My new Les Mis witness protection AU, taking aspects of both book and the movie. build up to ExR, please rate and reveiw :) rating M for now may be changed to MA in the future, in fact expect that it will be changed.
So this is how it was going to be now, Grantaire thought as he watched the world speed away behind tinted windows; he let his head thump against the window, the blow cushioned only slightly by the mass of dark curls he had been forced to grow. From the front seat of car his handler gave a small sigh, he caught her blue eyes staring at him pityingly. For the hundredth and probably not the last time she tried to make conversation. "So, have you ever been out of France before? This is my first time, I'm sure under different circumstances I might even enjoy such a long drive" she finished with an awkward giggle. "Look I didn't ask to go to fucking Switzerland" Grantaire snapped, irritated by the bubbly woman in the front seat. At her slightly hurt look he added flatly "No, I've never even been out of Paris."
The Journey continued in mostly silence save the few predicted attempts at conversation from his driver, as darkness closed in her used it as an excuse to feign sleep. Real sleep wouldn't come he doubted it would for quite a while. How could something so small change his life so much, he wasn't exactly the poster boy for a great life, hell he wasn't even a contender for a decent life; but even though it was a fucked up excuse for a life, it was his. It was familiar and easy to follow. The life of an alcoholic working for the mafia just to afford the next drink. He had been good at it too, no one ever suspected a drunk of knowing anything of use. That had been a double edge sword for Montparnasse. The mob boss had thought him too slobbering drunk to remember anything of use but Grantaire had been at that game so long now that his drunken state was as good as any others sober. Good enough to fool cops, no one would believe the tales of an alcoholic but they didn't need to know about his life nor did they push because the information was just too good to give up over something so trivial. Now here he was in a car with tinted windows speeding away from his home and all he knew to a witness protection house in Switzerland.
The row of yellow bricked houses that they had pulled up in front of looked unexceptionally similar to all the houses in that region of the Swiss town, all joined at the walls and built up. It was nearing nine o'clock in the evening leaving the little houses pale silhouettes, dim light peaking from behind curtains. As he stepped out of the car the unfamiliarity of it all hit him, the air rushed into his lungs crisper than it had ever been. The only sounds to be herd were the soft murmurs and static of televisions from inside the houses, even the air was still here. Grantaire ran an unsteady hand through his curls. There was a thud as his driver got out of the car followed by a deep inhale of the pristine air, after a moment she sighed and se about checking documentation for the house, her eyes scanned the row as she checked the numbers for the correct one, even in the dark the large silver numbers caught the lamp lights from the posts littering the street. Her blue eyes lit up and rested on number seventy-two "Ah! Good he's here already" she exclaimed seemingly thrilled at the prospect of not having to wait around. She turned to face Grantaire smiling "well then, let's grab your stuff so you can meet your new roommate." A single duffle bag was all Grantaire grabbed from the backseat, you didn't accumulate much stuff when you spent your life hopping from couch to couch. Slinging the strap over his shoulder he followed the bubbly young woman as she made for the door her blonde bouncing in time with her step. Honestly how could anyone be cheerful enough that their hair joined in? Alight rap on the door bought on a shuffling from the other side, "what no secret knock" Grantaire scoffed still not quite coping with this new reality. The young woman giggled and the door opened spilling light onto the doorstep and temporally blinding them both. As his vision returned Grantaire froze as he took in the man who had opened the door; golden curls haloed his face and eyes far more blue than he had ever seen pierced all they saw, currently that intense stare was not trained on him, thank god for small mercies because Grantaire doubted he could have taken the whole presence that was this man all at once. If Grantaire truly believed God he would have said that the man in front of him was some sort of divine warrior sent by him to punish all in his path, but even that was not an accurate description, no the man before him was not some puppet following the orders of another, he was power and fire. He could have been the God himself. Yes Grantaire thought, Apollo god of the sun, from his shining curls to the haughty lift of his chin and of course that stare, said stare Grantaire realised was now focused on him. With effort Grantaire started breathing again and nodded at the man currently staring with such scrutiny that Grantaire was sure he could see every speck of dirt on Grantaire's life, he would be staring a while if that was the case. "Enjolras, this is Grantaire you have been briefed on all the details, so that just leaves you to explain all the rules and such to Grantaire here and everything should be settled" she grinned at the God in the doorway seemingly unfazed by his brilliance. "Cosette", Grantaire's breath hitched again as Enjolras finally spoke, his clear timbre offering no nonsense. "You were supposed to arrive at eight, you should have called saying you would be considerably later. When you get off schedule it leaves gaps for incident" Enjolras stated facts as opposed to sounding worried that something had actually happened to them in the unaccounted forty five minutes. "Enjolras honestly, you know as well as I that traffic is never factored into these things" Cosette defended. She was of course correct as the most eventful thing that had happened on their trip was the stop between the border of France and Switzerland, where Cosette had winked at him saying that the stopped was unsanctioned except for emergencies, "coffee is an emergency" she stated matter of fact as she walked toward the petrol station's little cafe. Enjolras raised an eyebrow at her comment but said nothing, instead stepping aside to allow the two of them in.
The moderately furnished home had four half floors, a basement and an attic Grantaire discovered on the rushed tour of the house, the rooms were small and limited to one per floor. "Don't suppose there is an elevator" Grantaire joked, receiving silence as Enjolras soldiered on. "you are on this floor, I will be on the one below, there are two bathrooms so there shouldn't be any issues there." Enjolras wrapped up the tour back on the first floor. "Now do you have any questions before we get to the rules?" Grantaire shook his head stating instead "I think I need a drink" leading to a disapproving look from Enjolras "drinking is hardly a way to solve anything", Grantaire scoffed "it's worked pretty well so far, and as for solving anything isn't that your job, that's why I'm here after all to help you lot solve your fucking Mafia problem" the steam had run out of his words, "look I'm really tired could we do this tomorrow?" The blonde still had the disapproval on his face as well as what looked like an argument pulling at his stern lips but still he nodded letting Grantaire make his steady way up three flights of stairs to his new room.