A/N: I get so dark sometimes! Seriously, this is heavy T. We've got implied parental abuse, not-quite-consensual sex, and Eponine getting the crap beaten out of her. And some language. None of this should scare you as much as a pissed-off, sociopathic Montparnasse. This is set directly after the Attack on Rue Plumet.
This is a songfic to Adele's Rolling in the Deep, which despite being RIDICULOUSLY overplayed, is a very good song.
Oh, and I haven't read the Brick, so I'm basically going off other fics and Sparknotes for Montparnasse's character. I've seen the musical… does that count?
Me no own. You no sue.
Eponine screamed a warning and ran like hell.
Her father was going to kill her. He was going to beat her till she was bloody and broken. All she could do was run. Run like hell.
And run she did, fast as she could down the ugly back streets of Paris. She didn't know where to find safety- perhaps the Café Musain? Was Marius going there tonight? Most importantly, was she being followed? Panic gripped her mind, causing her heart to beat even faster than it already was. Adrenaline coursed through her; if her father caught her…
There was only one thing for it. Eponine Thenardier redoubled her speed and ran like hell.
There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch, it's bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Until Eponine actually opened her mouth to scream, she wasn't sure she was going to do it. She'd ruined a heist. She'd defied her father. She was terrified, but exhilarated. Biting back a grin, she tried to time her breathing with the steady pounding of her feet. She had found her own way to help Marius. Perhaps now she would be noticed, loved.
She turned and sprinted down a particularly dark side alley. Every step took her away from her father and closer to freedom- freedom and Marius. Perhaps things were looking up.
A dangerous thought for a girl such as her.
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship bare
See how I'll leave with every piece of you
Don't underestimate the things that I will do
She was closer now, closer to the more brightly-lit streets where it would be easier to simply disappear into a crowd. The Café Musain was not very far away. She could make it, she knew she could make it. Marius would protect her.
Eponine was almost to the brightly lit Parisian street when she began to be aware of loud, fast footsteps behind her. She didn't dare look back. It didn't sound like her father, though; the steps were too light. Had he sent someone in his stead?
She could barely breathe. The fear she felt was primal- there was no escaping it. It was the fear the prey felt before it was killed mercilessly by a predator. She was going to die. Her breath caught in her throat. Eponine had never considered herself particularly brave, but she knew bad things, terrors, were coming for her…
There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch
And it's bringing me out the dark
A sharp hand grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. In a flash, a rusty bread knife had made its way from Eponine's ragged bodice to her clenched fist. She was ready to fight or die.
"Eponine!"
It was not her father; it was Montparnasse. The lanky, dashing young man's finery was ruffled and he was breathing heavily.
Eponine's eyes were wide and wild in her small face. She still held the knife, and she was breathing harder than she ever had before. Parnasse was dangerous too, albeit in a different way.
In seconds, the dark-eyed dandy had relieved her of her weapon and had a secure grip on her wrists, so no matter how she twisted and turned she could not escape. Eponine was crying now, without fully realizing it. She fought halfheartedly as he dragged her away from the light of the crowded street and back into the deep alley. Montparnasse was stronger than her; he'd proved that many times over.
He threw her up against the alley wall. Her head hit the brick with a sickening thud, and she slid to the ground, still crying and unable to stop.
"What the hell, 'Ponine?" Montparnasse had perfected being angry and saying angry things with a completely level, calm, and reasonable tone. He seemed all the more dangerous for it.
Eponine stayed silent, her sobs subsiding. Parnasse hated crying.
Calmly, he reached down, gripped her skinny upper arms, and hauled her upward. She stayed on her feet, albeit shakily.
"I'll repeat myself," he said calmly. "What the hell? What on earth were you thinking? You sacrificed our robbery for your own little infatuation?" He was inches from her face. His voice had become low and menacing. "You screamed to warn that Pontmercy boy. Don't lie, we all know it's true."
She looked into his eyes (a very, very dark blue- so unlike Marius's) and mumbled, "'m sorry, 'Parnasse."
"As well you ought to be."
Eponine slid down the wall again and sat with her knees drawn to her chin, looking up at Montparnasse like a small child.
Suddenly Montparnasse laughed his rich laugh and joined her in sitting against the wall. "What a jest! I haven't seen your father so angry in years."
"Oh, don't mock me, 'Parnasse. Papa's goin' to kill me."
"That he will." Montparnasse looped one long arm around her skinny shoulders.
The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can't help feeling
"Your papa," Montparnasse explained, "sent me after you. Apparently, I'm supposed to bring you back to him." He leaned in so their noses were almost touching. "I don't generally do what I'm told." His smooth voice sent shivers down his spine.
She suddenly remembered the first time she had met him; she was thirteen. Her father had offered her as payment for something- no one ever told her the details. She was thirteen and cold and miserable and hungry and still just a little bit pretty, and this dashing man (barely more than a boy) had taken her away from the cold tenement to a warmer room. That was the first time he had done what he wanted to her, but not the last. She struggled, but he liked that. If there was one thing she had learned, it was that Montparnasse always got what he wanted.
Montparnasse found her lips with his and began to kiss her, long and hard. Soon she was pinned to the wall by her wrists as he kissed her violently, drawing blood where he bit her lip. He murmured into her ear between kisses how ugly she was, how awful and stupid and smelly and all-around unworthy she was. She struggled a bit, but knew it was essentially useless.
We could have had it all
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hand
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
When he was done, he sat back down and pulled her across his lap. He placed one hand on the small of her back and one hand on her ribcage, feeling each bone in sharp relief. She kept quiet and limp, like a rag doll but for the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.
"Well," he asked reasonably after a time, "what do you intend to do now? You can't exactly go back. Unless, of course, you feel like being beaten to death."
Montparnasse enjoyed the shiver that ran under his refined fingers. He enjoyed every emotion she had. Eponine must have had no idea how expressive she was, how he could tell exactly how she felt when he bothered to try. Her body language and the tone of her voice expressed volumes to him. He would never admit it, but he admired her transparency, the way she could just show what she was feeling and not have to hide. Parnasse couldn't think of another reason he cared about her at all.
Quietly, through the blood from the bitten lip, she said "I don't know."
"Does Gavroche live anywhere in particular? Perhaps you can stay with him."
"No," she said simply. Eponine didn't want to admit that she had considered trying to get help from Marius. "Twasn't really somethin' I could plan, the screamin'."
"Well, you're too ugly to go whoring," he loved the disappointment and loathing that rippled through her at that statement, "and you've got no other job prospects." He considered for a moment. "I suppose you could stay at my flat for a few days, until you find some kind of work, honest or not." Baby, I have no story to be told
But I've heard one on you
And I'm gonna make your head burn
Think of me in the depths of your despair
Make a home down there
As mine sure won't be shared
Eponine didn't want to take Montparnasse's offer. She didn't want to be his slave or sleep in his bed. But what else could she do?
She had thought she loved him. There had been a time when she looked up to him and admired his coolness towards the world. Montparnasse had laughed at her when she told him so. Parnasse drew her deeper into the dark. Yet when she saw Marius, he was all Eponine was not. He was handsome, educated, devoted. He seemed to take her out of the darkness when she was with him. Out of the dark and into some semblance of light.
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
The scars of your love remind me of us
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
I can't help feeling
Eponine hadn't been able to help the names that came out of her mouth when Parnasse was kissing her. Under her breath, she had chanted Marius's name. This made Montparnasse angry, so angry. That was the first time he had beaten her.
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
But you played it with a beating
"'Ponine?" Montparnasse asked. "Did you hear what I said?"
Parnasse could feel the thin muscles in her stomach contract. "Yes, 'Parnasse, I heard you."
"And?"
Eponine was silent. Montparnasse sensed her reluctance, and it made him angry. In a single motion, he had pushed 'Ponine off his lap and stood. He began to pace.
Slowly and dangerously, he said: "Am I to take your silence as a no?"
She squeaked in terror and scooted back against the wall.
"Well?" he asked again. Then in a burst of hot anger he kicked at the cowering girl. She shrieked like an injured cat. That was what she was. Nothing but a mangy alley cat. He turned away to recollect himself, straightening his jacket and running a hand through his curly hair.
Eponine stood slowly. Her side hurt where Montparnasse had kicked it, but she'd had worse. She took a deep breath and said, "No, 'Parnasse, I ain't going with you." Montparnasse didn't turn around. She couldn't see his face, but his shoulders tensed. "I'm goin' to find Monsieur Marius. He'll help me, I'm sure of it." Throw your soul through every open door
Count your blessings to find what you look for
Turn my sorrow into treasured gold
You'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow
Eyes narrowed, Montparnasse whipped around to face her. He didn't say anything, but his eyes gleamed in the half-light. What light there was shone behind him, and she could hardly see his expression. She watched him pull something smoothly out from his belt. She knew what it was; she had been introduced to it before.
Holding up his sharp silver knife, Montparnasse asked gently, "Could you repeat that, please?"
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
We could have had it all
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
We could have had it all
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
It all, it all, it all
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
In a flash, Parnasse had punched her in the face. She fell against the wall, cracking her head for the second time. He looked casually at his knife, then at her face.
"I could disfigure you, you know. Your precious Pontmercy boy wouldn't be seen with you then."
Eponine's primal fear had returned; her breath had caught and she was shaking. "Don' do it, 'Parnasse, please…"
His eyes widened, for what reason she didn't know. Then another fist came flying at her face, and blood was streaming from her nose. Blows rained down, thick and heavy and it wasn't possible to get away, he would drag her back and hit her harder.
We could have had it all
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hand
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep) She was curled up on the cold street, as Montparnasse kicked at her, over and over. She was fading in and out of consciousness as his long, thin form loomed over her. His eyes shone bright.
"You bitch," he said calmly.
She let out a cry like a wounded animal as he stalked away into the night.
But you played it
You played it
You played it
You played it to the beat.
A/N: So, yeah. I do love Sociopath!Montparnasse. He's so creepy and lovely and mean to Eponine… I love 'Ponine fluff as much as the next obsessive Mizzie, but I really like fics where awful stuff happens to Eponine. I suppose that makes me really messed up… Anyway! The review button is now big and brightly colored. I wonder what happens if you click it?
