Before: Beginning of 2nd Semester

Montparnasse was losing his seventh round of poker in a row. Eponine stood behind him, murmuring sweet nothings in his ear so that when they went back home he wouldn't take out his anger on her. If she could just keep him calm enough, maybe he would only leave broke and disappointed rather than in debt and furious. She rubbed his shoulder while he laid the last of his money on the table. The rage coiling just under the surface of his calm exterior scared her. The other men chuckled. They knew he was going to lose this hand the same as he had lost all the others. A balding Rotarian lay down a full house causing everyone to groan. Montparnasse put his cigarette out angrily.

"Looks like it's time for you to go home, 'Parnasse," a fat drunk man barked.

"One more round."

"You're out of cash, big boy. We don't accept IOUs here."

Montparnasse spun around. "Baby, how much cash you got on you?"

Eponine was wearing a scant long sleeve cocktail dress without pockets. "None? Come on, it's fine. I'll make you forget all about this when we get home." She didn't mean it. It was very likely Montparnasse would pass out before he would ever be able to touch her.

He turned back to his friends. "I bet the girl."

She couldn't tell if he was joking or not; the other men didn't seem to think so. They all accepted his offer. The fat man dealt everyone their cards. For the eighth time, Montparnasse had an awful hand. She needed to get out before he lost again, but without him knowing the better. Without anyone knowing the better.

If they knew she'd left it would be a bloody mess for her.

If Montparnasse lost his bet it would be a bloody mess for her.

There was not a doubt in her mind that he had a gun on him. She wasn't sure if he would pull it if he lost so that he could get them both out or if he would look for her with it if she left. There were too many risks to account for, and time was running out.

"I have to pee," she whispered in his ear, loud enough for everyone to hear so that he wouldn't be able to deny her. He grabbed her wrist to keep her from leaving anyway.

The balding man saw it and huffed. "Dammit kid, let her go to the bathroom. We can pause the game until she comes back."

"She's going to run." Eponine's stomach dropped. She shouldn't have tried anything. "I'm going with her to make sure she doesn't."

The other men shouted in protest when he stood to leave. No one put it past Montparnasse to cheat. Eventually a consensus was met that Eponine could leave, but for only two minutes, as the men didn't trust one another to leave the room and not cheat either. She thanked them before bowing out the door. The timer was set. Two minutes.

She sprinted down the hall, sliding dangerously around the corners. Exit sign arrows were in no short supply, but it was anyone's guess what part of town she was in. There were a few times when she thought she heard footsteps behind her, but it was only the echo of her own feet. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. There. She crashed through the doors of a rundown hotel lobby and spilled into the night. Now what? Her two minutes were definitely up. Up the street, down the corner, turn right, she passed a taco bell and then doubled back. The doors were locked, but some kid was mopping up inside. She pounded on the glass until he unlocked it for her.

"Can I use your phone?"

"We're closed ma'am." The kid let her push past and continued to mop, unbothered by a terrified woman running around in middle of the ghetto at midnight. Eponine knew she could count on her fellow employees to be apathetic about everything; when you worked ten hours a night at a place such as this you needed to leave your soul at home so that it wouldn't get covered in grease. The phone was in the same spot as it was in her restaurant. She tried Marius' number first.

"Hullo?" There was a lot of background noise.

"Hey! It's Eponine! I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

"I'm kind of in the middle of something right now," Something crashed. "Woah! Hey! Yeah, Eponine, I'm going to have to call you back, okay?"

"Wait-" He hung up. She kick the counter and screamed. The boy mopping didn't spare her a even glance. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and tried to think of someone else to call. Her two minutes were stretching into ten. Enjolras. 555-0704, like the Fourth of July. She punched it in quickly and squatted on the ground, lest one of the poker players run past and see her. After six rings he answered.

"Who is this?" he sounded like he just woke up.

"Eponine. I need your help."

"Why? What happened? Where are you?" He was definitely awake now.

"Hey kid, what's this address?" The boy mopping shouted it out. "Did you get that? Can you pick me up?"

"Yeah," he was quiet a second while he put it into his phone. "It says you're twenty minutes away. Are you okay?"

"Not really. Do you have a gun?"

"What's going on?"

"I can explain later." She gripped the phone tightly to the side of her face as if she might disappear into it and be delivered to where he was.

"Stay where you are, okay?"

There was some shouting outside, but she couldn't tell if it was gang-related or poker-related. "Yeah, I'll try. Please hurry." He hung up, but she kept the phone clutched to her ear. The screaming ensued, one voice distinctly Montparnasse's. She held the phone to her chest and lay on the floor. The boy was still mopping, not even slightly concerned about the dangerous men just outside. Even as their voices faded away, she continued to lay on the ground quietly. They would surely come back this direction when they didn't find her on the other streets.

Only ten minutes had passed when a pair of headlights pulled up and around the drive through. The boy put his headset on and greeted the customer who asked if he'd seen a girl. The boy said he had and asked the costumer if he wanted any churros with that. Eponine jumped up from the floor and slammed the phone down on the receiver before running out to Enjolras' car. She got in the passenger's side and slouched so that she wouldn't be seen by any of the passerbys. He drove off without giving the boy answer.

"You said it would take twenty minutes."

"You asked me if I had a gun; I figured I should hurry if the situation called for people to get shot."

"Thank you."

"What were you doing hiding out in a taco bell?" He seemed a little upset at the fact the there was no apparent immediate danger.

"My friend got a little drunk," she struggled to find a way to explain her situation to him without explaining the entire situation. "He lost a bet, and his friends got mad."

"His friends with guns."

How could she make him understand? There was no way she could tell him she was living with Montparnasse. "He bet me." That was it. That was as much as she could tell without giving away the entire story. If she told him the whole story, he would have a lot of questions she didn't want to give answers to.

"And he lost you. To his friends with guns."

"I ran." Enjolras wouldn't look at her. He was driving at least ten over the speed limit and was only going faster. "I don't mean to drag you into this. I called Marius, but he hung up on me."

"I'm glad you called. You're supposed to call. It's just- how do you find these fucking people!?"

"What?" She was surprised to hear him swear.

"Who would place and who would accept a bet where you were at stake? That's sick!" He slammed on the brakes to avoid running a red light. "People don't do that."

She tugged at her seatbelt, which was cutting into her shoulder. "Maybe not in the perfect world where you come from."

"No, I get that the world is awful. Have you been to any of our protests? I just don't understand why you choose to hang out with the people who instigate the awfulness."

"I don't really have a choice, do I? You're given your lot in life, and that's that. These are my people. Things just turned sour at the end."

"Your people?! You're joking, right? Eponine, you could be in your dorm right now, not trying to out run a bunch of rapists."

"Are you trying to tell me I did this to myself?"

He looked at her for the first time. "Yes. No. No. I don't know."

She grunted. She didn't need his sympathy or his understanding; she needed to get away from this part of the city. He was serving his purpose just fine.

"Eponine, I don't know, okay? Obviously I don't know the whole story. Your 'friend'," she could practically taste the air quotes around the word, "What's going to happen when you see him next?"

Another risk she hadn't thought about. Where was she going anyway? Home? Montparnasse would find her there, she lived with him. "I don't know. He'll be angry I suspect." She closed her eyes and tried not to shake. She couldn't let Enjolras see how scared she was.

"He's not going to... shoot you, right?"

"No, he'll just be mad." There was no need to make Enjolras worry about what Montparnasse was going to do. It's not like he could do anything to prevent the inevitable rage that was to come.

"They chased you with guns tonight."

"He'll have calmed down by the time I see him next. He'll be sober at the very least. Probably won't even remember exactly what happened."

Enjolras was finally slowing down now that they were back in the downtown area in which they both lived. "Where am I taking you?"

"Your building," she decided. He made a face that said you-don't-have-to-go-home-but-you-can't-stay-on-my -couch. "I just moved in with my boyfriend," she added.

"Why didn't you call him? Not that you shouldn't call me, it just seems like he would be an obvious choice to ask for help from."

"He's busy tonight," she lied quickly. You can't exactly ask for help from the guy you're running from.

"Does he know about these guys?"

"I think so." They were only a block away from the apartment complex. She took his free hand in hers, which seemed to startle him. "Tomorrow-I don't know when-I'm going to come and find you, okay? And if you don't see me or hear from me, I need you to call the police."

"Eponine-"

She squeezed his hand tightly before releasing it. "Please. Don't ask me any questions. Just promise, okay? I don't know what's going to happen."

"If you think you're in that much danger, you can always push Grantaire off my couch. Don't put yourself in a situation where I have to call the police to see if you're dead!"

"I have to go home. I'll probably be fine. It's just my adrenaline pumping from before."

"Do these people know where you live?"

"Don't ask me questions. Please. I mean it."

"This isn't a game!"

"You think I don't know that?" She huffed and scraped her hair back. There was know way he could understand. She was stuck with no way out, no matter how much he wanted to help her. Alone she'd gone in, and alone she would have to go out.

"I'm sorry. You're the one who was hunted down like a fox tonight, not me. I don't want to watch this happen to you. I'm just concerned."

"Then don't watch."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"I can take care of myself. It'll be fine." She was trying to convince herself of it as much as she was him.

"If you can take care of yourself, then why am I driving you around in the middle of the night?"

"I didn't have money for a cab. My friend spent all of it, which is why he bet me."

He parked, but didn't turn off the car or unlock the doors. "I don't know what to do."

"I don't know what I should do either."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay tonight?" He rubbed a temple, as if it gave him a headache to even consider letting her go off on her own.

"No. But if I go with you, then I definitely won't be okay tomorrow."

"Do you want me to stay with you for a while just in case they come by?"

She could see the outline of his gun in the waistband of his pants and considered it a moment. "No, it'll be fine." She wished she had a gun of her own.

"Are you absolutely positive?"

"One hundred percent."

He shut off the car. "Call me as soon as you can tomorrow."

"Sure." With the new bruises she was going to have after Montparnasse found her, she would have to contact him by phone.

They both got out of the car. "Eponine, you know you're not actually stuck with the lot you're given, right? This is America after all."

"It's a nice thought."

"I mean it. You can do whatever you want to. That's the beauty of freedom."

"Not everyone thinks that way. Isn't that what you're fighting for? Some people don't have those ideals and think they control the rest of us. Until they stop believing that, they do control us."

"Which is why we have to control them back at the end of a barrel."

She linked her arm in his. "So are we hypocrites then, or heroes?"

"History is what the losers settle for, and I don't plan on settling."

"Then neither do I."