Phantom Faces at the Window

Summary: June 5th 1833. Marius and Cosette go to visit the site of the barricade when they realize that they aren't alone.

AN: This came to me earlier today and I just had to get it out. I didn't change much. I did however make it so that Marius had not gone back to the Musain after he had been saved. So basically, the whole Empty Chairs at Empty Tables scene never happened. Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 1:

June 5th, 1833

Marius awoke to the summer sun shining in through his window. He smiled seeing Cosette was still asleep next to him. As if sensing her husband was awake, Cosette's eyes opened slowly taking in the sight of Marius' smile. She memorized the way he looked now, for she knew it would be gone as soon as he remembered what day it was. And as if he read her mind, Marius' smile had pulled down into a grimace that would more likely than not, stay that way until the end of the day. Maybe even longer.

"Good morning." Cosette said with a smile hoping to cheer him up a little bit. Or at least take his mind off of the barricades for a few minutes. It didn't work.

"I don't see what is so good about it." Marius grumbled.

Cosette ignored the bitterness she heard in his tone. Marius had not told her about the barricades, but she had read about it. And she knew that if their positions were switched, she would be in a bad mood as well.

"Marius, perhaps it would be beneficial to go back to the barric-" She began before Marius interrupted her.

"No Cosette. I can't go back. Not there. I can't go back." He replied as he and Cosette sat up.

"Maybe it would help Marius. You need time to grieve. I know it has been a year, but with your injury, you didn't exactly have time to grieve." She said. Her voice grew somber as she realized how true her words that she was going to say were.

"And with my father's death….I was selfish Marius. So very selfish. I grieved my father's death and you were there with me every step. You were too busy dealing with a depressed Cosette to actually have time to deal with your friends' deaths. I shouldn't have done that to you. I should've allowed you some time to grieve." Cosette said her eyes filling with tears at the mention of her father. Marius lifted his hand to her cheek making sure she was looking at him.

"Cosette, no. Don't think like that. It wasn't your fault I did not have time to grieve. It was mine. I didn't want to think about them. It was as if they were still here; mocking me for being alive while they were not. I couldn't face it Cosette. It wasn't your fault." Marius said knowing that his friends would never mock him for surviving. Wherever they were now, he felt like they would be happy at least someone survived.

"You helped me grieve for my father. You helped me receive closure. Now it is my turn to help you Marius. You wake up at night sweaty and screaming as if the battle had been raging on in your dreams. You flinch at the mention of any type of violence, the sound of glass breaking, anything that reminds you of them you try to get away from. And I can't stand to see you this way anymore. I want you to be happy. I want you to have closure. Maybe if we go to where it all happened, you'll feel better." Cosette said determined to make him go if she had to drag him there one freckle at a time. Marius looked at Cosette with such admiration. For a moment he forgot that that day was the day all of his friends were slaughtered. He could only think of how lucky he was to have found someone so caring and compassionate.

"We? You'll come with me?" He asked her coming back to reality. She let out a small laugh that resembled the sound of a lark.

"Of course! You didn't abandon me. Not ever. I'm not going to abandon you. Now let us get dressed. I would like to get outside soon. The weather is just lovely out." Cosette said as she stood up and pulled Marius up out of bed by his arms. She gave him a smile and stood up on the tips of her toes to give Marius a quick kiss before walking over to her wardrobe. He gave her a sad smile, but a smile none the less.

Maybe she is right. Marius thought. Maybe if I go back, I will feel better. I will get….closure as she says.

A few minutes later, Cosette and Marius were walking along the Parisian roads arms locked and both of them clad in black. Cosette had the black veil upon her head that she had worn at her father's funeral.

"Marius, what was done with them?" Cosette asked carefully. She wasn't sure if Marius would tell her what happened to the bodies, she wasn't even sure he knew, but he needed to talk about what happened. Otherwise he'll never get over it. As she expected, he didn't answer her.

"You need to talk about it Marius. It'll help with the pain. That's what you told me when father died. And it worked. Please talk to me Marius." Cosette said knowing she was possibly crossing the line. Marius sighed in response.

"Your right Cosette. I should talk about it. Let's at least get to the Musain where we can sit down." Marius said. Cosette hid her joy. She had never heard Marius utter a sound about the barricades before let alone the name of the café he used to frequent. He was finally going to tell her what happened. She only knew what she read in the papers. And she assumed that it was all lies. The papers had said that it was just a bunch of radicals overreacting and committing treason against the government. Yes it was treason, but they were not overreacting. They were the only ones reacting to the way the people were being treated. Cosette knew this and had given the paper to a homeless man and told him to burn it to keep warm.

They arrived at the Café Musain a little while later. Marius had not said anything else during the walk and had been content to keeping his eyes locked on his feet. He only looked up once they got there. He could've sworn his heart stopped. It was the same. The whole street looked exactly as it had the day the barricades fell. The only difference was the lack of bodies running about preparing for the oncoming attack. But that wasn't the only reason he froze in absolute shock. He also could've sworn he saw something. No, someone in the second story window of the Musain. But then he blinked and it was gone. A phantom face at the window.

"Marius. It is alright. I'm with you." Cosette said seeing that he had frozen in place. She had been shocked herself at the scene before them. The streets and walls were still stained with blood. Apparently it wouldn't all wash off. Not to mention that there were still pieces of barricade lying around. Her eyes strayed to a broken piano that was supported by the wall behind it. Its keys were strewn all over the place. This saddened Cosette for she always had a love of music. She clutched Marius' arm closer to her not only for his sake, but also for her. She felt like they weren't alone. But as she looked around, she found no one but Marius. Marius by now had regained his composure and was leading Cosette inside the Musain. There was no longer a door there; it had been smashed in by guards. Marius looked down and saw that there was glass strewn about the room from the windows. He did not know what happened inside the Musain for whatever did happen occurred after Valjean saved him. He couldn't believe that after an entire year all of this stuff was still here. There were broken liquor bottles on the floor.

"This was our last resort. If things went bad, we would come in here and throw bottles at the National Guard." Marius said. Cosette figured that this meant Marius was going to talk to her now. A part of her was happy that she would finally know what happened. But at the same time, her heart was breaking. She knew it would be so very painful for Marius to go back and talk about everything. About his friends. Marius blinked back tears. He did not want to cry in front of Cosette. He looked at what used to be the stairs that led up to the room where the meetings were held.

"We had our meetings up there." He said motioning to the upper level. He could practically see his friends running up the stairs and someone, probably Enjolras given he was the most self sacrificing out of them all, breaking the steps off so the guards could not climb up. Obviously the guards built themselves a way up because there were chairs that must've been brought in from the barricade stacked in an odd but stable fashion. Marius wanted to climb up. He wanted to see the room he had seen so many times before. Except this time, he knew that he would be alone. With Cosette, but he would be the only Amis there. He would see empty chairs at empty tables. But he didn't want to make Cosette climb the chairs.

"We can go up Marius. I don't mind." She said. She could tell he wanted to go up. Marius just nodded in response and tested the chairs to see if they would stay. He still couldn't believe no one had come in and cleaned any of this up. Of course he didn't expect the Musain to open up again. The chairs seemed stable. Marius helped Cosette up and then they were there. In the room that Marius had spent more time in then he did his own home at the time. He would've smiled as he remembered all the times he had come up here and all the happy memories he had of this place. But the grief overwhelmed him and the tears he had built a damn against broke. He was silent as they flowed from his eyes. Cosette felt the tears in her eyes as well. But she knew she had to be strong for Marius. He led her to a table in the corner and they both sat down.

"You wanted me to talk. You wanted me to tell you what happened. Well, now that I'm here, I don't know where to start." He said his voice cracking a bit when he said start. Cosette took his hands in hers.

"Why don't you start by telling me about your friends." As soon as she said the word friends, something felt different. Something about the room changed. Marius must've felt it too because his hands clenched tight around hers. She looked around, the room looked the same as it had when they first showed up, but something was different. The feeling of being watched crept up on her again.

"My friends? Oh Cosette you would've loved them." Marius said a small smile appearing on his face.

"Courfeyrac, he was my best friend. I actually stayed with him for quite some time. He's the one who introduced me to the Les Amis de l'ABC. He was always the flirt in our group. Grantaire used to joke that he would bed anything with a skirt." Marius said with a laugh. Cosette laughed as well.

"Now Grantaire, he always had a bottle in his grasp. He said the day before the barricades that all he had to do was get some brandy and he'd breathe the National Guard to death. He could be sober at times. But it was very rare. I never did find out why he drank so much in the first place." Marius said. He was about to continue but something stopped him. He thought he heard something. He snapped his head up and looked around. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He could've sworn he heard something. It sounded like….like Grantaire. His drunken slurs.

"Marius? Is someone else here?" She asked him. Marius almost sighed in relief. So he wasn't the only one who heard it.

"It must've been the wind or something." He said. They waited for a bit and when they didn't hear anymore sound other than their own breaths, Marius continued.

"I think the next person I'll tell you about is Bahorel. He was the short tempered one in our group. Always eager to pick a fight with anyone or anything. He would come to meetings with bruised hands. And whenever anyone would ask him what happened, he would just reply with, 'The other guy is much worse.'" Marius said before taking a pause. It was hurting him so much to think of his friends. Courf would never flirt with another lady again. R would never drink another drink. And Bahorel would never get into another fight. And yet Marius was the one to survive out of them all.

"Marius, it's alright. You need to talk. It'll help. I promise it will. I know it hurts but you can't keep this all in." Cosette encouraged. She hated seeing him like this. But she would rather see him like this now than being stuck in this state forever. Marius took a deep breath letting a few tears fall before continuing.

"You would've liked Jehan. He was a poet. And a good one at that. He used to write songs and we would all sing them in here. He was actually the only one who had been willing to listen to me ramble about you all night long. He said we inspired some of his more romantic poems." Marius said with a smile. He now wished he had one of Jehan's poems to remember him by. He wished he had something to remember them all by.

"Feuilly was the only one of us who actually had a job and was not a student. He was a fan maker you see. Probably the best one in Paris. I remember introducing him the Les Amis. He was accepted immediately. He had been alone most of his life and had taught himself to read and write. Very impressive. I don't think I could've done it. I wish I had one of his fans to remember him by." Marius said as more tears escaped.

"Marius, I'm assuming Feuilly sold his fans yes? Well, maybe we could try to find one." Cosette said seeing how much this all meant to Marius. It was then that she realized he didn't have anything to remember any of his friends by. She was sure though that if he did, he would feel better. She knows she did. Every day Cosette makes sure to pick up a little doll, the doll she had gotten when Jean Valjean saved her from the Thenardiers, and give it a little hug. She would remember her father in those short moments each day.

"Maybe Cosette. I know he did sign them. So maybe we could." Marius said with a small smile. It would mean so much to him to have one of Feuilly's fans. They really were magnificent. He was about to begin again when he heard a sneeze.

"God bless you Cosette." He said.

"That was not me Marius." She replied her eyes widening a little. "Are you sure we are alone?"

Marius stood up this time and looked around the room. There was no one else there. He even went and looked down the stairs and at the window. Nobody there either. It appeared they were alone. While walking back to the chair he noticed how cold it was in the room. Cosette was shivering as well. Marius shrugged off his coat and handed it to her. After pushing it away a few times, Cosette took the coat and put it on grateful for the warmth.

"We are alone. I did not see anyone else in downstairs or in the streets below." He said. Cosette just nodded and Marius cleared his throat ready to continue his descriptions of his friends.

"Joly would've had a fit if he was here. He was a doctor, well, a student doctor. But he might as well have been the best doctor in all of Paris, maybe even France. He was never sick. Yet he always thought he was. A bit of a hypochondriac he was. That's probably why he never actually got sick. We used to play jokes on him. We would tell him he was looking pale that night or that he had spots on his tongue, and he would just go crazy about it. His best friend, they were practically brothers, Bossuet, he would get real mad at us saying that it was cruel. And everyone would just laugh at him and say that life was cruel and he would join in because he knew for a fact how cruel life was. He was just so unlucky. He went bald at only twenty-one years of age. A terribly young age to be bald. He would trip over anything and everything. Sometimes he would trip over nothing at all. I always felt bad for him." Marius said remembering how Bossuet had saved his education claiming he was Marius on a day when Marius was late. Cosette smiled a little now seeing that Marius was beginning to really open up. She had no idea he had so many friends. And they sounded like a wonderful group. She wished she could've met them.

"Now Combeferre, he was a pacifist. I sometimes wondered why he was even there. He didn't believe in violence. At least not unnecessary violence. I remember being very surprised when I found him at the barricades. He and Enjolras would get into so many fights. Enjolras being the one to say that violence was the only way and Combeferre the one to get him to think clearly and realize that there can be other solutions. Enjolras would always win those arguments though. He could win any argument I've no doubt. He has….had a really fantastic way with words. He was the one who would give countless speeches and lead the rallies. He led us during the barricades right until the very end. We used to make fun of him all the time. He was very serious about all this, and rightfully so. But nonetheless we would make fun of him and call him the Marble Man. He was always a bit too serious I think. I myself had only seen him smile twice and heard him laugh once." Marius said with a smile. So many nights would he joke with Grantaire about Enjolras behind his back. It was quite funny really. Cosette smiled. She was glad to see that Marius was smiling. It means he was remembering the good memories as opposed to bad ones.

"There is so much I could tell you about them Cosette. I could write a book, maybe even two books about them. I really miss them. Sometimes I wish that I had been there. With them until the very end. Do not mistake my words, for I am very grateful that I am alive. But still, it pains me to know that they are gone and I am still here." Marius said his smile fading. Cosette's smile faded as well.

"Marius, there is reason you survived. At the very least, this reason was so you could tell the story of the Les Amis d l'ABC the way it should be told. The truthful way." Cosette said a thought coming to her mind. She was going to wait to bring up a certain topic of conversation but unless the current conversation shifted, she would tell him now.

"Who am I supposed to tell Cosette? If anyone finds out I was involved in the revolution, I could go to jail. Or worse." Marius said. As much as he felt it wrong to pretend he was not involved, it was for the best. He didn't want to leave Cosette. Not when he had gotten her back and they were all settled in and whatnot. Cosette sighed. Perhaps now was not the best time to tell him, but she felt it might make him feel better.

"You could tell it to our children Marius." She stated getting a questioning look from Marius.

"Children?" He asked. He didn't know she would want children. Not that he minded, but they'd only been married one year.

"You could tell it to our child Marius." Cosette said as she took his hand and rested it on her abdomen. She had found out she was two months pregnant a few weeks ago and had been dying to tell Marius but was so afraid to.

"Cosette, what are you saying? You….we….." Marius was speechless.

"We are going to have a child Marius. I know today is the worst time to tell you-" She started when Marius interrupted her.

"No Cosette, this is wonderful news! I'm glad you told me. Do you know how far along you are?" He asked her as she sat back down in her seat and took his hands in hers again.

"Two months." She said with a smile. Marius smiled as well. He knew this was a day to grieve, but how could he grieve about death when there was now life? He was about to say something else when another voice entered the room.

"Marius? A father? I can hardly believe it!" A voice said loudly causing Marius and Cosette's smiles to disappear and the both of them to freeze.

"I can believe it Grantaire. I think Marius will be a great father." Another voice said. If Marius heard right, Courfeyrac was speaking to Grantaire. But no, they are dead. Marius tore his eyes away from Cosette and looked around the room. They were still alone. Has he gone mad?

"Will the two of you shut up? You are scaring them." Another voice that sounded a lot like Enjolras said.

"Wait…they can hear us?" Grantaire spoke again.

"Cosette….am I mad? Or are you hearing this as well?" Marius asked her. She just nodded in response her eyes closed.

"I do not think we can both be mad." She managed to choke out. The both of them had gone pale and had frozen in place out of fear. What was going on?

"You are not mad my friend. Open your eyes and you'll see the proof." Someone said sounding like Combeferre. Marius did not realize he had closed his eyes in the first place and did as Combeferre told him. What he saw was a bunch of people in the room with them. His friends. The Les Amis. Were standing in this room. Although they had a strange translucent look to them. Ghosts? Marius had never believed in ghosts. Yet here he was, listening to his dead friends speak to him. He observed the scene before him and noticed with great astonishment that his friends were definitely ghosts. He could see their injuries that they had died with. He then looked to Cosette. She still had her eyes closed and was shaking a bit.

"Cosette. Please open your eyes and either confirm my madness or join me in it." He said to her. She opened her eyes and let out a gasp as she almost fell back in her seat if it weren't for Marius catching her just in time. She was looking at the ghosts in the room with wide eyes clutching to Marius' arm.

"Marius? I see them." She whispered to him.

"Please do not worry. You are not mad. Either of you. If anyone is mad, it is us. We did not know you were alive Marius." Combeferre said taking a step towards them with his hands out in a peaceful manner.

"Well, how would you explain this Combeferre? You are all dead. I know you are. I can see it." Marius said motioning to the bloody holes in his chest.

"Yes….well, believe me. We were all more surprised than you." He replied.

Marius had begun to calm down a bit. He knew that Cosette saw them to. So that means he wasn't crazy. They couldn't both be crazy could they?

"It's real Marius. We are real." Combeferre said stressing real.

"Yeah. Real dead." Grantaire scoffed. Marius turned his attention to the cynic who was leaning against one of the walls. Grantaire had one bullet hole in his stomach, and another right in his heart.

"Grantaire? You here? I don't remember seeing you at the barricades." Marius said thinking back to June 5th and 6th trying to recall if R had been there.

"I was sleeping. Second to last one to die I was." R said proudly.

"We died at the same time Grantaire." Enjolras said walking forward a bit.

"Hello Marius. Cosette." Enjolras greeted giving a polite nod to Cosette.

Marius' eyes widened at the sight of his friend.

"Christ Enjolras! You've got more holes in you than cheese!" He exclaimed seeing eight bullet holes riddled in his friend. Enjolras just shrugged as if it didn't really matter.

"Marius…..this is really happening." Cosette said softly. The room quieted and Cosette looked around.

"It is alright my love. Everything is alright. I do not know how this happening, but it is." Marius said looking Cosette in the eye. She just nodded.

"Will you stay for a while Marius? We have a lot to discuss." Combeferre said. Marius looked at Cosette.

"Cosette. If you are unwell we can go home. Something tells me they are not going to go anywhere." Marius said. This surprised some of the Amis. Marius just now sees his best friends after knowing they were dead and is willing to go home if his wife wants him to. Love was weird.

"Marius, I do not want to take you away from your friends. But I'm afraid this is a bit much for me at the moment. I will return home myself." Cosette admitted. She did not feel good at all. She felt a little overwhelmed at the moment considering the fact that she was practically surrounded by a bunch of dead people. She wasn't sure if her freaking out was good for the baby. Then again she didn't really know if her freaking out even affected the baby yet.

"Nonsense. We will both go." Marius said.

"Marius, it is alright. I will be fine. You should stay." Cosette countered hoping he would stay. It was not like she did not want him with her, but she knew that he needed to be here with his friends. Marius looked as if he was about to argue some more when someone else spoke up.

"I will walk with her Marius."

Marius turned to the voice.

"Eponine." He said shocked. He remembered her last words to him. "I think I was always just a little bit in love with you monsieur."

Cosette gasped when she saw this girl. She remembered Eponine very well. She recognized her face from when she was a child many years past.

"Eponine? Is it really you?" Cosette asked taking a step forward. Marius looked at his wife. Had she and Eponine met before?

"Yes Cosette. It is me. And if Marius would allow it, I would like to accompany you back to your home. I would like to speak with you." Eponine replied looking at Marius. The room had gone silent watching the girls' interaction. They had gotten to know Eponine in the year they've been dead and were shocked to find out that she actually knew Cosette.

"Yes. That is quite all right. Cosette will show you the way Eponine." Marius said. Cosette stood up and gave Marius a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I will see you at home." She said before walking out of the room with Eponine. Once they were gone, Marius turned back to his friends.

"There will be much conversation going on today. Bahorel, come with me to bring some chairs up. I do tire of standing about." Combeferre said motioning for Bahorel to follow him. The two ghosts disappeared down the stairs.

AN: Ok. That is probably the longest thing I have ever written. I wanted to put Eponine and Cosette's part in a separate chapter because it could prove to be lengthy. And the whole conversation between Marius and the Les Amis I also want to put in a separate chapter. I had intended for this to be one shot but then realized that it would be a bit long. And I did think of a way to make it a chapter fic. Nothing really major at the moment. But I won't update more unless you (the reader) tells me you want more. I am satisfied with this chapter but if you are not, please tell me what I could do to gain approval. I do already have the next few chapters planned out so if you want more, there will be more. And if you have ideas for this fic, please tell me. I can definitely find a way to include it in the story. Also, I am not going to have a mean Eponine or a mean Cosette. They are both mature adults and you will see in the next chapter that they are going to be nice and stuff. I also plan to have Eponine be over Marius. And I couldn't leave her alone with nobody to love because that would just suck. Nobody likes it when Eponine is on her own…..hehehe. I am a supporter of Enjonine, but I'm not sure if that's what you guys want. Let me know in the review box! Thanks for reading!