A Defensive Situation
Part 10
They sat in the back of the land rover and Christine checked to see if Erik was alright.
"Erik? How do you feel?"
"Do you have any idea who nauseating that song is?" Erik said in disgust. "It's horrible. So sappy."
"Erik, not the point." Christine said irritably.
Erik sniffled slightly and Christine patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry. They're not going to come back for you. We're going to go and find Meg and Raoul and then this whole ordeal will be over."
"Couldn't we just leave him there?" Erik asked.
"No. He's my husband."
"So?"
"So, I have to go and save him! I saved you, didn't I?" She pointed out.
Erik looked miserable but looked up as Nadir's mobile phone began to ring. He pulled it out.
"Hello?"
"Nadir, got a slight problem."
"Meg, what's wrong?"
"Well… I got in. I found Raoul. I was just setting him free. And then we got caught by a bunch of E/C shippers. So now they're holding me prisoner as well." Meg said miserably.
"I thought they liked you?"
"They do. That's why they're not cutting off my hair. Anyway, they said the only way they'll let us go is if Christine comes along and brings Erik with her."
"We're on our way." Nadir said, and glanced at the pair who were back to arguing.
"Will you stop being such a baby? They weren't that bad! At least they only locked you in a cupboard; God only knows what your phans are doing to Raoul!" Christine said furiously. Erik glared at her.
"Well, if the silly prat hadn't gotten himself kidnapped in the first place, it wouldn't be a problem!"
"If you could control those screaming phangirls for five minutes, I wouldn't have had to drag myself all the way out here to rescue from a bakery, run by a woman called Dennis!" Christine screeched.
Nadir sighed.
"Well, I'm on my way, at least."
"Thanks Nadir." Meg hung up. Nadir climbed into the driver's seat and they began to head back to the toy shop. Eventually the constant bickering began to grate on his nerves.
"Look, will you two just shut up?" He snapped.
Erik and Christine looked at him in surprise and he glared at them.
"I'm fed up with this! I want to go home, but I can't because of you lot. I don't know why I'm bothering!"
"Sorry, Nadir." Erik mumbled. Christine apologised too and then glared at Erik.
"You upset Nadir."
"You upset him more!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Yuh huh!"
Nadir began to bang his head against the steering wheel.
The girl in the toyshop looked considerably less helpful now. She glared at them.
"Look, I don't know who you think you are, but that girl you came in with last time caused a right mess downstairs!"
"Excuse me, miss, but do you know who I am?" Christine said icily. The girl glared.
"Yes, I do! You're some cheap Christine look-a-like!"
Nadir pushed the open-mouthed Christine out of the way and said,
"You have to let us down there."
"No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do, because we've got Erik the Phantom with us." Nadir said. The girl stared at him.
"What?"
"Look… I don't think we're communicating efficiently. This is the Phantom of the Opera. This is Christine Daae. We need to get downstairs now. So move." Nadir said, all manners gone out of the window. He was irritated and who could blame him? He'd had to put up with Christine and Erik bickering for the past twenty minutes.
The girl hesitated and then said,
"You should probably talk to the boss."
"The boss?"
"The president of the E/C Shippers United."
"OK… I'm sorry, what's your name?" Nadir asked. The girl pressed a button under the counter as she replied.
"Donald."
"…What?" Christine said, disbelievingly.
"Donald. My mum has a-"
"Warped sense of humour?" Nadir asked. Donald nodded. Christine asked,
"I don't suppose you know a girl called Dennis do you? Works in a bakery across town?"
"She's my sister. We don't talk." Donald said coldly. Christine frowned.
"Why not?"
"She's a fop-lover." Donald said simply as a guy appeared from the back of the shop. "George, we've got a problem here."
"What is it Donny?" George said. His eyes settled on Erik and he grinned.
"Nice mask! Looks so authentic! Where did you get it?"
"Sir, I am Nadir Khan. I'd like to introduce my associates, Christine Daae and Erik the Phantom." Nadir said, shaking George's hand.
George's mouth dropped.
"You're joking?"
"No, sir, I can assure you that we're not. We're here to pick up Meg Giry and Raoul de Chagny." George narrowed his eyes.
"No way."
"OK, look. Raoul is my husband and if you don't get out of my way I'm going to get annoyed. And when I get annoyed I have a tendency to break things! You think Erik just taught me to sing? I can drop chandeliers as well as the next guy!" Christine said angrily. Erik couldn't help grinning.
"You made good progress with the chandeliers. Never really picked up on the fencing and note-writing though."
"It wasn't my thing." Christine agreed. George frowned.
"Why would you want Raoul? You've got Erik right here! He's much cooler."
"Not denying that." Erik said and Christine glared at him before turning to George.
"I am married to Raoul. I have explained this over and over again. Till death do us part. And, no, that doesn't mean you can go and kill him. I just want to go home, but I can't do that until he's safe because I feel responsible for him." She explained. George didn't look the slightest bit convinced.
Christine turned to Erik in despair. He didn't look remotely convinced as was examining a small teddy bear. She punched his arm.
"Erik!"
"What?"
"A little support would be nice!"
"I was just looking at these bears… maybe I could get a friend for Mr Punjab."
"Oh, good God." Christine groaned. "Erik, will you please convince this nice man to release my husband and best friend so we can all go home?"
"Excuse me, Miss Donald, but how much is this bear?" Erik said, holding up a teddy.
"On the house for you, Monsieur Phantom!" Donald squealed. Erik smiled.
"Well, thank you! Now I can have a Mrs Punjab." He looked at Christine happily. She did not look impressed.
Erik sighed and put the toy down.
"I don't see why I should tell him to let the fop go. If he stays here, you can come home with me."
"Erik, it's not that I don't like hanging out with you in the cellar of the opera house and watching Buffy… but I want to go home. I want to get Raoul home, get his mind off of phanfiction and just put this whole ordeal behind me." Christine said soothingly. Erik frowned.
"All of it? What about when we ordered pizza and you gave me your pineapple?"
"I don't like pineapple." She reminded him.
"Yes, but are you saying that that pineapple meant nothing to you?"
Christine felt like crying with frustration. She turned to George.
"Take us to Raoul and Meg. We can sort things out when I've seen them."
"Well… OK." George said, although he seemed torn between not wanting a reunion between Raoul and Christine and the honour of having Erik the Phantom in the headquarters of the E/C Shippers United.
They set off downstairs, through various twisting corridors. Erik grinned as he heard The Point of No Return.
"Hey, remember this song, Christine?" You were totally falling for me during it."
"I was not." Christine said sharply.
"Were too! You were practically drooling." Erik said firmly. Christine stopped and looked at him.
"Erik, I was not drooling. I was tempting you into a trap, remember?"
"But falling for me."
"No! And frankly, I think it was a stupid idea, showing up in the middle of the show like that, swirling your cape around and wearing insanely tight trousers!"
She stormed ahead. Erik chased after her indignantly.
"I was pouring out my heart and soul to you! And what did you do? Ripped my bloody mask off, in front of everyone!"
"You deserved it! Running your hands all over me, while Raoul was standing right there!" Christine said angrily.
"You weren't objecting at the time! You weren't in The Music of the Night either!"
"Well, you were the one who sent me away, Erik! And, for future reference, when a girl kisses you, puts on your engagement ring and asks where she's sleeping, that is NOT your cue to say 'Take her, forgive me, forget all of this! You sent me away, Erik! So don't act like all of this is MY fault! If you'd just freaking accepted the fact that I wanted to stay, we wouldn't have this problem in the first place!" Christine screamed.
Erik's mouth fell open. So did Nadir's, George's and Donald's. Christine realised what she'd just said and turned away brusquely, heading towards the door they had stopped outside of.
"Is this it?" She asked George. He nodded wordlessly and she pushed it open.
Raoul and Meg were stood just inside the room. They had heard exactly what Christine had said. And Raoul did not look particularly happy.
A/N: Sorry it took me so long! A mild case of writer's block. Hope this chapter is good! I quite enjoyed it.
Lotsa luv
Katie
