Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera or August Rush. They belong to their respective owners and I am borrowing them for entertainment purposes.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, again. So much going on it is crazy!

Yeah, so Ryan and Lyla are going to go through the story calling Raoul Genius, but everyone else is calling him Raoul. Hope that doesn't make things confusing. Ok on with the reading…

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Music Within

Chapter 9: Genius

xXx

New York City

"So who is this Genius?" Lyla asked out of curiosity. She was wondering if he was a nice guy.

"Well everything he told me basically says he has lived in New York all his life and everything went downhill when his parents died. He had an amazing girlfriend, but then she cheated on him and left him for another man. She took all his money and earnings with her, making him destitute. Ever since he has been trying to earn money, but no musical business will take him because of what his girlfriend said about him in her debut album."

"Wow. He must be heartbroken." Lyla thought out loud. She felt bad for this man.

"Yeah. Some nights I can still hear him saying her name in his sleep."

"So what does he do now?" Lyla asked.

Ryan lifted his guitar case to her eye level and said, "He takes in many children and we all play different instruments and play around the city and collect money from New Yorkers. At the end of the day we return home and pass in our money to him."

"Do you not get any of the money?" she asked.

"All of our money goes to Genius and he uses some of it for food."

They had reached an alley away from traffic and walked through it. After turning a corner they went up a steep, rattling staircase. When they got to the top there was a blue door with graffiti written on it. Ryan did a rhythmic patterned knock on the door and a small red haired freckled face boy opened the door slowly and carefully. He saw Ryan and opened the door wider.

"Come in." Ryan said to Lyla before walking through and moving aside the sheet that covered the entry way.

Lyla followed close behind afraid she would get lost in the dark mess. She looked forward and realized she was up high looking down at seats and a stage. Everything was dusty and old; she didn't know what to think. She followed Ryan through the place and went down a flight of stairs.

As they walked she looked around her and saw children loitering everywhere. There were boys passing a football down near the stage. There was a young girl trying to sleep on an old arm chair. There were many children playing instruments around the space. There was a medium size piano on the stage where a boy was playing quietly. She could hear horns and trumpets playing somewhere in the depths of the halls.

"Where are we?" Lyla asked. She knew it was his home, but it didn't look like a house.

"An old rundown opera house, another one was rebuilt down the street and this one was abandoned. Genius has been using this as his home and our home."

They walked all the way down to the stage and Ryan started talking to a group of boys. Lyla felt forgotten for a moment before Ryan turned to her and introduced her to all of them.

Lyla came closer and was about to politely say it was nice to meet them all when a door closed very hard in the distance.

She jumped in surprise and everyone turned to look up at the balcony where a tall man stood. Lyla could see from a distance that he had short blonde hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in days. His skin was unclean and his eyes looked sad. He was wearing an old t-shirt that had ACDC logo on it and a jean jacket over it. He was wearing a different color pair of jeans and worker boots.

The man walked down the steps and watched as all the children stopped what they were doing and stared at him in surprise or fear. When he reached the stage and came up the smaller steps to the front he walked over to Ryan.

When Ryan turned to face him for the first time his smile fell and his eyes widened.

"Genius, what are you doing here? You never show up this early." Lyla could hear shaking in his voice as if he was worried for his existence.

"This is my home, isn't it? Did I not ask you to watch everyone and make sure everything is alright? Why is everyone here now? They should be out there getting me money from innocent walkers." Raoul said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Genius. I just got back from work and they were all here."

"Well they better have gotten me enough money or you are going back out there and getting the rest." He said before taking a baseball cap out of his back jeans pocket and flipping it upside down. "Pockets." He yelled loud enough for everyone to hear.

Lyla watched as all the children rushed down to the stage from where she could see them and from farther places within the opera house. She counted and there were at least twenty of them. She continued to watch as Genius walked around all the children with his hat and watched as all of them put the money they had into it. Lyla wasn't trusting of this man and she didn't know what to say or do. He was stealing their earned money.

A couple of the kids put a handful of coins in the hat and each time Genius sighed loudly and moved on with a role of his eyes. When a couple children including Ryan put a few dollar bills and even larger bills into his hat his eyes brightened and a small smirk came to his face. One word was written all over his face: greed.

She stood somewhat out of the group and when Genius was done gathering money he looked up and saw her. He looked like he didn't recognize her and he was curious about her.

"Who is she?" he asked.

Ryan spoke up and said, "She is a girl that found me and I brought her here."

Genius grabbed him by the collar of his coat and hissed into his face saying, "She found you. What if she is with the police? Did you ever think that we could be found out?"

"I'm not with the police." Lyla spoke up, fearing for Ryan's life.

Genius turned his head slowly and looked at her angrily. "How do I know you aren't lying?"

"I'm twelve." She said derisively.

That had Ryan smiling and most of the other children giggling softly. The only one who didn't enjoy that remark was Genius.

He stood straight and walked over to her. After a moment of looking her up and down he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I followed the music Ryan was playing and when I found him he brought me here."

"But why are you here?"

"I'm following the music." She said seriously.

After a moment of considering it he laughed out right in her face and turned to the rest of his group who were all standing there shocked. Most of them had never heard him laugh before.

Genius grabbed her hands and caressed her fingertips roughly before shoving them back down and saying, "You have never played a note in your life."

"I want to learn." She said, she had to find her parents and music was going to help her with that.

"Well you aren't going to learn from me. Ryan get her out of here before tomorrow." He said as he turned away and walked off the stage.

xXx

Boston, Massachusetts

Christine sat on her bed debating her decision. She had two choices: New York or Los Angeles. She couldn't decide. There were upsides and downsides to each destination.

New York was her home. If she went back there it would be easier for her to settle down. She still knew her way around the city like the back of her hand and she had her family there. Her father still lived in the same apartment and all her friends were still there. It seemed like the best place to go, but she feared that all the memories would haunt her again and they would still be there waiting for her.

Los Angeles was new. She had never been there and secretly she wanted to go there, not to live but to go on vacation or a shopping spree. The only reason she didn't want to take the job there was because it was too far. She never wanted to live on the other side of the country, she loved the east.

The only thing she could think to do was get a second opinion. She grabbed her phone and hit speed dial two and waited for Danny to pick up his phone. When the ringing stopped and she was greeted by his voice she sighed,

"Hey this is Danny, leave a message."

After the beep Christine nervously talked to the machine. "Hey Danny it's me. Call me when you get this. It is important." She put the phone down and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

She wanted to get the nervous sweat off of her body and the shaky feeling of having a decision by tomorrow for her boss. She washed her hair and massaged her scalp to relieve the headache growing. When she was done she got out and wrapped a towel around her before heading into the bedroom. She heard a knock on the door and quickly grabbed a large t-shirt and boxer shorts to put on and went to answer the door.

Danny was at the door and he looked worried. "Hey, your message made me worried. I came straight over. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Come in, I just wanted your help with something." she told him giving him a kiss on the lips and moving over to the couch.

He sat down next to her still a bit nervous, but more curious now.

Christine didn't know how to start this conversation. She worried about what would happen to her relationship and her whole life she had built here in Boston. Would Danny not want to move with her? Would they end up breaking up? She didn't know those answers so she went along with her reason for asking him to come.

"Melinda gave me a promotion. A really high promotion." She said breathless. She looked at Danny and saw he was smiling widely.

"That's wonderful, Christine. You are moving up, that's amazing." He said proudly.

"Yeah, I am no longer an assistant. I'm a designer." She said happily.

"A designer? Wow, what a step up." He said surprised. "Does that mean you have Melinda's job?"

"Kind of. I have the same position that Melinda has, but somewhere else." She said.

"What do you mean?" he asked a bit confused.

"She offered me a job… in either New York City or Los Angeles." She bowed her head so she wouldn't have to see Danny's reaction. She feared his anger.

"Did you make a choice yet?" he asked unfazed.

She looked up to see that he was not angry or upset at all. "No, but I need an answer by tomorrow morning."

"So… New York or Los Angeles?" he said after a moment of silence.

"I have no idea what to do. I want this job so much, but I am afraid of losing you. I don't want to lose you."

She felt tears rolling down her cheeks and then Danny's fingers wiping them away. "Who said you would lose me?"

She looked up at him shocked and her tears stopped falling. "What?"

"Whichever place you choose, I will follow." He said softly, in a calming tone.

"You are coming with me?" she said as she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.

"If you want me to." He said suddenly thinking maybe she didn't want him to come.

"Of course I want you to." She said as she jumped into his arms for a strong hug.

They kissed passionately and before it could get any deeper Christine pulled back. "What about your restaurant? Someone needs to be running it."

"My brother will take over. He has always wanted to run his own place. I will build another one in Los Angeles or New York, whichever you choose."

"We are really doing this? Is this really happening?" she asked with a huge smile on her face that showed off her pearly teeth.

"Yes. Now you need to decide where you want to go, so that we can make arrangements."

"Los Angeles. Let's go out west, where the sun is always out and the depressing rain never falls. With you by my side, I have no reason to fear a new environment."

"Los Angeles it is." He said with a smile and a tighter hold on her hand.

xXx

Los Angeles, California

When Erik left work that day he went straight home. Everything around him that he recognized and saw every day was a blur or a random shape in the back of his mind. He only had one direction, to go home.

Stephanie had asked him to perform in New York City over two weeks ago and he still hadn't given an answer. He didn't know what to do and he needed to think quickly or she would give up on him.

He wanted to play very badly. He missed music, he missed the feeling of strings against his finger tips and he missed holding the bow in his hand and gracefully brushing it against the strings to make noise. He even missed pressing his chin to the soft, coolness of the chinrest.

When he made it home he had no thoughts of making dinner or doing anything productive. He went into his large bedroom and sat on the soft comforter that covered his bed. After staring into no space for what felt like hours he stood and walked over to his large dresser. He kneeled in front of it and pulled a key out of his pocket. It was a small skeleton key that fit in the bottom dresser drawer. He slowly turned the key and heard the click.

He pulled the drawer open and stared at his violin case. The hard black leather of the outside taunted him and begged him to open it. He pulled the case out and turned to rest it on his bed. With the violin on his bed and himself standing before it, he slowly reached for the lock that kept it closed.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before unhinging the case and watching as it popped open. He lifted the top and stared at the beautiful instrument he hadn't touched in ages. The mahogany wood and small strings that adorned it were graceful and clean as if he had polished it every day.

In over ten years Erik finally grabbed hold of the neck of the violin and brought it out of its casing. He stared at the beauty of the violin in his hand again and he felt more complete than he ever had since leaving New York. His hand was complete again.

He went to reach for the bow that still sat in its velvety place, but when he looked down he saw the image of Christine. He had completely forgotten that he read the article in the New York Times about her debut album and tore it out of the paper and placed it with his violin, like a shrine. He never listened to the CD as it would be too painful. He didn't want to hear her voice and hear the love she had for her fiancé and the loathing she had for the one man she had cheated with.

He looked down at the old piece of paper and saw the picture printed on it of her debut album cover. He saw her face up close with her soft locks cascading around her face and the mascara and eye liner dripping down her cheeks mixed with tears. It was a confusing cover as she shouldn't be crying, but smiling at all the things she wanted and got, a handsome man by her side and a wonderful career ahead of her.

In the music business he was in he had never heard about her or seen new material with her name or face. That confused him as well; with the voice she had she should be more famous than Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. She should be at the top of the music list.

With curiosity now taking hold of his mind he took hold of his laptop that sat on his nightstand and went on the internet in search of Christine. He knew he shouldn't be getting back into this mess, but after seeing her face again he couldn't hold back.

After a few moments of searching he found who her music agent was and looked up his phone number. When he found it he looked at the time and saw it was almost eight o'clock. It wasn't too late for a phone call, so he dialed the number and waited for the gentleman to answer.

xXx

Sorry everyone for such a long wait and such a short chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it and I hope you review. That always makes me happy!