Surviving the Revolution

All of Us

"When d'you think it'll be safe for us to go outside?" Gavroche asked as he peeked out the window at the back of the house.

"Not for a little while 'roche," Courfeyrac said. "We need to wait for the police search to calm down."

"Perhaps once you're healed we go out back for a few minutes," Jehan suggested when the boy looked crestfallen. "It would have to be at night of course..." That didn't matter to Gavroche. He'd spent pretty much his whole life outside and the idea of being trapped indoors all the time was horrific.

He leaned back and snuggled between the two students for warmth, drifting off after only a few moments.

"What now?" Jehan asked quietly, staring down at the boy.

"Now we each have an arm go numb while he sleeps comfortably," Courfeyrac joked.

"That's not what I meant," Jehan said, though he was smiling gently.

"I know," Courf sighed, reaching across with his other hand to grasp Jehan's free one.

"Now... we wait. We stay indoors, stay low, until things calm down a bit. Eventually they'll get tired of searching or they'll think we're dead. They'll stop looking and we'll be able to go outside again. We can try and get back to how things were before."

"Where will we go?" Jehan questioned.

"Anywhere we want," Courfeyrac said, suddenly sounding excited. "Imagine it, we get on a ship and so long as we don't go back to France, we can go anywhere."

"All of us?" Jean asked, smiling at the other man.

"All of us," Courf nodded, "You, me, Gavroche, and the rest of Les Amis. I know it won't be like before. It can't. Not without..."

"I know," Jehan said gently.

"But we can start over," Courfeyrac went on. "All of us somewhere new. Joly and 'ferre can get jobs in a hospital somewhere, R can paint, Enj can find something else to fight for."

Jehan laughed at that.

"And 'roche... He can be a child, a real child. With a home and a family."

"He has that," Jehan said gently.

"A permanent one," Courf amended, "One where he sleep every night. He'll never have to sleep on the street again."

"That sounds nice," Gavroche mumbled sleepily and the two students laughed, looking down at the boy.

"A family," Jehan said, brushing some hair off Gav's face.

"A family," Courfeyrac nodded.

Combine writers block with babysitting and you get me updating all five of my fics on Saturday instead of during the week.

Thanks so much for reading! Next chapter is Marius and Cosette!