A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! You guys rock... Once again, I'm trying to create a lot of inner conflict - especially within Javert, who has never been in love, experienced this kind of attraction or felt anything that he couldn't make sense of. (Oh, I would teach him... *swoon*)

I actually think Javert is truly a vulnerable character - it shows in Javert's Soliliquy (especially Philip Quast's performance, he seems so vulnerable and human... Poor guy. So I believe the second something doesn't make sense he does not know how to deal with it.

DISCLAIMER: STILL not mine. :(

CHAPTER 5

The knife burnt in her pocket as she walked back to the market. Somehow the thought of killing Javert did not sit well with her. As the sun set, she crept in to a corner, unwilling to face the man who had given her an impossible task.

Miles away, Eugene Javert climbed into his bed and noticed – for the first time – the emptiness thereof.

Whereas Eponine felt that the next few weeks flew by too quickly, Javert thought a day felt like eternity. He was no closer to catching Eponine doing something worthy of landing in prison and hated himself for the fact that he was no longer sure whether that was why he followed her. He had not managed to find any way of tracking Jean Valjean's whereabouts either.

Javert felt like a failure as a policeman, a feeling he despised. Eponine was growing more nervous as the days passed. Any day now her father would expect Javert to be nothing more than a corpse and every day she became more reluctant to make it happen. Javert's vigilant conduct caused him to notice that Eponine seemed troubled and his curiosity was prickled by it.

He had summed her up as brave, determined, overconfident and senseless. Definitely not anxious and distracted.

Perhaps he could convince himself that he was using Eponine as a means of getting his hands on the vile Patron-Minette boys. It would certainly make more sense.

If there was no sense, he had nothing. Things had to be logical, he had to be professional. A policeman before anything else.

Occupied with his thoughts, he did not notice the Thenardier man before he was right behind Eponine. Javert leaned further into the shadows as he listened attentively to the urgent whispers of the pair.

"Did you kill him yet?"

Eponine shook her head and the man did not bother to hide the anger in his voice.

"You have the chance to rid the street of that devil and you do nothing?"

Eponine bit down on her lower lip, ashamed. She had honestly considered it, but every time she caught a glimpse of his eyes… She couldn't kill anyone in cold blood, much less a man who had saved her life.

Thenardier's laugh was cruel.

"Not only do you allow the man to follow you for months, too weak to elude him, but now you keep him on the street too. Every arrest, every wound on this street is your fault!"

Eponine wanted to shout that the Inspector would have been able to disarm her the minute she showed a knife, that the most hardened criminal could not accomplish getting rid of him, that she was just a girl.

But she couldn't. She wasn't. She never had the opportunity to be just a girl. Her father had turned her into a thief, a criminal, a whore!

She didn't notice his fist flying through the air, meeting her face with a loud thud. His hands were around her neck before she had time to move and she recoiled from his touch instinctively.

"I should just kill you now. One less mouth to feed."

She gasped for air as his fingers tightened around her throat, her eyes closed.

His touch left her suddenly and she crumpled to the ground, listening to the sound of feet scampering away.

She opened her eyes, confused. She moved closer to the wall as a daunting figure knelt next to her, groaning when she recognized Javert's cold blue eyes.

"Not you again."

"Was it because of me?"

"Yes."

Javert held his hand out to help her up, his eyes filled with regret. He would not apologize, however. It was his job.

Eponine took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air and Javert glanced at her slyly, unable to tear his eyes away from the roundings of her breasts rising and falling as she breathed.

Eponine's heart fluttered as she noticed the direction of his eyes, her eyes taking in every line of his face.

Without noticing it, Javert's breath had begun to race. He could not explain himself.

She was a whore.

And she was ugly.

As he lifted his gaze toward her eyes, he shook his head slightly.

No. The more he watched her, the more attractive she had become. His eyes left hers, landing on the curve of her mouth once more.

Eponine held her breath, certain that he could hear the wild beating of her heart.

He inched forward, this time unable to stop himself. His lips brushed over hers hesitantly and Eponine let out a sigh, surprised by how soft his lips were. She lifted a hand to touch his face and desire coursed through him as he encircled her waist with one arm, the other tangling in her hair. His kiss was hesitant – as though he was testing out a new experience. They pulled away from each other, two pairs of lust filled eyes staring into each other with mild surprise before Javert leaned forward to capture his lips with his again. Eponine slowly ran her hands up and down his shoulders as he cautiously ran his tongue over hers. Eponine grabbed fistfuls of his hair, deepening the kiss desperately. His coarse hands ran up and down her body, caressing her waist, locking over her buttocks, brushing against her chest.

She was trapped between him and the wall, the feel of his body overpowering her every sense and she felt weakened by the desire it sent through her. A soft moan left her throat as she felt the evidence of his desire against her thigh.

Javert released her quickly, his pale face seeming translucent. He turned away from her, his breath laboured.
"I can't…"

He turned back to her, his eyes still warm with desire. He made a move toward her, but stopped himself, his eyes closed.
"Dear God… No."

He opened his eyes to look at her, coldness replacing the lust.

"I am sorry. I lost control, it will not happen again."

He turned around without another word, leaving Eponine breathless and slumped against the wall.