June 5, 1832

Elizabeth felt a kiss bestowed on her forehead as she slept peacefully in her tiny bedroom, humming lightly when Enjolras' hand caressed her cheek gently. The night hadn't been spent adding last minute details and remaining in the Musain until midnight. There was drinking, shouting, loading guns, writing out fliers; Elizabeth still had ink on her fingertips.

Combeferre and Courfeyrac hadn't left her alone all night long. Thoughtful touches and lustful glances, they'd spent most of their time together in a closet on the first floor. With General Lamarque's funeral at eight o'clock sharp the next morning, there would be no time to have a pure moment of bliss, they indulged themselves in each other's embrace while they could.

After all, the barricades were to arise the next day. Such things wouldn't be productive, well, Courfeyrac begged to differ.

Enjolras' brotherly hand left her cheek, smoothing her hair out of her face before his touched vanished completely. It didn't take long for the fall of his footsteps to reach the doorway.

"Dear God," she heard him murmur, "please, all I ever want from you is to keep her safe. Even after I'm gone, keep her safe."

Her crystal blue eyes shot open the second he closed the door. Shoving off the covers, Elizabeth ran to pull the handle only to see it locked from the outside. Damn Enjolras for putting locks on all the doors!

She slammed her fists against the wood, crying out for her brother to come unlock the door.

"Christian, please!" She begged. "Open the door! We were supposed to do this together! Christian!"

The clock on her vanity read a quarter to eight, only fifteen minutes left until the funeral.

A faint slam of the front door echoed in her ears like a haunting laughter.

Elizabeth felt tears threaten to leave her eyes, but there was no time for such folly. She'd imagined this would happen. Christian never wanted her to actually fight after all, he couldn't imagine his little sister firing a gun on the barricade in her pretty red dress. Wiping away the single tear which fell from the corner of her eye, Elizabeth went to her closet and opened it, pulling out a crate with clothes of a man pooling over the edge.

Among the nights she'd spent at either Combeferre or Courfeyrac's flat, pieces of their clothing slowly went missing. Whether it was a pair of black trousers Courfeyrac had misplaced, a white shirt taken from Combeferre's dresser on her way out, or the cap Gavroche gave to her as a gift for Christmas and black boots he stole from one of his street urchin friends; Elizabeth snuck them off with little worry, they wouldn't need them after all.

She tugged of her nightgown and began to bind her chest with a torn piece of bed sheet, flattening the swell of her breasts as if to appear to be a young male student, not a teenage girl. Dressing in the clothes from the crate and piling her hair under the cap, Elizabeth pushed up the window, and stepped out onto the fire escape.

In the distance, the clock tolled eight times. The scent of revolution fresh in the air.

The idea of dressing up as a boy had been her backup plan. She'd imagined Enjolras would allow her to fight for the republic and freedom from their king, but that wasn't expected. One of the only times Eponine spoke to her was to discuss the idea, she was planning to do so in order to make sure Marius would stay safe. Meanwhile, Elizabeth only wanted to fight for what had been planned for the past couple years.

Morning air bit at her skin. It was cold out that day.

A low hum echoed off the walls of every building in Paris it seemed, the chant of hope and liberty reminding Elizabeth the barricades would be built soon. The revolution was starting.

Something held Elizabeth back from hopping off the fire escape. She wanted to, truly. But there was the fear of dying in the back of her mind. What if it all wasn't worth it? She'd die for nothing. She'd fall for nothing. Maybe Enjolras was right to lock her in her room, keep her safe.

She jumped anyway.

There was a certain guilt Courfeyrac felt at the thought of Enjolras locking Elizabeth in her room. His friend must've forgotten about the fact there was a window which led out to the fire escape. But then again, Enjolras had said Elizabeth was still asleep when he left.

He went to their flat anyway.

The others were far beyond occupied, with the revolution and all. Everyone was fleeing to Rue de Villette. Surely, no one would notice Courfeyrac's disappearance for a couple minutes.

Courfeyrac kept a hand on his gun as he opened the door, heading up the stairs and unlocking the passage to the room he knew was Elizabeth's.

The room was perfectly tidy and small. Elizabeth nowhere insight. Her bed was unmade with her white nightgown carelessly thrown on the floor next to a crate. A crate that still had remnants of a man's clothes pouring over the edges.

No, no, no. She couldn't have.

It was then that Courfeyrac saw the open window leading out onto the fire escape, curtains fluttering in the light summer breeze.

He ran to the barricades as fast as he could without knocking anyone over in the process.

Elizabeth did what he knew she would do.

Furniture poured out the windows like rain, people shouting, Enjolras running to help Jehan bring all the guns into the Musain. He did his best to spot the long blonde tresses of a girl he loves.

"Good God, Courfeyrac," Combeferre said. He hadn't even noticed him. "You look so pale, what on earth happened?"

"Elizabeth. Have-have you seen her?"

The Guide looked at him with nothing but pure confusion. "No, I haven't. She's at the flat in her bedroom. Courfeyrac, wh-"

"She's not there. I went by earlier to check on her."

"You don't think she's here, do you?"

"Christ Combeferre, where else would she be!" Courfeyrac ran his hands through his hair.

His eyes searched the fury of students. She was here. She had to be.

"Her bedroom window was open, and do you know where that window leads? Out to the god damn fire escape!" Courfeyrac's voice cracked as he spoke, Combeferre searching through the crowd as well for her.

Combeferre grasped his friend's forearm, "Not a word of this to Enjolras. He'll have her head if he finds out."

"Not a word."

Elizabeth didn't reveal herself until dusk.

She remained hidden under the disguise of a young male student, staying as far as she could from her brother, Courfeyrac, Combeferre, and most of the other amis. Eponine had been the only one who knew. But her Elizabeth weren't exactly the best of friends, so conversation was sparse between them during the day.

Just as dusk arrived, Elizabeth took notice at the stares she received from Combeferre and Courfeyrac. They'd lean close to one another and whisper harshly towards one another. Growing suspicious they were.

You see, as hard as she had tried, Elizabeth couldn't pull off acting -or looking- like a man. Earlier, when they faced an intruder, she squealed after firing a gun at an officer. Luckily, it was masked by the sound of guns firing and swords being unsheathed. Only Eponine had heard it. The elder girl sent the younger a disapproving glare and a shake of her head.

Combeferre and Courfeyrac began to proceed to where she was cleaning her gun.

But the distant pitter-patter march of the national guard stopped them short.

Everyone went to take their places, Combeferre and Courfeyrac returning to Enjolras' side. Elizabeth picked up her gun and stood next to Eponine, much to the street gamin's dismay.

"You might wanna redo your hair." Eponine murmured with every ounce of disdain possible. Looking down the scope of her gun, she rolled her eyes. "There are a few strands that fell out, it's obvious you aren't a man."

Elizabeth cleared her throat, "I'm sure no one will notice."

They stopped. As did the national guard.

"Who's there?!" One called.

Enjolras replied, "French Revolution!"

Then, the gun fire.

A guard was the first to shoot, Elizabeth the second. She was a terrible shot, the butt of the gun retaliating back into her shoulder, and it hurt too.

Within the one minute and thirty seconds it took Elizabeth to reload (normally it takes forty five seconds, but she was weaker than those around her), her cap inevitably fell off her head. She hadn't even noticed as Eponine had vanished and wasn't there to point it out. Supposedly, Elizabeth turned her head too fast at the sound of a scream, the cap flying off.

She repositioned her gun on a chair arm. Glancing down the scope, she aimed towards one of the guards climbing the barricade. Her finger inched to pull the trigger as the man progressed to Marius.

Preparing for the impact of her gun brought, Elizabeth closed one eye, the other keeping steady gaze on her target. He whipped his gun out of his belt in two seconds and that's when Elizabeth pulled the trigger.

The bullet had barely missed him, but nonetheless, it made the guard's head turn in Elizabeth's direction. It gave Marius the opportunity to shove him off the barricade. Instead he wielded a torch and swung it at the guard's head.

"Stand back!" He exclaimed. "Stand back or I'll blow the barricade!"

Elizabeth backed away from her spot.

And what she'd felt on the fire escape returned.

Her heart was beating faster, fingers shaking slightly. There was the uncertainty of whether or not her life would still exist in the next few seconds. Her final moments could be now, in a place where she wasn't supposed to be.

But it was over before it had even started. The national guard fled from the scene after Marius lowered the torch to a barrel of gunpowder, and Elizabeth wanted to flee as well.

Especially after her eyes met Enjolras'.

She hadn't realized how close she'd been standing to the barricade. When Enjolras removed the torch from Marius' grasp, he spun around only to have the light of the flame illuminate his poor sister's face.

Thrusting his arm out to pass the torch to a nearby student, Enjolras stormed over to her with a look in his eyes that was more than terrifying. Not a word passed between them.

Dragging her behind the Musain with a tight hold on her wrist, a frustrated gleam in the leader's eye. When they were out of sight and away from earshot of the other revolutionaries, he let go of her arm with such force she almost stumbled to the ground. A string of curses fell from his mouth. The last thing Enjolras wanted was his sister to be shooting rifles at the national guard, especially after the battle which had just occurred.

Enjolras looked furious in his sister's eyes, blond hair askew and facial expressions a mix between scornful and concerned. His red jacket had been unbuttoned along with his cravat, hanging loosely at his sides.

"Why did you leave the flat, Elizabeth?" He hissed, raking both hands through his hair. "I locked you in your room for a reason, I didn't want-"

"Oh, I don't give a damn about what you want!" Elizabeth clenched her fists at her sides. "I've been a part of this since the beginning, I have every right to be here just as you do!"

Enjolras' face practically turned red with rage. "You do understand the consequences of being here, don't you? God, you can't even use a gun the proper way. Elizabeth, you need to go back home right this instant."

"No!" She cried, "I don't need to do anything! I'm not as fragile as you think I am, my dear brother."

The elder gripped both of Elizabeth's shoulders, bending down slightly to somewhat match her eye level. His facial features softened, lips pressed together. Both of them had seemingly calmed a little, Elizabeth's brow no longer furrowed. "Elizabeth, please, I beg you, go home. I'd rather have you live then risk your life for the sake of Patria."

She chewed on her bottom, then answered. "But what about you Christian?" Her voice had grown quieter, softer. Those blue eyes glistened as a gentle rain began to drizzle from the clouds above.

A heavy silence settled between the two. Then, Enjolras spoke.

"You can stay," said he, "but, if at any time, I feel as if it isn't safe for you to be here, you must leave."

The younger nodded and pressed a kiss to her brother's cheek, no other words passed between them as Elizabeth left the back of the Musain.

Hey Guys!

The next few parts of the oneshots are all going to be the whole barricade sequence and stuff like that, but after I'm done, I'm going to start writing a few Modern Day Amis! stories.

Also, thank you those who've reviewed and followed! I never really thought this story would get much attention, so this makes me really happy :)

Until next time,

Broadwaykid1832