"Quiet now, quiet please!" Enjolras called out, and to his relief the men
silenced and Lynette did not need to step in. The ABC was packed; all of Lynette's
recruits had shown up in addition to his own, and each was stealing sly looks at the
other secretly. "Good day, my brothers. As of right now, I am sure you have become
aware of two things. First off; there are some new faces in this room, one of which is
standing right next to me. Men, I'd like you to meet Lynette, a woman I discovered
yesterday to be in the process of planning a revolution much like ours. She has
brought to us these new forces, and now our numbers grow greater still. Now
secondly, after today, we have one more day until our revolution begins." He
grinned broadly, and the entire Café erupted into cheers. "Yes, I know you are all
most certainly as incited as I am, but let us work with haste, for at nightfall
tomorrow we could be fighting." He finished. He stepped down from the chair he'd
taken perch on, and was immediately pulled aside by Combeferre. "Enjolras, with all
due respect, a woman? Co-planning the revolution we've been waiting our entire
lives for?" he hissed under his breath.
"Trust me, Combeferre, have I ever steered you wrong? She isn't just any
woman, she's as passionate about this as we are." Enjolras replied. Apparently
Lynette had better hearing than he'd assumed however, because she, looking
slightly irritated, got up on the chair he'd been using moments before. "Alright
gentlemen, listen here. I know what every one of you is thinking. 'Why is a woman
being trusted with an event of such importance, such revolt?' Well, I'll tell you right
now. How many of you have been personally offended by the government? I ask you
to step forward now." Her eyes darted around the room as more than half of the
men in the room stepped forward. "Ah, you see? And how does that make you feel?"
she asked, pointing to a random man in the sea of faces.
"'atred towards the men who caused it." He replied, face in a scowl.
"That's right. And how strong is that hate?" she continued, eyebrow raised.
"It burns in my 'eart like the flame of this 'ere revolution." He finished with a
grin, looking around at his colleagues.
"Exactly. You see, my good brothers, I too feel this burning passion inside of
me because I too have been affected by the dreadful decisions of the government.
Though I am a woman, how does that prevent me from feeling just as fervently as
anyone else on this topic? Though I am a woman, how does that prevent me from
fighting alongside you to free this country from the grasps of our so-called
bureaucrats? Though I am a woman, how does that keep me from dreaming of a
better future for Patria?" she stated and the Café went silent. Not a syllable was
uttered, not a wisp of a breath exhaled. She smirked in triumph, then said, "That's
precisely right. It doesn't." Then she jumped back off the chair, practically strutting
back over to where Enjolras and Combeferre stood. She glared at the latter, eyebrow
raised, and wide-eyed, he began to clap. It was unaccompanied at first, but slowly
others joined in until the entire room was applauding furiously, past the shame
they'd felt after worrying about her gender, now just awed and fueled by her
infectious words. During the chaos, Combeferre leaned over to say to Lynette, "I do
hope you'll forgive me, Mademoiselle. If I'd known I was scorning a speaker so
astonishing, so powerful, so much higher in ability than I could ever hope to be, I'd
never have opened my mouth." She flashed him a pearly smile, then replied, "You
are more than forgiven sir, and I'm very much obliged."
"Allow me to properly introduce myself; I am Combeferre." He bowed his
head to her.
"Charmed, Monsieur. Though I'm sure you heard before, my name is Lynette."
Just then, Courfeyrac, Joly, and Feuilly came over and stood beside him. "Ah! It
seems you three are just in time to be properly introduced to our new Ami. Meet
Lynette." Combeferre said, gesturing towards the girl.
"How do you do, Mademoiselle. My name is Feuilly." The man smiled,
stepping forward with a nod.
"They call me Joly." Joly winked.
"And I'm Courfeyrac. I daresay Mademoiselle Lynette; I feel most grateful to
be working with someone with such fire in their words, not to mention one with
such a lovely countenance." Courfeyrac told her, eyebrow cocked.
"Thank you Monsieur." She replied simply.
"Now how would you like me to introduce you to the others? You'll need
someone who knows everyone here as well as I do in order to meet them properly."
He winked. She opened her mouth to answer, but Enjolras cut her off. "That's
enough of your flirting, Courfeyrac. We have much work to do, and little time to do it.
Come along Lynette." She nodded once more to the three, then followed Enjolras to
the back of the room. 'Always the womanizer.' Enjolras thought of Courfeyrac,
mentally sighing. In truth, he found himself slightly irritated. And worse yet, he
didn't know why. Lynette was receiving so much attention from the others;
Combeferre, Grantaire, Courfeyrac. Was he jealous that they were taking such a
quick liking to the new strategist? Yes, that must be it. What else could it be? He
shook that out of his head, coming back to the task at hand. "Alright, let's announce
to the men that we should begin going over our final tactics, assign positions…" he
started casually, but then she interjected. "Oh no, we need to begin constructing the
barricade. Les Amis!" she began to call them to attention, but he cut her off with an
exclamation of his own.
"What do you mean, 'Oh no'? We need to review the plans first and confirm
all positions of our troops. Men, att—"
"Not so fast, what chance have we of winning have we no barricade?" Lynette
fired back.
"A chance more than if we have no strategies laid out!" he glared at her.
"So we are going to leave our men without any protection against the open
fire of the enemy because we failed to finish the barricade?"
"No, we are simply going to walk through our procedures so that every man
is where he should be, not in the wrong place at the wrong time as a near target for
stray bullets!"
"Those bullets wouldn't be able to reach him had we a barricade!"
"Which is rendered useless unless we have an idea of what we are to do
should something go wrong!"
Every eye in the room was on them; watching, amazed and horrified simultaneously.
Had this little spitfire truly dared to counter and cross their fearsome leader? The
Café was more silent than the great beyond, for no man dared to breathe should
they attract attention away from this dispute, no man dared to blink should they
miss a part of it. Marius had slipped in (Éponine, of course, right behind him) as this
little battle raged on, and he found himself completely lost and bewildered,
watching this stranger of a woman yell at one of the strictest men he knew.
"Well forgive me, Monsieur, for seeking to form a shelter from death itself for
these men you call vos amis, but I thought you wanted to win this battle!" Lynette
snapped.
"No, excuse me, Mademoiselle, but who has been striving, preparing, and
arranging this battle for months now, you or I?"
"Listen here, Blondinette! You know as well as I do that without a solid
foundation, no structure can withhold. The same goes for your diagrams! Without a
barricade guarding them, they will crumble and fall."
Every onlooker gasped in unison. Had she just… mocked him?
Enjolras practically shook with rage. "Wh—what did you just call me?"
Lynette was obviously holding back a triumphant smirk, for she as well as every
man watching knew that she had just gained a foothold, a moment of hesitation in
which to pull ahead. "You heard me loud and clear, Blondinette. But you know what?
Fine. I've had a moment to clear my head. This is what we'll do. Let's send half of our
men to begin building the barricade, and the rest will remain here, going over the
plans and making any final edits needed. Once they've thoroughly gone through
them, with not a single thing overlooked, we'll switch stations. It is irrelevant to
waste precious time doing one at a time when exactly how much time we have left is
unknown." She finished, pursing her lips. Enjolras glared burningly at her, but, to his
frustration, her words were perfectly logical, and the best thing they could do at the
moment. He would look like an immature fool rejecting so rational an idea. "Fine.
Frères, those of you who are robust and young come with me to begin the barricade.
The rest of you stay here with Combeferre—"
"And I to go over our final procedures." Lynette cut in, apparently oblivious
to how much she was impelling Enjolras. He split the men evenly in half, then
stormed out the doors of the Café without another word. The second the doors had
swung shut, Grantaire, who had decided that this was just too entertaining a teasing
opportunity to pass up and gone with Enjolras, let out a laugh so thunderous
Enjolras was surprised when the surrounding windows didn't shatter. After he had
finished with his fit, he managed to wheeze, "Well… she really… got… the best… of
you! B—B—Blondinette! I wish I'd thoughta… that one!" he burst into another fit of
chortles, and Enjolras clenched his teeth to keep from knocking out his yellowed
teeth. "Ferme ta bouche, Grantaire, before I hit you so hard it'll shake Germany." He
growled, but Grantaire was fearless in his drunkenness, as usual, and found this
reaction all the more hysterical. "Ah, touchy, eh? Well I don't blame you ol' chap, I
would be to if I'd just gotten—"
"Enough, Grantaire!" Feuilly snapped, coming up from behind Enjolras with
Marius close at heel and staring the drunkard down. Grantaire could see he was now
outnumbered, and the joke had obviously worn thin, and he slunk off, joining the
others who were now stacking old furniture, overturned carts, and any other
resilient objects they could find to create the underpinning of the barricade. "Thank
you Feuilly, I was about to bash his head into the pavement." Enjolras mumbled
darkly. Feuilly nodded. Enjolras then turned to Marius. "And don't think I didn't see
you coming in late Marius. What kept you?"
"'Ponine was showing me to the home of my beloved." Marius sighed with a
smile, but then bit his lip and straightened up when he saw Enjolras's expression.
"Marius, there is a battle approaching. It is so close, we can practically feel
the heat of its fiery rebellion blazing against our cheeks. So are you going to stand
with me as a child of this barricade, or are you going to be too engaged in you
reveries?" Enjolras inquired sternly. Marius hung his head, but it quickly snapped
back up as he remembered why Grantaire had been scolded in the first place.
"Enjolras, who was that woman in there, and why did she say the plans were being
left with her?" Enjolras tensed, but then coolly replied, "Her name is Lynette, and
she's here to assist us in our rebellion. Now, off with you, this barricade isn't going
to build itself." Marius looked desperate for more detail on this girl who had dared
challenge Enjolras, but Feuilly gave him a look, and he immediately turned and
followed Grantaire's lead. Feuilly then turned back to Enjolras, whose face was set in
a grim scowl. "Come now, Enjolras, you must realize that she seems as used to
leading as you are, and that's why you clashed so." Feuilly attempted to reassure
him.
"She mocked me in front of all my men." Enjolras grumbled.
"You are being childish. We all know and respect you here, and that isn't
going to change because of one little dispute." Feuilly continued, clapping his back.
"It seems Grantaire thinks otherwise." Enjolras huffed, crossing his arms.
"Well if Grantaire has ever been a good judge of anything, I must be a
Norwegian princess." Feuilly grinned, and Enjolras couldn't help but simper back.
"Unfortunately, you are making it most hard for me to wallow, Feuilly. Excuse
me now, I'm going to go retrieve a few furnishings I found from the storeroom."
"No floundering while you're gone then!" Feuilly teased. Enjolras shook his
head with a smile as he walked away. Feuilly always knew what to say, whether you
needed consolation or downright optimism. He went around the back, still,
shamefully, too discomfited to go in through the front, and entered the back
storeroom, sweeping it over with his eyes to find where he had left his fixtures. He
located the old table and jagged firewood in the far left corner and sauntered over,
stacking them prudently in his arms. He dropped one of the logs and blustered with
an exhale, then picked it up and turned to walk back out the door. Abruptly however,
he stopped in his tracks; not because he had dropped something, but because he had
heard a muffled speaking of his name. "No one has ever spoken to Enjolras like that."
He immediately recognized the voice to belong to Combeferre, and tensed slightly.
Was one of his closest friends mocking him behind his back?
"Well it appears that I just did, did you not hear me?" Lynette's soft voice
replied casually, and Enjolras' arm began to twitch in irritation, threatening to send
the stilted objects in his arms clattering to the ground.
"No Mademoiselle, everyone heard you. And that, it would seem, is the real
problem."
"Why is that such an issue? Even the most powerful of leaders needs to be cut
down to size occasionally, lest he become conceited and egotistical."
Enjolras clenched his teeth. He was the one acting arrogant?
"I hope you realize the hidden irony in those words, Miss Lynette."
Enjolras smirked. Thank God for Combeferre.
"You call me pretentious? What have I done so—"
"You openly ridiculed our chief revolutionary in front of all the ones to be
fighting alongside him. Now, whether this is supercilious or not, would you not feel
angry and ashamed should the same have been done to you?"
Silence. Enjolras smiled rather haughtily, feeling as if he himself had been the one to
prevail in that subtle debate, not Combeferre speaking for him.
"I guess you are right, Monsieur. But you see, don't you agree that I was correct,
procedures and plots require protection surrounding them, and therefore the
barricade should have been built if not first, then simultaneously?"
"There was great logic in your final proposal, and for that I applaud you. But
tell me Miss Lynette; were you truly fighting for the option you thought was right, or to
avoid being proven wrong?"
More silence. Enjolras was past his leering and was now just listening in shock to the
words of his comrade.
"Ah now you see? I think that is the real question here, and most certainly one
to which you already know the answer. Now Mademoiselle, it appears I am needed
elsewhere. But let me leave you with a final parting thought. In the grand scheme of
things, with so much at stake, it should matter little to be right. What really requires
accentuation is the disposition of working together, jointly uniting to strive towards
the common goal; freedom."
There was no response from Lynette as Enjolras heard Combeferre get up and walk
away. He snapped out of his rather hazy wonder and scurried back out of the
storeroom, rushing back to where the barricade was slowly but surely rising. Feuilly
noticed his lack of a grimace immediately, and shouted over to him, "Feeling better
already, Enjolras?"
"Quite. Thanks again, Feuilly." He replied with a smile, though as of now
Feuilly had not gone unassisted in lightening his mood. He then joined his
companions in construction, working beneath the blazing heat of the morning sun to
finish the symbol of liberty itself.
A/N: Hello my fabulous readers! (or potentially singular, haven't looked at the stats) I'm proud of myself; I managed to update two of my stories today! (and the other is also Les Mis related… God, I'm obsessed.) I'm sick, but I'm not complaining, considering I had so much time to do this! Whoo-hoo!
Well, there you have it. The clashing I promised. With two natural-born leaders in the room, you couldn't have possibly thought it was all going to be puppies and unicorns munching on rainbows, could you?
I just want to say how much I love ALL of the Les Amis. Grantaire with his drunken hilarity, Combeferre with his loyal and wise philosophical outlook, Feuilly with his cheeriness… I wish the were Mis Amis!
Lynette is so much fun to write. I have to think long and hard about her speeches, and what words will really make you stop and think and all that, but besides that, she's just a bucketful of fun to scribble up.
R&R, let me hear your innermost thoughts on this story! ~DonJuana