AN: First off, I would like to thank Toff- who is wonderful- for betaing these chapters for me... Now. When I renovated the first four chapters, some mistakes that I had corrected on another computer crept Right back in, and they were sitting there before a friend- KazeNyv, thank you- corrected me. feels ashamed But... Yeah. Yes, Dominique's name was originally Emille, and yes, that is a boy's name. However, parts of Dominique are based off of my female cousin, Emille- that is pronounced Emily. Her parents claim they were trying to be exotic. We all know better; Uncle Raymond just didn't remember how to spell it.
Moving on. My name is Heather-Fantine, and I am a review-whore. Please feed my starving child. Thank you.
MARIUS
A plan had formulated in Marius's overwrought mind the night before. It had been a pleasure to think of Cosette after that odd meeting. He just wanted to forget The Spoken for the time being and concentrate on something pleasant. Like Cosette.
Thus, he had walked to her subdivision early in the morning and was waiting to ride to school on her zone's bus.
He saw the bus trundling down the street and then looked to the large house at the end of the street… And there she was! She was emerging from the front door! Abandoning all pretences, Marius jogged across the lawns of three houses to reach her.
Oh! But now he needed an excuse. She was watching him with an odd look on her face. At least she looked somewhat happy to see him. He stepped onto the curb and crossed the lawn to greet her.
"Hi."
"Hi. Cosette, right?"
"Yes… How did you know?"
Marius shrugged. "I think a friend of mine has a class with you."
"Oh." This was so awkward! "And you are…"
"Oh. I'm Marius. Marius Pontmercy."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Marius." They stood in silence for a while. Cosette, still standing, crossed her right foot behind her left ankle and studied the ground. "Um… Did you need something?"
Marius shrugged. "I, um, I think I saw you drop this yesterday…" He slung his book bag off of his shoulder and pulled a book from inside. "Is this yours?"
Cosette raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't think so…" She took the book from him, her hands lightly brushing his. She flipped the front cover open. "But it has your name in it."
"What?" Stupid, stupid, stupid! He took the book from her. Sure enough, in his own hand the inside cover displayed his name. "Oh. I guess I…"
There was a sinister creak from behind them, followed with the sound of a vehicle pulling away.
They whirled just in time to see the school bus exiting the neighborhood.
"I think we just missed the bus."
"I couldn't agree more. How far is it to walk to the school?" Cosette asked, a smile evident about her eyes.
"If we go quickly, it should take about fifteen minutes. It's not too bad."
Cosette shrugged. "I'm afraid that I don't know the way by myself, though. Would you mind escorting me?"
Marius smiled. Things seemed to be looking up. "I would be honored to escort you."
EPONINE
Eponine usually walked to school alone or was picked up by Montparnasse, but today was different; Azelma, one day into the semester, was already behind in her Algebra class. Eponine had taken Algebra the previous year, and though she had barely passed with a D, it didn't change the fact that she had passed.
"Okay, so you add the y's and the x's together, see?"
"You mean you get 7xy?"
"No, you can't add an x with a y."
"Why not? You just said…"
"You just can't. It's like adding apples and oranges."
Azelma shrugged. "I can add apples and oranges if I want."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can. So there."
"Well, if you can add apples and oranges, I can take your jacket and stuff it down your throat, so you'd better shut up."
"Fine. So you can't add apples and oranges."
"Right. So you add all the x's with all the x's, and all the y's with all the y's, and…" She trailed off, looking across the street. There, approaching the school, was Marius! And he had somebody with him… She narrowed her eyes. It was her. Cosette Fauchelevent.
"Go on, 'Ponine! I still don't understand."
Eponine didn't look at her sister to answer. "Gavroche took Algebra last semester. I think he's probably already at school; you'd find him in the library with those guys, I bet. He could help you."
"But 'Ponine!"
Eponine stood stock-still, unresponsive, watching Marius until he and Cosette disappeared into the school, and still stood reflectively, like a statue, long after they disappeared. Azelma watched her sister for a few minutes, and then lost her patience, following the crowd into the building.
The second bell was ringing before Eponine managed to pull herself from her revere and enter the school.
ENJOLRAS
"Be glad we all have lunch together, Enjolras. What is this about?" Courfeyrac had to jog to keep up with Enjolras' furious stride. Enjolras shoved a door to the courtyard open and all of The Spoken, minus Marius, of course, filed out. Enjolras exchanged a grave glance with Combeferre.
Joly trembled, his breath rising in mists about him. "We'll catch our deaths of cold out here…" Seeing the look exchanged between Enjolras and Combeferre, however, he fell silent.
"What is it, Enjolras?"
"Something terrible has happened," Enjolras said simply.
"What?"
"It appears that there was a massacre late last night."
Combeferre blanched visibly. "Christ… What happened? When did you find out?"
Enjolras gave a shuddering sigh. "As you know, in the political scene, there were eleven people who were not of the 'neo-Nazi' preference; they did all that they could to uphold the Constitution against the Victors…"
"Why are you speaking in the past tense?" Combeferre asked, a quaver in his voice.
Enjolras lowered his head, uncharacteristically submissive and resigned. "They were all found dead this morning. I overheard a conversation in the teacher's lounge and then looked online for myself. There was no mention of it in the papers," he said with a shrug. "They're trying to keep it quiet, but there was a leak."
"A reliable leak?" Grantaire asked, an odd look upon his face.
"That, I'm not sure of. I will have to do some research into the matter. But as of now, this gravity appears to be true."
Jehan bit his lip. "If it is true, what are we going to do? Where does that put us?"
Enjolras studied the ground for close to a minute before replying slowly. "I do not know." There was something in his voice, however, that indicated that a plan was forming in his mind.
MARIUS
The backroom of the café had a somber air that afternoon; it was a little past six, and The Spoken were circled around one large rectangular table that had been constructed from five of the two-person tables that could be found.
Enjolras sat at the head of the table, not speaking. He and Marius alone had not spoken since they had entered the room, slightly over an hour ago. That Enjolras was not speaking, Marius mused, was probably a large cause of the solemn atmosphere.
Courfeyrac, across the table from Combeferre, was currently speaking, looking at a printout critically.
"I snagged this before it was removed; somehow it slipped through the fingers of whoever censors this stuff. It's the homepage for the ACLU. If you go there now, you'll get an error code."
"Why? They've had that web address since Al Gore invented the Internet."
"Shut up, Bahorel. It happened today, at, maybe three-thirty in the afternoon. It says here that the ACLU's been forcibly disbanded for treasonous activities…"
"WHAT?!?"
"I know. They filed a lawsuit against the government this morning, and immediate action was taken…"
"They can't do that!"
"Oh, they very well can." This was the first time that Enjolras had spoken. "This confirms the massacre. That such a small minority alone stood against the Victors has been a problem for the last thirty years at least; yet, that minority has always exercised some control. Now, however, the majority is unanimous and may run unchecked." He sighed. "This massacre is the turning of the tide; it is more abrupt than any of us expected, I believe. Something must be done."
"What? What can we do?"
"We still have the Constitution; the Victors are still attempting to appear to all as they seemed upon coming to power. They cannot overthrow our country's founding yet, at least, not in the public eye. Legalities still apply. We may hope, for now, that this will be enough. However…"
Combeferre turned to look him in the eye. "That is a fool's hope."
"We don't know that yet; trial and error is, sometimes, the best way to go…" Jehan said, his eyebrows furrowed.
The conversation had pushed one person beyond endurance. Marius pushed his chair out to open his book bag. He opened one of his textbooks to the last page, where there was a world map. He pointed to a spot.
"The colonies in the Middle East… They have made America truly great."
There was a chilling breath. Silence reigned. Until-
Enjolras, not looking at anything in particular save for open space, spoke. "America does not need the Middle East to be great; America is great because she is America."
Marius stood swiftly; his chair was knocked to the ground with a resounding crash as the result. "Well, then! God forbid I should lessen America! But siding with the Government is not lessening her; it adds to her immense worldly power. But then, what do I know?
"So let's talk. I'm new among you, and, quite frankly, you astound me. Who are you to challenge the Supreme Power that the Government holds? Let's say what we like about the Government. I thought that you were typical high school students. But where do you put your trust? If you do not look up to the Government, who do you revere? Are you so arrogant that you think yourselves to be more intelligent than the greatest world power to the day?
"What more do you need? America is, today, the most powerful that any nation has been in the history of time! Come on! We have conquered all enemies; we have smote our foes. We have the brightest future of any generation yet! We have the resources of the world at our fingertips. Yes, I will admit, we are in some economic trouble, but that can be overlooked; it will resolve itself; I know this, we all know it; the Government tells us so, and the Government does not lie to its children.
"We have the power to conquer the world twice, to provide the best life for every resident. What more could we want?"
Combeferre gave a sad smile. "To be free."
These words hit Marius like ice; he sank into a nearby chair, his eyes closed. He heard the door open, and then close; when he raised his head, all of The Spoken had gone save for Enjolras, who was contemplating Marius carefully. Marius raised his head and opened his mouth to speak.
"You said that America is great. But without the Government…"
Enjolras cut him off. "Sometimes, Citizen, to understand the greatness of a thing, one must look to its origins." With that, he slung his bag over his shoulder and left the room.
