silver cities rise,

the morning lights

the streets that meet them,

and sirens call them on

with a song

ii.

8 am is a fucking piece of cake, Eponine thought to herself the next morning. She was used to waking up at 4 in order to be at the coffee shop by 5. Sleeping in until 6:30 felt like a luxury this morning, and she was never going to complain about her hours again. It was more interesting commuting at 7:30, too. People were everywhere in the Central Business District, flowing down the streets in their business suits and carrying briefcases and massive cups of coffee from Starbucks or CC's. Some were calm and seemed happy, some were practically falling asleep where they stood, and others were clearly working already through their million technological devices. There was no shortage of interesting people to watch, and Eponine loved that.

It wasn't lost on her that even though this wasn't her dream job, it was her first "big girl" job, one that she could actually earn a living at. Things could always be better, but this was a start, and one she desperately needed. She had never been the kind of person to not give her all to something, either, whether it was what she wanted to be doing or not. So, damn it, she was going to be the best damn administrative assistant Gabriel Enjolras had ever had.

She walked into the office at exactly 7:55, five minutes early, and was surprised to find herself alone. The front doors were unlocked, though, so she figured someone must be around.

Eponine perched on the edge of the same chair she'd sat in yesterday, afraid to wander somewhere she wasn't supposed to be if she searched for someone. At exactly 8 o'clock, the woman from yesterday appeared from the back, carrying a steaming mug of coffee. Eponine stood and smiled, trying to forget about the judgmental looks from her interview the day before. "Hi, I'm Eponine. Today is my first day. I think I'm supposed to be meeting with someone from HR?"

The woman smiled tightly and put her mug of coffee down, shaking Eponine's outstretched hand only briefly. "Yes, hi. Mr. Enjolras told me to expect you. I'm Jennifer."

"Right! He mentioned you yesterday. It's nice to meet you."

Jennifer handed Eponine a small key, immediately shifting from pleasantries to straight business mode. "This key is for the bottom drawer of your desk. You may want to keep your purse in there. Don't lose the key, though, or you'll have to pay for a replacement." Jennifer gestured to the desk on the other side of the room and Eponine nodded. Jennifer wasn't exactly being unpleasant, but there was something in her tone that was off-putting, though it was hard to put her finger on exactly what.

"You can put your things away now and then I'll take you upstairs to HR."

"Sure." Eponine quickly put her purse away, getting the sense that Jennifer was a bit impatient from the way she shifted from foot to foot in the doorway. When Eponine straightened, Jennifer immediately turned and walked down the hall, Eponine hurrying after her to the elevators at the opposite end. They didn't speak as they went up to the third floor, and before Eponine knew it, she was handed off to an alarmingly pleasant man to sign paperwork and Jennifer had disappeared.

After an hour of signing paperwork and being walked through how her retirement fund and insurance coverage worked (which almost made her fall out of her chair because she had become so used to not having insurance), she was sent back downstairs to start learning the ins and outs of the job.

Though 'nice' wasn't an adjective Eponine would use to describe Jennifer, 'efficient' was. She had explained the computer systems they used to track appointments and schedules and had Eponine practicing making fake appointments within an hour. It was eleven in the morning before Eponine realized she had yet to see Enjolras. Was he stuck back in his office the entire time or was he not even in the building? Eponine had no clue.

At noon, Jennifer abruptly stood. "This is my lunch. You can take yours in an hour, but one of us needs to be out here at all times."

"Oh, okay. What if..." Eponine trailed off as Jennifer disappeared down the hallway without giving her a second glance. She finished her thought only for her own benefit. "And what if something comes up that I know absolutely nothing about?"

Praying that no one wandered in from the street that she'd have to deal with alone, Eponine busied herself with looking through Enjolras' schedule for the next few weeks. Holy shit, when does he sleep?

There were business breakfasts, meetings with clients, business lunches, court dates, consultations with other firms and private clients, business dinners, and, of course, his scheduled time in the office. He was busy almost every single day from 7:30 or 8 am to at least 7 at night, and that was when a lot of his business dinners were scheduled to begin. There was no telling what time he actually got home in the evening. Eponine remembered wondering if he had a girlfriend yesterday and now seriously hoped not, considering they would never see each other.

Almost as though she'd summoned him with her thoughts, Enjolras suddenly walked through the front door. Eponine looked up, relieved to see a familiar face and not someone who actually needed her to do something (other than set up an appointment on the fancy software). "Hi! How are you?"

"I'm doing well. How's your first day going?" Enjolras stopped in front of her desk, but surreptitiously glanced over at Jennifer's empty seat.

"Pretty great. If you need me to make an appointment, I'm your girl."

"Is that all you've learned so far?" Enjolras frowned and Eponine felt her cheeks turning pink at his implication.

"Oh, um. Well, yeah. I signed a lot of paperwork this morning and stuff, so we got started late, and then Jennifer went to lunch..."

"And she left you out here alone? When all you know how to do is make appointments? Do you even have your cell phone yet?"

"No..." Eponine bit her lip, puzzled by the cell phone question. She was supposed to get a cell phone? "I didn't realize it was a problem. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. She should know better." Enjolras sighed and began walking back to his office. "I'll get someone to bring your cell phone in a few minutes."

"Okay...thanks..." Eponine slumped in her chair once Enjolras was out of sight. Everyone around here is just full of fucking sunshine. Her brief encounter with Enjolras made her feel as if she'd been chastised by a parent.

There wasn't much time to dwell on the feeling, however, before the same guy from HR she'd been with earlier appeared with a Blackberry box in hand. Apparently Enjolras worked fast. HR Ben (as Eponine had started calling him in her head) showed her the phone's basic features and gave her a short speech on using it only for work purposes before going back upstairs to his HR cave. Eponine played with the Blackberry, trying to figure out all of the phone's features, before Jennifer came back from lunch. She'd never had an expensive cell phone, just a cheap, old flip phone that she couldn't even really text on because it had no keyboard. This was fancy.

Eponine took her own lunch at 1, and when she came back at 2, she found Enjolras waiting at her desk.

"Ms. Thenardier, can you come to my office for a minute? I have some things to give you." Instead of waiting for an answer, Enjolras turned and walked away, leaving Eponine to follow in his wake after hastily stuffing her purse in the drawer.

"You can call me Eponine," she said as she entered his office. "I'm not very fond of my last name, to be honest."

"Hm. I feel the opposite about mine." Enjolras gestured for her to sit down and then scooted a pile of binders, folders, and loose papers at her from across the desk. "This is your homework."

"Okay. What exactly would you like me to do with it?" I refuse to be intimidated by paper, I refuse to be intimidated by paper...

"Learn it. These are the clients and cases I'm currently working on. While you obviously don't need to know every detail, I do need you to be familiar enough to know who these people are when they call, and which ones truly are the most urgent. Some people may say they need to speak with me right away, while in reality if they don't get a phone call until the next day, the world will not, in fact, implode. These are organized with the most important on top to the moderately important on the bottom. And if you come across someone in the next few days that you don't read about here, then consider them not urgent at all and fit them into the schedule whenever you can."

Eponine nodded slowly. "Okay. You're very organized, aren't you?" She opened the top binder, seeing meticulous profiles, notes, charts, and graphs as she quickly flipped through.

"I like to think so. Do you have plans tomorrow evening?" Enjolras was already looking at his computer screen instead of her.

For a moment, Eponine was a bit taken aback. He's not asking me out, is he? No way... "I don't have any plans, no."

"Would you be able to come to dinner with myself and a client? I'd like to have you there to take some notes for me and see how things work. The company would pay for your dinner, of course."

"Oh, um. Sure? Yes, I can do that." Fuck, I bet they only go to fancy places. What the hell will I wear? And why did you think he was asking you out, you idiot?

"Great. We'll leave straight from the office. You can ride with me, if you're comfortable. If not, I understand. I can get you a cab." Enjolras finally glanced over at her.

"I'll ride with you. If the Pontmercies say you're a good guy, I guess I'll trust their judgment." She smiled nervously. Damn, he put her on edge. Did this guy have a single humorous bone in his body? He seemed so damn serious all the time.

Enjolras' hands finally stilled on his keyboard. "I forgot you know them. I haven't really spoken to them in a month or two, I've been so busy. How are they doing?"

"Really well. Cosette's dad has been a bit sick, so she's been taking care of him. But I think he's doing better now."

Enjolras frowned. "Oh. I always liked him. I'll have to give her a call soon."

Eponine nodded and stood, trying to take all of the stuff on Enjolras' desk into her arms. "I'm sure she would appreciate that." The folder perched precariously on top of the stack started to slide forward, but before it could fall, Enjolras reached out and grabbed it, putting it back where it belonged. "Thanks."

"You don't have to read all of that today, by the way. The top one would be helpful for you to know by tomorrow evening, though."

"Okay. Great. Thanks." Eponine hurried back to her desk as fast as she could without making everything topple out of her arms.

Jennifer snorted when she got there. "Is he going to quiz you on those on Friday?"

"Uh...shit, I hope not. Does he do that?" She wouldn't put it past him, actually.

Jennifer smiled, actually seeming to lighten up for the first time that day. "Not directly, no. But he's definitely going to test your knowledge in other ways. Why do you think he's had four assistants in the two years he's been working here? No one lives up to his standards, or he scares them all away."

"Oh. Well, yeah, he is kind of intimidating," Eponine admitted. "But I don't scare easily."

"That's what the last girl said on her first day, too. She was gone in a month."

"I really need this job. Like, really, really need it. He'll have to fire me before I quit." Eponine started organizing the pile, noticing that Enjolras had placed different colored post-its on the front of each binder or folder - red sticky notes for the most important cases and yellow for the moderately important ones. She wondered what factors designated a case's importance in the first place.

"Well, good luck."

I won't need good luck, Eponine thought stubbornly. It was good luck that I got the job, but I'm going to keep it by impressing the hell out of him.

As soon as she got home the next night, Eponine called Cosette, who had been texting her all day wondering how things were going so far.

As soon as Cosette answered, Eponine exclaimed, "Holy shit, Cosette! You guys didn't prepare me nearly enough for this guy! And hi."

Cosette's bubbly laugh filled Eponine's ears. "Hi! And whatever do you mean?"

"He's fucking brilliant. I had no idea. I mean, I knew he was intelligent, but he's doing really, really important work. We had a business dinner tonight and just...wow." Eponine flopped onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"He's very dedicated, I know that. Can you tell me what he's working on or is it a big secret?"

Eponine scrunched her nose, thinking. "Uh...I guess I can't say too much. But he's working with Amnesty International on a few things, consulting on cases and whatnot. He's like...really, really into this whole universal human rights thing. Not that that's bad! But seriously, he lights up like a Christmas tree when he gets going on it. I could barely keep up taking notes tonight. I don't think the other guy could, either, honestly. He was referencing all sorts of different cases and rulings and laws and totally random things to build an argument. It was impressive."

"Wow. I bet it is something to see Enjolras in action. Whenever he made speeches on campus, I always stopped to listen."

Eponine sat up, kicking off her practical flats as she cradled the phone between her head and shoulder. "Speeches on campus?"

"Oh, yeah. That's how he and Marius know each other. Enjolras has always been...passionate...about helping those who really don't know how to help themselves, or can't. He started a club at school his freshman year and kept it going all the way through law school. They did a lot of community service work, organized protests and rallies, all sorts of stuff."

"Huh. Wow."

"So you like the job, I'm guessing?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I mean, it's got great benefits and I'm actually making decent money. I wish I wasn't a glorified secretary, but I know this isn't forever, just a temporary stop. So it's great for now."

"Good, I'm so happy for you! And besides being brilliant, what do you think about Enjolras?"

Eponine sighed, pursing her lips as she thought of a nice way to say it. "Well...he's very...serious? He's cordial? But very impersonal. Basically, for apparently liking to help people so much, he can be kind of intimidating one on one."

"That's one way to put it. I've seen him get hit on and subsequently shoot down so many people at bars it's not even funny."

Eponine laughed. "Oh my God, I can only imagine. Apparently he's had four people quit on him in two years. No one thinks I'm going to last."

"You will. Believe me, if anyone can take him, it's you!"

The next four weeks flew by. Enjolras tested Eponine only once, by asking, "Did Emily White call about the case regarding Angola?"

When Eponine promptly replied, "Well, it would be strange of her to call about that case, considering you're representing her about a completely different issue," Enjolras masked his surprise fairly well.

He smiled slowly and shrugged. "Guess you got me. Thanks for doing your homework."

When Enjolras walked back to his office, Jennifer actually gave Eponine a thumbs up, mouthing "Good job" as she finished up her own phone call. Eponine felt like she's survived some sort of initiation, since Jennifer finally started treating her a bit nicer after that, too.

Enjolras didn't really try to test her outright again, but Eponine could tell his trust in her was slowly growing. At the end of every day, he no longer checked over everything she'd done to make sure there were no mistakes, and though it had taken him nearly three weeks, he finally called her 'Eponine' instead of Ms. Thenardier.

She had one week of her trial period left when Enjolras called her into his office ten minutes before five. She knocked lightly on the door before peeking in. "Hi. You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, hi. You weren't on your way out, were you?"

"No, not yet. It's fine." Eponine came in and sat in her usual seat. "What did you need?"

"So, I know there's one week left of this whole trial period we agreed on..." Enjolras frowned and gave her his full attention. "But I thought there was really no point in waiting."

"You're not firing me, are you?" Eponine leaned forward a bit, her hands gripping the arms of the chair. Hopefully he was just trying to freak her out with his solemn tone and expression.

Enjolras finally cracked a smile and rolled his eyes. "Do I have a reason to fire you?"

"No. I've done a pretty good job, haven't I?" she challenged.

"Yes. You actually have. So, consider your trial period over now. As long as you keep doing well, your job is secure."

Eponine grinned and bounced just the tiniest bit in her seat in excitement. "Great! Thanks! And here I originally thought I would need a full eight weeks to convince you. I managed in four."

"Thank you for proving me wrong." Enjolras leaned back in his seat, studying her intently.

Eponine cocked her head. "Seriously? You really thought I was going to be that incompetent?"

He cleared his throat and admitted slowly, "Well...honestly? When I realized I did actually remember you, specifically remember you taking body shots off my friend Grantaire's stomach at a party...yeah. It made me think you might not be the most reliable individual for the job."

Eponine's mouth fell open in shock. "Oh. Huh. Well...yeah. That did happen, didn't it?"

"Now you understand why I didn't recognize you right away? You look a little different when you're not downing shots and screaming on top of tables."

"Ugh, yeah. I'm a hot mess when I drink. Not that I do it very much anymore!" she hastily added. "I think I'm past that phase."

Enjolras began gathering his things, closing his laptop and putting it in his bag. "Having fun every now and then isn't a bad thing...or so people tell me."

Eponine stood and handed him a folder from the edge of his desk to put away. "They're not wrong. Have a good night, Mr. Enjolras." (Though he had finally using her first name, she couldn't make herself break away from formalities, though she kind of wondered what his first name would feel like on her lips.)

Three weeks later, on a Sunday afternoon, Eponine's cell phone rang, her little brother's name lighting up her screen. "Gav! Hi!"

"Hey, Ep. What's up?"

Eponine stifled a giggle as Gavroche's voice cracked – puberty on a thirteen year old was so damn awkward. She could tell he was going to turn out to be a good looking guy, but damn, he was so lanky and clumsy right now that she could hardly keep herself from laughing at him all the time.

"Not too much. Don't you have practice today?"

"No, it was yesterday. We have a game tomorrow at 5, so our coach told us to rest today. But that's why I'm calling – you said to tell you when I had a game. Can you make it?"

"Oh, man...Gav." Eponine sighed. "I wish I could, but I actually have to go to dinner with my boss and a client at 5. Do you have any other games this week?"

"I think on Thursday? Can you do that one?"

"Damn. I have class on Thursday nights. What about next week?" Eponine grabbed her calendar, making sure there was nothing scheduled at his usual game time of 5:00.

"I think there's another one next Monday. This is my bad, I'm sorry. I should have called sooner."

"It's okay. And yeah, next Monday is good! And what about Friday? Can I pick you up from your practice? We can do dinner. I've only seen you once in the last month. I'm a horrible sister."

Gavroche snorted. "Shut up, no you aren't. And yeah, Friday is good. Practice is over at 6."

"I'll be there."

"I won't be there," Eponine muttered to herself, getting out of her car and kicking the tire in frustration. The damn thing wouldn't start and she had no idea why. She'd had no trouble with it that morning. Maybe she'd left the lights on and the battery was dead or something.

She could use public transportation to get home, but she'd never get to Gavroche's practice in time to pick him up, considering it was already 5:30 and practice ended at 6. There was nothing she hated more than breaking promises to him, whether they were out of her hands or not.

She was in the middle of letting out a colorful string of curses when she heard her name.

"Eponine? Are you okay?"

She turned quickly to see Enjolras standing next to his own car, parked in the space next to hers, and wearing a decidedly bemused expression.

"No! My car won't start, and I'm supposed to be somewhere at 6 and just...fuck." She groaned when she realized it probably wasn't very professional to curse in front of her boss. "I'm sorry. I have a horrible mouth."

Enjolras shrugged and walked over. "It's fine. Do you need me to drop you off somewhere?"

"No, it's okay. I actually was supposed to pick someone up, so, while you could actually take me to Destination A, I still wouldn't have a way to get to Destination B. Thanks for offering, though." She leaned against the side of her car and pulled her cell phone out, about to hit Cosette's number to see if one of them could pick Gavroche up when Enjolras spoke again.

"I can take you. I really don't mind. Where are you going?"

Eponine looked up, biting her lip. "Harrell Park? I'm supposed to pick my brother up from soccer practice. And then I was just going to take him back to my apartment to feed him some dinner. But seriously, you really don't have to give me a ride. It's incredibly nice of you to offer, but..."

"No, I insist. Come on, get in." Enjolras opened the passenger door of his car for her. "I mean it, I don't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay..." Eponine slowly climbed into his car and rubbed her temples. She definitely had a headache coming on just thinking about how much it potentially might cost to get her car fixed if it was a serious issue. It was an old piece of shit, but it was better than nothing.

"I didn't know you had a brother," Enjolras remarked as he pulled out of the parking lot. "How old is he?"

"Thirteen. I have a sister, too – she's twenty-one."

"Are you close to them?"

"I'm close to Gavroche. I used to be close to my sister, but we've both been so busy over the last few years it's hard to see each other."

Enjolras' brow furrowed when he heard Gavroche's name. "Gavroche? That's an unusual name - I feel like I know it from somewhere."

"Maybe I've mentioned him before? I don't think I have, though...so maybe you're just crazy."

Enjolras snorted and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "That's possible."

The rest of the drive to the park was silent. Not even the radio was on. Eponine wondered if Enjolras drove around in silence all the time because there was just something wrong with that. How could he stand to drive with no music? He might be brilliant and fairly nice, but damn, he was boring.

As soon as they got to the park, Eponine spotted Gavroche standing at the edge of the soccer field with a lanky young guy who had familiar dark, curly hair. Eponine squinted, thinking she had to be wrong. "Wait, is that...?"

"Courfeyrac?" Enjolras finished.

"What the hell? Why is he with my brother?" She hadn't seen Courfeyrac since the weekend of Marius and Cosette's wedding, either, though she'd actually really liked him. They had a great time dancing at the reception.

"That's your brother? That must be why I knew his name. I think Courfeyrac is his coach – I don't know why I didn't put two and two together before." Enjolras turned off the car and climbed out, waiting for Eponine to join him before they walked towards Courfeyrac and Gavroche.

"Hey, Ep!" Gavroche called when he noticed them, and Courfeyrac turned, his eyes almost bugging out when he caught sight of them together.

"Enjolras? And holy shit, Eponine? You're Gavroche's sister?"

"Hi, Courf...and yeah." She hugged him briefly and reached over to shove Gavroche's shoulder. "I had no idea you were his coach. Small world."

"Yeah, you could say that, considering you just got out of Enjolras' car? What's going on there?" Courfeyrac wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, nudging Enjolras with his elbow.

Enjolras glared and crossed his arms. "Eponine works for me."

"Kinky." Courfeyrac grinned and turned to Eponine before Enjolras could respond. "Your brother is pretty damn good at soccer."

"I know. I have no idea where he gets it from – I can't play sports to save my life and neither of my parents can even walk a straight line. Do you have your stuff together, Gav?"

"I'll go get it." Gavroche turned and jogged back to the field, and Eponine turned to Courfeyrac again. "So you're the one who's been giving him rides home after all his practices and games?"

"Yeah, but it's no big deal..."

"It is a big deal," Eponine insisted. "Can I pay you back? For gas or anything? I know it must be out of your way to take him home."

Courfeyrac shook his head, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Eponine! Don't go there. He's great. And it's kind of fun turning him into my minion."

"There are worse people he could look up to," Enjolras mused. "He could be learning about body shots from Grantaire." Enjolras looked at her pointedly, one side of his mouth curving up in a smile, and Eponine gaped as she realized he was actually teasing her. She didn't think he possessed enough of a sense of humor to tease anyone.

"Can we go now? I'm starving." Gavroche reappeared, hefting his bag onto his back.

"You're always starving." Eponine introduced Gavroche to Enjolras, making a clear point that he should be on his best behavior since Enjolras was her boss.

"You know what? You can pay me back, Ep. Feed me!" Courfeyrac exclaimed. "Gav said you're making him spaghetti!"

And that was how, an hour later, they all ended up in her tiny studio apartment, eating spaghetti on the floor due to her lack of a kitchen table. It was a little cramped and awkward, but Gavroche was laughing and even Enjolras seemed relaxed, so Eponine didn't think she could ask for anything more.

Apparently being anxious makes me write. Who knew? And I pretty much know exactly where this story is going and how (which is rare), so I'm kind of just chugging ahead.

I swear I will get back to BtR soon, though! Thanks for reading. :)