Thanks, Javert || Adopted by the Barricade || A Les Mis Fanfic

Chapter 11: In Which Elaine Finds a Familiar Face

I sit on the edge of the bridge and contemplate life. Javert was the only family I had left. My mom had died shortly after I was born and there were a few good years with my father before he was consumed by his job and his duty to the law. It hurt that he was gone. It hurt that he chose to leave without any regard for me. It hurt that everyone who had loved me was gone. They were all dead or missing. Valjean was alive, but who knows where he went. Marius was on death's door. Everyone else was dead.

That's when the tears fell for the first time. I cried for Enjolras, Grantaire, and the rest of my dead friends. I cried for my father and how his work had pushed him over the edge. I didn't wish that upon anyone. Great, wracking sobs filled my body. I kept expecting Enjolras to come out of the darkness and give me a hug. He would reassure me that everything was okay and that we could go home to the rest of the boys. But, he never came. He was dead and I was alone in the dark.

There were no stars that night. It's as if the clouds came out the second Javert fell. Eventually, the darkness turned into light. I watched the sunrise as it rose over the Seine. Puffy clouds filled the sky. I chose to imagine Enjolras sitting on one, waving his flag as they charged towards the sunrise. Grantaire would be right on his heels. Courfeyrac, Joly, and the others would share a drink once more and joke around. Eponine would be at peace again. My father and my mother would be together again, eating breakfast in their castle on a cloud.

I knew they would come for me once it was light out. It made me sad to leave, but I had to keep running from the government. I asked multiple people for directions, lying that I was going to visit my uncle. Which, I guess in a weird way, Valjean was. Finally, after a long day, I reached the house a few hours after sunset. Starved, dehydrated, and tired, I knocked on the door, praying I had made it. Doubts flashed through my mind as I heard footsteps approaching. What if I had gone to the wrong house?

The door opened to reveal a pretty woman in a nice looking dress. She looked around Enjolras's age. My face fell as I realized I must have gotten the address wrong. After all of this, I was going to be shut out again.

"Hi, can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Sorry, I think I'm at the wrong house," I muttered. I turned to walk back down the steps and leave, but her voice stopped me.

"Wait!" I turned back around. "What's your name?"
"Elaine?" a voice says before I can answer. A man walks out of the shadows from behind the woman. His curly, brown hair lies neater than I had seen it ever and he was giving me a quizzical smile.

"Dad, how do you know this girl? Is she the one you were talking about?" the girl asks. I smile, relieved to see Valjean again.

"Cosette, meet Elaine. Elaine, this is my daughter, Cosette."

Valjean welcomed me into his house, but I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Marius. Valjean's house was simple, but nice. I felt out of place in my dirty revolutionary clothes compared to Valjean's nicer clothes and Cosette's dress. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Um, what happened to Marius? Is he....?" I tailed off, unable to finish the question.

"He's alive," Valjean said. He was trying to be reassuring, but a worried look crossed his face. "He's not in great shape though. However, our doctors are confident he'll make a full recovery." Valjean must have finally taken in my disheveled appearance. "Why don't you go get cleaned up? I'll have Cosette bring you some clean clothes, and then we can talk."

I graciously accepted his offer. A little while later, I was bathed and dressed in clean clothes. I was relieved to see that Cosette had other clothes besides her big, puffy dresses. For the first time since I met Enjolras, I felt safe. I just hoped it would last longer than the few days I was with the boys before the attack. I made my way through the house towards Valjean's study. I passed by a room with the door shut. There were sounds of crying coming from inside. I paused for a minute, pressing my ear to the door.

"Marius, please. Even if you can't do it for me or Dad, do it for that girl, Elaine. Dad said you knew her and cared about her. She needs you." It was Cosette. "He still won't tell me where he'd been. Just that there'd been some trouble and you needed somewhere to stay and heal. He just said that Elaine was a friend of yours and that she needed somewhere to stay as well. I know there's more to it, but right now just focus on getting better." I pushed open the door slightly to see Cosette sitting on the side of the bed, blocking my view of Marius. However, he wasn't moving. He must have been asleep.

I left them alone and approached Valjean's study. He welcomed me in and I sat down in a chair across from him. We had little time for small talk. After all, it hadn't been long since I had last seen him. Valjean went first, explaining how he had taken Marius through the sewers after he had been shot. He spoke briefly of his confrontation with Javert, finishing by saying that he didn't know where Javert had gone. I can feel Valjean studying me, trying to gauge my reaction.

"But you don't have to worry about him again. He's gone and I doubt he'll be back. If he shows up, I'll handle him."

"He's gone," I say. Valjean frowns. "I guess I should start from the beginning."

I explain how Enjy and Grant were killed with the rest of the boys. My eyes water, but I try to hold it in and make it through the story. I explain how I hid by their bodies all day until I stumbled across the building where Valjean had confronted Javert. I told him how I couldn't find them until I saw my father standing on the edge of the bridge.

"I wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but then I started running. I don't know why, but I tried to stop him. I couldn't let him go like that," I say, my voice cracking. "I almost got there in time, but...." I stare at the ground, unable to finish.

"But he fell." I nodded. "You can't blame yourself, Elaine."

"But-" I couldn't help but think if I had gotten there sooner. Maybe I could have stopped him. Who knows what would have happened then? But we'll never get to know.

"No buts. Your father was a good man. In the end, he was just trying to help people, even if he didn't go about it the best way. It just got to be too much for him."

"I could have helped him. I ran away." Valjean stood up and walked over to me. I stood up and met him in the middle of the room.

"No," he said, hugging me. "You were just a kid. You were protecting yourself. You shouldn't have to worry about stuff like this. You did what you could. Please don't blame yourself Elaine." I buried my head in his shoulder and cried. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

AN:

Bit of a longer chapter since the last ones were shorter. I'm planning on having around 13 chapters and an epilogue, so we're almost there! I'm going to try and keep up my streak of daily uploads, but we'll see how that goes. I still can't believe we're almost done. I'll explain more after I finish the story, but I began writing this a long time ago, so it's cool to see it finally come together in the end. Have a good morning/day/night!

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ImTurtled