It's just over a week till I actually go and see Les Mis on stage, so this felt like an appropriate time to update. I would once again like to apologise for last chapter, this one is much less depressing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing still.

Chapter 14: Night of Anguish

The toll of Emmy's death still weighed them down, but the students began to compose themselves. Randall sat near the back; Clive had refused to speak to anyone and sat inside with Emmy, he worried for him but knew that it would take the boy a while to come to peace with this. As he sat, he watched the others move around idly, Arianna sat bandaging the arm of Crow, who'd fallen when trying to avoid a bullet. Aurora and Luke were quietly talking to each other, he couldn't hear their exact words but Aurora seemed quite upset. He sighed to himself, he shouldn't have let people this young come here. They were just going to get hurt. There was a yell from the top of the barricade.

"There's someone here!" Called Dalston, who'd taken over the watch "He's wearing a uniform, but he's not got a weapon."

"What's he doing?" Dalston shrugged as the man attempted to enter the barricade. Randall picked up his gun and aimed it at him as he walked in, prompting others to do the same. The man seemed around his age, but appeared to act much older. "State your purpose."

"I come here as a volunteer." The man seemed trustworthy, but Randall knew there was a chance that this could be a spy.

"We had a 'volunteer' here earlier, a man named Descole. We haven't decided what's going to happen to him yet, but if you can't prove you're here to help us then you'll face the same fate." The new man seemed much more apologetic, there was definitely a chance that he was being truthful.

"My name is Hershel Layton. I can guarantee that I'm here to help you." Randall pushed his gun closer, he'd seen this man during the rally, but he didn't seem to be joining in.

"But if you can't prove tha-"

"Hold on Randall" called Luke from the other side of the Barricade "I know 'im, 'e's the one that Paulo tried to rob. We're on the same side." Randall looked over at Luke before lowering the gun.

"You're lucky that he knows you. But just be aware that if you try and attack any one of us, you'll be dead before you can even pull the trigger." Hershel nodded.

"I would expect no less. Thank you si- MOVE." Randall found himself being pushed out of the way by the man. Offended at being thrown to the ground, he began to yell at the man but jumped as a bullet hit the place he had just been stood. He raised his eyes to the rooftops to see one of the policemen hidden up there. He fired a shot at them, causing them to retreat. Hershel straightened up his jacket. "I'm sorry for shoving you; there wasn't enough time for a warning."

"Are you kidding?" Randall hit him on the back, taking him by surprise. "He nearly hit me, you were great!" Randall tucked the gun back into his belt "Sorry about all that 'we'll kill you' stuff. If there's anything that I can do to help you, just tell me." Hershel seemed to know what he had in mind immediately.

"You said there was a spy named Descole, where is he now?" Randall pointed towards the shop behind him.

"In there. " He leaned to see round him.

"I have a personal history with him. Will you allow me to deal with him?"

Randall passed a spare gun to him "Do what you have to, he's yours." As Randall headed off to speak with the others, Hershel slipped inside the shop. It was a large building and though many clocks had been thrown upon the barricade, there were still walls of them lined up and ticking in unison. In the middle of the room, with his arms tied behind one of the room's main beams, is Descole. Hershel looked over him; he was much less frightening now. The mask gone from his face, lying discarded on the floor. The revealed face seemed much more human than the façade he'd hidden behind for years; it was difficult for him to look at. Hershel made his way over to him, not catching his attention until he spoke.

"Descole?" he looked up, eyes widening upon seeing who was there.

"Layton. Ha, I should have known you'd come to mock me. Are you part of the so called rebellion as well?" He looked over at the gun "And I see you've come to kill me now. " Hershel lowered his hand to hush him.

"There's no need to worry. You're safe with me here."

"What are you talking about?" he struggled to look the man in the eye as he moved round to untie his hands. When he was free, he strode towards Hershel, trying to work out his intentions.

"Go. Go now." He picked the mask up from the floor and handed it to him. Descole simply laughed. "what are you waiting for?"

"I know what you're trying to do Layton. You want to trade my life for yours, by letting me go free. It's a foolish trick. Just kill me now and be done with it." He lent against the wall, providing no resistance "You always were a criminal, now we can just add murder to the list" Hershel forced the mask into his hand.

"You're wrong about me. The only crime I ever committed was caring about the people. That's why I stole the bread, that's why I helped Claire when you arrested her back in Folsense. I cared for them. It's something you'd never understand." Descole took the mask and placed It back over his eyes, disguising any humanity that he had been showing.

"I care about Justice. And you will get yours."

"You're so blinded by your own ideas of justice that you never stop to look at the issues. The students out there are fighting for a cause they believe in. just like you."

"They can't possibly believe this will help London." Hershel took the gun and fired at the wall.

"This isn't your battle to fight. Leave, before they work out that I haven't killed you." Descole began to walk towards the back door, but he stopped to face him again.

"If we both make it out of this alive, you'll still answer to me. You know that, don't you?"

"I never expected any different. Until the next time we meet." He tipped his hat slightly as Descole left, before going to tell Randall that the spy was taken care of.

Thank you so much for all the continued support, this story has been going on for nearly a year now and it makes me so happy to see that people are still reading!
Reviews are always welcome!