Operation Mug Someone: Conclusion – Failure.

"I don't like this. I really don't like this." Christine stressed as she waited with Raoul in an alleyway for someone alone to come by.

She saw Raoul rolled his eyes next to her. "I know but the first idea didn't exactly work out as plan and we're basically starving now."

"We broke into someone's house that ended up not being as empty as you thought it was and now we're waiting to ambush someone. I think your ideas are heading in the wrong direction." Christine hissed.

"I know. I know. Look, it's been a week since that failure with the house. We're going to get our paychecks soon and we'll be making a steady amount from now on. All we need is enough cash for a couple meals, that's it. Plus, it's not like we're going to hurt them! We don't even have weapons!" Raoul pointed out and lifted his hands, displaying the fact that he has nothing on him.

"I can't believe you were able to talk me into this. Especially after what had happened at that house. That poor man! We screamed at his face and we were the ones breaking in!" she exclaimed and Raoul quickly hushed her.

"Yeah, I'll admit that it wasn't our greatest moment." He whispered sheepishly, dropping his eyes to the ground. "But it's not like we could have gone back and apologized. He would've had us arrested in a second."

"You don't know that. He didn't chase after us or do anything other than that first thing he said." Christine argued.

"Yes, and what was that again?" Raoul asked sarcastically.

Christine huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know I don't remember. The panic of getting caught made sure of that."

Raoul shook his head with a defeated sigh. "Yeah, same here, only heard the yell but can't remember what he actually said."

"Probably something not all that friendly." She suggested trying to make light of the situation they had found themselves in a couple days when the break in failure took place.

Christine had started her job late into the previous week working as a cashier for the burger joint she got hired for the summer. She had woken up and, in a daze, started getting ready for her shift. She had stumbled to the bathroom she shared with the rest of the foster girls in the house. She got to the shower and had reached forward to turn the knobs to get the water going. She had taken a glance down and noticed something about her left wrist.

She screamed as she had realized what it was, waking up everyone who wasn't already in awake in the house. Luckily, their foster dad wasn't home, or else there would have been serious consequences.

Raoul had gotten to her first, seeing as it was her scream and they were soulmates. The bathroom door slammed against the wall as he rushed in but Christine paid it no mind. Raoul immediately asked her what was wrong and tried to see if she had any injuries from his spot in the doorway.

In answer, she had held up her left wrist silently and she heard Raoul drawn in a sharp breath of air and look at his own wrist.

The words on their wrist had turned white and they didn't notice when or with who.

For the rest of the week, the two of them had scrambled their brains, trying to remember what they had done and who they had talked with that they never met before. Sadly, the two of them had a long list since they had started their jobs and met plenty of new people but they were positive that they hadn't heard anyone say their words to them individually much less with both of them present.

Then there was the guy in the house they broke into. Christine had been the one to bring it up but neither of them could remember what he had said to them, too busy being panicked and feeling the desperate need to get out of there because they were caught.

Plus there was the fact regarding his face…

"You really think someone who looks like that could be our missing partner?" Raoul had grumbled.

Christine punched him in his shoulder and he let out a yelp. He glared at her as he rubbed the spot and she glared back.

"How can you be so shallow?" She criticized.

"Oh come on!" Raoul countered. "I wasn't the only one with a bad reaction, you screamed first if I remember correctly."

"Yes and I have felt terrible ever since!" she growled. She forced herself to calm down, taking a deep breath through her nose, then let it out slowly. "Look, I'm not saying he is, but I'm not saying he isn't either. Soulmates are beyond appearances, they are who we need to get through life, and I for one, know I will love my soulmate no matter what they look like because they are mine just like I am theirs. And if he's ours, we've made a very big step backward in earning his love and trust."

Raoul stared at her for a few moments in silence. Standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest. Christine didn't break eye contact and eventually he sighed.

"Yeah, okay. You're right. Not saying he is, but he's definitely not off the list yet." He conceded and she smiled proudly at him. He grinned back.

Sadly, they have both been busy with working all day for the past week that they hadn't had time to do anything about trying to find the man. They were too tired after work and they agreed that they wouldn't break into the house again just to meet the man and they didn't exactly remember what he looked like either. It had been dark in the house and while they had sort of seen his face enough to be horrified by it, it wasn't enough to be picked out on the street at random.

Christine was brought out of her thoughts when Raoul elbowed her gently in her side. She looked up and saw him nod towards the street. She heard a pair of feet coming their way and it was, luckily, only one pair. She could tell it was a man, and by the sounds of his steps, he was wearing dress shoes.

Since it was a man, Raoul would be the one to do the distracting while Christine would sneak up from behind and do the pickpocketing. Together, they would run away quickly, hopefully the man would be too shocked to follow after them.

Christine heard the man's steps coming towards them from behind them, approaching from the direction opposite of where they were facing. Worked for them because the man wouldn't see them until they came to him.

The man finally got to their alleyway and didn't pause in his stride. He got a few meters away and Raoul acted.

He pushed off the wall and followed the man. Christine followed Raoul a few feet away, both of them trying to keep their steps quiet which was easy since they were wearing worn down sneakers. She noticed that the man in front of them was taller than both of them by a couple inches, more for her then Raoul and had shiny black hair that was smooth back with gel. He had long legs and strong shoulders that was covered with dress clothes that fit the man extremely nicely.

Christine wanted to call out to Raoul to make him stop, the guilt of what she was about to do weighing her down but it was too late.

Raoul had gotten to the man and grabbed his shoulder. The man startled and tried to turn, but Raoul quickly moved to stand in front of him so that he wouldn't see Christine. Taking both of the stranger's shoulders in his hands, Raoul leaned forward and pressed his lips to the man's.

The man instantly froze from shock and Christine used the time to get to them and pull out the man's wallet and phone. She started running back the way they came and, as she ran, she called out Raoul's name to for him to start running too.

She turned back to make sure he was coming with her. He was, but she also saw the man had turned around to stare after them. Glowing yellow eyes wide in shock underneath an almost ghost white mask was all she saw and she forced herself to turn around and away from those haunting eyes.

Christine ran until she had a hard time breathing and the sun was setting in the sky. Panting she slowed down, going from a sprit to a fast walk.

"Damn, Christine. Did you have to keep running for so long?" Raoul panted as he caught up with her and slowed down his pace.

Christine shook her head. "We just mugged a guy, Raoul. Forgive me, if I had wanted to put as much distance from the act as possible."

Raoul sighed but didn't say anything.

The two of them had taken a specific route and soon came across the deserted house they liked to hang out in to get away from their foster house and more specifically, their foster dad.

It hadn't been occupied for a while. There was an owner, but they never stopped by and didn't put the effort into rebuilding it. It was a worn down one story house that had all its walls covered in graffiti and the furniture was old and dusty.

Christine hopped the fence and Raoul did the same. The two made their way inside and settle down to catch their breath and relax.

"Let me see what you got?" Raoul asked and Christine tossed him the phone and wallet. She sat on the edge of one of the chairs.

"Why'd you take his phone? We were going after the wallet?" he questioned with a frown. He shifted the phone from one hand to the other and sat down on the torn couch.

Christine rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I wanted to get the job done as fast as possible and had checked both his pockets. I took what I found and ran away with them."

Raoul shrugged. "Better turn it off though. Wouldn't want them to find this place and us with location services if they have it on."

Christine watched him turn it off and place it on the frame of the coffee table that didn't have the table part. Outside it was dark now and she could hear the crickets coming out to mate with their chirps. She turned back to Raoul when she heard him groan.

"Ah man…" he groaned, rubbing his face with one of his hands. He was holding up a card with the rest of the wallet opened on his lap.

"What?" she inquired nervously. They didn't steal from a cop did they?

Raoul held the card so that it was facing Christine. She saw that it was a business card with the name Erik Destler along with a cell and business phone number underneath. At the top there was a name of an animal clinic and Christine felt another, larger wave of guilt wash over her.

"We mugged a vet! We stole from a guy who spends his days helping animals heal!" he answered in dismay. He let his head fall back and put his arm over his eyes. "We're terrible people!"

"While I appreciate the remorse, I'll settle with having my things returned if you please." A deep, smooth voice stated from the doorway, causing Christine to jump.

"You!" Raoul yelped, standing up quickly and pointing at the man who they had ambushed about an hour ago.

Christine watched wary as the man walked into the small room. His presence filling the space so much that she had a hard time believing that they didn't notice him in the first place.

"Yes, me. Can you please return my things?" the man, Erik, Christine thought as she stared at the man.

"H-how did you even find us? I turned off your phone!" Raoul demanded, ignoring the question.

"That'll be my doing and you'll be lucky if my friend here doesn't press charges against the two of you." Another deep but rough voice spoke from behind Erik.

Erik turned around and stepped out of the way for a dark man wearing a cheap suit to enter the house.

"Now, now Nadir. No need to be hostile. I only want my things back." Erik placated to the other man, Nadir. His yellow eyes focused on the two of them. "Do I have to ask again for my things or shall I allow my cop friend here do what he wants?"

Oh crap, Christine thought. They mugged a vet who is friends with a cop. They definitely had bad luck in these things.

"Give him his stuff back!" she hissed at Raoul, who quickly gathered the phone and wallet and held the items out to Erik.

Erik broke away from the entrance and walked over to Raoul.

"Thank you." He acknowledged pleasantly and with a grin as he took his things back.

"Are you sure you don't want to press charges? These are the two who broke into the Madame's house right? That's two offenses against you." Nadir asked his friend with a disapproving frown.

"I believe they have learned their lesson." Erik began quickly, not looking back at his friend but instead watching her and Raoul. "I believe this scare along with the scare they receive upon seeing my face is punishment enough."

Nadir snorted from his spot but remained there.

Christine saw Raoul's jaw drop and she knew she probably had a similar expression.

"Yo-you're that man?!" Christine gasped.

Eyes like melted gold focused on her fully and she had to hold back another gasp from such attention.

"Yes," Erik began slowly, cocking his head to the side. "I am that man. Funny how we first meet it's with you breaking into my friend's house and screaming at me in terror and the next you decide to rob me. Apparently, from your reactions, having not known I was the same person. We certainly should stop meeting like this."

The last part was said with a smirk and Christine had to hold back a hysterical giggle. She couldn't believe that the person her and Raoul think might be their missing partner was standing in front of them because they had mugged him.

They were not doing a great job at making a good impression that's for sure.

"We are sorry." Christine apologized. Erik didn't say anything, she continued. "We were a little desperate for money and needed enough to get by for food until our jobs paid us."

"Desperate huh?" Erik whispered thoughtfully.

"Erik." Nadir pronounced the other man's name in a warning tone.

Erik grinned and held up his wallet. "Who wants pizza?"

And so they meet again...because Raoul and Christine mugged Erik. Lol Hope my readers enjoyed the chapter. Leave me your thoughts in a review! Next chapter is in Erik's POV.

I've been meaning to do this for a while but kept forgetting. Because I have written a few fanfics already, I think it's time my dear readers met MY PHATNOM. We all have our favorites and Dmitry Ermak is mine. So, if anyone is interested the first link is the trailer to the Russian Phantom of the Opera. I first saw the show in Moscow and fell in love with the singers, especially the Phantom who was played by Dmitry in my performance. If one could fall in love with a voice…sigh. Anyway, the second link is to a short clip of the musical in Russian, and Dmitry's in it. I don't know who my Christine was. The clip starts with Little Lotte but if you just want the Phantom parts go to 2:15 for the beginning of Angel of Music, 4:10 to go to Phantom of the Opera. It also does the beginning of Music of the Night, but it's not the whole thing. But I'm hoping all of you will watch the whole thing because we are all fans right? Let me know your thoughts in review! Though please don't make an argument over who's the best, we all have our favorite.

watch?v=lUB2ByePGA4&list=LLkUxc4piD3CaZWSVdxxddlg&index=21

watch?v=ysC8txLo9WI&list=LLkUxc4piD3CaZWSVdxxddlg&index=20