"Nanny can't we stay out for a little while longer? PLEASE?" Abby and Gavroche pleaded. Grantaire stood and thought "Well, I don't know. It's gonna be dark soon" he told them. Gavroche shook his head "Please? I'm six goin on 7 soon. I'm big enough to take care of her!" he said. Abby had found out the other day that Gavroche was actually a full year older than her, but his size made him look younger.
Grantaire looked over at Abby's pleading face before sighing "Enjolras won't like it lassie, I hope you know that" he told her. Abby smiled and hugged him tightly "Don't worry Nanny, we'll be back before you know it" she assured him. He smiled and patted her head before beginning to leave them "See you later lassie!" he called over his shoulder as he headed out of the park.
Gavroche and Abby smiled and began heading in the opposite direction "Let's go see Eponine" Abby said. They made their way out into the street and were almost there when suddenly Abby stopped. Gavroche looked at her "What's the matter?" he asked, she looked up at the darkened sky "It's night now. Do you think Enjolras is gonna be mad we're not back?" she asked.
The boy laughed "Of course not! He knows your with me!" he said. She laughed and began walking down the road after him "Yea, guess you're right" she said. The two children continued down the street, but this time it was Gavroche who stopped them. "What's the matter?" Abby asked but he hushed her "We're bein followed" he whispered.
Suddenly a man's voice laughed "Ah, streetwise little gamin aren't ye?" it asked. Out of the shadows 4 men appeared and Abby's eyes widened in horror, she knew who they were. One of them nudged the one who'd spoke "Hey Tony, don't that look like the little kid who got away from that whore you killed in the ally?" he asked. The man's eyes narrowed "Yea, I remember. Boss said to kill em both since the brat's mother wouldn't give him what he wanted, but we couldn't get the girl" he recalled.
One of the men's eyes narrowed and he smiled, pulling a knife from his pocket "Why not finish the job?" he asked. Gavroche let out a little sound that sounded like a growl "You better not even think about it!" he said as intimidatingly as he could. The men just laughed "Get em" the leader commanded. The one with the knife instantly grabbed Gavroche and sliced his arm with the knife as he fought back "RUN ABBY!" he yelled.
Abby turned and ran down the street as fast as she could, the men quickly abandoned Gavroche in the middle of the street to pursue her. They gamin watched with wide eyes, clutching his shoulder as blood seeped through his fingers. He turned and raced down another street towards the cafe, he had to get help! He had to tell Enjolras!
The girl ran almost blindly through the streets. Everything seemed a blur to her, and her lungs screamed for air and her legs for her to stop, but she couldn't stop. Suddenly she realized she'd run back into the park and she was approaching a bridge. In the moment it seemed like a good idea, they were gaining on her, if she jumped into the river they wouldn't be able to catch her.
The bridge got closer and closer, she was almost to it! The men were gaining swiftly though, one almost managing to catch her but she sprinted forward. Suddenly they were on the bridge, and in one quick leap of faith she'd jumped, without even thinking, and plunged into the swirling darkness below.
"Winecask, where's Abby?" Enjolras asked as the rest of the students began to leave, they'd ended their meeting 15 minutes ago and still Abby and Gavroche hadn't returned. Grantaire took a swig of his wine "I don't know, they said they'd be back by dark" he replied. They were interrupted by the little gamin himself bursting through the door of the cafe.
He skidding to a halt and gasped for breath, tears streaming down his face and blood seeping down his arm. Enjolras immediately went up to him "What happened to you?" he demanded. Gavroche's voice trembled slightly as he tried to catch his breath "W We were w w walking a an these men a a attacked us. T they got me an c chased Ab b by d down the s street" he told them.
Joly approached him and gently began examining his arm "Relax Gavroche, sit down and breath deeply" he told him. Gavroche did as he was told and Courfeyrac stepped forward "Did you see which way they were going?" he asked. He nodded "Towards the park, the river side" he said, his voice now steady as he caught his breath.
Enjolras, Prouvaire, Courfeyrac, and Lesgles set out to find her while Grantaire, Marius, and Combeferre stayed to help Joly and see if maybe she'd return. The students who set out all ran to the park, once they were there they slowed and began searching the shadows, seeing if maybe they caught sight of anything. Suddenly they heard voices and dove into the nearby bushes.
"Can't believe you let her get away!" a dark voice said in obvious agitation. To this another voice replied "Ah, who cares. The girl probably drowned in the river, which means our job's done and the boss'll be happy". There were murmurs of agreement, and then that was the last they heard as the voices trailed off into the darkness.
Prouvaire was the first to jump out of the bushed "THEY THREW HER IN THE RIVER?" he practically yelled, Lesgles jumped up and covered his mouth "Shut up Jehan, they might hear you and come back for us" he told him. Courfeyrac and Enjolras emerged last "She must have jumped, they said they didn't catch her remember?" Courfeyrac said quietly. Enjolras shook his head "Why would she jump? Who in their right mind would jump?" he asked.
The students divided into 2 groups, one to walk down one side of the river bank, the other to walk down the other. As they walked Courfeyrac seemed to get more uneasy "Enjolras, it's late. I can barely see a thing. Maybe we should come back tomorrow when there's light?" he asked. Enjolras shook his head "NO! She might not be alive tomorrow! This can't wait!" he said firmly.
After walking down the bank for a good half hour there was suddenly a yell from the opposite bank "ENJOLRAS! WE FOUND HER!", it was Lesgles. Quickly Enjolras and Courfeyrac ran to the closest bridge and crossed to the other side before running back up the bank to where their friends were waiting. Courfeyrac and Enjolras slowed and walked up to them.
Prouvaire was cradling Abby's soaked body in his arms and Lesgles was pacing nervously back and forth behind him. When he saw them Lesgles ran up to them "She's alive, but barely. What do we do now?" he asked. Everybody stood in silence as they waited for Enjolras to answer, but currently he was studying Abby's limp form, finally he took off his jacket and handed it to Prouvaire "We have to take her back to Joly, wrap her in this to keep her warm. You'll have to carry her Jehan" he replied quietly before turning and beginning to walk back upstream, towards the direction of the cafe.
Lesgles followed quickly behind him, Courfeyrac waited patiently while Prouvaire stood up and began walking after Enjolras. After what seemed like an eternity of walking down dimly lit streets, they finally made it back to the cafe, where the other students were waiting patiently. Gavroche was sleeping quietly in Grantaire's arms, his cut arm bandaged carefully, while the drunk continued to drink his wine. Combeferre and Joly were talking quietly at one of the tables and Marius was sitting at a table opposite them, his eyes wide and alert as if the men who'd attacked Gavroche and Abby would come after him next.
Enjolras entered first, Lesgles and Prouvaire following closely behind, and Courfeyrac bringing up the rear. Joly and Combeferre sprang up "What happened to her?" demanded as he took Abby from Prouvaire. Courfeyrac spoke up "She jumped in the river in order to escape the men who got Gavroche" he replied. Joly began studying Abby before shaking his head "Enjolras, I can't do anything for her here. She needs to be in bed" he told them.
The students all came and big Abby a quiet farewell, including Gavroche, who was now quite shaken by it all. He decided to stay in the cafe for the night, where he knew it was safe. Combeferre handed Abby back to Enjolras, who felt a little bit of fear creep up on him as he felt how cold she was. Before Enjolras and Joly could leave however Grantaire spoke up "WAIT!" he called, he stood and made his way towards them "Let me come, please?" he asked.
Joly shook his head "No Grantaire, we can't have anyone else" he told him. Grantaire shook his head "Well let me at least say goodbye?" he asked, his voice hitching up a bit. He took Abby's hand in his own and kissed the top of his lightly "Oh lassie, I'm so sorry, I shoulda never let ya out of me sight. I'll make this right when you're well. And I may be a drunk, but I keep my promises" he murmured to her softly.
Once Grantaire had said his goodbye Enjolras and Joly began heading back to his flat. Once they were gone the students had to stay at the cafe a little longer to help Graintaire, since the drunk had practically collapsed on the floor in a fit of sobs once his mightly Enjolras and little lass had left. Gavroche too began to cry quietly next to him, wondering if he really wanted to get into a fight when he got older.
Enjolras and Joly entered the flat quietly, and Enjolras put her to bed as Joly as instructed. Once that was taken care of he left them alone so Joly could look at her. He sat quietly at his desk and began writing, trying to keep his mind off the chaos going on around him. It wasn't long though before Joly returned "I've got her into a dry nightgown and done all I can do for her. The poor girl's exhausted, just keep an eyes on her. Once she wakes up, with a little bed rest she'll be back to causing trouble in no time" Joly assured him.
He sighed, he was exhausted too, but he thanked Joly and was slightly grateful when he was gone. Quietly he went over to Abby's room and sat next to her bed. He waited for a little while before exhaustion finally began to win him over, as he stood to go a little voice stopped him "Enjolras?". He looked down at Abby and her quiet green eyes stared back up at him, full of more wisdom and experience than he would have wanted to see in a 5 year old.
"Yes Abby?" he asked, sitting back down and taking her hand quietly, she smiled "Um, well when it gets warmer can you teach me how to swim. Cause escaping via the river would have been easier if I knew" she said, her voice so faint he had to strain to hear it. He nodded "Of course, we can do whatever you want. But just rest now, you've had quite an adventure" he told her, squeezing her hand.
Her eyes closed and she sighed, squeezing his hand back "Love you 'Jolras" she said quietly. He sat there thinking for a moment before answering "I love you too". He'd always answered that he loved her back without really thinking about them, they'd been empty, meaningless words to give her comfort before. Now, as he sat here next to her, after what had transpired, he knew deep down that no matter how much she annoyed him, and caused trouble for him and the other students at the cafe, he did love this little girl.
Before he stood he kissed her forehead "I promise I'll never let anything bad like this happened to you again" he whispered. He stood to leave but her voice called him again "Enjolras?" she asked sleepily. "Yes?" he answered, "Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it" she replied quietly before letting out a little sigh and falling into a deep sleep.
Enjolras stood silently for a moment before leaving her room and retuning to his own. He changed into his night wear and crawled under the sheets, his eyes closing exhaustedly once his head met the pillow. But her words still echoed in his mind, and he challenged them like the revolutionary he would be come 'I'll keep that promise' he thought as he drifted to sleep 'I'll keep that promise until the day I die'.
A/N: THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! See? Reviews motivated me to stay up til midnight writing this, which means I'm posting it on BARRICADE DAY! YAY!
The Gavroche age thing, yea, I did add a year on him in this chapter as you can see. I always thought of him as being about 8-10 in the musical (Even though in the book I'm pretty sure he's 12 right?). So according to my timeline, about the time of the Barricade, Enjolras will be 22 (As he is supposed to be), Abby will be 8, and Gavroche will be about 9 years old. Hope that solves some conflict, if not, it's gonna end up AU anyway (It pretty much already is), so I don't think it much matters.
Oh yes, and I apologize for the drama I stirred up here, but come on, this is LES MISERABLES! They were too happy and fluffy and I needed stuff to happen. Abby is perfectly fine, don't worry. Poor Grantaire though, Imma gonna have to fix that. You know what THAT means. FLUFF! Oh yea, and I apologize because people complained in my Phantom fics about drama like this so, I apologize ahead of time here for that.
Once again, please REVIEW! They are deeply appreciated. And once again, HAPPY BARRICADE DAY EVERYBODY!