A/N: This chapter is written from Enjolras' perspective, so if it feels weird, it probably that. Either that or I'm a bad writer and my words make you feel like your brain is going fuzzy. It's probably a mixture of both. My apologies.

Wordlessly, she helped him to his feet. What was that? What just happened?

"We should get going. The mob didn't look like it was slowing down."

Wait, can't we talk about this? He shook his head to clear it. They needed to get down to business. There wasn't any time to start feeling sentimental. "Right. It looked like they were heading towards the barricaded streets. We should stick to the middle this time and then try to sneak down and around to the white house. It doesn't seem like this protest was planned. If we're lucky, the president is hidden inside somewhere. They wouldn't have barricaded those streets off if they weren't protecting something."

She nodded, wiping the last of her tears off of her face. How could someone's emotions change so quickly? One second she was having a meltdown and the next she wanted to save the world? Was that even possible? He was suppressing his own emotions for the greater good, or course, but he wasn't doing as good a job as she. Eponine left the room, and motion for him to follow. Is this what Montparnasse had taught her? To hide it?

"I think we need to split up," he said, limping after her. The hose had taken more of a toll on him that he was willing to let on.

"Split up? Like in Scooby Doo? So that something bad happens to one of us and the other won't find out until it's too late?"

"We'll cover more ground." If they took parallel streets, chances were one of them would be lead to a weak point and be able to break through. They weren't going to get many chances before the police got serious. If today went well, it could be the start of a civil war.

He saw her breath deeply, trying to stay calm. "What do I do if I sneak through before you do?"

"Then the mission is yours."

"It was your idea though!"

He shook his head; clearly she didn't understand the gravity of the situation. "Eponine, this isn't about who gets written down in the history books. If no one ever knows my name, that'll be just fine. As long as today doesn't get marked down as yet another failed rebellion, I'll sleep alright."

Her hands were trembling now. Out of fear for him or for herself he wasn't sure. He took one and lead her back down the stairs and out into the street. "We need to keep our wits about us." She nodded. "I need you to trust me, okay? This will work."

"I trust you. Where should I go? Do you want me to wait for you at a checkpoint?"

They ran down the street, weaving in and out of the tail end of the mob. "Never... stop," he huffed. It was a few blocks until they were in the middle of the throng of angry protesters. He stood on his tip toes and looked for where the next intersection was. "There," he pointed, "Go to the arterial on that side of the road. If you run straight, you should probably hit the first of the barricades. If you can't get in, go right until you can."

"Guns work when they're wet, right?"

He'd forgotten that they might have been damaged in during the last from the hose. Just another thing to worry about. "I think so." He gave her a nudge in the direction he intended for her, and then headed in his own. "Eponine," he called out after only going a few steps. This could be it. He might never see her again if this all went sour. He wanted to say something. I love you? No. He didn't. Admitting that made people do stupid things anyway. Goodbye seemed too ominous though. "I'll see you later, okay?" She gave him a two fingered salute before running off. He was definitely going to keep that promise.

Run, duck, stop, turn right. He pushed anyone who got in his way. There wasn't much time. Any second now all hell was going to- BANG! He froze momentarily. Don't think about it. The angry screams turned terrified. More shots were fired. Faster. Faster. His right ankle was twisted earlier, when he protected Eponine from the hose. It was going to be the death of him. Breathless, he reached his own street. The crowd was thinning out; he must be getting close to the front.

He jumped a little. Tan. That's what Eponine had said before, and that's what he was seeing. Soldiers, not police. Why were the soldiers here? It didn't make sense. Unless... unless they were planning on taking more forceful action. He stumbled. The police were trained to attack and arrest. The soldiers were trained to kill and take prisoners. More shots were fired to his right. They were killing the protesters, because this was the first battle of the civil war. They were viewing the protesters as the people's army. That's the only reason the soldiers would be called in.

He was starting to see how hopeless it was. He was close enough to the front now to observe the soldiers standing in three concentric circles around his destination. He'd been a fool to assume they would make it through. And Eponine, Eponine was out there on a suicide mission. She would follow his orders because she had nothing else. She didn't care about anything but making sure he stayed alive. He ran in the direction he pushed her in. That's where the gunshots were coming from. If he was lucky, the crowd would have been too thick for her to let though.

A flash lit up his world. He fell to the ground, and covered his head. Was that a tank? He made himself get up, jumping over those who had not done so already. In front of him were a slew of corpses that he had just barely missed being a part of. His breath caught in his throat when he saw a pair of bright pants. Jehan? He staggered over to the body and brushed the hair off of its still warm face. Jehan. What was he doing here? And if he was here, where was-there? A few yards from Jehan lay Courfeyrac. He stumbled, falling to his knees, and dropping his gun to grab hold of his friend. A single line of blood dripped from his mouth. His eyes open but sightless. Nonononono. Enjolras felt for a pulse he wouldn't find, held back bile he knew would still come up. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Why were they dead? They couldn't be dead. Any second now Courfeyrac would cough back to life and stand up. They were in this together. They couldn't leave him on his own. He was no one alone.

A woman's scream tore through the sound of the fight still going on around him. He let go of Courfeyrac lifeless and kept running. Eponine. Eponine was out there somewhere. He'd told her to go right into the middle of the slaughter fest and to fight her way through it. An image of her hanging with a frayed rope around her neck flashed in his mind's eye. He'd killed her the way he'd killed the rest of his friends. He bit hard onto his cheeks until he tasted blood to keep from screaming out. No, she wasn't dead. She was stuck behind a wall of protesters. She couldn't be dead. She wouldn't die. She promised she wouldn't.

More shots. Another flash. He saw a thin body slumped against a building. A splash of red stood out against its stomach. It couldn't be her. He went to it to be sure. "Eponine?" he asked his voice cracking.

Her head lolled to the side. "I hate to say... I told you so... but," she laughed, gasping out in pain.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. "Can I pick you up?" Her face was so pale, he wasn't sure if she would be conscious much longer.

"Go... for it." He scooped up her small frame and carried her to a doorway.

"They're dead." He paused to take a shuttering breath. "Jehan and Courf," saying it out loud made it worse. He struggled to stay calm. "I don't know where Combeferre is." Her head fell against his shoulder and she muttered something he couldn't quite hear. "They won't make it. The people. There's no way they can win."

"I... told you so."

He'd been stupid to think otherwise. He could see that now. He'd seen it earlier, but had ignored his suspicions. These were the consequences. This was the price of being wrong. "Can I see it?" He asked, taking her hands away from the bullet hole for her.

"It's just a surface wound. I... I'll be fine."

It was bullshit, but he was willing to pretend if she was. "Just a scratch. Yeah." Blood was coming out quickly now that he'd taken the pressure away. He put his own hands over it. "It'll probably be healed by tomorrow."

"Are you... scared?"

"Yes, yes, I'm scared. I'm so scared, Eponine. This is too much. I don't want to lose you too."

"You're not... going to get... rid of me... that easy," she wheezed.

"No?"

"I'm... I'm sorry... I didn't," she shut her eyes and started to hyperventilate.

"Shh, shh. It's fine. Don't talk. I'm the one who's sorry. If I hadn't-" several more flashes erupted within the crowd. It was starting to grow quiet. Those who hadn't headed home already were doomed at this point. He pulled Eponine closer. Jehan was dead. Courfeyrac was dead. Combeferre was AWOL. The other group was unaccounted for. The only thing he was certain he had left was her. The world was hell, but it didn't matter if she lived. If she could just live, he bargained with a god he didn't believe in, he would only help people in a nonviolent manner.

"Before I die... could you..."

"You're not going to die, so no. Don't you dare die, because if you do, I'll kill you. Understand?"

She smiled a little and wrapped one of her bloody hands and around the one he was using to holding her organs in. They sat that way for a long while. He sang her old choir songs, and stroked her hair. Sometimes it would seem she wasn't breathing, and he would yell at her until she opened her eyes a little. Eventually the sun began to sink, and the soldiers started to go around arresting or shooting those who were still resisting. Most of these people weren't worth the effort of a fight. Keeping them as prisoners of war would be a better lesson for others who had notions of rebellion.

He took Eponine's gun. She opened her eyes and watched him. She wasn't going to make it much longer, he could tell. He still refused to give in though. A soldier walked past them, rifle in hand. At first, he thought they might be so lucky as to be mistaken for corpses, but fate was not on their side. The soldier doubled back. Enjolras checked the chamber of the gun before the soldier could get close enough to see. Empty. This was it.

"Hey," he pet her hair to get her attention. "I'm sorry, I-"

"YOU!" The soldier was upon them. "Hands where I can see them!" He demanded.

Enjolras bent forward to kiss her forehead. She closed her eyes. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Mmm."

He raised the empty gun and aimed it at the soldier's heart.

BANG!