Better Run for Cover

Chapter 18: The Little Thief

((So... A chapter closer to the end... This one isn't as long as the previous chapter, but this one will solve some of your burning questions... Anywho, enjoy chapter 18! Please vote and comment and tell me what you think! -Wolf))

Chapter 18: The Little Thief

{Javert's p.o.v.}

I had no idea how many had died. The street was littered with bodies, in the area where I walked, all of them being those of the King's soldiers. Blood ran in the cracks between the cobblestones, and it was puddled everywhere as well. I turned onto the next section of the street, and stopped.

A barricade loomed not far from me, but no men stood atop it. Behind the barricade stood the tavern, with something red hanging from the window.

Soldier's bodies covered this half of the barricade, obscuring most of the material of the monstrosity from view, but I knew this barricade.

This was the barricade at which I had been held prisoner, and where Jean Valjean had then let me go.

This was also where André, and her brother, had been stationed.

I let out a choked sound as I looked up and saw what it was that was hanging from the window. André's brother, Enjolras, the leader of the revolution, was wrapped in the red flag, and was hanging from the window. "André," I whispered. What had become of the little thief?

If her brother was dead...

And she never left his side...

Why should I care what happens to her? I thought to myself.

She broke the law.

But even after all you did to her, she still didn't want her brother to let Jean Valjean kill you, I reminded myself.

She saw the little good that was left in you.

She did not deserve to die.

As I contemplated this, I turned off the street and walked silently down the connecting one.

I stopped once more when I saw what was there.

Lying side by side were the dead bodies of the student revolutionaries.

I sucked in a breath as I continued on, stopping at a small body, this one much smaller than the others I could see. It was laying next to a girl's body; Éponine, the daughter of the Inkeeper, Thénardier.

The small body belonged to the little boy, André's friend and another thief, Gavroche. "You children did not deserve to die," I said quietly as I knelt beside him, my mind reeling. I looked up and down the row of bodies, but couldn't see the far end.

I was looking for André.

When I didn't see her small form from where I knelt, I silently reached up and pulled the Legion of Honor medal off of my uniform. "You should not have died," I whispered, before pinning the medal to the young boy's shirt.

Silently, I stood once more, my breathing ragged and my thoughts jumbled, and made my way down the line of bodies to the end.

I stopped.

I couldn't help it.

I let out a choked sob.

André was lying at the very end of the line beside the man that was always drunk, Enjolras' good friend, Grantaire.

"André," I whispered, kneeling down beside her and picking up her cap from where it had fallen from her head. I gently placed it on her head once more, and pushed her hair out of her face.

That was when André stirred.

"My god!" I breathed, grabbing the small child by the shoulders and pulling her up from the cobblestones and into my arms. "André?" I said, practically shouting as I shook her. "André?"

"Ouch," the little girl muttered, her eyelids fluttering.

A single tear of joy slid down my cheek as I hugged her small form to my chest, a small smile finding its way to my lips. "André..."

She made a pained sound, and I held her out away from me, looking her over. It was then that I noticed the fresh blood seeping from her shoulder and her leg. "My god, you need a doctor," I exclaimed, and before the little thief could say another word, I picked her up and carried her away from the bodies in the street.

As we passed the barricade, I heard a sound. It was like a grunt of pain, as if someone was struggling under a heavy load. My head whipped around, searching out the noise. In my arms, André let out another whimper of pain, drawing me from my thoughts that the source of the noise could be Jean Valjean, when I was pulled back once more as I identified where the sound was coming from; the sewers. "Valjean..." I whispered.

"Monsieur?" André was looking down at her leg. "I can't feel my leg," she whispered.

Valjean would have to wait a moment.

I brought André to the nearest doctor I knew of and left her in their care before leaving to search for Jean Valjean once more. If he was in the sewers, then I knew where I would find him.

((So, what did you guys think??? Please let me know!!! On a different note, dress rehearsals are just about to start for my high school's production of Les Mis, so, if everything goes as planned, this fanfic will be finished on opening night... If everything doesn't go as planned, then it will be finished on the night of the final performance... So yeah... Please comment and vote, I love hearing your feedback! Thanks guys! -Wolf))