Authors note: Ok, there is a little sex in the beginning of this chapter, but I promise I am not going to turn this story into a tawdry sex story…as fun as that would be. And one final plea; review! I want to know what people think of the direction this story is going in! Ok, I am gonna shut up now…

Chapt. 22

Sleep had never really been a pleasant experience for me; most likely because I used to sleep in a coffin, which is in no way comfortable, and I was constantly visited by nightmares which prevented a deep sleep.

However, with my arm wrapped around CJ's waist and her body pressed against mine, I enjoyed sleeping. She possessed a warmth I had never experienced before; the dampness of the caves had always given me a clammy feeling and I wondered how I felt to her. If she was cold or uncomfortable she gave no sign; she lay peacefully throughout the night.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, I could tell the night had passed, however the sun must have been hidden with clouds because the room was lit by only a grayish glow which indicated another storm.

I cared little about what the weather was doing. I propped myself up with one arm, careful not to wake CJ as I did. Moving my arm which was wrapped around her, I lightly stroked her stomach; causing her to shift slightly and smile in her sleep. I stared at her; her hair fanned out beneath her head, her eyes shut, and her arm over mine. I could not believe this woman had consented to lie with me.

Slowly, I watched her eyes flutter open. She glanced up at me with her enticing emerald eyes and smiled,

"How long have you been up?" she asked,

"Depends on what you mean by 'up,'" I answered with a wicked grin,

CJ let out a beautiful laugh and rolled onto her back and I stayed with my head propped up on my hand, moving my arm up to the side of her chest. It was strange to think that the day before I had thought I would never see her again, and now I was seeing more of her than I had ever imagined.

"Did you really think I was dead, Erik?" she asked me softly, raising her hand to stroke the marred side of my face,

"I did," I said sadly, moving my hand closer to her breast,

"What did he say?" She asked

"You don't want to know, it would only upset you," I said, shaking my head,

"Why did you believe him?"

"Everything else made sense," I said, "And when you are trapped in a torture chamber you tend to believe everything for the worse," I did not want to think about those hours when I had believed her to be dead, and I made that clear.

(Enter Sex scene here)

I leaned down and kissed her, moving my eager hand over her breast. In moments I was inside of her again, rocking her until she trembled and I released. I rested only a short while before I felt the need for her once more. I kissed her roughly as I entered her again, and I noticed that if I thrust slowly yet forcefully, it made CJ writhe in the most rewarding way. Finally, because CJ begged me to, I increased the speed of my thrusts and finished her. I was ready to take her again when she stopped me,

"No, Erik, I can't, not again, not yet," Her voice was pleading,

"What is wrong?" I asked worried,

"I just…it hurts…" I looked down to her legs and I saw bruises on the insides of her thighs and on her hips,

"Oh God, I'm sorry," I hated myself, I knew I would do something wrong, I had hurt her,

"No! No! It is not your fault! This happens; you're just so big…they will go away soon, Erik,"

But I was already moving from the bed, ashamed. However, CJ had no intention of letting me slink away. With a great tug, she caught me by the arm and pulled me back down to her,

"Where the hell did you think you were going?" She asked, pinning me down on the bed by holding my shoulders and straddling my hips,

I reluctantly looked into her eyes, "Are you sure you are alright?"

"I am fine,"

"I didn't mean to…"

CJ sighed and lowered herself to me, sliding her hands down my chest and kissing me; I lightly placed my hands on her, I was afraid to hold her too tightly after I had seen her bruises, but as she kissed me harder and let her hands move lower, I could not help but grasp her harder and move my hands down to her round buttocks.

(End Scene)

A knock on our door stopped us both dead, "Just a minute," CJ yelled as she scrambled to get her clothes back on. I hurriedly did the same; knowing full well that who ever was out there could open the door at any moment because it was locked from the outside.

"Come in!" CJ called when we were both decent again. The door opened and two men entered; Dumas and the man who I had seen him talking to the night I had first been asked if I wanted to join in this little experiment Dumas was carrying out; Fillips, the Chief of Police.

"I assume both of you had a good night last night?" Dumas asked, knowingly eyeing us. We both nodded; we were seated side by side on the end of one bed and Dumas and Fillips stood in front of us,

"Excellent," Dumas said sarcastically, "I will have you both know that everyone at the opera is very grateful, and the mother of one of the girls especially wanted to thank you two; and she seemed to already know who you are Phann, so I thought; why not?" Dumas turned to the door and I saw the waiting figure of Marie Giry in our doorway.

She stepped hesitatingly into the room; her eyes were still red and swollen from crying. I stood awkwardly as she came toward me. For a moment she just stood staring at me looking for the words she wanted to use, then she gave up and tightly embraced me. I lightly patted her back; slightly embarrassed knowing Dumas, CJ, and the Chief of Police were all watching.

When she pulled back, I could see she had started to cry again; "Thank you for bringing her back," she croaked out as she wiped her eyes, "we were all so worried, and after I found out about poor Genevieve…" I assumed she meant the unfortunate dancer Le Roy had killed,

"How is Meg?" I asked her,

"She will be alright; there were no serious physical injuries, she is just frightened and hungry," Marie said with a greatful smile through her tears, "But she is alright, thanks to you,"

"Not just me," I moved so she could see CJ, "You owe her your thanks more than you owe me," It was true, if CJ had not come down and set me free the rescue would not have been possible. Marie looked over to CJ and for some reason; I sensed a tension between the two,

"Oh…thank you very much," Marie Giry said to CJ, her voice sounded a bit less heartbroken,

"Not at all," CJ said and her voice was kind, but she narrowed her eyes a bit,

"There Madame," Fillips spoke for the first time, "We have let you give your thanks as you wished, but now we must talk to these two, so would you kindly go wait in the cab?"

"Of…of course," she dabbed at her eyes, then embraced me one last time before reluctantly leaving. When I turned, I noticed CJ had narrowed her eyes even more,

"Well that was sweet, was she a former fling of yours Phann?" Dumas asked in a mocking voice,

"No," I said quickly, feeling CJ's eyes on me, "She used to help me, while I was at the opera,"

"Sure," Dumas teased dryly, and I glared up at him. CJ did as well; I don't think she ever forgave him for the night with the doctor.

"Alright, to business," Fillips cut in, "The experiment it over," he said with gravity,

I felt the my insides freeze over; if he meant that Dumas's idea was no longer going to be used, did that mean CJ and I went back to prison?

"Relax Phann, you are not going back to prison," Dumas said, reading my mind, "The reason the experiment is over is because you are the only two that are left; the others are all dead; you killed two, two more tried to run and they were shot, and then the last two ended up killing themselves,"

"So what does that mean to us? Are we going to be free?" CJ asked skeptically,

"No, of course not," Dumas snapped, "But there does not seem to be a point in pretending that you two are going to run away or that you are vile criminals, so we are going to make a change,"

"What kind of change?" I asked

"Don't interrupt me again!" Dumas yelled at me, "We are going to take you two on as detectives,"

I stared, "What?"

"Now don't get too excited, we can't pay you full wages, and of course CJ you will be given less because you are a woman," At this CJ flew off the end of the bed in anger and I had to grab her to hold her back,

"Dumas, you saw Le Roy's body after they brought him up for the opera didn't you?" He nodded, "If I let her go that will be you," Dumas took a step back,

"We will work something out," Fillips cut in, stepping between CJ and Dumas and CJ stopped struggling to break free of my hold on her. Even though it was no longer necessary, I kept my arms around her waist,

"You two should be thankful," Dumas said, "You both should have been executed and instead you end up working for us," He shook his head, "This was not part of the original plan, but now that there are only two of you, it seems ridiculous to pull other police officers off of their jobs to guard the house and to have to supply you with food, so from now on you two are going to be on your own. The house is yours to tend to; we can't do anything else with it,"

"How kind," I said sarcastically; the house was falling apart and quite disgusting,

"Well, it is no Versailles palace, but we could kick you out onto the street and let you live in an ally, so show a little gratitude,"

"I want you two to know this is still a very risky move for us to make, we really should not allow it," Fillips said seriously, "But Dumas had convinced me of your worth, and I don't think he could really stand to let you two die; you see, that was what I was planning, after last night I was planning on coming here and taking you two back to prison where you would await your respective executions, however Dumas would not let me, he told me you two were worth keeping, and he had better be right,"

"Exactly, so CJ, next time you want to kill me, think about the fact that I saved your life twice," Dumas stated, and I felt CJ lean back against me, she did not say anything, but I got the feeling she was grateful,

"So tomorrow, you two, be at the police station on Rue Etrange by nine o'clock, don't be late, and don't disappoint," Fillips said, and with a curt nod both men turned and left the room, not shutting the door behind them,

"Wait!" I called suddenly, and Dumas and Fillips turned around and looked at me, "What is going to happen to Le Roy?"

Dumas and Fillips exchanged awkward glances and I stared at them; finally Fillips spoke,

"I am afraid this is the sort of thing that happens when the criminal turns out to be a rich man's son,"

"Don't tell me..." CJ said, and I felt her start to shake with anger,

"No charges will be pressed against him," Fillips said gravely,

"What!" I yelled, "He committed multiple murders; he is a sick lunatic and he is just going to go free?"

"Not unlike someone else I could think of," Dumas said to me, and I took the hint; I had committed multiple murders, and I was not in jail, "That is something you need to learn Phann, the thing about justice it, it is not always just," With this nugget of wisdom and a meaningful look I did not understand, Dumas and Fillips left the room.

CJ and I both walked out of the room and watched Dumas and Fillips go down the stairs and out the front door, then we turned to each other,

"Can you believe this?" CJ asked me excitedly, embracing me, "I never thought we would be this close to freedom,"

"I had hoped that maybe someday this would happen, but I did not imagine it so soon," I said, thinking back to my plan about earning clemency in order to then win back Christine. Suddenly my thoughts flashed back to my dark haired angel and I wondered what it would be like to spend a night with her like the one I had spent with CJ. Blinking, I pushed these thoughts away; I did not want to be under her power any more.

CJ was pulling me down the stairs to explore our new home and I followed her. There were other doors leading to vacant rooms all containing two beds; one of these rooms had giant blood stains in it, for where the suicide had taken place; we quickly left this room.

There was a kitchen and a dinning room; it appeared that the house had once been a respectable place, but now it had fallen into disrepair and would most likely stay that way until the end of its days.

In the kitchen we found the remains of food the guards had left and we hungrily ate them. It was very strange to be sitting at a kitchen table eating knowing that I was not going to be locked in a room later in the evening.

"We could go outside, we could go for a walk," CJ said as we finished eating,

"I think it is going to rain," I said, glancing out the murky windows to the gray sky above,

"So, I was soaking wet last night; thank you for the dry clothes by the way," I blinked and then remembered that I had brought her another change of clothes the night before; in my hurry to get to our room I had forgotten I was still holding them.

"I don't like to go outside when it is still daylight out," I said slowly, and CJ stared at me,

"Well I don't care what you like, we are going for a walk," I turned away; I hated the way people stared at my strange appearance when I was outside so I avoided it as much as possible,

"I bet I could bribe you," CJ said evenly,

"I don't think you are supposed to bribe a police man,"

CJ laughed, "You are getting better at the humorous thing; that was quite amusing," She compose herself; "Seriously, do you want to hear my bribe?" I nodded and she left her seat across from me and I turned to face her

She took my face in her hands and pressed her lips to mine, mouth open so I could taste her. She pulled away just enough to speak, "I have much more to give than that," she whispered and I willingly followed her out the front door.

The road outside was nothing wonderful; it was small and crooked and crowded. When the older roads of Paris were being built, some genius had purposefully decided to make the width of the streets small; the reason being the memories of marching armies and angry mobs was still embedded in the constructer's minds, and if the streets were small; no large army could easily march through them.

Now these streets were filled with garbage; people were bustling everywhere going about their every day business, they did not even notice CJ and me. It was strange to be walking down a road in the broad daylight; my arm through CJ's.

I think this was what I found the most strange; that I was walking down the street and I was not alone. It was odd to see someone walking alone and not be one of those people. This thought gave me strength to walk in the daylight.

"So," I said after a time, "Are we looking for something particular here?"

"No," CJ said, "I just want to see what is around here, since we are going to be living here,"

"And what a beautiful place it is!" I exclaimed dryly, "look at the scenic garbage pile just over there,"

CJ laughed, "Adds a real romantic feeling to the area,"

We walked only a bit further before it began to rain and we turned around; by the time we got back to the house it was really starting to storm, thunder roared and lightning split the sky. We threw the door open and ran inside. I realized we had no way of locking the door and I wondered about a key; but not for long.

It was the perfect day; hard rain and loud thunder barring any further thought of outdoor activity. At first I had been worried that CJ would want to start cleaning the house or do some other activity I associated with homemaking. However, CJ showed no desire to do any of those things.

She walked straight up to our room and I gladly followed. She flopped down on the bed and I lay down beside her. I lay on my back and wrapped my arm around her. CJ turned so she was laying half on top of me,

"I am still exhausted," she said smiling, "I think it is going to take me thirty years to catch up on sleep,"

"You are not even thirty years old, are you CJ?" I asked her,

"No, I am twenty four," she said absently twirling a piece of my thin hair, "How old are you?"

"I don't know for certain," I answered honestly, "My mother never told me what my birth date was,"

"I think that means you get to pick one for yourself," CJ said lightly, as though not knowing your own age was a fairly normal thing,

"Than I pick today,"

"Do you even know what day it is?" she laughed,

"No," I said, "But I still want today to be my birthday,"

"Fine, happy fiftieth birthday,"

I grabbed her, "I am not fifty, not even close,"

"You might be,"

"But I'm not,"

"It could be true," CJ teased,

"If it was, how would you feel about knowing you slept with a fifty year old man?"

She stared at me, "Alright, you are not fifty,"

"Thank you," I said satisfied,

"I suppose I owe you a present," she said in mock exasperation,

"I know what I want," I told her as I covered her lips with mine and pulled her down on top of me…

I spent the rest of the afternoon receiving my 'birthday present,' and we were spent long before the storm outside wore out. We were lying in the bed; clothes scattered about the room; when for the second time we were forced to scramble to keep our privacy. We heard loud footsteps on the stair and I barely had my trousers back on before our door swung open. CJ had not had the chance to collect her clothing and she pulled the sheet tightly around her as Dumas barged into our room,

"Is this all you two ever do in your spare time?" He asked exasperatedly

"Yes, it is," I snapped angrily as I pulled my shirt back on, "And I wish you would stop interrupting us,"

"Well if I can't than you can't," Dumas snapped,

"What are you doing here?" CJ asked, and I sat down in front of her, trying to block Dumas' view of her,

"I have one more job for you two to do, I will be waiting downstairs," With this he turned and left,

"I wonder what he is going to have us doing," CJ muttered as she retrieved her clothes and put them back on,

"I have no idea," I muttered as I waited for her by the door. Together we walked down and met Dumas. He led us outside, but to my surprise there was not a cab waiting for us.

"We are walking tonight," Dumas said gruffly, and we turned down the street. The rain had stopped for the moment but there were large puddles everywhere. It was particularly dark this evening due to the heavy clouds and I welcomed the cover of night.

"Where are we going?" CJ asked after a time,

"I will tell you when we get there," Dumas said stoically without turning to look at CJ. She shrugged and walked on in silence.

Despite the approaching night and foul weather, the streets were still busy with activity of the more nocturnal, and also more devious, occupants of Paris. Almost everyone we passed took care to conceal themselves in shadow and carry out their business in whispers.

I had to admit, the three of us did cut impressive figures amongst this background of shifty and potentially dangerous characters. We walked imperviously amongst them, striding purposefully in the direction Dumas was leading us in; most slunk away as our three tall figures walked by.

Eventually, these suspicious characters faded away and we were walking down a more respectable street which contained blackened shop windows. I still could not think where we were going…as we went further the shops turned to town houses, then we turned down another street which was lined with large trees and some of the grandest houses in Paris. It was then that I realized where we were headed…

Dumas stopped in front of one of these houses; it had a long driveway which was lined with shrubs and the white house was framed by tall trees.

"Le Roy is in that room; first window on the second floor; you should be able to access it from the window, I left it unlocked when I was in there earlier; I don't think I have to tell you two to make it look like an accident,"

"Not at all," I said; I had been right when I had thought we were headed to Le Roy, "Was this what you meant about justice earlier?" I asked Dumas,

He nodded, "Sometimes you play by the rules and you still end up losing; you have to make your own justice,"

"So when the law does not allow you to reach the end you want you just break it?" CJ asked,

"There is nothing lawful about a man getting away with murder just because he is rich; and believe me, when you see things like this happen over and over again you feel like the crime of killing the perpetrator is secondary compared to him getting the just punishment,"

"I was not arguing with you," CJ said, and Dumas nodded,

"I am not going to wait out here, I can't risk letting anyone find out about this; as far as any of us are concerned we were never here," Dumas whispered,

"Say no more," I stated, and Dumas disappeared into the dark shadows of the pleasant road. I looked up to the house; it was very beautiful and proper looking; one would never have guessed that inside there was a crazed murderer who was about to be the victim of an assassination.

Silently, CJ and I made for the house; using the shadows cast by the shrubs for cover. There was still a light on in the downstairs; however I could hear no sound coming from the house. We made it to the side of the house which was lined with a neat row of low bushes.

The bottom limb on the tree was quite high up; however with a great jump be both managed to grab the branch and climb up. We had to go up a bit higher to reach the window where Dumas had said Le Roy was located and I hoped the tree would hold us.

We got to a limb from which we could see the right window; and peering inside we could see Le Roy resting in a bed.

"How are we going to do this?" CJ whispered,

"I have an idea," I whispered back, and I moved toward the window. Just as Dumas had said, it was unlocked.

It was a careful balancing act to push open the window without falling to the ground below, but somehow I managed it. The window made a frightening scarping noise as it shot upward, and for one tense moment I stopped and looked into the dark but lavish bedroom, holding my breath and watching Le Roy. Thankfully he did not wake.

I climbed stealthily into the room and CJ followed me. We crept to his bedside; two deadly shadows in the night. I had regretted most of the murders I had committed, but I hated this man; I hated him for lying to me, for trapping my, for what he had tried to do to CJ, for the fire, and for what he had done to the poor dancers of the opera. As I remembered the sickened tone in which everyone spoke about the body of the murdered ballerina, I did not think I would really regret killing this man.

As we walked to his bedside, I passed a desk on which several vials had been placed. Picking each one up I inspected them; they were all pain reducers and sleeping serums. I smiled; if Le Roy had taken these, there wan no chance of him waking suddenly while we were still in the room.

I stared at the sleeping killer; only his head was visible above the sheets and the lavish comforter. CJ seemed to realize I was going to take care of this, and she went to press her ear against the door; keeping watch.

Le Roy's head was bound in white gauze, and I carefully unwrapped it. He had a nasty head wound where CJ had smashed him with the candle stick. There were neat stitches holding the skin in place. Carefully, I pulled the stitches open. It was only a moment before blood began gushing from the head wounds; the cuts were large enough so that they would not clot before it was too late; Le Roy would bleed to death.

It was really disgusting to watch the blood cover his face; and I had to think again about the haggard faces of the ballerinas as they emerged from the coffins they had been set in to die to keep from re bandaging him. I turned his body and put his forehead to the head board; suggesting that he had had a spasm in his sleep; not too far fetched considering all the medicine he had probably taken, and hit his head; reopening the stitches.

Going over to CJ, I tapped her shoulder and motioned toward the window. We left Le Roy to bleed to death and slunk silently down the tree, disappearing into the night like two restless shadows.

"Their doctor should have been more careful putting those stitches in, then maybe they would not have popped out like that," I said sarcastically when we had walked far enough away from the house,

"I know! Can you believe that?" CJ said evenly, "I think we just gave new meaning to the phrase 'you made your bed, now lie in it,'"

I nodded. I knew Le Roy was a wicked, evil man who would kill again if given the chance, but I still shuttered at the image of his blood covered face. We reached our house again and trudged up the stairs. Warily I dropped into my bed, and CJ lay down beside me and closed her eyes. I was a bit surprised; it had not occurred to me that she would want to sleep next to me even if we were not making love.

A whole new set of realizations came to me at that moment. CJ might want more than a physical relationship. I had been so relieved when I had seen her alive I had just acted without thinking. I had been heartbroken when I had thought she was dead, but I was not sure I could really loved her. A part of me still belonged to Christine; or maybe part of my heart had been ripped away by Christine, and I was not sure what was left to care about CJ. I wanted to, I wanted to love her; but I also did not want to be hurt by her if ever she tired of me.

Wrapping my arm around her, I vowed I would try not to think about my beautiful Christine and that I would try to move on. CJ whispered goodnight and I softly kissed her head. I wanted very badly to be in love with her.