His name's Thenardier, I've heard it from the people in town. They say he ran an inn that's now in shambles, a master brought to ruin by greed. It's not uncommon. When you're the best in town you feel like you can be careless. Carelessness is what always does the best in in my experience.

The point is that I need to find this man. If he's run an inn as long as they say he has, if he really was the best in town, then he's not an idiot. And now that he's on the street he'll know what to do. He knows he needs friends on every corner, people he can buy off or sell at a moment's notice; he needs a gang. He needs a gang and I need to be part of one, those who walk alone don't last long. Funny how these things work out.

A girl too young to know she should be charging me for information gave me his description. His wife's, too. Large people she said, so either they haven't been homeless long or they already know how to make a good way. It didn't take me more than two hours to find them after a few inquiries, the city's always been good to me. I was two steps towards their camp when I felt a tug on my wrist, pulling me backwards.

"Urchin!" I hissed, yanking my arm away. I looked down at the face of a boy, maybe nine years old. He didn't let go. "Get off!"

"Where're you goin'?" he demanded. Demanded.

"What's it matter to you?"

"You were gonna try and join up with the Thenardiers, weren't you?"

"What's it to you?"

He finally let go so he could step back and size me up. "You're tough, I can tell. Probably clever too if you found them. You can do better than their lot."

I laughed. "What, are you out recruiting? Bit old for you, aren't I?"

"Oh shut up. I've got older than you, you're not more'n seventeen, are you? I can guarantee you you'd get a better cut with me than them."

"Eighteen, thanks." I muttered, "And how can you guarantee that, huh? I bet you ain't even in charge. What's your name?"

"I know them, that's all." He shifted a little when he said that, just a movement of his weight from one foot to the other. "And it's Gavroche. I got plenty o' people and a decent patch and I'm better than Thenardier about recruiting girls."

"Looked like he had a few." although the kid had a decent pitch; I was swaying.

"His daughter plus a few extras. But they never get to do a thing so they get the smallest cuts." his stare was intense for someone so young. This...Gavroche knew what he was talking about.

"Fine. Trial run, sound good?"

He shook his head, his hat shifting a bit to the right. "All or nothing." he stuck a hand out.

I hesitated, glancing at the Thenardier camp. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a girl that must've been the daughter. She was downtrodden, miserable. "Fine." I shook the hand, tiny as it felt. "I'm Katarine. Where's your camp?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the yells of two small boys as they tumbled into him. They couldn't have been more than four or five. I couldn't hear what they babbled into Gavroche's ears, but it made him chuckle. He shooed them off.

"Just follow me."

"Who were the kids?"

He grinned. "They're my babies. I make a good father, eh?"

I laughed despite myself. "Yeah I bet you do."

He looked up at me, young face unreadable. "Maybe you'll be a good mother."

Gavroche wasn't lying about the quality of his patch. Secluded from the other beggars, but close to the homes of the rich. And his gang was genius. Most were awfully young, the ones born on the streets and raised on scraps, but they learned quickly and took orders well so long as they came from their "father". The older ones- thirteen through twenty-were more solemn, independent, but it was all too clear that Gavroche was in charge.

The first time I thought of him as anything more than the strangest boss I'd ever had was on our fourth raid. We all had the hang of it- wait, watch, pounce, plunder, then flee into shadow- but we knew something was wrong in this house. None of us could place it, not really, it was just a fleeting thought, an observation that wasn't real, a swoop in the pit of our stomachs. We knew houses, knew raids, and the shadows fell strangely here, the silence was loaded. Gavroche knew it too, but he said nothing.

Three of us had entered when he figured it out, having spent an hour scoping the outside, the foundation. He hissed at the three, beckoning them back outside. Two listened, the third was too far in to hear. "What is it?" one of them asked.

"S'not empty." he answered, a note of panic in his whisper. "The family must keep a guard, I've gotta head in after her."

"I'll do it." I muttered. He stared. "What? You need a better watch than me, and you know I can be quiet."

He nodded. "Be quick."

The girl was eleven, hadn't learned to keep quiet enough, and the guard found her before I did. "...re you with? You can't be working alone, now tell me!" the sound of a hand crashing against a face shattered the quiet. A whimper. I sized up the man, heart pounding, and decided I couldn't fight him.

A distraction then. She could be fast. "Oi!" I called out, "She's with me, hand her over."

He turned. "With you? What, you've got a girl gang then?" he sneered. I glanced at the girl and motioned for her to run while his attention was on me.

"Maybe. We're clearing out now though, so it's not really your concern. We'll keep it peaceful, eh?" she was almost at the window. The guard stepped forward, uncomfortably close.

"And what if I call the police here?"

I stepped back. He moved with me. The girl was halfway out the window. "We'd be gone before they arrived." He'd backed me into a wall. I fought the urge to shove him away.

"Scum of the street." he hissed, breath at my ear. "You wouldn't deserve to escape."

I heard the small thud outside as the girl landed on ground. Safe. I shoved him now. "You keep away from me. We didn't take a thing, just let us go!"

He glared daggers at me, and for an instant there is something dangerous, like a murderous fire, but it's gone in a second and he steps aside. "Just this once." he snarled, "But remember, nothing gets you nothing. You come near here again and I will ensure trouble for you in the worst way I can."

I ran out dizzy, nausea rising to the surface. How long had it been since I panicked? Before I know what's happening, where I am, if the gang is safe, I'm doubled over, spilling whatever I ate last night to the ground. A small hand clutched my shoulder. "You alright, Kat?" Gavroche asked. Kat. Nobody'd ever used a nickname for me before. It actually brings a smile to my face, and for the first time, I wrapped my arms around him. He hesitated, stiffening, then finally returned the hug.

"I'll be fine, little brother."

He looked up at me, as if making a decision, then smiled. "Big sister. That fits alright."