Love Can't Be Killed
Summary: Alternate Finale to Love Never Dies - I wondered why Meg would love the Phantom and he would constantly ignore her. Well, this is what I came up with.
Meg stood at the end of the pier, holding the boy in a firm grip. At the other end of the pier was Christine, whom Meg regarded as friend, and the former Phantom, Mr. Y, or to the few friends he had, Erik, the master of the Phantasma theme-park. Behind him his trio infernal - strongman Squelch, the dwarf-woman Fleck and the giant Dr. Gangle. Behind them was Meg's mother, pale and trembling with fear. Meg didn't want to kill the boy, she had never intended to do so - it wasn't the boy's fault that he had been born and he had had no choice in who his father was. No, Meg knew that it was neither Christine's nor Gustave's fault - there was only one to blame and that was Erik.
Meg wondered when and why she had fallen in love with that selfish bastard. When they had arrived on Coney Island, they had nothing, they had literally nothing. The tree of them sharing one room in a slum, struggling to survive, Erik had been forced to work in a freak show, she and her mother as waitresses in a dubious bar. When she had seen him cry himself to sleep each night, she had fallen in love with that poor broken shell of a man. It was her mother who had started dreaming again and one night they had drunken too much cheap brandy and talked about taking over the freakshow. Erik obviously had taken the idea serious and with what little they had and some blackmail managed to get it done. It had been a constant struggle, they lived from hand to mouth, but the three of them shared one dream and had been willing to do anything to accomplish it. Only when they had, Meg and her mother found out that nothing belonged to them, it was all in his name. He had taken the highest risk - not being able to pay his debt and the local bosses would have killed him - and now he had everything and they were just his employees, well-paid, yes, but it was all his. He had betrayed their love and confidence in him.
Meg cried out as she saw him staring at her, his eyes wide with - what? Was it fear for the boy? - : "Always wondered how to make you watch - Well watch me now! I took a little trip to Coney Island. I took a little trip, because of you. I did as mother said, and followed where you led and tried to do what little I could do. Well here's the way it works on Coney Island - They make you pay for every little crumb. I gave what they would take, I gave it for your sake, now look at me and see what I've become." Had he ever noticed what she had done for him? No, he had closed his eyes and covered his ears. She released the boy, she didn't need him any more, now that Erik couldn't just turn away.
She would have to tell him, or he would never be forced to accept what she had done for him, he would still pretend all had been his doing and his alone. "Bathing beauty, on the beach…Bathing beauty, in her dressing room… Bathing beauty, in the dark, on their laps, in their beds..."
Her mother cried out in horror: "Meg, my little girl, what have you done?" The reaction she got from Mr. Y wasn't what she had hoped for. Instead of thanking her or comforting her he asked bewildered what she was talking about. As if he didn't know.
Meg yelled at him: "Who helped you raise the money? Who helped the permits come through? Who greased the wheels of your high-flying deals, bought you time when the bills came due? Who swayed the local bosses? Curried favor with the press?" She pointed generally to the direction of the group at the end of the pier, leaving it open for them to guess whom she was talking about, her mother or Christine: "No, not her! And who kept singing, desp'rate for your favor? Who kept dancing, hoping you would save her? Who kept dying, and this is what you gave her!"
She took out a gun and held it to her own head as she screamed: "Now that I've got your attention at last… Here's the big finish, and then you can go!"
When Meg closed her eyes as she put the gun to her own head, Erik gestured for Squelch to take Christine and the boy away. Squelch and Gangle grabbed them and dragged them behind some cargo that had been left near the pier to be picked up by a boat the next day.
Meg didn't hear anything and opened her eyes again to see if Erik was still there. He was, he stood at the end of the pier, unmoving, his arms crossed, his head cocked. He watched her with interest it seemed. When she did nothing, he shrugged and asked: "Tell me, Mademoiselle Giry, what do you hope to gain by that?"
"Still you don't realize?" she sobbed, deeply hurt that he still refused to see.
"If you want to kill yourself, you should take the gun into your mouth. If you shoot yourself like that you'll end up as a demented cripple and suffering horribly for the rest of your life. You don't want that, do you?" he told her as a matter of fact.
"That would be great - forcing you to care for me for a change!" Meg sneered.
Mr. Y almost laughed at the suggestion. "Why would I?" he asked, "Have I ever been a man of mercy?"
"You can't abandon me after all I did for you!" Meg yelled desperately.
"You have done NOTHING for me!" Erik yelled back, "You and your scheming, back-biting mother, you have planned to use me as a well-trained circus freak to make money. Sorry to disappoint you, I spoiled your plan and now I am the sole owner of Phantasma. When you slept with rich and powerful men, you did it for yourself - don't you think I know that you hoped for one of your lovers to marry you so you can leave the circus and live a normal life? Do you think I am blind and stupid?"
"That's not true!" Meg replied shocked to find that he had completely misunderstood everything.
"We loved you!" Madame Giry cut in, "Erik, when we helped you escape from France - when we helped you with your plans, we didn't want to swindle you, we loved you. We sacrificed everything we had for your sake."
Erik grabbed Madame Giry roughly and nearly spat in her face as he yelled at her: "You think I'm stupid? Once you realized my potential you planned to take over Phantasma, you wanted my business enterprise, you wanted the theme park, nothing else mattered. You counted on me breaking down and dying long before you or Meg, you just had to keep me alive and working until Phantasma was finished."
"That's not true!" Madame Giry whispered, terrified by Erik's fury. She knew what this man was capable of. He threw her to he ground so she came to lie at the end of the pier where Meg stood.
"Mademoiselle Giry? Sorry for interrupting your grand finale. You wanted me to witness your suicide? You have my full attention now, please proceed..."
"Coldhearted bastard!" Meg screamed and pointed the gun to him. She wouldn't do him the favor of killing herself. If he wanted her dead he could very well do the dirty work himself.
"You want to kill me now, Mademoiselle?" he asked in a calm voice although his heart was racing and he fought hard not to show fear, "Better than killing yourself, isn't it? I knew you hated me, no matter how often you claimed to love me, that your only wish was to please me, that you were desperate for my favor - in your heart you only hated and despised me like everyone else does!"
"That's not true!" Meg replied shocked.
"It isn't?" He slowly edged closer to her. "Have you forgotten who you are dealing with? Do you really think anything goes on in Phantasma without my knowledge? I know that you and your mother wanted to have Phantasma for yourself. You never loved me, you just needed me because you couldn't do it alone."
"That is not true, Erik, I don't care for the damned theme park! I wanted YOU!" Meg sobbed, the hand which held the gun shaking. Erik used that moment of weakness to grab her wrist and take the gun from her. He threw the gun into the sea.
"I'm not stupid enough to fall for that!" Erik yelled at her, "Never! You lying snake! You and your mother - if I had known what you would do to me I'd preferred a rendezvous with Madame La Guillotine!"
"We HELPED you! We LOVED you!" Madame Giry exclaimed horrified. Why did he hate them so much when they had done nothing but helping him?
"So I thought once. There was a day I thought I could find comfort and love," Erik said, suddenly he couldn't contain his emotions any longer, he was shaking with rage and grief, "I thought Meg loved me and I could love her. I dreamed of a future for us, as a family. O, I wished I could have that with Christine, but I was willing to open my heart to you."
"Erik..." Meg suddenly cried, "You remember when I wanted to die here at this pier? You saved me. You brought me back to life, you sold yourself to that freakshow to pay for my treatment at the hospital - I loved you for it! I loved you!"
"If you loved me, why did you visit that backstreet abortionist?" Erik asked coldly.
"WHAT?" Madame Giry asked dumbfounded. She had thought she had known everything about Erik and Meg - and now she had to find out they had far more secrets that she would ever have imagined. She had thought she was the one to go in-between them, but obviously they had been communicating very well without her.
"We had nothing then," Meg sobbed, "Nothing. It was winter, we lived in an abandoned shack on Coney Island, all shows closed down for winter, the three of us without income, the boss wanted your head for you weren't able to pay the debt, you had a broken arm and weren't even able to steal, the three of us were forced to beg on the streets - how could we have a child? A child that might not even be yours?"
"It could have been mine!" Erik yelled back, years of frustration and despair suddenly resurfacing and nearly drowning him in a black void of pain, "And I would have accepted it as mine."
Madame Giry understood nothing now. Her Meg had slept with Erik? When? How? What else did these two do behind her back? And Meg had been pregnant and gotten rid of the child? This was impossible, Meg would never... Madame Giry suddenly realized just how little she knew about her daughter.
Erik said something intelligible. Then he took a deep breath, clenched his fists and repeated it, this time they could understand him: "I forgave you. But I learned the truth when you said to Fleck that all freaks should be castrated for they shouldn't be allowed to breed. You didn't get rid of the child because it wasn't mine, on the contrary, you murdered it because you suspected it to be mine! I can never forgive that betrayal! Never!"
Meg paled. It was just one year ago that she had that terrible quarrel with Fleck. She had been jealous for Erik asked Fleck of her opinion for a new show and not Meg, who was to be the star of the show. She couldn't even remember she had said something like that, she had said many bad things that evening, things she didn't mean - and Fleck had obviously gone directly to Erik to tell him everything. That was the time when Erik had suddenly turned away from her and her mother, had gone back to talking about nothing but Christine, neglecting their dream, the theme park Phantasma.
"Let hopes pass, let dreams pass! Let them die!" Erik cried out, "Only one thing matters in my life any more - to hear Christine sing!"
"She does not love you!" Meg yelled, "I love you, I loved you since the day you saved me and sold yourself to pay for my treatment in the hospital."
Christine felt it was save enough to come out of her hiding place now. "Meg, I am not your rival," she said, "I am a married woman and I love my husband Raoul."
"You love him?" Erik asked, torn between fury and sorrow, "How can you love him? He's a gambling drunkard - he handed you over to me because he knows I can care for you and Gustave better than he does!"
"Erik, Raoul isn't a gambler. He never was. This is just a vicious gossip spread by the yellow press. Time is changing in Europe and the aristocrats are loosing against the businessmen. Raoul lost so much because he's a good man, he paid his workers fairly and cared for them. It is simply no time for kindhearted gentlemen, it is a time for vicious businessmen with no regard at all for a human life. Yes, he's drinking a bit too much, but it isn't easy to see that honesty is a weakness and a good heart is one's downfall."
"You sang for me," Erik said helpless, as if that would explain everything.
"Yes, I did. I sang for you. I love your music, but not you. I love Raoul," Christine said, sadly, "It is true that I loved you once. But it was YOU who left ME and when you threatened Gustave to force me to sing you revealed your true face - don't think I chose this wording without thinking - you tried to blackmail me. Capable of anything, yes, you are capable of anything. I pity you. I pity you for you are too blind to accept anyone's love. I gave you my love, and you ran away, leaving me disgraced and with a broken heart. Then you dare to tell me how YOU suffered after you left me - what will you tell Meg in ten years? How you suffered because you are unloved? How can you ever expect anyone to love you when you keep hurting everyone who is willing to love you?"
"Christine..." It was just a weak whimper from the masked man. As mighty as he was now, he had lost everything that really mattered.
Christine turned to Meg: "Meg, I am sorry you thought I was your rival. I never was, I never wanted him. I was singing to earn the money Raoul needs to save his estate. I did it for Raoul's sake. Do you know where Raoul is?"
"But Christine, Raoul handed you over to me!" Erik said, "You read his letter. He's giving you to me for he knows I can care for you better than he does."
"I am not someone's property to be given away!" Christine yelled, "And I will tell him that - but now I tell YOU that you can't keep me like some stray cat. A theme-park and a vaudeville theater are no place for bringing up a child. I'll return to France with Gustave, he's attending to a very good school in Paris and I don't want his education to be neglected. Now, does anyone know where my husband is?"
Squelch looked at Erik as if asking for permission. Erik nodded. "I saw him. He's waiting for the boarding of his ship in the morning. He's in the bar," Squelch reported.
"Which bar?" Christine asked and Squelch pointed to the direction, Christine grabbed Gustave's hand and started to run to the bar when Raoul came running towards her. He had seen that something happened at the pier from the window at the bar and ran off to help Christine.
"Christine, are you and Gustave unharmed?" he asked.
"Yes, we are. Raoul, how dare you hand me over to him like an animal? I am no cat you can just give away!" Christine scolded him.
"I'm sorry. I thought this is what you wanted?" Raoul defended himself, "You sang when I asked you not to. You... I saw how you looked at him when you sang..."
"I looked at you first! I love his music, but not him. I love you, but right now I am very angry with you," Christine said and her husband sank to his knees before her.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I did everything wrong - you deserve so much better, I don't deserve you..."
"O Raoul, you know I love you and now that I have earned enough money to save your estate I am sure we can solve our problems and everything will be fine," Christine said.
Raoul looked at Erik who stood behind Christine, glaring at the Vicomte. The Vicomte knew what the Phantom was trying to tell him as if it had been spoken - not to forget the bet they had made. "I do not deserve you, Christine," Raoul said miserably.
"That's for me to decide," Christine replied, "Just stop drinking."
"I'd do anything," Raoul promised, "I will never drink again, never! I swear it!"
"Christine - you could stay here and..." Erik started, he felt her slipping from his grasp and had no idea how to hold her, "You could sing in any concert hall in New York, I can arrange that, we could..."
"No, Erik," Christine said, turning to him, "No. You had your chance, ten years ago, and you left me. You won't get another one, for us, it is too late. I do not love you."
"But he..." Erik gestured helplessly to Gustave, not daring to reveal that he was his father.
Gustave looked at his parents and Mr. Y bewildered. He didn't understand what was going on. "Maman? Why are you angry with papa? Why do you tell Mr. Y you don't love him, I thought he was your friend? What is Mademoiselle Giry talking about? Is she Mr. Y's friend? Do they have a quarrel? Why is everyone staring at me?"
"That's... um... complicated. I tell you later," Christine answered.
"No! You tell me now! Every time you promise to tell me later you forget about it and never explain anything to me. I want to know now!" Gustave screamed. Erik couldn't help but smile, this child clearly had a bit more from him than just his talent for music and some other artistic interests.
A small cold hand grabbed Erik's shoulder and he jumped in alarm. It was Meg.
"It was all a horrible misunderstanding," Meg said, "I loved you. I really did. What I said to Fleck... I didn't mean it. I said it just to hurt her. I was... jealous for you favored her over me."
Erik shook his head. "I do not believe you. Neither you nor your mother. I kept you as my employees because I felt somehow obliged to care for you, you are good in dancing and coreographing, but you are not irreplaceable. But... after all that happened, I do not trust you anymore. I want you two to leave Phantasma."
"Leave?" Meg cried out, horrified, "No! You can't do that to us!"
"I will not send you away without money. I'll pay for a flat for you and you'll get a monthly allowance. I will care for you but I do not want you near Phantasma."
"You are so ungrateful!" Madame Giry exclaimed furiously, "Have you forgotten what we did for you? When we started building up Phantasma it was our dream, the three of us worked together, we were like a family and it was agreed that we'd share everything, be it good or bad. And now you want everything and give us nothing?"
"You had your chance. You lost it the moment I found out that you hoped to have Phantasma for yourself and Meg would inherit it from you," Erik replied coldly.
"But that is not true!" Meg exclaimed, "Neither mother nor I wanted Phantasma for our own! We just wanted you to share it with us, wanted to be treated as partners, not as subordinates! We never wanted to betray you, it is all a tragic misunderstanding! Erik, why did you never see that I still loved you even after you turned away from me?"
He turned away and looked at Christine, who was embracing Raoul and Gustave - the perfect picture of a happy family. Something he would never have. The pain and jealousy turned to cold fury. "Christine, he really does not deserve you. Do you know he was willing to sell you to me for enough money?" he asked.
"No, that's a lie!" Raoul answered, "I would never sell my wife!"
"No? Not sell her, but bet her in a gable? Where is the difference in that?"
When Raoul didn't defend himself, Christine turned to him, asking: "What is he talking about?"
"He challenged me," Raoul confessed, "He taunted me and challenged me - and finally we... made a bet. If you sing, he wins, I leave alone. If you do not sing, he gives us enough money to pay all our debts."
"It was YOU who challenged ME - in one of my own hotel bars," Erik replied. If he couldn't have Christine, at least Raoul shouldn't have her. "You were quite eager to make that bet."
"You lured me into a trap," Raoul defended himself, "I was drunk, I wasn't able to think clearly and - such a bet is illegal. It can't be binding."
"Many illegal things happen on Coney Island," Erik threatened, "And sometimes people disappear here."
"Erik! You can't do that!" It was Fleck who now spoke up. Erik looked down on her bewildered.
"You really think so?" he answered with a cruel smile on his lips.
"If you do that, you lose everything. Why do you insist on destroying everyone who loves you?" she went on.
"Fleck, this is not the time..." Erik warned her.
"Sir, with all due respect, you are going too far. I guess I speak for all of us if I tell you that we would even follow you to hell, but we won't allow you to destroy yourself," she said. The tiny woman stood up to Mr. Y - although she didn't even reach his waist. He knelt down to look her in the eyes and she suddenly hugged him.
Without letting go of Fleck, Erik addressed Christine, his voice quavering: "How can you love Raoul? How can you, after all he did to you?"
"You do not know?" Christine asked bewildered, "I thought you yourself wrote that wonderful song, the lines 'Love never dies. Love never falters. Once it has spoken, love is yours. Love never fades. Love never alters. Hearts may get broken, love endures.' - these are your words, aren't they? When I sang them, I was sure you understood... but you understand nothing, do you?" He didn't answer to that. He had no idea what she wanted to tell him. "You tried to destroy my love for my husband. But even you can't kill love. You can kill me or him or all of us, I know that, but you can't kill my love for my husband."
"Christine..." Raoul whispered, "I love you. And I want the best for you - I promise, I do whatever you ask me to do."
"Just take us home," she answered.
"No, wait!" Erik exclaimed, grabbing her arm, "You can't... you can't leave me like that. You... I... I want you to sing for me again. I need you, I need your voice... Without you, I am dying."
"No. I'll tell you to which bank account you can transfer the payment. There won't be another contract," Christine refused, "My family and I are returning to France."
Erik turned to Gustave. "This is very confusing for you, young Vicomte, isn't it? I would love to explain everything to you, you see, but your parents won't allow it. Maybe when you are a bit older."
"I don't understand you, Mr. Y. I thought you were mother's friend? Why are you so cruel? Why are you cruel to Mademoiselle Giry when she says she loves you? Don't you want to be loved?"
Erik stared at the child. The boy, in his innocence, had made a very good point. He couldn't answer to that now. He needed to think before he could make any decision. And right now he wasn't able to think. "Maybe we all need some rest," he said, "Madame and Monsieur de Changny, you are welcome to stay at my hotel as long as you wish to. Please, be my guest. At least for a few days, please. I... I'll even pay you for the time..."
"What of the Giry's?" Fleck asked.
"I guess we are going to have a lengthy discussion. But not now. We'll do that when we calmed down. Madame Giry, Mademoiselle Giry, please, go back to your apartments and I'll let you know when the meeting will be. Better we do this like business-partners would do. And Meg - you have to thank Fleck for this, I am giving you a chance to set this right as a personal favor to my dear friend Fleck. Madame - your daughter needs your comfort and help now, not scolding or bossing. Is that understood?" Both Giry's nodded like they were used to. Mr. Y was back to his normal self as a businessman.
"Erik, I do not think it is a good idea if we stay..." Christine said.
"I won't let you go with your husband if I am not convinced that he is sober," Erik answered, "Or he might gamble you away in a bar." He turned to Raoul: "You better prove yourself worthy of her love - if you don't, I'll make sure you regret it."
"Maman, I want to know what is going on here?" Gustave asked again.
"Your mother and I have something to discuss, don't worry, young Vicomte, we won't be quarreling again, just... talk. And I still do owe you a tour of the park - you wanted to see everything, didn't you? I promised, didn't I?" He noticed that both Raoul and Christine as well as the Giry's were about to object. "No, please. I just want to keep my promise towards this young gentleman," Erik said, then knelt down again to face Gustave. "I do not have many friends. They say I am weird... well, I guess they are right... but I want to have friends. Maybe you want to be my friend?"
"If my parents allow it, yes," Gustave said, looking at his mother.
"Madame de Chagny," Fleck said, "We'll guarantee nothing will happen to your boy." It was obvious that whenever she said 'we' she meant herself, Squelch and Gangle.
"Fleck!" Erik cried out, "You are way out of line!"
"Just following your instructions, sir. You told us to keep Gustave de Chagny safe from every danger and be it yourself," Fleck said, grinning. She knew her master would never harm her. He had a bad temper and often he acted as if he was several different men sharing one body, she even knew about the - literal - skeletons in his closet but she also knew he would never harm the only friends he had, and that was she, Squelch and Gangle.
"I won't decide that now," Christine said, "But I thank you for the invitation. I am very tired and would love a few days to recover. And I want to see Phantasma too, so I'll accompany my son on our tour. Raoul, I think a few days will help you too... don't you think?"
Meg went to Erik and said softly: "It has all been a grave misunderstanding. Really. I want to work this out, not just as business partners. I am willing to give you another chance if you are willing to take it."
"Let's not discuss this now. I'll arrange a private meeting."
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Maybe I am a bit romantic but I like the idea of a happy ending (of sorts) ;-)
I hope you like it too. Please review, I really appreciate every review!