Chapter 1: Chapter 1 A Deal You Can't Refuse
If You Want Something Done Right . . . .
This is an Alternate Love Never Dies plot that has been buzzing in my brain ever since June when I saw Love Never Dies (Australian Version) for the first time. Before that, I only knew the book, but I fell in love with Ben Lewis's Phantom and have been obsessing about all things POTO ever since. Maybe if I can write all this out – I can get it out of my head – or maybe I'm doomed to be a Phangirl for life – at the ripe old age of 54 (sighs.) At Any rate – I'm swiping a page off Heinlein's Number Of The Beast for my Time Theory – and - just so the Who Fans can quit throwing brickbats – I DID NOT Steal a TARDIS, OK? I've had my own Virtual TARDIS Since '82 – when I picked up my TARDIS key at a convention in Rosemont. Oh, and just to be clear about the timeline – The date Tia hits the Opera House is about a week AFTER Beneath A Moonless Sky – And I Own Tia and Ciara – and maybe a few NPC 's down the road – All else belongs to Leroux, ALW, etc, etc, etc.
On with the story . . .
Tia gulped nervously as she took inventory of all the things she had just stuffed into her (heavily And specifically remodeled) TARDIS – thanking her lucky stars that her family hadn't figured out what she was doing in time to stop her /Or I'd NEVER have gotten this far. Ok, Kevlar, Asbestos Fiber, Unbreakable Rope, Food Supplies, Research Materials,/ she grimaced at the thought of how MUCH of these she had had to pack /One million gold coins, several thousand assorted gemstones, a fully equipped and automated sickbay, a heavily armored collar for meeting up with Gr -/ oops, CAN'T call him that!/ Erik in - got it all. Now to set the timetick/ she did so/ and then back to Paris 1895, Opera Populaire, 5th cellar, here I come. And I hope to GHU I can talk him into this - or I'm going to be stuck on this mission forever!/ The ship left the place where it was parked and disappeared, only to reappear as a largish wooden door in the side of a stone wall in the 5th cellar, near an exhausted and nearly unconscious man with a white half-mask on his face dressed in what had once been a finely fitting suit before he had lost about 20 pounds (which made him look even more skeletal than usual.)
Chapter 1 – A Deal You Can't Refuse
Erik looked up, startled and suspicious. /I know every inch of this cellar and that door was NOT there before! WHAT is going on here?/ Surreptitiously, he forced his hand into his pocket for a lasso – it was not easy, he had been actively avoiding the mob for over 2 days and he really needed to sleep - but the adrenaline rush helped, a little. Keeping his eyes on the "door" he saw a young-looking female (in what appeared to be men's clothing but in the most bizarre colors) slip out of it. His lasso went about her neck in a blur almost too fast to see, but she just sighed and said, a little annoyance in her voice "Well, now that the formalities are out of the way, I'd like to get us both safely out of here, IF you don't mind!"
Bewildered but still in "automatic attack" mode, Erik tightened the noose a bit more, only to notice, belatedly, that she had a collar of what looked like steel about her neck. Then her words registered. "Out of here safely? BOTH of us? Who are you and what do you mean by "formalities" anyway?"
She sighed again and said "That's a long story and this is not a safe place to discuss it – can we adjourn to somewhere a bit more private and I will tell you all about it, but I'll give you this much right here and now – my name is Tia, I am from the future and I am here to stop a terrible tragedy from happening – no matter how long it takes me to do so. I'll do it alone if I must – but it would be a LOT easier if I can get you to co-operate, or, failing that, not to hinder me. I can make it worth your while, and NO, I am not talking about money, or at least, not only about money. Now, can we go somewhere and discuss this, and while we're at it, can you please quit with the lasso, I'm NOT your enemy – in fact – if you are physically injured, my mission is a failure anyhow and I might as well just stay down here and hassle what's left of the Opera House myself."
"The future. And they call ME insane."
She actually let out a growl of frustration, grabbed his arm, and swung/dragged him the few feet through her "door". "This is safe enough for now" Tia was slamming the door as she spoke "as long as the door is shut. Ciara" (she was speaking to the ship) "take second timetick and store it under OG1 – then go to hover mode - this will probably take a while –" and she pulled the rope from around her neck.
Erik wasn't listening or even noticing – he was too busy observing an interior that rivaled a (small) ballroom in size with large grey rectangles on three sides, two comfortable looking chairs, one of which had a desk sort of thing that she went to and sat behind, multiple panels of blinking lights, and several doors in the rear, the center one being the one they had come through. His hands itched to start taking apart every piece of it all to start seeing how it worked; in fact, they were twitching like a metronome, and not with fatigue any longer.
Tia watched him visually catalog every piece, and probably make a timetable of what he wanted to disassemble first, and realized she'd better do something before her ship was in pieces, so she called up her favorite music video, Beyoncé singing "Learn To Be Lonely", setting the volume as high as she dared, and set it to play on the central screen. The sight of that music box – at least 10 times its actual size, stopped Erik in his tracks even before the pictures of Andrew Lloyd Webber playing the piano, or the sound, came up.
As the brief clip played, he was silent and still, even when the "Phantom" in the video flipped his cape and scurried off. He was thinking of what he could do with THAT voice – given the opportunity – and wondering how he could get into the room where the gorgeous Negress was . . . there didn't seem to be a door going that direction. (A/N: Yes, I know that the modern term is not "Negress", but Erik doesn't – at least – not yet!)
"Uhm, Erik? Are you in there?" Tia was observing the utterly still figure that had been so animated a moment before, "here, have a seat – "she steered him into the second chair and turned it to face her before he realized he was being maneuvered "and we can talk. Do you want something to eat? Or drink? Or do you want me to replay the video clip? Or would you like to see something else?"
"How is it you know that name?" By now the adrenaline rush was starting to ebb, and Erik just felt tired. But he couldn't sleep, not with someone else in the room – previous experience had taught him that lesson before he had turned 10.
Tia looked at him and saw the signs of exhaustion Erik was trying (not very successfully) to mask.
"Look, you're too tired to understand the explanation at this moment even if I told you all of it just now – if I give you a room in this ship with a bed and a door you can lock against me and the rest of the world until you've gotten some sleep, will you take it? I'll even throw in breakfast for free, and I can personally guarantee no-one will find you while you are in this ship. I swear on my mission that I WILL give you an explanation once your brain is functional enough again to hear it. Deal?"
Erik sighed. /Should I? She's right that I AM too tired for anything complicated right now - although, with this amount of gadgetry, I can well believe she's not from this time period./ "I - accept, but where is that woman who was singing just now?"
Tia looked amused and sad at the same time. "In another universe in the year 2006, and I'm sorry, but we will not be going there anytime soon. We are the only two people in this ship right now. Come on, I'll give you the guest bed – there's even a small bathroom adjoining it – and a few clothes although I'm not sure if they will fit – if you want to try and wash out that outfit you're wearing, it IS looking more grey than black, or white."
As a bleary-eyed Erik stumbled into a small but adequate bedroom – Tia showed him how to work the lock – and the facilities – and then went to lock down all her equipment against inquisitive fingers – for when Erik woke up.
(A/N - Yes, I really do love that "Learn to Be Lonely" video - found it on YouTube. Well, what do you think? Is the concept worth pursuing? Please Read And Review )