sheeeeeeee's back !! Jav/Athos/Az (Casual)

[ÉPONINE THÉNARDIER]

It was so nice being in New York City again. Éponine didn't know many people who would choose New York over France, and a couple of years ago Eppie would not have made that choice, either. However, in the brief stay she'd had in her hometown of Montfermeil, France (a suburb just outside of Paris), she'd determined that she was definitely more American than she was French, now. Sure, she still spoke with a French accent and French was still the language she was most comfortable using, but her mannerisms, behaviors, and preferences were all far more American. There had been a brief moment when she'd first arrived in Montfermeil that maybe she would stay there after all, but she'd quickly discovered just how uncomfortable she was there. It didn't help that people in that town seemed to have quite the long memory, and upon introducing herself Éponine had found many people who were quick to remember all the wrongs her father had done against them. She had only allowed herself a brief amount of time to visit the building that had once been her father's inn to reminisce about what had been the happiest time in her life. In hindsight, she could see that this time had been hollow, that it had been a box with a false bottom waiting to give at any second. There had been nothing truly real about it.

After that, she promptly put her efforts in finding a way back into America. She fit in France just about as well as a square peg in a round hole. Besides, Azelma had been left behind in America, and Éponine was really afraid about what would happen to her. Montparnasse apparently figured that she was out of the way, since he had framed her for murder and all. It had been obvious to Eppie the last time she'd talked with Zel how infatuated with 'Parnasse her little sister had become. It made Éponine sick to her stomach. She knew Montparnasse would be more than happy to have less troublesome replacement for Éponine, and the thought that Azelma would be more than happy to concede terrified her. One of her top priorities upon returning to New York was to find her sister and make sure that didn't happen. She cared too much about Azelma to let Montparnasse get his filthy hands on her.

She had a bit of free time on her hands for now, so she decided to go to the place and Azelma and Éponine had long ago decided was there favorite in the city: Central Park. Éponine had no way of contacting her sister except by talking to all their mutual acquaintances, but Eppie couldn't do that. If she were seen talking to any of them, it would jeopardize her ability to qualify as being of good moral standing. All she could do was try to be in the right place at the right time and hope she ran into her sister. Maybe if she was lucky she would run into Gavroche. He didn't yet have the 'criminal' tag on him. As far as anyone was concerned he was just a dirty truant, even though he was as criminally-minded as the rest of his family. He would be the most likely to know where Zel was. Eppie didn't like her brother much, but he was useful sometimes.

Éponine mounted herself at the top of the giant rocks that weren't very far from the Central Park Zoo. She felt important when she sat up there, and she liked being able to look over the tourists. Every so often she heard parents warning their small children not to get too close to her. For a change Éponine was clean and not dressed in rags, but she was still horribly thin and had that unmistakable glint in her eyes that warned people that she had done bad things in the past. She supposed she just gave off that vibe. It was all well and good, anyway. Éponine didn't like children and never had. As a matter of fat, the Minnie Mouse ears she was wearing had been stolen off a kid's baby carriage (a long time ago, before she'd been deported). Her dark, sunken eyes scanned the ground of Central Park. Maybe she would catch Azelma listening to the street musicians or something. So far, she'd had no sign, but just as Éponine was looking to give up and head somewhere else, she caught sight of a familiar face.

She sprang to her feet and scaled down the rock face with agility that didn't seem logical given her frailty. "Bonjour, Inspecteur!" she exclaimed once she reached the path. "For once you 'ave caught me not up to no good." It was usually unlike Éponine to greet the detective when he hadn't caught her doing something that she wasn't supposed to do, but this time she knew for sure she was safe. He had nothing on her because she had literally not broken the law once since she'd arrived back in America. However, Éponine wasn't sure if Javert even knew that she'd come back. He may have thought that she was out of his hair forever. In light of this, Éponine had felt the need to gloat, unwise as it might be. "Strange to see me 'ere, ce n'est pas?"

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[NINA TENARDÍZ]

Javert usually felt indifferent to what nature was doing, but this heat wave had been absolute torture, and so he'd wanted to get out on one of the cooler days that week. Being off-duty until three, he'd decided that a walk in the park wouldn't be a bad idea. Duty even off of duty was his thing, and the park wasn't a bad place to keep an eye on.

He and Athos' schedules overlapped each other quite a bit, and on these days, they always had the morning off together. Kind of a stupid arrangement, Javert thought, getting rid of the two best every Wednesday morning, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was walking with his partner now, as she'd made the excuse that she had nothing to do either. Yeah right. They had plenty to do down at HQ, which is where they ought to be.

As they walked past some large rocks, he muttered, "We should have just gone in this morning anyway." Javert hated having nothing to do, and really, he should have been forced to work double time because of this Ripper thing. But again, the captain didn't often bother to listen to him.

He was about to say something else when he heard a familiar voice call, and looked about to see Éponine. Again. "What is she-" he started to ask Athos, but he doubted she'd be able to answer. She didn't know much about his dealings with the Patron-Minette. "'Ponine, you're supposed to be in France," he observed calmly, looking down at her with one eyebrow raised. She was dressed so sharply today.

The first thing that came to his mind was: what is she up to?

[ÉPONINE THÉNARDIER]

She had to admit, the look that had crossed Javert's face for the brief second after she'd called his name had been priceless. Éponine would be able to play that over in her mind for weeks and get endless entertainment out of it. She was able to have that effect on people, not just Javert but pretty much everyone she did or did not get along with. Whenever she turned up in places that she didn't belong or where people didn't expect her to be, they always had this look on their face that was a mix of surprise and exasperation. Eppie was sure that normal girls her age would hate it when people gave them that look, but Éponine got a sick pleasure out of it. It was the look that told her that she had ruined someone's day, and it was not a good day for her if she hadn't ruined someone else's. Javert was pretty stoic when it came to facial expressions, but she had caught that look about his features before he'd been able to hide it.

Éponine made a tutting noise at Javert's statement. "Now, Inspecteur, you should know me well enough by now to know zat I rarely do what I'm supposed ta do and rarely stay where I'm supposed ta be," she said, teasing him a little. She couldn't list the number of times when Javert had found her up to her ears in something mischeivous, from underage drinking or illegal possession of cigarettes to misdemeanor theft. She was like a puppy that was impossible to train and always caused trouble. It wasn't exactly because she didn't know any better, but the powers that be had left her with no other choice. Her parents had left her with nothing except a legacy of crime, the government gave her nothing but continuous scoldings, and her friends only encouraged her lifestyle. Éponine knew that she would have to stop eventually, starting now, even, but it was very difficult for her. She didn't know any other way of life, and she'd only survived so long because of the crime. Though she tried not to even think about it, she was terrified that she would not be able to succeed well as a "citizen of good moral standing." How would she get food? She still didn't have much of a shot at getting a job, even though her English was getting better and she had the benefit of being in processing for citizenship. She wasn't very confident in her ability to handle such a different lifestyle. However, she would never let on such a thing to Javert or the Greasers or the Patron-Minette.

"Never fear, zoh," Éponine said to Javert. "I am 'ere legally zis time, in full awareness of ze government. I'm almost a citizen, as a matter of fact," she said. The 'almost' part was important. The government worked slowly, and she had to go a long time without committing any crime in order to redeem herself enough to achieve that all-important status. Éponine hated, absolutely hated, having her future held so firmly in the hands of the government. Her father had been strictly anti-government, preferring a form of anarchy not only for society but in his own home. She suddenly realized that she didn't know how much longer her father had in prison. It had been almost three years since he'd been locked up, and what a blissful three years it had been. However, Éponine could never be sure when she would see him again. She'd known plenty of men to escape from prison, and she hoped that her father wouldn't be among their number.

Eppie tweaked her Minnie Mouse ears as she finally noticed the official-looking woman standing next to Javert. She seemed vaguely familiar. Eppie was sure she'd seen the woman somewhere before, but she couldn't put her finger on where. "Ah, now, 'oo is zis tres belle madame?" the Thénardier girl asked. She had to be important to be spending any amount of time with Javert, who even Eppie knew to be very solitary.

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