Something missing, Something changed

Chapter Three

The urchin in question froze, and turned around slowly, the innocent smile plastered on his face. Behind him stood R and Jehan, with the rest of the Les Amis milling behind them.

"Oh, hey!" Gavroche deadpanned.

"What. Is. That." Jehan pointed to the purple velvet in his hand. He grimaced, and replied

"Nobleman's money?" Gavroche said shakily.

"Why?" Gavroche looked down.

"Ran out of food two days ago." he murmured. Jehan took in a sharp breath. The oddest feeling curled unpleasantly in Gavroche's gut. Not the ever-present hunger. She had called it…guilt?

"Oh Gavroche." R breathed. "Alright. Nice singing by the way, you little street rat. Your patch, eh?" R ruffled his hair playfully. Enjolras rushed forward and asked

Where are the leaders of the land,

Where is the king that runs this show?

Only one man, General Lamarque, speaks for the people here below. That was Pontmercy. He continued,

Lamarque is ill and fading fast,

Won't last the week out so they say. Gavroche visibly winced. Lamarque was a good man. His death would put hundreds of heads onto the guillotine, including Gavroche's. Enjolras whipped everyone into a frenzy by shouting,

With all the anger in the land, how long before the judgement day?

Before we cut the fat ones down to size? People were screaming now, and Gavroche joined in to the rousing shout

Before the barricades arise? Enjolras leaped off of the dais and gripped Gavroche's shoulder.

"you know the area well?" he asked. Gavroche puffed his chest out.

"Better than anyone else." he bragged." lived here for four years and spent all of them exploring." Enjolras smiled in genuine delight.

"warn us, is there anything or anyone we need to watch out for besides Javert?" Gavroche's mind flew to the Thenadiars. All of the Thenadiars. Unwilling to indulge those trapped memories, he smirked, and right in time with the people still singing, began to sing one last verse.

Watch out for old Thenadiar,

All of his family's on the make,

Once ran a hash house down the way,

Bit of a swine and no mistake.

He's got a gang, the bleeding layabout,

Even his daughter does his share.

That's Eponine, she knows her way about.

Just a kid, but hard to scare. Gavroche elbowed Courf

But should we care,

Not a cuss!

Long live us, LONG LIVE US!

"Long live us! The men roared.

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The  girl struggled to her feet, adjusting the makeshift bandage around her ribs. She sighed, breathing in the sea air. Finally, after one year, two months, and six days she had reached Paris. The problem was now finding the idiot she went through all of this trouble for. Pulling her ragged corset down to cover the bloody cloth, she set off towards the last place she had seen him living. Anyone who had seen the slim girl would have known straight off that she knew her way about. Leaping and dodging peasants, she headed towards the center of the city. When she neared the abandoned inn, she slowed to a stroll. A quick inspection of the rotting building proved that he had not been there for quite some time, possibly since she had been gone.

"Merde." she grumbled "Por la amour de Dieu, could you have made this any harder for me?" Sighing in resignation, she ran to the agreed meeting place. Just like she suspected, he hadn't waited. Place upon place she checked, fruitlessly searching for him. By the time the sun went down, the girl was exhausted and starving. Exercising the same skills that got her busted, she walked up, silent as a ghost, and cleanly pickpocketed a young soldier. Smiling grimly, she backed up... And ran into a body. Whipping around, the girl saw the figure that haunted her nightmares.

"Hello cherie." the man grinned sadistically. "Aren't you supposed be somewhere else?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in Hell?" she asked angrily. The soldiers behind her, who had apparently taken notice of them, laughed. The lieutenant snorted in anger, grabbed her by the jacket, and shook her harshly. The bag of francs clattered to the ground, and the soldiers stopped laughing.

"Hey! That's mine you little pute!" the young man stormed forward and reclaimed his money, shoving the girl to the ground with his gun.

"Triggerhappy" she coughed. The lieutenant froze, his hand on his rifle. He slowly pulled it off of his back, and nodded. Before the girl could blink, she was surrounded and held by the young one. He leaned over, rancid breath in her face and whispered happily

"Nothing good comes out of angering him. Hope you have fun." He gripped her arms behind her back as the lieutenant slammed the butt of his rifle into her ribs. Gasping in pain, she fell to the ground, wincing as blood began to burst from her ribs.

"You just had to reopen that, didn't you?" the girl grumbled and launched herself at the sadistic officer. He fell away in shock, and she took off running. It was a simple matter for her to loose them, injured as she was. She eventually made it to the convent before collapsing on the chapel steps.

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