A Defensive Situation

Part 9

"Dum, dum, dum-dum, dum, dum, dum-dum…" Meg whispered, edging along a dark corridor. The Mission Impossible theme tune was now firmly stuck in her head. Stupid catchy tunes.

The girl in the shop had let her into the Headquarters after she had filled out the application form.

"There's probably no one down there, but you can have a look around." She said dismissively, pulling a lever to reveal a secret corridor.

Meg paused outside a door and listened. She couldn't hear anything from inside and she peered through the keyhole. It was a computer room. No doubt for reading E/C fics and discussing their favourite couple over the internet. She moved along to the next door before pausing and flicking open her tracker. It would reveal heat sources in a thirty metre radius. Sure enough, a blip showed up. She moved towards it, whistling the tune cheerfully.

The source seemed to be coming from behind a door to her left. She drew out her gun, holding it up before bursting through the door. In front of her was a kitchen. The heat source was simply an oven with a pan set on top. She frowned.

"Damn." She took out the heat tracker again, moving around corridors. After a few minutes, another source came up. She threw open the door and grinned.

"Raoul!"

Raoul looked up in surprise. He was tied to a support beam and he didn't look good. Mostly because large chunks of his hair had been snipped off and his shirt was full of holes.

"Meg! Oh thank god you're here! These people are crazy! They keep coming in and taking my hair and taking pieces of my shirt to sell on e-bay!"

Meg went over to him and said,

"Don't worry about. I'll get you out of here."

"Where's Christine?" He asked.

"Oh, she's gone to rescue Erik with Nadir. He got kidnapped as well, by a group of Raoul phans."

Raoul stared at her.

"Let me get this straight – my wife has gone off to rescue another man and sent her best friend in to save me?"

"She had to. The girl upstairs was kinda suspicious. I only just got past her." Meg said, untying him. Raoul looked very putout. Meg patted him on the shoulder.

"Oh, don't be too upset. Nadir went with her so it's not as if Christine and Erik will get any time alone to-"

"To WHAT?" Raoul demanded. Meg bit her tongue.

"Uh… play scrabble."

Raoul looked at her suspiciously and then shrugged.

"I suppose that's alright. Christine's not very good at scrabble."

Meg blinked. This guy was lucky he was pretty, because he sure didn't have a lot else going for him. Except for the vast amounts of money. And good dress sense. And the big house.

"Can we get out of here?" Raoul asked. Meg nodded.

"Sure. Let's find you some new clothes. And you're really going to need a haircut." Raoul whimpered, touching his remaining hair. Meg rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't be a baby!"

"I'm not. I just like my hair." Raoul said, pouting. Meg groaned.

"Let's just go."

But before they could get more than a few paces, several people burst into the room, holding various weapons.

"Step away from the fop!" One of them shouted. Meg held up her hands and elbowed Raoul to do the same.

"Who are you?" The leader of the group said to Meg.

"Meg Giry."

"No way! THE Meg Giry?" One of them said excitedly. Meg grinned.

"That's me!"

"What are you doing here? Why are you helping the fop escape?"

"I AM NOT A FOP!" Raoul shrieked. Meg shrugged.

"Breaking him out. It's really not fair to hold him here, you know."

"He had it coming." The leader growled.

Meg sighed.

"Look, I'm just following orders. Christine and Nadir asked me to get him out."

"Christine would. The cheating whore." Some grumbled.

"Hey, that's my wife!" Raoul said crossly.

"Point proven!"

"No, it's not what you think. She was staying with Erik so you wouldn't hurt Raoul, but then Erik got kidnapped by The Friends-of-the-Fop society. So she's gone off to rescue Erik, with Nadir, and I came here to get Raoul out." Meg said amiably.

It took a moment for the E/C Shippers to understand this information. The leader, a woman clutching a pickaxe, said,

"So… Erik's been kidnapped by fop-lovers?"

"Yup. But Christine's getting him out. So… Raoul and I will just be on our way." Meg said taking Raoul's arm. The weapons all lifted again and Meg paused.

"Or… we could hang out here for a while."

"But why didn't Christine come for Raoul?" One of the shippers asked curiously. Raoul stepped forward and smiled.

"Oh, it's something to do with scrabble."

They all looked at him blankly and Meg hissed,

"Raoul, do us both a favour and just don't talk, OK?"

"OK." Raoul whispered back. Meg turned to the shippers.

"OK, guys, here's the deal – I really don't want to have my hair cut off."

"Why would we cut your hair off? E/C shippers don't have a problem with you." The leader pointed out. Meg grinned.

"Great! But Christine's really counting on me to get Raoul out of here."

"Well, that's tough luck. Because she and Erik belong together." Said a shipper firmly. The other shippers all nodded in agreement. Meg considered.

"OK… What if you let us go, but I make sure that Christine stays with Erik?"

"Hey!" Raoul objected but she hushed him.

"How are you going to do that?" The leader demanded. Meg grinned.

"She's my best friend. She'll listen to me. After all, we talk about everything."

The shippers huddled together, discussing it. Raoul tapped Meg's shoulder.

"Excuse me, but you do remember that I'm married to her don't you?"

"Raoul, trust me. I'll get us past these weirdos. I'm a cute, sweet, innocent little ballerina."

"With Chinese throwing stars." Raoul pointed out. She smiled sweetly.

"And I know how to use them. So keep your mouth shut or we'll never get out of here."


Christine and Nadir looked at the bakery doubtfully.

"It's so…"

"Foppish." Christine finished his sentence. Nadir scratched his head, considering the decorated shop.

"Well… shall we give it a try?"

"Might as well."

They pushed open the door and Nadir approached the elderly lady sat at the counter. She smiled brightly.

"How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for the Friends-of-the-Fop society." Nadir said quietly. The woman stared at him blankly.

"The what?"

"I don't think this is the right address." Christine hissed at Nadir. He sighed.

"I suppose you're right. I'll have to try a different source."

"Wait. Maybe you should talk to my daughter." The woman said doubtfully. She called into the back of the shop and a cheerful young woman stepped out.

"These people are looking for some society."

"The Friends-of-the-Fop." Nadir confirmed.

The woman smiled delightedly.

"Oh! Would you like to join? We're always on the lookout for new members!"

"Uh… not exactly." Nadir said and looked at Christine. She stepped forward and smiled in a friendly way.

"I have a slight problem. I know you have The Phantom of the Opera held prisoner and it's really urgent that you let him go."

The woman looked at her coldly.

"Why would we do that? He's breaking up Raoul and Christine, when they clearly belong together."

"Yes, I know. But… can we trust you?" Christine asked. This woman seemed nice and reasonably sane.

"Of course you can."

"What's your name?"

"Dennis."

Christine and Nadir stared at her. She shrugged.

"My mother has a warped sense of humour."

"OK… well, the thing is Dennis, that I am Christine de Chagny." Christine said. Dennis looked at her in amazement.

"Really? Well, what are you doing here?"

"I came to rescue Erik. But not because I'm cheating on Raoul with him! Raoul's been kidnapped by some Erik/Christine shippers. Meg Giry is breaking him out as we speak. And I came to help Erik because I couldn't get past the E/C shippers. But I was hoping that the R/C shippers might be a little saner and would understand my predicament."

Dennis considered her and then folded her arms.

"How do I know you're not just making this up so you can run off with Erik?"

"Dennis, I am married to Raoul. And I do love Raoul. Yes, I love Erik too, but I made a commitment and I'm sticking too it. But I can't get Raoul back without Erik." Christine explained. Dennis didn't look convinced and Nadir stepped in.

"Miss Dennis, I can vouch for Christine. If it will help, I will send Christine back to the cellar at the Opera House and I will stay here to collect Erik."

Dennis looked doubtful. She sighed.

"I'm going to have to ask the others about this."

"Others?"

"The other shippers." Dennis explained. She went to a door that clearly led into a basement and called down,

"Guys! Is it OK if I let Erik go?"

"No!" Came the reply.

"OK!" Dennis called back and turned to Christine and Nadir. "They said no."

"Oh, come on. At least let us argue our case!" Nadir objected.

Dennis sighed and went back to the basement door.

"Guys, we're coming down." She looked back at the pair. "Come on then."

They went down the stairs into a large basement. Around thirty people were sat at computers, reading, chatting, emailing. From somewhere floated the song All I Ask Of You. Christine hummed along cheerfully as the shippers looked around at them.

"Oh my god! It's Daroga!" A girl squealed. Dennis held up her hands to calm them down.

"We've got a problem."

She quickly explained the situation and then looked at Christine.

"So… what do we do? Obviously we don't WANT to let Erik go, but if it's putting Raoul in danger…" She said doubtfully. A teenage boy put his hand up.

"What if we keep Christine here, send Erik along to the E/C Shippers with Nadir in return for Raoul, have Nadir bring Raoul back here and then send Raoul and Christine back to their estate? Wouldn't that work?"

Everyone considered. Nadir nodded.

"That might work."

"Except that there's the chance that Erik decides he doesn't want to help Raoul escape." Christine pointed out. She looked around.

"Where is he, anyway?"

"In the closet." Dennis said. Christine stared at her and then looked at the closet. She moved towards it and pressed and ear against the door.

"Erik? Are you in there?"

"Christine? Christine, is that you?" Erik's stricken voice called back. Christine pulled the door opened and Erik fell out. He stared up at her wondrously.

"Christine! It IS you! Oh thank GOD you're here! They won't stop playing that bloody song!" He cried, throwing his arms around her legs and hugging her tightly.

Christine patted his head.

"There there. It's OK now."

"Make it stop… make the song stop…" He blubbered. Christine rolled her eyes and looked at Dennis.

"Can you shut the song off?" Dennis flicked a switch and the song abruptly stopped. Most of the shippers were glowering at Erik, who was still clinging to Christine's legs. She looked down at him.

"Erik, could you please stand up?"

Trembling, he got to his feet. Christine looked at Nadir who nodded at her. She turned back to Erik.

"Erik? I'm going to take you home OK?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Dennis objected and Christine turned on them furiously.

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves! Look what you've done to him! The Phantom of the Opera reduced to a quivering wreck. It's pitiful."

"You shouldn't have gone to stay with him." A shipper muttered. Christine glared at her.

"Frankly it's none of your business what I do with my life! I'm sick of it! Writing phanfiction is one thing, but interfering in my business is something else entirely! I'm getting Erik out of here and I'm going to find Raoul."

She took Erik's arm and guided him to the door. Dennis looked guiltily at Nadir who shrugged.

"She's a singer. She's bound to be a little temperamental." And then he followed Christine upstairs.

A/N: Heh. What do you think? I still haven't decided who Christine's going to end up with. I don't plan these chapters, I just sit down and write them. I'll just have to see what sort of mood I'm in

Gingalops: Just because I know you personally doesn't mean you're going to be getting your own way! Besides, I already named a character after you in one of my other stories. 'From Angel's Eyes.' So there. On the other hand, if you buy me a Mr Punjab, I may just reconsider…