Chapter Text
Enjolras honestly wasn't sure exactly what to expect as he followed the man leading him into the building, an orderly judging by his uniform. There was a small flash of doubt in his mind as the door to the ward buzzed open, but it was too late to turn back now.
To be fair, the situation was of his own making, he was the one who boldly stated that he'd do whatever it took to get a story. Because to him it was never just a story, not really. He's an investigative journalist and that means uncovering things that people want to keep buried, things that people need to know. And so really, it's not his fault that the only way to really find out what's going on at Bradey psychiatric hospital was to go in undercover as a patient.
Getting himself admitted as an inpatient was easier than it really ought to have been. After Enjolras had done exhaustive research into the hospital and it's staff and every drop of information he could find out, he was sure that he needed to get inside to get the proof he needed. So, he came up with a plan, simple in it's design but effective. He went to the doctor, claiming to need help with insomnia. Of course the doctor, in his effort to help, asked Enjolras if he knew what might be causing it. Now Enjolras was no great actor, but he did have a talent for making people believe him. So when he feigned reluctance to tell the doctor the cause, and then he eventually did admit to the doctor that his insomnia was caused by his long hours spent hunting for demons and monsters, the doctor believed him. Believed him enough to immediately request someone from Bradey to come and collect him.
Which is how he ended up waiting to speak to a doctor on this ward. Enjolras wasn't particularly worried, pretending to believe in demons and other supernatural beings is hardly difficult. An easy lie, in the scheme of things. He's not sure how long he'll be able to keep fooling them, but it only needs to be long enough for him to gather the facts and damning proof he needs. And he won't settle for just exposing a few doctors for malpractice, no he has his eyes set on the man in charge. Dr Javert. Everything Enjolras heard about that man was bad news, that's what sparked his interest in this place, and really the more he learned the more convinced he was that there were serious problems here.
After half an hour of waiting on a plastic chair in a rather depressing hallway, Enjolras was finally called in to see the doctor.
"My name's Joly," he seemed pleasant enough, but also much younger than Enjolras had expected, he couldn't be much older than Enjolras himself, mid-twenties at the most.
"Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm here," Enjolras said, playing the part, "I have a bit of insomnia is all."
"Yes, I heard," Joly looked down at a file in front of him, "Do you mind if I ask what's causing the insomnia?"
"I don't really like talking about it," Enjolras shifted in his seat, trying to look uncomfortable, "It's not really something the general population should know about, they just aren't ready."
"Aren't ready for what Enjolras?"
"The truth," a shrug, "That there are dark forces at work all around us and no one is safe," the lies come easily, the part not difficult to play.
"Do you not feel safe?" The concern is clear in the doctor's voice.
"I'm safer than some I suppose, at least I know what's out there, I know how to fight it. Though, that does put me in danger, but I have to, I have to fight them or who else will? It's my job to protect people from an enemy they don't know is there. So I mean, yeah, sometimes I have trouble sleeping."
"That sounds like a very heavy burden to have to deal with on your own," Joly's smile is kind and Enjolras finds, to his surprise, it's totally genuine, "What would you say to maybe staying here for a while so we can help you deal with it?"
"I don't know," Enjolras pretends to be conflicted, "I can't exactly take time off, people's lives depend on me. If I'm not there, who'll kill the demons? Who'll stop the innocent from getting hurt?"
"The more important question might be: What would happen if you exhausted yourself, ran yourself down to the point where you wouldn't even be able to look after yourself? I can see how tired you are from here," Which honestly was all Enjolras, too many all-nighters spent working, but if it worked for his cover…
"You're right, I am getting pretty exhausted," Enjolras let Joly believe he was being talked into it, "Maybe it couldn't hurt."
The intake process was somewhat easier than Enjolras had expected, especially considering the only true information he provided was his name and the year he was born. It was sometimes a necessity of his work to use false identities and credentials, so Enjolras was fairly used to that.
After the paperwork was all sorted out, Enjolras was divested of all his personal belongings, including his clothes. He was prepared for this and had no problem handing over his new burner phone, the wallet full of false cards and a little money, and his jeans and polo shirt. Once he was dressed in the white cotton t-shirt and pale blue pajama pants he was shown to his room. And his roommate.
"Hey," The young man greeted with a bright smile, jumping off his bed, "They didn't tell me I was finally getting a new roommate. I'm Jehan."
He looked to be about Enjolras' age, and about the same height. He had broad shoulders and Enjolras could tell he was physically fit through the thin cotton of his shirt. But his face was soft, framed by shoulder length strawberry blonde hair that somehow managed to make him look delicate, despite his size.
"Enjolras," he shook the other man's extended hand.
"It's okay Mike, I can show him around," Jehan's smile became slightly tightened as he addressed the silent orderly who'd escorted Enjolras to the room. Enjolras was only slightly surprised when the man disappeared without saying a word, "There are some really great people who work here, but then some who aren't," Jehan frowned slightly, "Not that Mike's one of the worst, he just really doesn't care."
"Oh," was all Enjolras could think to say. But then the smile was back on Jehan's face, as brilliant as when Enjolras first entered the room.
"Okay, so honestly I'm not very good at giving the tour," Jehan said, leading them out of the room, "R will decide whether or not he likes you, and if he does he'll do the whole introductory thing. He loves it."
"And if he doesn't?" Enjolras glanced at Jehan while still trying to pay attention to the route they were taking, "Like me, I mean."
"Oh, I didn't mean to make it sound so ominous," Jehan laughed, slightly higher than Enjolras would've expected, a soft sound, "He's just protective of all of us, he needs to make sure we can trust newcomers, but you seem nice enough and once you're one of us you'll see he's actually a really amazing guy."
Enjolras didn't have much time to worry about what he was going to say to this mysterious 'R', because they had just entered what seemed to be the communal recreation and living area. Chairs and tables were dotted around, as well as sofas and armchairs around a small television set. There was also a piano over by the largest windows on the back wall. It was quite the sight really.
Jehan was quickly pulling him over to a group that was collected around two of the tables closest to the piano and the windows. There were five of them, and noted that four of the five were men, all around his age, the fifth was a girl, possibly a bit younger than the rest.
"Jehan have you brought me a present?" One of the men exclaimed, hands clasped over his chest. Enjolras noted his curly brown hair and young face, pale skin with cheeks flushed pink.
"Courf, we've had this conversation," one of the other men looked pointedly at the curly-haired man, but his tone was more fondly exasperated than honestly chastising. Enjolras looked to the new speaker, who also had some impressively curly hair, though his was darker and much more wild. He was also more scruffy looking, with dark stubble and shadows under his eyes, but he made it look good somehow.
"You're such a killjoy R, honestly," Courf flopped in his chair dramatically.
"Aren't you going to introduce us Jehan?" the man - the mysterious 'R' it would seem - was looking at Enjolras as he spoke, his gaze appraising. He wasn't exactly what Enjolras had been expecting, though really he hadn't had time to form expectations.
"This is Enjolras, he's my new roommate," Jehan smiled, "Enjolras this is Courfeyrac," he indicated the dramatic brunette, "Bahorel," a large muscular man with tan skin and dark hair, "Bossuet," a bald-headed, dark skinned man with an impressive looking bruise on his jaw, but a smile on his face, "Eponine," the one girl of the group, long brown hair obscured her face, "And Grantaire."
Returning his gaze back to Grantaire, Enjolras met his eyes. They were shockingly blue, not a dark blue like Enjolras' own, but an ice blue unlike anything he'd seen before. And Enjolras was staring. He could feel himself flush a little, but he didn't drop the other man's gaze. It probably wouldn't help to show any sign of weakness.
"So, Enjolras, tell me something about yourself," Grantaire smirked slightly. It was a test, Enjolras just wasn't sure what the right answer was. Or what a wrong answer would be.
"I hate tomatoes," he shrugged. And he could honestly kick himself. Now wasn't the time for panicking. He needed contacts here if he was going to uncover the truth and make it out the other side. Now wasn't the time to get distracted by blue eyes or say something stupid that could put him at odds with people whose help he might need.
"Yeah, me too," Surprisingly, Grantaire was grinning. Enjolras could only hope that this meant he'd passed the test and hadn't, in fact, stuck his foot in it, "This your first time inside?"
"That obvious, huh?" Enjolras sat down in the chair Jehan indicated for him, directly opposite Grantaire.
"You can usually spot the returning customers," Grantaire's smile looked easy and casual, but Enjolras thought that maybe it was more of a mask than a real, honest smile.
"I said you'd give him the unofficial tour R," Jehan smiled over at Grantaire, and Grantaire's own smile changed, confirming Enjolras' theory. Grantaire's genuine smile was warmer, it sparkled in his eyes and lit up his face. And really, that was more than Enjolras meant to notice. Honestly.
"Of course," And there was an undercurrent of humour to his words, "Because who else will give an honest valuation of this place while showing you the best place to go have a smoke?"
There seemed to be an amused agreement between the two tables at that and Enjolras had to wonder how long they'd all been here. One of the things Enjolras had found interesting in his research of this place was that they had far more long-term patients than other facilities like it. In fact, most of their patients seemed to stay far longer than what might be considered average.
“Come on then new kid, we don't have long until dinner,” Grantaire stood up from his chair and rolled his shoulders. Enjolras couldn't really tell how muscular R was because he wore his regulation t-shirt baggy on his frame, but his arms were toned with thinly defined muscles. His hips were on the narrower side but that only added to his lean frame, highlighting his surprisingly broad shoulders. And really Enjolras needed to stop staring.
He quickly followed Grantaire out of the rec area. Enjolras wasn't the kind of person who got distracted this way. Yes, Grantaire was objectively attractive, but honestly he needed to get ahold of himself. He had a job to do here.
Enjolras listened attentively as Grantaire pointed things out, and he actually was a good guide, by the time they reached the door to the roof Enjolras knew where everything was and what areas were best to avoid (“There's nearly always someone crying in those toilets, it's weird. I still have no idea why.”) The roof was apparently the best place to go if you wanted to smoke.
“Really? I can't be trusted with shoelaces but an unlocked door to the roof of the building is fine?” Enjolras filed the information away.
“Nothing about this place makes sense new kid, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth, yeah? We're the only ward with roof access, I got transferred to a different ward for a bit a while back, no roof access, it was tragic,” Grantaire led them up a very short flight of stairs and through a heavy fire door that was propped open.
Enjolras was surprised to see an orderly standing up on the roof, taking one last drag of a cigarette before crushing it under his white shoe.
“Feuilly! My good man, how goes things?” Grantaire greeted the man with a smile.
“Same as ever,” Feuilly shrugged with a half smile, “I have to go take Selma for her walk, but you tell Bahorel he still owes me that rematch.”
“Will do,” Grantaire laughed as the red-headed orderly left through the door they'd just come from. Then he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from where they were stashed in one of the vents, he offered one to Enjolras.
“Thanks,” Enjolras took the offered cigarette. He wasn't really a smoker but Enjolras did enjoy the occasional smoke, at least in part because people tended to be more trusting when you shared a smoke with them, for whatever reason.
“Feuilly's really the only decent orderly in this place,” Grantaire said, lighting his own cigarette then handing the lighter to Enjolras, “You'll find it's best to ignore the rest when you can. And the only nurses worth anything are Marius and Musichetta, the others are miserable sadists. Same with the doctors really, they're all incompetent assholes, though Joly's a nice guy. And there's the new one, but no one knows him well enough yet.”
Enjolras took this all in while inhaling the pleasant warmth of his cigarette. He'd already come to his own decision about Joly, he was nice enough but too mild-mannered to openly speak out against his employers. But he'd have to keep an eye out for the others.
“Anyway, here's the deal kid-”
“That's really getting annoying you know,” Enjolras interrupted without thinking, and mentally cursed himself, “I'm not a kid.”
“Hey, I just call 'em like I see 'em,” Grantaire smirked, “You're what, 17? 18?”
“23.”
“No shit,” Grantaire was visibly surprised. Enjolras was used to it, his youthful looks even proved useful on occasion, but mostly it was just frustrating, “Well, I stand corrected. My bad Apollo,” Enjolras raised his eyebrows but refrained from interrupting this time, “As I was saying, there are some unspoken rules around here that you need to know.”
Grantaire paused, taking a long drag of his cigarette. He was looking out over the ledge of the roof, which came to about chest height. He looked almost serene for a moment, before it passed and he went back to looking vaguely amused.
“Rule 1, you don't ask anyone what they're in for. If they want to tell you they will. If not, well, it's none of your fucking business,” Grantaire's tone was serious, almost stern as he met Enjolras' eyes. Enjolras nodded, “Right, rule 2, don't trust anyone here. Everyone has an angle.”
“Even you?”
“Especially me,” Grantaire's grin was full of mischievous charm and really that wasn't fair, Enjolras hated how interested he was in this beautiful stranger.
“I'll keep that in mind,” Enjolras nodded gravely, but his tone belied his amusement.
“Okay,” R laughed, “Where was I? Yeah, rule 3, no one takes group therapy seriously. It's like a circle jerk for feelings, so we usually make a game of it. The most ridiculous bullshit you can get the doc to believe. Gotta do something to alleviate the boredom.”
That didn't really sound like a rule to Enjolras, but he could appreciate the sentiment. He took one final drag of his cigarette before stubbing it out on the wall. He hadn't noticed when R had finished his, but seemingly at some point he had. They turned and started walking back to the door.
“Rule 4, probably the most important,” Grantaire finally said when they were back inside, “If you've got a roommate, you have his back. So yeah, you watch out for Jehan, he watches out for you. Pretty simple really,” there was a weighty seriousness to Grantaire's tone, and Enjolras wondered what exactly their backs needed watching out for. But he nodded, “Great,” Grantaire nodded back, and suddenly all tension was gone and the easy smile was back as they headed to the dining area to meet the other's for dinner.