Éponine hurried quickly and quietly to the place. After agreeing to rescue Cosette, she knew there was only one place where Cosette would be. Éponine sighed and stood in front of her house. She knocked on the door five times, a pause, and then four times. That was the code to enter. The door opened up and her father grinned.
"Well, well, well, look whose back," her father grinned, although it wasn't a very nice grin. He let Éponine in, and Éponine saw Cosette.
Cosette had been thrown in one corner, and looked pretty bad. Her hair was messed up and there was dried blood on her face. She was tied up and positioned awkwardly against the wall. Although she looked awful, her eyes were alert and fierce. They briefly locked with Éponine's. Éponine hoped Cosette could see that she obviously couldn't do anything at the moment.
Éponine regarded Cosette coolly, and went over to her younger sister, Azelma. She sat down next to her and waited for her father to say something.
"Alright, so tonight we are going to rob a nice rich house across Paris. The occupants are currently out, and it is empty. Are you girls ready? Now, Montparnasse will stay behind to watch over Cosette."
Éponine and Azelma nodded and stood up. Azelma left with her father, and Éponine stayed behind with Montparnasse.
"Have fun staying here," said Éponine.
Montparnasse snorted, "Believe me, I wish I didn't have to. I'm the best man your father has and he puts me on babysitting duty."
"That stinks," said Éponine, sympathetically. "Why don't you go, and I'll take care of the girl?"
Montparnasse narrowed his eyes, "and what makes you think I can trust you?"
Éponine laughed, "We have an unsettled score from when we were kids."
Montparnasse grinned, "Have fun, and make sure you beat her up hard for me." Éponine nodded, and Montparnasse left.
Éponine waited ten seconds and then ran over to Cosette. She took off her gag, and got to work untying her.
"Thanks," whispered Cosette.
Éponine just nodded, hard at work. She got Cosette's hands free and started to work on her feet. "How bad did they hurt you?" she asked.
"Just a punch here or there. I kept fighting them, which they didn't like. And I think I broke my wrist," Cosette said, which made Éponine glance up at it.
"We should get a professional to take a look at it," Éponine said, as she finished untying Cosette. She helped Cosette to her feet. "Can you walk?"
Cosette sighed, "Yes, but I doubt I can run after being in that position all day."
"Just walk around the room while I think," said Éponine. Finally, she came up with a plan. "Okay, got it! First up, take off your shoes. Yes, you'll be cold, but being barefoot is much quieter. Take off your bonnet as well. Okay, give them to me." Éponine took her shoes and bonnet and went over to a random spot in the floor. She pulled open a floorboard and put them there. She closed the floorboard and stood up. "Let's just hope they don't look there," she said, more to herself than to Cosette. Cosette was confused, but had decided to trust Éponine a while ago.
"Now, we really must go," said Éponine, grabbing Cosette's wrist (the uninjured one) and running out the door. She quietly shut the door and then ran outside. She ran into the back alleys, dragging Cosette behind her. She made it to the Musain café with no problems, save for one creepy guy trying to follow them. She entered the back room, and everyone stared at them, shocked.
A cheer rose up from the crowd, and Joly ran over to them.
"She hurt her wrist," said Éponine, going over to sit down. Courfeyrac, meanwhile, had left to go get Marius. Joly examined Cosette's wrist and wrapped it up in a piece of cloth. Bahorel and Grantaire were congratulating Éponine, and Jehan was writing down a poem in honor of her.
"Cosette," came a voice from the doorway. Cosette turned and ran into Marius's arms. The two just stood there, holding each other as if they never wanted to let go. Which was probably true.
The students made a plan to smooth out the rough ends. Someone went to the police, telling them about the kidnap. The police went over to the Thénardiers' house. When they protested innocence, the police did a search. Under one of the floorboards, they found shoes and a bonnet. Cosette had told them that they were hers. The police arrested the Thénardiers, and that was the end of that. Cosette had returned to her papa, and showed him that her kidnappers were now in jail for other reasons as well. Cosette was able to stay, but she was under strict watch by her father.
"I'm proud of you," Enjolras said, sitting next to Éponine. "You did a good thing."
"Thanks," said Éponine, sadly. She looked at Marius and Cosette. Cosette's father had dropped her off, and will pick her up in a couple of hours. Cosette and Marius were talking and laughing. The look on Marius face was that of pure love.
"It'll be okay," said Enjolras, touching her arm. "They'll never forget what you did for them."
Éponine shrugged. Enjolras pulled her into a hug. It was a long hug, and many things went unsaid between them. It was almost the same kind of hug that Marius and Cosette shared. Finally, they broke apart. Enjolras kissed her on the forehead, and smiled.
Only a couple of people witnessed the exchange between Enjolras and Éponine. Marius did, and he felt a familiar urge of protection towards Éponine. Then he realized that Enjolras wouldn't hurt Éponine, and he should relax. Courfeyrac saw, which meant that the entire Les Amis de l'ABC will know by tomorrow. Grantaire saw too.
When Grantaire saw this, he felt as if he was losing his Apollo forever. Now his Apollo was gone and into the arms of someone else. Grantaire sighed, and looked into his bottle. It was nearly empty, and was only his first one. Grantaire set it down. He decided that it was time to move on. His Apollo will be happy somewhere else with someone else. But Grantaire still wanted to do something.
Everyone had left the café, except for Enjolras and Grantaire. Enjolras was just about to leave, when Grantaire stood up and walked over to him. Enjolras paused, and reflected for a moment that Grantaire looked stable and didn't even look that drunk. Grantaire came closer. "I'm sorry 'bout this, Apollo," he said, before grabbing him and kissing him.
Musichetta had made plans to hang out with Bossuet tonight. When he didn't show up, Musichetta got a little bit worried. But, then again, with Bossuet's luck, anything could happen. Musichetta learned that you have to be forgiving with Bossuet because he can't control his luck. She wondered if he was still in the back room. Walking over there, she peeked inside and was surprised to see Enjolras and Grantaire kissing. She left quickly, puzzled by what just had happened.