Note: Here's my latest Musketeers fic! I've got five chapters for you... Quotes are from The Fog by Rachel Sermanni. I had this idea rattling around in my head for a while, and then it all came together when I saw this song and an analysis by tumblr user thx0785 (dammit FF, why u no let me link?!). "Within us all lurks a darkness. It's that little voice that criticizes people in the streets. It's that part of you that longs for the violence..." The song seems to strike a chord within me, it's well worth a listen :)

Deep Deep Down

Chapter One

Deep deep down under mountains I have heard them call my name
Will I play their little game and tell them
Deep deep down I've been waiting for the fighting to begin

"We should strike now". Aramis' fingers twitched impatiently towards his gun. "Before they suspect anything".

"No… we should wait until dark at least". Athos replied.

"What difference does that make? It's going to be dark in there no matter what time of day we go in".

Athos gave a withering glance to Aramis. "If they have somebody acting as lookout we'll be spotted as soon as we break cover".

For days they had watched from afar and now Aramis was itching for some action. Patience never had been one of his best qualities… The musketeers were out in the countryside surrounding Paris, and they carefully watched a small crack in a hillside. It looked to be the entrance to a long abandoned gypsum mine. Time had led to a slow collapse of earth around it and foliage moved in to help conceal the way. It seemed nature was trying to reclaim what humanity had ripped away… Overgrown as it was the entrance would be easy to miss, but the men the musketeers tailed led them here easily enough.

It had started a few weeks ago when reports came in of strangers at an outlying village. Strangers in a village would usually be noteworthy only to the villagers themselves, but these strangers were acting strangely. They were a few men of an evasive nature, answering no questions, engaging in no niceties… they asked for no rooms but brought food and other supplies regularly, which told enquiring minds that they must be stopping nearby. However there was nothing of note in the area, nothing but a few abandoned mines…

Finally word came that a farm hand had fallen asleep in the hay and overheard a rather alarming conversation. Hushed voices had spoken of a celebration the king and queen would be attending, they spoke of weapons… of gunpowder. It sounded very much like a conspiracy, whether Huguenots, Spanish or some other men with a grudge. Of course it could just be the overactive imagination of a farm hand. So Captain Treville thought it wise to send a few men to investigate and find out the truth of the matter.

Athos, Aramis and Porthos had been chosen to go, and naturally they brought d'Artagnan along with them. Investigating was quite straight forward, the villagers were eager enough to talk. Perhaps it made them feel important to be involved... It wasn't every day a contingent of musketeers arrived on their doorstep. However every villager they spoke to seemed to embellish the tale, until it seemed they would be facing an army of six foot tall mercenaries with swarthy looks and scarred faces. Athos was most disappointed when the local store owner came running over quite out of breath to tell him one of the strangers had just left. The man he was pointed to looked quite ordinary after all of those tall tales. It was a simple matter to follow him. On the outskirts of the village the stranger met up with a couple of others, Athos couldn't get close enough to hear what they were saying, but they led him straight back to the crack in the hillside.

And that is how they came to be wearing Aramis' patience thin concealed in the undergrowth on the edge of a wood. A sudden rustle from behind had him reaching for his pistol, but Aramis soon relaxed on seeing it was Porthos with d'Artagnan close behind. They had been watching another entrance around the side of the hill, it was much smaller but still useable as was apparent by the comings and goings of the strangers.

"Anything?" Athos asked.

"No… it's quiet. I don't like it, I think we should move in". Porthos said as he settled down beside them.

"That's just what I was saying!" Aramis raised an emphatic hand, suddenly feeling vindicated.

Athos just glared at the entrance with a deeply knitted brow.

"d'Artaganan! Get your head down lad!" Porthos hissed.

The young man relinquished his position pressed against a tree and ducked down beside the others mouthing a quick 'sorry'.

Porthos turned his attention back to Athos. "They're up to something, I can feel it… the sooner we get in there and stop it the better".

"I'm with Porthos". Aramis agreed.

"You're always with Porthos". Athos noted dryly.

"Not always…" The young musketeer seemed suddenly defensive. "But in this, he speaks sense".

Athos took a deep breath and turned to d'Artagnan. "And what do you think?"

"Me?" After being treated as the pup of the group he seemed surprised at being consulted.

"Yes, I might as well hear your thoughts too. Not that they matter - that goes for you two as well. I am in command lest you've forgotten".

A sly smile was their only response.

"Well… I think they're right, we should move in. How much longer do we sit watching? We're going to learn nothing more from here".

"We're teaching him well!" Aramis laughed and clapped d'Artagnan on the shoulder.

Athos scowled. "That remains to be seen, it might just be your bad influence rubbing off… Very well, ready yourselves, let us go and see what these men are plotting. Aramis with me, Porthos and d'Artagnan take the side entrance".

As soon as Athos finished speaking Aramis eagerly shot to his feet and took out his pistol. Action at last!

~oOo~

Through the entrance a tunnel stood before the two musketeers. Further in lone lanterns cast a warm glow along the walls, but the spaces between them were given over to shadow. Athos and Aramis advanced cautiously, expecting to be accosted at any moment. But there was no sight nor sound of anyone… The air felt heavy to take in, the atmosphere was unpleasantly dank and the ground was uneven after untold years of neglect.

"Come on, where are you?" Athos' hushed voice filtered through the darkness.

But there was no answer.

Not until they came to a hollowed out room of sorts. It held a table filled with papers, and crates seemed to serve as chairs. More candles and lanterns lit the hollow nicely, they illuminated a young man frantically searching through the documents and shoving what he could in a bag.

"Stop what you're doing and turn around". Aramis levelled his pistol at the man's back.

Shaking he turned around and complied. The stranger looked as white as a sheet, with wide eyes and mouth agape. Aramis sighed, he couldn't have been much older than d'Artagnan. How had the boy come to be involved in such a mess?

"Where are the others?" Athos asked impatiently.

The lad made no answer, his eyes were fixed on the end of Aramis' gun. He was clearly petrified.

So Aramis put his pistol away and held his bare hands up. "Look, we just want to ask you a few questions. You will come to no harm, I give you my word".

"Where are they?" Athos tried again.

The boy seemed to gulp in a lungful of air before answering. His eyes flicked tellingly to the place where the tunnel continued. "Gone".

"Stay with him!" Athos shouted before dashing off in pursuit of the other men.

"What's your name lad?" Aramis asked.

The boy suddenly seemed taken by the frantic edge he had before. He shifted from one foot to the other, and glanced over Aramis' shoulder, looking for a way out. "We have to go… let me go, please".

"You're not going anywhere until you've answered a few questions. We'll start with your name, which is?"

"You don't understand, it's not safe… please". A hint of desperation crept into the lad's voice.

The sound of Athos' harried footsteps echoing through the tunnel interrupted them. He had hardly been gone two minutes, had he caught them already?

"ARAMIS! RUN!" Athos bellowed as he flew through the hollow.

With his attention taken by Athos the young musketeer let his guard down momentarily. In that split second the boy rushed towards him and Aramis acted purely on instinct. In the blink of an eye there was a blade in the boy's chest with Aramis' hand on the hilt. The lad's eyes slid from the way out to settle on Aramis… he hadn't been attacking… he had been running. It all happened so fast. Aramis felt his hands grow slick with blood as guilt engulfed him. He hadn't meant to… he couldn't even recall the moment he took the dagger from it's sheath... But there was no time.

"ARAMIS!"

He turned to run.

And with a tremendous roar the world exploded.