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Last update of the day folks! Enjoy!

Nico

"I hear you've made a friend."

Gerard looked up at the doctor, his eyebrows raised.

"Excuse me?" He asked the doctor.

Doctor Malone shuffled through her paperwork. "It seems you brought Miss Rae Browne back into the hospital last night."

Gerard nodded. "Yes…"

"And I would assume you had spoken with her before she had her episode?" Malone asked.

Gerard nodded again. "Episode?"

"Rae becomes overwhelmed easily," Doctor Malone explained.

"So I noticed." Gerard replied.

"What did the two of you talk about?"

Gerard shrugged. "Nothing in particular…"

"What caused her to pass out?"

"I'm not sure," Gerard answered.

"Was it the fact that you told her what you were here for?"

Gerard stared at the doctor. "How did you know that?"

Doctor Malone smiled. "There's not much that goes on here that I don't know about, Gerard."

"Who does she think she is?" He asked.

"You know I can't tell you that," Doctor Malone replied. "I will say, however, that the two of you have more in common than you realize."

"Yes, we both have severe identity issues." Gerard replied, standing up. "That's two hours." He announced.

"So it is. Gerard, there is one more thing."

He stopped on his way to the door. "Yes?"

"You took your medication this morning." The doctor told him knowingly. "Why today?"

Gerard sighed. "I'm tired of fighting," he replied.

"It couldn't be because something is here you'd like to stay for, could it?"

Gerard didn't answer.

Instead, he walked out of the office, hating constantly being under a microscope, with no action going unscrutinized.

Gerard's breath was coming evenly, indicating to Rae that he was asleep. She tip-toed over to the side of his bed, looking down at the man who was sleeping atop his comforter, fully clothed.

His black hair was mussed, falling in thick layers over his forehead and spilling onto his shoulders. His large hands were clasped over his mid-section, his legs crossed at the ankles. He wore his standard outfit of black and red with black boots laced up to mid-calf.

Black eye-makeup was smudged over his lids.

He made her heart skip a beat.

She lay her duffle bag at her feet and leaned to his ear.

"Gerard," she whispered, trying to gently lull him from sleep. "Gerard, wake up!"

His eyes fluttered open, becoming confused as he recognized the figure standing next to him.

"Rae?" He whispered back. "What are you doing in my room?"

"I'm leaving," she announced. "Come on, there isn't much time."

Gerard sat up. "Much time for what?"

Rae opened his closet, pulling his clothing from the racks. "You're coming with me," she informed him. "I can't do what I'm about to do without you."

Gerard climbed from the bed. "I'm not going anywhere, Rae." He told her. "I'm here to get well and continue with my life, not run away from my problems."

Rae rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me that they've already brainwashed you, Gerard. You don't have any problems and you certainly look well enough to me."

She continued to pull his clothes from the closet until it was empty. "Where is your suitcase?" She asked him.

"Under the bed." Gerard replied, catching her thin wrist as she reached under the bed to retrieve the item in question.

Rae gasped, looking up at him.

"I'm not going, Rae," he told her.

Rae licked her lips, caught off guard by being so close to Gerard.

"I think I have some information that might change your mind," she whispered.

"Really," Gerard drawled, releasing his hold on the woman. "And what information would that be?"

"Wait," Rae said, placing her hand in the air as if to physically halt him from speaking. "First I have to ask you a question."

Gerard folded his arms across his chest, waiting.

Rae took a breath. "Gerard, do you really believe you are who you say you are?"

"Would I be here otherwise?" He asked.

Rae considered the question. Then, slowly, she lifted her hand once more, bringing it slowly to his face. Gerard watched her eyes soften as she allowed her fingertips to graze the surface of his smooth cheek.

"What are you doing?" He asked her breathlessly.

"I'm making sure that you're really him," Rae replied, trailing a thin finger down his throat and over his right shoulder.

"Him?" Gerard repeated.

"Yes," she replied. "Him…the Phantom of the Opera."

Gerard's breath caught in his throat. "Why?"

"Because," Rae replied. "I am Christine Daae."

Gerard took a step back.

"Gerard, don't freak out," Rae said. "I mean, I know I don't look like her…and maybe I'm not really her…but I remember everything about her…about him…and now you're here…"

"This isn't happening," he said slowly. "You're insane."

"Thanks," Rae scoffed, her voice becoming less warm. "I could say the same about you."

"Where are you going?" He asked, ignoring her.

"To the Opera House," Rae replied. "And you must come with me."

"Why? What is at the Opera House?"

"Our past, Gerard." She said. "The answers to all our riddles. The reason we are as we are. The way out."

"Out?" Gerard repeated.

"Out of this," she gestured around the room with her hands. "Out of insanity, out of these borrowed lives that were never really ours to begin with."

"I've already been to the Opera House Rae," Gerard replied. "And I am not eager to return."

Rae's eyes went wide. "You've been there?"

"Yes," he said. "That's what started all this."

"And that's where it will end," Rae said. "And that is why we must go. Together. To solve this mystery. To figure out why Erik and Christine have invaded our thoughts, minds, and bodies."

Hearing the name "Erik" caused a chill to creep up Gerard's spine. Never had he said the man's name aloud.

Hearing it from her lips was both frightening and exhilarating.

He sighed.

"What do you plan to do once you get there?" He asked her.

Rae shrugged. "I don't know," she confessed. "But I know that I must return. I owe it to her…to myself…to him…to you."

"This is madness." Gerard breathed.

Rae bent down and pulled Gerard's suitcase from under the bed. "You're coming with me, Gerard."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you'll always be tormented by the man in your head."

He looked down at her.

Then he placed the pile of clothing in the suitcase and slammed it shut.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said, trying to ignore the smile spreading her face wide.