A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter 30: Clue Me In

There are days when Eponine doesn't want to wake, for fear of finding that everything is nothing more than a dream. 'Girls like you don't deserve good things,' that nagging voice tells her, keeping her adrift in the dark. 'There is nothing for the likes of you.'

She always fights back. She's not that girl anymore.

She opens her eyes and gasps for breath as she looks around the sunlit bedroom. "I'm here," she whispers, and even then the sound of her own voice is astonishing to her. No she cannot dream all of this: the sunlight peeking through the tricolored curtains, her white coat tossed onto a chair, the books and papers piled up on a bedside table, the coziness of a rumpled blanket, and of course the warmth of a callused hand resting on the swell of her rounded belly. She buries her face in her pillow to muffle a laugh even though she feels tears springing to her eyes. Never has reality felt better.

It's only a moment later that she feels lips brush against the back of her neck. "Eponine, are you okay?" Enjolras asks. His voice is still a little raspy from sleep, and the very sound of it sends an accustomed warmth through Eponine's cheeks. It gets better when he shifts and leans closer in an attempt to make eye contact. "Another nightmare?"

"Not quite," she replies before turning to face him properly. She'd scoot up under his chin, just the way she likes to so she can feel the rise and fall of his chest, but lately that's becoming more difficult to do. So she settles for moving up so that she is face to face with him, so close that their noses could just about touch. "Not sure if there's a term for a bad daydream."

"This early in the morning?" Enjolras asks. He scowls when some of his hair gets in his eyes, more so when she pushes it away and kisses him teasingly. "Maybe I should get a haircut"

Eponine laughs as she brings her hand lower to run over his broad shoulders, then down to his chest. Her breath catches as her fingertips come across the first of his scars; these are marks she knows too well thanks to the circumstances of their first meeting. She traces the lines slowly, finding now that they are not as raised and bumpy as she thought they were. "He's going to be born pretty much two years to the day of that rally," she muses even as she feels him also running his hand down her midsection.

Enjolras' brow furrows as he tries to work out the date, and when he does he moves to clasp her hand. "Not on that exact day though."

"You can't be sure of that. If he does arrive on that day, you'll never forget it." The very fact that she is not speaking merely of dreams but of actual memories is so overwhelming, prompting her to slip her fingers between his. She knows now she'll do anything to hold on to this: the fire in his eyes when he looks at her, the quiet of this first morning in their new home, and most of all, the rhythm of her own breathing just in time with his. "If this is a dream, this time it's a good one."

Enjolras looks at her bemusedly. "Well if I'm still in the hospital, hooked up to a morphine drip—"

"A morphine pump. You pulled that out yourself," she chides, swatting his arm for emphasis. "You still top my list for worst patient ever."

"Am I ever going to make up for that?" he asks, feigning an affronted look.

She kisses him again, drawing it out when she feels his hand moving closer to her hip. "Go on."

Enjolras smiles and presses his lips to the crook of her shoulder, then makes a slow trail of kisses over her neck, up to her chin, before finally lingering against her mouth. His very touch sends heat through her body, but it's nothing beside the openness and joy in his gaze as he rests his forehead against hers. "Eponine, I love you. Will that suffice?"

Eponine nods before kissing him once more. "Always." Just as she pulls him closer to further show the point the distant ring of the doorbell cuts through the calm. "Do we have to get that now?"

He glances at the bedside clock. "It's not even seven am. This is probably an emergency." He reluctantly slips out of bed and pulls on a t-shirt. "I'll be back."

"Give them hell," she mutters, nudging him playfully with her foot. She sighs contentedly as she lies back and puts a hand on her belly, following every kick and wriggle she can feel there. "Did we wake you up, Ian?" she giggles when she feels a strong kick under her palm. "Then again turnabout is going to be fair play in a few months since I know you won't give me and your daddy much sleep."

A moment later Enjolras reappears in the bedroom doorway. "Tess is downstairs. She needs help."

Eponine quickly sits up in bed. "As in medical help?"

"A little, but she's not here for that."

"How did she find this address? We just got here!"

Enjolras shrugs. "Did you tell Cecily or Mother Asuncion we'd be moving?"

Eponine nods, remembering now Tess' habit of eavesdropping. She quickly throws on her clothes and hurries down to the living room, to where Tess already has her feet up on the sofa. She pauses to take stock of the girl's torn t-shirt and leggings, as well as the cuts and scrapes on her arms. "Rough night?"

Tess grins and makes a fist. "I got them good on my way in."

Enjolras sets down on the coffee table a glass of water and a box filled with bandages and antiseptic. "Shouldn't you be at the halfway house?"

"Miss Cecily and Mother Asuncion wouldn't know what to do with the ones who did this," Tess replies, gesturing to her ripped clothing. "I've got something to tell you about a guy I knew, the one who put a bullet through Magnussen's head."

"You're talking about the shooter who was with the Difunto gang?" Eponine clarifies as she opens up the box to begin cleaning up Tess' wounds.

"His name was Johannes," Tess replies, crossing her legs. "I guess you folks could say I knew him, at least till the gang moved out of the neighbourhood to bigger jobs, He tried to get me to come with him, but since he wouldn't say where, I didn't budge."

Enjolras' eyes narrow with interest. "What was the job offer?"

"Some grabbing, some smashing, and some..." Tess mimes pointing a gun at herself. "Johannes had good aim; he stole an air gun once and could pick out windows at the end of the alley. Made a trick of it at times. It wasn't long till he got noticed, and one of the leaders of the gang-not sure which one-gave his name to this guy who said he was working in security."

"Did you get his name at least?" Eponine asks.

Tess shrugs and winces when Eponine dabs some antiseptic on a cut on her elbow. "Johannes called him Mr. Deeds when I was around. Johannes and I were down by the water for drinks, Mr. Deeds showed up. Asked if I was in on the job but since I didn't know jackshit I said no. Johannes told me to go home."

Enjolras grits his teeth. "When was this?"

Tess counts on her fingers. "Last April. So are you going to ask me to pick his mug from the pictures?"

"Yes, if it comes to that," Enjolras replies.

"Auguste, no. Can't you see that Tess is already roughed up from this?" Eponine snaps.

"She's the one coming forward with the information. It's not as if either of us asked her to be here," Enjolras points out.

"She's still a child!"

"I may as well, Doc. Mr. Deeds knows I saw him, and anyway I think I'd get worse than this if I ever step back out there." Tess gives Eponine a challenging look. "Besides, I'm seventeen. You were seventeen too, when you got the heck out so as they all say."

"To go to school!"

"It's still getting out. I want that chance too."

"I would have wanted it differently for you," Eponine mutters. She looks pointedly at her partner. "We have to at least arrange for witness protection."

"Something better," Enjolras remarks thoughtfully. He looks straight at Tess. "Eponine is right about one thing: you're still underage. We'll have to clear everything with Cecily since she's your social worker, especially if you'll have to make any official statements in the investigation."

Tess whistles. "That's lots of big words."

"Welcome to the legal world," Eponine remarks dryly while she finishes bandaging the last of Tess' injuries. "How did you find this house?"

"I knew you'd be moving, you just didn't say when. I asked at your old place, the concierge told me you were in the neighbourhood. I just looked for the house with the red car," Tess explains. "Aren't you going to ask me what I did last night?"

"We were getting to that," Enjolras replies.

"I was staying out late for a school project, and when I was walking by the bus stop near Avenue 54 I saw Mr. Deeds' car." An unrepentant smile spreads over Tess' face. "I know he has something to do with what happened to Johannes. I had a key in hand..."

Eponine rolls her eyes, knowing where this story is going. "You were lucky. I don't think this Mr. Deeds sounds like an easy customer."

"It wasn't his guys after me, it was his boss," Tess replies with a smirk. "Some big CEO sort of fellow, at least he looked it. Mr. Deeds was one of this other guy's bodyguards."

'It's something,' Eponine realizes, knowing that it will not be difficult to corroborate Tess' story with traffic camera footage or even eyewitness testimonies. She goes back upstairs to retrieve her phone, and isn't surprised to find a frantic text message there from Cecily. To make matters simpler she places a call. "Good morning Cecily. Got good news for you," she greets.

"Where's Tess?" Cecily asks quickly. "She didn't come home last night."

"My living room. She's had some misadventure," Eponine replies as she goes to take a peek at the bedroom that she and Enjolras have fitted up for their son's arrival. As they agreed, this room has a green motif with white accents, and it is echoed on the crib and dressing table. A cushy armchair stands by the window. A mobile of fish and various ocean creatures hangs over the crib. 'It will do till Ian gets to fill it with toys,' she thinks as she heads back downstairs. She nods to Enjolras, who is also already checking something on his phone. "Auguste needs a word with you though about Tess' situation. It's quite complicated."

"Please don't tell me she needs to be bailed out!" Cecily groans.

"It's not that," Eponine says, motioning for Enjolras to take the phone. "Good luck," she whispers as she hands off the gadget to him.

Enjolras gives her a confident smile before going to the stairwell, where the signal reception is strongest. "Hello Miss Cecily. I know what you thought it might be, but it's not that. Tess happened to come across something important that may be connected with a case-"

In the meantime Eponine takes the opportunity to slip to the kitchen, hoping to get started on breakfast. Although she spent the previous days unpacking and arranging this place, she still cannot help but marvel at how much space she suddenly has all around her. 'Like it's waiting to be filled with something,' she notes as she goes through the still mostly empty cupboards.

"Doc, how could you do it?" Tess' voice suddenly chimes in. Eponine turns to see the teenager already seated at the counter, watching her intently. "I can't believe you still want to push out a kid into this messed up world."

"If every generation had that line of thought, our species would be extinct," Eponine quips.

Tess shrugs. "Wouldn't be such a bad thing, if you ask some people." She wipes at a dust speck. "How would you have wanted it for me?"

"At least to have some more time to make your choices," Eponine replies. "Not like this, having to run and maybe not go back to the neighbourhood just because you saw something."

'Wasn't it the same for you when your parents got thrown in the slammer?" Tess asks acridly. "You never ran around with your old gang again, whoever they were."

"Because I knew it wasn't what I wanted. I could have very well gone back, and maybe I might have if I didn't have my siblings to worry about." Eponine pauses as she feels her child kick again and she rubs her belly. "It wasn't a boy who got me out of the halfway house. It wasn't school. It was Azelma and Gavroche. I had to find my way back to them. Getting something right in my life was the only way I could do it."

Tess grins triumphantly. "I win my bet with Aimee then." She turns as Enjolras enters the kitchen. "I bet Miss Cecily is gonna string up my guts," she drawls.

"She's concerned, but she's relieved you're safe," Enjolras answers. "I explained the situation to Cecily and she said she wants to meet with us and the guys about this, later today. For now though she said that Tess can accompany us to the law office, so she can look at the photo line-up we have there."

'Good thing it's a Saturday and Tess won't be missing any classes,' Eponine notes. "Then it's back to the halfway house-"

Tess shakes her head. "No. The jerks followed me around, they can follow me there. I don't want them getting near the other girls. Can't you get me a room someplace?"

"That will not do," Enjolras says flatly. "We can ask Miss Cecily-"

"Auguste, we do have an extra room upstairs," Eponine laughs at the surprised look that crosses Enjolras' face. "We have to put that to good use."

"It will do, at least till a more feasible arrangement can be made," Enjolras concurs.

"Are you sure you two can take me on?" Tess laughs.

"I'd feel a lot better if I knew where you were," Eponine replies.

Tess snorts as she grabs a bowl and fills it almost to the brim with cereal. "Yes Mom."

Eponine's jaw drops at this but one look at Enjolras' amused smirk at this exchange is enough to set her off laughing. It's enough to dispel the shadows in her mind, all the way till she, Enjolras, and Tess are driving down to the law office. What should only be a quarter of an hour's drive suddenly turns into thirty minutes of waiting in traffic. "Has there been some accident?" she wonders aloud.

"More like incident,' Enjolras points out, motioning to where a police car is driving by. His hands tighten on the steering wheel when he sees the car turn in the same direction they are headed. "That does not bode well."

Eponine bites her lip when she sees still more squad cars up ahead, all the way till the curb outside the building. "Stay in the car," she tells Tess once they find a parking space nearly a block away. From where she is standing she can already see the yellow tape barring entrance to the front lobby. 'I don't see a corpse or anything...' she thinks.

Enjolras grabs her arm just as a police officer walks up to them/ "Good morning Officer. Would you mind telling us what's happening here?" he greets cordially.

"This is a crime scene, Attorney Enjolras," the officer drawls, holding out his badge by way of identification. "Your office has been broken into. Everything is a mess, and all your papers are gone."