This is a crossover between Les Miserable and The Count of Monte Cristo. As a very natural crossover, I am surprised that no one has done this since their stories are so similar and take place at the same time and in the same locales. It would have been very probable if these characters had really existed, that for the span from March 1829 when Edmond Dantes escaped from Chateaux D'if and found the treasure of Monte Cristo, to the Summer of 1833 when Jean Valjean died, that Dantes and Valjean could have met. It is true that Edmond Dantes did not return to Paris as the Count of Monte Cristo until 1838, but he had made elaborate plans under many aliases throughout the nine years post-prison, and certainly he would have visited Paris prior to his coming as the Count.

A word about the movies and books. This story is based off the unabridged versions of both Les Miserables and The Count of Monte Cristo and for those that are only familiar with the movies or plays there may be a few differences.

For The Count of Monte Cristo the most notable differences between the 2002 movie and the novel are the following:

1. In the novel, Mercedes' son, Albert, is NOT the son of Edmond Dantes, but the true son of Fernand Mondego. Fernand Mondego was not even the main villain of the story either, and his final demise is at his own hand.

2. In the novel and in the movie, Edmond is continually warned that his revenge will go too far. In the 2002 movie, he completely accomplishes his revenge and suffers no consequences. He gets the woman, the son, the wealth, and his revenge. In the novel, his revenge goes too far and as a consequence Edouard, the young child of Villefort dies. Edmond has his first signs of regret for his vengeance when he sees the innocent life taken for the benefit of his own motives.

3. In the novel Edmond does NOT end up with Mercedes; in fact, it seems that he had never any intention to return to Mercedes, but still provided for her so she would not be destitute.

For Les Miserables, the most important difference for the purpose of this short story is the reason for Jean Valjean's second imprisonment. The first prison sentence was for stealing bread of which he served nineteen years in prison and was released, having paid his debt to society. The second time was for stealing a coin from a child AFTER Monseigneur Bienvenu had forgiven him for stealing. It was for the theft of that coin that Javert was pursuing him and is then sent to prison again. Then, by his own strength, he escapes prison to be on the run while trying to protect Cosette.

Having set the stage, I hope you enjoy. And as always, please review. Thanks.

Paris, France October 29, 1829

The stick houses of Rue Saint-Antoine crowded together in the cool of the fall air. It was the coldest night of the autumn this year, perhaps the coldest October 29th that Paris had ever seen, and the wind announced the coming of a terrible winter. The huddled houses seemed to edge a little closer to each other this night, seeking warmth in the cold dead wood of their thin walls. Glowing lights of a few inns advertised a hope for warmth and made the dead neighboring structures seem that much colder.

The poor standing outside, huddled together, steam from their breath rising above them to warm the cold air and not those below. The few that had money to enter the lit inns, made those outside appear that much colder in the icy and lifeless air. The street idlers clung to their ratty shawls, moth-eaten and worn thin-dozens of them grouped at every corner.

Occasionally, a horse and its rider would pass in the streets, not stopping, but traveling to another destination beyond the frigid Faubourg Sainte-Antoine. The horses traveled, perhaps, to the warmer Faubourg Saint-Germain where the wind never seemed to blow so violently, nor the cold bite so sharply-its palatial streets able to appease the gods of winter for a while with their libations of evening soirees. Rue Sainte-Antoine would have no such libations to offer.

Hardly was a carriage seen on the street of Rue Saint-Antoine, let alone one with two horses, or even a coach enclosed for the passenger. However, to the bewilderment of those crowded on the corner, a cherry-wood coach emerged in the distance, its driver a dark man, bundled in a woolen blue jacket, a black scarf, and pointed hat. The horses huffed and blew out hot steam as they plodded on the stone streets, their shod feet drumming a beat of an announcement. The onlookers gaped for a moment until finally their frozen eyes and red faces caused them to turn back into their huddle, the cold being more powerful than their curiosity. The carriage came to a sudden halt in front of one of the inns, the brightest of the dismal buildings on the street, L'Auberge Du Dragon Vert. A hanging sign rocked with the gusts of wind, causing the carved image of a curled dragon to seem even more rigid on the wooden plaque.

The driver of the coach, leapt from his seat, as the horses pawed and chewed at their bits, gusts of vapor spewing from their noses. His feet fell to the ground with a soft thud as he removed his hat and opened the red finished door of the carriage. For a moment the open door revealed nothing, but warm darkness. Inside a man stirred. His black robes were disturbed in the stygian darkness as the man exited and emerged into the dim light. He wore the robes of an abbe, a clergyman, and on his head a small back cap, which was hardly accented against his black hair. However, this was no holy man. In another life he was called Edmond Dantes, a man wrongly convicted of a crime, the crime of Napoleonic loyalty, and for that he was sentenced to a solitary cell in the Chateaux D'if, to be tortured every year until the day of his death - an innocent man sent to prison for the fortune of others. For what fortune; for one, to have the woman Edmond loved; for another, to obtain wealth; and for a third, prestige. For such things as these, Edmond's life was taken. Years he spent in that cell, despairing of life, until he had met Abbe Faria, the mad priest, who had educated him and aided in Edmond's escape. Now, just a few months after his escape from the stone fortress, he returned to Paris a wealthy man, having found the immeasurable riches of Monte Cristo and a new life. This new life came with a new purpose, the resolve to avenge the death of Edmond Dantes. For it was as certain as the cold of this night, Edmond Dantes was dead, and a new man was born from that prison. Though he had not yet formed every alias that he would use, today he was Abbe Busoni. On other occasions, he would don the name Lord Wilmore, and with the gold-lined book of the Arabian Nights under his arm instead of the Bible, he would adopt the name, Sinbad. However, ultimately, the dead Edmond Dantes would be known by all in Paris as the Count of Monte Cristo.