Woot another chapter! Enjoy

Disclaimers: I don't own Hugo or any of it's original content. All rights belong to their rightful owners.

January, 22, 1938

It wasn't until he walked into the station that he started to doubt his decision. If she wanted to avoid people, then she would have went somewhere more unpredictable. Then it would be a headache for him. He sometimes wondered why people couldn't be simple as a machine. It would make the world a whole lot simpler. But it make it a lot duller too. Hugo sighed as he noticed the bustling crowd in the station. Isabelle wasn't very fond of crowds, especially in an enclosed place like this. But he managed to form a small smile when he spotted inspector Gustave nearby. If anybody, Gustave would know if Isabelle had come through.

He slowly made his way towards the inspector. It always surprised him when he would walk towards the inspector and not away. There were times when he would think that the inspector would jump him and put him in an orphanage. But that can't happen anymore since he was too old for the orphanage anyway. That however never stopped the inspector from joking about it. He stopped in front of the inspector and gave him a small smile. "Good evening inspector."

"Good evening, how may I help you this evening?" Gustave responded.

"I was just wondering if Isabelle had come through," Hugo answered.

"Ah, yes. She seemed… distressed," Gustave replied with a sympathetic gaze.

Hugo made a slight grimace as he nodded understandingly. "Would you happen to know where she was heading?" Hugo asked hopefully.

"No, unfortunately not. She didn't seem very willing to continue the conversation," Gustave replied with a nod.

Hugo gave a defeated sigh. It wasn't surprising that she was unwilling. She was a stubborn little thing. She didn't like it when people tried to help her with anything. She was an independent person. There was a time when he found her trying to make the mouse toy that Papa George would always play around with at the toy shop. She had quite the trouble making it, but she refused to ask for any help from him or Papa George. But by the end of it she did still ask him for help.

"She's a handful isn't she?" Gustave asked sympathetically.

Hugo gave a small chuckle as he nodded in agreement. "She sure is, but I assume that Lissette isn't an easy one to handle either," Hugo responded.

Gustave gave a good hearted laugh. "Yes, she's also a handful," Gustave agreed. "Well I do hope that you find your damsel in distress," Gustave added with a smile.

"I hope I do," Hugo replied with a slightly flushed face. "I will be taking my leave then, monsieur Daste."

"Of course, then till next time" Gustave replied.

"Till next time," Hugo nodded as he turned around and left the inspector to his own company. Now if Isabelle was still in the station then it narrowed things down. There weren't a lot of places that Isabelle would go to in the station. She couldn't be at the toy shop since the shop was closed for a while, unless she that key. Which he doubted. So she could be only at the library or the clock tower. He smiled, Isabelle wasn't a difficult character to read once you figured her out.

Isabelle quietly listened to the the gears working in the clock as she watched the streets below. The clock seemed as though it was well maintained, from what she could tell. It wasn't surprise though, Hugo would always come by to make sure the maintenance was done properly, even though there was already a person who does the work. If it wasn't well done, then Hugo would give a scolding. It's quite funny really. There was a time when a gear wasn't properly maintained and Hugo and the station inspector almost made the poor mad with all their yelling. This was why she liked coming here. It made her think of fond memories.

She hugged her knees and closed her eyes. The last time she was here (besides the one where she would just come here to watch Hugo do his checkup) was when monsieur Labisse had passed away. Sure they weren't that close on a personal level, but she still missed seeing him there. The new librarian is nice though. Madame Gloria would secretly let her have the first reads for the new arrivals. The new books would always go on the shelves two or three days after their arrival. Still she missed the senior librarian dearly.

She sighed. Last time Hugo was with her when she found out. It was after his work time that they went to the library to borrow some new books, but only found a post about the library being closed for the day because of monsieur Labisse's sudden departure. She didn't go back to the library for a bit, but Hugo had helped her get over it.

She smiled. She wondered what Hugo would be doing right now. Since it was show day today, it would be around this time that he did his third show of the day. Which was also around the time that she would go and watch him on stage. She had seen him on stage countless times but it never ceased to amaze her, his tricks were flawless. It was almost as if they were really magic. He also seemed like he had a never ending library of magic. He didn't like repeating the same magic twice, especially on the same day. There was actually a day where she went to see all of his shows for the day (he did one every 3 hours with the first one at 9 in the morning). She originally intended to stay for two just to see what the difference was, but stayed for all them since all of them had felt so different and a new experience every time. She didn't know that he was capable of doing so many.

She let out a tired yawn. Which was to be expected since she spent half the day crying. The chilly weather up here didn't help either. She didn't know until today that she could cry like that. She left the house because of this. If she stayed there, she would still be crying there with Mama Jeane. Which she did not like. She slowly got up and made her way towards the bed that was set up right below the clock. Hugo had put it there few months back. It was there so that he could use it when he checked the clocks at a late hour. Then he could just sleep there for the night, but it was intended for the summer weather so it was still chilly. She didn't mind though. Right now she just wanted to curl up and go to sleep. And maybe when she woke up it would be a dream and Papa George would be there to scold her for sleeping in. Maybe.

Hugo didn't know whether to be relieve or worried when he found her sleeping on the bed he put there for summer use. Sure it wasn't that cold but it was still late January! She could've frozen to death, but of course her soft snoring had told him otherwise. Even so it could of have been dangerous. He still couldn't help but smile at her sleeping figure. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. If sleeping could help her get away from her grief then he didn't mind (as long as it didn't get her killed). Which was why he found himself in his current situation. He had her head on his lap and jacket around her. From the sound of it, it doesn't sound too bad, but when he's been doing it for the past hour and an half then it does get difficult. He thought for sure with the sudden presence of a person, she would wake up. But instead she let out a content sigh and continued to sleep. He let out a tired sigh and looked outside. He was getting drowsy himself.

He snapped out of his daze when he felt Isabelle stir. He quickly looked down and found himself staring at a pair of chocolate brown eyes. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he noticed a small frown on her face. "Disappointed to see me?" Hugo asked playfully.

"No, I was just hoping it would've been somebody else," Isabelle answered with a tinge of longing.

Hugo formed a frown himself. That was being disappointed. "Papa?" Hugo carefully asked her.

Isabelle only gave him a silent nod.

He was assuming that would be case. "Well being disappointed won't help with anything," Hugo told her.

"I told you I wasn't disappointed. Maybe just a little displeased," Isabelle answered.

"Whatever you say,"

"What? You don't believe me?"

"I didn't say that,"

"You didn't say it, but you thought it,"

Hugo gave a small chuckle at her antics. She seemed to be in a better mood than he had expected. He was sure that she would be in a mess. Isabelle was handling a lot better than he had with his father. They seemed to fall into a silence after that. But it wasn't uncomfortable. It was one of those silence where both people would just feel safe and secure around.

"What time is it?" Isabelle asked suddenly.

It took a while for Hugo to register the question. "Oh," He Hugo said in embarrassment and look at his waist watch. "Around five forty." Hugo answered with a slight blush.

Isabelle quickly sat upright. He should still be at work and not here with her at this time. She stared at him oddly, asking him a silent question.

"I decided that you and Mama Jeane needed me more than the stage," Hugo said as if he understood her confusion.

"You shouldn't have. I was fine," Isabelle told him.

Hugo scoffed. "Sleeping in the clock tower in dead of winter hardly counts as being fine."

Isabelle let out a defeated sigh. "How did you get the news anyway? We weren't going to tell you before you got home," Isabelle asked in confusion.

"Margret," Hugo answered simply.

Isabelle nodded understandingly. "Then did she tell everybody else?"

"Yes she did, and it also seems she told everyone in Paris as well," Hugo answered. "It won't be long until the press starts talking about it."

That explained a lot for her. She didn't question it then, but it was odd that everybody on streets knew about Papa George's death, when she for one never told anyone. She needed to talk to Margret about this. But Hugo got up which made her snap out of her thoughts.

"We should get going, it's getting late" Hugo said as he looked at his watch again.

Isabelle nodded and got on her feet. She handed him back his jacket, which he gratefully took and quickly put it on.

"You ready?" Hugo asked her and gave her his hand.

"Ya, I am," she replied as she took his hand in hers. She was going to be able to get over this too, if she had Hugo with her. And she knew that he was going to be there for her. With that they had soon left the station and were well on their way home.

This might feel like an ending but it isn't rest assure.