Scully glanced around at the room that she, Mulder and Lysette were led to. There were old paintings on the wall as well as many bookshelves filled to the brim. There was a large mirror with a tarp around it and a couch as well as some Victorian furniture. She watched as Margaret motioned to them to separate areas to sit.

"Agent Scully, would you please take a seat in that chair over in the corner?" Margaret asked. She then looked at Lysette. "And I would like you to take a seat in that chair in the center of the room, my dear." She noticed Lysette looking fearful at Mulder. "It's all right, my child. There is no need to be afraid. "

Mulder took Lysette's hand and led her over to the chair. "It's all right, Lyssa. I'm going to be right here if you need me." He replied reassuringly as he kissed her cheek.

Margaret smiled and placed a chair across from Lysette. "Mr. Mulder, I need you to take a seat opposite Miss Willoughby." She watched as Mulder eased himself into the chair. "That's right, now I need you take Miss Willoughby's hand. No matter what happens, you must not let go. Do you understand? It is very crucial that she keep that connection to you."

Mulder reached across and took Lysette's hand gently. "Can you tell me what you plan to do, Margaret?"

Margaret picked up a long matchstick and began to light some candles in the room. "What I plan to do is call upon the spirit of Erik here. I know he will come here when he is drawn to the soul of Christine. It is important that her lover keep the connection with her while Erik is here for he will do everything he can to possess her. He will try and convince her that his coming back is the right thing to do. That it will bring much happiness in her life." She looked back at Mulder as she blew out the matchstick. "Raoul is the only one who can keep Erik from his Christine and he knows that. He will try everything in his power to break that connection which is why you must be strong." She took a seat in another chair, which was near an old table. "Once I lure Erik here, I shall attempt to force him into that mirror over there, thus trapping him. Once he is imprisoned within it, then I can assist him in crossing over to the other side. And then….you and Miss Willoughby will both be free from his grasp. But before we do that, I would like to attempt to reconnect you with your past life together."

"Reconnect us?" Mulder asked.

"Yes, I would like to do a little past-life regression with you both. It will also help to reassure you more and give more evidence to this situation. We'll start with Christine, first." Margaret looked at Lysette. "I need you to close your eyes and slowly relax every part of your body. That's good. Now, I want you take slow, deep breaths."

Scully sighed and rolled her eyes as she observed Margaret's regression technique with Lysette. She always thought that those who did regression could easily imprint their own thoughts into their patient and to her this was no different, just fancier. She couldn't believe that Mulder was buying into all this. Then again it shouldn't surprise her either.

"I want you to go back to another life, Lysette." Margaret continued. "To a time when you were Christine Daae. Are you there now?"

"Yes." Lysette whispered.

"Tell me where you are."

"In a marketplace outside a farm." Lysette answered. "I'm….getting some things with my mother."

"How old are you?"

"I'm….a little girl. Maybe….6 years old? I have my hair in braids. Father is always happy to see us when we come home." Lysette paused. "Now….mom is sick. She's sick and no one can help her. Father is crying at her bedside. Oh no, Mom, is..is dead. Father says, we…we need to leave." Lysette swallowed.

"Where are you now?" Margaret asked.

"France, at a place by the sea. I'm looking out and…the wind grabs my red scarf and starts to blow it out to sea." Lysette paused. "But…there's a little boy running out from the shore." She smiled. "He grabbed it and now he's bringing it to me. He's soaked to the skin but he's still smiling. He hands me my scarf and tells me his name is Raoul. I tell him my name is Christine but…he's dragged away by some older woman. He looks sad."

"Is that the only time you see Raoul?" Margaret asked.

"No." Lysette answered. "I see him….he's sitting next to me and we're watching my father play the violin. And father….he's telling us a story about a girl named Little Lotte. He says that I am also Little Lotte. And sometimes….when father plays the violin I sing along with him. I just love being with father and Raoul. But now….he's being told he has to go away. He grabs onto my hand not wanting to let go. Now I'm only with father again. But…soon he becomes ill just like my mother. He's lying in bed but tells me that when he is in heaven he will send me The Angel of Music to protect me and teach me. And then….he leaves me and I'm alone."

"All right, Miss Willoughby now I want you to come back to us now and leave Christine behind. I'm going to count backwards from five to one and when I do you will be fully conscious again. 5….leaving that place in your past. 4…slowly starting to become conscious of things around you. 3…..starting to wiggle your toes and be aware of your body. 2…1, you are awake."

Lysette's eyes slowly opened and she moaned slightly. "Wha….what happened?"

"You just recounted part of your life as Christine Daae." Margaret answered.

"I…I did?" Lysette looked at Mulder. "Fox, did I really do that?"

"Based on what I heard, yes you did, Lyssa." Mulder answered. "And…it appears that we knew each other as Christine and Raoul when we were only children."

Margaret looked at Mulder. "And now, it is time to see what we can find out about Raoul. Mr. Mulder I need you to close your eyes and relax in the same way that Miss Willoughby did. Take some deep breaths and let them out slowly…"

Scully sighed as she once again observed Margaret performing the same regression technique on Mulder. It was true that Lysette had given details about a childhood but what did that prove? What if she had read about someone else's childhood and had used that to convey what she had said? She didn't buy into this whole past life regression stuff and never would. And she didn't like how Margaret was messing with both Mulder and Lysette's minds. She would certainly communicate her feelings to Mulder after this session was over and somehow prove she was right. She focused her attention back to Mulder as Margaret spoke to him.

"Who are you?" Margaret asked.

"Mon nom est Raoul Victome De Chagny." Mulder answered.

Margaret's eyes widened. "I see you speak French?"

"Oui, Je fais. Bien que j'apprenne toujours à l'école."

"Ah, I see you do a little but you are still learning it in school. Where are you Raoul?"

"Je suis quelque part où il est foncé. Vers le bas ci-dessous...I..J'ai trouvé le corps du frère, Phillipe. He...il est mort." Mulder sighed and shook his head. "He il est mort."

Scully was amazed as she watched Mulder speaking French. To her knowledge he had not taken any French courses that she knew of. Now her curiosity was starting to get the best of her. "What…what did it say?" She asked as she looked at Margaret.

"He said that he was someplace dark and he found the body of his brother, Phillipe." Lysette answered.

Margaret looked at Lysette. "Do you know French, Miss Willoughby?"

"All I know is that I recognized what he just said." Lysette replied. "Am I right?"

Margaret nodded. "You are, Miss Willoughby."

Mulder started to flinch and writhe. "J'ai trouvé la tanière de hims enfin.Le démon l'a ! Il ne la laissera pas partir ! Non ! Christine !"

Scully watched as sweat began to form on Mulder's face. She could also see the jugular on his neck moving rapidly. "You have to stop this. Mulder can't handle this kind of pressure."

"It's not pressure, Miss Scully, it's memories."

"Whatever you call it, if you don't stop it, you are going to kill him!" Scully replied angrily. "His pulse is racing and you are going to cause him to go into cardiac arrest!"

Mulder placed his hand around his neck and started to gasp for air. "Le lasso est autour de mon cou ! Non ! Je ne le laisserai pas me tuer! Il ne peut pas l'avoir!"

"He is reliving his past life when he fought with Erik." Margaret replied. "We risk hurting him if we bring him out too quickly." She looked at Mulder. "Mr. Mulder, listen to me. Your past is your past and cannot hurt you now. You must leave this behind. Nothing can hurt you." She watched as Mulder continued to writhe and turn pale. "Oh my god."

Lysette placed her hand on the side of Mulder's face. "C'est Christine. Vous êtes sûr maintenant. Il ne peut vous blesser plus."

Mulder's eyes flew open as he heard Lysette's voice. "Christine?"

"Oui, Raoul. Vous êtes sûr. Revenu à moi maintenant."

Mulder looked into Lysette's eyes a moment before bursting into tears and grabbing onto her.

"Ssssh. Vous êtes sûr. Vous êtes sûr. Vous êtes sûr." Lysette whispered as she caressed his hair and kissed the top of his head.

Scully watched as Mulder's labored breathing lessened. He instantly started to calm down upon Lysette's voice and touch. She wasn't exactly sure what she had just witnessed but it was clear to her now that Mulder and Lysette did have some kind of strong connection. She turned to Margaret. "What just happened?"

"What you just witnessed, Miss Scully were two lovers from the past reconciling each other." Margaret answered. "Christine reassured Raoul that he was safe and thus brought him out of his regression state. And after what we just saw, I think we should waste no time in doing what must be done. Erik will not be far now." She took a seat in a chair and closed her eyes.

Scully made her way over to Mulder. "Are you all right?"

Lysette looked back at Scully. "He'll be fine, Agent Scully. I think he's just a little shaken up."

"Well, I suggest we get him to a hospital soon to have him checked out." Scully answered back. "Such a traumatic experience to have his heart rate escalate could have caused permanent damage if it isn't checked." Just then all the candles in the room blew out one by one and a chilling breeze filled the room.

"He's here." Lysette whispered as she tilted her head.

"Who is?" Scully asked as she shivered slightly.

"Le fantôme de l'opéra." Lysette answered as she rose from her chair and walked toward the center of the room.

"Lyssa?" Mulder asked as he raised his head.

Margaret continued to sit in her chair. "She's right, he's here. Erik, I command you to leave this plane and cross over. Your time is done."

"She belongs to me." A disembodied voice replied from within the room.

Lysette raised her arms as she closed her eyes. "Yes, my angel."

The voice took the shape of a masked, cloaked figure, which appeared in front of Lysette. It beckoned her with its hand. "Come to me, Christine."

Scully swallowed as she watched the mysterious figure that had appeared out of thin air. Her FBI Agent persona took over as she pulled out her gun and aimed it toward the figure. "Move away from the girl!"

Mulder looked at her from his chair. "Scully, no!"

The masked figure turned to Scully. "You really believe you are a threat to me?" He raised his hand toward Scully and a strong wind sent her crashing toward the wall.

"Scully!" Mulder yelled before running to her side. He placed his finger to her neck where he found a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief. He then looked back toward Erik and glared. "You son-of-a-bitch!"

Erik smiled at Mulder. "I see you still have the habit of hurting those you care about."

"I'm going to send you back to hell where you belong!" Mulder shouted as he gently eased Scully's limp body to the floor.

"Remember what I did to you in your dreams?" Erik taunted him. "How I crept at you from the darkness and placed my hands around your neck? I am why you fear the dark. Why you jump at every dark corner wondering what lies within it."

"Shut up." Mulder answered in a weak voice.

"Why do you fear the dark and enclosed places?" Erik asked as he continued. "Why are you so afraid of getting close to someone you care about? Afraid you will lose her again?"

"Shut up!" Mulder yelled.

"Do you really believe that she really loves you? What could you possibly offer her? You tried to make her happy before and what did it get you?" Erik moved to the side of Lysette. "You know she is truly happy when she sings not when she is locked away in some mansion. You can't cage a nightingale."

"Get away from her." Mulder replied between clenched teeth.

Erik moved his fingers around the outline of Lysette's face. "I've come back for my Christine and neither you nor that pitiful woman who calls herself a conjurer can stop me." He looked toward Scully. "What if you had a choice?"

"A choice?" Mulder asked.

"Yes. What if you had to choose between the one by your side now and the one who has captured your heart? Which would you choose?"

"You want to know what I choose?" Mulder asked as he rose to his feet. "I choose to help send you back to hell!"

Margaret started chanting from her chair as she raised her arms.

Mulder looked at Lysette. "Lyssa, move away from him!" He watched in horror, as Lysette remained stationary by Erik as if she were in a trance. "Lyssa, what are you doing?"

Margaret continued to chant with her voice rising in intensity. A wind began to blow throughout the room and lightning flashed outside.

Mulder watched as Erik raised his arms and brought his cloak until it was almost draping over Lysette. "No!"

"Come with me, my angel." Erik whispered in Lysette's ear.

"Lyssa!" Mulder screamed before running toward Erik and Lysette.

Scully moaned and opened her eyes slightly. She could feel her head pounding and reached her hand to the back of her head. She then sat up slowly and looked toward the corner where she saw Mulder heading toward the figure that had pushed her against the wall. She could hear a chanting in the background and turned to see Margaret in intense concentration from her chair. Turning back to where Mulder was, there was a sudden bright, burst of lighting followed by a window blowing open. The window then shattered sending shards of glass flying through the air. Scully covered her face, shielding it from the glass. After a few moments, she waited until the wind had died down and slowly raised her head. When she glanced over to where Mulder had been she found it empty. "Mulder?" She looked around the room in confusion. There was no sign of Mulder, Erik or Lysette. It appeared that they had just vanished. "Mulder!" Scully cried as she looked upward.

Note: I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I'm trying to get RL back to normal. I'm glad to see that so many people are enjoying this fic! It's nice to see that people are looking beyond the whole Mulder/Scully shipper concept in reading this. I assure you I am a shipper too but like to explore other things.Oh and the French included in this was actual French I looked up in a translator. And I am only assuming that Raoul knew French.Anyway, thank you for reading this and there is more to come!

Dana