the oath of the Musketeers; yet other than that.........other than that, I want nothing to do with you. Now.....if you will excuse me, I have training to get back to........" Gabriel continued, before turning and making her way out of the secluded corner. Athos able to do nothing, but watch as the young Fontin, left him alone with his thoughts.