Marius followed Gueulemer downstairs, feeling absolutely sick. He was walking to his death. He felt like he was a prisoner on an executioner's mound, waiting for the axe or the guillotine. It was disgusting.

But then he realized who he was walking with- the stupid one. He, Marius, was a lawyer. Albeit an out of practice one, but a lawyer nonetheless, someone paid to argue their way out of bad situations. He also remembered reading somewhere that if you have an enemy, to try to do something to make your enemy see you as a human. So he began to talk.

"Oh, God, my Grandfather does not even know where I am!"

Gueulemer ignored him, but Marius continued as they went down the stairs.

"He's almost a hundred. He'll be horrified when I never come home. He needs someone to take care of him, you see. And Cosette was pregnant and everything-"

"What?" Gueulemer grunted.

"Cosette, my wife? Upstairs? She's pregnant. Or I suppose until one of those men kills her, which they'll undoubtedly do after they kill me. Horrible thing, isn't it? Makes me sick to think of killing her, but really- a baby is even worse. It's not the baby's fault, is it?"

Gueulemer did not answer, just shrugged.

"Anyway, I suppose you've got the worst job here, don't you?" Marius continued. He was as nervous as he had ever been, and still felt as though he was going to heave. With every step he took, he was closer to his death. They were out the door now, and turning into a narrow alleyway. Marius doubled his efforts.

"Huh?"

"I mean, do you ever get to participate, or do they just use you for your strength?" Marius asked.

Gueulemer looked at him, his blank, stupid eyes confused.

"Do you ever get much of a share in the profits?"

"That's not your business-"

"I would just think that, since you do all the work, you deserve more," Marius said, noting the irony of him telling his kidnapper and potential murderer that he deserved more rewards for his 'efforts.' "But that's Thenardier, isn't it? A crook!"

"I never do get paid much," Gueulemer said to himself.

"And then you'll be the one who's framed for my death," Marius sighed, as if he felt bad about it.

"Huh?"

"Well, think about it!" Marius said, glad he seemed to have a niche to begin his argument. "I just closed my account and withdrew all my money- somewhat odd, since I only acquired that money a few months ago. Do you agree?"

Gueulemer, who for all his efforts as a thief had never really had much to do with money, did not understand, but continued to let Marius talk.

"Then, I go missing. It's a matter of time before they find my body, and Cosette's. They'll know we were murdered, and then it will be only a day or so that the police find out that my account was emptied the day of the murder. Then they'll track down Patron-Minette-"

"How do you-?"

"Oh, I know about your gang!" Marius said. "I've heard all about you. And so have the police! They'll know it was you, especially when they see how it was done- the kidnap, the potential for ransom... Well that's what the plan was, wasn't it? Kidnap Cosette for ransom, but then Montparnasse raped her instead? That was the plan? Then we got married, and you couldn't sneak up on her, so you had to change your plans..."

Gueulemer seemed to have forgotten his orders, and the huge knife in his pocket. He was watching Marius make these connections in a kind of awe.

"Anyway, they'll know why we were murdered. Thenardier isn't exactly loyal, is he? And the other men will just want to save their own skins. If you killed me, and kidnapped us, they'll tell that to the police. You'll be the one with the death sentence."

"If we get caught," Gueulemer leered.

"True, true," Marius said. "But it's only a matter of time, isn't it? You can only avoid the police so many times? What if Thenardier gets sick of you? He'll just turn you in!"

Gueulemer suddenly looked frightened, and Marius pressed his advantage.

"You've seen him getting tired of you, haven't you, Gueulemer? You know he wants to get rid of you. Here," Marius said, looking behind him. "You can get rid of him first! You can protect yourself! What's more important than saving your own skin, huh?"

Gueulemer shrugged, very interested.

"Do you want to be the one getting executed, watching as they walk free?" Marius knew the likelihood of Thenardier walking free, once in police custody, was nil, but he pressed on nonetheless. "How would that feel? Is that what you deserve? No. Go somewhere where you can make money, Gueulemer, and be paid for your work. Thenardier will never treat you fairly. Don't wait until you're behind bars!"

"I..." he said, looking interested now.

"Get out of here while you can, and you won't be framed. Let me go, and I promise I won't tell the police about you. You have my word- and I have never broken my word," Marius promised, offering his hand.

Gueulemer stared, and realized he was about to be given a deal, a real agreement, in a manner other than something faintly cloak-and-dagger. He looked into Marius' eyes, which were surrounded by bruised skin. He was reminded of the beating.

"You will turn me in!" he said distrustfully. "I punched you!"

"I will not break my word," Marius promised. "If you let me go, I promise I will not turn you in. Letting me go will undo anything you did to me or my wife. Please, I am begging you," Marius asked, his eyes beseeching. "Turn yourself around. Run away from here. Let me go."

"If I leave Thenardier, he'll never take me back," he said as if to himself.

Marius smiled kindly, though it took a lot of strength for him to do so. "Do you want to be back? And wouldn't it be satisfying to see Thenardier reach his downfall, while you go free and can pursue success? Watch him pay the piper, while you are alive and well?"

"Yes," Gueulemer agreed."

"Then let me go. Let me go, and you can be free, too."

Gueulemer stepped away from Marius, giving him a solid space to get away.

Marius started to breath again.

"Thank you- one last thing," he said. "Where are we? I know you must know- you drove the fiacre here."

Gueulemer gave him a street name, and a number. Marius nodded, and then turned and ran as fast as he could out of the alley, turned a corner, and was out of reach of Gueulemer before the murderer could change his mind.

Marius did not make it far before he had to stop. The world was spinning around him, and his legs were weak. He wheezed when he breathed, and felt pressure when he inhaled, because of the blows to his back and his ribs. He would be covered in black bruises in a matter of hours, if he wasn't already. He was still bleeding, and was appalled at the lack of human compassion he encountered. Everywhere he turned, he received nothing but horrified looks. People crossed the street when they saw him, rather than offer assistance.

He asked twelve people what the nearest main street was before he got an answer. He weighed his options carefully- the police were too far, he could not get there without collapsing. His grandfather's house was also out of the way, and he knew only one other place to go.

He began to run once again toward the rue plumet. His lungs burned, and his legs shook with muscle fatigue, despite running only half a block. He tasted blood in his mouth from when he'd been punched, and the world began to spin. The cobblestones were growing ever closer, until he found himself on his hands and knees, gasping for breath on the pavement.

The world was blacking in and out, and yet he could not get any kind of bearings without proper breath. He needed water, and he needed rest. But he did not have time for that! What if Gueulemer changed his mind and went upstairs, and told Thenardier Marius had gotten away?

He would either murder Cosette right then, or take the whole group to another location, where he would never find them again.

"Monsieur!" a voice called, and he heard the sound of hard shoes clapping the ground. "Monsieur! Are you alright?"

Marius looked up to see the very concerned face of a man in his late thirties, with a son who looked about fourteen trailing behind. The man was in plain, workers' clothing. He and his son were obviously leaving work together. The man helped Marius to his feet.

"You need to go to the hospital," the man said, and then turned to his son. "Hail a cab-"

"No, no, please," Marius begged, trying to catch his breath. "I need the police. My wife and I were kidnapped, and they were going to murder me- I only just got away but they still have her-"

"Oh, dear Lord," the man said, taking a step back and going white.

"Please Monsieur, I can't go to the doctor yet. Can you or your son get the police? Here-" he reached into his pocket for the pad of paper he kept, and a pencil. He wrote down the address of the garret. "That's where they are- oh, Lord, if they're still there- please, Monsieur, it's the only thing that might save her in time!"

"Of course," he said, nodding anxiously. "Luc? Come on, we'll never get there if we stand still, let's go."

Marius only watched them go for a minute, and prayed they would follow through. Then he continued his journey to Cosette's father's house.

"I despise you," Cosette said with venom to Montparnasse as he ripped the laces off her corset with his knife. "Your soul must be black, and rotting- no one has ever loved you, have they? I'm not surprised..."

"Shut up," he said sharply.

"Why should I?" she continued. "No one ever loved you. You are trying to make up for it now, but you won't this way. You're going to go to Hell and suffer for eternity, because of these hours you made me suffer here."

Bored, he just slapped her. She cried out, and Thenardier growled.

He looked up from where he was sitting by the window, examining the check. "If you don't shut her up I will throw you all out right now! Do you want to get caught?"

Montparnasse leered at Thenardier. "Like you could do that- we're the once who've done all your dirty work!"

"I can do whatever in hell I want," Thenardier snapped back. "You have to listen to me."

"You know, old man, we don't have to do anything!" Montparnasse thundered, standing up and imposing himself over Thenardier. Cosette gasped as they all four started to yell at each other, and pushed each other around, threatening to do things she barely even understood.

She'd never seen a fight like this before, and it frightened her almost more than anything she'd seen yet. Her wrists were tied painfully behind her back securing her to the bed, and through the yelling she tried as hard as she could to wiggle her way out of the ropes. No luck, so she could not even take advantage of their distraction.

But she didn't even want to fight anymore. She listened halfheartedly, but heard nothing from the street beneath them, and she wondered if Marius was already dead. Her eyes, which were burning now with the amount of tears that had been shed, continued to leak. Marius was gone, she knew it.

Thenardier stopped the fighting, and asked where Gueulemer was- no one knew. Cosette felt a flutter of hope.

"He's probably back at his post outside," Montparnasse said. "I told him to keep watch afterwards... and we shouldn't even be expecting him back yet. He has to deal with the body."

Cosette's blood ran cold. The body. Marius really was dead. She would never hear him say her name again, never sit next to him, never go through the rue plumet with him again. She wouldn't see him smile, or look into his brown eyes that made her heart thud, or walk beside them when they were old. They would never have children, never have a family, never be 'The Pontmercys.' She would most likely not even see his grave, because he would not have a grave. No one would know what happened to him, no one but her.

Montparnasse and Claquesous seemed to forget their fight with Thenardier, and turned back to her.

"Hey beautiful," Claquesous said, laughing as if it was hysterical. "Not looking so beautiful now, I see."

Montparnasse roared. Cosette did not care whatsoever how she looked, though she was sure it was ghastly. He reached his hand between her legs, and she attempted to kick him, but he just sliced her foot with his knife.

She screamed in pain, and would have collapsed into her sobs if the way they had tied her allowed that freedom.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" she begged. She'd promised Marius to fight, but he didn't understand... there was no way to fight out of this! They were going to kill her, and she did not want to live through another minute of this torture. "You don't need me! You killed my husband, you have the money... just kill me and get it over with!"

"We'll kill you," Thenardier spoke up. "I promised you that. But not until Monday."

"Monday?" Cosette gasped, her eyes wide with terror. "It's Friday."

"Yes, and we won't be able to cash our check until Monday. We need you as insurance... in case something goes wrong, that old man- the really old one, Gillenormond, who owns the house- we might need his assistance into the account. Your dear husband was still young. His guardian still has access to his account."

Cosette was not entirely sure what this meant, except that she would not be set free.

"Then why did you kill him?" she spat. "Why?"

"He was unnecessary... and boring," Thenardier said with a smile. Cosette thrashed, truly hating this man with every fiber in her being. He killed Marius for no reason at all!

"You murderer! You bastard!" she screamed.

"I thought we established that you are the bastard here."

Cosette did not know what the word meant, only that she'd heard Marius use it, and it was derogatory. She had never heard Marius swear, so she reasoned that if he had, it had been for a good reason and was a good word to use. She did not answer Thenardier.

"Besides," Montparnasse said. "We kept you around because you're so much more fun. See, we have endless entertainment until Monday!"

Grinning, he grabbed her breasts painfully, until she cried out.

"See?" he said, smiling. "Funny... no one to defend you now! You're all alone."

Triumphantly, he began to rip at her chemise. Cosette had only been with Marius twice- that first night a week ago, and then once again three nights ago. In the next hour, the amount of times she had been raped in her lifetime eclipsed the times she had been with Marius.

"Open up!" he yelled, pounding his bloody fist on the door. "Fauchelevent! Father!" he yelled, but nothing worked.

Finally he remembered something- Cosette's father used to sleep in the cottage in the back. Why hadn't he remembered? Swearing at the lost time due to his stupidity, Marius ran to the garden gate, wrenched the broken bar aside, and pounded through the flowers and around the back of the house until he reached the cottage.

"Father!" he yelled, pounding on the door. The world was swaying again, and he had to lean on the doorframe while he knocked.

The door swung open a moment after, and he saw Cosette's father's face.

Monsieur Fauchelevent looked shocked and confused when he saw the man at his door- why was a bruised, bloody man screaming outside his door? But then recognition dawned on his face.

"Marius!" he said, putting his book down. "Oh, my Lord, what happened to you? Come inside, son, I'll get you some bandages-"

"No!" Marius protested. "No, please, listen! You need to come with me."

He pulled on Cosette's father's hand.

"What is going on?"

"I'll explain on the way- can we get a carriage, I can't walk anymore, and it will be faster!"

They were installed in a fiacre a minute later, after Marius stopped someone else on the street and beseeched them to go to the police, just in the case the other man and his son did not make it there in time. Once the fiacre was moving, Marius began telling Cosette's father what happened.

"...So I gave them the check, but then they started to beat me, and they told me they were going to kill me. I went down and managed to convince the man to let me go, and so I ran here but they still have her! They still have Cosette! Montparnasse and Claquesous and the ones who will hurt her! I heard her screaming before they even shut the door behind me! Oh, my God- what if they've killed her already? What time is it? Oh, damn it I don't even know what time it was when I left her, but it must have been at least an hour. God knows what they could do to her in an hour-"

"Calm down," Monsieur Fauchelevent said, though he was white as a sheet and looking more frightened than Marius had ever seen him. "We don't know anything yet."

This did not help; Marius could not imagine this man being frightened. He'd been scared of Marius' presence in Cosette's life, yes, but that was natural for a protective father. This fear that Marius saw in Monsieur Fauchelevent's eyes was panic, as if he knew something horrible was happening. This man seemed so strong, so invincible, that his fear was perhaps the most frightening thing Marius had seen all day.

Agonizingly slow, the fiacre rolled on, until at last they were outside the garret.

"This is it," Marius said. His adrenaline was pumping through his body, and his time sitting in the fiacre had done some good. When he stood, the world did not spin.

They went inside, and began ascending the stairs.

More soon! FYI the rating was changed because of these last few chapters.

Also, I changed my pen name to match my name on abaisse.

Thanks for reading!