Gabriel made her way to the stream; ignoring the pain in her leg, as she dropped onto her knees on the bank. Watching as the water around her hands was tainted ever so slightly, when she pushed them into the cold liquid and rubbed them together. The now dark, discoloured blood, thankfully easily coming from her flesh, as a sob left her lips. The tears were not for the man that she had killed, not for herself; but, and as foolish as it may sound, out of relief that Athos was alive. Her emotions having been bottled up for so long; her feelings for the older man locked down as deep as she could push them, until now she could not stop the dam from breaking. Tears freely falling down her cheeks, as her mind replayed seeing a silent Athos, laying on the floor. Of seeing the grin on the assassin's face, as he had turned to look at her, from where he stood over the Musketeer.

At that moment, something had snapped inside her; it was one thing her foolish feelings for Athos, feelings that she would never be able to speak about; feelings that she doubted could ever be returned, even if she revealed herself. But she had been more aware of what the loss of Athos would do to the others, how it would affect the other men that had been friends with him for so long, and she had no desire for them to lose their comrade, if she could prevent it. Her life nothing, compared to that of Athos; her beloved father and grandfather, already dead, no other family, no friends that would mourn her passing as they would his; so, in her mind, it had made sense. So, it had been a sacrifice that she was willing to make; not just for the man she cared so much about, but for those she had come to see as brothers. Yet God had allowed her to live; had allowed her to endure and defeat the man that would undoubtedly have hurt others, if he had lived. And Athos......well, the others would have no need to weep for their friend, and they were all alive to fight another day.

"Gabriel........." The sound of Aramis' voice making her quickly splash some of the cold stream water onto her face. The young Fontin hoping that it would make it less obvious that she had been crying.

"Aramis........" She replied, without looking at him. Doing her best not to wince, as she moved her injured leg from under her.

"Are you alright..........?"

"Fine.........." She replied, as she turned to look at him. Aramis shaking his head, as he came to sit next to her.

"It's alright if you aren't..........."

"I am fine, Aramis, I swear........Just a few cuts and bruises, nothing serious." She replied, even though she was sure that she should get him to look at the wound on her leg. Yet given she had a feeling that it would mean her having to perhaps remove some of her clothing, she would try and fix it, herself, later.

"How is he..........?" Gabriel continued. Happy to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"Stubborn, hardheaded, argumentative, basically the same old Athos. The wound on his head hasn't knocked any sense into him........"

"Nice to see somethings don't change......" Gabriel said. Both she and Aramis chuckling at the comment.

"When is he coming to find me so that he can tell me I did everything wrong......?" She continued. Her brows furrowing, as Aramis' suddenly grew serious.

"He won't be, because I won't let him. What you did.......I can't thank you enough for doing it. I know how Athos has been with you since the beginning, how he has treated you; but no matter what he might think or say, I, for one, am glad that you are with us. Glad that you are one of us, and I know that Porthos and D'Artagnan feel the same. And I think that you might actually be surprised.....Athos is a man of honour, if nothing else; and I believe that this time he might actually see that he has been treating you unfairly. You never know, you may even get a thank you......." Aramis told her, as he placed a hand on the young Fontin's shoulder.

"I suppose miracles do happen. Though I won't be holding my breath......." Gabriel retorted. Aramis laughing as he got to his feet and held out his hand for her to take.

"That's probably a good idea. Now, let's get back to the others." Aramis replied, as he helped her from the floor. Gabriel doing her best to not limp, as they made their way back to where they had left the others.

                                                       >>-----------------------------------<<

Athos had watched as Aramis left him to find Gabriel. He attempting to move, to get to his feet; yet given the looks on Porthos and D'Artagnan's faces, for once, he decided to do as he was told and stay still.

He was still taking in what Aramis had said about Gabriel having called out the assassin, when the Spaniard had been stood over his prone form, ready to strike the killer blow. That the young man had called him a coward, weak; telling him that if he wanted to fight, he should come and fight him. Aramis stating clearly, that if it had not been for Gabriel, it was quite likely that Athos would be dead.

With a sigh, Athos lay back and looked up at the sky; he knew that he had been wrong about everything. That Gabriel had suffered because he hadn't, and still couldn't, work out his feelings for the younger man. Yet no matter what he had done, what he had said; the young Fontin had proved over and over again that he was as loyal to him, as he was the others; and that he stood firmly by the oath of the Musketeers. The fact that he was willing to place himself in danger and face death, to save his life despite everything, proving that Gabriel Fontin did truly deserve his place in their ranks, and that the blood of Musketeers was certainly running through his veins. Athos deciding that once they got back to Paris, he would ask to speak to Gabriel; and then he would not only apologise for everything that he had said and done since they had met, but also thank him for once again, saving his life.