Rescue

by Darkover

Javert is saved from suicide by Valjean, but it becomes more complicated than that, especially as it is not always clear who is saving whom.

7. Chapter 7

20

Title: "Rescue," Chapter Seven: "Filling the Darkness With Order and Light"

Author: Darkover

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Please see Chapter One.

Summary: Javert is saved from suicide by Valjean, but it becomes more complicated than that, especially as it is not always clear who is saving whom.

~ooo0ooo~

By the time they reached the Gillenormand house, Valjean had himself under complete control once more, although he was no happier about his errand. The two men stopped before the wrought-iron gate of the family home. Valjean stood and stared through the iron scrollwork, making no attempt to enter.

Javert said quietly, "Jean, all you need do at this point is pay a social call and ask how the boy is doing. Find out if he has regained consciousness. That will be enough to satisfy your daughter for the present."

"For the present," Valjean echoed. "But what about tomorrow?"

"Concern yourself about that tomorrow. This is today."

Valjean looked at him with a touch of surprise, as if this did not sound like the Inspector he remembered. Perhaps it is not, Javert thought. We have both changed from what we once were.

"Go on," Javert prompted, not unkindly.

Valjean took a deep breath and reached out tentatively, as if hoping the gate was locked, but it swung open easily.

The Inspector said, "Perhaps I should wait for you out here. The boy has already undergone a shock, and doubtless so has his grandfather. I do not want either of them being carried off by another shock, in the belief that Inspector Javert has arrived to arrest the young revolutionary."

Valjean glanced at him. "Thank you, Javert. I appreciate your sensitivity in this matter, although I am not sure how fair it is to expect you to wait outside. I should not be long."

The Inspector nodded and began pacing up and down on the pavement in front of the house while Valjean approached the front door and lifted the knocker. After a brief wait a manservant answered, and after exchanging a few quiet words, Valjean was allowed to enter.

He was ushered into the parlor where the grandfather sat rigidly upright but obviously distraught. They exchanged polite greetings, and Valjean was invited to sit down, but it soon became clear that the older man was unusually nervous and upset. "My grandson is still unconscious, Monsieur. The doctor says there is no reason to panic just yet, but he looks quite grim whenever he examines Marius. May I inquire as to your reasons for paying this visit?"

"I am calling on behalf of my daughter Cosette, who is acquainted with your grandson. She is most concerned about his welfare."

Gillenormand's expression brightened at that, and for the first time since Valjean had entered the room, there seemed to be a spark of hope in the old man's eyes. "I am most grateful that she is concerned, Monsieur, for if anything can awaken Marius, it will be the voice and the presence of the young lady he loves. You will bring her by for another visit, I trust?"

The last words were delivered with such hopeful eagerness, bordering on desperation and quite unlike the older man's usual hauteur, that Valjean could not bring himself to refuse, not completely. "I…shall consider the matter, M. Gillenormand. I must of course think of how this will affect my daughter."

"Surely the young lady will not refuse to visit a sick boy who needs her." The older man's eyes were pleading, his tone nearly so. "And if you are concerned about her reputation, you of course would be equally welcome, M. Fauchelevent."

"It is not just that, sir," Valjean hedged. "My daughter Cosette is a most sensitive young lady. As I said, I shall consider the matter." Seeing that Gillenormand was about to speak, he stood up, reaching for his hat. "I shall return tomorrow. If your grandson is conscious, then I may agree to bring Cosette—for a brief visit."

"Yes, yes, Monsieur, of course." Gillenormand was visibly disappointed, and yet at the same time, pathetically grateful for any crumb. He seemed to believe that his visitor's agreement to bring Cosette to visit his grandson would be all that was necessary to return the boy to good health. "Neither you nor your daughter will regret this. My grandson is a baron, you know…"

He continued to speak for several more minutes, although Valjean barely heard any of it. The former 24601 felt his spirits plummeting toward despair. There seemed to be nothing he could do to extricate himself and Cosette from further interaction with Gillenormand's grandson. He reminded himself that on that night at the barricades, he had prayed to the Almighty that Marius be spared. Part of him did still wish for the boy to recover, but he also could not help wishing that Marius would just go away and leave Cosette with him. He feared what the future, in the form of this young man, would bring to his daughter and to himself. Valjean could not dismiss the thought that he would lose Cosette forever.

At last the visit—which had actually taken but a few minutes—ended, and Valjean found himself outside the house once more, with no conscious memory of having made his exit. Slowly, he walked to the pavement, where Javert was waiting.

"You look pale," was the Inspector's greeting. "Has the boy taken a turn for the worse?"

Valjean shook his head. "No, but he is no better, either. He is still unconscious."

Javert nodded briefly. "Well, you have done all that you can do." He paused. Valjean was staring at nothing, and seemed barely to have heard him. "Did something else happen?"

"Javert." Valjean turned to him, staring like a visionary. "M. Gillenormand wishes me to bring Cosette by for a visit. He believes that his grandson might respond to her presence and to the sound of her voice."

"That is possible, I suppose. Did you agree?"

"I said that I would speak to Cosette about it. And I agreed to call again tomorrow. If he has awakened by then, and if Cosette is willing, I agreed to allow her to visit the boy."

"I see."

Valjean continued to stare at him, as if he expected the Inspector to have some kind of answers. Javert sighed. "You do not wish to do these things, do you?" The older man shook his head, unable to speak. "Well, you have given your word, so you cannot in honor do otherwise," the Inspector pointed out.

"I know," Valjean whispered, as if talking to himself. "Just as I know what Cosette's decision will be. I am losing her, Javert. I am losing her to this boy, and I am helpless to do anything about it."

"Jean." Javert actually reached out and put a hand on the older man's shoulder. Valjean blinked, as if roused from a nightmare, and looked the Inspector full in the face. "I meant what I said earlier. You have done all that you can do for today. Tomorrow you will do what you have promised. But beyond that, you need not concern yourself about what the future will bring." He paused as Valjean seemed to absorb this. "Now, I believe you and I should go get something to eat. It is midday already, there is a tavern not too far from here that serves food, and you look as if you need sustenance. If you will return my wallet to me, I will pay."

Valjean fished out the slightly-battered leather wallet that contained Javert's money and the card identifying him as an Inspector of the Police, and handed it back to its owner. "I cannot ask you to pay, Javert."

"You are not asking me to do anything. I am offering. I cannot continue to trespass upon your hospitality." He pulled lightly on Valjean's arm. "Come with me."

The former 24601 had often expected to hear those words from Inspector Javert, but he had always believed that when he did so, it would be as a prelude to an arrest, not as an invitation to a meal. The irony of it actually brought a faint smile to his face as he went along with the Inspector.

~ooo0ooo~

The meal was sufficient if not substantial, but the two men dawdled over it anyway. Neither was in much of a hurry to be about their business: Valjean because he was reluctant to return home and give Cosette the news of Marius' condition, and Javert because he had nothing to return to save his duty—and the latter was by no means as clear-cut to him as it had once been. But at last they finished their meal, with Javert insisting on paying—and left the establishment.

"It is time for us to part and go our separate ways," Javert said. His voice was carefully neutral. No one listening to the man or looking at him as he spoke those words would have fathomed how painfully difficult it was for him to do this. Javert did not know how to pick up the traces of his old life, nor was he even entirely sure he wished to do so, but there seemed to be nothing else for him to do. Moreover, he still believed it was his duty under the circumstances to remove himself from the life of Jean Valjean.

"No!" Valjean exclaimed. The Inspector glanced at the older man sharply, surprised by the passion in that single word. "I do not believe you are completely healed yet," Valjean added lamely, as if the paucity of his excuse lay exposed under the other man's intense and unyielding stare.

"I am well enough," Javert said shortly. "I cannot continue to impose upon you—"

"It is not an imposition!" Valjean's voice was unnaturally loud. Javert stopped speaking and regarded him. Valjean then blurted, "Javert, please, I do not wish for you to go." As the Inspector hesitated, uncertain as to the other man's meaning, Valjean continued in a rush, "Will you continue to remain in my home as my guest?"

At these words, the Inspector's lips pressed together in a hard, almost bloodless line. He parted them long enough to say harshly, "Valjean, I will not be your charity case."

"It is not that—"

"No? Fantine is dead. You regularly go about handing out alms to beggars. You rescued the Pontmercy boy and returned him to his grandfather. Your daughter has grown to be a young lady, and you stated that you fear you are losing her. If you need someone else upon whom to bestow your charity and make you feel needed, then choose someone else. I did not ask for you to save my life."

The older man was shaking his head as the Inspector spoke. "Please, Javert, you do not understand. Your presence…is a help to me. You are a man who has never broken his word. It helps me to remember that I must refrain from breaking mine." He reached out to grip the other man's shoulder. "Please," he repeated, in a tone that was barely above that of begging.

Javert was simultaneously astonished, touched, embarrassed, and also felt a brief flash of pity twist his insides. The sensations brought about by such unfamiliar emotions were so unusual and confusing to him that he barely heard himself as he answered, "Very well."

Valjean gave him a relieved and slightly sad smile, and they set off together for the long walk back to Valjean's home.

~ooo0ooo~

"Papa!" Cosette all but flew from her room when she heard the sound of the two men's voices speaking to Toussaint in the hall. She flung her arms around her father, who had just surrendered his hat and coat to Toussaint. Javert, handing his own hat and coat to the servant, noticed how tightly Valjean hugged the girl back, closing his eyes as if in pain as he did so. But as his daughter drew back to view his face, Valjean had carefully assumed a smiling expression. She asked, "Is Marius all right?"

"I'm afraid he is still unconscious, Cosette."

The girl's face fell. Valjean added, with a strange combination of hurry and reluctance, "But I promised M. Gillenormand, the boy's grandfather, that I would return tomorrow to see if he has awakened."

"I pray that he will, Papa!"

"As will I, my dear," her father assured her. Javert thought; I believe that he will, too. Valjean is probably the only man under heaven who could make such a statement and mean it.

His host continued;"And…I also promised the elderly gentleman that if Marius is conscious tomorrow, and capable of having visitors, that I would ask you if you wish to visit the boy."

Cosette's eyes widened as if she had just been offered a gift. "Oh, thank you, Papa! Of course I will go!"

"Darling, you must not get your hopes up. The lad may still be unconscious on the morrow—" Her father warned, but he was cut off as Cosette, laughing, hugged him again, this time kissing his cheek.

"It matters not, Papa, I feel sure he will awaken soon! You will tell me when he does, and then I shall go see him! Oh, Papa, I am so glad!"

Valjean smiled a genuine smile at that, delighting in his daughter's pleasure. Even if it is at the expense of his own happiness, Javert thought. How much the man has changed from the convict he once was. If he has changed, perhaps I can, too…?

"Well, now that is settled," Valjean said with an artificial heartiness. "Perhaps, Javert, you would like to browse through the library for something to read. I shall be in my room, alone. I need a little time in prayer."

Javert nodded, thinking that in spite of his host's smiling expression, no doubt for the girl's benefit, Valjean appeared pale, and his eyes were once again unhappy.

Cosette, as glowing as her father was distressed, conducted the Inspector to the library, and then excused herself, apparently to return to her own room. Javert was surprised at the number and variety of books owned by his host. After looking them over, he did do some reading, although he found it difficult to do so without a pang of guilt. He was not accustomed to having much leisure time, and having nothing to do but read in the middle of the afternoon seemed an act of personal and almost frivolous indulgence.

He became so absorbed that it was not until the servant knocked discreetly on the door and summoned him to dinner that he realized how much time had passed. The three of them dined together, but the Inspector noticed how Valjean ate almost nothing; what little food he did consume was in direct response to his daughter's gentle encouragement to do so. Immediately following the meal, Valjean again excused himself to return to his room.

Javert returned to the library, but this time he found himself more restless, perhaps because he had been inside so much of the day. Deciding he needed a breath of fresh air, he rose and departed the library.

A moment later, Javert stepped outside the house and into the garden. It was night; the air was cool, but pleasantly so.

Cosette was there, and she turned at his entrance into the garden. "Papa?" She broke off, realizing it was not her father. "Oh, it is you, Inspector." She smiled.

"Yes, Mademoiselle." Javert saw that the girl was clad in her nightgown and nothing else, and averted his eyes. Cosette, realizing the same thing herself at the same moment, blushed and crossed her arms in front of her body, as she had no robe handy.

"Forgive me, Inspector. I often come out here, where the foliage conceals me from passer-bys. Normally there is no one else here but myself, Toussaint, and Papa, but I still should know better than to go outside at night without putting on a robe. As I'm always telling Papa, I'm not a little girl any more, although Papa still seems to believe that I am."

"No, Mademoiselle, it is I who am guilty of intruding. Allow me." As he spoke the last two words, he removed his greatcoat and slipped it protectively around her shoulders. "I am sure you would not wish to catch a chill," he said diplomatically.

She looked up at him with surprise and a sort of shy gratitude, blushing again as if she were not used to such courtly gestures, and he found himself charmed by such innocence. It was a rarity in his world. For just a moment, there was a feather-light brush of memory against his consciousness, of a time years before, when he found an innocent little girl, lost at night on the streets of a Paris slum…***

Simultaneously with this faint memory, Cosette gazed up at Javert and said in almost a whisper, "You remind me…" Then the moment was gone. She shook her head slightly, smiled at him, and said instead, "Thank you, Monsieur l'Inspecteur. This will keep me warm as I gaze at the stars."

The distant memory vanished in the wave of surprise and excitement that washed over Javert. "You look at the stars too, Mademoiselle?"

"Oh, yes, Inspector. They are so beautiful, and the sight of them has always been a great comfort to me. You see…" she hesitated a moment, then continued. "I did not always live with Papa. When I was a very small child, I lived with an innkeeper and his wife, who were not at all kind to me. I was so alone. I had no one to love me, and nothing to depend upon, except for the stars. They were always there, lighting up the night, and even I, who had nothing and who was of no importance, could look upon them whenever I wished." She paused, gazing at him earnestly. "Do you understand, Inspector?"

"Yes, Mademoiselle."

Whatever she saw in his face satisfied her; she relaxed and smiled before speaking again in a serious tone. "When Papa came and took me away from that innkeeper and his wife, I believe he literally saved my life. Until I met Marius, there was no one on earth I loved, except for Papa. So I am worried."

"What worries you, Mademoiselle?"

"I fear for both of the men I love." She shivered, and drew his coat closer about herself. Javert looked down at her from his greater height, feeling awkward. He wanted to comfort her, but had no idea how.

"I fear that Marius will not recover. What if he never wakes up? And what about Papa? Poor Papa, he loves me, but I fear sometimes I have been remiss as a daughter, Inspector, because he does not seem to understand how much I love him."

"I am sure he could never believe otherwise, Mademoiselle."

She continued as if he had not heard; she seemed to be sorting out her own thoughts and feelings. "Until I met Marius, I never loved anyone as much as I loved Papa. And while I do not love Papa any less, the way I feel about him is different from the way I feel about Marius. I want to be with Marius all the time, to spend the rest of my life with him!" She looked up suddenly, placing her hand on Javert's arm and gazing at him pleadingly. "I am so glad you are here, Inspector. It was a surprise to me to learn that Papa has a friend, but a great relief as well. I do not want him to be alone. Please, Inspector, be there for my Papa!"

Stunned, unable to think of anything else to say, Javert at last managed; "I will do my best, Mademoiselle."

~ooo0ooo~

Following their interlude in the garden, both Cosette and Javert retired for the night. The girl returned Javert's greatcoat to him at the door of her own room, and impulsively kissed his cheek in the way a young girl might kiss a favorite uncle. She still seemed perturbed, but he did not know what to say or do that might comfort her. Comfort had never been the Inspector's forte.

Noticing the door to the master bedroom had been left ajar, Javert entered to find his host in bed and asleep. A nightshirt and other items had been laid out for his, the Inspector's, own use, most likely by the servant. Javert removed and hung up his clothes, performed his nightly ablutions, and got into bed. As he closed his own eyes, he fully expected that this emotional day was at an end. In this, he was wrong.

~ooo0ooo~

He awoke to darkness and the sound of crying. "Papa! Papa!"

"Cosette, darling, what is it?"

Javert's eyes opened at once, but he remained still, unwilling to let them know he was awake. Next to him, his hair rumpled and obviously awakened from sleep, was Valjean, sitting up in bed. Cosette stood next to the bed, weeping.

"I had a nightmare, Papa."

"Oh, my dearest," Valjean said, his voice very gentle, and he rose from the bed to take his daughter in his arms. "It's all right, Papa's here." The girl was still crying. "What did you dream about this time?"

This time? The girl has had nightmares before? How often? Javert closed his eyes until they were mere slits, continuing to observe both father and daughter while feigning sleep. The scene was an intimate one; he did not wish to embarrass either Valjean or the girl by letting them know he was awake and witnessing the scene.

"M-Marius," she sobbed. "What if he never wakes up, Papa? Or what if he does wake up, and he doesn't remember me?"

Valjean's arms tightened around her. "Cosette, my love, no one who has ever met you will ever forget you. It is not possible. As for Marius' health, it has been only a little time. We must trust in God."

"I l-love him so m-much, Papa. If we cannot be together, I do not think I could bear it!"

Making hushing sounds, Valjean gently guided his daughter's head to his shoulder. Cosette, still crying but less so now, leaned against him, seeking comfort. Valjean kissed the top of her golden head, stroked her hair gently, and then, still murmuring soothingly to her, led her from the master bedroom and back to her own room.

Once his host and the girl had gone, Javert turned over in bed to face the window. Gazing outward, for a change he neither looked at nor thought about the stars, but only about the night of the barricade, and how many lives had been affected.

He had dismissed the rebels as reckless young fools, and indeed still believed they were. Their enterprise had been doomed from the start, and even had it not been, had none of the young fools ever heard of the Terror? No matter how high-flying the rhetoric, in any clash between law and order, and chaos, Javert knew which side he would choose. He had done his best to stop it before it got out of hand.

But in the end, he had not been able to do any such thing. Reckless young fools, Javert thought again, schoolboys playing dangerous games they did not understand. When they had captured and cornered him, he had snarled defiance at them like the wolf he was, but in spite of his angry words to them at the time, he had wanted to see them punished for their excesses and for their defiance of the law, not killed. I did not stop it, and so many people died. And when I saw Valjean there…I could only assume he somehow already knew I was there, and had come to kill me. When he did not, all I could think of was that this, at least, was one thing I could do. I could capture the convict who broke his parole, and take him back in.

But Valjean had not only spared his, Javert's, life, he had saved it. Done so unasked, it was true, just as he had saved the life of the Pontmercy boy, the latter for his daughter's sake. And while Javert had accepted that he could not arrest Jean Valjean, even though he was still troubled by that and by other matters, the Inspector had also accepted that suicide no longer seemed like a viable solution.

I no longer know for certain where my duty to the law lies…but perhaps, for now at least, I have a new duty. Perhaps it is my duty to help these people: Valjean, his daughter, even young Pontmercy.

Another, even stranger thought occurred to the Inspector. Valjean urged his daughter to trust in God. Perhaps…perhaps I should try to do the same. Hesitantly, but with genuine humility, he formed a prayer in his mind.

God, have mercy on me. Help me to understand where my duty lies. Help me to do what I can to help Jean Valjean and his daughter.

In the next moment, a profound sense of calm settled over Javert. His eyes closed, and he fell into a sleep so peaceful and deep that he did not awaken or stir even when Valjean returned and climbed back into bed a few minutes later.

Moments later, the entire household was asleep, and there were no more bad dreams, fear, worry, or disturbances that night.

TBC…

~ooo0ooo~

Author's Note: I wish to express great thanks to everyone who has reviewed or given me any feedback on "Rescue," especially fellow fan author rebecca-in-blue. Her reviews and suggestions have been very helpful. It was her idea to have Cosette demonstrate some maidenly modesty before the Inspector, and for Cosette to seek comfort from Valjean after having a nightmare, so those scenes in this chapter are dedicated especially to her. Thank you again, rebecca-in-blue!

The dialogue in this story that is marked by three asterisks, a couple of lines of conversation between Javert and Cosette, is a reference to another "Les Miserables" story of mine, "Little Girl Lost." The marked lines in this chapter might make more sense if you read that story, too. My apologies for taking so long to update "Rescue." Hope my readers are still enjoying it.