Disclaimer: Les Miserables is not mine. If it were, then obviously these two characters would be together.
"You'll fall like a guillotine, and kneel before the queen."
Hers was a familiar face in the place. This wouldn't be the first time he'd caught her and made her do time. She'd never lasted more than a few months though; her crimes were never that heinous for her to be locked up for longer than a few days – months at the most. This time it was different.
Her eyes were a lot darker than they used to be and the bags under them were so big that they almost looked like bruises. Her face was sullen and the skin on her cheeks sunk inwards. The bones on her wrists protruded like knives poking out of her skin but that was all the skin he could see on her. She was dressed in baggy clothes, probably to hide the malnourishment. He'd never seen her so broken.
He'd always been the officer assigned to her cases because he was the only one who was ever capable of catching her and putting her behind bars. Sometimes, it felt to him like she purposely let him catch her. Shaking his head at the thought, he stared at her as her tiny body is being pushed harshly into one of the interrogation rooms.
He watches from the other side of the one-way glass. She can't see him and she's on the other side, talking to another officer, being interrogated. Several questions are thrown at her but she just stares blankly at the glass behind the officer talking to her where her broken reflection stares back at her.
She wonders if he's on the other side of the glass. She wonders if maybe he doesn't want to talk to her, to be the one to interrogate her this time because the crime she's committed this time is too much. She thought that maybe, to him, there was no more point in talking to her. She was probably already guilty in his eyes and that disgusted him.
The officer questioning her shouts in her face and this gets her attention. She flinches and her eyes dart to the big angry man in front of her and she fights the urge to scream. He seemed so much like her father and her last abusive boyfriend, loud-mouthed, cruel, judging, and uncaring.
No one loved Eponine, that's why she did what she did. No one cared about her and if they weren't busy beating her to the point that her ribs would break and her lungs would get punctured, they were ignoring her existence and leaving her behind. People came and went, all of them coming into her life the same way. Beating her during their stay and telling her she deserved it and that they loved her that's why they had to punish her, then packing up one day, for her to find them gone.
Even Enjolras was like that. Though he never claimed to love her, though he'd never used her, he was only chasing her to punish her, put her behind bars for her crimes and even though she didn't want to live the life of a criminal, she did because it was the only way she could be close to him.
When Enjolras comes into the interrogation room, she doesn't look up. She stares blankly at her reflection and she listens to the door slowly creak open and close behind him. There's a long moment of silence and she can see his reflection in the mirror at the side of the room.
"Why?" is the first thing that comes out of Enjolras' mouth, followed by a questioning accusation, "Why did you kill those men, Eponine?"
"You've always been a mess but not like this. You never hurt anyone." He said it like he knew who she was, which she doubted since all he really knew about her was her extensive crime record.
"It was the only way I could be free and you wouldn't chase after me any other way." He doesn't understand her reply, not really and he stares at her like she's insane. She doesn't mind. His accusing eyes on her are better than him looking the other way like he always does.
"This isn't some game; you're throwing your life away, and for what?" He doesn't raise his voice but his frustration is evident. Eponine isn't shocked. She doesn't even mind that he's mad at her because at least she's got his attention.
"But that's all I've ever been to you," this time, she looks up to meet his eyes, "a game. I run, you chase me and you catch me."
"I chase you because that's how the law works."
"I'm tired of running in hopes that you might chase me just to convince myself that I might be important to you." The tears well in her eyes this time and he doesn't know what to say to that. He thinks she must be really messed up, committing crimes to get his attention.
"Is that why you killed a man?" He asks and then reiterates his question "Is that why you killed your father and his friend, your pimp?"
"It'll be the last time I ever have to run from anyone; from my father, from the life I didn't want to live, even from you. You know the law better than I do, my punishment is death." She smiles sadly, it's forced and looks like she's choking herself in fake happiness.
He almost feels sorry for her; almost. Then he clears his throat and simply says, "The law is the law."
"You'll only ever love the law. You're incapable of loving anything else." He isn't sure if it's an accusation or a challenge but either way, her words hit him and make him quiet for a moment; almost like he's been slapped in the face.
"Go." He says, later that night arriving at her cell. He opens the locked door and opens it wide and then repeats himself, "go." He can see the shock on her face as the moonlight hits it and her sullen features are more pronounced than ever. He feels a twitch in his heart and a pain in his chest.
"You're letting me go?" She's so confused, never in her life had she ever expected something like this from Enjolras. In fact, she was sure she was dreaming in this moment because he would never ever choose her over the law. Never. Enjolras was that kind of man. His resolve was hard and his heart even harder. He loved liberty and her ways and there was no justification to a crime. A crime is a crime in his eyes.
"It's against the law, I know." He replies plainly, pulling her by the arm and dragging her out of her cell.
"So why?" He hands her some new clothes that hang a little too loosely around her but don't fall off, thankfully.
"Because you win." She was right, somehow, all those times he'd caught her, he hadn't realized that he'd chased after her only to be with her; he'd fallen in love with the opposite of liberty and no matter how against his morals it was, he loved her. "I'm letting you go so I can chase you another day."
Her eyes go wide with the realization, and she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls their lips together. She never thought her feelings would ever be returned, not in a million years. Just as quickly as her lips landed on hers, they were gone and she was running away from him towards the exit in the dark.
When she reaches the door, she turns around before leaving and looks at him with a smile, "I'll be waiting." Then she's gone.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Feel free to point out any errors. Review, comment, favorite, whatever.