As it turned out, Eponine wasn't needed. After Grantaire's outburst, he left Enjolras' side, presumably in search of better company. It was all fine for Eponine, she wasn't about to complain. Now she could pick pockets without worrying the two boys might see her or trying to make awkward conversation to mend their curious friendship. She learned quickly though, that everyone at the noisy gathering had a serious lack of hard cash. She looked about her and felt she must have robbed every schmuck in the direct vicinity but still, she'd only made half of what was needed. It wasn't bad for a day's work, in fact, if she hadn't had a set amount that she needed to pay back, what she'd collected would be noteworthy. But there was a debt owed, and before spring break was over she was going to have to make it up.

Eponine stood on her tiptoes, looking for Grantaire or Enjolras. She spotted Enjolras easily in his bright red sweater, but couldn't find the former at all. Sighing, she made her way through the crowd towards him. He was an intimidating person to say the least. Eponine hated the way she felt around him. He was like her father or Montparnasse. There was a dangerous air about him and he used it to his advantage.

"Hey," she said, a little breathless from forcing her way through the protesters. He didn't look up to acknowledge her presence. Now that she was near him, she could see that he was surrounded by the members of the political club he'd started back at the high school. It was incredible how they all followed their dear leader to college. Eponine vaguely wondered if Enjolras appreciated their loyalty.

"Courfeyrac?" He held out his hand absently while scanning a packet of papers. Courfeyrac, who Eponine recognized as both Marius' and Enjolras' best friend, produced a megaphone. "Thank you."

"What's that for?" Eponine asked nervously. Every student protest she'd ever known where a megaphone was involved ended in a thorough gassing.

"We're rallying the people," Enjolras gave his papers to Joly and took a deep breath, preparing himself.

"The people are already rallied."

Enjolra pursed his lips, "Just cheer when everyone else does."

Eponine took the papers from Joly and flipped through them quickly. It was a long and angry rant with bullet points. "You're going to lecture them? They're angry Enjolras, they don't need a lecture."

"It's not a lecture, it's a speech," he turned the megaphone on. Eponine pulled away from his lips so that he wasn't able to speak.

"They already know what they want, you don't need to tell them!" she hissed "You're putting everyone here at risk! The police will use force if they think there's a central leader."

"They need to be brought to action! These protests do nothing, we have to take more drastic measures."

"Fine," Eponine tore the megaphone from Enjolras' hands and ran into the crowd. She could hear the Les Amis' feet pounding behind her and prayed they wouldn't catch up. When she got to a tree in the middle of the protest, she found Grantaire asleep at he base of it. She shook him awake, "Boost me up!"

He opened his eyes sleepily. "What?" Lucky for Eponine, a group of protesters had heard her order and were already helping her into the tree before Grantaire had even roused himself. They pushed her up to a low hanging branch, but it was enough for Eponine to be able to reach the next one which was perfect for standing upon. She looked down and saw Enjolras reaching for the branch she had just been on. It was now or never.

"LISTEN UP!" she screamed into the megaphone. The people quieted to a dull roar and turned to look at the girl in the tree. "THE OFFICIALS AREN'T LISTENING TO US, THEY'RE HIDING FROM US IN THE CAPITAL!" there was a dull 'yeah!' in response. "THEY'RE TERRIFIED OF US!" the next cheer was a little louder. "WE ARE THE MAJORITY, HOW DARE THEY ORDER US AROUND! WHO GAVE THEM THAT POWER?" There was silence.

Enjolras pulled himself up next to Eponine. "WE DID!" He screamed. The crowd slowly started to chant his response, finally understanding where Eponine was going with her message.

"AND WE CAN TAKE IT AWAY!" Eponine added before they got too loud. The protesters cheered and pumped their fists. "WE ARE DONE WITH PEACE. THEY WON'T LISTEN TO OUR WORDS! IT'S TIME WE USED FORCE! THE REVOLUTION IS UPON US!" Eponine forgot herself and let go of the tree trunk she'd been leaning against to punch the air. She stumbled and would have fallen had Enjolras not grabbed the back of her shirt. He steadied her and climbed down first. When Eponine tried to jump from the last branch she fell to her knees, marking her pants with grass stains.

Enjolras helped her up. "That was good."

Eponine gave Courfeyrac back the megaphone. In the distance, police sirens were already sounding. The crowd was swarming on the steps of the capital building, screaming, 'KILL THE KING'.

"We should go," she looked around for Grantaire to take her back to the hotel, but he was nowhere to be found again. Enjolras was walking towards the capital in a huddle with the Les Amis. She ran after him and grabbed his sleeve. "We need to go, now."

He slowed down a little, "Why?"

"We're going to be arrested or worse if we follow!" deftly, she reached into his coat pocket and stole his keys and wallet both. It didn't look like he was about to listen to logic, and she needed a way out. If he followed the crowd, she would sit and wait in the car for an hour. If he didn't come back after that, she would have to assume he'd been arrested and she would go off in search of Grantaire.

"This is a revolution, you should be willing to risk everything!" he told her sternly, still walking with his band of brothers.

"This is only the beginning! Let the people get this one, we can get the next fight, right now we need to go," she was gripping so tightly to his forearm that he stopped to look at her. "Please," she mouthed, the crowd growing too loud to be heard in. Enjolras looked to his friends who were waiting for his command. They weren't part of the senseless mob yet; they were Enjolras' soldiers, willing to follow his every command. He looked back to Eponine who was trying in vain to pull him towards the parking garage. She could see something in him break. He tore his arm from her grasp, and for a second she thought that it was all over. Instead of running off to join his friends though, he waved them on and pushed Eponine's shoulder to turn her around.

"Come on, then," he said roughly. Together, they ran full sprint to the car. Every time she stumbled, he'd haul her back up again. Without him pulling her forward, she probably would have been trampled a few times. When they got to the car, both were out of breath and holding the stitches in their sides. "You. Owe. Me," he gasped.

Eponine slid down the side of the car and tried to laugh. "I started. A revolution. What more. Do you want?"

Enjolras shook his head and felt about in his pockets for the car keys. "Shit."

"What?"

"I must have dropped the keys back there somewhere. Shitshitshitshit."

"These?" Eponine held out the keys and his wallet in separate hands. He grabbed the wallet first and shoved it deep into his back pocket. "You dropped them back when those people hit us." She could tell Enjolras was suspicious, but since he didn't press the issue, she didn't care. His wallet was thicker than the ones she had been handling all day. It could have been pictures of his family or math notes that made it so, but Eponine had a hunch that it was something else. He reached for the keys and she pulled them back into her fist. "I thought you were on probation."

"Who else can take you back home? Your buddy Grantaire ran off without so much as a word as to where he was going." Eponine gave him a look. His harshness most definitely exceeded the greatness of his popularity. Enjolras took her hand in his and pried her fingers open easily, making her drop the keys when she refused to give them up. She sighed and made her way to the passenger door. When she and her driver were all settled in, they became aware of gurgling noises coming from the back. Enjolras and she looked to the backseat simultaneously to find a drunken, snoring Grantaire passed out and missing his shirt. Enjolras put his head on the steering wheel while Eponine stifled a giggle. "This isn't how I thought today would go."

"You don't say," She picked up the now empty bottle of wine that Grantaire had promised her. "What's his problem?" Maybe, she thought, Enjolras has every right to be fed up with someone like this. If Marius were constantly drunk and pessimistic, I wouldn't want anything to do with him either.

"He hates himself, I think," Enjolras said plainly, starting up the car. "It's not hard to see why."

"I'm staying at the Holiday Inn on American Avenue," Eponine didn't feel like discussing dysfunctional people and friendships. She had always idolized the Les Amis and it was hard for her to empathize with her gods.

"I know where that is; it's where we used to stay for the spring break concerts." Eponine's silence filled the car. She watched Enjolras' face shift while he realized what he had just said. "Why are you here? Where's the choir?"

Eponine sucked on her cheeks, debating whether she should reply or not. A man like Enjolras certainly wouldn't condone stealing. She decided to play on how pathetic he thought she was back when they went to school together. "Marius told me not to talk to him anymore. He's in love with the new choir director's daughter and doesn't want to be seen with me since I'll hurt his chances with her. I faked sick so that I wouldn't have to be around them."

Enjolras drummed his fingers on the steering console. "You should forget him," he said at last. "Bit of a pansy that one, anyway. You, you have spirit."

"Spirit?" Eponine was taken aback. She had expected him to yell or threaten to tell on her, but instead he was offering compliments?

"In the tree back there, you had... passion? I don't know."

"I had to say something. You were all trying to pile-drive me into the ground!"

"Yes, but what you said sparked the revolution! They're probably stabbing the senator who banned abortion right now!"

Eponine looked at her hands. Things were bad. The country was in a worse depression than the one back in the 1930's. Unemployment was over 20%, unions were being disbanded, and to top it all off the lower class made up almost half the population. Poverty and sickness and war were everywhere. In order to try and fix everything, the government had gone into lock down. Whoever was in charge at the time of the lock down was in charge indefinitely. The only way to get someone out of office was to wait for them to die, or to kill them. Eponine hadn't intended to murder someone, but she ended up doing so anyway. "You were going to make that dumb speech and people were to stone you guys." she said, trying to justify her first murder.

"You're right. The way they responded to you was incredible, though. You understand the way people think, you know what they need," Enjolras glanced back at Grantaire. "I never thought I'd say this, but I want you to join us."

"Me? I don't really think I'm Les Amis material."

"No, but you are! What Grantaire said before was right. You're the poster child of the oncoming storm. Marius used to talk about your problems all the time; you're perfect!"

"I'm still in high school, how am I supposed to join your political club from that far away?"

"Next year. I can talk to the college board, get you a scholarship. Of course, you'll have to keep your grades up when you're here, but we can help with that!"

"I pulled you away from the stabbing though-"

"Joining the Les Amis can count as what you owe me for that. If it ever happens again though..." he trailed off, scowling. Eponine knew it must have taken a lot for him to leave his friends and hold back his anger with her. He must have wanted her to join his club pretty bad.

"And the boys will be fine with it?"

"Come to the meeting tonight, then you can be introduced!"

"I'm here for choir, remember? It's not like I can just leave."

"It starts at midnight, when you sneak out, meet me in the parking lot."

Eponine sighed and pressed her head against the window. That jerk had an answer for everything. Not that free college would be a bad thing, but she hadn't planned on going to college at all. If she was lucky, she might have gotten a job back home and helped to put Gavroche and Azelma through high school. A college degree could mean the difference between making it or not in the long run, and Eponine found the offer hard to refuse. Revolution wasn't really her thing, despite what Enjolras thought. Marius was her thing. If joining Enjolras meant risking life and limb, she wasn't so sure she wanted to agree. Lie, her gut said. Take the scholarship and don't go to any rallies.

"Midnight?" she forced a smile. Let him trust me, let him trust me, lethimtrustme.

"Midnight," he confirmed, turning into the Holiday Inn parking lot. It was only early afternoon, so the school bus with her choir hadn't returned yet.

"Come on in, I need a quick favor from you if you want me to be able to sneak out again tonight."

Enjolras glanced at his watch, probably eager to get back to the mob before everything was shut down by the police. "How long?"

"It won't take a second." He followed her up the stairs to her room where she showed him the tape on her door. "When I close the door, can you tape it shut again?" She handed him the longer piece that had been stuck to the wall and crumpled the other half in her hand.

He took the piece from her and shook her hand. "I wish we could have had you in high school. Marius was too cruel to keep you all to himself."

"I'm not all rainbows and revolution, you know," she said before saluting him and closing her door. She ran to the window and waited for him to drive off before throwing herself down onto her bed and screaming into the hotel pillow. Slowly, she sat up and counted her money. It was still all there. Every bill of dishonesty. Morality was never her strongest suit, but she always felt a little queasy when she came to terms with what she had done throughout a day like that. If she was supposed to be the face of truth and justice for the oncoming revolution, then what did the face of lies and treachery look like?