Hello Everybody! I know it's been a hell of a long time, but I've been so busy with guitar lessons, singing repetitions, preparing for the 20km marathon, studying Japanese, starting up a new project, and...well uhm, what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry?

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.

Concrete Angel

Chapitre Huit.

Tired, and with a hell of a lot pain Eponine walked through the hallways, trying her best not to limp. She passed the English classroom, and couldn't help to look in. She noticed someone was still using the room. A sole silhouette was seen, staring out of the window as he or she sat atop of one of the desks next to the window. She didn't give it any more thought after that though, she had to meet up with the unfortunate Lesgles at another classroom anyway.

Once she rounded the last corner she saw him standing there, waving at her, a warm smile once more on his face. So this was the man that had gotten Marius into Les Amis? She'd heard it from Marius once, that he'd spoken up for him in class. When she'd asked how that was possible, seeing he was in his last year Marius had explained that he'd only been present because of a test he still had to make. Apparently the teacher hadn't noticed Marius' empty seat, and Marius had snuck in very silently to avoid trouble with the teacher. After that they'd gotten into a deep conversation, after which Lesgles asked him why he would not become part of Les Amis.

Eponine could still see Marius' smiling face at that, a sight that made her stomach fill up with butterflies.

"That was two years ago." he'd said after which a big smile made place on his handsome face, brown eyes twinkling with laughter. "Time goes by so fast."

'As if.' Eponine thought after the boy had disappeared afterwards, and after she'd gotten herself to calm down and think about what he said. From what she heard, she could trust Lesgles. He was one of the nicest of members of Les Amis after all, though she heard he had bad luck.

She shrugged it off as she walked over to him and the young boy standing next to him. The boy, also darker skinned, looked no more than thirteen years old, and seemed frightful. At this she frowned. Why was he standing so slumped, and why did he look so bad at ease? What in the world had he done to need the help of Les Amis?

"Hello Eponine." Lesgles said, smiling. "Glad you could come so quickly."

Eponine shrugged. "Of course. An agreement is an agreement after all."

The boy seemed to tense up as she spoke, which did not go unnoticed by Lesgle either.

"Let's go in shall we?" he said, opening the door to the empty classroom, and motioning for the lad to enter.

Once inside Lesgles pulled out a chair from the first desk and turned it so it faced the second desk in row. Both he and Eponine took place at this desk, while the guy sat down on the other side, fumbling with a book he kept in hand.

"So" Lesgles began. "You wanted to talk to us?"

The boy nodded nervously, glancing from Eponine to Lesgles. "Yes, I did..."

"Why is something the matter?" Lesgles asked, his kind voice soothing the youth in front of him for the slightest.

"Well, I'm not sure, but..."

"But?" Lesgles urged.

"I'm..." the lad became nervous at this. "They..."

"They?" Eponine asked, trying her best not to get innerved with the young boy in front of her. "Who are they?" she asked, trying to sound as gently as Lesgles did. Apparently she was not for the guy seemed to grow even more nervous.

"Just calm down Julien. Tell us what's bothering you. We won't tell anyone of this talk if you don't want to."

The boy looked up. "You sure?"

"Of course." Eponine said, really feeling for the nervous kid.

He seemed to relax just the tiniest bit.

"It's just that...they...they want me out of this school."

"Okay." Lesgles said. "That we cannot allow so easily. Who are they?"

"A few of my classmates...Do I...have to give names?" At this he seemed even more bad at ease than Eponine thought possible.

"You do not have to do anything you do not want to do." Lesgles said, effectively calming the boy down.

Eponine started to wonder how many times Lesgles had been asked to perform these kinds of duties, to talk to children this nervous and to come up with a solution for whatever it was that ailed them. Her respect for Les Amis grew as she noted how mature the boy was taking all this.

"That's a relief." the lad said, sitting back in his chair for the first time.

"It's just that...I'm normally not so nervous, but..."

"It's alright, we understand." Lesgles spoke.

"You can no longer cope with things?" Eponine put in, really feeling for the young lad. He was but three to four years older than her brother, and she'd remembered how he looked when he was in this state. But usually that was easy to explain, because the sole problem Gavroche could have to drive him this far, was their father. She shook it off, trying to focus on the boy in front of her who nodded to her question.

"Yes, it's become too hard."

"We understand. Then it is good you have called upon us. Do you think you've done the right thing?" Lesgles asked.

The boy seemed to think about it for a moment but then, albeit hesitantly, nodded. "Yes, I believe I did. I mean, I'm worthy of help too, right?"

"Of course you are." Eponine said, her voice having an edge of fire that did not go unnoticed by the two boys of which one was looking at her through hopeful eyes.

"But then, maybe, I'll get into trouble if I talk to you..."

"You only know when you do." Lesgles said. "But we promise you that you will not go through this alone."

The boy nodded. "Alright then."

"So, what's going on with these students of your class?" Eponine asked, bending towards the boy.

"Well, they say I need to leave the school."

"And what for?" Leslges asked.

"Because I'm...like you."

Lesgles' eyes widened for a second, until it dawned on him what the boy was going on about.

"What?!" Eponine lashed out, the boy immediately crumbling, eyes wide with fear. "They tell you to leave because you're darker than them?!"

Lesgles regarded the girl who, enraged, stood from her seat.

Eponine tried her best not to flinch because of her injuries, but it enraged her that there were still people like that. "That's not a reason you should be sent from school! You're a human being like the rest of us! As long as you don't do anything wrong you do not need to take crap like that from anyone!"

Though she looked enraged, Lesgles noted that her sudden outburst brought light to the eyes of the young lad. It was as if he was being healed through her anger at the mere subject of hate towards the boy.

"Tell me who they are, and I swear I'll..."

"Eponine." Lesgles said calmly. "I understand your feelings, but that's not how Les Amis work."

Still fuming Eponine sat down, not believing the stupidity of it all.

The guy in front of her seemed to have gotten new courage though.

"As my fellow student has clearly pointed out" Lesgles began at which Eponine pouted involuntarily "That is not a reason to expel someone. A such I'll go have a word with the teachers and the principal to point the students to this problem."

The boy wanted to interfere, but Leslges was quicker. "If that doesn't help we'll talk to your classmates one at a time."

"But then they'll know it was me!" the guy retorted.

"Not necessarily. We'll make it look like it is a general intervention of Les Amis, and I can assure you, we will find out who's to blame for this situation, and he or she will be called to justify themselves for it."

At this the young boy nodded, hoping that whatever Les Amis were going to do that it would work out well.

"One last question..." he started. "Will my name be mentioned?"

"No." Lesgles replied firmly. "We will not bring you in unnecessary danger. Not the students nor the teachers will have to know who it is that asked us for help."

Eponine saw the guy relax, and a smile made its way up to her face. Perhaps she could come to like working with Les Amis after all.

The world came crashing down in all its splendour as she reached her bike though. A small note hung on the steer of her bike. Curious Eponine quickly pulled it off.

"You'll pay for that." it read.

Confused Eponine stared at the small piece of paper in front of her. The writing resembled Montparnasse's, but she couldn't be too sure of it. Okay, he might be the only one in school who hated her, but that...her trail of thought stopped there. Yes, he would take it personally if anything happened. Perhaps he was still pissed for her shrugging him off the way she'd done in front of 'The Gang?' She shook her head. He could do it, she realised. He could be so damned proud as to take it personally. Of course she had also avoided him at school, so he must realise she really wasn't interested in him. She shivered as she thought of the time in which she'd found him attractive and that his mere presence has brought some butterflies to go haywire in her stomach. After she'd gotten to know him though, she regretted ever showing him she fancied him. He was cruel in every meaning of the word, pulling out spider legs from the poor creature, and worse. The way he treated her now like he owned her was infuriating, and she could only curse her younger self for ever showing she liked him. She could no longer remember how she did that, for if she could remember, she'd probably do it to Marius, so that he at last would understand why she was so often found in his presence.

Her thoughts were pulled back to the note in her hand. It said she would pay, but she wasn't too sure as to what exactly. She imagined it to be her declining his affections, but what if there was more of which she wasn't aware off? Perhaps she'd done something to him involuntarily? Nah, she shook her head. She'd steered clear for him way too carefully for him to notice, and even if it was her avoiding him, then he wouldn't act this way. He'd just get what he wanted in a more brutal way. Not that the note wasn't mentioning something different though. Eponine shrugged it off, she'd know when the time came. She was so used to getting beaten up that the thought of a new beating heading her way wasn't terrifying in the least. The fear and pain only came with and after the beating after all. No use losing sleep over something that had yet come to pass.

Pushing the note into her pocket she got onto her bike with protesting muscles and an enormous amount of pain, which reminded her of the long night she still had to go through. Serving people was really going to be a trial. Another sigh escaped her, and unconsciously she realised she'd see it through somehow.

"And? How did it go?" Feuilly asked as Enjolras and Grantaire walked into the classroom.

"It was...interesting." Enjolras said as he put down his bag and sat down on the couch. He sighed deeply as he thought about the strange fellow he'd just come to meet. Everything about the guy screamed caution, and that was exactly how he was going to deal with him.

"So..." Feuilly said, turning to Grantaire who threw away his empty bottle in the sole trash can in the corner of the room.

"To say it in short, he's a handful." Grantaire said stretching.

"That bad?" Feuilly asked.

The door opened once more. "Ah, Feuilly you're still here?" Lesgles spoke as he walked in.

"Yeah." Feuilly replied as he watched his friend enter. "Eponine gone?"

"Yes, I told her it was alright for her to get going."

"I see."

Lesgles turned to see Enjolras sitting on the couch. "I take the talk with this Montparnasse gave us some insight in the situation?" he asked, looking at Grantaire who sauntered over to the other couch.

"Yeah." he said before sitting down. "That it's going to be a whole lot of fun dealing with him."

"If you find dealing with a delinquent fun." Enjolras commented darkly.

"A delinquent?" Lesgles asked, sitting down next to Grantaire.

"That bad?" Feuilly asked, walking over and leaning against the sofa.

"Yeah. He's not to be taken lightly."

"Then what are we going to do with Eponine?" Lesgles asked, bad at ease with seeing the leader so annoyed with someone. It wasn't all that hard to annoy the guy, but to see him this worked up over someone who needed their help was a first. Normally he'd keep his thoughts to himself, but this time something had clearly ticked him off, and if Lesgles had a guess, he'd think it had something to do with Eponine and her reaction to the news that the man wanted to see her and no one else. He smiled to himself. So the marble student wasn't totally made of stone was he?

"I don't know yet." Enjolras said, looking up at the three students still present. "Perhaps it's best if we talk this over with the whole team."

"Including Eponine?" Feuilly asked.

"I don't know." Enjolras admitted. "Perhaps it's best she knows of this as soon as possible."

"I don't know." Lesgles commented. "Maybe we should give it some more thought before jumping to conclusions. If her reaction is anything to go by, she isn't very keen on seeing this fellow."

"I agree with that." Feuilly said, wiping his hair out of his eyes. "Maybe it's an idea to send Grantaire. I mean, he's used to this stuff right?"

"I'm right here you know." Grantaire said "And even I'm not sure about the right way to go about this. There's something going on between the two, but I have no idea what, and we might only be able to find out the best way to deal with this based on the relation they have."

"If they have any." Enjolras grumbled.

"Are you kidding?" Grantaire said, eyes focussed on Enjolras. "Have you seen the size of the smirk on his face? Add to that the way she reacted...something sure did happen."

"Then what do you think that is?" Enjolras asked, taken aback from the tone of his voice. If he hadn't known better it would sound like he was jealous if something did happen in the past. He just couldn't fight off the look she'd given him, all power and control, and the fearful look she wore when they'd mentioned Montparnasse. He ran a hand through his short dark hair.

Grantaire didn't miss out on the look of anger and then of confusion that went over Enjolras' face, and he found it amusing to watch him struggle with whatever it was that was annoying him so. "I do not know. Much can happen between two people."

"Are you speaking of an earlier relationship?" Feuilly asked.

"I don't think so." Lesgles spoke up, getting the attention of the other three guys. "It doesn't look that way."

"Then how does it look when that's the case?" Feuilly asked, slightly annoyed at the vagueness of it all.

"Different." was all Lesgles could say. He himself couldn't explain why he was certain that Eponine and Montparnasse had never been a couple.

This reply let Feuilly sigh in annoyance. "Whatever. What are we going to do about this then? If Eponine doesn't want to see him there's no way he'll want to talk."

"Case closed I'd say." Grantaire mumbled.

"No." Enjolras' voice rang. "No, it won't be over. Students will hear how Les Amis weren't willing to help a student, he'll sully our name, and we'll lose all we've fought so hard for to attain."

The whole room fell silent.

"Didn't he say something about Eponine being the only one in his class, and as thus the only one capable of noticing how his teacher treats him?" Grantaire asked, though his eyes showed he'd been going for this the whole time.

Enjolras looked up. "Yes, he did."

"Well then, isn't there someone else in Les Amis who's in her class?" he replied in a teasing tone.

"Grantaire, please stop the games and tell us." Feuilly said.

Grantaire's smirk grew wider. "There's a certain poet in our group who shares this class with her."

"Prouvaire." Enjolras whispered, eyes shining with this new information. "We'll talk this through with him. Get some extra Intel on this Montparnasse and decide with the whole group how we're going to handle this. We'll find a way in the same way we've always found an answer to our problems. With democracy."

A confident smile appeared onto the other boys' faces and they nodded, a feeling of importance surging through their veins. If there was someone who could keep Eponine safe, and all the while dealing with a difficult student, it would be Les Amis de l'ABC.

Though I apologised in the beginning I must make clear that I am not certain of when I'll be updating. I'm into so much and I'm so fickle that I do not even know myself what the next day will bring. ^^" Either way I know where this fic is going and it's sure not letting go of me. By the way I've added a little something new to my profile. Now it is mentioned, after my crappy in one minute created poem where I'm hanging out on this site. If you check that you might know whether or not I'll be updating regularly or not. At this moment I'm really back into the Ranger's Apprentice fandom (which should be noted) so updates for this story may come slower. But as I said before I know where this story is going! XD I hope you can forgive me for this, and I hope I can welcome you at the next chapter! Stay tuned!

Oh and thanks for all the lovely reviews. There was one in particular that made me remember this chapter today. Unfortunately it was a guest so I can not PM him/her. But thank you for the many Please's! ^^" I'm sorry you had to go out of your way to write so many of them. (I really hope you used copy paste!) But really I appreciate it and from that day on I couldn't help but feel guilty about not updating while I have a few chapters left on my PC. ^^"